Metro Philadelphia LGBTQ+ Power Players 2022

Fulbright scholar Dr. Derrell Acon (he/him) is an award-winning activist, performer, and leader who understands the power of the arts to foster human compassion and catalyze conversations on challenging subjects. He has over 15 years of experience as an EDI practitioner, and is known for his unique and provocative presentations, which often combine performance and scholarship. Dr. Acon is an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grantee for his work in dismantling oppressive systems in opera, and has taught at all levels on topics in 19th century opera, Black art, and artistic activism.

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
San Diego hosts my favorite Pride month celebration in the world. Each year I’ve attended has been super joyful and packed with more events and parties than one could even attempt to attend.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
Angela Davis, James Baldwin, and Langston Hughes, to name a few.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
The more that folks educate themselves on the most pressing issues in the community, the more sustainable their advocacy will be. I would like to see people and corporations commit to staying abreast of the major policy and legislative proposals and activist initiatives in their local LGBTQ+ communities, and figuring out their own unique ways of supporting them. This is allyship and it is the best shot we have at sustainable action.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
Represent your communities. If you have your community working at your company and everyone is given due agency to be at the decision-making table, then the needs, values, and visioning of your full staff base and patronage will begin to organically become centered in the operations of your work. Businesses must actively create systems to promote this level of radical inclusion and belonging.

Bill Adair (he/him) is a Philadelphia-based independent culture worker. He is currently project director for Creative Philadelphia 2026 and the Philly Queer History Project. Bill produced the film Longing and Belonging at 254 S. 12th Street in 2021, which explores the history of discrimination in the Gayborhood. He is also the president of the board of directors of The Attic Youth Center. Previously, Bill served as program director at the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage. He holds a bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in Urban Cultural Planning from UCLA. 

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
My husband and I walking with the youth in the Philadelphia Pride March is the highlight of Pride month for me. Everyone is so excited about being surrounded by thousands of other queer people, often for the first time, celebrating our lives and our loves. It’s so meaningful (and fun) for them!

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
My dear friend of 35 years, Chris Bartlett, currently executive director of the William Way Community Center, has inspired me to actively work for queer rights and equity our whole adult lives. He has challenged me to see beyond my own interests, to value the full variety of queer people represented in our city, and keep my sense of humor and fun in the process!

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
Love ourselves, love each other. Find opportunities to give LGBTQ+ people support for our relationships and our families. Be generous of spirit.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
Think about the language that businesses use in all communications. Try to be as inclusive as possible for same sex couples, trans people, and non-binary people. Don’t assume that a colleague is straight or identifies as a particular gender. A few years ago, at the end of a job interview, a member of the search committee said to me “I’m looking forward to meeting your wife.” Needless to say, I didn’t accept the job.

Deja Alvarez (she/her) is a transgender advocate and activist with a long history of representing and serving marginalized communities. Deja works in public health and politics, and is the director of community engagement at the World Health Care Infrastructures, and the LGBTQ+ care coordinator for the Department of Public Health. She is the first trans woman to run for public office in the state of Pennsylvania. Deja has served in leadership roles for several local organizations, including the Commission of LGBT Affairs and the Board of Directors of the Liberty City Democratic Club. She is the former co-chair of the annual Trans March, the co-founder and director of the LGBTQ Home for Hope, and the current president of the Women’s March Philadelphia. 

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
Outfest!

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
Harvey Milk, Jaquie Adams, Brian Sims, Nellie Fitzpatrick, and Micah Majoubian.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
Put policies and procedures in place that protect the rights of their employees regardless of their local laws.

Rafael Álvarez Febo (he/him) is the community relations liaison for the City of Philadelphia, and the executive director of the Pennsylvania Commission on LGBTQ Affairs. He previously served as the community and economic development coordinator for the Office of Councilwoman Maria Quiñones Sánchez. Rafael has also worked at Youth United for Change as a youth organizer, and at Galaei as president of the Board of Directors. In this capacity, he spearheaded efforts to implement Galaei’s strategic plan, as well as helping the organization’s move to Northeast Philadelphia. 

Daniel J. Anders (he/him) has served as a judge on the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia since 2007. He currently serves as the supervising judge of the Civil Division, where he leads 30 trial judges. During the pandemic, Judge Anders successfully resumed civil jury trials after a one year pause, and has also implemented many innovative changes to the civil case management system. These changes include using Zoom communications for hearings and conferences, and have made the Civil Division operate more efficiently. 

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
Harvey Milk and Federal Judge Deborah Batts.

Kory Aversa (he/him) is the out and proud president and CEO of Aversa PR and Events, chair of Philly Gay Pride Month, and Philadelphia publicist on TikTok. He was born in Utica, New York, graduated with a degree from Syracuse University, and has lived in Philadelphia for over 20 years. He was recently awarded Best Publicist and Best PR Firm by Metro. Moreover, Philadelphia Magazine named him one of the Top 76 Most Influential Philadelphians. He also earned other recent honors from the Philadelphia Phillies, PPRA, and the Philadelphia Business Journal.

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
Sofitel Philadelphia’s Drag Tea with Brittany Lynn and Philly Drag Mafia.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
Philly Chit Chat Hughe Dillon has inspired me as my mentor and best friend. He paved the way for other members of the LGBTQ+ community to celebrate and cherish who they are and be out and proud–and not care what anybody thinks. He celebrates our city on a daily basis and is a model for living as an out gay business owner and a community champion for our community and our region.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
Partner with LGBTQ+ charities, celebrate diversity in your ranks, encourage individuality, respect LGBTQ+ patrons, put your values behind your spending and selection of vendors, volunteer in community activities.

Chris Bartlett (he/him) is the executive director of the William Way LGBT Community Center in Philadelphia. He has been an innovative thinker and leader in LGBTQ+ community organizing for over 30 years, and has led the SafeGuards Gay Men’s Health Project, the LGBT Community Assessment, and the national LGBT Leadership Initiative. He serves on the board of CenterLink, the international organization of LGBTQ+ community centers, and is a member of Philadelphia’s and Pennsylvania’s LGBT Commissions. 

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
I was deeply inspired by Philadelphia’s Pride March and Festival on June fifth. The march and festival were both packed on a beautiful day, and there was a broad participation of families, colleagues, folks from all over the region, and representation of trans, bisexual, lesbian, gay, gender non-conforming, and other folks who make up our communities. Pride in Philadelphia has always transformed with the generations– and this was a transformative moment. Congratulations to the PHL Pride Collective.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
I was lucky to be part of a generation of activists who were mentored and inspired by some of the first leaders of LGBTQ liberation–including local activists Barbara Gittings, Kiyoshi Kuromiya, Tyrone Smith, and Jaci Adams. Each of them in their own way taught me to care about communities, invest in new leadership, celebrate LGBTQ+ arts and culture, and most importantly, take care of myself. Community leadership is a marathon, not a sprint, so self-care is crucial.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
I appreciate individuals and organizations who check in with William Way LGBT Community Center throughout the year to see how they can support us–through participation in programs or committees, helping us with fundraising, or providing the unique skills they can bring to our table. These are challenging times for LGBT communities, and we need our allies to show up with even more commitment throughout the year and be willing to take coaching for what we need and how they can help.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
Businesses should engage with our wonderful LGBTQ+ chamber of commerce, the Independence Business Alliance (https://www.thinkiba.com/), to learn the best practices for building inclusive and supportive workplaces for LGBTQ+ people.

Pennsylvania native Alison Bechdel (she/her) is an internationally beloved cartoonist whose darkly humorous graphic memoirs, astute writing, and evocative drawing have forged an unlikely intimacy with a wide and disparate range of readers. Her first graphic novel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, was named the Best Book of the Year by TIME, describing the tightly architected investigation into her closeted bisexual father’s suicide. Fun Home was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award, and was adapted into a Broadway musical that has won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Alison was the recipient of a 2012 Guggenheim Fellowship, and in 2014, she received a MacArthur “Genius” Grant.

Philadelphia-based and Bronx-born wordsmith Larry Benjamin (he/him) is the author of the gay literary romance novel Excellent Sons: A Love Story in Three Acts, which just won the 2022 Lambda Literary Award in the Gay Romance category, and is a 2022 Next Generation Indie Book Award finalist. His other novels include Unbroken, which was a 2014 Lambda Literary Award finalist and a 2014 Independent Publishers Book Award Gold medalist, The Sun, the Earth & the Moon, and In His Eyes. He is also the author of the allegorical Vampire novella Vampire Rising.

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
Hands down the Lambda Literary Awards each June, when the community comes together to celebrate and honor the best and brightest in LGBTQ+ writing. Visibility is everything and that includes representation in literature.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
I’ve often spoken of how for me my activism lies in being, in being out in every aspect of my life every day, of proudly writing novels about our queer lives. So when I think of who inspires me, it is those people without pulpits, or megaphones, or platforms, who live every day of their lives out loud and proud.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
At Mazzoni Center, where I am director of   communications, they launched a campaign: PRIDE365. Because we are of the community we serve, we celebrate queer lives every day though our work and culture. Companies can adopt a similar strategy so that their LGBTQ+ folks are recognized and visible and included and celebrated not just in June or October, but every day.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
I think they can invest in LGBTQ+ competency training and build that required competency into their core values. Being inclusive takes intentionality, reinforcement, and unrelenting dedication.

Al Besse (he/him) is the founding principal and president of investment firm Logan Capital Management. His responsibilities include leading the firm’s technical analysis efforts, as well as overseeing multiple growth portfolios. He has been involved in the investment industry since 1984. He received his bachelor’s degree from Haverford College, and his master’s from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Al is also a board member of the William Way LGBT Community Center.