Please join us as the Free Library of Philadelphia continues the conversation around being Black and Queer in Philadelphia.  Host Gary Hines will hold a conversation with James Charles Roberts and Sappho Reynan Fulton on the Black Gay experience in Philadelphia.  Join us for this important dialogue celebrating Gay Pride month.

Wednesday, June 26, 2024, 6:00 p.m.
Skyline Room, 4th floor & Virtual (Register here) https://bit.ly/FLPBQPhilly2

Gary is a community activist.  He served on the Liberty City Democratic LGBT Political Action Committee, the advisory board of Philadelphia FIGHT, academic advisory boards at Drexel University, the Minority Business Development Commission under Governor Ed Rendell, and as a commissioner on the Mayor's Commission on African American males.  He was also a member of Men of All Colors Together.  Gary currently is the owner and president of the Gary Hines Consulting Group and focuses on Career Management and Job Search for individuals and organizations.  Gary lives in the Germantown section of Philadelphia.

James Roberts has been an activist in the LGBTQ+ community since his days as a student at Temple University where he was one of the original members of the campus' Gay Liberation Front in the early 1970's. As a journalist he wrote extensively for two publications: Au Courant, for which he interviewed James Baldwin, and Philadelphia Gay News, for which he wrote a long-running column.  He was also a contributing author for In the Life : a Black Gay Anthology edited by Joseph Beam and Smash the Church, Smash the State : the Early Years of Gay Liberation edited by Tommi Avicolli Mecca. In the 1980's, James became one of the original employees of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health's AIDS Control Program, which later became the department's AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO).. As Director of AACO's Education Department James oversaw HIV/AIDS prevention activities in schools, churches, businesses, the Philadelphia Prison System and other venues.  James is an actor, singer, and playwright who is affiliated with the Screen Actors's Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), and Actors' Equity.  James was born in Philadelphia; but he also lived in Hawaii for nine years working in theatre, health education and with the Hawaii LGBT Legacy Foundation.  Currently he resides in Wilmington, Delaware with his husband of 34 years, J. Edward Murray, and their hyperactive dog Buddy.

Sappho Reynan Fulton is a fighter for diversity. She started the Lesbian Sisterhood at Community College and was the founder of Womxn Beyond Borders, which supports trans women and fem-bodied women of color.  She has a pre-entry program inside local jails.  Sappho serves on Philadelphia District Attorney, Larry Krasner's LGBTQ Advisory Committee and is a board member of DVLF, a fundrasing organization which provides grants to emerging LGBTQ+ nonprofits and anchor LGBTQ+ organizations.  She is the owner/founder of Sapphosway LLC trauma informed coaching and counseling services.  She holds master's degrees in social work and organizational leadership and is pursuing a PhD in international psychology.