The New Who’s Who of Philly’s Gay Community

“My LGBT advocacy started with my family,” says Moeller, executive director of the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund. “Throughout my life, I have always been an advocate for those who are marginalized within society.” By the time Moeller—a Chalfont native who discovered early on that he had a learning disability—got to college, he joined a campus group that shared coming-out stories with other students, most of them straight. He’s also worked with Planned Parenthood, FACT and amfAR. “I am inspired by leaders in the community,” he says, “and seeing an issue that needs to be addressed and working with others to create change.” When he’s not changing the world, Moeller lives in Queen Village with his partner, Joe Carlucci, and their dog, Rocco.

With a painful coming out, Jeanne McIntyre takes her job as a Philly Ambassador to The Trevor Project to heart. “Trevor speaks personally to me because I’m a suicide survivor,” says McIntyre, a California native. “I was homeless in this city 20 years ago. And I believe that if there was something in place like Trevor then, it would have given me hope.” As she embarks on a new job this year with an industrial company, what people may not realize is that McIntyre was also a popular DJ and is an avid surfer who is more than happy to share stories about shredding some gnarly West Coast waves.

And at City Hall, Gloria Casarez is the reason the rainbow flag was raised at City Hall last year. When she’s not in the public eye as Philly’s director of LGBT affairs, she’s got the mayor’s ear. “I translate community into government and government back into the community,” says Casarez, who came out through community activism in the early 1990s. “I grew up in North Philly and took an early interest in welfare rights and poverty issues. I was born a few blocks away from where I live now. My grandfather was a stonemason who worked on the Ben Franklin Bridge.” For Casarez, who celebrates a decade with her partner this year, gay rights are personal. “We contribute to the life and success in every way to the city,” she says. “There is no area of government that we are unaffected by. I remind people of that every day.”

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