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Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
No delay of Virginia marriages, 4th Circuit says AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR EQUAL RIGHTS
Timothy Bostic and Tony London
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the way for Gay and Lesbian couples to begin marrying in Virginia with a short August 13
ruling denying a request for a stay in the case of Bostic v. Rainey. Marriages could begin on August 18. Previously, on July 28, the Fourth Circuit upheld a lower court decision striking down Vir-
ginia’s ban on same-sex marriages. That decision by a three-judge panel was 2-1 in favor of marriage equality, and the same 2-1 majority voted to deny the stay. Prince William County Clerk Michèle McQuigg had asked the
appellate court to stay their ruling while she seeks U.S. Supreme Court review of the case. The ACLU and Lambda Legal opposed the stay on behalf of approximately 14,000 Virginia samesex couples. McQuigg may still ask the Supreme Court to stay the Fourth Circuit ruling. “We hope that the Supreme Court will leave this ruling in place, so that same-sex couples may begin marrying right away,” said Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, Executive Director of the ACLU of Virginia. “Our clients have already waited far too long to exercise their constitutional right to marry, or to have their marriages from other states recognized.” While McQuigg has petitioned the Supreme Court to review the Fourth Circuit’s decision on marriage, the high court is not obligated to take the case. In fact there are questions whether McQuigg has standing to pursue an appeal. Virginia’s chief law enforcement officers, Governor Terry McAuliffe and Attorney General Mark Herring, support marriage equality and did not defend the discrimina-
tory state law. In fact McAuliffe declared himself “overjoyed” by the Fourth Circuit decision. Equality supporters say McQuigg is only charged with administrative tasks related to marriage – issuing licenses to qualified couples – and not law enforcement, and therefore does not have standing to appear in court on behalf of Virginia’s marriage laws. Attorney General Herring filed her petition for a stay with the Fourth Circuit in order to get them to make an authoritative ruling on when marriages may begin. A second federal suit challenging Virginia marriage law, Harris v. Rainey, is also pending, but the process was stayed by the trial judge until the Fourth Circuit disposed of the Bostic case. As a result of the Fourth Circuit’s July 28 decision, the state of North Carolina, which is also under the Fourth Circuit’s jurisdiction, dropped the defense of its own discriminatory marriage laws. A March 2014 Quinnipiac poll found that 50% of Virginians support same-sex marriage while 42% oppose it.
American Bar Association As Catholic Church firings continue, endorses LGBT rights Catholics are speaking out against them Chuck Berman / Chicago Tribune
The American Bar Associa- tion under the law of all LGBT people; tion’s annual convention unaniFURTHER RESOLVED, That mously passed the following reso- the American Bar Association lution on August 12: urges other bar associations and attorneys in jurisdictions where RESOLVED, That the American there are such discriminatory Bar Association recognizes that les- laws or incidents of targeting of bian, gay, bisexual and transgender LGBT people to work to defend (LGBT) people have a human right victims of anti-LGBT discrimito be free from discrimination, nation or conduct, and to recogthreats and violence based on their nize and support their colleagues LGBT status and condemns all laws, who take these cases as human regulations and rules or practices rights advocates; and that discriminate on the basis that an individual is a LGBT person; FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urgFURTHER RESOLVED, That es the United States Government, the American Bar Association urges through bilateral and multilateral the governments of countries where channels, to work to end discrimisuch discriminatory laws, regula- nation against LGBT people and tions, and practices exist to repeal to ensure that the rights of LGBT them with all deliberate speed and people receive equal protection ensure the safety and equal protec- under the law.
Colin Collette
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Last December I found myself surrounded by a tremendous amount of high school students – turned activists – and they just so happened to be Catholic. I know. Crazy, right? Well, not so much anymore. The students, who attended Eastside Catholic and Holy Names (there were more) numbered in the hundreds and I led
them in a chant outside of Seattle’s Archdiocese’ office, “CHANGE THE CHURCH!” The students were angry, as were a whole heck of a lot of parents and alumni, that Mark Zmuda, the school’s vice principal, was forced to leave his job because the Church found out he had legally married a man earlier that summer. Allegedly, the Archbishop ordered the firing, but the nun who was in charge said that wasn’t the case and, well,
to this day, nobody is really sure exactly why or how it went down. The point is though, that the students – the future leadership and membership of the Church – had had enough and wanted to do something about it. And we are starting to see this happen again and again around the rest of the country. [NOTE: Mark Zmuda has since see Catholics page 13
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National LGBT organizations stand with family of Michael Brown – draft open letter of solidarity
WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, August 12, the nation’s largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) civil rights and advocacy organizations penned an open letter of solidarity in response to the tragic death of Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager who was shot and killed Saturday by a police officer in suburban St. Louis. Additional details surrounding the shooting are scarce, and the police officials have not provided information as to why the officer shot Brown, or why lethal force was used. The letter in its entirety, including a list of the organizations that signed on, can be found below and online at http://bit. ly/Xg3OQY: “When communities experience fear, harassment and brutality simply because of who they are or how they look, we are failing as a nation. In light of the recent events in Missouri, it is clearer than ever that there is something profoundly wrong in our country. “The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
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AP / Sid Hastings
CNN
Micheal Brown
Marcelle Stewart confronts police during rally in Ferguson, Mo.
Transgender (LGBT) community cannot be silent at this moment, because LGBT people come from all races, creeds, faiths and backgrounds, and because all movements of equality are deeply connected. We are all part of the fabric of this nation and the promise of liberty and justice for all is yet to be fulfilled. “The LGBT community stands with the family of Michael Brown, who was gunned down in Ferguson, Missouri. We stand with the mothers and fathers of young Black men and women who fear for the safety of their children each time they leave their homes. We call on the national and local media to be responsible and steadfast in their coverage of this story and others like it – racialized killings that have marred this nation since the beginning of its history. We call on policy makers on all levels of American government not to shrink from action, and we are deeply grateful to Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice for their immediate commitment to a thorough investigation.
At this moment, we are inspired by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies ... but the silence of our friends.” ACLU Center for Black Equity, Inc. Equality Federation Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Black Justice Coalition National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) National Center for Transgender Equality National Gay and Lesbian Task Force National Minority AIDS Council National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) PFLAG National Pride at Work, AFL-CIO Soulforce Southerners on New Ground (SONG) United AIDS
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LGBT Americans much less religious than straights, Gallup Poll says
mondoweiss.net
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer LGBT Americans are much less likely than their straight neighbors to be “highly religious,” according to a new Gallup Daily Tracking Poll, and much more likely to say they are “not religious” at all. The results are based on more than 104,000 Gallup Daily Tracking interviews conducted between January 2 and July 31, 2014, including 3,242 adults who identified themselves as LGBT. Gallup classifies respondents as “very religious” if they say religion is an important part of their daily lives and that they attend religious services every week or almost every week. That group included
41% of straight adults in the survey, but only 24% of LGBT adults. “Nonreligious” Americans are those who say religion is not an important part of their daily lives and they seldom or never attend religious services. Thirty percent of straight respondents fell in that category, in contrast with 47% of LGBT respondents. The remaining “moderately religious” group says religion is important in their lives, but that they do not attend services regularly, or that religion is not important, but that they still attend services. Twentynine percent of both straight and LGBT respondents fell in this group. LGBT respondents were split pretty evenly on whether religion was important to their daily lives. Forty-nine percent said it was; 51% said it was not. Among straight people, in contrast, 66% said religion was important to them and only 34% said it was not. Not surprisingly, LGBT respondents were much less likely to attend religious services. Only 26% said they did so “once a week or almost every week,” while 62% said they attended “seldom or never.” Among straight people, 42% attended services weekly, and 44% never attended. Young LGBTs the least religious LGBT respondents in the 18-34 age group were the least religious of all, with only 17%
categorized as “highly religious,” 27% “moderately religious,” and a whopping 56% “not religious at all.” Straight people in the same age group were much more evenly distributed, with 33% in the very religious group, 28% in the middle, and 39% not religious. The oldest LGBT respondents, 55 and over, were far more religious than the youngest ones, but still less so than straight people in the same age group. Thirty-seven percent of LGBT respondents 55 and over were very religious, 30% moderately religious, and 33% not religious at all, compared with 46%, 29%, and 25% respectively among the straight respondents. LGBTs less likely to identify with a denomination While 83% of straight people in the Gallup survey identified with a specific religious denomination, only 67% of the LGBT respondents did. Fewer LGBT individuals identified as Protestants – only 35% as compared to 51% of straight respondents. Twenty percent of LGBT people identified as Catholic, while 25% of straight people did. About the same proportion of each said they were Mormons, Muslims, or Jews. Eight percent of LGBT respondents identified with an “other non-Christian religion,”
while only 2% of straight people did. Thirty-three percent of LGBT individuals said they claimed “no religious identity,” while only 17% of straight people said the same. Why are LGBTs less religious? While Gallup did not ask respondents why they did or did not identify religion as an important element in their lives, the pollsters did speculate about why LGBT people would be significantly less religious than their straight counterparts. In their summary of the data, Gallup notes that church polices “have historically been disapproving of non-heterosexual love and relations.” As several mainstream Protestant denominations become more accepting, the pollsters say, LGBT individuals may feel more comfortable attending services regularly and identifying with specific religions. On the other hand, Gallup says, the differences revealed in the poll may simply reflect other demographic factors. For example, people who openly identify as LGBT are more likely to live in places that are both more liberal and less religious than other locations in the United States, and their responses to the poll might reflect the prevailing views in their place of residence rather than being tied to their sexual orientation.
Sectarian scavengers:
Amid war and plague, right-wing Americans export religious intolerance by Richard J. Rosendall SGN Contributing Writers
himself in medieval diseases of the Third World.” For backwardness she can look closer to home, where screaming headlines in New York tabloids invited a mass panic reminiscent of plague scenes in a 19th century novel. Coulter calls countries like Liberia “disease-ridden cesspools” and labels doctors like Brantly “Christian narcissists.” She asks, “Can’t anyone serve Christ in America anymore?” Peter Wehner of the Ethics and Public Policy Center rebukes her: “For individual Christians to sacrifice their own lives of comfort and ease to help ‘the least of these,’ on whatever continent they are found, is among the higher callings of the faith. It ranks even above writing books like Treason, Slander, Demonic and If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d Be Republicans.” Coulter’s America-centric perspective not only offends missionaries everywhere, it overlooks the tireless efforts of African doctors in battling Ebola. Courage and selflessness are not uniquely Western virtues. The radical right’s misuse of religion is not restricted to Africa. When President Obama announced airstrikes and humanitarian aid in Iraq in response to atrocities by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association accused Obama of ignoring anti-Christian persecution while protecting devil worshippers. Here Fischer repeats a libel by ISIL against the Yazidis, an ancient sect whose beliefs resemble Zoroastrianism (and are not about devil worship). The claim that Obama ignores the plight of Christians is another lie. But for Fischer, ISIL’s rampage is merely an excuse to stoke sectarian strife. If Fischer wants to see the devil, he should look in the mirror. But the Yazidis would not say this, despite facing genocide at the hands of radical Islamists egged on by an American Christian. They believe that each of us contains both good and evil. They would hold out hope even for Bryan Fischer.
In Entebbe on August 9, more than one hundred LGBT Ugandans celebrated the first Pride Uganda since the Constitutional Court overturned the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) for being passed without a quorum. Entebbe is on Lake Victoria, and the paradise suggested by some of the photos would not make you think the revelers risked mob violence, unless you noticed the masks some wore. A British name for an African lake is a relic of the same colonial legacy that keeps homosexuality illegal despite AHA being tossed out. African leaders are strangely selective in their outrage over Western influences. They embrace foreign laws, religions, and aid while treating sexual minorities who have always lived among them like hostile aliens. American evangelicals like Scott Lively incited the persecution with the slander that Gays recruit and sexually abuse children. This pious vulture denies any responsibility for the consequences, including LGBT Ugandans being hunted like animals. Two of the marchers at Entebbe held a rainbow flag with the words, “Join hands to end LGBT (Kuchu’s) genocide.” An openly Gay church minister attended. Sexual Minorities Uganda leader Frank Mugisha (who was praised on August 4 at a global town hall in Washington by Secretary of State John Kerry) dressed as a pirate. The Guardian reported dancing, music and laughter, with no anti-Gay protesters. The danger is not past. The August 1 court ruling is being appealed to the country’s Supreme Court, and the anti-Gay bill is being relaunched in Parliament. The LGBT activists’ demonstrations are a remarkable display of courage in the face of threats to life and liberty. Meanwhile, the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa has brought out the best and worst in people. As for the worst, Ann CoulRichard J. Rosendall is a writer and activist. ter (who I doubt believes anything) mocked He can be reached at rrosendall@starpower.net. and scorned a stricken American “Ebola doctor” for having gone to Africa at all. She Copyright © 2014 by Richard J. Rosendall. described Dr. Kent Brantly as “marinating All rights reserved.
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REFERENCES: “Uganda holds first pride rally after “Tabloids Do Their Best with Ebola Scare,” ‘abominable’ anti-gay law overturned,” Chris O’Shea, mediabistro, August 5, 2014, Chris Johnston, The Guardian, August 9, http://tinyurl.com/nyay85q 2014, http://tinyurl.com/qf46zhk Alessandro Manzoni, The Betrothed, origTweet, @PrideUganda, August 9, 2014, inally published 1827, http://www.gutenhttps://twitter.com/PrideUganda/sta- berg.org/ebooks/35155 tus/498103743318339584 “Ann Coulter’s Casual Cruelty,” Peter “Uganda: ‘Anti-Homosexuality’ Bill Wehner, Patheos, August 8, 2014, http://tiThreatens Liberties and Human Rights De- nyurl.com/qzzaxv3 fenders,” Human Rights Watch, October 15, 2009, http://tinyurl.com/8a3uddh “Ann Coulter, Donald Trump Ebola Comments Prompt Christian Backlash,” Sarah “Scott Lively,” profile, Southern Poverty Pulliam Bailey, Religion News Service, AuLaw Center, http://tinyurl.com/krrmptk gust 8, 2014, http://m.huffpost.com/us/ entry/5662698?ir=Religion “Uganda anti-gay law led to tenfold rise “Top Ebola doctor dead in African outin attacks on LGBTI people, report says,” break; local airline suspends flights,” The AsOwen Bowcott, The Guardian, May 11, sociated Press, July 29, 2014, http://tinyurl. 2014, http://tinyurl.com/k6lfvw5 com/mjdvpcg Pride Uganda Rainbow flag, Photo, The “Iraq: US plans rescue mission for beGuardian, August 9, 2014, http://tinyurl. sieged Yazidi refugees,” Martin Chulov, The com/kbyejre Guardian, August 10, 2014, http://tinyurl. com/o2s8mg6 “Frank Mugisha Risks Everything For Ugandans Who Can’t Speak Out,” Thom “Iraq crisis: ‘It is death valley. Up to 70 per Senzee, Advocate.com, July 31, 2014, http:// cent of them are dead,’” Jonathan Krohn, The tinyurl.com/obq4uml Telegraph, August 10, 2014, http://tinyurl. com/o93mhhe “Remarks at the Civil Society Forum Global Townhall,” Secretary of State John Kerry, “Bryan Fischer Agrees With ISIS That YaNational Academy of Sciences, August 4, zidis Are Devil Worshipers And That’s Why 2014, http://m.state.gov/md230207.htm Obama Defends Them,” Brian Tashman, Right Wing Watch, August 8, 2014, http://tinyurl. “NRM caucus meets today over gays law,” com/mmhoew7 Solomon Arinaitwe and Farahani Mukisa, Daily Monitor, August 11, 2014, http://ti“In Iraq, An Entire Religion Faces Extincnyurl.com/on8mky8 tion For Something It Doesn’t Believe,” Jack Jenkins, Think Progress, August 9, 2014, “Ebola Doc’s Condition Downgrad- http://tinyurl.com/n8p5wol ed to ‘Idiotic,’” Ann Coulter, August 6, 2014, http://www.anncoulter.com/colYazidi, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia. umns/2014-08-06.html org/wiki/Yazidi
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Relay For Life celebrates its first year in Capitol Hill The American Cancer Society join Capitol Hill neighborhood volunteers to finish the Fight Against Cancer! The American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Capitol Hill gives everyone within the community a chance to help the organization save lives and create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. Now is the time for the Seattle LGBT community to encourage their Capitol Hill neighbors to become educated on cancer prevention and early detection. Join us on Saturday, August 23 at the Relay For Life event in Cal Anderson Park. Register your team today by visiting CapHillRelay.org or by calling 1-800-227-2345. “I’ve lived on the Hill for just over a year now, and research doesn’t have to tell me the prevalence of smoking in our community” states Joe Tchen, volunteer for the Relay For Life of Capitol Hill. “I’m excited to help bring Relay For Life to The Hill for the very first time, and while I know our efforts are working towards a cure, I feel that educating our community now will go a long way to reducing the possibility of my peers needing that cure.” In the United States, men have a slightly less than 1 in 2 lifetime risk of developing cancer; for women the risk is a little more than 1 in 3. More than half of all cancer deaths could be prevented by making healthy choices, like not smoking, staying at a healthy weight, eating right, keeping active, and getting the recommended screening tests. Former and current cancer patients, those
who have lost a loved one to cancer, families, local businesses, and civic organizations, and anyone wanting to make a difference in the fight against cancer are invited to take part in this exciting team event. Relay For Life will take place from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on Saturday, August 23rd at Cal Anderson Park. Relay For Life event teams do most of their fundraising prior to the event, but some teams also hold creative fundraisers at their campsites at the event. Relay For Life brings together friends, families, businesses, hospitals, schools, and faith-based groups all aimed at furthering the efforts of the American Cancer Society to save lives by helping people stay well, by helping people get well, by finding cures, and by fighting back. “Relay For Life draws attention to the progress being made by the American Cancer Society, and the work yet to be done,” said Chase Carter, American Cancer Society staff lead. “Many participants are our family, friends, and Capitol Hill neighbors who have faced cancer themselves. Their involvement gives us hope that, together, we can finish the fight against cancer. Each new team that registers brings us that much closer.” The American Cancer Society saves lives and creates more birthdays by help- back. For more information, contact the ing people stay well, by helping people American Cancer Society at 1-800-227get well, by finding cures and by fighting 2345 or visit us at cancer.org.
Courtesy of American & Cancer Social Relay for Life of Capitol Hill
Arizona appeals court OKs Trans man’s divorce
August 15, 2014
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Christopher Hunt / TB / Getty Images
known on the TV talk show circuit as “The Pregnant Man.” After the couple moved to Arizona, their relationship began to deteriorate, and they filed for divorce in March 2012. In June 2012, the trial judge, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Douglas Gerlach, filed an order questioning whether Beatie’s marriage to Gillespie was legally valid in the first place. Beatie, the judge said, had given birth to the couple’s children, and must therefore be female. And if Beatie is female, then his marriage to Gillespie is a same-sex marriage, and not valid under Arizona law. If the marriage is invalid in the first place, Gerlach concluded, Arizona courts cannot dissolve it with a divorce.
After several hearings on these issues, Gerlach denied the petition for divorce in March 2013. Beatie appealed, and the Arizona Court of Appeals ultimately agreed with him. In their decision, the court noted that Arizona law also permits people who have had gender reassignment to alter their birth certificates and legally change gender. In fact, the appeals court said, Arizona’s law on sex reassignment is more “liberal” than Hawaii’s because it requires less extensive evidence to amend the birth certificate. “The question before this Court is not whether the State of Arizona allows samesex marriage or divorce, but whether the laws of the State of Arizona allow a marriage, lawfully entered into in another state, between two persons the foreign state formally recognized at the time of the marriage as male and female, to be dissolved,” the appellate decision said. “At the time of the Beaties’ marriage in Hawaii, that state only allowed marriages between a man and a woman, and Hawaii’s legislature, like Arizona’s, had established statutory authority allowing persons who had undergone a sex change operation to apply for and obtain an amended birth certificate reflecting the appropriate gender.” Beatie and his wife may go ahead with divorce proceedings, the court ruled. In a statement released by his attorney, David Michael Cantor, Beatie was quoted as saying, “I feel I have finally been recognized in Arizona as not just a man, but a human being.”
Thomas Beatie (l) & Nancy Gillespie with their children
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled on August 13 that Thomas Beatie may divorce his wife Nancy Gillespie. In a rational legal system this would not be news, and it would not have required the decision of an appeals court to do it. The U.S. legal system is often irrational, however, especially when it deals with gender identity and marriage. Beatie is a Trans man born and raised in Honolulu. Originally assigned female gender, he began to identify as male at the age of 10. At 23 he began his transition to living as a man,
and at 28 he had sex reassignment surgery. However, he wanted to have children so he was not sterilized. The state of Hawaii allows Trans people to change their names, and sex markers on public documents including birth certificates, driver’s licenses, and health records, and Beatie was legally recognized as a male. He then married Nancy Gillespie in February 2003, under the marriage laws existing at that time – in other words, as an opposite-sex couple. The couple filed joint state and federal taxes and bought homes together as husband and wife. Beatie was listed as “male” on his health and life insurance policies. Beatie carried and gave birth to their three children between 2008 and 2011, becoming
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Tennessee judge upholds state marriage ban by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer For the first time in more than two-dozen court rulings, a state ban on same-sex marriage has survived a constitutional challenge. Tennessee Circuit Judge Russell E. Simmons upheld his state’s ban on Gay and Lesbian marriages in a ruling handed down August 5. Simmons ruled in a case involving two Gay men, Frederick Michael Borman and Larry Kyle Pyles-Borman, who were married in Iowa in 2010 and are now seeking a divorce in their home state of Tennessee. He was unable to grant a divorce, Simmons said, because the men were never legally married under Tennessee law in the first place. A 2006 voter-approved state constitutional amendment bars same-sex marriages and state recognition of marriages performed in other jurisdictions. While the claims of the plaintiff couple were limited – all they wanted was a divorce – Simmons’ ruling amounted to a sweeping defense of discriminatory marriage laws. The judge based his decision on Baker v. Nelson, a 1972 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court granted summary judgment in favor of the state on Minnesota and against a same-sex couple who wished to marry there. The high court’s subsequent ruling in USA v. Windsor, striking down DOMA, does not apply, Simmons wrote. Even in its Windsor decision, “The Su-
preme Court does not go the final step and find that a state that defines marriage as a union of one man and one woman is unconstitutional,” Simmons said. “Further, the Supreme Court does not find that one state’s refusal to accept another state’s valid same-sex marriage to be in violation of the U.S. Constitution.” Lawyers for the Gay couple had argued that Tennessee’s ban on recognizing same-sex marriage violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but Simmons ruled that marriage bans serve a rational state interest – namely, procreation and the stability of family life. Marriage “simply cannot be divorced from its traditional procreative purposes,” the judge wrote. “The promotion of family continuity and stability is certainly a legitimate state interest,” he continued. “There is nothing irrational about limiting the institution of marriage for the purpose for which it was created, by embracing its traditional definition. To conclude otherwise is to impose one’s own view of what a State ought to do on the subject of same-sex marriage.” This reasoning is similar to that adopted by the Washington State Supreme Court in their 2006 Anderson decision, upholding this state’s ban on same-sex marriage. That ban was later Tennessee Circuit Judge Russell E. Simmons reversed by the state legislature and ultimately by Washington voters in the 2012 R-74. may choose to wait for a federal appeals court before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in The Tennessee couple seeking divorce may to act. Tennessee’s law against recognizing one of the cases heard at the appeals court’s appeal through state court channels, or they out-of-state same-sex marriages is currently six-case mega-hearing on August 6.
Porn industry tries to evade safety regulations
tional center in Los Angeles to evade new safety regulations, a film industry report suggests. On the contrary, AIDS activists Porn producers are fleeing their tradi- reply, porn producers are simply shifting to
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
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illegal unpermitted films. According to FilmLA Inc., the nonprofit that handles film permits for LA City and County, permit applications for X-rated films dropped 90% to a mere 40 films in 2013. Only 20 permits have been issued so far this year. The huge drop in applications follows a 2012 LA County ordinance requiring porn actors to use condoms during filming. “We’ve seen a dramatic drop in permits,” said FilmLA President Paul Audley. “It is a cause for concern that people who are manning the cameras, lights and other things on those sets are not working anymore.... It’s not helpful to have another segment of the industry leave the region.” “Losing an industry like that is going to have hugely negative consequences,” said Stuart Waldman, President of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association. “We’re not just talking about actors or the filmmakers, but everyone from the grips and caterers to assistants,” Waldman added. “These are people who live in the San Fernando Valley, buy homes, cars, send their kids to school and go to the dry cleaners. If they move, all the money goes with them.” While porn accounts for less than 5% of all film permits, local economists have estimated that the porn industry in LA County racked up $4 billion in annual sales and generates 10,000 to 20,000 jobs annually. As many as 5,000 adult films were shot in Los Angeles venues in 2011, according to industry estimates. LA County’s Measure B, the law requiring condom use, was passed by voters after several well-publicized cases of porn actors
testing positive for HIV and other STDs. California Assembly member Isadore Hall III, sponsor of a bill to establish the condom requirement statewide, says that the law is necessary to protect performers from sexually transmitted diseases. “It’s not that the industry is being targeted,” Hall said. “The industry is being asked to protect their employees and provide them workplace protection.” Hall’s bill passed the California Assembly in May, and is expected to come up for a vote in the state Senate this month. Porn producers say LA’s safety regulations make filming there too “complex.” “We’re not shooting in LA anymore,” said Steven Hirsch, founder and co-chairman of Vivid Entertainment. “We’d like to stay here. This is our home, where we’ve produced for the last 30 years. But if we’re forced to move, we will.” Penthouse Entertainment has stopped all LA film shoots. The company says it owns 10 TV channels and produces up to 80 movies a year. “This month we’re shooting 10 movies in Brazil,” said Kelly Holland, Managing Director for the company. “Last month, we shot five movies in Europe. It’s just too complex to shoot here [in LA].” Michael Weinstein, President of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which backed Measure B, says porn producers are not leaving LA, they are just shooting unpermitted films to evade safety regulations. “There is no question people are filming without permits,” Weinstein said. “We’re not against porn. We’re not trying to drive them out of business. We want to protect the performer and we want them to be a safe industry like any other industry.”
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continued from cover been hired by Mercer Island High School as associate principal effective July 1, 2014, and he is also now the school’s athletic director. According to a release from the district, Zmuda was chosen from more than 60 applicants for the position.] In an emotionally charged meeting Wednesday, parishioners of Holy Family Catholic Church in northwest suburban Inverness outside Chicago, Illinois, voiced opinions over the firing of their longtime music director, who lost his job after announcing his engagement to his male partner on social media. Many of the roughly 700 people who attended appeared to support Colin Collette, who received a standing ovation when he entered the sanctuary. According to media reports, Collette was terminated from the job he held for 17 years in late July, after being told that his same-sex relationship violates the tenets of the Catholic Church, he said. Collette has said that church leaders knew he was Gay long before he posted the announcement of his wedding plans on Facebook. Collette’s fiance, William Nifong, is a Latin teacher at Northside College Preparatory
High School in Chicago. He proposed to Collette while the two were in Rome. Kevin Keane of Bartlett, Illinois was just one of dozens of people addressing a panel that included representatives of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. According to Chicago news sources, he quit his position as cantor in protest of Collette’s firing. “He has given his entire life to the church,” Keane said, repeating a portion of his speech. “That leads me to the conclusion if he’s not fit to serve, then I am not fit to serve.” The church pastor, the Rev. Terry Keehan, organized Wednesday’s meeting “in light of the many and varied emotions that so many of you have expressed,” he wrote in Sunday’s church bulletin. He called it a “Town Hall Meeting for Listening and Respect” and described it as an opportunity to voice emotions about Collette’s departure. “Through the use of social media, the Archdiocese of Chicago has become aware that Colin has publicly endorsed a position in conflict with Church teachings,” Keehan wrote. “Employees who make such choices cannot remain employed by the Archdiocese.” Collette said this week that he has continued to attend Mass at the church and had hoped that he could be reinstated in his job as a private contractor. In a meeting with Keehan on Tuesday, Col-
courtesy of William NiFong
Catholics
Colin Collette (l) and his partner Will Nifong in Rome, where they became engaged
lette said, he was told there was no way he could return to his former job. The Archdiocese released a statement in early August when the controversy erupted, saying that it does not comment on personnel issues, but that “Pastors hire and dismiss
all parish personnel and govern according to the teachings of the church and archdiocesan policies. … Those that serve as ministers of the church, including worship ministers, are expected to conform their lives publicly with the teachings of the church.”
King County has world’s highest survival rate for cardiac arrest Philly.com
law enforcement vehicles, including with King County Sheriff ’s deputies. · High rates of CPR training for local residents. · A regional paramedic training program, funded by charitable contributions, that exceeds national standards for certification. “This is a public health victory in preventing deaths that don’t need to happen in our community, and a great example of how a community-based strategy can get it done,” said Dr. David Fleming, Director and Health Officer for Public Health - Seattle & King County.
Someone who has a cardiac arrest in King County has a greater chance of survival than anyone else in the world, according the latest analysis by county officials. The survival rate for cardiac arrest in King County hit an alltime high of 62 percent in 2013. By comparison, the cardiac survival rates in New York City, Chicago, and other urban areas have been recorded in the single digits. “People are alive today in King County who would not have survived in most other places in the country,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “Our system delivers rapid, high-quality critical care wherever you are.” King County’s success in saving lives is based in a coordinated, regional system where everyone - dispatchers, first responders, fire departments, law enforcement, para-
medics, urgent care centers, and others – is guided by consistent medical direction and evidence-based practice. The cardiac survival rate in King County has dramatically risen over the past decade or so, from an above-average 27 percent in 2002 to 62 percent in 2013. Strategies that have contributed to the rise include: · Adoption of high-performance CPR method by emergency medical technicians to maximize oxygen circulation and increase survival chances. · Adoption of telecommunicator CPR, whereby 911 emergency personnel provide instant CPR instructions by phone. · Increasing public availability of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), including more than 100 in King County facilities, and placement of AEDs in many
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County Councilmember Kathy Lambert, Chair of the Law, Justice, Health and Human Services Committee. “It’s another great reason why we have a high quality of life in King County.” What partners are saying about King County’s EMS/Medic One system recordbreaking achievement:
“Our region’s Medic One system is the gold standard for pre-hospital care and these steadily improving survival rate statistics are a testament to our paramedics and to the community’s commitment to the Medic One Foundation,” said Jan Sprake, Executive “We like to say that it takes a system to save a Director for the Medic One Foundation. cardiac arrest victim, and it’s proven true again and again with every new survivor,” said Dr. “King County’s achievement is an incrediMickey Eisenberg, King County Emergency ble victory. The American Heart Association Medical Services Medical Director. “I thank has always been an advocate for community everyone for their contributions to the success CPR training, AED placement in the comof our EMS/Medic One system.” munity, and research-based techniques for effective CPR. We are thrilled to see that all Introduced in Seattle in 1970, the Medic of us working together is resulting in even One program was one of the first in the na- more lives saved in our region,” said Cheryl tion to provide paramedic services; the pro- Dale, Executive Director, American Heart gram spread to all of King County starting Association Puget Sound Division. in 1973. Our EMS/Medic One program has More about King County’s world-class become a model nationwide for delivery of EMS/Medic One system at www.kingcounlifesaving first-responder services. ty.gov/health/ems. In recognition of EMS/Medic One system’s excellence, King County Executive Dow Constantine and the King County Council today proclaimed the week of May 19-25 as Emergency Medical Services Week in King County.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in King County operates in a coordinated partnership with five dispatch centers, six paramedic providers, and 30 fire departments. Funded through a countywide Medic One/EMS Levy, the EMS system utilizes a layered-response system providing a continuum of care for peo“I am so proud of our King County EMS. ple in need of emergency medical services. Their commitment to outstanding service and adaptation of technology is what led Courtesy of Public Health – to this new higher survival rate,” said King Seattle & King County
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I’m having doubts Dear Kiki with D, I’ve been in a relationship for six months now and told my boyfriend that I love him. He had said that he loved me three times, but then out of the blue he tells me that he needs to take a step back and evaluate what he is truly feeling. I instantly got a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach when he said that. I thought that he was just scared because these feelings are new to him. I tried to be understanding and patient, but in doing so I have created a lot of doubt about whether or not I want to continue with this relationship. He has told me that he loves me, but I don’t know if it’s genuine or if he says it to make me happy and to keep me around. I try to explain how I am feeling or what I am going through in trying to get past what he had said to me, but I can’t help having those doubts in the back of my mind. I find myself being very hesitant about moving forward in this relationship because I don’t want to invest if he’s just going to tell me that he wants to take a step back again. My friends say that I should just break it off with him, but I care very much for him and I don’t want to lose him. I truly love this guy. I just need some advice on how to get past this doubt that is keeping me from moving forward. –Insecure in Seattle
Dear Insecure in Seattle, Find out what he means when he says he wants to take a step back. If he simply wants to refrain from saying “I love you” until he knows he’s in it for the long haul, that’s fine. You’ve only been together for six months, which is a short amount of time. As long as he wants to keep showing up and getting to know you, you’re good. If taking a step back means that he wants to be less committed than he is now, break things off. At this point in the relationship, he shouldn’t want less of you. He should want to figure you out. He should be smitten. His intentions are more important than whether he’s ready to say those three words. Go ask him for some clarity. Remember, communication is the key to any successful relationship. Be clear and concise about how you are feeling and ask him to do the same. Don’t let a miscommunication ruin a good thing as long as the commitment is there. Hope this helps. Remember be true to you, love yourself, encourage yourself and others. –D
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Lebanese police arrest 27 in raid on Beirut bathhouse by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
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sexual rights and liberties of the individuals involved and we call on the General Prosecutor and Hbeish police station to respect the dignity of the detainees and their rights to their (sexual) bodies. “We also specifically denounce the use or the implication of use of anal tests and we want to stress the physical and mental harm that such treatment could cause. “We call for the immediate release of all the detainees from under charges which
violate their sexual and bodily rights and integrity. We will follow up on the cases as needed.” Anal probes have been used in Lebanon and other Arab countries to torture and humiliate men accused of being Gay. The practice is now illegal in Lebanon, and Colonel Haddad assured local activists that police had not used it on the detainees. None were subjected to any physical or verbal violence or abuse, the colonel added. Georges Azzi
Police in Beirut, Lebanon have arrested 27 men in a raid on a bathhouse said to be a hook-up site for Gay men. The British newspaper Gay Star News said it had received the report from LGBT organizations in Lebanon. “The incident came to our attention on Monday night (11 August) and we initiated an investigation of the reasons behind the raid and the status of the detained,” Gay Star News quoted a statement from the groups. “We were able to confirm the arrest of 27 men who were present at the venue. “Among the arrested men were the owner of the Hammam [bathhouse], the employees and several clients. All the men were still held in custody at Hbeish police station at the time this press release was written, four days following their arrest. “According to the information that Col. Haddad provided us with (and which we cannot confirm beyond his words), Hbeish personnel investigated the detainees and their files have been transferred to the General Prosecutor awaiting charges.” According to Gay Star News, the groups issuing the statement included Helem, Arab Foundation for Freedom and Equality (AFE), M-Coalition, Marsa Sexual Health Clinic, and the Lebanese Medical Association for Sexual Health (LebMASH). The raid took place on August 9 and was carried out by the Lebanese Internal Security
Forces, or national police. The target was the privately-owned Agha Hammam baths in the Hamra-Concord area in central Beirut. According to Colonel Tony Haddad from the Hbeish police station, the raid followed the arrest of an individual who identified the bathhouse as a hook-up venue for Gay men. According to Lebanese activists, Lebanese General Prosecutor Bilal Dinnawi said he is not interested in charging the detainees under article 534, the law which criminalizes Gay sex, but he may charge them with public indecency, under article 521 of the penal code. In January, a Lebanese judge ruled that Article 534 is unenforceable and cannot be used against Gays because Gay sex does not “contradict the laws of nature” as stated in the law. His ruling has not been taken as generally applicable, however. Activists said they were able to contact the arrested men. “We made contact with the detainees who expressed their discomfort and confusion regarding the process of the investigation and the charges,” the Lebanese groups said. “It has also come to our attention that at the time of the raid no public sexual act was taking place at Agha Hammam, and the investigation at the police station revolved mainly around the detainees’ alleged (homo)sexuality. “We denounce this incident as a case of homophobic practice that aims to police the
Human rights activists rally in Beirut in 2013
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