Celebrating 43 Years! Issue 34 Volume 45
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Seattle Gay News
Grays Harbor Pride Festival incident
Bar owner accused of making threats and filing for a permit to hold anti-LGBTQ protest in response to the annual celebration
Jenny Durkan receives sole endorsement from Teamsters Joint Council No. 28 and Washington State Council of County and City Employees
Grays Harbor Pride Festival 2017 – Photo courtesy of Grays Harbor Pride Festival
by Shaun Knittel SGN Staff Writer The organizers of Grays Harbor Pride are proud of the work they do each year, to promote awareness of the LGBTQ community, foster good relations with allies, and
they are particularly proud of the message they send to the youth about community, love and acceptance. What started out as a crazy idea (would anyone support an LGBTQ Pride Festival in the area?) has turned
see GRAYS HARBOR page 4
Jenny Durkan greets supporters on election night – Photo by Nate Gowdy
Continuing to grow support from working families, former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan announced the endorsement of the Washington State Council of County and City Employees including AFSCME Local
2083, and the Teamsters Joint Council No. 28, which is the umbrella organization of 12 local unions representing more 50,000
see DURKAN page 4
ST. LOUIS: Car hits three Health experts sue to at vigil for trans woman block I-27 from ballot killed by police, minor Initiative would ban safe injection sites injuries, driver arrested
A mock safe consumption space in Seattle – Photo courtesy of Safe Shape
People gather to honor Kiwi Herring – Photo by Willis Ryder Arnold/St. Louis Public Radio
Courtesy of Joe. My. God. REUTERS reports: A driver in St. Louis on Wednesday
[August 23] was taken into custody after three protesters who blocked traffic were
see VIGIL page 11
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A lawsuit challenging I-27 – a King County initiative that would ban Supervised Consumption Spaces (SCS) – was filed on August 21 by a coalition of public health experts and families of people who
have died from drug overdoses. SCS are public health facilities where people with substance abuse issues can use drugs in a clean and safe environment and also have access to treatment. The opening of two pilot SCS programs
see OPIATES page 5
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Editor in Chief George Bakan Associate Editor Shaun Knittel Travel Editor George Bakan Copy Editor Rick McKinnon (since Dec. 2013) Advertising Department George Bakan, Maggie Bloodstone and MK Scott National Advertising Rep. Rivendell Media (212) 242-6863 Staff Writers Mike Andrew, Sara Michelle Fetters, Miryam Gordon, Shaun Knittel, Albert Rodriguez Contributing Writers Rev. Barbara Allen, Ron Anders, Eric Andrews-Katz, Madelyn Arnold, Alice Bloch, Maggie Bloodstone, Beau Burriola, Sharon Cumberland, Jessica Davis, Tina Gianoulis, Anthony Greer, Milton W. Hamlin, Nevin Jefferson, Richard Kennedy, Liz Meyer, Jason A. Miller, Jesse Monteagudo, David Nguyen aka Teriyaki Temple, Rod Parke, Don Paulson, Jerry Peerson, Jessica Price, Scott Rice, Leslie Robinson, MK Scott, Gaysha Starr, Paul Torres, Janice Van Cleve, Ed Walsh, James Whitely, Scott Wittet, Rex Wockner Calendar Editors Mike Andrew and Rick McKinnon
The “Lost Cause” and its monuments
Classifieds Rick McKinnon Photographers Nate Gowdy, Joseph P. Herron, Shaun Knittel, James Whitely Production Liz McCarty Website Designer Barry Thorsness / Digital Team Works Seattle Gay News is published weekly by Frogs and Ink, Inc. © 2017, Frogs and Ink, Inc., all rights reserved. Reprints by permission. Publication of names, photographs or likeness of any person, organization, event or business in this publication cannot be taken as any indication of the sexual orientation of the person, organization, event or business. Opinions expressed in bylined articles, columns, and letters are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff or management of this paper. Seattle Gay News welcomes unsolicited material, including letters to the editor, but reserves the right to edit or reject material. All rights revert to authors upon publication. We assume no liability for loss or damage of materials, solicited or not. We invite feedback, please write. And please play safe. It is our policy that no money shall be refunded if you choose to cancel your ad. Credit will be given for the balance owed. No exceptions.
In Loving Memory Of Steve Foiles, Scott Roger Alpert, Cookie Andrews-Hunt, James Leland Moore, Randy Peters, Lee Richeson, Shaun Shelton, Jim Tully, James Arnold
The Confederate Memorial Carving on Stone Mountain in Georgia, depicts Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson – Photo by John Bazemore/AP
by Jesse Monteagudo SGN Contributing Writer With the United State on the verge of a second civil war, it is appropriate that one of the things that divide us today is our interpretation of the first one. It seems that, though the Confederate States of America lost the American Civil War, it won the peace that followed. In 1865, slavery was abolished, the Union was restored, and the eleven rebel states were under military occupation. By 1870, though southern home rule was restored, state governments were still dominated by a combination of northern immigrants (carpetbaggers), supportive southern whites (scalawags) and newlyfreed, newly-enfranchised Black men. Confederate veterans like Nathan Bedford Forrest, their former leadership roles now held by Blacks – Mississippi’s Hiram Revels was appointed to the Senate seat once held by Confederate President Jefferson Davis – formed the first Ku Klux Klan (1865-1871) to terrorize former slaves and keep them from voting.
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Unfortunately, American Reconstruction, which sought to provide equal rights and opportunities to African-Americans in the South, did not last long. By the end of the 19th Century, white Confederate veterans and their children were once again in full control of the South. Though they could not restore slavery, they made Blacks second-class citizens, drastically restricting their right to vote and establishing a system of apartheid that we know as Jim Crow. They also imposed their interpretation of history upon both north and south, one that interpreted the War Between the States as a heroic attempt by southern whites to preserve their way of life. According to proponents of the “Lost Cause,” the antebellum South was a golden age of chivalry, a land of elegant ladies and gallant gentlemen ruling over posh plantations and mostly contented slaves. This golden age, we are told, ended with a war that killed a generation of southern white men, ravaged the South, and enfranchised freed Blacks who, according to Lost Cause proponents, were inferior to whites. The “Lost Cause” view of history dominated interpretations of the Civil War and Reconstruction during the first half of the 20th Century; in history books like Claude G. Bowers’s The Tragic Era (1929)
August 25, 2017
and in novels like Stark Young’s So Red the Rose (1934) and Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind (1936), both later made into movies. Though the Civil Rights Movement and progressive historians like Eric Foner have since changed scholarly interpretations of the Civil War and Reconstruction, there are still many who believe in the Lost Cause. As memorials to the Lost Cause, southern whites and others erected monuments to glorify the Confederacy and the men who led it. These monuments were dedicated decades after the Civil War, as justifications for Jim Crow or as big middle fingers aimed at the Civil Rights Movement and those who support it. According to a study by the Southern Poverty Law Center, there are at 1,503 symbols of the Confederacy in public spaces across the United States, including monuments and statues, flags, holidays and other observances, and the names of schools, roads, parks, bridges, counties, cities, lakes, dams, military bases, and other public works. The most famous of these monuments is the Confederate Memorial Carving in Stone Mountain, Georgia. The largest bas-relief sculpture in the world, it depicts Confederate President Davis, General Robert E. Lee and General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson on horseback. By the way, Stone Mountain is also the site of another day that lives in infamy. On November 25, 2015 a group of white men gathered on Stone Mountain to create a second Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a terrorist organization devoted to the Lost Cause. Recently a movement began to remove these monuments to a lost, and totally discredited, cause. Many view these Confederate memorials as what they really are: as monuments to racism and white supremacy. Not surprisingly, these monuments are being defended by those who still believe in the Lost Cause: members of the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and those who seem to share their views (like Donald Trump). Though removing the monuments – especially the really monumental ones, like the carving on Stone Mountain – will take time, it is a cause worth pursuing. For too long, white southern racists have dominated historical interpretations of the American Civil War. It’s time for them to admit that they lost the War: then, now and forever more.
Seattle Gay News 3
DURKAN
continued from cover active and retired members in Washington. “Jenny Durkan is by far the best candidate to fight for the tens of thousands of active and retired Teamsters in Seattle. From her days as a Teamster to fighting for better wages and working conditions alongside our members, she has a lifetime of experience of supporting working people. Jenny is the complete package when it comes to a candidate for the City of Seattle Mayor. She is a problem solver with a business sense, a working class and an impeccable legal background that will be extremely beneficial to the City of Seattle. Jenny is the clear choice to deliver results and help make Seattle more affordable while making a living wage,” said Rick Hicks, President of the
Teamsters Joint Council No. 28. “Jenny has the experience to lead our city government and advocate for our workers. We’re proud to support her because she believes in investing in our community, and she will be a strong leader who champions equality, education, living wages,
and affordable housing. We look forward to working closely with her to improve the lives of residents across Seattle,” said Chris Dugovich, President of the Washington State Council of County and City Employees, AFSCME. “One of the most demanding jobs I’ve had was as a baggage handler for Wien Air Alaska. I was a dues-paying Teamster, and this union job helped me pay for school. I know firsthand that the Teamsters and AFSCME fight every day for better wages, quality benefits, and safer conditions on the job, and I’m honored to have received the endorsement of the hardworking men and women of both the Teamsters Joint Council No. 28 and the Washington State Council of County and City Employees,” said Jenny Durkan. In addition to the endorsement of the Teamsters Joint Council No. 28 and the
Washington State Council of County and City Employees, Durkan has the support of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, Martin Luther King County Labor Council, ILWU Local 19, ILWU Local 52, Professional & Technical Employees (PTE) Local 17, Seattle Building & Construction Trades Council, Seattle Fire Fighters Local 27, the Heat and Frost Insulators and Firestop Containment Workers Local 7, UA Local 32 Plumbers and Pipefitters, Laborers 242, Ironworkers Local 86, and SEIU 775. Courtesy of Jenny for Seattle
QLaw releases The Judges’ Bench Guide
GRAYS HARBOR continued from cover
into one of the area’s most anticipated and celebrated events. Local business owners, elected officials, and more than a few hundred residents support and attend the LGBTQ-focused events that include everything from drag shows to marches. On August 19, Grays Harbor Pride Festival observed its 4th year in existence. More people than ever attended several events that had been scheduled over the weekend and the feeling that the residents of Hoquiam, Washington and the surrounding towns, truly were “proud” of the LGBTQ community that has, as of the last few years, become increasingly more visible, emboldened and, by most estimates, respected and recognized as a permanent part of the people that make up the LGBTQ and allied communities in the area. With all that positive energy flowing it is
hard to believe that hate could make its way into the festival. But according to several leaders in the Grays Harbor LGBTQ and Allied communities, hate has most definitely been on display and all signs point to one business: The Black Pearl Tavern in Hoquiam. The Black Pearl Tavern’s owners are under fire for allegedly making threats towards members of the LGBTQ community – going so far as to say that if they came to the bar on certain nights they would “leave in body bags” – purposefully closing their doors during the Sunday Pride Festival so they wouldn’t have to serve any LGBTQ folks and so much more. Just take a look at the Yelp page for the business and you will see just how bad things have become between the Pearl and the community: https:// www.yelp.com/biz/cappy-ricks-blackpearl-tavern-hoquiam. There, you will find screen shots from Facebook conversations between members of the LGBTQ community and the owners, in which they hurl in-
QLaw is happy to share the news that the Judges’ Bench Guide is here! The Judges’ Bench Guide on the LGBTQ Community and the Law is a resource for judges, lawyers, the legal community, and anyone else who would like to learn more about some of the legal issues affecting the LGBTQ community. The guide was prepared by QLaw Foundation and QLaw
Association, for the WA State Supreme Court’s Gender & Justice Commission. Special thanks go to QLaw Foundation President-Elect Isaac Ruiz, editor of the guide, for his hard work and commitment to the project, and to all of the guide’s contributors and reviewers. You can find the guide at http://www.qlaw.org/legalresources.
sults at anyone who dare give them a bad review, question them about the accusations that they tried and failed to get a permit from the City of Hoquiam to protest the Pride festival, and more. It makes for some interesting reading, but I warn you, if you are easily offended steer clear of that mess. To be clear, it is obvious that there is a problem at The Black Pearl Tavern and the rhetoric and threats that have been hurled at members of the LGBTQ community in Grays Harbor need to be taken seriously by everyone in the area – including law enforcement and local government. “Hatred in Hoquiam will NOT be tolerated,” Ceasar Hart, longtime LGBTQ activist and leader in the Grays Harbor LGBTQ community told Seattle Gay News. “Grays Harbor Pride was a truly amazing event and a great display of love and acceptance. However, there was a dark side to it that happened in the evening during the Drag Show at the 7th Street Theatre on Pride Sunday.”
Hart told SGN that The Black Pearl Tavern, which is located across the street from where one of the biggest celebrations for Pride weekend took place, closed their doors because, as Hart says the owner was quoted as saying, “they don’t serve fags.” According to several witnesses that spoke to SGN (many who did not want to be mentioned by name out of fear of what could happen to them if they spoke out) the owner who calls himself Captain Johnny also threatened bodily harm and stated LGBTQ people who entered would “leave in body bags.” Upon hearing about this, both LGBTQ and our Allies took to social media to warn people to stay safe and to not go to The Black Pearl Tavern. What happened next is classic anti-LGBTQ hate coming from people who have no issue with saying it publicly for all the world to see. The business began to reply to anyone who left a bad review or spoke out against the tavern by personally attacking them. Mary Hoover, a straight ally, says she was called an “ugly fat c*nt.” Hoover, whose son programs the music for Ceasar Hart’s wildly popular once-permonth drag show, “Small Town, Big Harts,” says she is appalled by their remarks and for threatening people. Hoover also told SGN she is equally disgusted by the actions of the business owners as they tried to obtain a permit to have an anti-LGBTQ rally for Pride weekend. The City of Hoquiam officially denied the permit because they waited too late to file for one; however, as Hart points out, “There isn’t any evidence they would’ve been granted a permit anyway because of the support that we have received from the City on this issue.” “I spoke with Hoquiam Mayor Jasmine Dickhoff and she too is disgusted by the behavior,” Hart told SGN. “She is a true LGBTQ ally and will not stand by this behavior in her town.” Hart also says that individuals were asked to file reports to the police of what was witnessed and, according to Hart, they received over 400 phone calls from LGBTQ and Allied folks alike. It is important to note, however, that there is no known active investigation of The Black Pearl Tavern. After facing such a sharp backlash and ignorantly posting anti-LGBTQ Facebook
Hoquiam’s 7th Avenue Theatre, across the street from The Black Pearl Tavern – Photo courtesy of Grays Harbor Tourism
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August 25, 2017
Celebrating 43 Years!
Drag king Ceasar Hart – Photo courtesy of Out & Proud Grays Harbor Coalition
rants, the owners of the Tavern deleted its Facebook account. Although nothing is set in stone at the moment, Hart says that he (Ceasar Hart is a Drag King) says he will organize a rally to “protest against the discriminatory actions of this business.” Sadly, Miki Cabell, Clinical Supervisor PCAP at Children’s Advocacy Center of Grays Harbor and Executive Director at Out & Proud Grays Harbor Coalition, says she was not surprised by the actions of the ownership at The Black Pearl Tavern. According to Cabell, she attended a sitin at the tavern because a member of the Transgender community, who declined to be named or gendered for this report, claimed they were treated badly by the establishment. So Cabell and a handful of others went to the tavern in April to order some drinks, have some food and be out
and visible as LGBTQ people. Cabell tells SGN that nothing out of the ordinary happened at first and they were treated better than maybe they had expected. After some time had passed and they had finished with their order of drinks, she says she walked up to who she thought was just a bartender – turns out it was the owner – and thanked him for providing the drinks and atmosphere and for hosting them. That’s when things went wrong claims Cabell. “He looked right at me and said, ‘That’s fine, but just don’t come in here on Saturday like that or you’ll get killed,” said Cabell. Stunned, she said, “Excuse me, am I to understand that you mean that you will kill me for being LGBTQ and he tried to backtrack a bit but said something equally as horrifying. He said, ‘The bikers and the vets’ would kill us.”
The irony of the situation is Cabell had a vet with her that night and, in fact, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in Grays Harbor that doesn’t know someone serving or who has served in the U.S. military. These threats, Cabell says, she knew were from him and not the so-called “biker and vet” crowd. She explained to him that as a business owner (let alone a person) he shouldn’t be saying these things and the conversation between the owner and the sit-in folks turned bad and they left. When news of this was made public last month, one of the owners, Josie F. wrote in a statement, “No matter what gender, race or sexual orientation you are, at The Black Pearl Tavern, act less than appropriate and get asked to leave. When you come back with 14 people and stick a dildo on the counter, bully and harass the establishment, you will never be allowed back. Period. The LGBTQ community has fought hard for their rights and to bully is absolutely not OK for anyone. After moving to Hoquiam this was the second bar I had been to. The Black Pearl is the oldest building in Hoquiam and has some amazing history. Try this great establishment for yourself and don’t believe the rumors. I have seen many people kicked out of this bar for unruly behavior.” Fast forward to Sunday night, Pride Sunday at Grays Harbor, and according to several witnesses, The Black Pearl owner came flying out of his front door slamming things and making noise, visibly pissed off about the drag show happening at the 7th Street Theatre nearby. “He made some claims of having to throw a woman out because she smelled fishy and other things, just really, you know, going crazy,” Cabell told SGN. “Several people saw this. Then he mentioned that if any of us decided to go into his tavern we
would be killed or leave in body bags.” “That is just too far,” she said. “I was like, ‘Whoa… this is really scary. This is getting to be too much.” The owner of The Black Pearl Tavern then closed his establishment down for the rest of the night and people began to ask around to find out what the issue was. Luckily, the Grays Harbor community is standing behind the LGBTQ community and many people – many allies – have reached out to express their anger over what has transpired. They were attacked, too. The owner of the Simpson Avenue Bar and Grill, Shelly Dixon, stood up to the bigotry and in return was called a lesbian – although she is married to a man and identifies as straight, so that would be news to her. Ceasar’s once-per-month show is presented at the Simpson Avenue Bar And Grill. Drew Paradisco, Seattle Drag Queen and LGBTQ rights advocate has been a longtime supporter of Ceasar Hart’s work in Grays Harbor and was there, as she has been in the past, to support and perform at the drag show. After hearing about the incident she reached out to the owners of The Black Pearl Tavern and was told, “Go suck a cock, you worthless leech.” At this point it is unclear what the next steps will be. Ceasar Hart says he is organizing and he has help from the community. The police have been notified and so has local government. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. But one thing is for sure, the LGBTQ or any community for that matter, cannot take lightly when threats are made such as “you will leave in body bags.” Not after Orlando. Not after Matthew Shepard. Not after The Upstairs Lounge arson fire. Throughout our history, people who make threats towards our community sometimes make good on them.
OPIATES
continued from cover was recommended by the King County Heroin and Prescription Opiate Addiction Task Force in 2016 as part of a comprehensive public health response to the region’s opiate epidemic. The task force also recommended expanded prevention programming and treatment services. In 2016, there were 332 overdoses in King County. Seventy percent involved opiates. Health officials hope that SCS will significantly reduce the number of drugrelated deaths. The coalition suing to protect SCS from I-27 calls itself Protect Public Health. Bothell City Council member Joshua Freed spearheaded the campaign to ban SCS in King County, even though he lives across the county line in Snohomish County. The sites would encourage addicts to move to the area, Freed said. On the contrary, health professionals responded. SCS programs “are proven to reduce the risk of fatal overdose and prevent transmission of HIV and hepatitis C, as well as to reduce outdoor drug use in neighborhoods,” the pro-SCS campaign said in an August 21 press release. “These spaces also promote access to chemical dependency treatment and other supportive care, and increase public safety,” the press statement continues. “Around one hundred SCSs operate currently in Australia, Europe, and Canada.” “I-27 would set a dangerous precedent for public health. Supervised Consumption Spaces are an essential tool in fighting the opiate epidemic.” Dr. Bob Wood, Director of the HIV/AIDS Program at Public HealthSeattle & King County from 1986 to 2010 and member of Protect Public Health noted, “If I-27 succeeds, other public health policies could be at risk, including vaccination requirements, needle exchange programs, or even efforts to combat sexually transmit-
Opponents of I-27 advocate for safe consumption spaces similar to Insite in Vancouver, BC – Photo courtesy of Vancouver Coastal Health
ted diseases.” Michael Roberts, who founded Amber’s HOPE after losing his daughter Amber to a heroin overdose, also opposes I-27. “My family knows much too well that people who die never have another chance,” Roberts said. “They never get to recover. I never want another parent to suffer the loss of a child. Supervised consumption spaces save lives. Treatment is of paramount importance, but we need to keep people alive if they are
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ever going to get there.” Turina James, who is in recovery from opiate addiction, said that “I-27 is the wrong approach because it forces people into unsupervised injections spaces such as bathrooms and alleys. “Since I did not have access to a sterile space and supervision. I contracted an infection that nearly cost me my arm,” James continued. “SCS finally gives people the opportunity to be safer and hopefully puts them on the road for treatment and recov-
ery.” I-27 qualified for the ballot on August 17, too late to go on the November ballot. The King County Council could vote a special exception and allow it to go to a vote in November, or it could direct it to a special election in February 2018. County Council member Kathy Lambert, a Republican, reportedly wanted to move for the November date, but the lawsuit has blocked efforts to move I-27 forward, at least temporarily.
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Celebrating 43 Years!
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White House issues guidelines for transgender military ban Pentagon ordered to enact policy within six months, lawsuits expected by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The White House issued a two-and-ahalf-page memo on August 23, ordering Secretary of Defense James Mattis to enact Donald Trump’s policy barring Trans troops within six months. It was the first official action on Transgender military service since Trump’s notorious July 26 tweets saying he would ban Trans people from the military. At the time of the tweets, the ACLU and other LGBT rights groups invited Trans service people to call on their legal services, and lawsuits are expected to follow once the Pentagon issues its rules. According to the Wall Street Journal, the White House memo allows Mattis to consider “deployabaility” as a legal means to determine whether to discharge Trans service members from the military. In other words, if Trans service people are able to serve in a war zone, or participate in military exercises, then the Pentagon can keep them in the military. A 2016 Rand Corporation study found that almost all currently serving Transgender military personnel are deployable. On the other hand, officials who spoke to WSJ about the White House memo said it also gives Mattis the power to turn away
Transgender people seeking to join the military, and to halt spending on medical treatment for those currently serving. Under rules enacted by the Obama administration, Trans people in the military were eligible for government-paid transition services, including surgery, because they were judged to be medically necessary. Trump, however, tweeted that his administration did not want to put up with what he called the “tremendous medical costs and disruption” of transition. In fact, the Rand study found that health care costs for the US military increase at most 0.13% when transition services are included. LGBT activists denounced the new Trump memo as unfair and based on bias rather than facts. “Transgender people are just as deployable as other service members,” Sue Fulton, former president of the LGBT military organization Sparta, told WSJ. “Other service members may undergo procedures when they are at home base, just as other service members schedule shoulder surgery or gall bladder surgery,” she said, adding that there were no “ongoing treatments” for transgender individuals that would cause them to be nondeployable. “Thus there’s no difference between the deployability of transgender service members” and others, Fulton added.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis – Photo by Jack Hill/Getty
Lambda Legal sues U.S. Departments of Education and Justice for documents about withdrawal of guidance on trans students
The rescinded Obama-era guidance had reaffirmed that Title IX’s ban on sex discrimination included gender identity – Photo courtesy of Lambda Legal
NEW YORK, NY – [On Tuesday, August 22] Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit to compel the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice to release information about their decision to withdraw guidance detailing the protections transgender students have under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bans discrimination in education on the basis of sex. After the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice rescinded the guidance in February, Lambda Legal filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for documents and communications on the decision to withdraw the guidance. The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice have failed to comply with the FOIA requests and have not released a single document to Lambda Legal. “The Departments of Education and Justice pulled the rug out from under transgender students, leaving them even more vulnerable to harassment and abuse. We
need to know why,” said Susan Sommer, Associate Legal Director and Director of Constitutional Litigation at Lambda Legal. “Transparency and accountability are cornerstones of our country’s democracy, and the Freedom of Information Act is a vital part of citizens’ ability to understand how the government works and hold politicians accountable. The Departments of Education and Justice cannot be allowed to flout those ideals, to devise policies behind closed doors with terrible consequences for transgender schoolchildren nationwide.” On February 22, 2017, the Departments of Education and Justice sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to public school districts withdrawing the guidance issued the previous year. Lambda Legal filed FOIA requests on March 13, 2017, for documents related to the decision, including correspondence with any groups outside the government, communications with the President’s staff, and instructions to staff about how
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to handle inquiries and complaints about discrimination, bullying and harassment based on gender identity or transgender status. Despite acknowledging receipt of the requests, the Departments of Education and Justice failed to turn over any of the documents requested by the April deadline or in response to Lambda Legal’s administrative appeals. Issued in 2016 during President Obama’s Administration, the guidance reaffirmed that Title IX’s ban on sex discrimination includes discrimination on the basis of gender identity and clarified for schools and districts their responsibilities to protect transgender students under Title IX. In addition to requiring schools to allow transgender students to use the restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity, the guidance provided clarification on name and pronoun use, privacy, dress codes and protection of students from bullying and harassment.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, is Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice. Read a copy of the complaint here: https:// www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/legal-docs/ lambda_us_20170822_complaint Lambda Legal Associate Legal Director and Director of Constitutional Litigation Susan Sommer is handling the case, joined by Avi Garbow, Joseph Vardner and Blair A. Silver of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work. Courtesy of Lambda Legal
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Hate group sues Southern Poverty Law Center Don’t call us haters, haters say by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer D. James Kennedy Ministries (DJKM) announced on August 23 that it was suing the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for defamation. SPLC had labelled DJKM an anti-LGBT hate group because of the activities of its founder, D. James Kennedy, and its current President and CEO, Dr. Frank Wright. Kennedy, who died in 2007, actively opposed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act. He also claimed that Charles Darwin provided the theoretical justification for Adolf Hitler. Wright has continued in the same vein. In its suit, DJKM alleges that SPLC illegally trafficked in false and misleading descriptions of DJKM and committed defamation against DJKM by publishing and distributing “false information” – in other words branding DJKM an anti-LGBT hate
group – that “libels the ministry’s reputation and subjects the ministry to disgrace, ridicule, odium, and contempt in the estimation of the public.” Also named as defendants in the suit are Amazon and Guidestar, an agency that researches and reports on purported charities to assist potential donors in finding reputable non-profits. Amazon and Guidestar “damaged” DJKM by “promoting” SPLC’s designation of the ministry as a hate group. According to court documents, a DJKM employee tried to register the ministry with the AmazonSmile program, a matchingfund grant program. But he was rejected because Amazon uses Guidestar to determine which charities are eligible for funds. Guidestar, in turn, notified Amazon that SPLC had designated DJKM as a hate group. Liberty Counsel, another SPLC-designated hate group, has also filed suit against Guidestar for quoting SPLC’s report on them.
Dr. Frank Wright, current president and CEO of DJKM – Photo courtesy of Sermon Audio
Louis police on Tuesday. Police said Herring attacked officers with a knife and that one officer was wounded, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported. BUSTLE reports: No reports so far have suggested that the incident that led to the driver’s arrest at the protest had anything to do with the vigil’s purpose or with Herring. After protesters had surrounded the car, they reportedly began banging on it, and the driver then pushed through the crowd and drove away. An alternative account of the incident from a protester who claimed that he witnessed it maintains that the driver raised both middle fingers and then accelerated into the group of protesters. Either way, police pulled the driver over and arrested him when he was just around the corner from the protest, and he was then charged with felony fleeing. Another car just drove into a peaceful group of progressives who were holding a vigil for a dead transgender woman. We know who is to blame. pic.twitter.com/ ID6QhexUqD – Millennial Democrats (@ Millennial_Dems) August 24, 2017 The driver of the car is now in custody – All photos by David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch
VIGIL
continued from cover hit by a car during a march for a transgender woman shot and killed by police a day
earlier, said police and local media. The driver, who was not identified by police, was taken into custody for felony fleeing, a block away from where a man and two women suffered minor injuries after they were hit by his car, said Schron
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Jackson, a spokeswoman for the St. Louis Police Department, in a statement. The injured people in St. Louis were taking part in a candlelight march for Kenny “Kiwi” Herring, a black transgender woman who was shot and killed by St.
August 25, 2017
Pix from car that drove through protesters, car stopped was surrounded, then drove through, one person ended up on hood, only minor injuries pic.twitter.com/EYNxSJARoF – David Carson (@PDPJ) August 24, 2017 Courtesy of Joe. My. God.
Seattle Gay News 11
ACLU files legal action moving Gavin Grimm case forward in district court GLOUCESTER COUNTY, VA. – [On Friday, August 11] the American Civil Liberties Union filed papers ending Gavin Grimm’s request for an immediate halt to the Gloucester County School Board’s policy prohibiting him and other transgender students from using the common restrooms at school. The new filings clear the way for the ACLU to proceed with litigating Grimm’s case in district court. “We believe that today’s filing represents the most efficient path forward to ensuring that justice is served for Gavin,” said Josh Block, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project. “Gavin graduated from high school before his simple request to his school board to treat him like every other boy could be validated, but this case is far from over. We’ll continue to move forward so that Gavin’s rights are vindicated and so that we can ensure that no other transgender students in Gloucester County have to go through what Gavin went through.” For the past three years, the ACLU has represented Grimm in a lawsuit challenging the school board’s discriminatory policy prohibiting boys and girls who are transgender from using the common student restrooms and forcing them to use separate facilities. Grimm had sought an immediate
preliminary injunction ordering the school board to stop enforcing its policy against him while his case proceeded. The landmark transgender rights case briefly made its way to the Supreme Court earlier this year before eventually being sent back down to lower courts for reconsideration following the Trump administration’s withdrawal of a Title IX guidance clarifying protections for transgender students. Arguments at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had previously ruled in Grimm’s favor, were originally scheduled for September. But the Fourth Circuit recently cancelled those arguments and asked the trial court to hold additional hearings to determine whether Grimm still needs an immediate injunction now that he has graduated from high school. The ACLU has now withdrawn that request for an immediate injunction. The filing today instead continues to seek a more permanent injunction halting the school board’s implementation of their anti-trans restroom policy, as well as continuing to seek nominal damage claims on behalf of Grimm. “Our fight to have our rights and dignity respected as trans people didn’t end just because I graduated from high school. I am in
Gavin Grimm – Photo by Scout Tufankjian/ACLU
this for the long haul, and I remain hopeful that my case will help make sure that other transgender students are able to attend school safely and without discrimination,” said Grimm.
This statement is at: https://www.aclu. org/news/aclu-files-legal-action-movinggavin-grimm-case-forward-district-court Courtesy of the ACLU
Groups launch “Freda Fairness, a Farmer for the People” at Kentucky State Fair to counter “Freddy Farm Bureau”
“Freda Fairness” at the Kentucky State Fair – Photo courtesy of Fairness Campaign
12 Seattle Gay News
August 25, 2017
LOUISVILLE, KY – Pro-Fairness groups at the Kentucky State Fair on Thursday [August 24] launched “Freda Fairness, a Farmer for the People,” to counter the Kentucky Farm Bureau’s mascot “Freddy Farm Bureau.” Created by Squallis Puppeteers, “Freda Fairness” went to meet with her cousin, “Freddy,” at the Country Ham Breakfast to share her disappointment with the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation’s discriminatory policies that are anti-LGBTQ, anti-union, anti-teacher, anti-choice, and pro-death penalty. “Freda” and dozens of protesters greeted people walking into the breakfast, where she even joined an impromptu press conference by Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin. (See Fairness Campaign Facebook page for video.) Though “Freda” had a ticket to the ham breakfast, she was escorted out of the buffet area by a cadre of Kentucky State Troopers. (See Fairness Campaign Facebook page for video.) “Freda Fairness” will have an enduring presence on social media and at public events to raise awareness of the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation’s discriminatory policies. She can be followed on Facebook and Twitter @FredaFairness. This marks the sixth year the Fairness Campaign, American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky (ACLU-KY), Jefferson County Teachers Association (JCTA), and Louisville Showing Up for Racial Justice (LSURJ) have protested KFB’s policies at their annual breakfast. Unbeknownst to most customers, Kentucky Farm Bureau Insurance charges an automatic fee to become a member of the company’s 501(c)4 lobbying arm, which spent nearly $140,000 last year on the Kentucky General Assembly. Elected officials are mailed copies of the company’s policy booklet, which details the organization’s discriminatory stances, but it is not sent to paying customers. A full copy of the 2017 Kentucky Farm Bureau Policy Book can be downloaded at www.Fairness.org.
Below is a list of some of the policies opposed by the Fairness Campaign and its allies. KY Farm Bureau 2017 Policies & Page Numbers: • The institution of marriage should only be recognized as the legal union of a man and a woman. (p. 13) • We are opposed to any state-supported agency providing benefits to “domestic” partners. (p. 14) • We strongly believe in the value of all individuals both born and unborn. (p. 14) • We strongly oppose teacher strikes. We oppose legislation that mandates collective bargaining for public school employees. (p. 63) • Alternative lifestyles should not be taught in public schools. (p. 64) • We support the enactment of right-towork legislation. (p. 79) • We oppose an increase in the minimum hourly wage. (p. 79) • We recommend the federal prevailing wage law be repealed when dealing with government contracts. (p.79) • We strongly oppose any mandate that would require any government entities to recognize and collectively bargain with employee unions. (p. 79) • Furthermore, we oppose public employees being permitted to strike, organize work stoppage or slow-downs. (p. 79) • We oppose unionization of farmers and farm laborers. (p. 79) • We support capital punishment. (p. 92) Founded in 1991, the Fairness Campaign is Kentucky’s broad-based community effort dedicated to equal rights for lesbian gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Its primary goal is comprehensive civil rights legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and to dismantle systemic racism – www.Fairness.org; Facebook. com/FairnessCampaign
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