Issue 49 Volume 39
Celebrating 38 Years!
FRIDAY December 9, 2011 FREE! 25¢ in bookstores & news stands
REACTION TO CLINTON p. 6 BELGIAN GAY LEADER p. 19 TORI AMOS p. 25
Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
New crimes come to “Gay rights are human rights and light as community human rights are Gay rights.” mourns Vega murder Clinton gives stunning speech to United Nations
we were angry. Angry that the killers of Danny Vega – an icon in the Filipino comSome of us gathered at the munity and an out Gay business Church of Hope on Sunday after- owner in the Rainier Valley – have noon in the Columbia City neighsee vega page 20 borhood of South Seattle because by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor
Anja Niedringhaus, AP
courtesy Nhan Thai
Nhan Thai
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered what is almost certainly the most important speech ever given by a U.S. official on LGBT rights, before the United Nations in Geneva on December 6. “Like being a woman, like being a racial, religious, tribal, or ethnic minority, being LGBT does not make you less human,” she said. “And that is why Gay rights are human rights and human rights are Gay rights.” Several U.N. delegates reportedly fled the hall as Clinton concluded her remarks. Those who remained gave her a standing ovation. The speech was made in advance of International Human Rights Day, December 10. On the same day, President Obama issued a directive to U.S. officials ordering “all agencies ensee Clinton page 7
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton shakes hands after her speech on human rights issues at United Nations headquarters in Geneva.
Zach Silk
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor
Experienced political consultant Zach Silk has been hired to serve as the campaign manager for Washington United for Marriage, the coalition of organizations, congregations, unions, and businesses working together to secure civil marriage in 2012 for loving, committed Gay and Lesbian couples in Washington state. According to officials, Silk, who is a straight ally and is a selfproclaimed “happily married man with two kids,” has a range of organizing, communication, and state legislative experience earned as an environmental advocate and as a campaign manager in Washington state. “I’ve been working in progressive politics most of my career,” Silk, 36 years old and a Washington resident since 2001, told Seattle Gay News. “I’ve always been interested in striving for positive social change.” He said that, by accepting the position of campaign manager, he has been “given the opportunity to make a big difference in pursuing
file photo
Courtesy zach silk
Washington United for Marriage U.S. will protect LGBT rights worldwide, hires campaign manager Obama directive says
President Barack Obama
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
President Obama issued an unprecedented directive to all federal agencies on December 6 ordering them to work to promote and protect LGBT rights in foreign countries. The presidential memorandum see manager page 21
directed “all agencies engaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons.” Among the steps required by the memorandum are active efforts to see rights page 21
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Seattle Gay News
December 9, 2011
Celebrating 38 Years!
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Three Wings, Seattle youth project, gets $100,000 grant by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor On December 1, Liberty Hill Foundation announced $500,000 in grants to LGBTQ youth in an effort to end violence against LGBTQ communities and advance safety, self-determination, and justice for LGBTQ youth. The five grants will be made through the Queer Youth Fund, one of Liberty Hill’s donor advised funds. Five community organizations from around the country will each receive $100,000 multi-year grants, according to officials. In an era in which violence against LGBTQ communities is on the rise, the Queer Youth Fund grants represent a significant effort to turn the tide. The Queer Youth Fund was established in 2002 and has been housed since 2003 at Liberty Hill, one of the nation’s leading social justice foundations. It gives substantial multi-year grants to small youth-led organizations that promote equality and justice for LGBTQ individuals under 24. So far, more than $3.5 million has been awarded to groups in 21 states and Canada. Each grant is $100,000 and paid out over three to five years. The 2011 Queer Youth Fund grantees are Brown Boi Project (Oakland, CA); Colorado Anti-Violence Program (Denver, CO);
Publication of names, photographs or likenesses 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 subscription or ad. However, credit towards any size ad will be given for the balance owed. No exceptions.
Make the Road New York (Brooklyn, NY); The Theatre Offensive (Cambridge, MA); and Three Wings (Seattle, WA). “Each year, I am awed by the extraordinary courage and abilities of the young people in organizations awarded Queer Youth Fund grants,” co-founder Weston Milliken said. “These young leaders are helping to advance full equality for all Americans and it is an honor to support their passion for social justice work.” Three Wings (TW) is a non-profit created by Queer Youth Space to create a permanent, physical space for Queer youth on Capitol Hill. TW envisions a local community where all people are treated equal regardless of their sexuality and gender and where young people are viewed as wise and capable leaders of that movement. TW seeks to open a safe, inclusive, allages cultural arts venue and workspace in Seattle’s Capitol Hill that fosters and supports Seattle’s Queer youth community. Recognizing a cultural shift among young people to more fluid identities, TW will be the nation’s first organization to embrace an expansive view of Queer that involves all people who seek to eliminate heterosexism. Governed by a youth-led Board of Directors and staff, TW integrates wellness and cultural arts as key aspects of organizational and
community health. TW is a new model in youth development for Seattle that will help improve current programs and services for young people and the LGBT community. In addressing the educational and health disparities of Queer youth, TW moves beyond a dedicated safe space to propose a liberation space where systems of oppression are actively addressed within a dedicated venue and community-wide. TW ambitiously builds a competent community and views young people as wise and capable leaders of this effort. The TW space will be characterized by three wings of operation: cultural activism, wellness services, and community-based research and education. WING 1 – Cultural Activism Lab: responds to current youth demands and local culture by offering a Queer venue replete with a café, arts and cultural gallery, performance/class space, and community organizing workrooms. The lab will serve as the face of TW and the primary function of its physical space where youth can utilize the open format to make media, socialize, and get engaged with local activism. WING 2 – Wellness Collaborative: The wellness collaborative will address disparities in the quality of life of queer people, and other compounding factors, through holistic counseling, coaching and goal-attainment partnerships, peer mediation, health/legal information and referral, academic support, classes/groups aimed at personal healing, and community wellness. WING 3 – Research & Education Institute: a think tank that builds leadership and community change through an intergenerational coalition of community researchers, advocates, and educators. The institute will produce creative media and web resources, undertake community-directed research partnerships, and provide technical assistance and consultation to schools and agencies.
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
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Seattle Gay News
December 9, 2011
Celebrating 38 Years!
ONE SURVIVOR FEELS “STRONGER TOGETHER” AT WORLD AIDS DAY The World AIDS Day Breakfast “Stronger Together” was held last Thursday at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center here in downtown Seattle. You can also read about the event in the SGN at www.sgn.org/sgnnews39_48/page3.cfm. The event featured Actress Amanda Bearse from Married with Children as the emcee, also the Seattle mayor and at least four members of the Seattle City Council as well as some noted speakers in the community. You can read about all that in the article, however, I will just add that I found the experience to be a moving one as I was moved almost to tears by the speakers and the visual presentation – I felt a real sense of “community” being a part of this event. I was seated at one of the Rosehedge/Multifaithworks tables as I had given my suggested donation to them and was a volunteer
there until I returned to work at Macy’s this past August. The event allowed me to reconnect with people I have volunteered with at Rosehedge/Multifaithworks, Gay City, and SASGCC, so that was cool. I also discovered a pleasant surprise: I was published yet again for a second time by the HIV-30 project (www.hiv-30.org). While I had my own story of living with HIV published last summer (www.hiv-30. org/page/5), I had also been asked to write a shorter two-paragraph “blurb” for publication on hardcopy postcard sized cards as part of a group of stories that were to be presented via the HIV-30 Project at this year’s World AIDS Day Breakfast. So yeah, I was pleasantly surprised when I happened to pick up one of the postcards and see that there was my story. I had quickly written this story last August then over time had forgotten about it…. So that being said, I had a fabulous time last Thursday and the World AIDS Day Breakfast was a good way for me to mark
both the 30th anniversary of the identifica- not believe that prosecuting those found in tion/naming of HIV/AIDS as well as my possession of small amounts of marijuana own 20 years (HIV-20) of being a person should be a federal priority. living with the virus. Law enforcement agents are forced to operate under scarce resources and I believe Mike L. it is irresponsible to spend those resources prosecuting the personal use of marijuana. MCDERMOTT’S VIEWS ON Far more pressing problems demand attenMARIJUANA POSSESSION tion. I think marijuana use for non-medical reasons is a bad idea, and I would discourThe following letter was written by Jim age anyone from using it, but I don’t believe McDermott in response to a letter asking making it a crime has been a useful or just about possession of marijuana. policy. If you are interested in following a particThank you for contacting me about re- ular piece of legislation through the legislapealing the federal laws prohibiting the tive process, the website hosted by the Lipossession of marijuana. I appreciate you brary of Congress at http://thomas.loc.gov taking the time to write, and I welcome this is extremely helpful. It provides a wealth of opportunity to respond. information about legislation under considI have contacted Representative Barney eration in the current Congress as well as Frank’s office and requested to be added bills introduced in earlier sessions. The site as a co-sponsor of H.R. 2306, the Ending is called Thomas to honor President ThomFederal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011. as Jefferson and his belief in public access I share your concern about the problems to the workings of government. associated with marijuana in regards to enAgain, thank you for contacting me. I forcing drug laws, creating a black market welcome your views, and look forward to for illegal drugs, and punishing drug users hearing from you in the future. who need treatment. Federal law enforcement should concentrate its efforts on meaJim McDermott sures that truly protect the public, and I do
LGBT movement shows Year-end celebration of the renewed stability, growth Seattle LGBT Commission’s by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Following a steep 25% decline in revenue from 2008 to 2009, the finances of organizations working in the LGBT movement stabilized in 2010, according to a new report by the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) released December 6. Growing revenue from corporations, bequests, fundraising events, and inkind giving helped organizations’ revenue outpace spending in 2010. Yet the number of individual donors fell by 12% from 2009 to 2010, and their total contributions fell by 14%, raising concerns because such contributions comprise the greatest source of organizational revenue. The 2011 National LGBT Movement Report examines 40 leading organizations in the national LGBT movement comprising 71% of the budgets of all LGBT social justice organizations. It is available at www.lgbtmap.org/2011-national-lgbt-movementreport. “The finances of LGBT movement organizations appear to be stabilizing despite the difficult economic climate,” said Ineke Mushovic, executive director of MAP. “However, while most revenue streams are increasing, organizations are seeing continued drops in individual donors. Finding ways to reach the 97% of LGBT adults who do not give to these organizations is becoming a more urgent priority.” Among the report’s key findings: • The overall financial health of the LGBT movement remains strong. Combined 2010 revenues exceeded expenses by $4.6 million, a reversal from 2009, when expenses outstripped revenues by nearly the same amount. In addition, organizations are projecting expense budget increases of 13% for 2011, after reducing expenses 8% from 2009 to 2010 and 7% the year prior. • Organizational revenue has stabilized in the last year. Revenue including in-kind contributions increased by 1% from 2009 to 2010, compared to a 20% drop from 2008 to
2009. Excluding in-kind contributions, revenue dropped 2% in the last year, compared to 25% the prior year. • Contributions from individual donors dipped 14% in 2010, and foundation contributions also declined slightly (2%). However, increases in corporate giving (41%), bequests (30%), in-kind contributions (12%), event revenue (6%) and revenue from other sources (126%) offset these declines. • Less than 3% of LGBT adults give to national LGBT organizations – a troubling figure given that individual donors are organizations’ largest sources of revenue, providing 35% of organizations’ funding. Adding to the concern, the 10 largest antiGay organizations spent almost three times as much as all 40 participating LGBT advocacy organizations in 2010 ($330.4 million versus $126.8 million). • Fundraising operations continue to be efficient. Only 11% of expenses are spent on fundraising, and 79% go directly to programs and services, surpassing benchmarks of the American Institute of Philanthropy and the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance. • LGBT organizations’ paid staff is roughly representative of the broader U.S. population, with 32% identifying as people of color and 48% identifying as women. Six percent of staff identify as Transgender. “The advances of the past few years – from marriage to open military service to non-discrimination laws and legal protections for LGBT families – show a thriving and successful LGBT movement,” said Jason Franklin, executive director of Bolder Giving, an organization working to inspire people to increase their charitable giving. “To protect these gains and build on that progress, LGBT people and allies must renew their commitment to, and investment in, the organizations doing this work.” Founded in 2006, the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) is an independent think tank that provides rigorous research, insight, and analysis that help speed equality for LGBT people.
accomplishments scheduled
“The finances of LGBT movement organizations appear to be stabilizing despite the difficult economic climate.”
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor The Seattle LGBT Commission will host a free evening event to celebrate the Commission’s accomplishments in 2011 and to review and help plan its goals for 2012 on December 13 from 5:30 to 7 p.m., at Kaladi Brothers Coffee (511 E. Pike St.). The LGBT Commission enjoyed a successful and eventful year in 2011. Among its major accomplishments, the Commission completed the Seattle Snapshot, a citywide needs-assessment survey to identify the most important issues facing Seattle’s LGBT community, and successfully advocated for Transgender-inclusive health care coverage for city employees. “2011 was a banner year,” said Mac McGregor, co-chair of the commission. “We are especially pleased to finish 2011 with the city’s passage of inclusive health benefits and to start January 2012 with those essential benefits in effect citywide for many employees.” The LGBT Commission is developing its upcoming work plan and goals for 2012 and welcomes suggestions and input from the community. Based on the issues identified in the Snapshot survey, the Commission intends to focus on promoting the creation
of an LGBTQ community center as part of the Capitol Hill light-rail station; advocating for an economic empowerment initiative for Seattle’s Transgender community; supporting the push for marriage equality in Washington state; fostering better understanding between Seattle’s LGBTQ community and the Seattle Police Department; and working to address the issues facing homeless youth. “The Snapshot survey provided reliable data about the needs of Seattle’s LGBT community,” said David Howenstine, cochair of the LGBT Commission. “We are excited to build on that data, in conjunction with ongoing community feedback, to work with Mayor McGinn, the City Council, community leaders, and the public to implement concrete solutions to make Seattle a better city for all LGBT people.” According to commission officials, the event will provide an opportunity for LGBT community members and the general public to mix and mingle with commissioners, city officials, and community leaders; discuss and help plan the commission’s goals for 2012; and celebrate the commission’s accomplishments in 2011. Brief remarks will begin at 6:15 p.m. and the commission will provide snacks and non-alcoholic beverages. Additional food and drinks will be available for purchase from Kaladi Brothers Coffee. The event is free and open to the public. The Seattle Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Commission advises the mayor, City Council, and city departments about sexual minority issues, recommends policies and legislation, brings the LGBT communities and the larger Seattle community together through long-range projects, and ensures that city departments fairly and equitably address LGBTQ concerns as individuals and as a protected class. For more information about the commission, visit www.seattle.gov/LGBT.
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International reaction to Clinton’s U.N. speech Compiled from the Council for Global Equality
right now.”
Santiago Eder from Colombia Diversa “It was extremely important that the Secretary of State of the United States of America introduced the concept that ‘Gay rights Arvind Narrain from the Lawyers Collective in India are human rights and human rights are Gay “The Secretary made a passionate case for rights.’ It was a very symbolic and historic LGBT rights as Gay rights while being very moment for the Gay liberation movement.” culturally sensitive. The generosity of menPauline Kimani of the tioning the gains in South Africa, Brazil, InGay and Lesbian Coalition dia, and Nepal conveyed a wider sense of of Kenya ownership of these issues.” “I really appreciated the speech. I loved the introspective parts and believe that the Sass Rogando Sasot from consultative process with these activists on Society of Transsexual the ground that was started today will conWomen of the Philippines “The sincerity and courage of Secretary tinue for a lifetime!” Clinton is an invitation for us to make the Adrian Jjuuko, Civil Society dignity of our common humanity the center Coalition on Human Rights and goal of our politics. Her speech is anand Constitutional Law, other step towards a world that’s more inUganda clusive, fair, and compassionate.” “It was a very powerful speech … relevant in the context of Uganda. Coming from the Polina Savchenko from stature of HC, it amplifies our voices for the Russian LGBT Network “Secretary Clinton’s point about ‘hon- equality much much further. I’m sure its imest discussion’ is particularly important for pact will be felt for years to come.” Russia because we suffer from extreme The Rev. MacDonald ignorance. Discussion is shut down in our Sembereka of the Malawi country. Her message about decriminalizaNetwork of Religious tion was also very important in our country Reactions from LGBT activists who were on hand to witness the speech included these:
Leaders Living with HIV/AIDS “First and foremost, thank you Hillary Clinton and the U.S. government for starting a global discussion like never was done before. To me this has been a speech that touched all aspects of a discussion that we need to have globally. She covered all the pros and cons – and now the global discussion begins. I hope that the rest of the world takes it up.” Anastasia Danilova of Gender DOC-Moldova “It was a very important speech for Moldova because we have no political will or support in our country for the human rights of LGBT people. That is why it is so important to have the high level of Hillary Clinton’s support for LGBT rights and freedoms. Personally, it was very empowering for her to talk about the importance of us – the LGBT activists.”
This makes a difference for people all over the world. For us in Croatia, the mention of freedom of assembly was very important, since these rights are violated, as during Gay pride demonstrations this year.” Zoryan Kis of Fulcrum, Ukraine “It was very exciting to really witness the history that Secretary Clinton said we are on the right side of. For the Ukrainian LGBT community the message that ‘we are not alone’ was so important to hear. The other message about the evolution of opinions and how Clinton’s own understanding has developed was really helpful to our work. We cannot persuade people through accusations, but we have to work to help our society understand and accept LGBT rights.”
J-FLAG Representative, Jamaica “I was so honored to be a part of this moAlice N’kom of ment in history. The central thing that stuck ADEFHO, Cameroon out for me is that progress begins with hon“I am so honored and privileged to be a est conversation. That is key for us at home part of this historical message. As a defend- in Jamaica to begin more rational, honest er of women’s human rights, it felt like it did conversations about the rights of our people, after the Beijing conference on women – the including LGBT.” Secretary had the same impact on LGBT human rights today as she did with women’s Vladimir Simenko of rights in Beijing. This makes our struggle a the Lithuanian Gay League success. We will win, as we won in Beijing. “Personally, as an human rights watchdog And I hope my country and I will be a part for two decades, I sometimes feel frustrated. of this side of history.” But when I heard Hillary Clinton say that we have friends and partners abroad, I really Sanja Juras of felt that we are not alone. I truly feel motiKontra, Croatia vated and inspired. We will use this message “It was certainly a very important speech for our struggle – and hope that our governand crucial that such a high official sent the ment does too.” message that LGBT rights are human rights.
U.S. Education Department Victory for Trans employee releases analysis of state fired by Georgia legislature bullying laws and policies by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor On December 6, the U.S. Department of Education released Analysis of State Bullying Laws and Policies, a new report summarizing current approaches in the 46 states with anti-bullying laws and the 41 states that have created antibullying policies as models for schools. The report shows the prevalence of state efforts to combat bullying over the last several years. From 1999 to 2010, more than 120 bills were enacted by state legislatures from across the country to either introduce or amend statutes that address bullying and related behaviors in schools. Twenty-one new bills were enacted in 2010 and eight additional bills were signed into law through April 30, 2011. Out of the 46 states with anti-bullying laws in place, 36 have provisions that prohibit cyber-bullying and 13 have statutes that grant schools the authority to address off-campus behavior that creates a hostile school environment. “Every state should have effective bullying prevention efforts in place to protect children inside and outside of school,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “This report reveals that while most states have enacted legislation around this important issue, a great deal of work remains to ensure adults are doing everything possible to keep our kids safe.”
The first Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention Summit, hosted in August 2010 by the department and other federal agencies, exposed an information gap regarding antibullying laws and policies across the country. The summit brought together government officials, researchers, policymakers, and education practitioners to explore strategies to combat bullying in schools. To address this information gap and respond to requests for technical assistance, the department composed Anti-Bullying Policies: Examples of Provisions in State Laws, a guidance document outlining common key components of state anti-bullying laws. Following the summit, the Department’s Policy and Program Studies Service contracted researchers to compile the analysis on state laws and policies. In preparing the report, researchers reviewed and coded legislation and policy documents in every state across the country along with an additional sample of 20 local school districts. The report sought to address the extent to which states’ bullying laws and model policies contained the key components identified in the December guidance. A follow-up study will aim to identify how state laws translate into practice at the school level. To learn about more key findings and to read the full report, visit www2.ed.gov/ about/offices/list/opepd/ppss/reports. html#safe.
An 11th Circuit Court of Appeals panel has unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that the Georgia General Assembly discriminated against Vandy Beth Glenn when it fired her after she told her supervisor that she planned to transition from male to female. The decision was announced on December 6. Writing for the three-judge panel, Judge Rosemary Barkett said that gender nonconformity is protected by the U.S. Constitution. “An individual cannot be punished because of his or her perceived gender-nonconformity,” Barkett wrote. “Because these protections are afforded to everyone, they cannot be denied to a transgender individual. … A person is defined as Transgender precisely because of the perception that his or her behavior transgresses gender stereotypes. “We conclude that a government agent violates the Equal Protection Clause’s prohibition on sex-based discrimination when he or she fires a Transgender or Transsexual employee because of his or her gender nonconformity.” Glenn worked for two years in the General Assembly’s Office of legislative counsel. She loved her job, she says, but living as a male was increasingly painful and distressing for her, since she had a longstanding identification as a woman. Glenn’s health care providers diagnosed her with Gender Identity Disorder (GID) and agreed that gender transition was necessary for her health and well-being. In 2007, Glenn informed her immediate supervisor, Beth Yinger, that she planned to proceed with her transition from male to female, and showed Yinger photographs of herself in professional female attire.
Yinger passed the information on to her boss, the General Assembly’s Legislative Counsel, Sewell Brumby. After confirming that Glenn intended to transition, Brumby fired her. Brumby conceded in court papers that Glenn’s “intended feminine appearance” contributed to the termination. Lambda Legal filed suit on Glenn’s behalf in July 2008, claiming that the termination violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. Glenn was singled out, they said, due to her nonconformity with sex stereotypes and her medical condition. In July 2010, the District Court ruled that Georgia General Assembly officials violated the Constitution and discriminated against Glenn by terminating her for failing to conform to sex stereotypes. However, the District Court rejected the second Equal Protection claim that Glenn was discriminated against on the basis of her medical condition. The state appealed the case to the 11th Circuit, and argument was heard on December 1 and decided on December 6. “The court could not have been more clear: It is unfair and illegal to fire Transgender employees because their appearance or behavior transgress gender stereotypes,” said Greg Nevins, supervising senior staff attorney at Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office in Atlanta. “Employers should take note of this important ruling.” “The law is on our side, but everyone shouldn’t need a lawyer to help them fight workplace discrimination. Congress must pass the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) because we still need a federal law to tell employers unequivocally that discrimination against LGBT employees in the workplace is illegal,” Nevins added. “We are proud of Vandy Beth for standing up for her rights – her courage has helped clear the path for others.”
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Seattle Gay News
December 9, 2011
Celebrating 38 Years!
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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses the assembly during a speech entitled “Free and Equal in Dignity and Rights” at the United Nations in Geneva on December 6, 2011, ahead of the International Human Rights Day. Clinton urged an end to discrimination worldwide against Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgender individuals.
Clinton
continued from cover gaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons.” According to White House insiders cited by The New York Times, the administration’s one-two punch had been planned for months. The content of Clinton’s speech was kept secret until the last minute to avoid diplomatic complications with U.S. allies who do not share the administration’s commitment to LGBT rights. Clinton began her speech by recounting how the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted in 1947, in the wake of horrific atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis and their World War II allies. It was the sort of thing people always say at the U.N. on International Human Rights Day. But then Clinton’s speech took an unexpected turn. “Today I want to talk about the work we have left to do to protect one group of people whose human rights are still denied in too many parts of the world today,” she said. “In many ways they are an invisible minority,” she continued. “They are arrested, beaten, terrorized, even executed. Many are treated with contempt and violence by their fellow citizens while authorities empowered to protect them look the other way, or too often even join in the abuse. They are denied opportunities to work and learn, driven from their homes and countries, and forced to suppress or deny who they are to protect themselves from harm. “I am talking about Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender people.” “My own country’s record is far from perfect” Saying that she addressed this issue with “respect, understanding, and humility,” Clinton was self-critical about her own country’s record on LGBT rights. “I speak about this subject knowing that my own country’s record on human rights for Gay people is far from perfect,” she said. “Until 2003, it was still a crime in parts of
our country. Many Americans have endured violence and harassment in their own lives and for some, including many young people, bullying and exclusion are daily experiences. So we, like all nations, have more work to do to protect human rights at home.” She also acknowledged that the issue of LGBT rights “is sensitive for many people and that the obstacles rest on deeply held personal, political, cultural, and religious beliefs,” both in the U.S. and in other countries. But, she insisted, “Even though progress on this front is not easy, we cannot delay acting.” “It is a violation of human rights when people are beaten or killed because of their sexual orientation or because they do not conform to cultural norms about how men and women should look or behave,” Clinton declared. “It is a violation of human rights when governments declare it illegal to be Gay, or allow those who harm Gay people to go unpunished. “It is a violation of human rights when Lesbian or Transgender women are subjected to so-called ‘corrective rape,’ or forcibly subjected to hormone treatments, or when people are murdered after public calls for violence toward Gays, or when they are forced to flee their nations and seek asylum in other lands to save their lives. “And it is a violation of human rights when life-saving care is withheld from people because they are Gay, or equal access to justice is denied to people because they are Gay, or public spaces are out of bounds to people because they are Gay.” “Being Gay is not a Western invention. It is a human reality” Clinton specifically denounced the common excuse that same-sex attraction is a European cultural phenomenon that is foreign to African, Asian, or Middle Eastern countries. “Some seem to believe [being Gay] is a western phenomenon and therefore people outside the West have grounds to reject it. Well, in reality, Gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world,” she said. “They are all ages, all races, all faiths, they are doctors and teachers, farmers and
bankers, soldiers, and athletes, and whether we know it or whether we acknowledge it, they are our family, our friends and our neighbors. “Being Gay is not a Western invention. It is a human reality. And protecting the human rights of all people, Gay or straight, is not something that only Western governments do.” Clinton went on to praise South Africa, Colombia, Argentina, Nepal, and Mongolia for their progress in creating legal guarantees for LGBT residents. Noting that “religious belief and practice is a vital source of meaning and identity and fundamental to who we are as people,” Clinton said that “religion and culture are sources of compassion and inspiration toward our fellow human beings.” Using religion to justify anti-Gay laws, she said, is like using it to justify slavery, honor killings, or female genital mutilation. “In each of these cases we came to learn that no practice or tradition trumps the human rights that belong to all of us,” Clinton said. “A great deal of work lies before us” Invoking Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Clinton called on leaders of every country to take positive steps to erase antiLGBT discrimination, not only in law, but also in “the treatment [LGBT people] receive every day from their families, from their neighbors.” “To the leaders of those countries where people are jailed, beaten, or executed for being Gay, I ask you to consider this,” Clinton said. “Leadership by definition means being out in front of your people when it is called for. It means standing up for the dignity of all your citizens and persuading your people to do the same.” “And to people of all nations, I say supporting human rights is your responsibility too.” Clinton then outlined the Obama administration’s new initiatives supporting LGBT rights worldwide. “A great deal of work lies before us,” Clinton admitted. “But many of us have seen firsthand how quickly change can come. In our lifetimes, attitudes toward Gay people in many places have been transformed.
“Many people, including myself, have experienced a deepening of our own convictions on this topic over the years as we have devoted more thought to it, engaged in dialogues and debates, and established personal and professional relationships with people who are Gay.” “Let us be on the right side of history for our people, our nations, and future generations whose lives will be shaped by the work we do today,” she concluded. “I come before you with great hope and confidence that no matter how long the road ahead we will travel it successfully together.” “Extraordinary global leadership” Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese met with Clinton before her appearance at the U.N. and, like other LGBT rights activists, he hailed the speech. “When speaking with Secretary Clinton, I thanked her for standing beside LGBT Americans and advancing an American foreign policy that is LGBT-inclusive,” he said. “We were able to discuss how much further we have to go – at home and abroad – to secure the rights of LGBT people.” “Today, Secretary Clinton distinguished herself as a legendary champion of rights for all people, including those of us who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender,” Solmonese added in a written press statement. “In a remarkable speech to an international audience, the Secretary showed the power of American leadership that calls on the world to live up to the idea that all people are entitled to basic human rights and dignity. There is no question that the administration’s record of advancing equality for LGBT people has been enhanced by the leadership of Secretary Clinton.” “The United States showed extraordinary global leadership today by affirming the dignity of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people around the world,” NGLTF Executive Director Rea Carey added. “The presidential memorandum is the first-ever U.S. government strategy dedicated to combating the abuse of LGBT people abroad. History is being made, but more importantly, lives will be improved and even saved. “We applaud the president for this monumental step forward, and thank Secretary Clinton for taking to the world stage to send the unequivocal message that LGBT people everywhere should be able to live freely and with dignity.” National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce co-founders Justin Nelson and Chance Mitchell were among several LGBT Americans invited to witness the groundbreaking speech, and to meet with Clinton and U.N. human rights officials. “As a member of the Council on Global Equality and the economic advocate for LGBT business owners and employees in the U.S. and abroad, we are honored to have been asked to be part of such an important moment in the lives of LGBT people,” said Nelson. “From the Caribbean to Nigeria to Russia, LGBT people face not only a struggle for civil rights, but a terrifying persecution because they dare to exist. For these people, Secretary Clinton continues to be a beacon of light in a very dark time.”
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NEWS
Nigeria to punish same-sex marriages with 14-year jail terms According to the UK Guardian newspaper, a bill banning same-sex marriage was recently passed by the Nigerian senate. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation. The bill, which makes same-sex marriage punishable by a 14-year jail term, still has to be ratified by the country’s lower house before being signed by the president, Goodluck Jonathan. It also seeks to tighten existing legislation, which already outlaws Gay sex, by criminalizing anyone who witnesses or assists such marriages and making samesex public displays of affection a jailable offense. Under the new law, groups that support Gay rights would also be banned, which could negatively affect HIV/AIDS efforts. During the debate in the capital, Abuja, one senator described homosexuality as a “mental illness” to cheers of approval. Another senator said that “such elements in society should be killed,” prompting a fierce debate among Nigerian Twitter users. Many in Nigeria see the bill as a way for the government to score easy political points in a deeply religious society which is largely intolerant of homosexuality. Only 1.4% of Nigerians felt “tolerant” towards sexual minorities, according to a 2008 survey by Nigeria’s Information for Sexual and Reproductive Rights. Few dare to stand up for Gay rights in the Muslimmajority north, where homosexual acts can incur sentences of death by stoning. Much anti-Gay sentiment is rooted in perceived suspicion that it is a foreign import being foisted on the country by interfering outsiders. While threats from Western governments to cut off aid have forced other African countries to scrap proposed anti-Gay laws, it’s had the opposite effect in Nigeria, whose treasury is awash with dollars from its oil industry.
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Seattle Gay News
Pat Roque / AP
INTERNATIONAL by Scott Wittet SGN Contributing Writer
But why the focus now on banning Gay marriage? “I’ve never heard of a single Nigerian same-sex couple demanding to have marriage rights,” said Unoma Azuah, a writer and Gay rights activist. “So I am truly baffled as to why our lawmakers feel this debate is more relevant than terrorism, corruption, lack of infrastructure, and education. The whole thing reminds me of the traditional Igbo proverb that says, ‘He whose house is on fire does not go around chasing rats.’” Among rights activists, it has become a grim joke that homophobia is a rare issue that unites the country’s bickering Muslim north and Christian south. “Dead clichés like ‘God did not make Adam and Steve’ continue to get excited choruses from sedated congregations and people still declare with ignorance that ‘ho- Participants raise a giant Gay pride flag during the annual Pride March in Manila, Philippines. mosexuality is not a part of our culture,’ conveniently skimming over historical eviThe text also calls for them to “quickly human rights, and you see something like dence of the practice in the east and north of adopt and implement an action plan against this happen at a college … I came here to be the country, and blissfully unaware that the homophobia.” free … where can I go now?” origins of homophobia in our societies can Mojtaba said he was waiting for a friend only be traced to the influx of foreign reliAustralian Labor party at Seneca College in Toronto around 11:30 gions,” said Chude Jideonwo, a journalist. lifts overseas a.m. when someone he recognized from one same-sex wedding ban of his classes looked at him suspiciously. Croatia to protect Gay The Australian Labor Party has ended Moments later, the same man reappeared citizens before joining E.U., the long-standing ban on allowing Austra- with others. He beat Mojtaba while a handconcern about lian same-sex partners to marry in countries ful of students videotaped the assault. Pride attacks where Gay marriage is legal. The govern“While he hit me, he was saying things Croatia hopes to be accepted into the Euro- ment has traditionally blocked same-sex like ‘faggot,’ ‘bitch,’ and ‘Go back to your pean Union, but it first has to prove it could Australians from getting married overseas country,’” said Mojtaba. offer “genuine protection” to Gay people in by refusing to issue “certificates of nonMojtaba was able to break free when a order to become a member state in 2013. A impediment to marriage” that prove they are stranger intervened. He ran to his program resolution adopted by the European Parlia- not already married in Australia. The cer- coordinator to report what had happened. ment says in part that it is “deeply concerned tificates are issued routinely to opposite-sex “That’s when my teacher asked about my by the violence against participants in the applicants. neck. I didn’t even know I was cut because I LGBT pride march in Split on 11 June 2011 With the decision certificates will also be was in so much shock,” he said. and the inability of the Croatian authorities available to same-sex couples. Toronto police say Daniel Da Silva, 21, to protect the participants.” Australian Marriage Equality Campaign has been charged with assault with a weapCroatian authorities are urged to “inves- Director Rodney Croome noted that “Many on. tigate and prosecute the crimes committed Gay and Lesbian Australians travel overseas The assault has brought back haunting and to develop strategies for preventing to marry because they can’t marry here, but memories of life in Iran for Mojtaba. In similar incidents in the future.” when they discover the Australian govern- 2007, he was arrested, detained, and torment won’t give them the required paper- tured in custody for attending a Gay party. work, wedding plans have to be cancelled “There were about 15 of us. To scare us, and the partners concerned continue to ex- the police would pick a man from the group perience the legal and social disadvantages and bring him to the bathroom and he never of not being able to marry.” came back. Some of those people from that The CNI decision comes a day after the party, I don’t know what happened to them,” Labor Party National Conference adopted a said Mojtaba. new party policy supporting marriage equalWhen he was released several days later, ity but allowed Labor MPs a conscience Motjaba took a train from his home in Shivote on the issue. raz, Iran, to seek asylum in Turkey, where Recently, a touching, pro-Gay-marriage many persecuted Gays and Lesbians go to video from GetUp Australia went viral on escape. After a year, he came to Canada YouTube, gaining 1.6 million views in four where he is a permanent resident. days (search for “it’s time Australia”). Scotland pushes Filipino Gays march for equal marriage against discrimination On December 7 a diverse group of organiMore than 1,000 LGBTs marched in the zations from across Scottish society united Philippine capital of Manila to demand to back government plans to legalize sameequal rights, an end to discrimination, and sex marriage. Representatives from Scotmore support for an AIDS program. land’s Equality Network, the Scottish Youth Progressive Organization of Gays in the Parliament, Amnesty International, UNIPhilippines spokesman Goya Candelario SON, the Humanist Society of Scotland, says they’re pushing Congress to pass a law LGBT Youth Scotland, and NUS Scotland against discrimination that they say denies joined together to submit more than 18,000 them jobs and social services. messages in support of plans to legalize Jessie Dimaisip of the Akbayan politi- same-sex marriage. Tom French, policy cal party, which supports Gay rights, said coordinator for the Equality Network, said, they’re also seeking more funds for HIV- “Today we have seen a rainbow coalition of AIDS testing and a support program. organizations from across Scottish society voice their strong support for equal marGay man assaulted at riage. It is increasingly clear that the vast Toronto college majority of Scots support same-sex marfled persecution in Iran riage. For most people this is a simple issue An Iranian immigrant in Canada was at- of love, equality, and fairness. If a same-sex tacked by a fellow student, resulting in his couple love each other and want to get marthroat being slashed with a sharp pencil. ried, then why should they be banned from Mojtaba, who asked that his full name not doing so? There can be no excuse for conbe published, says he was taunted over his tinuing to deny same-sex couples equality sexuality during the incident. “I come to under the law.” Canada, a country that carries the name of
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Celebrating 38 Years!
NORTHWEST
NEWS
compiled by Rick McKinnon SGN Staff Writer
BORN THIS WAY KAFE FOR URBAN QUEER TEENS AT CAL ANDERSON PARK On Fridays, 5-9 p.m., at Cal Anderson Shelterhouse (1635 11th Ave., one block north of E. Pine St.), Seattle Parks & Recreation hosts Born This Way Kafe, a welcoming place where LGBTQ youth, friends and allies (ages 13-19) can gather, be themselves, and have fun. Meets every Friday. For more information and to help make it happen, contact Randy at Seattle Parks, 206883-6110 txt/phone, email randy.wiger@seattle.gov or google “SeattleParksCOD.”
fostering supportive environments wherein racial and cultural barriers can be overcome and the goal of human equality can be realized.
GLSEN WA & SEATTLE PARKS – GLBTQ TEEN SOCIAL On Saturday, December 10, from 8-11 p.m., at Yesler Community Center (917 E. Yesler Way, at Broadway), GLBTQ youth, friends and allies, ages 14-19, are invited to a GLBTQ teen social with live DJ, cosponsored by GLSEN WA Student Organizing Committee and Seattle Parks and Recreation. VOICES RISING – This event is FREE, but you will need a LGBTQ OF COLOR ticket, which you can get in advance onARTS & CULTURE line at www.brownpapertickets.com/ On Friday, December 9, 7 p.m.-door, 8 event/213017. p.m.-show, at Washington Hall (153 14th Ave.), Voices Rising presents “2011 Best NEXT FEST NW of the New,” a showcase of talent from the This dynamic Seattle festival of dance LGBTQ communities of color, featuring Dr. performance, screenings, installations and Jennifer Lisa Vest, with Henry Luke, Raven conversations features some of the hottest Taylor, and Donte Johnson. voices coming out of the Pacific Northwest. Tickets: $10-$25 sliding scale. www. New performances: 12/9, 12/10 & 12/11 brownpapertickets.com/event/214570; at 8 p.m., at Velocity Dance Center (1621 www.voicesrisingseattle.org. 12th Ave.). Tickets: $15-advance, $18-at the door, $12-student/senior. FREE perfor“DRUMMING UP OSKAR” mance/lecture with Amy O’Neal on 12/10 On Friday, December 9, at 8 p.m., and Sat- at 5 p.m., at The Project Room (1315 E. Pine urday, December 10, at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., St.). Next dance cinema on 12/12 at 7 p.m., at Freehold Theatre (2222 2nd Ave.), join at Northwest Film Forum (1515 12th Ave.). Butoh artist Joan Laage, percussionist Sam- Tickets: $10-general, $7-student/senior. uel Yoder, and poet David Thornbrugh, for 206-325-8773 or visit www.velocitydancea multi-media performance piece inspired center.org. by The Tin Drum written by Nobel Laureate Gunther Grass. Tickets: 12/9 & 12/10 at JET CITY HOOPS – 8pm, $15; 12/10 at 10 p.m., $10. ReservaSEATTLE’S CO-ED GLBTQ tions recommended. Info/reservations: daBASKETBALL LEAGUE vidthornbrugh@hotmail.com; www.brownJet City Hoops winter season games will papertickets.com/event/266069. be held on Sundays, November 6-December 18, at Miller Community Center (330 SEATTLE MEN IN LEATHER – 19th Ave. E., just north of E. Thomas St.). “PICTURES WITH SANTA” Recreational division games will be held 9 TO BENEFIT a.m.-noon; competitive division games will CHICKEN SOUP BRIGADE be held noon-4 p.m. Spectators welcome. On Friday, December 9, and Saturday, www.jetcityhoops.org. December 10, 8pm-midnight, at The Cuff Complex (1533 13th Ave.) Seattle Men in RISE N’ SHINE DRAG BENEFIT Leather hosts “Pictures with Santa.” Get AT GRIM’S your picture taken with a hunky Santa for On Sunday, December 11, at 8 p.m., at $5. Proceeds benefit Chicken Soup Brigade, Grim’s (1512 11th Ave.), Carmen Sense and Lifelong AIDS Alliance’s food program for co-host Ursula Major, presents an evening people living with HIV/AIDS. www.seattle- of fine drag entertainment featuring Xandria meninleather.org. Cox, Diamond St. James, Lexi Lasso, and Drew Paradisco. No cover. YWCA-LGBTQ HEALTH & SWEDISH BREAST CENTER – “PEACE & PRIDE” – MOBILE MAMMOGRAM SEATTLE LGBT COMMISSION’S SCREENING YEAR-END CELEBRATION On Saturday, December 10, from 9 a.m.-3 On Tuesday, December 13, from 5:30-7 p.m., at the Wildrose (1021 E. Pike St.), the p.m., at Kaladi Brothers Coffee (511 E. Pike YWCA-LBTQ Health and Swedish Breast St.), the Seattle LGBT Commission will host Center will conduct a mobile mammogram “Peace & Pride,” a year-end celebration. screening for people age 40 and over who This event will provide an opportunity for are un- or under-insured and income eligi- LGBT community members and the general ble. You will receive a pap test, breast exam, public to mix and mingle with Commissionmammogram and blood pressure check. ers, City officials, and community leaders, Insurance is welcome and accepted. For an to discuss and help plan the Commission’s appointment, please call 206-461-4493 or goals for 2012, and celebrate the Commisemail lbthealth@ywcaworks.org. Check sion’s accomplishments in 2011. out their blog at http://lbtqhealth-ywca. The LGBT Commission is in the process blogspot.com. of planning its upcoming work plan and goals for 2012 and welcomes suggestions MEN OF ALL COLORS and input from the community. Based on & CULTURES TOGETHER – the issues identified in the Commission’s DECEMBER POTLUCK SOCIAL “Snapshot” survey, the Commission inOn Saturday, December 10, at 6 p.m., tends to focus on promoting the creation of call for Everett location, Men of All Colors an LGBTQ community center as part of the and Cultures Together will be hosting their Capitol Hill light rail station; advocating December Potluck Social. Please contact for an economic empowerment initative for MACCT at 206-923-8313 or macctseattle@ Seattle’s Transgender community; supportyahoo.com for additional location informa- ing the push for marriage equality in Washtion/directions. ington state; fostering better understanding MACCT is a Gay/Bisexual multi-racial, between Seattle’s LGBTQ community and multi-cultural organization committed to the Seattle Police Department; and working
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to address the issues facing homeless youth. Brief remarks will begin at 6:15 p.m. The Commission will provide snacks and nonalcoholic beverages. The event is free and open to the public. GSBA HOLIDAY LUNCHEON AND ANNUAL MEETING On Wednesday, December 14, from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., at Renaissance Hotel (515 Madison St.), raise a glass and take a midday break with GSBA members and friends at the Annual GSBA Holiday Luncheon and Annual Meeting. Kyle Cable of Wells Fargo will engage in sharing stories about great business connections made in 2011 through GSBA. Bodacious Ladyhood, “the tantalizing trio of vibrant voiced chanteuses whose blend of sounds and choice of material have made them a must-see in the Seattle cabaret scene,” will provide holiday entertainment. YouthCare’s ISIS House, a shelter for homeless LGBT youth (ages 16-19), will be the featured nonprofit at the luncheon. The GSBA has a wish-list for ISIS house, if you would like to purchases a holiday gift for youth living at ISIS House. You can also make a cash donation in support of ISIS house. Cost for the luncheon is $34-members/students; $39-nonmembers. To RSVP, call 206-363-9188 or www.thegsba.org. POZ SEATTLE’S ANNUAL HOLIDAY CHILI FEED SOCIAL On Wednesday, December 14, from 6-8 p.m., at The Cuff Complex (13th Ave. & E. Pine St.), POZSeattle presents their Annual Holiday Chili Feed Social. Meet in the downstairs bar for drinks, home-made chili (vegetarian and meat), cornbread and holiday desserts, socializing, and a whole lot of fun. This event is FREE (except for the cost of beverages) and is for all HIV-Positive men and their friends, regardless of age, shape, size, or color. The Holiday Social features an optional Holiday Gift Exchange. If you’d like to participate, bring a fun, funny, or naughty wrapped gift for “Santa POZ” to deliver, and you will get one in exchange. POZSeattle is a social organization run for and by Seattle-area HIV-Positive guys that is committed to planning and promoting fun, social activities. For more information about this event, to plan your own social event, or to be added to POZSeattle’s event promotions email list, email info@pozseattle.org or visit www.pozseattle.org. SEATTLE GAY & LESBIAN BOOK CLUB – “MOVIE MONTH” The Seattle Gay & Lesbian Book Club meets every Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Seattle Area Support Groups Community Center (formerly Dunshee House) (303 17th Ave. E. & E. Thomas St.). Instead of book-reading, December will be movie month and a different great Gay movie will be shown at each week’s meeting. All GLBTQ folks are welcome to participate in this FREE book club. For more information, email nickdimartin@earthlink. net, visit http://faculty.washington.edu/ swittet/SGLBookClub/ or contact SASG at 206-322-2437. 2012 FIREFIGHTERS AT PURR On Wednesday, December 14, at 8 p.m., at Purr (1518 11th Ave.), firefighters from the 2012 Firefighters Calendar will be on hand to socialize and sign calendars. Proceeds from calendar sales will benefit the WSCFF Burn Foundation. www.purrseattle.com. INTERNATIONAL DAY TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST SEX WORKERS – VIGiL AND PROCESSION
December 9, 2011
On Saturday, December 17, from 5-7 p.m., at Cal Anderson Park (11th Ave. & E. Olive Way), the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers - Vigil and Procession will be held. This candlelight vigil will be a space to show our love and respect for sex workers murdered due to marginalization, stigmatization and hatred. We invite our allied community to mourn collectively. Participants are more than welcome and encouraged to bring a poem, song, prayer, or loving words. This event is open to the public. For more information on this event: www.swopusa.org/dec17. For more information on SWOP-Seattle: www.NWSWOP.org. SEATTLE RAINBOW CONTRA DANCE On Sunday, December 18, from 3:30-6 p.m., at Washington Hall (153 14th Ave.), join Seattle Rainbow Contra Dance for an afternoon of live music and gender-free contra dancing for LGBTQ folks and friends and all who want to dance. Free lesson at 3pm. Mariah Pepper and band TBD will call the dance to warm us up for the holiday season. $10 general admission. SAFE SCHOOLS COALITION – LOCAL AND NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS FOR LGBTQ STUDENTS www.safeschoolscoalition.org 2012 GSBA & PRIDE FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS GSBA and Pride Foundation would like to encourage students of any age or sexual orientation from Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Washington who are pursuing any post-seconday education (including community college, public or private colleges and univesities, trade apprenticeships, or certificate programs) to consider applying for their scholarships. Deadline for application is January 31. For more info, visit www.pridefoundation.org/pride-foundation-scholarships-apply-online-today/ WA WOMEN IN THE TRADES – “STORIES & SNAPSHOTS” 2012 ROSIE THE RIVETER CALENDAR www.wawomenintrades.com “OUR FAMILIES, OUR CHILDREN” – BEAUTIFUL 2012 CALENDAR FEATURES LGBTQ PARENTED FAMILIES FROM THE SEATTLE AREA The Lesbian and Gay Child Care Task Force is excited to offer once again its beautiful calendar of LGBTQ parented families from the Seattle area. The task force has been producing the calendar for ten years with the mission of providing the visual reminder to children, teachers and families that families look different and that all families are welcome. Additionally, the calendar has been displayed in diverse work places and in colleges and universities with teacher preparation programs. The upcoming year is the tenth anniversary of the calendar. The task force revisited families from the “early years” and invited twelve (plus two more!) families to come back for another picture shoot. Each family picture has a small inset picture from the first time the family was in the calender. Many families have grown; others have changed their make-up, and the tragic loss of one dad illustrates that our families and our children experience life, death, and change just like other families. Proceeds from the calendar help the task force to produce the calendar for another year, onward to the twentieth year and beyond. An order form is online at www.safeschoolscoalition.org/ocof/OFOC_CalendarOrderForm2012.pdf or you can call Bill Sanders at 206-226-3352. Suggested donation is $15 which includes shipping and handling.
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Celebrating 38 Years!
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Tree of Life During the month of December, many of your favorite Capitol hill bars and restaurants will join together to help prevent teen suicide. Please take a moment and join the Seattle Gay News and this establishment to donate to the Youth Suicide Prevention Program of Washington state in our efforts to stop these tragic events. Take action and become part of the “Tree of Life” today.
Take Action Tree of Life / Stop Teen Suicide Program is proudly sponsored by:
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Let's Talk!
If you’re in crisis or need someone to talk to there is help: o National Suicide Prevention Hotline
1-800-273-TALK (8255) o National LGBT Help Line run by Trevor Project
1-866-4 U TREVOR (488-7386) o Local crisis line run by Crisis Clinic
1-866-4 CRISIS (427-4747)
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Elementary Education Ages 5-11 A diverse academic environment where creativity and imagination thrive
2011-2012 Open Houses December 3 & January 7
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Puerto Rico moves to exclude LGBTs from hate crimes law EFE
Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives is expected to vote soon on a revision of the island’s hate crimes law that would exclude sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, ethnicity, and religious beliefs
from protection. All those characteristics had been included in the hate crimes law passed previously in 2004. The Puerto Rican Senate approved the new law in November, and Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño is expected to sign
the measure into law if the House passes it. Only political affiliation, age, and disability would remain part of the revised hate crimes statute if the Puerto Rican House approves the new penal code and Fortuño signs it. Pedro Julio Serrano of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force accused both Senate President Thomas Rivera-Schatz and Gov. Fortuño of homophobia. “Basically they took out the communities hardest hit by hate crimes in Puerto Rico out of the hate crimes statute,” Serrano told EDGE News. “It’s an outrage and now we’re calling upon the House to restore this to where it should be.” Both the island’s LGBT community and Dominicans who work on the island continue to suffer disproportionate rates of discrimination and bias-motivated violence, Serrano said. Some two dozen LGBT Puerto Ricans have been murdered on the island since late 2009 in what Serrano and other activists have repeatedly described as an epidemic of anti-LGBT violence. These include Gay teen Jorge Steven López Mercado, who was stabbed to death, decapitated, dismembered, and partially burned in November 2009. His killer claimed to have mistaken him for a woman, and to have reacted in anger when he discovered Lopez was a man. The case was never investigated or charged as a hate crime. Three other LGBT Puerto Ricans – Alejandro Torres Torres, Karlota Gómez Sánchez, and Ramón “Moncho” Salgado – were found dead within a 72-hour period in June this year.
The U.S. Justice Department issued a harshly critical report on the Puerto Rican police department in September, citing an inadequate response to hate crimes as one of the Puerto Rico police’s numerous deficiencies. The Puerto Rico Department of Justice’s own reports indicate that prosecutors have yet to convict anyone of a bias-motive crime on the island. Puerto Rican Rep. Héctor Ferrer and Sen. Eduardo Bhatia joined LGBT and Dominican activists at a press conference on December 4 to criticize the proposed revisions. “To eliminate these groups as protected categories is to invite the commission of hate crimes in Puerto Rico,” Ferrer, told Vocero newspaper. “It is a setback in the country’s public policy.” “In an advanced society, this is dangerous for society,” Bhatia told a Primera Hora reporter. Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez, who lived in Puerto Rico before he attended college in Chicago, noted the island’s spiraling homicide rates as he blasted the proposed provision. “To say this is appalling is an understatement,” he said. “Excluding more people from protections under the law is exactly the wrong thing to do, especially right now.” “Puerto Rico’s recent rash of hate crimes against the LGBT community is a sad reminder of why hate crimes laws are needed,” added Human Rights Campaign spokesperson Paul Guequierre. “Removing sexual orientation and gender identity from the law would set Puerto Rico back and endanger LGBT people in the commonwealth.”
African AIDS conference sparks debate on LGBT rights
16 Seattle Gay News
December 9, 2011
P. Heinlein/voa
An international conference on AIDS in Africa, which began on December 6, sparked intense debate even before it started. The 16th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections convened in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, with more than 200 activists, experts, and U.N. and government officials participating. On November 29, however, Ethiopian government officials and religious leaders held a pre-conference summit to determine what to do about the LGBT rights activists who were expected to gather at the conference. According to the Global Voices website, local religious leaders wanted the government to ban the meeting. Global Voices is a collective project of more than 500 bloggers and translators who publish online reports from around the world, “with emphasis on voices that are not ordinarily heard in international mainstream media,” their website says. Ethiopia was one of the first countries in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church remains the religion of almost twothirds of the population. Most of the rest are Muslim. According to the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project, 97% of Ethiopian residents found same-sex relations unacceptable – the second-highest percentage among the 44 countries surveyed, exceeded only by Mali at 98%. Same-sex sexual relations are treated as sexual assaults in Ethiopian law, and can
bring a penalty of up to 15 years in prison. On the other hand, HIV infections have reached epidemic proportions among some demographics in Ethiopian’s population – especially in urban areas, among police and military members and the prostitutes they hire – so the aims of the international AIDS conference are welcome to the government. According to Global Voices, the conference and the opposition of local religious authorities also sparked a lively debate on Facebook. Some individuals called for rational debate about LGBT rights. “Sooner or later we need to have a civilized public debate about the issue,” one poster, identified as “Hallelujah,” wrote. “We shouldn’t hate or discriminate, but rather be bold, articulate and critical enough to express our disapproval of the practice of Homosexuality from a spiritual, moral, social, health and nature and survival perspectives.” Hallelujah’s message touched off an interesting comment thread. “We need to address it and try to be compassionate about it as well,” Lady Kidane wrote. “We have created God in our image and whatever we don’t like, and we don’t understand, and we judge, we say God doesn’t like it either, but God should be, in my opinion, beyond all this small stuff of who is sleeping with whom. We all need to find what makes us happy and be grateful for it.” “How boring would it be if the whole world be the same. It takes all kinds of people to fill up the world,” she added. “As to me, I don’t consider homosexuality as a problem by itself. It is preference of people,” Bisrat Teshome wrote. “People are rational and have the right and full knowl-
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
Former President Bush listens to an HIV-positive mother explain how she has learned to keep her baby HIV-free.
edge to choose what is good for themselves (of course under the umbrella of the legal system of the country). These types of emotional and discriminatory reactions from religions are unacceptable.” Osman Mohammedsiraj said that the debate should be on how to protect Ethiopians from “the spread of the epidemic.” “Gay and Lesbian rights are among issues that are not worth discussing in Ethiopia,” he wrote, “since it is forgone conclusion that everyone across all religious affiliation disapproves them. But the discussion should rather be how to protect our people from spread of the epidemic.” Not all those who added comments were open to LGBT rights, however. One message accused conference organizers of trying “to influence the Ethiopia government to make a supportive law to accept this ex-
tremely bad practice which leads to corrupt families and the country.” “To do this, they are trying spend a lot of money and plead support of the international organizations,” the anonymous poster said. “I am thanking God for those of us who still believe it is an utterly unnatural act,” Nuhamin Getachew wrote. “Also, I CAN NOT believe I am reading approvals for it from ETHIOPIANS?? Guys please, let us keep the dignified country our proud forefathers handed to us and not confuse civilization and plain immorality!!” “I think we are missing the ONLY point here….” Markos replied. “Since when people treated so awfully like this for THINGS they practice on themselves?” According to Global Voices, more than 90% of internet users in Ethiopia have access to Facebook.
Celebrating 38 Years!
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer For the first time, the British government has announced an action plan to tackle discrimination and violence targeting Transgender people. The plan – “Advancing Transgender Equality: A Plan for Action” – was released by the British Home Office on December 8. It includes tougher penalties for hate crimes, support for Trans pupils in schools, and Transgender recruitment advice for businesses. The Home Office said the document is intended to create a framework for communities to work with the government to address and overcome persisting inequalities. British Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone announced the new plan. “Too many Transgender people still face prejudice at every stage of their lives, from playground bullying to being overlooked for jobs or targeted for crime,” she said. “I am proud to announce the first government strategy to tackle the specific barriers facing Transgender people. “Like everyone else, Transgender people have the right to be accepted, to live their lives free of harassment, and to be free to achieve any ambition they choose.” Featherstone is a Liberal Democrat, the junior partner to the Conservatives in the two-party British coalition government. According to the action plan, the government will publish a “clear and concise guide for health practitioners,” including primary care physicians, on the treatment and care available to Trans people, and ensure greater consistency in commissioning genderrelated services.
file photo
British government to advance Trans rights The document also commits the government to raising the minimum sentence for hate-motivated murders of Trans people from 15 to 30 years. “Hate crimes are abhorrent,” Justice Secretary Ken Clarke said. “They leave sections of society living in fear and at risk of unprovoked violence. “These proposals make clear offenders should be in no doubt that they face a more severe sentence for these unacceptable crimes.” According to BBC News, British statistics show that 70% of children who are uncertain about their gender suffer bullying, and 88% of Transgender employees experience discrimination or harassment in their workplace. British police report a 14% increase in Transphobic hates crimes from 2009 to 2010. The government action plan was developed in part through an online survey of the Trans community. According to British government sources, the survey received 2,172 responses, the largest form of engagement with the group ever conducted in the U.K. Jay Stewart, co-founder of Gendered Intelligence, which works to tackle Transphobic bullying in schools and across communities, was pleased that the government had solicited the views of the Trans community. “The Transgender action plan demonstrates a commitment across government to ensure fair treatment to Transgender people. It’s fantastic news for our community. We must now work together to educate people about what it means to be Transgendered,” he said. “The plan came about through working with the Trans community, and this includes
British Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone
young Trans people. I am delighted that Gendered Intelligence has played its part and that the voices of our young people have also been heard.” April Ashley, who in 1960 became the first Briton to undergo gender reassignment surgery, praised the Home Office announcement. “I think there are so many support groups out there unlike when I did my transition 52 years ago when there was no help at all,” she said. “Today’s announcement shows we are moving forward to breaking down barriers and educating people.” Featherstone admitted that government regulations can have only a limited role, and called on all British institutions to address Trans issues. ‘Today is an important step, but I recognize that government can only go so far,”
she said. “So we will be working with schools, businesses, and communities so that together, we can drive change and help consign Transphobia to the past.”
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December 9, 2011
Seattle Gay News 17
by Linda Robinson Special to the SGN Arinna Weisman has studied Vipassana Meditation for 30 years. She has been teaching since 1988 in the lineage of the great Burmese master U Bha Khin and was empowered to teach by Ruth Denison. Arinna is the founding teacher of Insight Meditation Center of the Pioneer Valley in East Hampton, MA, and is the co-author of A Beginner’s Guide to Insight Meditation. Her teaching is infused with her political activism and commitment to building multicultural spiritual communities. I asked Weisman to tell us what drew her to the dharma in her life and how she developed an interest in her most recent focus to explore the relationship between the dharma and race, privilege, and other social inequities. Weisman said, “Growing up in apartheid South Africa inside a politically active family was both an inspiration and a challenge. My dharma practice is an unfolding of the fruition from that inspiration and challenge. I lived in a house where people like Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, and Helen Suzman came to organize an end to apartheid. I was touched by their commitment and energy and felt the living reality of what it’s like to be part of a movement with a vision. I’ve never doubted the possibility of a small group of people coming together and making a difference. I have total faith in that. As a Queer woman, I stand on the shoulders of all the people who have come before me, who have created the conditions for the movement we have now: Gay/straight alliances in the schools, Gay marriage, and non-discrimination laws. It’s amazing what’s happened in 25-30 years and a huge reflection of our capacity to transform oppression. This inspiration has led me to find ways of building freedom in social and cultural contexts. “The other motivation for healing and transformation came from the sexual abuse I experienced as a young child and the silence surrounding it. I wanted to find a way to live with the legacy of that pain. Although my parents had courageously given their lives to end apartheid on a structural and cultural level, they were also wounded personally, which created a legacy of trauma in our family. And so I believe the ways we work politically need to include personal, spiritual, and psychological explorations and practices. “In a detailed map called the Eight-fold Path, the Buddha specifically outlined a
practice of personal transformation. In 1979 I attended a retreat with dharma teacher Ruth Denison and found the practice of mindfulness (or presence) and loving kindness to be profoundly insightful and freeing. Over these years of practice my heart has continued to open, and the beautiful qualities of mind, such as wisdom, patience, renunciation, truthfulness, and compassion have matured. I am profoundly grateful for having come upon this practice of freedom. “Although we can be deeply committed to this personal practice we can still act out behaviors that are harmful if we don’t include in our individual spiritual practices an inquiry into our social and cultural conditioning. For example, many Theravada and Tibetan monks with strong meditation practices are sexist and homophobic. The Dalai Lama does not believe Gay sex is in accordance with the Buddha’s teachings. “As meditators it is therefore important to challenge the ways we think about freedom or transformation. And as political activists we need to include the personal, spiritual, and psychological spheres. We can’t leave anything out. This has led me to integrate theories of social oppression with the Buddha’s teachings of delusion and ignorance.” I asked Weisman how she sees the sangha (Buddhist practitioners) in the Puget Sound area taking hold of this call to freedom and addressing the challenges she has mentioned. Weisman said, “Two expressions of oppression are the inequity in access to resources and also the negative beliefs and ideology that hold this in place. Perhaps even more painful is that these patterns of oppression are not openly acknowledged. For example, there is a group of white men taking the University of California to court to fight its affirmative action plan, because they believe there is no such thing as racism. “The misunderstanding of these white men is characteristic of all privileged groups. That is, when we find ourselves in a privileged position, we don’t see our privilege and the impact of our behaviors on the target groups. Some of us find ourselves in a privileged position by being white, uppermiddle-class or wealthy, heterosexual, formally educated, able-bodied, middle-aged, men, gendered, and citizens. And some of us find ourselves in the target positions of being people of color, poor, Queer, informally educated, differently-abled, non-gendered, and immigrants. “Once we learn more about what it means to be privileged, we become more conscious
courtesy arinna weisman
Lotus Sisters’ Arinna Weisman speaks on LBTQ meditation
Arinna Weisman
of the impact of our negative behaviors in our relationships and can take responsibility for them. For example, I have a friend who comes from a poor family. Before my education around privilege, I found myself judging her for not wanting to see foreign movies with English subtitles. Reading quickly was a challenge for her. She didn’t have the option to learn to read as a child. As a middle-class person, my negative judgments that she was personally deficient made her responsible for the inequities of the class system. When I don’t acknowledge my place of privilege I assume my experience is like everyone else’s and discount the experience of the targeted person. And that is very painful. “Almost everyone has experienced both being privileged and being targeted. Even if you are a middle-class heterosexual white male, you have been oppressed as a young child by adults. It’s important to acknowledge that experience as well. “An example I experienced in the target position was when I lent my car to a friend who has access to more money. She put a lot of miles on my car. For her, it wasn’t a big deal. That’s just the way she was looking at the world, coming from a place with a lot of resources. For me, it was a big deal because it meant I lost my low-mileage credit with my car insurance. It’s just not having that awareness. Naming the impact of our location in our relationships brings the conditions for caring, equity and balance.” I told Weisman I was impressed with her work. Living in such a diverse society, we have got to address our denial of privilege and oppression before we can truly address a shift toward equality and empathy for each other. Weisman replied, “Exactly. Otherwise
Religion & Spirituality
we keep reproducing the same old relationships. For example, as white people, when we come into a situation where we are new to a group with people of color, we often dominate the conversation unknowingly, expecting to be heard and listened to. Of course we do! We’d have to be dead not to! It’s our conditioning. And until we’re aware of it, and see it over and over, it doesn’t transform. That’s why there are monastics, who are great meditators, and totally sexist. They are not seeing their own behavior. By inquiring into all fields of life we develop the capacity to see where our hearts and minds are defended and shut down. We have the choice to enter into a relationship of respect and dignity with ourselves and with each other across our differences and with all of life. “Many people are saying the planet is in jeopardy. And unless we work in all these areas, unless we make these connections, it will be difficult to save ourselves. I’ve heard some senior teachers say, ‘Well if the world comes to an end, that’s the karma of the earth.’ But it’s also our karma to save it! We at the Lotus Sisters have experienced the amazing transformative capacities of our own hearts and minds through the practices of the Buddha’s teachings of mindfulness and loving kindness. Like Martin Luther King, Jr., we believe that ‘unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.’” The vision of the Lotus Sisters is to aspire to be a vibrant, evolving, awakening queer rainbow women’s sangha. Their mission: We are guided by the dharma, rooted in our individual and interdependent growth. As we strive to create a multicultural, anti-racist practice, we are committed to transforming ourselves, our relationships, our sangha, our community, and our cultures. Contact us at lotus.sisters@yahoo.com or visit www.lotussisters.org for a full schedule.
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December 9, 2011
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A Church for All God’s People – since 1972 www.mccseattle.org Sunday Worship 11:00 am 1415 NE 43rd St. on U-District (206) 325-2421
Celebrating 38 Years!
Gay man becomes prime minister of Belgium by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
getty images
Elio Di Rupo became the European Union’s first openly Gay head of government when he was sworn in as prime minister of Belgium on December 6. Di Rupo will also be the first Frenchspeaking prime minister of Belgium in 32 years. Belgium has been without a prime minister and a functioning national government for more than 18 months. No party won a majority in parliament in elections in June 2010, and no combination of parties had been able to assemble a workable coalition until Di Rupo put together a six-party agreement. “My first words are for the citizens,” Di Rupo said in a statement setting out the new government’s program. “I want to thank them for their patience. ... Together, we need to roll up our sleeves and get this country out of crisis.” Di Rupo is head of the French-speaking Socialist Party of Belgium and mayor of the southern city of Mons. As prime minister, he will face many serious challenges. Belgium is heavily indebted to European banks, although less so than Greece or Italy. The coalition agreement he mediated includes an agreement on major economic changes to satisfy Belgium’s European creditors, including cuts in public-sector spending and new taxes. By agreement with the E.U., he will have to cut spending to get a balanced budget by 2015 without alienating his party’s core support in the labor unions. Di Rupo’s coalition does not include the New Flemish Alliance, a right-wing Flemish nationalist party which brought in the most votes in the June 2010 elections. Di Rupo is from Belgium’s southern, French-speaking region of Wallonia. His Dutch is so limited that it has become a national joke. Flemish separatist leader Bart De Wever, who was excluded from Di Rupo’s coalition, remarked “My Nigerian cleaning lady, who has been in Belgium for two years, speaks better Dutch than Elio.” Some 40% of Belgium’s people speak French and 60% – the Flemings – speak Dutch. Flanders is more prosperous than Wallonia, and many Flemings believe the Walloons are a drag on the national economy. As a French-speaker and an opponent of the Flemish nationalist party, Di Rupo faces cultural as well as political challenges. Di Rupo was born in 1951 to poor Italian immigrants. His father died in a car crash when Di Rupo was only a year old, leaving
his illiterate mother with seven children. “Even so,” Di Rupo remembered in a 2008 interview, “I cannot say I had an unhappy childhood, With nothing, she gave us happiness. On celebration days, she would buy sandwiches that she cut in two.” Di Rupo studied chemistry at the University of Mons-Hainaut and at Leeds in England – his mother, he remembered, would go to church and light a candle every time he had an exam. Although raised Roman Catholic, he described himself in a 2008 interview as an “atheist, rationalist, and Freemason.” As a student in Mons, he had become active in the Socialist Party and his political career took off in the city, where he rose to become a member of parliament and mayor. One of his achievements in Mons was to set up an international erotic film festival in 1984, an annual event held, appropriately enough, in February to coincide with Valentine’s Day. Di Rupo came out in 1996. He had been falsely accused of having sex with underage boys, and as a pack of reporters chased him down the street one shouted out, “They say you’re Gay!” “Yeah,” Di Rupo said matter-of-factly, “so what?” “For several seconds there was silence,” Di Grupo later told his biographer Francis Elio Di Rupo Van de Woestyne. “People were so surprised by my reply they stopped jostling each oth- the Spanish Republic during the Spanish served as prime minister from 1931 to 1933 er. It was a sincere, truthful reply.” Civil War from 1936 to 1939, after having and again in 1936. Openly Gay political leaders are still somewhat rare in Europe. Johanna Sigurdadottir became prime minister of Iceland, not an E.U. member, in 2009. Nichi Vendola was widely touted in 2010 as a possible successor to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, but failed to put together enough votes to depose him. Guido Westerwelle is currently foreign minister of Germany, and served as Angela Merkel’s vice chancellor from 2009 till this year. Manuel Azana was perhaps the pioneer European Gay leader. He was president of
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December 9, 2011
Seattle Gay News 19
Vega
continued from cover yet to be brought to justice. Angry that a crime as brutal and senseless as this could happen to such a caring and wonderful man as Vega. Angry because, well, we just didn’t know how else to feel. Others gathered at the community gathering and potluck hosted by The Northwest Network (in partnership with the Asian Pacific Islander Women and Family Safety Center, Chaya, and the Capacity Project) because they were scared that this could happen again – after all, there have been no arrests made in the case. Scared that the neighborhood where Vega was beaten and robbed has become lawless. And yet another group of community members gathered to cry. One attendee began to weep, saying, “I just feel so sad that this happened. And, I guess, I just wanted to be in around others who feel this way, too.” Another community gathering participant said, through tears, “I’m sad for everyone involved. I’m sad for Danny. And I’m sad for the kids that did this.” But there was work to be done. The folks at The Northwest Network – along with other violence and abuse survivor advocate organizations – decided that it was time for the public to demand real change. The pattern of violence that has crept into our city must go. In all, more than 200 people showed up to the community gathering and potluck to
discuss ways that we, as a city or a community of people – regardless of race, culture, gender, or sexual orientation – could help to shape the world around us into a more peaceful and less violent place. A PROFOUND LOSS By now, you’ve no doubt heard about Danny Vega. The 58-year-old man, who, on November 15, while on one of his twicedaily walks in the 4200 block of South Othello Street, was assaulted and robbed. Hours later, Vega slipped into a coma. Days later, he died. As word spread throughout the city of Vega’s passing, so, too, did Vega’s vague description of his attackers. “When I was walking, three African-American high school kids jumped me from behind,” a bloodied and beaten Vega told his housemate, James Saarenas, after he returned home after the attack. Then, on November 30, hours before a gathering of government officials, top police brass, and members of the LGBT and allied communities at the Filipino Community Center for a public meeting, SPD released a video and photo images which showed three African-American teens, who the SPD call “persons of interest,” disposing of a jacket that is believed to have belonged to Vega. A few days ago, again, SPD released another video and photo images of a man they are calling a “possible witness” to the crime. In the video, a man picks up and walks away with the jacket discarded by the young men. In the media – as well as in police reports – we use descriptor words. Vega was, in
fact, Filipino, a hairdresser, and Gay. The young men in question are, it would seem, teens, African-American, and not in custody. However, there were some at the Northwest Network gathering on Sunday afternoon who believe that all of these descriptions might drive the neighborhood into secular divisions. A divide, they say, should not happen as a result of this crime. So now we can add worry and concern to the list of emotions some Rainier Valley residents are already feeling. But dealing with these concerns was the goal of the gathering organizers. “The gathering will be an opportunity to acknowledge the profound loss and the ongoing toll of this violence in all our communities,” Connie Burk, executive director for The Northwest Network, said in an invite letter sent to members of different communities. “Folks will have the chance to share skills and strategies for safety, to take action in support of racial and economic justice for Seattle’s South End, to express solidarity for youth empowerment projects, and to give and receive support.” “We are sad, but resolute,” she continued. “And we are so grateful for our beloved community here locally and across the country that joins our determination to strengthen our community and end violence.” Attendees were asked to break out into round-table groups to discuss topics ranging from bystander awareness to community response. No one was turned away and no subject or concern was frowned upon. This was, without a doubt, to be a real community response, coming directly from the very communities that have been left to deal with this tragedy. The group I chose to participate with dubbed themselves “Bystander Response.” Bincy Jacob, executive director for the Asian Pacific Islander Safety Center, was the mediator and explained that the term “bystander” could mean any number of things to different people; it would be up to the group’s participants to define what we all thought a bystander was, and what, if anything, a bystander could do when witnessing a crime or the beginnings of a crime. One by one, participants began to speak out and tell stories about bus or light rail rides where they witnessed criminal activity, fear of walking home alone late at night – or during the day – and what, if anything, a person could do to remain safe if they were
witness to a crime. The group spoke for well over an hour as conversation turned from the topic to, generally, how everyone was feeling. An interesting topic began to emerge: reporting crime. Many in the group felt as though the Seattle Police Department was not a friend to the neighborhood and that, based on social justice issues, they would feel uncomfortable speaking with an SPD officer. I would be remiss if I didn’t make clear that the meeting was not an anti-SPD session. It was not; instead, participants were made aware of alternate resources available to them by many of the advocacy groups on hand when reporting a crime. “Meetings like this one here today will not be the last,” Jacob told the group. “We really hope you continue to be involved with future community gatherings surrounding these issues.” SPD Captain Ron Wilson, of the department’s Community Outreach Section, was in attendance. I spoke with Wilson briefly about the neighborhood and asked him about possible witnesses to the crime. Wilson explained to me that, due to the ongoing investigation, he was unable to “give specifics” about the information the police already have. “We are actively working with some members in the neighborhood who have come forward with information that is aiding in the investigation,” he said. I met a lot of people Sunday afternoon. But one individual, Nhan Thai, had a story he needed to tell. You see, two months prior to the day that Danny Vega was attacked, Thai had suffered the same crime. He was one of 10 people assaulted and robbed in the neighborhood over the course of the past two months. “I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S IN THEIR HEARTS” On September 15 at roughly 8:30 p.m., Thai, 37, an immigrant from Vietnam and disease investigation specialist with the Seattle - King County Department of Public Health, was attacked just 10 steps from his home in the New Holly neighborhood of Seattle. The similarities between his attack and Vega’s, as well as others in the area, are striking. Like Vega, Thai is Gay, Asian, and was walking alone at night. As was the case with the Vega attack, Thai was attacked from behind by African-American teens. Seattle Gay News has learned that out of the 10 similar attacks in the area over the past few weeks, at least a third of those targeted were LGBT people. “The first blow was meant to knock me out,” Thai told me. “It missed and hit me closer to my mouth on the right side. I was hit a few more times and fell forward.” The victim says he looked up and saw two African-American males running away. He told me that people continually ask him if they were black American males or East African. Thai said he cannot say for sure. “I just know they were dark-skinned,” he said.
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December 9, 2011
Celebrating 38 Years!
The attack, which left Thai battered and swollen, lasted for a few minutes. Thai says his body ached for weeks. His attackers made off with his gym bag, jacket, keys, wallet, iPod, and cell phone. Vega’s family believes that he was targeted for this violence because he was an out, Gay, Filipino man. Thai says there might be a number of different reasons why he and Vega were attacked. “I don’t know what’s in their [the attackers’] hearts,” he said. “I’m a smaller build, and maybe they saw me as an easy target.” Thai also maintains that his attackers did not say anything during the attack. According to him, they were silent the whole time. The police response, according to Thai, was not up to speed. “It took the police 15 minutes to respond,” he said. “It felt like forever.” Thai lives near the SPD’s South Precinct and says he could have physically walked there in five minutes. “So why did it take SPD officers 15 minutes to respond?” he thought. Thai set about to find the answer to that question. He got a phone call that some of the items stolen from him were recovered by the police. When he went to the precinct to pick up his phone and iPod (Thai registered all of his electronics) he requested a police ride. On that ride, he said he realized that, as far as police presence is concerned, the neighborhood is in trouble. “They are very low on manpower,” Thai said somberly. “Half of the parking lot was full of police vehicles with no available officers to fill the cars.” What Thai found most interesting was how the police found his iPod and cell phone. “The police told me that they had been doing an investigation into a local store on Martin Luther King Way that was known for selling stolen items,” he recalled. “Among the items for sale were my phone and iPod.” Worried that someone else in his neighborhood might be attacked, Thai says he wanted to put together a Neighborhood Watch program, but realized he needed help. He made contact with Mark Solomon, crime prevention coordinator for the South Precinct. “It took Solomon nearly two months to contact me back,” Thai said. “One week later, I heard the news about Danny [Vega].” “I only met Danny once,” he recalled. “When I first learned about Danny’s attack and death, I was mad as hell.” “We need for a couple of things to
change,” said Thai. “We must have better communication within the neighborhood. We also need to see South Precinct police be more responsive to crime in the South End.” “How many more robberies and attacks have happened where people were too scared to report it to the police?” he asked. “We now know that there is a string of crimes that are very similar. The police need to look at that instead of treating each case individually.” Five years ago, when Thai and many of his New Holly neighbors moved into the new neighborhood surrounding the Rainier Valley Light Rail project, he felt safe. “The neighborhood was different then. Most of us all knew each other and people were happy,” he told SGN. “Now, everyone is scared to death. People are reluctant to answer their door at night if someone knocks.” Vega’s killers are still on the loose. If you have any information regarding the murder of Danny Vega, Seattle Gay News urges you to call (206) 233-5000 or 1-800-222-TIPS immediately.
manager
continued from cover marriage equality for Washington state.” In short, Silk said, “I’m very excited to join this movement.” Silk said that he believes in same-sex marriage because, “at its core, civil marriage helps build strong families. Love transcends everything else in life.” The leadership of the main coalition partners that make up Washington United for Marriage approached Silk, who says he is very happy to get to work managing the campaign and has already hit the ground running. Currently, Silk told SGN, “We are putting together the kind of support necessary to pass a bill out of Olympia.” But most of the energy in the campaign will be focused on grassroots support, Silk said. “We need to work with communities of faith, business owners, and all of our allies to provide enough pressure on legislators and get them to do the right thing.” As it stands now, a marriage equality bill has enough votes in the House, but may run into problems in the Senate, where, according to officials, the Democrats are a few votes shy, which is why Silk told us it is “im-
portant for your readers to go to our website (www.washingtonunitedformarriage.org) and contact their legislators.” Beyond that, says Silk, members of the LGBT and allied communities can continue to tell their stories to friends, family, and coworkers. “Marriage equality in Washington state is a reality in 2012,” he continued. “But it is not going to be an easy fight. Our opponents will be in full force. However, we can win and there is a great initial effort here and it will only get better over time.” Silk was deputy campaign manager for Governor Chris Gregoire’s 2008 reelection effort and campaign manager for U.S. Congressional candidate Darcy Burner in 2006. Prior to that, he was the political director for Washington Conservation Voters. More recently, he has turned his attention to business and entrepreneurship. He founded Kila Ventures, a technology company, in 2010. Silk holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington.
rights
continued from cover fight criminalization of LGBT status or conduct, as well as to support the protection of LGBT refugees and asylum seekers. The president’s directive also promised “swift and meaningful response to serious incidents that threaten the human rights of LGBT persons abroad.” In order to accomplish these objectives, the directive orders U.S. agencies involved with foreign aid and development projects to maintain regular contact with “citizens, civil society, and the private sector” as well as foreign governments “in order to build respect for the rights of LGBT persons.” The U.S. will also try to engage international organizations “in the fight against LGBT discrimination,” the directive says. Obama also called for a progress report on LGBT rights from all federal agencies within 180 days, and once a year thereafter. The State Department was instructed to compile the information and submit it to the White House. According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the presidential memorandum is the first ever U.S. government strategy to deal with human rights abuses against LGBT people abroad. “The Obama administration has made a
tremendous difference in the lives of LGBT people in the United States and this new strategy helps to extend that presidential leadership across the globe,” HRC President Joe Solmonese said. “There is no question that the administration’s record of advancing equality for LGBT people has been enhanced by the leadership of Secretary [of State] Clinton who consistently underscores the simple truth that LGBT rights are human rights.” “As Americans, we understand that no one should be made a criminal or subject to violence or even death because of who they are, no matter where they live. “Today’s actions by President Obama make clear that the United States will not turn a blind eye when governments commit or allow abuses to the human rights of LGBT people.” The U.S. State Department has previously warned individual countries about their actions against LGBT rights, and U.S. ambassadors have met with LGBT rights activists in several countries. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnny Carson personally phoned Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to express U.S. opposition to Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill, for example. U.S. Ambassador Hugo Llorens met with the LGBT community in Honduras both before and after the murder of activist Walter Trochez. The State Department also called on the Honduran government to bring Trochez’s murderers to justice. Obama’s directive raises such interventions to the level of standard operating procedure for U.S. officials working abroad. The reaction from anti-Gay forces was exactly what might be expected. Republican presidential candidate and Texas governor Rick Perry said that “President Obama has again mistaken America’s tolerance for different lifestyles with an endorsement of those lifestyles. I will not make that mistake.” Pat Robertson promised that God would punish the U.S. for the new policy. “When the blow comes, it’s going to be horrible,” he said. In Nigeria, a bill criminalizing Gay clubs or social organizations, same-sex commitments ceremonies, and same-sex displays of affection advanced to the country’s House after being passed by the Senate on November 29. “To hell with the superpowers if they are for Gay marriages,” said Nigerian lawmaker Zakari Mohammed.
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