Celebrating 43 Years! Issue 8 Volume 45
New Century Theatre: Bright Half Life
“When We Rise” – Dustin Lance Black
SEC 2 PG 1
SEC 2 PG 1
Seattle Gay News
FRIDAY Febuary 24, 2017 FREE!
25¢ in bookstores & newsstands
Jenner to Trump: “Call me”
SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
Trump to reverse Obama directives protecting Trans students
Caitlyn Jenner – Photo courtesy of time.com
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Republican Caitlyn Jenner took to Twitter Thursday evening with a message to President Donald Trump: “Call me.”
The Olympian and reality TV star was quiet after the Trump administration withdrew Obama-era guidance on Transgender bathroom use in public schools. However, she broke her silence over 24 see CALL ME page 11
Trump order on Trans students: What it means for Washington state
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray – Photo courtesy of Getty images
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Seattle and Washington state officials reaffirmed their commitment to Transgender rights in the wake of Donald Trump’s executive order rescinding federal protec-
tions for Transgender students. “The bullying coming from the White House reached even more alarming levels today when the Trump administration specifically began targeting school kids,” said Seattle Mayor Ed Murray in a February 22 see TRUMP ORDER page 6
Mara Keisling – Photo courtesy of alchetron.com
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Trump White House announced on February 22 that it will reverse the Obama administration’s guidelines allowing
Transgender students to use restrooms that correspond to their gender identity. Trump had to intervene personally in the issue to support the views of new Attorney General Jeff Sessions and overcome see TITLE IX page 5
Gov. Inslee, Mayor Murray defy Trump on immigration
WA Governor Jay Inslee – Photo by Ted Warren / Associated Press
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray are defying Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration. On February 23, Inslee issued his own
executive order explicitly prohibiting state agencies from inquiring about a person’s immigration status, participating in federal immigration raids, or aiding in the creation of a religious registry. Shortly after signing the order, Inslee see INSLEE page 5
2 Seattle Gay News
February 24, 2017
Celebrating 41 Years!
LGBT Heroes: Cleve Jones and Barbara Grier by Jesse Monteagudo SGN Contributing Writer Even as we recognize and honor today’s LGBT heroes, we should also look back and remember those women and men who made our community what it is today. Unlike today, when leading an LGBT community organization is often a profession, the heroes of the 1960’s and 1970’s were volunteer leaders of a movement. And while being out is now a given, the women and men of the sixties and seventies were openly lesbian or gay, bisexual or transgender, at a time when most of us were still in our closets. What would our community be without the likes of Harry Hay, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, Frank Kameny, Barbara Gittings, Jack Nichols or Harvey Milk? Even in South Florida we owe much to the likes of Frank Arango, Staci Aker, Bob Basker, Edda Cimino, Rev. Joseph Gilbert, Jay Freier and Tom Bradshaw. Milk is still remembered, thanks to the movie of the same name and his nephew’s work. How will we remember the others? Two of our leading LGBT icons made a joint appearance in Miami in 1981, as Grand Marshals for that year’s Gay Pride Parade. One of the Marshals, Cleve Jones, is well-known as Milk’s protégé and the creator of the AIDS Quilt. The other Marshal, Barbara Grier, though not as famous, is perhaps the most important person in the herstory of lesbian literature. Though Grier did not write any major works of fiction or non-fiction, she promoted “lesbiana” as a lesbian book collector, critic, bibliographer (The Lesbian in Literature) and publisher (Naiad Press). I was an active member of Pride at the time, and I got to meet both Jones and Grier. However, I established a greater rapport with Grier, if only because I was one of the few male book critics who reviewed lesbian books. Grier added me to her list of reviewers who received copies of Naiad books and I tried to return the compliment by writing about most of the books
Visit us online www.sgn.org
Cover of Indomitable: The Life of Barbara Grier by Joanne Passet and When We Rise by Cleve Jones – Photos courtesy of amazon.com
she sent me. Cleve Jones, who is a year younger than me, needs no help on my part to get the recognition that he deserves. Jones, after all, is the main character of “When We Rise,” an ABC TV miniseries about the LGBT movement in San Francisco. Jones is also the author of When We Rise: My Life in the Movement (Hachette Books), a memoir of his eventful life that is as interesting as the series that he appears in. But Barbara Grier (1933-2011), though no longer with us, is finally getting her due. Indomitable: The Life of Barbara Grier (Bella Books) is a longoverdue biography by Joanne Passet, author of Sex Variant Woman: The Life of Jeanette Howard Foster. (Foster’s 1956 classic, Sex Variant Women in Literature was an inspiration for Grier and everyone else who came after them.) Here we read about Grier’s early days as a lesbian in the Midwest; her relationships with Helen Bennett and Donna McBride; her work with the pioneer lesbian journal “The Ladder”; and her
years she spent encouraging and browbeating lesbian authors as head of the Naiad Press. Grier was not an easy person to work with, as many disgruntled former Naiad writers and workers told Passet. However, even Grier’s greatest critics recognize her contributions to lesbian lit and to the LGBT community as a whole. Like all of us, Grier and Jones have or had their share of faults, but these are outweighed by their virtues, talents and contributions. Though I do not read as many LGBT books today as I did when I wrote “The Book Nook,” I still keep an eye out for good books; especially non-fiction titles that educate and inspire our community and our movement. Both When We Rise (the book and the series) and Indomitable make major contributions to LGBT studies and to the history of our community through the lives of a man and a woman who gave us much. They inspire us at a time when our progress is endangered, both from above and from below.
February 24, 2017
Seattle Gay News 3
Gay Men of Wisdom begins monthly meetings Gentlemen: We’re just a week away from our first session of “Living out Your Gifts Seattle.” We will meet Wednesday, March 1, from 6:30 - 8:30pm at Companis, 1111 Harvard Ave on First Hill. Enter at the first door south of the church office entrance at Seattle First Baptist Church. For our first session, we will focus on the core gift of gay men: Masculine-Feminine Intelligence. QueerSpirit is coming back and I hope you’ll be a part of it! We will commence meeting again on 1st Wednesday evenings, starting in March. Our year-long focus will be Ray Rigolioso’s new curriculum, “Living Out Your Gifts.”
This is a reworking of Ray’s Powerful U program into a monthly drop-in format. Each month we will focus on a specific gift or aptitude that we bring to the world as gay men. We will jump right in on March 1st by focusing on Masculine-Feminine Intelligence. Learn more about the curriculum at: http://www.gaymenofwisdom.org/LivingOutYourGifts.html This is a drop-in format. You are welcome to join in as many or as few of these monthly offerings as you wish. There is a suggested donation of $15 per session, but no one will be turned away for inability to pay. Dennis McCarthy will be facilitating
these sessions with me. It is our hope and intention that this program will provide a regular opportunity to “gather the tribe” and to focus on our gifts and strengths in the midst of a very challenging time, politically and socially. Living Out Your Gifts groups will run simultaneously in Provincetown, Orlando, Austin and Seattle. NOTE: Unlike other QueerSpirit programs, this curriculum is written for and limited to cis-gendered gay men. This limitation has been very intentionally and thoughtfully arrived at. I am happy to talk with anyone who has concerns about it. And you can read more about it at: http:// www.gaymenofwisdom.org/LivingOut-
GiftsNote.html A few requests: • Please let me or Dennis (cc line) know if you have any questions. • Please share this opportunity with other men you think may be interested. • While you do not need to register in advance, it’d be nice to have a general sense of the number to expect – so please let me know if you’re thinking about joining us. Peace & Courage. Peter Jabin
Freely Speaking Toastmasters to host Open House (redux) by Barbara Sehr Freely Speaking Toastmasters Like the current alleged leader of the free world, Freely Speaking Toastmasters rarely bows to sudden climate change. However, when institutions across the city were threatened with shovels of frozen precipitation, the club’s plans for an Open House on February 6 were put on ice. Now, Freely Speaking Toastmasters, Seattle’s only LGBT Toastmasters club, is glad to announce that the Open House in its new Lake Union area meeting room in the Unity Church basement hall has been rescheduled for March 6 at 7 pm. The church is located at 200 Eighth Ave. N in Seattle.
The club lost its longtime space at Fred Lind Manor this past summer, launching a challenging search for new space. Despite nearly 30 years as a Capitol Hill institution, Freely Speaking, an organization with a grand voice and pitiful budget, discovered that space on Capitol Hill is rarely free. Many options on the Hill were examined, debated and ultimately dismissed before an attractive meeting space at Unity Church, in the booming Lake Union area, was found. The club moved into its new space in early November. The club was founded in 1988 as a place where Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and other sexual minorities could come together un-
der the auspices of the traditional Toastmasters International banner. Through the years, the club has excelled in speaking competitions amidst other Toastmaster clubs in District 2, which includes clubs west of the Cascades from Kent to the Canadian border. Membership is not limited to LGBTQ people. The club remains open to all. Meetings include speeches from a standard Toastmaster manual that are often flavored with creative language and performance by Freely Speaking members. In addition, members are given timed opportunities at each meeting to engage in “spontaneous speech” regarding a topic raised by the “Table Topic” master. Evaluations of rehearsed speeches and role players at
the meeting are given at the end to provide speakers with measurement of their performance – including ways to improve the tenor of each delivery. Everyone is welcome to join in a rare window on both advanced and beginning speakers tuning their craft. You will also have the opportunity to add your own voice in both Table Topics and speaker evaluation at this meeting. Like the cranes surrounding the Lake Union area, Freely Speaking Toastmasters is always under construction. Your participation could be just the most important piece that holds the club together. For more information, see the club web site at http://freelyspeaking.org/ .
Seattle one of the most expensive rental markets, new study says by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Having a hard time paying the rent on your Capitol Hill apartment and still keeping up with your other bills? Of course you are! Seattle is one of the most expensive rental markets in the world. A new study from the online property marketplace Nested has the bad news. According to the study, Seattle is the fifth most expensive rental market in the country, with San Francisco topping the list, followed by New York City, Boston, and Washington, DC. To rent here, you’ll pay an average of $3.07 per square foot of space. According to an international housing study by the Greater London Authority, you’ll need a minimum of 420 square feet if you live by yourself, for an average Seattle rent of $1,288.76. If you have a partner and kids, you’ll need 797 square feet for four people to live comfortably, so your rent will go up to $2,445.34. According to the Loughborough University Institutional Repository, you should pay no more than 29% of your gross income for rent if you want to live with financial security. That means that if you’re living by yourself, you’ll need to make $53,328 per year to live in Seattle. If you have a family of two adults and two kids, you and your partner will need to make a total of $101.186.48. The median family income in Seattle was only $91,123 in 2015, $10,000 short of what you, your partner, and the kids need to live here comfortably. No wonder so many of your
4 Seattle Gay News
Apartments in Seattle – Photo courtesy of equityapartments.com
neighbors are moving to Federal Way! Expensive as Seattle is, it’s nothing compared to San Francisco, where a single person would need to make $85,985.38 to live comfortably ($163,151.17 for a family of four). As it turns out, San Francisco is the most expensive rental market in the world, topping even Hong Kong, Singapore, and
February 24, 2017
London. Seattle wasn’t rated among world cities, but Washington DC – which comes just before us in the list of US cities – is number six in the world, and LA – which comes just after us – is number 10 on the international list. Seattle rental prices are not only high but they’re rising rapidly. Data from the
property rental website Zumper shows that the price of a Seattle one-bedroom unit has gone up a whopping 8.5% in the past year alone. Want to buy a house instead? According to Zumper, low inventory and rising home prices also make it hard to buy a home, so buyers also have a tough time in Seattle’s housing market.
Celebrating 41 Years!
INSLEE
continued from cover appeared at a press conference in Olympia, where he promised that Washington “will not be a willing participant in mean-spirited policies that break up families and compromise our national security, and most importantly our community safety.” His new executive order does not contravene federal law, Inslee insisted, because state agencies will honor a federal criminal arrest warrant if one is presented. However, they will not participate in immigrant roundups, because immigration charges are civil offenses, not criminal ones. The state has already suffered significant harm from Trump administration ac-
tions so far, Inslee charged. School students are afraid to come to school, and people are disenrolling from state programs for fear of being reported to the federal government. Witnesses to crimes, he added, are too afraid to speak to state law enforcement officers for fear that their immigration status will get them deported. The executive order, he said, would allow state agencies – including state law enforcement – to do their jobs. Inslee’s General Counsel Nick Brown added that the governor’s order simply clarifies existing state law. Inslee also promised to fight any administration attempt to retaliate against the state. “If [the White House] thinks they’re going to jerk away the state’s Medicaid money because we won’t become mini ICE agents, they’re wrong,” he said. Meanwhile, Seattle Mayor Ed Mur-
ray threatened to sue the administration to force it to reveal its plans for so-called “sanctuary cities.” In his State of the City speech on February 21, Murray revealed that he had filed public records requests with multiple federal agencies. The requests ask for information about what enforcement actions federal agencies may take against sanctuary cities like Seattle. He said the city is filing the records requests because immigrants and refugees in Seattle need that information. Murray’s filings call for the federal agencies to provide Seattle “all records and plans pertaining to the intent and enforcement” of the executive order on sanctuary cities. The requests also seek details about what immigration laws are changing. In particular, the city is seeking information
on the Deferred Action Childhood Arrival program (DACA) program that gives some children temporary legal status. If federal officials fail to reply within 20 days, Murray said, he’ll sue. “Remaining open to all is a fundamental value of this city. Seattle is a great city because of immigrants and refugees. In today’s atmosphere of uncertainty and fear, we reaffirm our commitment that we will remain a welcoming city for all,” Murray said in his speech. Undocumented immigrants make up nearly 5% of Washington’s workforce, and “DREAMers” –immigrants brought to the United States as children and legally authorized to be here under Obama’s DACA program – number more than 17,000 in the state.
Republican claims ignore consumer gains under ACA in Washington, insurance commissioner says by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler says that Republicans are misrepresenting the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare). In a statement issued by his office on February 23, Kreidler says that “recent claims by Washington state congressional Republicans about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ignore significant consumer gains.” The facts show otherwise, Kreidler added, citing three key findings by his office. First, Kreidler says, deductibles – the amount an individual must pay before insurance kicks in – actually decreased since passage of the ACA. “The percentage of individual health plans with annual deductibles higher than $6,000 plunged from 42% in 2013 to just 17% in 2017,” Kreidler’s office found. Second, individual insurance plans now have more value than they did before the ACA. “The value of a typical individual plan is much closer to the value of the average employer-sponsored plan – 70% today compared to 40% in 2013,” Kreidler notes. “In other words, consumers are getting
TITLE IX
continued from cover the reluctance of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, according to a report in the New York Times. The Obama policy was based on a reading of Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972 that included gender identity in the law’s ban on sex discrimination. Under the Obama policy, for example, school districts that received federal funding – including almost all public schools and many private ones – were required to allow Trans students to use restrooms that corresponded to their gender identity. Soon after Trump’s decision was announced, hundreds of protestors gathered outside the White House, waving rainbow flags and chanting “No hate, no fear, Trans students are welcome here!” White House spokesperson Sean Spicer said the administration was pressed to act now because of the pending US Supreme Court case, G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board.
Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler – Photo by Elaine Thompson / AP Photo
750,000 state residents gained insurance coverage because of the ACA, he said. “The facts tell a different story than what opponents are saying,” Kreidler said. “Before the ACA, consumers in Washington were paying a lot more for a lot less. Many went without health insurance. Denials of coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition were common. Many plans failed to cover prescription drugs. My concern is that current Republican plans will return us to the dark days of health care before the ACA.” Kreidler is also analyzing the potential ACA replacement plan proposed by House Republican Speaker Paul Ryan and a proposed rule by the federal Health and Human Services Department. Both proposals could seriously harm Washington consumers, he said. Final results of his investigation are expected in early March. The reviews are being coordinated with state and national experts. “I’ve consistently said that the ACA was not perfect and that improvements need to be made,” Kreidler said. “My focus is on changes that benefit consumers instead of harming them.”
more benefits for their money.” Finally, annual premium increases have actually slowed under the ACA, contrary to Republican allegations. “Before the ACA, insurers increased premiums an average of 18.5%. Since the
ACA took effect in 2014, premiums have only increased an average of 6.7%,” Kreidler found. Kreidler also noted the drop in Washington’s rate of uninsured people – from 14% in 2013 to 5.8% today. An additional
That case pits a Virginia Transgender boy, Gavin Grimm, against school officials who want to bar him from the boys’ restroom room at his high school. Although the Justice Department is not a party in the case, the Obama administration had filed a letter in support of Grimm’s lawsuit. That letter has now been withdrawn by Sessions. “I’ve faced my share of adversaries in rural Virginia. I never imagined that my government would be one of them. We will not be beaten down by this administration,” Grimm told the protesters outside the White House. DeVos, whose support for the new policy was needed because she now heads the Department of Education, initially resisted signing off on the order and told President Trump that she was uncomfortable with it, according to sources the New York Times identified as “three Republicans with direct knowledge of the internal discussions.” Sessions is known to oppose civil rights protections for LGBT people and to be skeptical of federal rights legislation. Trump sided with him, the Times sources
said, and DeVos, faced with the choice of resigning or defying the president, agreed to go along. “The president has maintained for a long time that this is a states’ rights issue and not one for the federal government,” Spicer said, echoing Sessions’ views. “I think that all you have to do is look at what the president’s view has been for a long time, that this is not something the federal government should be involved in, that this is a states’ rights issue.” Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, told the Washington Blade on February 20 that she heard from “reliable sources” that Trump OK’d a plan presented by the Justice and Education Departments to send a letter to schools rescinding the Obama guidelines. “This is the first day of the president’s second month in office, and he is now fully coming after LGBT people,” Keisling said. “I’m angry; I’m outraged. This is about kids who just want to go to school, who just want to be themselves, and to hear the president a week or two ago talk about how supportive he is of LGBT people, it’s just outra-
geous that he go after trans kids this way.” HRC also reacted with anger to the report. “Transgender young people face tragically high rates of discrimination and bullying, and they need a government that will stand up for them – not attack them,” said HRC president Chad Griffin. “It’s shocking that this kind of harm would even be a subject of debate for the president. We call on Trump to immediately and permanently affirm the Obama administration’s guidance and protect transgender students.” The new Trump directive came a week after HRC sent Trump a letter signed by 780 parents of Trans children, asking him not to change federal policy. The letter, organized by HRC, said, “All students deserve equal access to a safe, welcoming school and a high-quality education no matter who they are.” The HRC letter was sent after the Justice and Education Departments said they would drop legal defense of the Obama Title IX guidelines against lawsuits filed by a dozen states.
February 24, 2017
Seattle Gay News 5
Visit us online www.sgn.org
Trump’s popularity “sinking like a rock,” new poll shows by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer You’re not the only one who hates Donald Trump, a new Quinnipiac University poll shows. The new data, released February 22, show Trump’s approval rate sinking to new lows. “President Donald Trump’s popularity is sinking like a rock,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll. “He gets slammed on honesty, empathy, levelheadedness, and the ability to unite. And two of his strong points, leadership and intelligence, are sinking to new lows. “This is a terrible survey one month in.” Poll respondents gave Trump a negative-to-positive 38%-to-51% job approval rating, down from a negative-to-positive 42%-to-51% approval rating in Quinnipiac’s last poll on February 7. However, the Quinnipiac poll shows a severe partisan split in rating Trump’s performance: Republicans approve of Trump 83% to 10%, while Democrats disapprove 91% to 5%. Independents disapprove of Trump by 55% to 38%. A majority of respondents said Trump is not honest (55%), lacks good leadership skills (55%), doesn’t care about every-
TRUMP ORDER continued from cover
statement. “By rescinding federal guidance from the Department of Education to stand up for Title IX protections allowing transgender students to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity, the new administration is sending a message that it no longer respects individual rights and ratcheting up the fear among marginalized communities… “Unlike the Trump administration, Seattle is committed to expanding rights – not undoing them,” Murray added. “As the new administration continues to assault civil liberties, we will stand up for all students in Seattle schools. We will also stand by court
Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll – Photo courtesy of palmbeachdailynews.com
day Americans (53%), isn’t levelheaded (63%), doesn’t share their values (60%), and is doing more to divide the country
than unite it (58%). Only 18% say Trump can be trusted to do the right thing “almost all the time.”
precedent.” In 2015 the Seattle City Council passed legislation requiring all city-controlled and privately operated places of public accommodation to provide at least some singlestall all-gender restrooms. Last year, the mayor also signed an executive order that instructed Seattle’s Office for Civil Rights to develop guidelines and trainings for Seattle police officers and other frontline staff on how to provide safe and inclusive spaces for all residents, including Transgender and gender-diverse people. The 2006 Anderson-Murray Act, which the mayor – then a state representative – helped shepherd through the legislature, specifically protects Transgender people from discrimination in public accommodations.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson pledged to enforce laws protecting Trans people. “As AG I will ensure state laws protecting transgender and gender-nonconforming students are enforced fairly and vigorously,” he wrote on his Twitter feed. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee also weighed in to promise legal protection for Trans residents. “I strongly oppose the Trump administration’s reversal of federal protection for transgender students. Washington state will continue to be a place where all children can feel safe from discrimination, harassment, or assault based on their gender identity,” he said. While existing city and state laws do
Twenty percent say he can be trusted “most of the time,” and 21% “some of the time.” But 40% said they can hardly ever trust him to do what’s right. Trump gets good marks on his handling of the economy, but he faces high disapproval on foreign policy (56%), terrorism (49%), immigration (58%), and relations with Russia (57%). On Trump’s immigration orders, 53% oppose suspending travel from the seven Muslim-majority countries, 60% oppose halting the entry of refugees, and 68% oppose barring Syrian refugees specifically. Poll respondents also think more highly of the media than they do of Trump. While they disapprove of the way the media covers Trump by 50% to 45%, they also disapprove of the way Trump talks about the media by 61% to 35%. And voters trust the media more than Trump “to tell you the truth about important issues” by 52% to 37%. “The media, so demonized by the Trump administration, is actually a good deal more popular than President Trump,” Malloy noted. The only bright spot for the administration is that people don’t hate Vice President Mike Pence, who gets an even split – a 41%to-40% favorability rating.
offer protections to Trans residents, activists warned that those laws are under attack even in Washington state. Kriss Hermanns, CEO of the Pride Foundation, cited Initiative 1552, an effort to bar Trans people from gender-appropriate restrooms. “Our civil rights should never be determined by our zip code,” she said. “While transgender students in Washington are currently protected by our state’s anti-discrimination law, opponents of equality are gathering signatures for Initiative 1552, which would target Transgender students and roll back protections for all Trans and gender-diverse people in the state.” I-1552 is sponsored by the same rightwing coalition that offered up the unsuccessful I-1515 last year.
Loathsome homocon Milo Yiannopoulos has a bad week by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Homocon superstar Milo Yiannopoulos was forced to quit his long-standing gig at Breitbart News on February 21. The day before, Simon & Schuster, the publisher of his upcoming book Dangerous, canceled his contract. Just before Simon & Schuster pulled out of the quarter-million-dollar book deal, Yiannopoulos was disinvited by the conservative political powerhouse CPAC as a speaker at its upcoming convention. Curiously enough, the issue was not Yiannopoulos’s anti-Semitism, white nationalism, or neo-fascist posturing. The issue was sex. A video surfaced in which Yiannopoulos recounts his own teenage sexual encounters with a Catholic priest and suggests that in some ways he benefited from the experience. “In the homosexual world, particularly, some of those relationships between younger boys and older men – the sort of ‘coming of age’ relationship – those relationships in which those older men help those young boys discover who they are and give them security and safety and provide them with love and a reliable, sort of, rock, where they can’t speak to their parents,” he says in the video.
6 Seattle Gay News
Milo Yiannopoulos – Photo by Jeremy Papasso / Daily Camera via AP, File
Yiannopoulos later claimed that the videos were “deceptively edited” and accused “establishment Republicans” of trying to smear him. Publication of the video sent the world of conservative Republican punditry into a tizzy. Bill Kristol, the editor-at-large for the conservative Weekly Standard, called
February 24, 2017
CPAC’s invitation to Yiannopoulos “despicable.” Jonah Goldberg, a senior editor at the conservative National Review, described Yiannopoulos as “a promoter and apologist for the ‘Alt Right,’ a white supremacist coalition that seeks to be the alternative to mainstream conservative movement. “That in itself should be the only red
flag CPAC needs,” he concluded. Following the decision to disinvite Yiannopoulos, Goldberg responded with sarcasm. “Apparently the racism and anti-Semitism wasn’t a deal-breaker,” he said. Ned Ryun, a board member for the American Conservative Union, which runs CPAC, said on February 20 that members of the board were not consulted on the invitation. “While I’m all for free speech, there is such a thing as vile, hateful speech that does not deserve a platform,” Ryun tweeted. Even Yiannopoulos’s colleagues at Breitbart – not known for the delicacy of their feelings – were appalled at the video. A source told The Washingtonian that “at least half a dozen” Breitbart staff were ready to walk out if he wasn’t fired. “The fact of the matter is that there’s been so many things that have been objectionable about Milo over the last couple of years, quite frankly,” the source said. “This is something far more sinister. If the company isn’t willing to act, there are at least half a dozen people who are willing to walk out over it.” At Yiannopoulos’s recent appearance at the UW, one of his supporters shot a protestor who was trying to break up a scuffle. The victim is still in the hospital.
Celebrating 41 Years!
Visit us online www.sgn.org
February 24, 2017
Seattle Gay News 7
8 Seattle Gay News
February 24, 2017
Celebrating 41 Years!
Visit us online www.sgn.org
February 24, 2017
Seattle Gay News 9
MoSS Alley MotorS, Inc. SpecialiStS in VolVo, Honda, toyota and Subaru
932 12th ave. Seattle, Wa 98122 (206).325--.3992 www.mossalley.com Seattle’s most progressive auto shop!
10 Seattle Gay News
February 24, 2017
Celebrating 41 Years!
Trump breaking promise to put American workers first, Sen. Patty Murray says by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Donald Trump is breaking his campaign promises to put American workers first, Sen. Patty Murray charged at a February 21 event at Seattle’s FareStart. “Republicans may control Congress, but the American people have a voice, and I urge everyone to use it. That is how we can fight back against this president’s harmful agenda,” Murray said in a brief speech. “That is my message to the people of Washington state. Make your voice heard – whether that means calling, writing, or marching in the streets. And I will lift your voice up in the US Senate.” While Senate Democrats and labor advocates were able to defeat Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary – fast food billionaire Andrew Puzder – most of Trump’s appointees have been confirmed, Murray noted. “We have Betsy DeVos, our new Education Secretary, who called public education a ‘dead end,’” Murray said. “Steve Mnuchin, now heading up Treasury…made a fortune off of foreclosing on homeowners during the Recession. Then there’s Scott Pruitt at the EPA. He spent his time as attorney general in Oklahoma
CALL ME
continued from cover hours later in a tweet and video message. Clad in a pink “pussy bow” blouse, Jenner, who is Transgender, spoke directly to the camera. “I have a message for President Trump from well, one Republican to another. This is a disaster. And you can still fix it. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community,” she said, holding up her hand like a mock telephone. “Call me.” After Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee in June, Jenner believed he would be better for women
Sen. Patty Murray event – Photo courtesy of Sen. Patty Murray’s office
trying to dismantle the very environmental protections he’s now supposed to uphold. “This isn’t draining the swamp. This is filling it with even scarier creatures!” Murray exclaimed.
Murray was joined at the podium by local workers, including electrician Chelsea Nelson, who also spoke. Her union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), was
than Hillary Clinton. “Everybody looks at the Democrats as being better with these [LGBT] issues. But Trump seems to be very much for women. He seems very much behind the LGBT community because of what happened in North Carolina with the bathroom issue. He backed the LGBT community. But in Trump’s case, there’s a lot more unknowns. With Hillary, you pretty much know what you’re gonna get with the LGBT community,” Jenner said at the time. She was spotted attending an inauguration eve dinner at Washington DC’s Union Station alongside House Speaker Paul Ryan. Her video Thursday also included a message for Transgender kids – and
bullies, even taking a shot at Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “I have a message for the trans kids of America. You’re winning. I know it doesn’t feel like it today or every day, but you’re winning. Very soon we will win full freedom nationwide and it’s going to be with bipartisan support. You can help by checking out the National Center for Transgender Equality and letting Washington hear you loud and clear,” she said. “Now I have a message for the bullies: You’re sick. And because you’re weak, you pick on kids, you pick on women or anyone else you think is vulnerable. Apparently even becoming the attorney general isn’t enough to cure some people of their insecurities.” Jenner is not the only celebrity to speak
founded at a time when electricians suffered 50% mortality on the job, she said, but now unionized electricians make a good living and work in safe conditions. Adding that she was a married Lesbian whose wife was in the audience, she noted that union members “are not all white, not all straight, and don’t practice the same religions.” In response to questions, Murray denounced Trump’s executive order barring immigration from Muslim countries. “If the country is run by fear, it’s not the country I believe in,” she said. “It’s not the country I want my kids to live in. “Trump has taken a reckless attitude. That’s not how you fix immigration. That’s not how you keep people safe.” Asked about prospects for comprehensive immigration reform, Murray replied that “the Republicans refused to come to the table” to discuss legislation. “We have to get back to the point where we figure out how to do it right,” she added. FareStart, at 700 Virginia Street, operates a fine dining restaurant and catering service that trains poor, homeless, or previously incarcerated people to work in the hospitality and food service industries.
against the new policy: singer Jackie Evancho, who performed the national anthem at Trump’s inauguration and has a transgender sister, tweeted the President on Wednesday evening asking for a meeting. Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres also weighed in on Twitter, writing, “For anyone who feels scared or hopeless, know that we will never stop fighting for your rights.” Jenner, who came out as Transgender on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine in 2015, documented her life after transition in two seasons of the E! docuseries “I am Cait.” The show often got political; Jenner frequently discussed Transgender rights and featured LGBT activists in nearly every episode.
Texas judge sues to keep from watching training video on LGBT issues by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer An administrative judge who works for the Social Security Administration (SSA) is suing the agency to keep from having to watch a 17-minute training video on LGBT issues. Judge Gary Suttles of Houston, Texas, says that having to watch the video would violate his First Amendment rights and also the religious protection provision in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2011, the Obama administration directed all federal agencies to provide for diversity and inclusion in their interactions with the communities they serve. In May 2016, the SSA sent its employees instructions to watch a video entitled “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Community,” which offered “a brief session on tips for increasing cultural awareness in a diverse and inclusive environment.” Suttles objected to seeing the video, saying he was “already fully aware to treat all persons with respect and dignity and [has] done so [his entire life].” Instead, Suttles requested an exemption from his supervisor,
Judge Gary Suttles – Photo courtesy of hdnux.com
the Houston office’s Hearing Office Chief Administrative Law Judge Monica J. Anderson. But Anderson denied his request.
Visit us online www.sgn.org
“Allowing employees to remain untrained on the topics covered by the mandatory video creates a risk of liability to the agency, poses a potential harm to other employees, and threatens the agency’s core public service mission,” she wrote. “Indeed, the agency is committed to providing the highest standard of considerate, thoughtful, and culturally sensitive customer service to the public. The agency must also ensure that all employees treat each other with courtesy and consideration. In mandating all employees to view the LGBT mandatory training video, the agency is ensuring all its employees are trained about, and will comply with, agency workplace rules and EEO principles.” Settles demanded an alternative way to fulfill the SSA’s diversity requirement, but when his supervisors told him he could read the video script instead of actually watching the video, he also refused. Settles filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint based on his claims of religious discrimination, which is due to be adjudicated in March, but then pre-empted the hearing by filing his lawsuit.
In his suit, the judge alleges that the SSA refused to accommodate his religious beliefs. “The agency has wholly failed to work in good faith to reasonably accommodate Judge Suttles’ sincerely held religious belief against watching” the video, the complaint says. The agency violated his rights, the complaint continues, “by discriminating against him on the basis of his religion, creating a religiously hostile work environment,” and by “retaliating against him for his protected activity of seeking a religious accommodation.” Although Settles says he has a spotless record since his appointment in 2005, the Houston Press has discovered at least one incident in which he was censured for ridiculing a Social Security recipient for claiming PTSD disability benefits. “I mean, hey, you were in the Navy,” Suttles told the man. “You weren’t even fighting on the ground. To me it would have been exciting. What do you mean stressful?”
February 24, 2017
Seattle Gay News 11
WEEKLY PETS: Adoption Center Sunday – Wednesday | 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. Thursday – Saturday | 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. Phone: (425) 649-7563 Email: adoption@seattlehumane.org
TOMMY
Meet Tommy, a spunky and energetic 1.5-year-old Shepherd mix! He is very affectionate and generous with his kisses and cuddles. Tommy is especially food motivated which means he’ll be an excellent dog to train! On top of it, Tommy is stunningly handsome! This cool dog will complete a loving family. Meet Tommy today at Seattle Humane!
CC
Meet CC, a 7-year-old brown and black tabby girl who wants a person of her own to love. Someone she can help with computer work or couch-cuddling would be ideal. CC will appreciate a calm and quiet home environment where she is given the time she needs to be comfortable and show her true colors. If you have a spot in your heart for CC, please talk to adoption staff about meeting her.
12 Seattle Gay News
February 24, 2017
Celebrating 41 Years!
www.sgn.org
www.sgn.org
More than you think
Gary D. TorGerson Co. Expert Painting and Repairs Rot Repair: siding, doors, windows, porches and decks. Lead-Safe Certified
NOW OPEN
www.sgn.org
See photographs of our work at www.TorgersonCompany.com Email: info@torgersoncompany.com Contractor Registration #: GARYDTC134CJ Phone: 206-781-0999
Sustainablecapitolhill.org/tool-library
Visit us online www.sgn.org
February 24, 2017
Seattle Gay News 13
14 Seattle Gay News
February 24, 2017
Celebrating 41 Years!
Visit us online www.sgn.org
February 24, 2017
Seattle Gay News 15