Celebrating 42 Years! Issue 9 Volume 44
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Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
Dire prediction by CDC: Louis Chen pleads guilty Half of Gay black men to murder will get HIV
CDC issues dire warning concerning Gay black men and HIV – Photo by Eben Gregory
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
Half of all Gay black men in the United States will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The dire new warning was presented at
the 2016 Conference on Retroviruses and Louis Chen show here talking to Barry Flegenheimer, one of his defense attorneys – Opportunistic Infections and is based diagPhoto by Greg Gilbert/The Seattle Times noses and death rates from 2009 to 2013. The CDC found that while the likelihood by Shaun Knittel Chen has pled guilty to the 2011 slaying of of an American of any race being diagnosed SGN Associate Editor his partner and their toddler son inside a with HIV is only one in 99 – down from one First Hill condo. in 78, as the CDC reported in 2005 – risk According to Satterberg’s office, “The varies significantly by sexual orientation King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan defendant, Louis C. Chen, pled guilty to see cdc page 16 Satterberg announced Thursday that Louis see louis chen page 6
Oregon leads the national Murray says 23rd minimum wage fight Avenue businesses will Washington state initiative campaign underway
Oregon Governor Kate Brown – Photo by Daniella Peterson/Statesman Journal
by Victor Hawthorne SGN Contributing Writer
get mitigation funds
Construction that is the norm for 23rd Avenue these days – Photo by Brandon Maez/capitolhilltimes.com
workers to the highest in the country. by Shaun Knittel Senate Bill 1532 now heads to Demo- SGN Associate Editor cratic Governor Kate Brown, who said in If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Last week, Democratic majorities in Or- a statement that she will sign the bill into That is the moral of the story for the small egon’s House and Senate passed a bill that law. The law’s three-tiered system, based on business owners, all of whom are minorities, increases the state’s minimum wage for all see oregon page 16 along construction ravaged 23rd Avenue
and their fight to receive mitigation funds from the City, essentially saving them from financial ruin. The story began months ago when the 23rd Avenue Construction Project, sold to the neighborhood as happening in phases, see 23rd avenue page 5
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Celebrating 41 Years!
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February 26, 2016
Seattle Gay News 3
Crowded race in the 7th Congressional District by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
Candidates are lined up eight deep for the chance to succeed veteran congressman Jim McDermott in the Seattle-area 7th Congressional District. McDermott is retiring after serving in Congress since 1989. The 7th Congressional District includes Seattle north of Madison Street, West Seattle, Vashon Island, Edmonds, Shoreline, Kenmore, and parts of Burien and Normandy Park. The presumptive frontrunners are all already elected officials: state Sen. Pramila
Jayapal (D-37), King County Councilmember Joe McDermott (no relation to the congressman), and state Rep. Brady Walkinshaw (D-43). If any of the frontrunners is elected, it will be a historic first for the 7th Congressional District. Jayapal would be the first woman the district ever sent to Congress. Either Jayapal or Walkinshaw would be the first person of color, and either Joe McDermott or Walkinshaw would be the first Gay Congressman from the 7th. Other candidates include Edmonds peace activist, artist, and playwright Jeff Stilwell and Seattle attorneys Andrew Ifits
and Douglas McQuaid. McQuaid previously ran unsuccessfully for the Washington Supreme Court in 2012, losing to incumbent Justice Susan Owens. Perennial candidate Donovan Rivers rounds out the field on the Democratic side. In past elections, Rivers has run for Congress against both Jim McDermott and Adam Smith. The seven Democrats are joined by Republican Craig Keller, who lost to Jim McDermott in a landslide in 2014. The rare open Congressional seat has also sparked a free-for-all to succeed Walkinshaw in his 43rd Legislative District
seat. Homeless advocate and low-income housing expert Nicole Macri, Gay political consultant and fundraiser Thomas Pitchford, Seattle attorney Daniel Shih, and environmental activist Sameer Ranade have filed for that race. Walkinshaw’s House seat is up for election every two years, so he had to choose whether to run for reelection or to go for the open 7th District Congressional seat. Jayapal was elected to the state Senate in 2014, however, so she still has two years left in her term and does not have to surrender the state Senate seat to run for Congress.
Transgender people in the workplace by Elayne Wylie Gender Justice League Transgender people in Washington State are facing the biggest battle our community has seen in a long time. While there are protections for transgender people to use public accommodations already on the books, and despite the fact that the state Human Rights Commission has offered up rules clarifications on those protections, both lawmakers and extreme right-wing groups in the state are seeking to roll back protections for transgender people to use bathrooms and locker rooms in Washington State. The newly-launched SAFE Alliance (Safety & Access For Everyone) seeks to educate lawmakers and state residents alike in why those protections exist in the first place, and how everyone can be safe. What does that mean for workplace equality? How do current provisions in state law, as well as federal law, affect the rights and freedoms of transgender people? As the media has offered up numerous times in 2015, the decision to transition and live authentically in the gender of one’s true self is not an easy process. Nevertheless, more than 700,000 people in the United States identify as transgender, and a new generation of young people have access to new channels for learning, new language and new understanding about themselves, and are coming out at younger and younger ages. Workers in Seattle, Washington are among those in 200 cities and 17 states in the U.S. that enjoy specific protections for transgender people. So why do many transgender people in this region complain that they were fired, passed over for promotion or opportunity at work, or simply unable to find equitable work at their experience level? However, there exists a lack of institutional structure, both at the federal level and at state and municipal levels, that contributes significantly to the disparity in employment equality for transgender people. This void also undermines the social structural inequalities that LGBTQ people have faced. This is evident in the 2015 finalization of a 3-year rules clarification process for the 2006 Anderson-Murray Anti-Discrimination law for Washington State. In short, transgender people should be protected by law and by practice from prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory actions from coworkers and employers, but they are often not. A staggering 90% of transgender people report, in a 2008 nationwide survey by the National Center for Trans Equality, experiencing harassment, mistreatment or discrimination on the job, or felt forced to take actions to hide their identity from coworkers to avoid negative behaviors from others. Nearly half of all transgender
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Elayne Wylie – Courtesy of Gender Justice League
people report being fired, not hired or denied a promotion due to them identifying as openly trans. And specific protections in Washington State often fall far short of extending any real protection for workers. The Human Rights Commission publishes an index, the C.E.I. or corporate equality index, which charts companies on the Fortune 1000 on the depth and breadth of their non-discrimination policies, as well as pro-employee measures and inclusive benefits. To receive a 100 score, companies must annually demonstrate a commitment to and the implementation of seven major criteria, some of which is of specific relevance to transgender workers. A frequent problem, however, is how many companies choose to put a queer veneer on their diversity efforts without providing realistic and practical methodologies in-house to diversity solutions that actually work. Such corporate healthcare policies contain enough inclusive language to garner a good score on the Index, but fall short in meeting transgender people where they are at, often leaving employees paying hefty fees for essential but non-covered services, or forcing them to pay up front and be reimbursed. This often leaves those employees on the outside of a glass door, able to see inside, but unable to gain access. Some employees are often terminated for their status as a transgender person, despite the company’s
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Index score, and even public outcry against such actions aren’t a guarantee that those people have legal recourse, or even to be rehired. More importantly for small and medium-sized companies in Washington, human resources employees are facing the same questions as their bigger corporate counterparts, but likely without the resources to devote to solving those issues. How do we train our employees to understand key concepts that relate to both transgender employees and transgender customers? Do we have structures in place to address a new hire who is transgender, or to accommodate an existing employee as they choose to transition? Another key breakdown is how businesses and organizations view cultural competency training with regard to the transgender community. Despite the legal and fiscal ramifications of how transgender employees and customers are engaged with in the workplace, training on these issues is typically given so little regard that training and consulting is often requested without a line item in the budget, and thus is regarded as a low priority. Employees receive, on average, two hours of instruction in a group setting, with little or no follow-up measures, skill building, or accountability for the knowledge received. Gender Justice League, one organiza-
tion that provides workplace competency training, fields questions from both individuals and organizations about workplace best practices regarding employees and customers, and has been adapting existing educational modules for use in providing in-depth workplace training, with a provision for long-term workplace competency. Many calls that come in seek to schedule trainers for one to two hours at most, with no follow-up or more in-depth work. The stakes have never been higher. Despite state laws being on the books for more than nine years, recent proposals from conservative, anti-transgender organizations are spurring lawmakers to revisit critical protections for transgender people. The SAFE Alliance offers hope and accurate information to prevent those protections from being removed. Public accommodations, essentially all of the spaces outside our front door, are under attack. By recognizing now the dangers in rolling back those protections, we may be able to make a difference for not only the transgender people in our community, but for everyone in the state. The article was originally published in the Winter 2016 edition of the GSBA Perspective magazine. Reprinted with permission.
Celebrating 41 Years!
Othello Village Tiny Houses Volunteer Work Party in Seattle’s Rainier Valley on Sunday, February 28
Volunteers painting at Othello Village – Courtesy of Low Income Housing Institute
The Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) is hosting an all day volunteer work party on Sunday, February 28, from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. to set up the new Othello Village encampment at 7544 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. in Seattle’s Rainier Valley. Be part of the movement to eliminate homelessness in Seattle! Join a team of volunteers to set up the Othello Tiny House Village and Encampment. No experience required. The village, when completed, will include tiny houses, tents and community facilities for homeless families, couples, singles and people with pets. The City of Seattle issued a temporary use permit on February 18 and five colorful tiny houses have been built on this site owned by LIHI. Two more tiny houses are being moved in this week. This is the third sanctioned encampment under the 2015 ordinance passed by the Seattle City Council to provide a safe place for people during the homelessness crisis. The other two encampments are al-
ready up and running in Ballard and Interbay. The Low Income Housing Institute partners with Nickelsville to host the tiny house and tent community. The village will contain 22 tiny houses, 16 tents, a shower pavilion, a kitchen/dining tent, a counseling tent, a community tent, toilet facilities, and a children’s play area. Many organizations and individuals including neighbors have committed to help build or donate to the tiny houses including: Hazel Wolf Middle School, Tulalip Tribes TERO Program, YouthBuild, Wood Technology Center, Seattle Vocational Institute, Mercer Island Presbyterian Church, Christ Episcopal, Renton Technical College, Sawhorse Revolution, I.D. Rotary, Rebuilding Together Seattle, Portable Storage NW, Walsh Construction Co., and Seattle Jaycees. Other groups will soon be confirmed. The Othello Village is scheduled to open on March 8th and there are many tasks and
23rd avenue
The issue, however, is much bigger than these businesses being initially denied mitigation funds. The fact of the matter is, say the 23rd Avenue business owners, they were unfairly denied the money to keep them afloat when businesses in other neighborhoods had received funds. In 2014, the City of Seattle made $15 million available to businesses that had to close due to seawall construction. Sound Transit compensated businesses that dealt with years of construction along the light rail line in South Seattle. In short, only businesses in the Central District, Seattle’s historically black neighborhood, were denied mitigation funds. Something that Sara Mae says is unacceptable from a City government that claims to be looking out for small businesses during a time of historic growth that is gentrifying many parts of the City, leaving businesses no option but to relocate or close, sending rent prices sky high, and ultimately changing the very look and feel of the city. However, good news came this week as Mayor Ed Murray announced Wednesday the creation of a federally-backed $650,000 fund to help 23rd Avenue businesses most at risk of closing. According to Murray, to qualify for assistance, businesses must have five or fewer employees and demonstrate the project has negatively impacted
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began, and business stopped dead in its tracks say the small business owners. The $46 million overhaul of 23rd Avenue between S. Jackson St. and E. John St. will transform the street into a more efficient, safer route for cars, transit, pedestrians, and (due in part to an adjacent greenway) bicyclists. But over the past few months, with sidewalks closed, streets being torn up and what little parking there was available without construction all but gone, people just stopped going to the cafés, flower shops, and take out restaurants that otherwise report a fair amount of business. In particular, says the owner of 701 Coffee, Sara Mae, she saw her customers drop from 80 per day to less than 20. Obviously, that is not a sustainable number of people and income to keep the doors open. Sara Mae, who is openly Transgender, is the small business owner that rallied others such as Justin Gerardy of Standard Brewing, Nop Zay of Mamas Cafe, and Saad Ali of 99 Cent Plus to push for mitigation funds they had originally been denied because City of Seattle officials didn’t think they would be as negatively impacted as they have been.
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projects to be completed before then. There is no experience required and this is an allages and family-friendly event. Volunteers will be painting, placing insulation, installing plywood, and tiling floors of the tiny houses, setting up tent platforms, setting up a security booth, clearing brush, and cleaning up litter in the neighborhood. We are gladly accepting donations of food and drinks for the volunteers. Volunteers can work as much or as little time as they have available between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Volunteers should come prepared for the elements and wear clothes they are willing to get dirty. Othello Village will provide safe shelter for individuals and families currently experiencing homelessness. Nickelsville, is a self-managed community with residents having to abide by a strict code of conduct including no alcohol, no drugs and no weapons. LIHI will provide social workers and assistance to move the residents into permanent housing. The village was developed as an inno-
vative crisis response to homelessness by moving people into tiny houses and safe encampments. The City of Seattle is providing operating support. For more information or to volunteer, please contact Volunteer and Advocacy Coordinator Josh Castle at (206) 334-0508 or jcastle@lihi.org. For further information or to donate to the tiny house village go to www.LIHI.org. NOTE: The city-sanctioned and LIHImanaged safe car lot for homeless persons living in vehicles, located on the site of the former Yankee Diner at 5300 24th Ave. NW, opened last Friday. Placement and case management services at the site, which can accommodate 35 cars, RV campers, and vans, is being done by Compass Housing Alliance’s Road to Housing Program. For more information on parking a vehicle at the site, call 206-474-1650. Courtesy of Low Income Housing Institute
Othello Village set up volunteers – Courtesy of Low Income Housing Institute
the business. By using $400,000 of federal Community Development Block Grants already under City control, the City avoids violating the state constitution. The other $250,000 will come from the Seattle Investment Fund, which is a private corporation created by the City to manage fees generated through a federal tax credit program. In addition, Murray ordered a race and social justice analysis of the project to examine claims made that the project was a systematic attempt to displace minorities and lower income people. If it turns out the project was racist in nature, Murray says he will “shut it down.” “This is a question of is this project intrinsically racist,” said Murray. “Is it going to move the African American community further out of its historic neighborhood?” In all, 20 to 30 businesses are expected to qualify for mitigation funds, according to the Office of Economic Development. Details, like how much businesses will individually get, are still being ironed out. According to City officials, the funds would be made available after the City Council approves the plan, which is expected to happen soon. Office of Economic Development (OED) director Brian Surratt said the first checks will start arriving at businesses within weeks. In fact, OED plans to have a place online where businesses can
register to get regular updates on the process almost immediately. In addition, Surratt has urged the small business owners to gather tax and expense reports so the funds can be quickly distributed based upon the criteria that Mayor Murray outlined in order for a business to receive mitigation funds. OED says they will hold workshops on the process and develop a form for businesses to file. It is important to note that business not eligible for direct assistance may still be able to receive deferments on their utilities and business license tax, said Surratt. Surratt says the City would not seek a third party administrator for the distribution of the funds. “Given the scale and estimated number of businesses, we feel like we can manage this internally,” he said. As for Sara Mae, owner of 701 Coffee, she isn’t claiming victory just yet. “I’m just wanting to make sure there is a follow through with this,” she told Seattle Gay News. “I want our group to see it to the end. It’s been a tough battle for all of us.” In the end, Sara Mae says, “We look forward to stepping back behind our counters once they come out with a final proposal, and we agree to support it publicly.”
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Seattle Gay News 5
louis chen continued from cover
charges of Murder in the Second Degree for the murder of his partner, Eric Cooper, and Murder in the First Degree for the murder of their two-year-old son, Cooper Chen, at their apartment in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood on August 11, 2011. Each charge includes a deadly weapon enhancement. The defendant faces a sentence range of 34 to 49 years in prison, which includes the deadly weapon enhancements. Prosecutors will recommend a top of the range sentence of 49 years. Chen was originally charged with Aggravated Murder, however, the death penalty was not requested in the case.” “Today’s guilty plea achieves the goals of the prosecution with certainty, finality and what could potentially be a sentence of life in prison. The defendant also gives up his right to any appeal in the case,” Satterberg’s office said in a statement released Thursday morning. Chen has been held in King County Jail without bail since his arrest on August 11, 2011. News of the homicides gripped Seattle, and in particular, the LGBTQ community, because of the gruesomeness of the crime scene and the unanswered questions about why the killings took place. Chen and Eric Cooper, along with their two-year-old son Cooper Chen were not well known in the community because they had newly arrived in Seattle from the East Coast after Chen, a doctor, accepted a position at Virginia Mason. Chen was scheduled for his first day of work on August 11, 2011. But when he failed to show up, a supervisor from Virginia Mason walked over to his condo to check on him and what she discovered instead of an employee that overslept was a murder scene in which a man had been stabbed to death and a toddler’s throat had been cut. Seattle Police gathered evidence from the bloody crime scene on the 17th floor of the M Street apartments on August 11 and reported that Chen confessed to the murders. What shocked crime scene investigators was the brutality by which Chen stabbed Eric Cooper, more than 100 times, and court documents said that the couple’s young son, Cooper Chen, was killed with knife wounds to his neck. Chen and Cooper had met over a decade ago when Chen was attending the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Cooper was a 17-year-old high-school senior in Tinley Park, Illinois. Cooper eventually ran away from home to be with Chen. The two were described by family friends as being head over heels in love. According to public records, the couple moved to San Diego, California. After Chen’s internal medicine residency at the University of California, San Diego, was complete, the two men moved to Seattle, where Chen began to study physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Washington School of Medicine. But the two kept to each other, Chen with his studies and Cooper supporting his partner in any way that he could.
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Eric Cooper and son Cooper Chen – gaynewsnetwork.com
Chen decided to return to San Diego, where he stayed until he was granted a faculty appointment at the University of Minnesota and served as an attending physician at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis, while Cooper – who had earned his GED – continued his education, earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota, according to public records. While living in Minnesota the couple decided to have a child, friends told The Seattle Times after the murders. They began the process of having their child through surrogacy and Cooper Chen was born in 2009 using Chen’s sperm and the egg of an anonymous Taiwanese woman (carried to term by a surrogate mother from Oregon). Eric Cooper adopted the child. Friends say Chen had a ‘type A’ personality, while Cooper was described as sweet, nice, and extraordinary with their son. While Dr. Chen worked, Copper stayed home with the baby. And while several friends said that Chen was the dominant personality in the relationship and was sometimes bossy to Cooper, there were no signs of the kind of rage that police say was evident at the crime scene. In July 2011, the family moved to Seattle and rented a penthouse apartment on First Hill. Chen, who had previously hidden the fact that he was Gay, as well as the existence of his child, from his family, finally came out to them. Chen’s family is said to have completely accepted him as Gay and his mother was scheduled to fly in from Taiwan to meet the toddler, but never got the chance before the young boy was murdered. According to friends, by the time the couple and their son arrived in Seattle they had already decided to separate amicably. Their plan was to share the penthouse apartment while they got settled, and then Chen would rent another apartment nearby and they would co-parent equally. But things did not work out as planned. Something went terribly wrong. The bodies and a blood-covered Chen were found on
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August 11, 2011. According to investigators, the murders could have taken place on any one of the three days from August 8-11 because the last time the apartment complex’s electronic key system registered anyone entering the apartment was at 3:30 p.m. on August 8. At the time of his arrest, neither Chen nor his family or attorneys were talking. What prosecutors and police did know, however, is that on the morning of August 11, Chen’s sister had been trying desperately to get in touch with her brother. She contacted the apartment manager of the building where Chen, Cooper, and their toddler lived, because she had not heard from her brother in three days, which was unusual she said. According to the formal charging documents, shortly after 9 a.m. that morning, the manager knocked on the door of the penthouse apartment. Chen didn’t open the door. Instead, according to the building manager, Chen yelled from the other side of the door that the manager should return in one hour. The manager told Chen his sister was trying to contact him. According to the court documents, Chen’s sister also called Madonna Carlson, a manager at Virginia Mason Medical Center, who was already concerned because Chen had not shown up for a required orientation that morning. Carlson then went to Chen’s residence. Responding to Carlson, Chen opened the door, and according to charging documents, he was nude, semiconscious, and covered in dried blood. Carlson saw Eric Cooper’s body – dressed only in boxer shorts – on the living room floor and immediately called 911. She was instructed to move any weapons away from the body, so she kicked a butcher knife into the kitchen, the court documents reported. The police officers who arrived at the scene in response to the 911 call reported that Chen’s right eye was swollen shut and he was found slumped near the front door.
When questioned by the officers, “Who stabbed you and your partner?” Chen said, “I did,” the charging documents said. Charging documents stated that Eric Cooper was found dead in the living room of the couple’s apartment with wounds to his face, neck, chest, back, and hands. Prosecutors reported that he had been stabbed at least 100 times. Their son, Cooper Chen, was found dead in the bathtub. He had suffered numerous cuts to his neck. Both police and prosecutors allege that as many as five knives may have been used in the savage attacks. According to police, a butcher knife was found, along with a large kitchen knife with the blade broken off. At first, Chen said he was not guilty of the murders and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine if he was competent to face trial. Chen was ultimately found competent and the trial was ordered to proceed. Then, in 2013, Chen pled insanity according to court documents. The trial was scheduled for April 2016 and in late December 2015, in another surprising twist, according to legal documents filed with King County Superior Court in a dispute over an expert witness in the now four-year-old case, Chen’s lawyers planned to contend that their client was suffering from psychosis brought on by dextromethorphan, a commonly used cough suppressant. According to Chen’s defense team, “overuse of Dextromathorethan (sic) can lead to psychosis, hallucinations, and sometimes to episodes of violence.” The defense theory also included a plan to present evidence that Chen’s “genetic make-up” contributed to the condition. However, Thursday’s guilty plea by Chen eliminates the so-called cough syrup defense, as the case won’t make it to trial. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled; however, the sentencing hearing will be before Judge William Bowman in courtroom W-739 of the King County Courthouse. The case was handled by Senior Deputy Prosecutors Don Raz and Mary Barbosa.
Celebrating 41 Years!
Victory! Lambda Legal applauds demise of discriminatory bill in South Dakota [House Bill 1107] would have put the personal religious beliefs of some over the basic civil rights of others. It should be a relief for all South Dakotans that this awful bill is behind them.” PIERRE, SOUTH DAKOTA – House Bill 1107, a dangerously far-reaching religious refusal bill that would have allowed individuals, businesses, social service agencies and others to discriminate against same-sex couples, Transgender people and single mothers on the basis of personally held religious beliefs was tabled in the South Dakota Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, February 25. Lambda
Legal Staff Attorney Kyle Palazzolo issued the following statement: “The Senate Judiciary Committee did the right thing today. House Bill 1107 was a harmful and unnecessary religious refusal law, or RFRA, that would have legalized discrimination against same-sex couples, Transgender people, and single mothers. It would have put the personal religious beliefs of some over the basic civil rights of others. It should be a relief for all South Dakotans that this awful bill is behind them. “Although this is a victory, we still have work to do to show the nation that equality is a South Dakota value. There are two
more incredibly harmful bills still alive that we cannot let become law. These bills, HB 1008 and HB 1112, are hateful and unfairly target young transgender people in schools. House Bill 1008, a bill aimed specifically at hurting transgender students, is sitting on Governor Dennis Daugaard’s desk right now waiting for him to take action. He must veto this bill and he must do it quickly because the clock is ticking. Signing the bill or not acting at all would be unacceptable because of the awful consequences that such a law would likely have on the safety of young transgender people. “Another anti-trans bill, House Bill 1112, which would effectively exclude all
transgender young people from participating in high school sports and activities, is also making its way through the South Dakota Legislature. We cannot rest until all of these bills have been stopped.” Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work. www.lambdalegal.org. Courtesy of Lambda Legal
Former Klan Grand Wizard endorses Donald Trump
Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke – Burt Steel/AP via theguardian.com
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke says white people should vote for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
“Voting for these people [the other candidates], voting against Donald Trump at this point, is really treason to your heritage,” Duke said on the David Duke Radio Program. “I’m not saying I endorse everything about Trump. In fact, I haven’t formally en-
dorsed him. But I do support his candidacy, and I support voting for him as a strategic action. I hope he does everything we hope he will do.” Duke also told his listeners to start volunteering for Trump. They would meet like-minded people working on his campaign, Duke added. “And I am telling you that it is your job now to get active. Get off your duff. Get off your rear end that’s getting fatter and fatter for many of you everyday on your chairs. When this show’s over, go out, call the Republican Party, but call Donald Trump’s headquarters, volunteer,” he said. “They’re screaming for volunteers. Go in there, you’re gonna meet people who are going to have the same kind of mind-set that you have.” In December 2015, Duke told Politico that Trump’s campaign allowed American racists to be more open about their racial bias. “He’s made it OK to talk about these incredible concerns of European-Americans today, because I think European-Ameri-
cans know they are the only group that can’t defend their own essential interests and their point of view,” Duke said. “He’s meant a lot for the human rights of EuropeanAmericans.” While a student at LSU (1968–1974), Duke organized the White Youth Alliance and earned notoriety for walking around campus in a Nazi uniform. After graduating from LSU, he organized the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, naming himself its Grand Wizard. In 1980, Duke resigned from the Klan to found the National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP), mocking the NAACP. He has been a perennial candidate for political office in Louisiana, including a run for governor in 1991 against former Gov. Edwin Edwards. Edwards, who had been accused – and was later convicted – of a number of racketeering charges, won the election, using the slogan “Vote for the crook. It’s important.”
Evangelical bigwigs prepare to desert Ted Cruz by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer According to the conservative journal National Review, evangelical leaders are preparing to desert Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz for his rival Marco Rubio. Once considered Cruz’s bedrock of support, a secret group of national evangelical leaders calling themselves, appropriately enough, “The GROUP” is disappointed with Cruz’s third-place showing in the South Carolina primary and is uncomfortable with his reputation for political dirty tricks. In a confidential conference call, National Review says, a majority of The GROUP decided that unless Cruz carries his home state of Texas in the Super Tuesday primary, they will drop him and support Rubio instead. Many national polls show Trump and Cruz neck and neck in Texas, although some also show Cruz with as much as a 15-point lead. The GROUP is said to include Family Research Council CEO Tony Perkins, former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Iowa pastor Bob Vander Plaats,
Ted Cruz may soon lose “The Group’s” backing – theresurgent.com
and longtime right-wing activist Richard Viguerie. Perkins, considered a Cruz loyalist, said later he did not participate in any conference call and may have been deliberately excluded by other members of The GROUP. “I was on no conference call and I will
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stand by my endorsement of @tedcruz through the convention,” Perkins tweeted. He added that talk of abandoning Cruz was “lies from the Rubio camp.” The GROUP came together in 2014 to coalesce “the movement” of evangelical activists behind a single Republican presi-
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dential candidate and prevent a splintering of the conservative vote that would allow a more moderate Republican to clinch the GOP nomination. According to the National Review story, The GROUP voted in early December on an endorsement, and after five rounds of balloting, Cruz clinched the 75% supermajority needed for members to publicly support him. Those who opposed Cruz pledged not to make their positions public, but Cruz’s apparent weakness in South Carolina has encouraged his enemies and dampened the enthusiasm of most of his friends. Rubio’s backers inside The GROUP have not yet pushed for release from their vow of nonsupport, but the reported conference call indicates that they are laying the groundwork for a mass defection to Rubio should Cruz collapse on Super Tuesday. National Review was founded by William F. Buckley in 1955 and has been at the center of the mainstream conservative movement since then. The magazine recently devoted an entire issue to denouncing Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.
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Stranger than fiction: Alabama lawyer alleges mental anguish, sues Supreme Court justices who voted for marriage equality by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Alabama lawyer Austin Burdick has filed a federal lawsuit against the five U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted for marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges. In his suit, Burdick alleges the justices are guilty of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and violating the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He is seeking more than $6 million in compensatory damages, punitive damages, mental anguish damages, and attorney’s fees and costs. Burdick claims in the lawsuit that the five justices, through their Obergefell opinion, have rewritten the 14th Amendment to allow an expansion of government authority, not a guarantee of liberty. The 14th Amendment, which requires states to observe the same respect for equal protection and due process that the Bill of Rights imposes on the federal government, was the constitutional basis for the high court’s decision striking down state bans on same-sex marriage. “This ‘interpretation’ is no interpretation at all. It is a tyrannical usurpation
of authority to rewrite the Constitution,” Burdick states in the lawsuit. The decision of “the Defendants [justices] goes beyond a manipulation, twist, strain, or unique perspective on the text and crosses over in to an abandonment of the Constitution,” he adds. The suit names justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kegan as defendants. Burdick’s suit is likely going nowhere, however. Judges are protected from liability for their judicial decisions under the doctrine of “judicial immunity,” even if the judge’s decision is contrary to law and morality. In Mireles v. Waco (1991), for example, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a judge had “absolute immunity” from a lawsuit, even though he had instructed police to “rough up” a defendant who missed his court date. Stump v. Sparkman (1978) is considered the binding Supreme Court precedent. In that case, the Supreme Court dismissed a suit against an Indiana judge who had ordered sterilization of a 15-year-old girl at her mother’s request.
Alabama lawyer Austin Burdick – www.austinburdick.com
Harry Reid wins Nevada for Hillary Campaigns trade charges of dirty tricks
U.S. Senator Harry Reid – Joshua Roberts/Rueters/Landov
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer U.S. Sen. Harry Reid helped Hillary Clinton win a narrow victory in his home state of Nevada, according to political insiders quoted by Amy Chozick in the New York Times. Pre-caucus polling had showed Clinton and her rival Bernie Sanders running neck and neck in a state where Clinton was assumed to be the prohibitive favorite. Reid, although officially neutral at the
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time, reportedly called his longtime political ally, D. Taylor, president of UNITE HERE, the parent union of Nevada’s powerful Culinary Workers Union, and asked him to turn out union members for the state caucuses. Facing tough contract fights – including one with a Donald Trump–owned casino in Las Vegas – UNITE HERE wanted to stay out of the caucus process, but Taylor ultimately agreed to help. Taylor was “extremely cooperative,” Reid told Chozick. “Probably 100 organiz-
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ers will be at the caucus sites and in hotels to make sure people know what they’re doing,” or, in other words, supporting Clinton. Reid also called casino owners to get them to allow employees to take time off to attend Democratic caucuses. As a result of Reid’s intervention, Clinton won all six casino-area caucuses, with hundreds of union workers showing up. Reid also encouraged leaders of other unions to rally their members in Clark County, the area around Las Vegas, for Clinton. Clinton won Clark County by 10 points, meaning that Sanders would have had to crush her in northern Nevada to win. As it was, Sanders crushed Clinton among young voters, the 17–29 cohort, by 68 points. He also won the 30–44 group by 27 points. Entrance polls also showed Sanders winning among Hispanic voters, while Clinton won 76% of African-American voters. Reid formally endorsed Clinton on February 25. After the caucuses, both sides traded inflammatory charges. RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of the National Nurses United Union, which endorsed Sanders, accused Clinton staffers of impersonating members of her union to confuse voters. She later posted photos of people she said were Clinton supporters changing into red shirts identical to the ones worn by her members while cam-
paigning for Sanders. ABC News also reported that Clinton supporters were conducting push polls ahead of the caucuses testing attack lines against Sanders. Clinton supporter and farmworker activist Dolores Huerta charged that Sanders supporters chanted “English only!” as she attempted to translate between English and Spanish during a caucus held at Harrah’s Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Actresses Susan Sarandon and Gaby Hoffman, Sanders supporters who were also present at the Harrah’s caucus, provided video evidence debunking Huerta’s claims. The video showed the caucus moderator ruling that participants should only speak in English after failing to find a neutral translator. Currently Clinton leads Sanders among elected convention delegates by 51 to 50, but she has a huge lead in unelected “superdelegates.” The so-called superdelegates are Democratic party leaders and elected officials, who are entitled to go to the national convention without having to be elected by their state organizations. The superdelegate system was introduced in the 1970s after Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination in spite of the hostility of most Democratic party officials. This year about 30% of the national convention delegates will be unelected superdelegates.
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California work safety officials vote down condom use in the porn industry by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Cal/OSHA, the California agency charged with enforcing workplace safety rules, has voted not to require porn actors to use condoms. The agency was considering a 21-page set of safety standards that included the condom provision at its February 18 meeting, but only three members of the Cal/ OSHA board voted for the new rule. Four votes were required for passage. Under the proposal, so-called “engineering controls,” including condoms, would be required to reduce the risk of transmitting STDs during filming. Porn producers would also have been required to pay for medical visits, treatments, and other health care costs for their performers. Los Angeles County, once the center of the porn industry, passed an ordinance requiring porn actors to wear condoms
in 2012, but the rule does not apply to the whole state. Before the vote, the safety board heard more than five hours of testimony from porn actors and producers, most of whom opposed the condom rule. Some said that imposing stricter safety regulations would cause porn producers to move to less regulated locations or to shoot
underground films without any state supervision at all. Since the 2012 passage of the Los Angeles County law, many producers have moved their studios to places without health and safety regulations. “I ask you not to approve this policy that will endanger me and my colleagues,” porn actress Maxine Holloway said. Other speakers said that their audience
loses interest in a film where actors wear condoms. “Like it or not, there a very real market demand for condomless sex,” said a woman who identified herself as a sex worker. Some speakers claimed to be worried that Cal/OSHA would eventually begin ordering actors to use safety goggles and dental dams, adding that no one would want to see a film with that equipment. “That’s pure fantasy on their part,” said AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) CEO Michael Weinstein. “People have suffered serious consequences due to lack of regulation in this industry.” AHF was the main backer of the Los Angeles County condom ordinance and also lined up a number of former porn actors to testify before the Cal/OSHA board. One of the AHF speakers, Derrick Burts, said he contracted HIV while making porn films and that it might have been prevented had he been required to wear condoms.
Conversion therapy targeted in federal consumer fraud complaint by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a historic consumer fraud complaint on February 24, targeting so-called “conversion therapy.” In their complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the NCLR and SPLC charge that an organization called People Can Change (PCC) preys on vulnerable LGBT people and families by claiming that it can change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The NCLR and SPLC are asking the FTC to take enforcement action to stop these deceptive practices and investigate all practitioners making similar claims. Washington Sen. Patty Murray, who recently sent a letter to the FTC urging it to take “decisive action” to stop the practice of conversion therapy, told SGN it was time to put a stop to the practice. “It’s time to finally put an end to socalled ‘conversion therapy’ that falsely claims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity,” Murray said. “Medical and mental health experts have long discredited conversion therapy; it can do real damage to LGBT youth, and it has no place in our country. I hope the Federal Trade Commission will take swift action to stop this deceptive and dangerous practice.” According to the NCLR and SPLC, People Can Change expressly and implicitly claims that it can change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, and this claim constitutes deceptive, false, and misleading practices and can cause serious
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harm to consumers, in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act. The complaint also alleges that, in violation of FTC guidelines, People Can Change: • defrauds consumers into believing that being LGBT is a mental illness or emotional defect that needs to be cured, a false claim rejected for decades by the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, multiple United Nations committees, and every other major medical and mental health organization in the country; • falsely claims that its “services” have a basis in science and fails to disclose that its practices can lead to depression, substance abuse, decreased self-esteem, and selfharm, including suicide;
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• targets and exploits highly vulnerable groups, including LGBT youth, who already experience bias and rejection at alarming rates in society and their own homes; and • uses unsubstantiated testimonials, endorsements, and scientific claims to justify charging hundreds and thousands of dollars to give vulnerable individuals false hope that their core identity is something to be cured. “Today, after decades of advocacy, the voices of conversion therapy survivors have carried all the way up to the highest levels of government,” NCLR #BornPerfect campaign coordinator Samantha Ames said in a statement. “This historic complaint is not only the
first clear opportunity the Obama Administration has had to end these deadly practices for good but, if investigated fully, could very well be the final nail in the coffin of the entire conversion therapy industry. We sincerely look forward to working with the Federal Trade Commission to investigate this fraudulent and unethical organization – along with every trusted professional who profits from the anguish of LGBTQ youth and their families. But, even more so, we look forward to the day when every human being, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity, knows they were born perfect.” “This complaint builds on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s groundbreaking lawsuit against New Jersey conversion therapy provider JONAH, in which a state jury unanimously found that its so-called ‘therapy’ program, which incorporated PCC’s weekend-in-the-woods conversion therapy services, was consumer fraud and an unconscionable commercial practice,” said Scott McCoy, SPLC senior staff attorney. “Our case shut JONAH down, shed light on PCC’s harmful practices, and helped develop this important action to stop PCC and others in this industry from misleading and harming more people.” HRC president Chad Griffin also weighed in on the issue. “Conversion therapy is abusive and harmful to children, and we urge the FTC to join our call to ban its practice once and for all,” Griffin said. “This is dangerous junk science that uses fear and shame to tell young people the only way to find love and acceptance is by changing the very nature of who they are.”
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oregon
continued from cover population density and geography, makes it the most sophisticated and progressive such law in the nation. “I started this conversation last fall, bringing stakeholders together to craft a workable proposal; one that gives working families the much-needed wage boost they need, and addresses challenges for businesses and rural economies presented by the two impending ballot measures,” Brown said. Oregon’s tiered system addresses one of the main concerns some economists have about raising federal and state minimum wages: that rural communities would bear the greatest burden in lost jobs because their economies are not strong enough to start paying their low-wage workers a bit more. Oregon’s tiered approach is an attempt to try and avoid this problem. In and around the state’s largest city, Portland, the minimum wage increase will be the greatest at $14.75 in 2022, while midsized counties in the remaining less densely populated region outside of Portland will see their minimum wage increase up to $13.50, and more rural areas will see theirs increase to $12.50 over the next six years.
Oregon’s system also addresses another important issue that’s been at the center of the debate over minimum wage in cities across the country: that the minimum wage should be adjusted for the cost of living. Since it is much more expensive to live in larger cities, Oregon lawmakers argue that the amount should then be determined regionally instead of statewide or nationally. Due to gridlock at the national level concerning the issue, cities across the country, including San Francisco, New York, and Seattle have been leading the rest of the nation in implementing a living wage for residents. Over the past 2 years, 14 other states have increased their rates, including a few traditionally conservative states: Alaska, Arkansas, and South Dakota in 2014. In an attempt to stop the national momentum, some conservative states have gone in the opposite direction, with Idaho blocking previous efforts to raise its rate beyond the federal level, and in Arizona, where lawmakers are considering a bill that would block state funding to municipalities that set a local minimum wage. Yesterday the two sides of the issue collided in Birmingham, Alabama, which recently adopted a $10.10 hourly minimum wage.
Earlier this month, the Republican controlled House introduced a bill that would prevent cities from enacting their own minimum wage rates. That same day, Birmingham’s city council passed their own law that advanced the first phase-in of the city’s wage hike to March 1, hoping to get the pay raise in place before the state’s law takes effect to gain better legal standing. The state bill, also known as the Alabama Uniform Minimum Wage and Right to Work Act, passed the House last week and the Senate approved of the bill yesterday, while lawmakers in Birmingham have again attempted to stay ahead of the race by passing yet another bill on Tuesday that will make the $10.10 pay raise effective immediately as soon as it is advertised in a local newspaper, as required by law. Even if Birmingham manages to outmaneuver the state, court battles are likely, with the state having the advantage, according to legal experts. Here in Washington, where legislators debated a bill last year to increase the state’s minimum wage to $12 an hour but failed, supporters of raising the minimum wage are taking it upon themselves to get the issue on the 2016 ballot. The campaign to raise Washington’s minimum wage, Raise Up Washington, filed an initiative earlier
this year to incrementally raise the rate to $13.50 an hour over four years starting in 2017 as well as providing paid sick leave to employees without it. Ariana Davis, who works at a Safeway grocery store in Auburn, officially filed the ballot measure. “Workers like me deserve to be able to earn a decent wage. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to work countless long demanding hours at a job and still not be able to afford basic necessities in life such as food, gas and rent,” she said at a press conference. Under the Washington state proposal, minimum wage would increase to $11 in 2017, $11.50 in 2018, $12 in 2019, and $13.50 in 2020. An estimated additional $2.5 billion in income would go into the pockets of Washington state’s 730,000 lowwage workers, many of whom are African American or Latino. Supporters of the initiative are expected to reach the 246,000 valid voter signatures necessary to get the issue on the ballot in November, likely setting the stage for a brutal 2016 election season. Supporters of the initiative, however, remain determined, pointing at recent polls showing voters are supportive of a statewide minimum wage increase.
Enzyme “scissors” can cut HIV out of DNA sequence, study says
the virus using antiretroviral drugs, but HIV continues to subsist in the patients’ DNA even when it is no longer detectable in their blood. The drugs are also expensive and may cause side effects and drug resistance. The German scientists, however, have developed a customized enzyme that is able to identify what are called HIV “proviruses” – HIV genomes that implant themselves in
human DNA. The enzyme then “snips” the HIV genome out, like “scissors.” The enzyme, called Brec1 (for broad range recombinase 1), reliably sliced HIV sequences from a number of cell types: bacteria, human cell lines used in research, cells collected from patients with HIV infections, and those of “humanized” mice with HIV. Though the strategy is very early in its development – nowhere near the clinical trial stage – the data so far point to an effective and safe way to help drug treatments completely finish off HIV infections. This is a “promising strategy for future clinical applications,” the study’s authors say. Brec1 originally sought out and snipped a completely different genetic sequence, the study says, but researchers coaxed it into chopping HIV by making mutated versions. Then, researchers screened the mutants for the ability to cut sequences related to the latent HIV sequence. They then repeated the process, gradually shifting the target sequence until it matched HIV. With each cycle, the researchers would look for a mutated version of the enzyme that got closer and closer to cutting the specific genome of the HIV provirus. After
145 cycles, they had produced a version of Brec1 that cut the exact provirus sequence and only that exact sequence. Once Brec1 slashes the flanking HIV sequence, the whole provirus gets extracted and destroyed. Then the enzyme patches up the DNA break it created. In lab tests, researchers found that Brec1 could cut the HIV sequence out of every cell type they tested. The enzyme also carved out HIV without any toxic or genetic side effects, the researchers noted. So far, the research has focused on “humanized” mice, animals modified to carry human immune cells that can be infected with HIV. Given a dose of Brec1 delivered via a genetically engineered virus, HIV infection in the mice declined over time to the point where HIV was no longer detectable, even though uninfected human cells persisted in the animals. If the result holds up in humans, the enzyme may finally offer a solution to lingering HIV infections in patients on drug treatments. “Complete elimination of replicationcompetent HIV, including latent viral reservoirs, may be the only way to achieve a genuine cure,” the authors conclude.
to be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime, compared to one in 227 Hispanic women and one in 880 white women. The CDC also reported geographic differences. Living in the South also increases the risk for an HIV diagnosis, with people living in Maryland, Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana having the greatest risk. In its study, the CDC noted that African-Americans do not engage in riskier sexual behavior compared to Americans of other races or ethnicities. Reasons for their
higher lifetime risk include a higher prevalence of HIV infections within the AfricanAmerican community, which poses an increased risk of infection with each sexual encounter; lack of access to healthcare; poverty; and stigma. CDC officials said that funding for prevention programs has increased since 2010 in communities where the need exists, but that not enough has been done to significantly reduce the risk of HIV infection. “As alarming as these lifetime risk esti-
mates are, they are not a foregone conclusion. They are a call to action,” said Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention. “The prevention and care strategies we have at our disposal today provide a promising outlook for future reductions of HIV infections and disparities in the U.S., but hundreds of thousands of people will be diagnosed in their lifetime if we don’t scale up efforts now.”
Engineered enzymes may soon be able to cut HIV out of patients – fotolia.com
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A laboratory-engineered enzyme can cut HIV out of patients’ DNA sequences, a new study says. The research by German scientists, published in Nature Biotechnology, may show how to cure HIV infections. Currently, HIV patients can suppress
cdc
continued from cover and also by race and ethnicity. Men who have sex with men have a one in six risk of being diagnosed with HIV, 79 times greater than the risk for straight men. Gay and Bi black men have a one in two risk of contracting HIV, Hispanic men one in four, and white men one in 11. The racial disparity extends to women as well, with one in 48 black women likely
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