Celebrating 40 Years!
Issue 01 Volume 41
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Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
A new era of inclusion 113th Congress has record number of sexual and religious minorities
file photo
Pocan (D-WI). He joins re-elected incumbents Jared Polis (D-CO) and David Cicilline (D-RI), and As iconic Gay Congressman newly elected Gay congressmen Barney Frank (D-MA) retires from Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) and Congress after 16 terms in the Mark Takano (D-CA). House, his legacy will be carried by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
In addition to the seven LGB members, a record-breaking 20 women will serve in the U.S. Senate – including Baldwin – while 78 will be seated in the House. on by a record number of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual members. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) was sworn in on January 3 as the first open Lesbian to serve in the U.S. Senate. She has already served seven terms in the House of Representatives. Succeeding Baldwin in her House seat is openly Gay Mark
HISTORIC FIRSTS Takano is the first openly Gay person of color to serve in the House, and Krysten Sinema (DAZ) becomes the first open Bisexual to serve in Congress. She is also the first member of Congress officially to describe her religious see congress page 13
Newly elected open Lesbian U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D) from Wisconsin
U.S. House Republicans Death of an activist Friends say drugs and PTSD – anti-DOMA continues not AIDS – killed Spencer Cox Walter Kurtz
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer While the House Republican leadership shut down the 112th Congress before voting emergency funds for Hurricane Sandy victims, they found the time to arrange continued funding to defend DOMA in court. According to the Huffington Post, a closed-door meeting of the House Republican conference decided on January 2 to include funding for the so-called Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) in the rules package for the 113th Congress. The new House rules also state that BLAG continues to “speak for” the House in its defense of DOMA. BLAG was authorized by the Republican-controlled House to defend DOMA in court after President Obama and the U.S. Department of Justice determined that the law was unconstitutional. The funding allows the House group to hire outside lawyers to argue against marriage equality.
Weddings By the Sea
see doma page 13
Spencer Cox
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor “AIDS did not kill Spencer Cox in the first, bloodiest battles of the 1980s,” says Mark King, creator and award-winning writer of the HIV/AIDS blog My Fabulous Disease. “It spared him that.” Instead, King maintains, “the
www.oceanshoresweddings.com 206-403-8170 Let us make your wedding day as fun as a day at the beach.
reprieve allowed Spencer’s brilliance as co-founder of the Treatment Action Group (TAG) to forge new FDA guidelines for drug approval and help make effective HIV medications a reality, saving an untold number of lives.” Gay activists like Spencer were consumed by AIDS for so many see cox page 4
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Seattle Gay News
January 4, 2013
Celebrating 40 Years!
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Rev. Barbara Allen, Eric Andrews-Katz, Madelyn Arnold, Maggie Bloodstone, Beau Burriola, Jessica Davis, Ron Anders, Jessica Price, Milton W. Hamlin, Scott Wittet, Nevin Jefferson, Jason A. Miller, Liz Meyer, Rod Parke, Don Paulson, Scott Rice, Leslie Robinson, Richard Kennedy, Rex Wockner
op-ed My non-LGBT column It’s time to get serious about gun violence Guns. We believe in the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms – but, like the First Amendment, the right of free speech, we believe in limits. As for the freedom of speech, limitations need to be imposed for when people do something stupid or harmful, like yelling “fire” in a crowded theater.
was based on that amount, gun insurance might get a little expensive for someone with 20 guns. It’s a horrible thing to think of, but imagine the amount of money the insurance companies would have to pay each of the families of the victims of the massacres at Sandy Hook, Columbine, or the Aurora, Colorado, movie-theater killings. Not enough? Think of the number of gun-related deaths and injuries in this nation each year.
With that in mind, a similar limitation and several others – some of which were suggested to me in a conversation with my friend, Rob Metzger – should be placed on guns.
And to bring it all together, how about hefty penalties for anyone not obeying these laws? Have an unregistered gun? No insurance? That’s two to five years in jail – no exceptions, no excuses, no probation.
TREAT GUNS LIKE CARS First, they need to be registered. All loopholes must be closed, especially in regard to gun shows. Then registration. To get a driver’s license you must prove you know how to drive a car and pass a test. Why? Because cars can kill. So can guns. So, some sort of test must be part of any good registration. And like cars, guns should be insured. Cars are insured because of the damage they can do to people and property. That damage is paid for by insurance companies. If we had insurance for each and every gun and created an insurance pool for victims of gun violence, and the cost of insurance
ARMED TEACHERS??? As for the idea of putting armed police officers in schools or arming teachers with guns – do you realize that one act would add hundreds of thousands of guns to our streets across the country? Those people would be taking their guns to and from work, and they might also bring them along when having a night on the town. So the NRA wants to give hundreds of thousands of people new guns. What happens if just one of those teachers or officials in just one of those schools has a temper and gets into an argument with a student, or a student gets out of hand, or what if just one
by Mark Segal Philadelphia Gay News
of those hundreds of thousands of people with shiny new guns has a bad night with his or her spouse, or doesn’t take his or her meds ... you get the idea. It only takes one person to create another Sandy Hook, and suggesting that we arm hundreds of thousands of amateur gunslingers is the easiest way to get us another Sandy Hook. THE FOUNDERS’ INTENTION There is no need to debate the Second Amendment. Just like the First Amendment, you can define it. But while we’re on the subject, those wishing to quote it should understand exactly what our founding fathers had in mind when they put that in the Constitution. Very simply, they were
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Publication of names, photographs or likenesses of any person, organization, event or business in this publication cannot be taken as any indication of the sexual orientation of the person, organization, event or business. Opinions expressed in bylined articles, columns, and letters are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff or management of this paper. Seattle Gay News welcomes unsolicited material, including letters to the editor, but reserves the right to edit or reject material. All rights revert to authors upon publication. We assume no liability for loss or damage of materials, solicited or not. We invite feedback, please write. And please play safe. It is our policy that no money shall be refunded if you choose to cancel your subscription or ad. However, credit towards any size ad will be given for the balance owed. No exceptions.
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concerned that Great Britain might just try and take the colonies (us) back by force, and they wanted something in place to assure that any state government at that time would not side with Britain and take citizens’ guns away, allowing the King’s soldiers to just march right in. Remember states’ rights? Well, there is no Britain out there threatening us today. Do you really think your gun will stop a drone from Russia or a missile from North Korea or Iran? Well, I’m running out of space and we haven’t even touched the issue of bullets, and those 30-plus round magazines. Yes, hunters, we know you need a semi-automatic and 50 bullets to kill Bambi. After all, it’s a sport, right? Mark Segal is publisher of Philadelphia Gay News. He can be reached at mark@ epgn.com.
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national news
cox
continued from cover
AIDS – IT’S COMPLICATED When Spencer Cox died on December 18, 2012, in New York City, the official cause of death was AIDS-related complications. He perished from pneumonia. King says that, yes, Cox did die from AIDS-related complications, “if post-traumatic stress, despair, and drug addiction are complications related to AIDS.” In fact, Cox believed that this connection exists. His own writings for the Medius Institute for Gay Men’s Health (an organization he co-founded after his work with TAG) focus on exactly the issues that were distressing him personally – most prominently, crystal meth abuse. “In retrospect you can read his work and break the private code written between the lines,” said King. “It spells out ‘HELP ME.’” Cox’s life indeed became difficult. The Medius Institute failed due to a lack of funding, defeating his effort to address mental health issues among Gay men. His drug addiction spiraled and receded and stormed again, until he withdrew to Georgia to live with family for a few years. When Cox returned to New York City, many of his closest friends had lost track of him. There is uncertainty about his last months, and no evidence exists that his addiction was active, but what little medication compliance he managed had been abandoned completely, which set the stage for his final hospitalization. HIS DEATH A FINAL IRONY “In an ironic clinical time warp that transported him back to 1985,” says King, “Spencer Cox died without the benefit of the very drugs he had helped make available to the world.” It was as if, having survived the deadliest years of AIDS, having come so close to complete escape, Cox was snatched up by the Fates in a vengeful piece of unfinished business, King said. “AIDS has always been creative in its cruelty,” he explained. “And it has learned to reach through the decades with the secondhand tools of disillusionment and depression and heart-numbing traumas. Or, perhaps, by using the simple weapon of crystal meth, with all of its seductions and deceits.” “Yes,” states King, “there are many complications related to AIDS.”
passed away, Scott said, “I write about Spencer’s meth addiction, which occurred late in his life, knowing that I will be castigated by those who believe publicity about it somehow diminishes his achievements. The Spencer I knew, who I believe was in successful recovery, wouldn’t agree. The Spencer I knew, who boldly chanted “Silence = Death” at ACT UP demonstrations, today would agree that that slogan would be more appropriate in a discussion of crystal meth.” “Miracles are possible. Miracles happen,” Spencer says in a clip from How to Survive file photo
gruesome years that many of them were shocked, once the war abated, to see how little around them had changed, claims King. “Climbing from the trenches, they saw a Gay culture that must have seemed ludicrous, packed with the same drug addictions, sexual compulsions, and soulless shenanigans that AIDS, in its singular act of goodwill, had arrested for a decade or so,” said King, who was diagnosed with HIV/ AIDS in the mid-’80s. “They found themselves in a world in which no one wants to see battle scars, where intimacy is manufactured on keyboards and Web sites, where any sense of community had long since faded from the AIDS organizations and now only makes brief appearances in 12step meetings [or] in the fraternity of active crystal meth addicts chasing deliverance in a dangerous shell game of bliss and desolation.” King says the dark allure of meth, a drug that it is now a leading indicator of new HIV infections, enticed Cox at some point along the way. The drug, says King, is “known to whisper empty promises about limitless power and sexual escape, while calming the addict’s ghosts and sorrows for miserably brief periods of time.”
THE CRYSTAL METH PLAGUE Henry (Hank) Scott, publisher of WEHOville.com, was a longtime friend to Cox. He confirms the drug rumors that Cox was an addict. Like King, he believes that the mainstream’s attempt at ignoring this aspect of Cox’s life is a tragic mistake. Scott says that Cox was “wickedly smart and devilishly funny.” He had a passion for bulldogs, and when he threw himself into a cause like fighting HIV/AIDS or helping Gay men deal with depression, there was no stopping him.
Spencer Cox
He also says, “Spencer Cox was a meth addict.” “That’s an aspect of his brilliant, inspiring and sometimes troubled life that hasn’t emerged in the coverage I’ve read thus far,” said Scott. “Those stories tell us only that a man infected with HIV around the time he graduated from college died an early death,
a Plague, David France’s justly celebrated documentary about ACT UP and the early years of the epidemic. “But miracles, like those that changed HIV infection from sure death to a chronic disease, don’t happen without the hard work of people like Spencer Cox,” said Scott. “But I’d like to see us, as a community,
“In an ironic clinical time warp that transported him back to 1985, Spencer Cox died without the benefit of the very drugs he had helped make available to the world.” find a way to take the issue of crystal meth out of meeting rooms and into the physical streets, as Spencer and others did in the early years of ACT UP, and into the virtual world where most Gay men meet,” he continued. “I’d like to see us demonstrate to their owners that allusions to drug use (‘let’s parTy,’ ‘chem friendly’) on Scruff and Grindr and other Gay meet-up sites are as offensive as homophobic slurs would be in the Los Angeles Times. I’d love to see powerfully designed signs in the windows of WeHo shops that proclaim ‘Meth = Death’ the way ACT UP proclaimed that ‘Silence = Death,’ to spark a discussion about the impact of drug ‘METH = DEATH’ In a story he published on WEHOville. use on AIDS and HIV.” Scott says it’s all another reason to lament com, December 19, just 24 hours after Cox seemingly belying the current thinking that HIV no longer is a fatal illness.” Scott doesn’t claim to have known Cox’s T-cell count or viral load in recent years, but he says, “I am aware that those people, like Spencer, who were infected before the advent of so-called triple drug therapy, are more likely to develop resistance to the drugs that keep HIV in check. I do know from research and the sad stories of too many friends that addiction to crystal meth greatly increases one’s chance of becoming infected with HIV and of dying of AIDS.”
the untimely death of Spencer Cox. “If he were here, he’d channel his smarts, his energy, and his passion into making it happen. We owe it to him, and to ourselves, to try it without him.” SURVIVOR’S HORROR To consider “survivor’s guilt” the culprit behind the death of Spencer Cox is a popular explanation but not necessarily an accurate one, said King. “That condition suggests surviving when other, presumably worthier people, did not,” he states. “Sometimes guilt has nothing to do with it. For many of our AIDS war veterans, the real challenge today is living with the horror of having survived at all.” Living with that horror, loneliness, and feelings of confusion, after years of accomplishment and purpose, is what ostensibly drove Cox to use. King says that many people will never know the horrors of the early days of the AIDS epidemic. In 2007, he wrote about those terrors in the award-winning piece “Once, When We Were Heroes.” In it, King describes how seeing death around every corner and in every hospital room, and facing death in his own life, was something that became commonplace in the 1980s. HEROES ARE AMONG US “There were people who displayed remarkable courage then,” said King. “People who lived and died by their promises and shared the intimacy of death, and then the world moved forward and grief subsided and lives moved on. But make no mistake, there are heroes among us right now.” King tells the story of a shy, friendly man at his gym. “There was a time when his sick roommate deliberately overdosed after his father told him that people with unspeakable diseases will suffer in Hell. My gym friend performed CPR for an hour before help arrived, but the body never heard a loving word again.” “There is courage among us, astonishing courage, and we summoned it and survived,” King wrote. “And then years passed. We got new jobs and changed gyms.” ‘A DISTANT, DARK DREAM’ There was a time when old friends called to say goodbye, and by “goodbye” they meant forever, he wrote, adding also, “… all of us had a file folder marked ‘Memorial’ that outlined how we wanted our service to be conducted.” “People shot themselves and jumped off bridges after getting their test results,” recalls King. “There is profound, shocking sadness here, right here among us, but years went by and medicine got better and we found other lives to lead. Our sadness is a distant, dark dream.” King’s best friend, Stephen, tested positive in the 1980s around the same time he did. There was a time when he knew all the intensive-care nurses by name. When a phone call late at night always meant someone had died. And just who, exactly, was anyone’s guess. RESILIENCE AMID TRAGEDY When Stephen tested positive, much like Spencer Cox, a few months passed after the devastating news. Stephen then agreed to facilitate a support group with King. They regularly saw men join the group, get sick, and die – often within weeks. “Watching them disintegrate felt like a preview of coming attractions,” remembers King. “But Stephen was remarkable, a reassuring presence to everyone, and worked with the group for more than a year despite the emotional toll and the high body count.” see cox page 18
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Seattle Gay News
January 4, 2013
Celebrating 40 Years!
Drama in Illinois Marriage bill on the brink as new lawmakers take office
Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
for the plan or when it might be brought to the floor. She added that no Republicans supported it. Equality supporters hoped to pass the bill in the legislature’s lame-duck session. Illinois Democrats now have 35 seats in the Senate – five more votes than needed for passage. When the new legislature is sworn in on January 9, Democrats will have two fewer Senate seats and six fewer House seats to work with.
The Illinois marriage equality bill teeters on the brink of failure as SGN goes to press on Thursday, January 3. Associated Press reports that Democrats in the Illinois Senate have decided to delay a vote on the bill, after a day filled with legislative drama. A spokesperson for Senate President John Cullerton told AP that the measure would FAST-TRACK VOTE REJECTED get a committee hearing January 3, but Senate supporters of the bill wanted to would not be brought up for a vote because bring it up for a vote on January 2, but postsponsors lack enough votes to pass it. Rikeesha Phelon, the spokesperson, said poned the vote for a day when they failed to she did not know how many votes there are get enough votes to waive Senate rules and
bring it up with less than 24 hours’ notice. Then, two Senate Democrats went missing, reportedly called away by family emergencies. A third had decided not to run for re-election and went off on vacation for the remainder of his term. Early on January 3, the bill’s sponsors announced they had pulled the measure, and instead would attach marriage equality legislation as an amendment to an otherwise innocuous bill regulating automobile rentals. “It’s a technical way for us to get the bill moving,” explained Rick Garcia, policy advisor for the Civil Rights Agenda, an LGBT advocacy group. By the afternoon of January 3 it was clear that the maneuver had failed, however. OBAMA, GOP CHAIR AGREE Marriage equality got strong support from two public figures who are not often on the same side: President Obama and Illinois Republican chair Pat Brady. White House spokesperson Shin Inouye told the Chicago Sun-Times on January 29 that Obama wants his home state of Illinois to pass the marriage equality bill. “While the president does not weigh in on every measure being considered by state legislatures, he believes in treating everyone fairly and equally, with dignity and respect,” Inouye said. “As he has said, his personal view is that it’s wrong to prevent couples who are in loving, committed relationships and want to marry from doing so. Were the president still in the Illinois state legislature, he would support this measure that would treat all Illinois couples equally.” Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois, said in a statement that Obama’s support makes clear the state “should join the ever-building national consensus for marriage equality.” “With the President’s statement, Illinois lawmakers should fully understand that voting for the freedom to marry puts them on the right side of history,” Cherkasov added. “We appreciate the President’s call to action in the Illinois General Assembly as lawmakers prepare to return to Springfield in the days ahead. President Obama faced no political repercussions from his support of marriage for Gays and Lesbians, and neither should members of the Illinois House and
Senate.” Brady weighed in on January 2. “I think it’s time for people to support this,” he told the Sun-Times. “More and more Americans understand that if two people want to make a lifelong commitment to each other, government should not stand in their way,” Brady added. “Giving Gay and Lesbian couples the freedom to get married honors the best conservative principles. It strengthens families and reinforces a key Republican value – that the law should treat all citizens equally.” NOM HUFFS AND PUFFS Brady reportedly worked the phones on January 2 and 3, urging Republican lawmakers to support the marriage bill. NOM, on the other hand, threatened to primary Republicans who voted for it. “Any Republican in Illinois who betrays the cause of marriage will be casting a career-ending vote and will be held accountable to their constituents,” said NOM president Brian Brown in a January 2 blog post. “We will spend whatever it takes – hundreds of thousands of dollars if necessary – to remove them from office, just as we did three of the four turncoat Republican state senators in New York who were responsible for Gay ‘marriage’ passing there. We will not hesitate to support pro-family Democrats to replace them, as our record in New York proves.” The anti-Gay group said it was willing to spend up to $250,000 to defeat pro-equality Republicans. NOM also demanded that Brady resign his position as state Republican chair, or be removed by Republican delegates. “Pat Brady is unfit to continue as chair of the state Republican Party and should immediately resign or be removed from office,” Brown said. “We urge all donors to cease supporting the Republican Party in Illinois until Brady is removed from his position. His betrayal of Republican principles is unforgiveable and violates the trust of Illinois Republicans.” Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, has promised to sign a marriage equality measure if it is passed. In 2011, Illinois passed a civil unions bill after marriage equality legislation stalled in committee. Journal files / Connie Grosch
Rhode Island tries again Marriage equality bill reintroduced in state assembly by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Marriage equality legislation was reintroduced in the Rhode Island General Assembly on January 3, the opening day of the Assembly’s 2013 session. Openly Gay House Speaker Gordon Fox has called for an early vote on the measure in his chamber, possibly by the end of this month. Hearings in the House Judiciary Committee could begin quickly after Fox appoints lawmakers to the committee. Fox dropped a similar bill in 2011 when it became clear that the state Senate would not pass it. Instead, legislators adopted a civil unions law that gives many, but not all, of the legal benefits of marriage to same-sex couples. EQUALITY SUPPORTERS GAIN The November election saw marriage equality supporters gain seats in both the House and Senate, and advocates hope to build on victories around the nation by passing the marriage bill. Sixteen new representatives and eight new senators entered the legislature this month, and the number of Republicans in the General Assembly declined to a mere 11 out of 113. The measure’s prime sponsor, Rep. Arthur Handy, said that the legislation will include
language granting religious exemptions, if faith groups object to same-sex marriage as a matter of their religious beliefs. Like Washington’s Marriage Equality Act, the Rhode Island measure states that “ordained clergy, ministers, or elders [...] shall not be obligated or otherwise required by law to officiate at any particular civil marriage or religious rite of marriage.” Almost 64% of the state’s population identifies as Roman Catholic. SENATE STILL UNCERTAIN The bill is expected to pass the House easily, but its future in the Senate is still in doubt. Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, a Democrat who nevertheless opposes marriage equality, said she anticipates that the legislation will get a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee if the House passes it. “I’m guardedly optimistic,” said Ray Sullivan, campaign director for Marriage Equality Rhode Island, the lead organization in the fight for equal marriage rights for Gay couples in the state. “Based on the momentum both locally and nationally, we are strategically well-placed to move forward.” Currently same-sex couples in Rhode Island may form civil unions. Last May, Gov. Lincoln Chafee, a former Republican who was elected as an independent, signed an executive order recognizing same-sex mar-
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Rhode Island House Speaker Gordon Fox
riages performed in other states. A 2006 Massachusetts Superior Court decision allows Rhode Island residents to marry in Massachusetts, reversing a 1913 law that barred Massachusetts from per-
January 4, 2013
forming marriages that are not legal in the couple’s home state. The law was originally intended to prevent inter-racial couples from the South from coming to Massachusetts to be married.
Seattle Gay News
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ACLU objects to new defense law Says NDAA complicates Guantanamo closing, anti-discrimination efforts by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor
WILL GITMO EVER CLOSE? As recently as October, Obama reiterated his commitment to close Guantanamo. Currently, 166 prisoners remain at the camp. “President Obama has utterly failed the first test of his second term, even before inauguration day. His signature means indefinite detention without charge or trial,
OBAMA ADMITS PROBLEM In a signing statement that accompanied the NDAA, the president acknowledged that the accommodation provision, Section 533, is unnecessary and ill-advised, noting that the military already appropriately protects the freedom of conscience of chaplains and service members. “The language is too broad,” said Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, who cautioned that it could lead to claims of a right to discriminate. “We strongly support accommodating beliefs, so long as doing so does not result in discrimination or harm to others,” Murphy
scan pix
President Obama has signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which jeopardizes his ability to meet his promise to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay during his presidency, said American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) officials in a January 3 press release. The law also contains a troubling provision compelling the military to accommodate the “conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs of all members of the armed forces” without accounting for the effect such an accommodation could have. The NDAA restricts Obama’s ability to transfer detainees for repatriation or resettlement in foreign countries or to prosecute them in federal criminal court. Originally set to expire on March 27, the transfer restrictions have been extended through September 30.
as well as the illegal military commissions, will be extended,” said Anthony Romero, the ACLU’s executive director. “He also has jeopardized his ability to close Guantanamo during his presidency. Scores of men who have already been held for nearly 11 years without being charged with a crime – including more than 80 who have been cleared for transfer – may very well be imprisoned unfairly for yet another year. The president should use whatever discretion he has in the law to order many of the detainees transferred home, and finally step up next year to close Guantanamo and bring a definite end to indefinite detention.” Detainees at Naval Base Guantanamo Bay
said. “The hastily drafted provision, though, has the potential to give rise to dangerous claims of a right to discriminate against not just Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual service members, but also women, religious minorities, and in the provision of health care.” RE-AFFIRMS DADT REPEAL In the signing statement, President Obama also said his administration “remains fully committed to continuing the successful implementation of the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and to protecting the rights of
Gay and Lesbian service members,” and that the Department of Defense, in implementing Section 533, will “not permit or condone discriminatory actions that compromise good order and discipline or otherwise violate military codes of conduct.” Murphy said, “It is encouraging that the president recognizes why this provision is so problematic. Going forward, it is essential for the Department of Defense to ensure that no accommodation of religious belief or conscience can result in discrimination or harm to others.”
Gay-friendly skies American Airlines honored for pro-LGBT policies GLEAM, American Airlines’ LGBT employee resource group, was the first of its kind in the industry. The group works within The National LGBT Bar Association will the company to promote diversity, acceppresent the Out & Proud Corporate Counsel tance, and equality among management, Award to the Legal Department of Ameri- straight allies, and other employee groups. can Airlines in Dallas in early February, said AIRLINE ENDORSED ENDA association officials. In addition, American has long been a The LGBT Bar each year honors attorneys and corporations that advocate for vocal supporter of – and was the first maLGBT equality within the legal sphere jor airline to endorse – the federal Employthrough the Out & Proud Corporate Coun- ment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would extend basic job protections to sel Awards program. “The LGBT Bar is proud to recognize LGBT employees. The airline has also supby Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor
“The company is truly an industry leader in diversity practices and has achieved unprecedented success on behalf of the LGBT community.” American Airlines,” said D’Arcy Kemnitz, executive director of the LGBT Bar. “The company is truly an industry leader in diversity practices and has achieved unprecedented success on behalf of the LGBT community.” A PERFECT HRC SCORE American Airlines is the only airline in the world and one of only a handful of international corporations that has earned 100% perfect marks on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index every year since its inception. For two decades, the company’s policies and actions have demonstrated a lasting commitment to equality, fairness and inclusion. American was the first major airline to implement same-sex domestic partner benefits and to include sexual orientation and gender identity in its workplace nondiscrimination policies.
ported passage of the Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act, legislation that seeks equal treatment for the taxation of health insurance benefits for domestic partners and married spouses. For more information on American’s commitment to diversity, visit www.aa.com/ diversity. The Out & Proud Corporate Counsel Award will be presented on February 7 at a reception in Dallas. Those interested in attending should contact Kelly Simon at (202) 637-7661 or kelly@lgbtbar.org for tickets and additional information. The National LGBT Bar Association is a national association of lawyers, judges, other legal professionals, law students, activists, and affiliated LGBT legal organizations. The group promotes justice in and through the legal profession for the LGBT community in all its diversity.
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Seattle Gay News
January 4, 2013
Celebrating 40 Years!
Same tribe, same acceptance
How a Native American Gay man discovered a more tolerant home facebook
Zachary Pullin
by Zachary Pullin Special to the SGN The intersection of my identity as a Gay man and a Chippewa Cree tribal member begins at the intersection of Route 87 and Highway 448. The unpretentious hamlet of Box Elder, Montana, on the Rocky Boy Reservation, is home to a humble population of 800 and the monuments of sovereignty of my ancestors. My parents believed that if they didn’t like the road we were on, we needed to pave a new one. So they moved the family to the nearest metropolis: Spokane, Washington. This gave us opportunities and choices that we never had in Box Elder and protected my sister and I from an unknown future (I was clearly, queerly different at a young age). But pieces of my heart remained at the intersection of Route 87 and Highway 448.
Years later, I remember my family discussing a Lesbian relative and her sexuality in hushed voices, their faces pink with shame. The shaky voices and unfamiliar syllables floating into the room shook me to my core. At that moment I decided to pave my own road, driving myself away to a safer and more secretive place.
INTERNALIZED ATTITUDES I made an explicit choice to deny my heritage while out on my own. I exercised selective perception to cast my culture as unaccepting and intolerant. I allowed others to project European-colonized, homophobic beliefs onto my people. The shield of conformity was my peace, but it drove an invisible wedge between my identities – Gay and Native American. What was left was a crater in the intersection, and an unavoidable internalized racism. At 21, with amplified trepidation, I came out to my parents. Their response? “We’ve known for years, was there something else?” With relief, I learned that being Gay really was nothing of serious concern to them. With the blessing of their love, I felt empowered to be proud of my identity as a Gay man. My parents’ reaction was indicative of a broader tenderness extended by the rest of my family and Native community. Yet, what was born of that Gay pride magnified the pride I could have as a Native American. My past indicates that I am capable of embracing pride in my identity. While serving in the Peace Corps, I led a secret LGBTQ youth group in Orange Walk, Belize, a majority Catholic community. One of our biggest projects was painting a peace and equality mural, a large rainbow with words of love and acceptance inscribed within each color.
THE ‘TWO SPIRIT’ PEOPLE During this time, I was forced to process what it meant to be Gay – what it meant to be true to who I was. I looked for comfort and clarity, searching out places of acceptance and affirmation, finding that one of the greatest pieces of that fabric of my identity was found in the history of Two Spirit
CHALLENGING COLONIZATION In reconnecting with my Native American culture, I’ve awoken to the progressive nature of my people. It’s the people of the Rocky Boy reservation, like Shane, who does HIV/AIDS prevention work. Shane taught me how the reservation’s Westernized concepts of LGBTQ people conflicts with the Elders’ traditional respect for Two Spirit people. And a younger Native generation boasts examples of challenging the status quo of colonized beliefs – like an out, male cheerleader or my friend Joe, a Coeur d’Alene tribal member, who grew up with two moms and knows nothing different. His coming out was seamless. Or Heather Purser, who pursued marriage equality on the
At 21 ... I came out to my parents. Their response? “We’ve known for years, was there something else?” My parents’ reaction was indicative of a broader tenderness extended by the rest of my family and Native community. people. I was compelled to re-examine the moment my family discussed our Lesbian relative. Culturally, the term “Two Spirit” has been generally accepted as those with a special gift – being in and of two worlds at once, both physical and spiritual world. They were keepers of ancient traditional stories of creation, development, and healing, and best possessed the four traits of our culture: warrior, nurturer, scholar, and community activist. Moreover, they were the protectors of our spiritual traditions, recognized for their unique gift of being “between.” Many Native groups rejected the dichotomy of gender and sexuality. How they chose to express gender and their orientation were fluid and beautiful – a poetic contradiction to European tradition. My ancestors valued this fluidity on the gender continuum, not an either/or model. Historically, Native Americans in more than 150 tribes across the country rejected the Western, Colonial view of LGBTQ Natives, or Two Spirits. Native
Suquamish Reservation and watched it pass unanimously, making way for Washington’s marriage equality win. However, to intersect our identities and community we must deconstruct the colonization of our hearts and minds. When I was most afraid in Belize, I explored my history, my culture. I embraced redemption. For this reason, I’ve arrived humbly back at Route 87 and Highway 448 – and as I look around, I’ve found the intersection of my heart and my people. I know this place for the first time. Zachary Pullin owns Hwame Creative, a Pacific Northwest communications strategy and Web design consulting firm dedicated to serving LGBTQ, low-income, women, and minority organizations. Before working in communications, Zachary was the logistics coordinator for the 2012 Soulforce Equality Ride and served in Belize as a Peace Corps volunteer. Reach him on Twitter at zacharybob or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ zacharyrpullin. c-span
Perverted justice
This large expression of pride was incendiary – local preachers condemned my group and numerous threats were made on my life and job as a volunteer. As a safety precaution, the Peace Corps transferred me to Belmopan, the capital.
American tribes of the Southwest and the Great Plains revered their Two Spirit members.
Scalia should recuse himself from DOMA/Prop 8, but won’t by D’Anne Witkowski SGN Contributing Writer A famous Italian-American Catholic has had a big change of heart regarding marriage equality after publicly saying some pretty nasty things about Gays. “I’m upset about the way I was portrayed,” this public figure said. “What you see in the media is not the real me. Gay people should be married. I should be allowed to change my mind on this.” I couldn’t agree more. People should be allowed to change their minds, especially when they move from an uninformed opinion to an informed one. And with the announcement that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear cases regarding the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s anti-Gay Proposition 8, I have to say I almost wish Angelina Pivarnick of Jersey Shore, who made the above comments, was an associate justice. Granted, part of the reasoning that Pivarnick gave for her (allegedly changed) belief that Gays shouldn’t get married was “I don’t want a girl’s mouth on my pussy, sorry,” but I would certainly choose her over Antonin Scalia, an actual justice who has a long history of animus toward Gay people and whose arguments make about as much sense as Pivarnick’s. GAYNESS = MURDER? Take what Scalia said on December 10
during a talk given to students at Princeton, for example: “If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have [them] against murder?” Ah, yes. The old “homosexuality to murder” comparison. Actually, comparing homosexuality to things that are truly terrible is one of Scalia’s specialties. And a Gay freshman at Princeton called him out on it. Duncan Hosie asked about Scalia’s dissents in Gay rights cases, specifically “his mentions of murder, polygamy, cruelty to animals, and bestiality,” according to a story on Princeton’s website. Hosie, not surprisingly, “found the comparisons offensive.” “Do you think it’s necessary to draw these comparisons, to use this specific language, to make the point that the Constitution doesn’t protect Gay rights?” Hosie asked Scalia during a Q&A following the talk. “I don’t think it’s necessary, but I think it’s effective,” Scalia said. “It’s a type of argument that I thought you would have known, which is called a reduction to the absurd. And to say that if we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder, can we have it against these other things? Of course we can. I don’t apologize for the things I raised. I’m not comparing homosexuality to murder. I’m comparing the principle that a society may not adopt moral sanctions, moral views, against certain conduct. I’m comparing that with respect to murder and that with respect to homosexuality.”
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Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
DODGING THE ISSUE First of all, you gotta love how Scalia talks down to this kid: “It’s a type of argument that I thought you would have known.” This is especially dickish because Hosie didn’t ask what category of argument Scalia was working in; he merely asked why Scalia unleashes such invective when talking about Gay people. Second of all, I love how Scalia claims he’s not comparing homosexuality to murder, he’s just comparing feelings about homosexuality to feelings about murder. And
January 4, 2013
he thinks both are horrible, thank you very much. Scalia’s prejudice against Gay/Lesbian rights issues and Gay and Lesbian people is well-documented and long. In fact, some folks are even calling for Scalia to recuse himself from the DOMA and Prop. 8 cases. I’m not going to hold my breath. Scalia doesn’t see Gays and Lesbians as human beings – he sees them as people who do sex stuff he thinks is gross. Recusing himself would be the right thing to do, and I doubt Scalia is all of a sudden going to do the right thing when it comes to Gays.
Seattle Gay News
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file photo
An unnatural obsession Cardinal George explains why Gays and Lesbians can’t consummate a marriage by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer In a statement that will no doubt come as a surprise to Gay men and Lesbians, Roman Catholic Cardinal Francis George of Chicago said it is physically impossible for samesex couples to consummate their marriages. “It is physically impossible for two men or two women to consummate a marriage, even when they share a deep friendship or love,” the cardinal wrote in a pastoral letter released January 1.
union is called marital. It not only creates a place of love for two adults but also a home for loving and raising their children. It provides the biological basis for personal identity.” George expanded on the theme in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. “It’s not in our doctrine. It’s not a matter of faith. It’s a matter of reason and understanding the way nature operates,” the cardinal told Tribune reporters. “You want to be sure that everybody has a chance at happiness. That’s a very persuasive argument. But we all want that, and nobody should be disdained or persecuted because of their sexual orientation. But when we get behind the church and behind the state, you’ve got a natural reality that two men or two women cannot consummate a marriage. It’s a physical impossibility.” The apparently celibate cardinal did not explain where he got his knowledge of how marriages are consummated.
EQUALITY A LEGAL FICTION? “Does this mean nature is cruel or that God is unfair? No, but it does mean that marriage is what nature tells us it is and that the State cannot change natural marriage. Civil laws that establish ‘same-sex marriage’ create a legal fiction. The State has no power to create something that nature itself tells us is impossible.” In the letter, George joined with the bishAPPEALS TO ‘NATURAL LAW’ ops of six other Illinois dioceses to conGeorge admitted that the new marriage demn the marriage equality bill now makbill has some “inevitability to it now,” but ing its way through the state’s legislature. “The Illinois General Assembly is being added that he is dismayed that “natural law” asked to consider a bill called ‘The Reli- has been left out of the public debate. gious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act.’ Supporters of marriage equality said the This is a deceptive title that ignores basic church’s effort to ground its anti-equality arguments in so-called “natural law” were truths,” the cardinal wrote. “Marriage comes to us from nature. The clever but disingenuous. “On sexual ethics, nature is neutral,” said human species comes in two complementary sexes, male and female. Their sexual Bernard Schlager, executive director of the
Cardinal Francis George
Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry at the Pacific School of Religion, in Berkeley. “We’re moral beings. We may look to nature for some aspects of how we are in our lives, but we answer to a higher standard. Sexual behavior is an expression of human
love.” Last year George made headlines when he compared Chicago’s Gay Pride organization to the KKK after the group announced a new parade route that would take the Pride parade past a Catholic church. He subsequently apologized.
Come meet Tim and Matt and join the family.
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January 4, 2013
Celebrating 40 Years!
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Seattle Gay News 11
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12 Seattle Gay News
January 4, 2013
Celebrating 40 Years!
Lambda Legal named top LGBT nonprofit by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Lambda Legal has been named the No. 1 LGBT organization by GuideStar, a watchdog group that reviews the practices of nonprofits. “I am very proud of the amazing talent and leadership of the Lambda Legal staff, board, and volunteers that has resulted in this top ranking from our colleagues and peers,” Lambda Legal executive director
(2) the ACLU; (3) GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network); (4) NCLR (National Center for Lesbian Rights); (5) NGLTF (National Gay and Lesbian Task Force); (6) NCTE (National Center for Transgender Equality); (7) GLAD (Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders); (8) PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays); (9) SAGE (Services and Advocacy for LGBT Elders); and (10) the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School.
“We have been fighting for equality for LGBT people and people with HIV for 40 years, and we have many victories and achievements about which we are proud because they have changed people’s lives – and our society – for the better.” Kevin Cathcart said in a press statement. “We have been fighting for equality for LGBT people and people with HIV for 40 years, and we have many victories and achievements about which we are proud because they have changed people’s lives – and our society – for the better. This is a transformational time in our movement for LGBT equality. Lambda Legal will continue to lead the way with all our energy and all our hearts. We are grateful to all our supporters and colleagues around the country, and thank those who have honored us with this top ranking for 2012.”
The fact that a number of the top 10 LGBT nonprofits – Lambda Legal, ACLU, NCLR, and GLAD – have been involved in court challenges to DOMA is an indication of how much LGBT rights advocates have come to rely on litigation as a strategy. HRC, the nation’s largest LGBT organization, did not quite make GuideStar’s top 10, coming in at number 11.
congress
Once those seats are filled, the breakdown Republican leadership to listen to their conwill almost certainly be 234 Republicans to stituents, a majority of whom support the freedom to marry, and stop wasting precious 201 Democrats. resources in an effort to treat fellow Americans as second-class citizens.”
A GUIDE FOR GIVERS GuideStar was founded in 1994 as Philanthropic Research, Inc., dedicated to making charitable giving more efficient by providing prospective donors with easily accessible information on the practices of nonprofTHE REST OF THE BEST Rounding out GuideStar’s top 10 were: its. Its database reportedly includes infor-
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affiliation as “none.” All seven LGB members of Congress are Democrats. Gay Republican candidate Richard Tisei lost his bid for a Massachusetts House seat to incumbent Democrat John Tierney. The 113th Congress, which convened on January 3, will be the most diverse in history. In addition to the seven LGB members, a record-breaking 20 women will serve in the U.S. Senate – including Baldwin – while 78 will be seated in the House. For the first time in history, white men will not make up a majority of the House Democratic caucus. There will be 16 Iraq and Afghanistan vets among the new members, including two female combat veterans – Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI). MORE RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY Gabbard is also the first Hindu to serve in Congress. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) is the first Buddhist to serve in the Senate, succeeding retiring Sen. Daniel Akaka. Representatives Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI) are also Buddhists. There are now two Muslim members of the House – Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Andre Carson (D-IN). In the Senate there are now 53 Democrats, two independents who will caucus with the Democrats, and 45 Republicans. On the House side, there are 233 Republicans, 200 Democrats, and two open seats – those previously held by Tim Scott (R-SC) and Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL). Scott was recently appointed to fill the Senate seat vacated by Jim DeMint, becoming the first black Republican senator since 1979, and the only African American to sit in the upper house at this time. Jackson resigned his House seat for health reasons.
doma
continued from cover PELOSI CRITICIZES MOVE On January 3, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi’s office condemned “the extraordinary measure” of using the House rules to reauthorize the defense of DOMA. “Today, House Republicans will send a clear message to LGBT families: their fiscal responsibility mantra does not extend to their efforts to stand firmly on the wrong side of the future,” said Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill. Hammill also noted that the rules package “for the first time” explicitly states that BLAG speaks for the full House on DOMA matters – something he said is definitely not the case. “As House Democrats have time and time again made clear, the BLAG does not speak for all members of the House of Representatives, and we will continue to oppose this wasteful use of taxpayer funds to defend DOMA,” he said. LGBT rights advocates were also outraged by the Republicans’ action. “It’s truly disheartening that, on a day of new beginnings on Capitol Hill, the leadership of the House of Representatives is advancing a measure, through its rules, to continue spending taxpayer dollars on expensive lawyers to defend the so-called Defense of Marriage Act in court,” Freedom to Marry said in a January 3 statement. “This law has been struck down as unconstitutional 10 times, with support from judges appointed by Presidents Nixon, Reagan, and both Bushes. It’s past time for the
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mation on more than 620,000 organizations. GuideStar was listed as one of the 100 best In January 1998, GuideStar received an Web sites on www.100bestwebsites.org. award for Nonprofit Web Site Excellence In 2012, founder and board chair Buzz from Philanthropy Journal with an honor- Schmidt and board member Virginia Hodgable mention for “Service to the Sector.” kinson were recognized by The NonProfit GuideStar won the InfoCommerce Model Times as two of the Top 25 individuals who of Excellence Award in 2004 for distinction have shaped the charitable sector in the last in database information publishing. In 2008, 25 years. defense of DOMA, speaks for the entirety of the House. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats, however, oppose spending taxpayer dollars on defending DOMA.”
DISRESPECTS NEW MEMBERS “It is particularly disappointing that this historic Congress – with the largest-ever class of openly Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual members and same-sex congressional spouses – has begun with a vote that disrespects those new members and all LGBT Americans,” the HRC said. “To date, the GOP leadership in the House has spent nearly $2 million on DOMA – despite the fact that a majority of Americans support marriage equality. The new rules package codifies that the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG), charged with the
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Seattle Gay News 13
Friends in need
Straight allies aid two Gay men harassed while waiting for pizza by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor This past weekend something incredible happened in Columbus, Ohio. Perfect strangers, many of them straight, came to the aid of two Gay men being harassed while waiting in line for a slice of pizza. “After a fun night out in the Short North, my friend Ethan and I ventured down the street to a popular pizza truck called Mikey’s Late Night Slice,” wrote Joel Diaz, chief development officer for AIDS Resource Center Ohio, in an op-ed published this week by the Huffington Post. “As a frequent late-night visitor to the truck I knew the requisite wait in line is part of the process for securing an insanely good slice of pizza.” It was really cold, so the two men were holding hands and standing close together to keep warm. “We were laughing and joking about all the fun we’d had that night,” recalls Diaz. “All of the sudden the guy in front of us turns around and tells us to cut our ‘Gay shit’ out.” BYSTANDERS INTERVENE Diaz admits he was a bit startled by the man’s words but he didn’t expect what happened next. Almost every single person in line made it known to the aggressor that it was not OK for him to speak to the men like that.
“By happenstance my friend John, who is also Gay, was standing in front of him, and as he continued his rant about being disgusted by us, we both let him know that this was our city too and that we were not about to stand down to his bigoted ideas, especially not in one of the Gayest neighborhoods in town,” said Diaz. “As he continued it was actually the straight people in line who spoke up that were so awesome. “I didn’t expect to see allies so willing to chime in and let this guy know that his hate speech wouldn’t be tolerated,” Diaz continued. “The best part, though, was as he grew more irate and vocal, the guys who work the truck stopped what they were doing and leaned towards the window and told him they would not serve him because he was spewing hate. They said they support everyone in our community, and that he should get out of line because they would not be serving him.” The man begrudgingly got out of line and walked away, escorted by a friend who had been hanging back. MAKING HATE HISTORY As he left the truck with pizza in hand, Diaz says, all he could think about was “THAT’S IT!” “Every person who spoke up to defend us, including the pizza guys representing their business, was doing their part to make hate a thing of the past,” he said. “I’ve been involved for a number of years with our
ANOTHER SIDE OF OHIO “I think the story was so powerful because we as an LGBT community don’t hear these types of stories where our allies and businesses speak up against oppressors,” he said. “I think the fact that the story takes place in Ohio also has something to do with
it.” The state doesn’t have the best reputation for LGBT rights, but Columbus, the capital, is a very progressive city. It boasts a large, active Gay population and is home to one of the largest Pride festivals in the Midwest. “I think stories like this, shared by our LGBT friends and allies, are important because [they] give people hope and courage,” said Diaz. “It shows that the arc of the moral universe does bend towards justice, and we are not alone in this struggle.” Diaz ended the Facebook post by saying, “We must never forget to speak up and make our voices heard, no matter where we find ourselves. “I firmly believe this is how we will continue to change hearts and minds across this country and in the world but we can’t do it alone – we need everyone to take up our mantle for equality and drive it forward,” said Diaz. “I’m inspired and amazed at what has transpired with what started off as a simple post in appreciation of people who stood up for us, and I am grateful for the opportunity to share a little bit of Columbus with the world.”
law, granting limited but important legal protections to same-sex couples, including hospital visitation and the ability to take a family medical leave to care for a sick or injured partner. Wisconsin Family Action, a religious-right group, brought a lawsuit in Dane County Circuit Court arguing that the domestic partnership law is a violation of Wisconsin’s constitutional amendment banning marriage equality. Shortly thereafter, Lambda Legal successfully moved to intervene in the lawsuit on behalf of Fair Wisconsin and five same-sex couples. “We are pleased that the Court upheld the limited protections provided by domestic
partnerships because they are essential in allowing committed same-sex couples to care for each other in times of need,” said Katie Belanger, executive director of Fair Wisconsin. “This is an exciting day for Wisconsin. Domestic partnerships marked our state’s first step toward full equality in nearly 30 years. This decision will ensure that we can continue advancing equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Wisconsinites in the years ahead.” To read the decision, or for more information on the case, visit www.lambdalegal. org. –Submitted by Lambda Legal
movement for equality, having co-chaired the Human Rights Campaign dinner in Columbus and being involved as a community organizer, but I had never witnessed such a public display of support. It was incredibly moving.” The next day Diaz typed a post on Facebook and shared the story, thinking his friends might enjoy reading about this display of courage. He also wanted people to appreciate a local small business standing up for them as well. What he did not expect was for the post to go viral, with people all over the country responding to the story. “It has been shared over 900 times since Sunday morning and a version with a fantastic response from Mikey’s Late Night Slice was posted to Reddit with over 266,000 views to date,” Diaz reports.
A win in Wisconsin
Appeals court upholds domestic partner benefits The Wisconsin Court of Appeals has upheld as constitutional the state’s domestic partner registry, despite a state constitutional amendment that bans marriage equality. In a ruling handed down December 21, affirming a lower court decision that the law does not violate the amendment, the court stated that “it would take pages to list the rights and obligations that go with marriages but not domestic partnerships. ... It is not necessary to list that many here to demonstrate that ... the rights and obligations of marriage are not substantially similar to the rights and obligations of domestic partnerships.” Attorneys for Lambda Legal, who defended the legality of the registry in the case of Appling v. Doyle, welcomed the rul-
14 Seattle Gay News
ing. “The court has affirmed what we have maintained all along – it is ridiculous to suggest that a domestic partnership law could be considered anything closely resembling a marriage for purposes of state law,” said Christopher Clark, senior staff attorney in Lambda Legal’s Midwest regional office. “In fact, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals rejected the plaintiffs’ arguments as ‘nonsense.’ We fought off this ugly attack against the rights and protections currently available to same-sex couples and their families in Wisconsin – a sweet holiday present to loving couples and families.” ANTI-GAY GROUP SUES In June 2009, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle signed domestic partnerships into
January 4, 2013
Celebrating 40 Years!
northwest news
SEATTLE GAY & LESBIAN BOOK CLUB – BECOMING A MAN The Seattle Gay & Lesbian Book Club meets every Wednesday from 6-7:15 p.m., at Seattle Area Support Groups Community Center (303 17th Ave. E. at E. Thomas St.). In January, the club will read Paul Monette’s National Book Award-winning memoir, Becoming A Man. Published in 1992, when Monette was 46 and dying of AIDS, this book is the message he wanted to leave behind for those of us who came SEATTLE VOLLEYBALL CLUB – after. All GLBTQ folks are welcome to parWINTER 2013 SEASON ticipate in this FREE book club. For more The Winter 2013 Season begins Tuesday, information visit http://faculty.washington. January 8 and Wednesday, January 9 and edu/swittet/SGLBookClub/. runs through March. For complete details, including schedule, locations and costs, visPUDDLETOWN SQUARES – it www.seattlevolleyballclub.com. BEGINNING (MAINSTREAM) SQUARE DANCE CLASS GSBA PRIME TIME MIXER Puddletown Squares’ Beginners Lesson On Wednesday, January 9, from 5:30- Series (Mainstream) classes, a 20 week 7:30 p.m., at Fountain Wine Bar & Lounge lesson series to be held on Thursdays from at Sheraton Seattle Hotel (6th Ave. & Pike January through May, have just begin. Cost St.), GSBA hosts their Prime Time Mixer, is $150 for 40 hours of instruction and pracdesigned to bring together GLBT and al- tice and includes additional perks valued at lied business professionals in the Greater over $100. Come try the first two weeks beSeattle area to network, socialize and build fore making a financial commitment for the business relationships in a fun and relaxing entire series. Come as you are. Singles and environment. couples welcome. Classes are held from 7-9 Advance registration encouraged. Cost: p.m. at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (N. $10 members, $15 nonmembers, $10 stu- 80th St. & 1st Ave. NE). For more informadents. 206-363-9188; www.thegsba.org. tion email puddletownsqmc@yahoo.com; Walk up registration is $15. www.puddletownsquares.org. HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH On Monday, January 7, doors 7 p.m., Peter Crow 8 p.m., Hedwig Band 9 p.m., at Sunset Tavern (5433 Ballard Ave. NW), in anticipation of the run on Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Moore Theatre (January 15-27), join Jerick Hoffer aka Jinkx Monsoon (Hedwig) and the show’s band, The Angry Inch, for a special rock show featuring selections from the show plus a few additional glam-rock masterpieces. $6 cover. Must be 21+ with ID.
POZ SEATTLE JANUARY SOCIAL On Wednesday, January 9, from 6-8 p.m., at The Cuff Complex (13th Ave. & E. Pine St.), join POZ Seattle for their January social. In keeping with their New Year’s tradition, POZSeattle is hosting their annual “Clean-Out-Your-Drawer-Because-YouGot-New-Porn-For-Christmas-Porn-Exchange” event. Simply bring any magazines, books, DVDs and VHS tapes to swap and trade. This event is free (except for the cost of beverages from the bar), but donations are gladly accepted, and is for all HIV-Positive men and their friends, regardless of age, shape, size or color. POZSeattle is a social organization run for and by Seattle-area HIV-Positive guys. www.pozseattle.org.
SEATTLE WEDDING SHOW JANUARY 12-13 On Saturday, January 12, from 10 a.m.5:30 p.m., and Sunday, January 13, from 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m., the Washington State Convention & Trade Center (8th Ave. & Pike St.) hosts the Seattle Wedding Show featuring over 400 wedding vendors showcasing their products and services to brides and grooms to be. Tickets: $17 at www. weddingshow.com and on site starting one half hour before the show. IMPERIAL COURT OF SEATTLE – MR. & MISS GAY SEATTLE PAGEANT 2013 On Saturday, January 12, door at 5 p.m., show at 6 p.m., at Neighbours (1509 Broadway E.), join Mr. Gay Seattle, Alexander Mentele and Miss Gay Seattle Don-
compiled by Rick McKinnon SGN Staff Writer
naTella Howe in celebrating their year of service to the LGBTQ community and be part of selecting the next Mr. & Miss Gay Seattle. With special guest hostess Jujubee of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Drag U, and Drag Race All Stars. Tickets: $20 advance; $25 at the door. www.brownpapertickets.com/ event/304921. Event details: www.DonnaTellaHowe.com/pageant. Presented by the Imperial Sovereign Court of Seattle. NORDIC LIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL JANUARY 18-20 The Nordic Heritage Museum presents the Nordic Lights Film Festival, offering an immersion into the world of Nordic films, focused on contemporary, award-winning feature-length films, documentaries and short films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden presented at the SIFF Film Center at Seattle Center (just north of Key Arena). The festival will include a documentary about modern Lesbian culture in Denmark on Sunday, January 20, at 8 p.m. For a complete schedule of films and advance ticket purchase, visit www.nordicmuseum.org. MARY LAMBERT – 500 TIPS FOR FAT GIRLS AT FREMONT ABBEY In May of 2012, Lesbian singer-songwriter Mary Lambert was contacted by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis to create what came to be the revolutionary Gay rights hit, “Same Love.” Mary Lambert’s contribution of vocals and writings on “Same Love” have been mentioned in The Huffington Post, NPR, and XXL. Earlier in 2012, Lambert performed on the Ellen Show, VH1’s “Big Morning Buzz,” and Sway’s Sirius/ XM radio show, Shade 45. Lambert has been a performing singer/songwriter and spoken word artist in Seattle for six years. She released her debut album in August 2011 and received glowing reviews from local press. After performing spoken word for years and winning Seattle’s Grand Slam in 2011, Lambert is proud to announce that her first book of poetry will be released on Saturday, January 19, at the Fremont Abbey Grand Hall (4272 Fremont Ave. N.), at 8 p.m. Cost: $10. This is an all-ages event. The book, titled “500 tips for fat girls” takes a vulnerable free-fall into body-image,
Queer love, the struggles of bi-polarity, and allowing yourself to occasionally laugh at your darkness. Accompanying Mary Lambert is best friend, and charismatic writer, Rose McAleese. PRIDE FOUNDATION & GSBA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Since 1993, Pride Foundation, along with their partner, the GSBA Scholarship Program, have awarded over $4 million in scholarships to more than 1,400 students to support education and leadership development for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) and straight-ally students. On their 20th anniversary of supporting education in the community, Pride Foundation encourages students of any age, sexual orientation, or gender identity/expression living or studying in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, who are pursuing any post-secondary education (including community college, public or private colleges and universities, trade apprenticeships, or certificate programs, to apply now. Along with their scholarship partners, the Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA), they offer over 50 different scholarships, but have only one application to complete. A combined total of over $500,000 will be awarded during this scholarship cycle. The joint application is available at www.PrideFoundationScholarship. org. The deadline for application is Thursday, January 31, 2013, at 5 p.m. PST. The GSBA and Pride Foundation scholarships take into account a wide variety of experiences and academic levels. All scholarships require that students be committed to LGBTQ advocacy and equal rights in their community. That can look different depending on where you are and who you are. They have straight allies who help start Gay Straight Alliances in their schools, LGBTQ students who have organized Queer youth rallies, and older members of the community returning to school after fighting inequality for all their lives. Leadership can take many different forms and Pride Foundation encourages everyone to share their vision with them and apply. For more information and questions, visit www.pridefoundation.org or call 800-7357287.
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Seattle Gay News 15
international news
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Two LGBT youth group activists have been arrested in Uganda, according to various reports. Ugandan Gay activist Kawesi Joseph was arrested by police on December 31 and is now being held at Kawempe police station just outside the country’s capital, Kampala. “Frank [Mugisha] of SMUG [Sexual Minorities Uganda] has now confirmed that Kawesi Joseph, one of the founders of LG-
Ugandan police arrest LGBT youth activists
BTI group Youth on Rock Foundation, was arrested by police officers. He is charged with ‘carnal knowledge (homosexuality)’ and ‘recruiting youth into homosexuality,’” wrote Melanie Nathan on her blog, O-BlogDee-O-Blog-Da. Youth on Rock Foundation (YRF) is a Kampala-based LGBT youth group focused mainly on “health and well-being” issues. New reports coming in on January 2 indicate that a second Ugandan youth activist, Kabuye Najibu, was arrested while visiting Joseph in jail.
Kawesi Joseph is one of two LGBT activists arrested in Uganda.
Nathan was formerly an editor of Lez Get Real blog, but resigned in 2011 because she suspected that the blog’s “Gay Girl in Damascus” was a fraud. Her suspicions later proved to be true. On her current blog, Nathan describes herself as “an activist for equality and a human rights advocate who writes and speaks about ending prejudice and discrimination against sexuality minorities.” BE CAREFUL WITH FACEBOOK According to Deniz Nzioka on the Identity Kenya website, “Local activists confirmed the incident and were looking into ways to secure the release of Kawesi. Additionally, YRF updated their Facebook page on the same [date] and urged members to exercise caution. “A lawyer was in touch with Kawesi and it was expected that he would post bail to ensure he is released.”
Nzioka also reports a newer Facebook posting saying Joseph is still in custody “and will be spending his third night in jail.” Identity Kenya calls itself “the Kenya gender and sexual minorities news service” on its website. Mugisha warned Gay Ugandans to use caution in their Facebook posts. “Today at Police they pulled up one of the ugandan gay facebook pages as evidence, against a ugandan gay guy who has been arrested, please be careful with what you post on fb esp people in the closet,” Mugisha wrote. According to Jim Burroway, writing at Box Turtle Bulletin blog, there is no Ugandan law banning “recruiting” youth into Gayness, but since the government considers Gay sex “against the order of nature,” anyone who has same-sex sexual encounters might be considered to be “recruiting,” and any such encounters are illegal.
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Gay-friendly Masses halted in London
file photo
“Given what’s happened over Christmas, where there were vitriolic and mean messages from the pulpit about same-sex Archbishop says ‘open and affirming’ service has to go marriage, there has never been a more important time to provide a safe space for Gay Catholics to pray.” port for Gay-friendly Masses just last year, charitable organization, who is Catholic while Cardinal William Levada, the former herself. archbishop of San Francisco, still held the position of Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Now, however, Archbishop Gerhard Müller, who replaced Levada, said that he wants to clarify the contradiction between the Masses and church teaching. “Given what’s happened over Christmas, where there were vitriolic and mean messages from the pulpit about same-sex marriage, there has never been a more important time to provide a safe space for Gay Catholics to pray,” said Ruth Hunt, a spokesman for Stonewall, a large U.K.-based LGBT
Archbishop Vincent Nichols
The Catholic Church has put a stop to the Gay-friendly, “open and affirming” biweekly Mass in a central London church, Our Lady of the Assumption. The church, located in Soho, London’s main Gayborhood, has held such services for six years. In a statement issued January 2, London Archbishop Vincent Nichols said that he would like to see Gay Catholics “attend Mass in their local parishes rather than going to separate services.” He added that he still supports “pastoral care” to help LGBT Catholics “take a full part in the life of the church.”
in part to recent criticism of same-sex marriage by Pope Benedict XVI and bishops in both Britain and France. Archbishop Nichols has increasingly vocalized his opposition to same-sex marriage in recent weeks. However, church officials, as well as a spokesman for Our Lady of the Assumption, have said the decision to discontinue the Masses was not linked to the same-sex marriage debate. “We don’t see any direct cause and effect,” said Joe Stanley, chairman of the Soho Masses Pastoral Council. Since Gay-friendly Masses began in 2007, many conservative Catholics in Britain opposed them through protest and complaints to the Vatican, saying they flouted church teaching on homosexuality.
PROMPTED BY POPE? The church’s decision may be due at least
A CHANGE OF POSITION Archbishop Nichols reaffirmed his sup-
by James Whitely SGN Staff Writer
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Seattle Gay News 17
Not a banner, but an historic LGBT year by Mark Segal Philadelphia Gay News
Do you appreciate the watershed moment in LGBT history we are witnessing? If any of you doubt that we are living in historic times for LGBT equality, just note what you’re about to witness in the next few weeks and months. The first president of the
months. One that I’m particularly proud of is the nation’s largest LGBT building project that is taking place in Philadelphia. It’s called the John C. Anderson Apartments, an LGBT-friendly senior community. The 56unit building will house and give dignity to LGBT seniors. And that’s the point: LGBT seniors are one group that we, as a community, have not begun to adequately address
This column a year ago predicted that this would be a good year. I had high expectations, but nothing was a done deal when that column was written. United States of America who campaigned openly and often on the issue of LGBT equality and won is about to be inaugurated for a second term, and most likely somewhere in that second term will nominate the first out cabinet member as well as host a landslide of equality initiatives. The first out elected U.S. senator, Tammy Baldwin, will be sworn into office. The Supreme Court will hear debates on marriage equality and will rule by the summer. More out state and city elected officials throughout the nation will take office than ever before. Do you feel it yet? No? Then take a look at the issues and actions that started to take flight in the last 12
partment of Health and Human Services is giving to build and increase health services to LGBT communities around the nation? Or the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development increasing its efforts to combat LGBT discrimination in housing? It would be hard to find an area that has not improved toward equality in the last 12 months. This column a year ago predicted that this would be a good year. I had high expectations, but nothing was a done deal when that column was written. And while there were issues on my mind as it was being written, never in my wildest thoughts did I anticipate how great of year 2012 turned out to be – for the community, for the body politic, and, I’m happy to say, personally. And of course we promised to make some predictions for 2013, some of which might actually happen. If you haven’t noticed, those predictions are in the first paragraph. Mark Segal is the publisher of Philadelphia Gay News. He can be reached at mark@epgn.com.
the needs of. We know from the few studies on LGBT seniors that their number-one concern is housing. Philadelphia hopefully continued from page 4 will start a new wave of building across the nation. At present, the next to break ground is in Chicago, and San Francisco is looking King says Stephen, like him, survived the at 2015. so-called Gay plague. But the memories of the things they saw and the people that STILL NOT THERE YET? passed away will never leave them. OK, how about the advances in immi“There is bravery here, still, living all gration for LGBT couples or the threat of around us,” wrote King. “But the bravest foreign aid being withheld if Uganda en- time was many years ago, and times change acts its proposed “Kill the Gays” bill? Has and the yard needs landscaping and there’s a anyone noticed the host of Republicans brunch tomorrow.” quickly trying to change their positions on Like Spencer Cox, King found his true marriage equality? Or the assistance the De- self during the onslaught of the epidemic.
cox
“The truth is simply this, and no one will convince me otherwise: My most courageous self, the best man that I’ll ever be, lived more than two decades ago during the first years of a horrific plague,” said King. He worked relentlessly alongside a million others who had no choice but to act, as did Spencer Cox. They are heroes. Today, the lives of those who witnessed the horror have become relatively normal again, perhaps mundane. “We prefer it,” wrote King. “We have new lives in a world that isn’t choking on disease.” EXPANDING THE FIGHT In his piece about the late Spencer Cox, King is neither accusatory nor sorry for his sentiments that complications from HIV/ AIDS should not be limited to just pneumonia and other easy-to-diagnose symptoms. Instead, he presents a pretty convincing case that PTSD and drug use (when the addiction is developed because its victim wants to forget the horrors and letdown of AIDS activism) are also complications related to AIDS. The life and times of Spencer Cox were compelling, marred in tragedy and triumph. In the end, it would seem, that the allure of crystal meth, with its ability to quiet the voices of critics and the dead, proved stronger than the memory of a lifetime of achievement for this young man who is credited with helping to save the lives of millions. Spencer Cox’s death is a striking reminder that the answers to ridding the world of HIV/AIDS are not found in the medicine cabinet alone. Mental health remains part of human health.
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Seattle Gay News 19