SGN Jan 4, 2019 - Part 1

Seattle Gay News

Security guard charged with murder of unarmed black Gay man in LA Walgreens

by Mike Andrew

SGN Staff Writer

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office has filed murder charges against a Walgreens security guard who shot an unarmed black Gay homeless man in December.

Donald Vincent Ciota II was working as a security guard at the Hollywood Walgreens on December 2 when he encountered Jonathan Hart – also known in the community as Sky Young – browsing merchandise in the store.

Celebrate the return of pro-LGBTQ majority in US House

GLAAD congratulates Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has pledged to make equality a top priority

takes the

after being elected House Speaker at the

NEW YORK (January 3, 2019) –

GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today issued the following statement celebrating the return of a more inclusive, pro-LGBTQ Congress in Washington, DC. The newly see US HOUSE page 9

Let’s roll

back civil rights regulations, Trump administration suggests

Disparate impact doctrine is at risk

The Trump administration is considering rolling back key civil rights regulations, according to a January 3 story in the Washington Post

An internal Department of Justice (DOJ) memo obtained by the newspaper directs federal civil rights officials to figure out how to reverse decades-old rules affecting education, housing, and other aspects of American life.

see CIVIL RIGHTS page 9 see LA MURDER page 9

ACLU-WA and PeaceHealth agree to settle lawsuit involving transgender health care

SEATTLE (January 2, 2019) – The ACLU of Washington and PeaceHealth, a Catholic health care organization, have reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU-WA, Enstad v. PeaceHealth

The lawsuit asserted that the PeaceHealth employee medical plan’s exclusion of coverage for a mastectomy and chest reconstruction surgery for Paxton Enstad, a 16-year-old transgender boy, was discriminatory and illegal. Pax Enstad is a young man who is transgender, meaning that the sex assigned to him at birth was female and he has a male gender identity.

His mother, Cheryl Enstad, was a PeaceHealth employee for over twenty years, and the Enstad family was covered by PeaceHealth’s employee medical benefits plan. When PeaceHealth’s plan did not cover the mastectomy and chest reconstruction surgery that Pax’s doctor prescribed for him, citing a lack of coverage for “transgender services,” the Enstads brought a lawsuit alleging discrimination under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD).

PeaceHealth changed its medical plan effective January 1, 2017, to cover transgender services determined to be medically necessary pursuant to Aetna’s gender reassignment surgery policy. Subsequently, the parties reached a mutually agreeable settlement of the litigation.

Under PeaceHealth’s amended medical plan, PeaceHealth’s 15,000-plus employees will have access to transition-related care

under the plan. Aetna’s gender reassignment surgery policy does not provide coverage for mastectomies and chest reconstruction surgery as a treatment for gender dysphoria for individuals under the age of 18. However, because Pax is no longer a minor, the Enstads cannot challenge the amended

medical plan as part of this lawsuit.

“This is a bittersweet result for us,” said Cheryl Enstad, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of her son, Pax. “Our number one priority in bringing this case was to ensure access to gender-affirming care for transgender people, and we are pleased Peace-

Health changed its policy. But we hope that PeaceHealth eventually removes the agerelated limitation on coverage.”

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) publishes standards of care that have been recognized as the authoritative standards of care by the leading medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Under the WPATH standards, it may be medically necessary for some transgender people to undergo treatment to affirm their gender identity and transition from living as one gender to another. This treatment, often referred to as transition-related care, may include hormone therapy, surgery, and other medical services that align individuals’ bodies with their gender identities.

“We applaud PeaceHealth’s decision to include coverage for transition-related care in their employee medical plan, and hope it will set a good example for other employers to follow suit,” said Lisa Nowlin, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Washington.

Enstad v. PeaceHealth was filed in US District Court in the Western District of Washington, in October 2017.

In addition to Nowlin, attorneys for the Enstads include Josh Block and Leslie Cooper with the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project and Denise Diskin and Beth Touschner of Teller & Associates.

Courtesy of the ACLU of Washington

The Art of Alzheimer’s –“The Artist Within” Free

opening reception at City Hall January 10, 4-6pm

49 art pieces by vibrant persons living with dementia will be on display in Seattle’s City Hall Lobby & Anne Focke Galleries January 8 through March 6

The Art of Alzheimer’s presents “The Artist Within” opening January 8 in Seattle City Hall’s Lobby and Anne Focke Galleries (5th Ave & Cherry St). The opening reception on January 10 from 4-6pm and the exhibition that runs through March 6 are free to the public and presented in cooperation with the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and Elderwise®.

Care providers, artists and their families will be at the opening reception to discuss the stories behind these 49 fascinating artworks created by seven persons living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Exhibition tours will be given. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served.

The surprising, delightful and inspiring works of art reveal seven distinct views of the world plus more about the artists as creative persons and valuable members of our community. They illuminate a simple truth – while access to language may falter, the imagination can soar.

Exhibition organizer and Art of Alzheimer’s founder, Marilyn Raichle, was raised in the shadow of Alzheimer’s with nearly everyone on her father’s side and many on mother’s developing the disease. At the age of 89, Ms. Raichle’s mother began to paint witty, inventive, astonishing pieces of art inspiring the first “Artist Within” exhibition to overwhelming success in 2016. It toured and the reaction to the exhibition was always the same – delight, surprise and gratitude. This exhibition returns with new pieces to spark a new perspective on what it means to live with dementia.

The art in this exhibition was created at Elderwise® – creating space to age well –http://www.elderwise.org/

Marigrace Becker & Cecily Kaplan are specialists in Memory Loss and are consultants to the exhibition.

Marigrace Becker, MSW, is the Program Manager of Community Education and Impact at the UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center (MBWC). She develops and facilitates education, support, and engagement programs that promote living well with dementia – http://depts.washington.edu/ mbwc/events/community-events-programs. She produces resources like the MBWC’s patient and family handbook, “Living with

Memory Loss” – http://depts.washington. edu/mbwc/resources/living-with-memoryloss. She works closely with community partners to spearhead local initiatives that challenge stigma and build understanding. She is a leader of the Momentia Seattle movement and leads the Dementia-Friendly Communities project team for the Dementia Action Collaborative – http://depts.washington.edu/ mbwc/news/article/collaborating-for-statewide-innovation-in-dementia-care-policy –implementing the Washington State Plan to Address Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias.

Cecily Kaplan started working for Phinney Neighborhood Association (PNA) in 2006 as the Director of the Greenwood Senior Center. Since then, senior programs have expanded to include the PNA Village and Memory Loss Programs. She was the Program Director at Temple Beth Am for 15 years and the Senior Adult Department Director of the Stroum Jewish Community Center from 1984-1991. Her background is in religious studies and gerontology. Her passion is community and the importance organizations like the PNA can be in the lives of individuals and society. Cecily’s door is always open and she welcomes and encourages ideas and suggestions.

Additional Community Partners

The Alzheimer’s Association Washington State Chapter; Alzheimer’s Association Washington State Chapter; Momentia Seattle; Elderwise; The Frye Art Museum Creative Aging Program; UW Medicine, Memory and Brain Wellness Center; NW Center for Creative Aging; Greenwood Senior Center; Seattle Parks Department Dementia Friendly Recreation.

Exhibition Sponsors

UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center; ERA Living; Jefferson House Memory Care Community; Aegis Living; Alzheimer’s Association Washington State Chapter; City Office of Arts and Culture; 4Culture; Washington State Arts Commission; Art Works National Endowment for the Arts; With a Little Help, Inc.; Richard M and Maude M Ferry Charitable Foundation.

of the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture

HOME SERVICES LEGAL SERVICES

US HOUSE

[Democratic]-controlled United States House of Representatives, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will be the first pro-equality chamber of Congress since 2015.

“It is a welcome relief that fair-minded, pro-equality lawmakers have returned to the majority in the US House, and now it’s time for them to roll up their sleeves and get

to work for all marginalized communities, including LGBTQ Americans,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD.

“As the Trump administration continues to roll back equality in an effort to erase LGBTQ Americans from the nation, we need allies like Speaker Pelosi fighting for us in Congress.”

President Trump and his administration have worked to erase LGBTQ people from the fabric of this nation since the start of 2017. In fact, the administration has autho -

Trump administration may roll back key component of nation’s anti-discrimination laws

NEW YORK (January 3, 2019) –GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today condemned the Trump administration after a new report suggested the government is considering the rollback of “disparate impact” regulations in the country’s anti-discrimination laws. Under “disparate impact,” a person would have legal protections should they experience unintended discrimination in housing, education, or other ways of life (like access to quality transportation).

The leaked memo by the Justice Department is the latest example of the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine and create unnecessary obstacles for marginalized communities, including LGBTQ Americans. According to GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Project (TAP), the memo marks the 88th time President Trump has attacked LGBTQ people in policy and rhetoric since taking office.

“Either the Trump administration is blissfully ignorant or just simply unwilling to understand the depth of discrimination that exists in the United States. But one thing is certain: if you are a part of a

LA MURDER

continued from cover

in a verbal argument. Hart then turned and tried to run out of the store. Ciota shot him in the back. Hart died at the scene.

Hart’s family has filed a wrongful

marginalized community, President Trump wants nothing to do with you,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD.

“These attacks on LGBTQ and other marginalized people must stop.”

President Trump and his administration have worked to erase LGBTQ people from the fabric of this nation since the start of 2017. GLAAD has tracked the Trump administration and every anti-LGBTQ action with its Trump Accountability Project. For more about these, go to www.glaad. org/trump.

GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change. GLAAD protects all that has been accomplished and creates a world where everyone can live the life they love. For more information, please visit www.glaad.org or connect with GLAAD on Facebook and Twitter.

Courtesy of GLAAD

death lawsuit against Walgreens, charging that Ciota shot Hart because he was black, homeless, and Gay, and seeking to recover $525 million in damages. The family is also urging the community to boycott the store until it removes armed guards from stores serving “the black, the brown, and the homeless communities.”

Walgreens terminated the security company employing Ciota following the incident and has extended its remorse to

rized 88 direct anti-LGBTQ attacks in that time, including … seeking to ban transgender Americans from serving our nation. GLAAD has tracked the Trump administration and every anti-LGBTQ action with its Trump Accountability Project. For more about these, go to www.glaad.org/trump.

GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads

CIVIL RIGHTS

continued from cover

Similar action is underway at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and is being considered at the Education Department.

At stake are the federal government’s “disparate impact” regulations that allow discrimination lawsuits to be brought against both government and private entities.

Under the concept of disparate impact, actions can amount to discrimination – and therefore be illegal – if they have an effect that disadvantages a protected class, even if that was not the intent of the action.

For example, a New York lawsuit now in progress charges that a large apartment complex in Queens will not rent to anyone with a criminal record, and that this has the effect of discriminating against African-American and Latino renters, who are statistically more likely to have criminal records than white people. Even if the property managers did not intend to exclude people of color, the effect of their rule does exclude them and therefore is in violation of federal civil rights laws.

As another example, in Maryland, civil rights activists filed a complaint with the federal government after the state took away funding from a light-rail project that would have helped mostly African-American residents of Baltimore. Instead, the money went to bridge and road projects that served mostly white residents elsewhere in the state.

The Obama administration used the disparate-impact doctrine to challenge local school systems that discipline students of color at greater rates or more

Hart’s family.

The murder charges are separate from the lawsuit. Walgreens said in a statement that the company supports the prosecution. A judge has set Ciota’s bail at $3 million.

Hart’s family commended the Los Angeles district attorney following the filing of the murder charges.

Ciota’s attorney is Mark Geragos, noted for representing high-profile clients, including Michael Jackson and Winona Ryder.

to cultural change. GLAAD protects all that has been accomplished and creates a world where everyone can live the life they love. For more information, please visit www. glaad.org or connect with GLAAD on Facebook and Twitter.

Courtesy of GLAAD

severely than white students. In a 2014 advisory to school districts, Obama’s DOJ told schools they may be guilty of racial discrimination if students of color are punished at higher rates.

Disparate impact was written into the original regulations that implemented Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which bars discrimination based on race, color, or national origin by entities, including schools, that receive federal funding.

“Disparate impact is a bedrock principle,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “Through the courts, we’ve been able to marshal data and use the disparate-impact doctrine as a robust tool for ferreting out discrimination.”

Disparate-impact claims can also be made under federal laws barring discrimination on the basis of sex, which means that it can be a legal avenue for LGBTQ Americans to seek remedies under federal law even if we are not explicitly protected.

The Obama administration ruled in 2012 that Trans people are protected under laws prohibiting sex discrimination. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) later ruled that the word “sex” also protects Gay, Bi, and Lesbian individuals against discrimination based on their sexual orientation.

Because proving disparate impact is much easier than proving discriminatory intent, the legal doctrine has provided a key strategic approach for human rights organizations, and conversely it has been a target for right-wing legal scholars who have hoped to impede civil rights lawsuits.

In a public statement, Geragos claimed Ciota shot Hart in self-defense.

“If this were a police officer, they would be lauding him,” Geragos said. “He was assaulted. He defended himself.”

He did not explain why Hart was shot in the back.

Lambda Legal: Supreme Court should maintain injunction against implementation of discriminatory Transgender military ban

WASHINGTON, DC (December 28, 2018) – Lambda Legal today urged the US Supreme Court to deny a request from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) asking the court to stay enforcement of the preliminary injunctions that have kept the Trump administration from implementing its discriminatory plan to ban transgender people from serving openly in the US armed services. The DOJ has asked the Supreme Court to stay enforcement of the injunctions should the court deny the Trump-Pence administration’s petition for review of the preliminary injunction rulings before federal Courts of Appeal have the opportunity to rule. One of the three preliminary injunctions includes the injunction issued by the US District Court for the Western District of Washington in the lawsuit brought by Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN, and joined by the State of Washington, challenging the constitutionality of the proposed ban.

“The sudden urgency of the Trump administration’s effort to discriminate against transgender service members is bordering on the ridiculous,” Lambda Legal Counsel Peter Renn said. “Not only has it sought to short-circuit established practice by seeking Supreme Court review before the Courts of Appeal have ruled but now it wants to be able to implement the ban to kick out transgender service members even if the Court denies that petition. Notwithstanding the fact that every court to rule on the discriminatory ban has ruled against it, the Trump administration seems intent on doing everything in its power to enshrine discrimination.

“All this comes five months after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a similar request to stay the injunction, and two-anda-half years since transgender troops were able to serve openly,” Renn added. “There has been exactly zero diminution of readiness, and exactly zero disruption of unit cohesion. In fact, leaders of all branches of the US armed services have testified that the implementation of open service has occurred smoothly and without incident. It is clear, notwithstanding the ginned-up and constantly evolving rationalizations, that

rank bigotry remains the only justification for the discriminatory ban, and the court should keep the preliminary injunctions preventing implementation of the ban in force.”

Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN filed the lawsuit, Karnoski v. Trump, in August 2017, on behalf of nine individual plaintiffs and three organizational plaintiffs – the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the Seattle-based Gender Justice League, and the American Military Partner Association (AMPA). The State of Washington later joined the lawsuit. The district court in December 2017 granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction preventing implementation of the ban, which the DOJ chose not to challenge on appeal, and the court maintained that preliminary injunction in April after the Trump administration released a plan for implementing its discriminatory ban.

The administration appealed that latter ruling to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard oral argument on October 10,

2018. The 9th Circuit previously denied the DOJ’s request to stay the preliminary injunction during the appeal, thereby allowing transgender people to continue serving, and the DOJ declined to ask the Supreme Court for a stay while the appeal proceeded.

In addition to Karnoski v. Trump, the administration also asked the Supreme Court to review the preliminary injunctions in Stockman v. Trump and Doe v. Trump, lawsuits also challenging the ban, filed by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). Doe v. Trump was filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia and is pending on appeal at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Stockman v. Trump was filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California and is also pending on appeal at the 9th Circuit.

Read Lambda Legal’s reply brief at: https://www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/

legal-docs/karnoski_dc_20181228_jointopposition-brief

Read more about Karnoski v. Trump at: https://www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/ cases/karnoski-v-trump

The Lambda Legal attorneys working on the case are: Peter Renn, Diana Flynn, Camilla B. Taylor, Tara Borelli, Paul Castillo, Sasha Buchert, and Kara Ingelhart. They are joined by co-counsel Peter Perkowski of OutServe-SLDN. Also on the legal team are pro-bono co-counsel at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Newman Du Wors LLP.

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work. For more information, visit www.lambdalegal.org.

Courtesy of Lambda Legal

Trump administration official invites anti-LGBTQ activist & Russian nationalist to visit Texas, speak at Rice University

NEW YORK (January 2, 2019) –

GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today slammed the Trump administration for inviting Russian politician Dmitry Rogozin to Houston, Texas, and giving him the opportunity to speak with students at Rice University. Rogozin is vehemently anti-LGBTQ and even called musician and LGBTQ ally Madonna a “whore” for promoting LGBTQ rights ahead of a concert in Russia seven years ago.

“Leave it up to the most anti-LGBTQ administration in recent memory to grant an anti-LGBTQ activist and Russian nationalist the opportunity to promote his hateful and out-of-touch rhetoric to students,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD. “Dmirty Rogozin has no business visiting our nation in the first place, much less being offered a speaking engagement at an academic institution.

This sends an extraordinarily dangerous and discriminatory message to LGBTQ students and other marginalized groups. Rice University should not permit this appearance to take place.”

President Trump and his administration have worked to erase LGBTQ people from

the fabric of this nation since the start of 2017. In fact, this invitation marks the 87th time the administration has authorized a direct attack on the LGBTQ community. GLAAD has tracked the Trump administration and every anti-LGBTQ action with its Trump Accountability Project. For more about these, go to www.glaad.org/trump.

Background Information

Tweets: “It’s not Russia that threatens the West. Its foundations will crash down under the pressure of ISIS and gays.”

Called Madonna a “whore” for promoting LGBTQ rights.

Attacked a Latvian politician’s coming out: “Is that his point of pride? But then if you’ve got nothing else to be proud of, you can take pride in that just as well...”

Attacked the Eurovision win of openly LGBTQ singer Conchita Wurst, saying it “showed supporters of European integra-

tion their European future: a bearded girl.”

Tweeted an apparent anti-gay attack line: “One shouldn’t confuse their own bum with Columbus...”

Tweeted yet another anal sex “joke” about a gay couple: “now neither of them will have constipation problems.”

GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change. GLAAD protects all that has been accomplished and creates a world where everyone can live the life they love. For more information, please visit www.glaad.org or connect with GLAAD on Facebook and Twitter.

Courtesy of GLAAD