SGN Jul 12, 2019 - Part 1

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Seattle Gay News

SGN PRIDE ACTIVIST OF THE YEAR LINCOLN ROSE

House votes to overturn Trump’s Trans military ban

Pramila Jayapal’s speech on immigration

The following speech was given by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) on July 2, 2019:

So, first of all, thank you so much for being here. It makes me so proud – I’m sorry, I’m losing my voice too – but it

makes me so proud to represent this district and to have people that would take time out of their day to be here and to stand up for people who most need your voices. And, really, I can’t tell you how much I feel that

British parliament votes to extend marriage equality to Northern Ireland

The US House of Representatives voted on July 11 to overturn Donald Trump’s ban on Transgender people serving in the military.

The vote was 242 to 187, with 10 Republicans joining Democrats to pass the measure. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) introduced the reversal as an amendment to

The marriage bill was introduced by a Labour member, Conor McGinn, and allowed to proceed as a “free vote” – in other words, one where the members were not bound to vote their party’s line. see NO. IRELAND page 13 see HOUSE VOTE page 13

Britain’s parliament voted on July 9 to extend marriage equality to Northern Ireland. The count was a landslide 383 to 73, with 194 members absent or abstaining.

New York Pride/World Pride

by Jesse Monteagudo SGN Contributing Writer

By now all of you have seen, heard, read or otherwise know about New York City Pride/Stonewall 50, the events celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. You also know about World Pride (June 26-30), held for the first time in the United States simultaneously with Stonewall 50. Millions of lesbians, gay males, bisexuals, trans and intersex people and our heterosexual allies gathered in New York to remember, observe and celebrate. If Stonewall 50 was about the past then World Pride is about the present; a show of unity and determination in the face of government and religious opposition, at home and abroad. I was one of the fortunate ones who were in New York City during this momentous weekend; not as a celebrity, not even as a reporter, but as one gay man who wanted to share in this moment of history.

This was my third visit to New York. My first visit, a week in July 1977, came after we lost Miami-Dade County to Save Our Children. My second visit, in the fall of 1997, was a few hours in the City with my late partner, Michael Greenspan. My third visit was longer, from June 26 to July 2. Each time, New York had something new to show me. This time, the Big Apple was decked out in her rainbow colors, from department store windows to the Empire State Building. I almost expected the Statute of Liberty to wear a rainbow colored dress but she did not need to. Her presence spoke volumes about the rights of all, even

in the face of an administration that seeks to destroy her dream.

Wherever you went, from Harlem to Brooklyn, queer people and our allies were in full force. Most of New York’s famous museums had LGBT exhibits. The Museum of the City of New York featured the work of Fred W. McDarrah, the Village Voice photographer who captured the Stonewall Uprising as well as other pivotal events in LGBT and NYC history. The Solomon R. Guggenehim Museum displayed the work of Robert Mapplethorpe, whose erotic photos drove Jesse Helms into a tizzy. The New York Public Library at Bryant Park had two relevant exhibits: “Love & Resistance –Stonewall 50” showcased queer history and relationships, while “Walt Whitman America’s Poet” honored the Great Gay Poet (18191892). Religious groups, at least the liberal ones, joined in the celebration. Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, NYC’s LGBT synagogue, held a special Pride Shabbat with guest speaker Tony Kushner.

Though I could not make it to all the Pride events, I managed to see a few, including World Pride’s Opening Ceremony June 26 – with Whoopi Goldberg, Cyndi Lauper, Chaka Khan and Todrick Hall, among others – and the NYC Pride Parade June 30. The media did its best to play up our differences: between white gay men and trans women of color over who did what during the Stonewall Uprising and between the established NYC Pride Parade and the Queer Liberation March over business participation and control. It did not really matter. Many New Yorkers went to

the Queer March in the morning and to the Pride Parade in the afternoon. The NYC Pride Parade itself broke records, drawing a crowd of four to five million participants and bystanders. The Parade began at noon down Fifth Avenue and continued through the afternoon and early evening before it ended in Greenwich Village and the Stonewall National Monument. I watched the parade for a few hours opposite the viewing stand on Fifth Avenue and 26th Street before I took a break and then wandered over to the Village to view the rest of the parade. Our queer world was in full display, with groups from the USA, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Australia… There were politicians and celebrities – Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senator Chuck Schumer, Vanessa Williams, Andy Cohen – but also “ordinary” LGBT people, representing all nations, classes, races, religions and lifestyles, being proud of who we are, and willing to share our pride with others.

NYC Pride 2019 had the distinction of being televised by a major network (ABC) not to mention many local stations. As a gay man among many LGBT people and allies, I felt I was in the middle of a world-shaking event; one that will not happen again but which I will remember for as long as I live. Next year’s Pride ceremonies will not be as earthshaking but no matter. Memories of Stonewall 50 and World Pride 2019 will give us the impetus to move forward, to fight whatever battles might come our way.

Alzheimer’s Association seeking volunteer LGBT support group facilitators in Seattle

The Alzheimer’s Association is seeking local volunteers to facilitate LGBT Caregiver Support Groups in Seattle.

“Caregivers of those with dementia often feel helpless and alone in their experience,” said April Scott, Manager of Community Support at the Alzheimer’s Association, Washington State Chapter. “A support group facilitator has the ability to make a meaningful difference in the lives of these caregivers.”

Support group facilitators aren’t required to be experts. Our Chapter-trained volunteers receive excellent training, ongo -

ing support, access to resources, and continuing education opportunities.

Often, working or retired social workers, healthcare professionals, educators, and former family caregivers are best qualified to be support group facilitators, but anybody with a helping heart is welcome to apply. A commitment of at least one year is required.

For more information on becoming a support group facilitator, contact April Scott, Manager of Community Support, at 1.800.848.7097 or 206.529.3875, apscott@ alz.org.

About the Alzheimer’s Association The Alzheimer’s Association is the world’s leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Our mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. Our vision is a world without Alzheimer’s. For more information, visit www.alz.org.

Courtesy of the Alzheimer’s Association

South King County LGBTQ Task Force announces inaugural event to battle LGBTQ+ isolation

Des Moines, WA – South King County LGBTQ Task Force announces their first community event Queens of Heart movie screening on Saturday, July 27, at Highline College Theater (2400 S 240th Street –Building 7, Des Moines, WA) from 5pm-8pm.

Queens of Heart is an event to bring the LGBTQ+ community together, become more visible, and share deeply needed resources in South King County. The threats from right-wing groups at Renton Teen Pride in June is a clear indicator that LGBTQ+ communities lack safety and are at risk of harassment. This is an event of celebration, resilience, pride, and resources.

“I’m very honored to be included in this inaugural South King County LGBTQ Task

Force event and the screening of Queens of Heart, along with my friend and director Jan Haaken,” said Darcelle XV, star of Queens of Heart “As I show in the film, my work as a drag performer is about helping people break down rigid boundaries and to see past the barriers that fence them in.”

This free event will include:

• Resource Fair: Visit with local organizations and businesses to learn about resources for our community in South King County.

• Queens of Heart Movie Screening: Queens of Heart brings to the screen the fabulous complexity of drag shows and their characters who dance into our

psyches. Darcelle XV is the longest-running drag club in the United States and an Oregon institution.

• Post-Film Discussion: Join us for a conversation about the film with director, Jan Haaken, and star of the film, Darcelle XV, plus a discussion with community advocates about issues facing the LGBTQ Community in South King County.

For more information about the event and South King County LGBTQ Task Force, please visit our website at http:// www.skclgbtq.org/events

South King County LGBTQ Task Force brings together community organizations

with the mission to cultivate relationships with, and between, LGBTQ+ individuals, human service providers, community groups, businesses, and political leaders to support, nurture, and advocate for the LGBTQ+ communities in South King County. Members include Cedar River Clinics, Gender Diversity, LGBTQ Allyship, Nexus Youth and Families, UTOPIA, Valley Cities Behavioral Healthcare, and White Center Community Development Association.

Courtesy of South King County LGBTQ Task Force

Lights for Liberty: A Constellation of Lights

July

12-13 coalition events in

SEATTLE – On Friday evening, July 12th, people will gather in their communities across the nation to hold vigils in solidarity with immigrants and refugees and in protest of mass immigrant incarceration and the atmosphere of fear and hostility fomented by our federal government. https:// bit.ly/2YNG4n3/

In the Seattle-Tacoma area, we’re taking this protest two steps further, and will be holding 15 events over two days as we seek to both engage and educate. We asked the immigrants and immigrant rights advocates in our Constellation of Lights Coalition: What can we do to make a real difference? The answer was loud and clear: Yes, raise public awareness with a large gathering, but we don’t just need a single-day of outrage. The mistreatment of immigrants has been going on for a long time, and it won’t stop in a single news cycle or with a single protest. We need sustained help, volunteers, money for court bail bonds, support for those incarcerated and those living in daily fear, and assistance in working toward a nation that does not criminalize desperation or demonize immigrants.

So, led by this advice, the Constellation of Lights Coalition will hold multiple events on Friday (7/12) and Saturday (7/13) designed

Seattle & Tacoma in protest of immigrant/refugee detention

to engage, educate, and show support and solidarity with detained persons at the NW Detention Center in Tacoma.

Friday 7/12 events:

Workplace unity break afternoon protests:

People throughout the region are going to walk out of their places of employment on their lunch or afternoon breaks, with signs protesting immigrant detention. Unity breaks are a form of workplace walkout that allows workers who do not have flexible employment to participate without jeopardizing their employment. See details at www.facebook. com/events/1392724154198631/?ti=ia.

Friday evening vigils throughout the Seattle-Tacoma area:

Vigils throughout the nation will occur on Friday evening, most from 7 to 9 p.m., though the time will vary at some local events. All Lights of Liberty vigils throughout the nation are registered at www.lightsforliberty.org/ localevents. Thirteen vigils are planned throughout the Seattle-Tacoma area, and people are encouraged to attend the vigil that is most convenient for them.

Vigils organized by the Constellation of Lights Coalition issuing this press release:

• Seattle’s Occidental Park (117 S. Washington St., Seattle), 7-9 p.m. Vigil + speakers and programming. Event info at www.facebook.com/events/1546819312116317/?ti=ia

• Seattle’s Queen Anne Counterbalance Park (Queen Anne Ave.), 7-10 p.m. Event info at www.facebook.com/ events/579200342607384/

• West Seattle’s Alki Beach Park, (1702 Alki Ave. SW, Seattle), 8 p.m. start time. Event info at www.facebook.com/ events/2218861164848587/

• Edmonds (828 Caspers St., Edmonds, WA) 7-9 p.m. Event info at www.facebook. com/events/2339450349668648/

• Tacoma’s NW Detention Center (1623 E. “J” St., Tacoma), 7-9:30 p.m. Event info at www.facebook.com/ events/473312493430018/

• Tacoma’s Union Station (Union Station/S. 19th Station, Tacoma), 7-8 p.m. Event info at www.facebook.com/ events/338885053696630/?ti=icl

Additional local Friday Coalition events are being added daily, with updates added to www.facebook.com/ events/2133367803438365/?ti=ia.

Sister Lights of Liberty Vigils in the Seattle-Tacoma area:

• South Seattle’s MLK Jr. Park (2200 MLK Jr. Way S., Seattle), 7:30-9:30 p.m.

• Kirkland’s Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church, (308 4th Ave. S., Kirkland), 7 p.m. start time

• Redmond’s Downtown Park (16205 Redmond Way, Redmond, WA) 5-7 p.m.

• Sammamish (120 228th Ave. NE, Sammamish, WA), 7:45-9:15 p.m.

• Bainbridge Island (100 Winslow Way W., Bainbridge Island), 7-9 p.m.

• Mercer Island’s Post Office/Mercerdale Park Intersection (78th & 32nd), 8:309:30 p.m.

• Whidbey Island’s Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Whidbey (20103 SR 525, Freeland) 7-8 p.m.

All events and detail links are available at www.lightsforliberty.org/localevents.

Saturday 7/13 event: Saturday afternoon Lights on Detained People solidarity event at NW Detention Center in Tacoma

At the specific request of immigrant community organizers, and with the intention of showing visible and audible support to incarcerated immigrants and their families and listening and learning how we can become more deeply and sustainably involved in bringing justice to our immigrant community, we will be gathering on Saturday (7/13) at the NW Detention Center in Tacoma from 12:30 to 4 p.m for a solidarity event.

Bring your own picnic and chairs or blankets, greet and share with immigrant families who visit on the weekends, collectively call out to the unjustly incarcerated immigrants to let them know we support them (we’re told they can hear loud, collective callouts), and learn from our coalition partners La Resistancia and the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) how we can volunteer, advocate, and donate to become more sustainably involved in the fight to stop incarcerating and start welcoming and supporting immigrants and their families. We’ll hear personal stories and learn how to support those incarcerated and those living in daily fear, and how to meaningfully assist in working toward a nation that does not criminalize desperation or demonize immigrants.

The Constellation of Lights Coalition, formed to jointly organize local Lights of Liberty events, consists of the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, La Resistencia, the Washington Immigrant Defense Network (WIDEN), OneAmerica, Seattle Indivisible, Seattle Womxn Marching Forward, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Indivisible Tacoma, and Lawyer Moms of America.

Courtesy of Seattle Indivisible

Pride flag flies over Tacoma Dome for first time. “It’s a big deal,” says LGBT community.

by Craig Sailor Tacoma News Tribune

A half-century after the modern gay rights movement started in the U.S., a gay pride flag was raised for the first time over the Tacoma Dome Tuesday.

“We need a breeze,” someone in a crowd gathered in the Dome’s parking lot said immediately after the rainbow-striped flag was hoisted up the Dome’s flagpole.

Moments later, a light wind unfurled the flag along with a larger American flag above it. The pride flag – and the U.S. flag – will wave over the Dome for the remainder of July.

On top of the Dome on Tuesday morning were Tacoma City Council member Ryan Mello, Puyallup Tribal Council member Annette Bryan, State Rep. Laurie Jinkins and Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards.

“I’m so proud to be the mayor of a city that would fly the pride flag over its largest structure,” Woodards said. “This deepens our commitment to every member of our community.”

Just as the rainbow flag is raised annually over Seattle’s Space Needle, Tacoma’s civic icon will now sport one as well, organizers said.

“The Dome represents Tacoma and Pierce County and all of the South Sound,” said Manny Santiago, the executive director of the Rainbow Center, the city’s dropin and resource center for the LGBT community. “It represents that we are becoming

more and more welcoming of the diversity of our community. It’s a big deal.”

The rainbow flag celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) pride. It joined the American flag already in place on the Dome to represent inclusivity, Santiago said.

“Our families are part of the fabric of the American family and that’s what the flag represents,” Santiago said. “We are not substituting one for the other.”

“Symbols really matter,” Mello said. “They certainly matter to our country. It matters to the LGBTQ community.”

About 75 people gathered in the Dome

parking lot to witness the flag raising. Jarel Sanders, 26, was one of them.

“It’s really cool to see my city representing LGBT people on such a monumental year,” the life-long Tacoma resident said.

Sanders was referring to the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New Year City that are considered by many to be the launching point for the modern LGBT rights movement.

Gays, transgender people, lesbians, drag queens and others fed up with police harassment and shakedowns, fought back during a police raid on the Greenwich Village bar on June 28, 1969. The riots lasted

two nights and empowered LGBT activists.

“To see the flag over the Tacoma Dome… is a representation of how great the city can be for LGBT people,” Sanders, a social worker, said.

The moment was also inspiring for older members of the LGBT community. Jinkins’s wife, Laura Wulf, watched the raising from the parking lot.

“It’s pretty moving,” Wulf, 57, said. “It’s a big deal.”

Wulf and Jinkins have been together for 31 years. The flag raising was symbolic of progress the LGBT community has made, Wulf said.

“We never thought we’d be able to get married,” Wulf said. “We didn’t know we’d be able to have a child and we have. Things have been amazing.”

Tacoma Pride week begins Friday [July 12] with another pride flag raising over Tacoma City Hall. The city’s annual pride celebration is on Saturday [July 13] from noon–6pm on Pacific Avenue between South 7th and 9th streets.

In larger cities, such as Seattle and New York, Pride is observed close to June 28 to commemorate Stonewall. Smaller cities, such as Tacoma, hold Pride either before or after to avoid competing celebrations.

This story was posted on the Tacoma News Tribune website on July 9, 2019 and was updated on July 10, 2019. Reprinted with permission.

Jayapal releases 2019 infrastructure report

WASHINGTON, DC (July 8, 2019) –

Today, Rep. Pramila Jayapal released her third annual infrastructure report on transportation and infrastructure priorities for Washington’s 7th Congressional District and the greater Seattle region.

“America’s infrastructure is crumbling, but the Trump administration has failed to take action,” said Rep. Jayapal. “We need bold ideas and solutions. That’s why I am proud to release my third annual transportation and infrastructure report, which features critical projects in the district and highlights the ongoing need to maintain, renew, and invest in infrastructure.

“Our challenge is to keep our district the most livable, sustainable, and welcoming community in the country. Our district’s infrastructure cannot wait, and I will con-

tinue to push for progress in Congress on strengthening the health and infrastructure of our community.”

The 2019 Infrastructure Report outlines project proposals that the 7th District community members and leaders have identified as federal funding priorities. The report was compiled in consultation with various stakeholders – including local municipal, county, and state officials in the greater Seattle area.

Key priorities featured in this year’s report include the following:

Expansive transit improvements that are expected to save riders countless hours of travel time and result in up to 45% job growth in the Sound Transit service area by 2040, such as: the RapidRide Roosevelt Project, which

will provide a continuous, reliable, highfrequency north-south transit connection from the Roosevelt Link station at NE 65th St. to downtown Seattle; the Madison Street Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project, which will deliver fast, reliable, frequent transit service to the Madison corridor; the Swift BRT Orange Line Project, which will connect with the Sound Transit Link light rail station in 2024, making it the first BRT-to–light rail connection in Snohomish County; the Lynnwood Link Extension Project, which will provide residents of Seattle, Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, and Lynnwood with a safe, efficient, and sustainable option for transportation; and the Federal Way Link Extension Project,

which adds an additional 7.8 miles to the Link Light Rail system.

The Sea-Tac Airport Modernization Project, which will invest $3.76 billion in more than 100 critical projects, as well as an additional planned $4.5 billion in future investments to make the most efficient use of space within the airport’s existing footprint. These forward-looking projects deliver on optimal airport service, while respecting the needs of local communities and the environment.

The full text of the report can be found [at www.dropbox.com/s/xajuzceedqylw8u/ Jayapal%20Transportation%20and%20 Infrastructure%20Report%202019.pdf].

AHF to PBMs: Stop the pharmacy fee rip-off!

WASHINGTON, DC (July 11, 2019) –

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), which operates specialty pharmacies in a dozen states that serve the needs of HIV and AIDS patients, has signed on to a letter to key members of the United States Senate Finance Committee asking that they include pharmacy direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fee reform in the Senate’s pending package of drug pricing legislation.

DIR fees are fees that pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) assess on pharmacies for purportedly failing to meet quality measures that many pharmacies believe are arbitrary, anticompetitive, and unlawful.

After the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently missed an opportunity to include an administrative fix to DIR fees when the agency finalized and modernized Part D rules and guidelines (CMS-4180-P rule), the AHF joined more than 200 other pharmacy stakeholder groups, pharmacists, and patient advocacy

organizations – including many independent pharmacies and other specialty pharmacies – in signing on to the letter, spearheaded by the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and addressed to Senate Finance Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR).

In their letter, the groups note that “… DIR fees on pharmacies participating in Part D grew by 45,000 percent between 2010 and 2017,” and that the “…increase is unacceptable and unsustainable and it creates uncertainly not only for community pharmacies but also for the patients who rely on Part D prescription drugs.”

The groups’ letter to Sens. Grassley and Wyden concluded, “If CMS will not act then Congress must.”

The AHF and many independent pharmacies believe that PBMs are not creating or applying DIR fees in good faith.

“The fees are an underhanded way for PBMs to drive competing, often smaller

or specialty pharmacies, out of business and then take the business to themselves and their own pharmacies,” said Laura Boudreau, Chief of Operations/Risk Management and Quality Improvement for the AHF. “We support using legitimate quality measures to incentivize pharmacies to provide excellent care to patients, but that is not what these fees do. The standards are vague and mysteriously applied – often many months or even a year after the fact. These clawbacks sometimes mean pharmacies are paid less than the cost of the drugs. Some quality measures make no sense when applied to pharmacies – especially pharmacies like AHF’s that serve a special-needs population. As more small and specialty pharmacies are driven out of business by these oppressive practices, patients – especially those with chronic conditions like HIV – are harmed because they lose their trusted pharmacist. They are often forced into faceless PBM pharmacy constructs that are not knowledgeable about or

sensitive to patients’ needs.”

The AHF, which operates 48 individual AHF pharmacy locations, not only provides access to life-saving HIV/AIDS medications but its pharmacists and pharmacy techs also counsel patients to promote adherence to their medications in an effort to improve patients’ health outcomes.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/ or services to over 1.2 million people in 43 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific region, and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit www.aidshealth. org, www.facebook.com/aidshealth, @aidshealthcare on Twitter, and @aidshealthcare on Instagram.

Courtesy of the AHF

every day. People come up to me and thank me all the time, but the truth is you elected me, and you give me the power to use my voice to its fullest. So never underestimate what it means to tell me that you are with me on these things. And to know that I am representing our values, our values as a community. I want to thank Colleen for just giving us a historical perspective. I think people don’t always think about family separation in a historical sense. And the truth is this isn’t the first time families have been separated.

And, Colleen, you bring us to really important history and injustices against our Native people. So, thank you for doing that. Thank you for making that link. And then I want to thank the two women who spoke, who went to the border? Right here. Okay, thank you so much, because what is important about this is, and I’m going to tell you some of the things I’ve done, but what is important is when people take it upon themselves to go and see for themselves, not because you can’t imagine what might be happening, or you don’t know without seeing how bad things are, but when you go your energy for fixing what is wrong does get increased because you see the abuses in real time. And so this is really, really important. I understand you couldn’t get into the camps. One of the things that is different for me about being an activist versus a congressmember is now I can go inside these places. So I’m not, you know, only – only can I be in front of people at a rally and talking about the injustices, but I can see for myself, and be a voice of truth, about what is really happening. And so I really appreciate that you both took the time to go and write about it, and I hope others will as well. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done down there. And we are thinking about whether there’s a way that we could organize some sort of a trip for constituents to go, even though you can’t go into the camps. (APPLAUSE)

So some of you know that I have been working on this issue of immigration for a very long time. It is what brought me to Congress in many ways. It is the backbone, I feel like I can say, without any arrogance that there’s probably not a lot of members of Congress who know as much about the immigration system, the policy, but also come to it as an immigrant myself. And so there’s only 14 of us out of 535. And when I sit in the Judiciary Committee and when I sit in Congress, and when I weigh in on these things it is from a deep knowledge of what has been happening. And I’ll tell you something that isn’t that politic to say; if you’ve read the New York Times Magazine cover story on me I’ve sort of talked about this, but Gracele is right. This has been happening before. I’ve been working on immigration and trying to get rid of for profit detention centers for a long time; before I came to Congress and under both administrations. (APPLAUSE)

And… and so it’s great that people now are waking up to what’s happening, but some of the seeds in the foundations were laid. However, what is true also is that we have never had a president for whom cruelty is a trademark. Cruelty is a trademark. And for profit greed is the currency with which this administration operates. And so under this administration we have had numerous, some of you may remember that I was the first member of Congress to actually go into a federal prison, thanks to the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and some of my underground people called me and said to me; we hear that some of the parents who have been separated from their kids are going to be put in the federal prison in CTAG. And so, immediately, I went, and a day after they were transferred I met with 227 of them. That was last year. That was last spring that this happened. And I was, and Hondi was with me, Rachael was with me, some of my staff were with me, we sat for almost three and a half hours talking

to these parents who have been separated from their children, hearing about the helarias, the iceboxes that people are held in. About how they were tricked into thinking that their kids were going to be there when they went to the bathroom and they came back and their kids weren’t there, and they could hear them screaming in the next room and they couldn’t go to them. Some of them who had not seen their children for three weeks and didn’t even know where they were. One woman who had a note that was given to her by ICE that said the names of her children except those weren’t her children. So I heard these directly from them, and a week later I went back and talked to the hundred men who were there. And most of them were asylum seekers. Most of them were escaping terrible conditions in Latin America and Honduras, mainly Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador were the primary countries.

And because I could not sleep after that, a week later I called Anna Gallen, the Executive Director of Move On, and I want to thank the folks, and Move On, for helping to organize this as well, at 7 o’clock in the morning, on a Saturday and said; Anna, we have to do something to express our outrage. And she said; I agree, what should it be? And I said; I want half a million people in the streets. That’s what I want. In a week. She doesn’t answer my phone calls anymore. (LAUGHTER)

She said; we can’t do it in a week, but let’s do it in two weeks. And so Move On has been an amazing partner. The National Domestic Workers Alliance, IGEN, was a part of that conversation. And we were able to, within two weeks, have half a million people. And many of you were marching in the streets around family separation last summer. We then were able to, over and over again, even won a hearing, because we were under Republican control at that time. So we didn’t get the hearings we wanted. But any hearing, we were able to just stop the hearing and I led on the judiciary committee a number of our colleagues to speak out against this injustice.

That was last summer. The courts ruled in our favor and said you cannot separate children from their families. We still have not been able to get from this administration any of the documents that show, give us all the information we need about how this policy actually happened. We had a child welfare specialist in front of our commit-

tee who said; I told, then Scott Lloyd – who was the head of ORR at the time – that is responsible for resettling a lot of these children – and that this child welfare specialist, Commander White, said; I told them that this would cause irreparable damage to these thousands of children.

And Scott Lloyd looked at me to the face and said; yes, I’ve heard that and I did not do anything about it. And so I have been calling for attention to that. But the thing is now we are just continuing. Families are being separated right now. Right now at the border. Eight-eight percent of the children who are held in these camps at the border have US family member relatives that they could be with. So money is not the issue here. Money is not the issue. And I don’t believe that giving money to the border patrol is going to fix these conditions. That said, they, the Republicans, and some on our side as well, can’t bear the thought of seeing the picture. Right?

The picture of these kids, the picture, the haunting picture of the man who crossed the river with his child, his daughter, and died crossing that river.

Well, let me tell you something about that picture. I know something about that picture because shortly after I went to the federal prison, I was the first member of Congress to go to Tijuana when the metering process was put into place. How many of you know what the metering process is?

Okay, good. This is an educated district, so at least some of you do. The metering process was a process that Trump put into place that said that they were no longer going to allow asylum seekers to come across the border. It was going to slow to a trickle. And, in fact, that you needed to come in through a legal point of entry if you were seeking asylum and that they would criminally prosecute people who came in any other way.

So they narrowed the flow of asylum seekers to the ports of entry. But then guess what they did. Closed the ports of entry.

So when I was in Tijuana I watched this happen. That they had literally closed ports of entry to asylum seekers. They were funneling asylum seekers into one, maybe two ports of entry, but even there they would only take two or three people at one time.

And for the children, the unaccompanied children, they would turn them back, even though they weren’t supposed to be doing that. So I went and worked with Elo Talagro, which is an amazing group in Mexico

that works with these unaccompanied kids, and just watched, without saying that I was a member of Congress, I skipped my security detail and I went to a different point of entry, and then watched as these kids were turned back. And then went up to the border patrol as they were trying to turn them back and said; why are you turning them back? You don’t have the right to turn them back. Seeking asylum is legal. And they fought with me and they said; who are you? You don’t have a right to ask us these questions, at which point I pulled out my member badge and said; actually I’m the person that funds your agency, so I could ask whatever questions I want. (APPLAUSE) And then I was able to accompany those five children across the border. And we were actually able to get them reunited, into the process anyway, and reunited, at least temporarily, while they wait for their final decisions.

So I say all of this to say that that haunting picture, that really I think you know, hit the hearts of everybody, but understand that there are a lot more of those that aren’t pictures but are still happening. But that was a picture and it caught the imagination of everybody. That is because of the metering process. It has nothing to do with money on the border because those people were trying to cross the river because they aren’t given the opportunity to come in legally through a point of entry.

So if you really want to fix the border crisis here’s what you have to do. You have to put money, aid, into Central American countries, something that Trump just cut. Okay? He just cut that. But that’s the number one thing. Number two; you could have a program just like what’s called the Lautenberg Amendment for Soviet Jews continue, Ukrainians have come in through this as well, where you give a specific type of entry visa with permanent status to a particular region that is very troubled. Right? Not everybody meets the asylum standards, but it’s not because they’re not escaping political violence, it’s because the asylum standards are very, very strict.

But we have a crisis in Central America that needs our support. We need to allow those people to seek safety, because I am a mother, and I will tell you something, if you try to put my kids’ lives in danger I am going to do whatever the hell I can to save their lives.

LGBT+ activist pushes Amazon for policy update on conversion therapy books

Last week, Amazon removed conversion therapy books from its site in response to public pressure including over 80,000 supporters of a Change.org petition.

Petition starter, Sky Gray applauds Amazon’s actions but believes the tech giant needs to clearly specify its policies for any changes to hold. Sky says:

“Amazon’s removal of conversion therapy books is a huge milestone that prevents countless acts of abuse and scarring. However, with no change in Amazon’s written policy, the books could be sold again at any moment. This is why I will be keeping the petition open. Amazon needs to set a clear policy stating it will no longer allow conversion therapy books on its site.”

Below is Amazon’s current policy as found online:

Content Guidelines for Books –Other Prohibited Content

As a bookseller, we provide our customers with access to a variety of viewpoints, including books that some customers may find objectionable. That said, we reserve the right not to sell certain content, such as pornography or other inappropriate content.

Sky would like the final sentence to read “such as pornography, conversion therapy or other inappropriate content.”

Please visit Change.org for more information.

Courtesy of Change.org

Hate crimes reports up 22%, FBI says Racism the biggest motivator

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

The number of hate crimes reported to the FBI by local jurisdictions increased by 22% between 2013 and 2017, the FBI said in a new report. 2017 is the most recent report year.

Washington state saw a 78% increase during that period, the ninth highest increase in the nation. Seattle alone experienced a 163% increase in hate crimes, the third highest increase by city.

The actual number of hate crimes may be much larger, the FBI acknowledged, because many local jurisdictions do not report their hate crime statistics to the federal agency, and many that do report send in incomplete data. In addition, many states simply do not recognize bias crimes as a special category of offense.

The federal Bureau of Justice Statistics says that as many as two-thirds of hate

crimes are not even reported to police.

Nearly 8,500 bias-motivated offenses with 8,828 victims were reported to police agencies that do furnish data to the FBI, according to the bureau’s report.

Almost all – 99% – of those were incidents in which a single bias was believed to be the primary motivation for the crime. About 1% were motivated by bias against multiple identities – for example, against Trans women of color.

About 88% of offenders were known, though not all were specifically identified in the police reports.

Motives

Racial hatred was the most common motive for single-bias incidents, accounting for nearly 60% of all offenses. The next most common bias was religion, which accounted for 21% of hate crimes.

Anti-LGB bias accounted for 16% of the reported hate crimes, and gender identity

accounted for 1%.

Among people targeted because of their race or ethnicity, African-Americans were the most likely to be victimized, accounting for 49% of the race-based hate crimes.

In fact, African-Americans were the single most frequently targeted group among all categories, with incidents involving black victims accounting for nearly 30% of all offenses.

Jews were the most frequently targeted religious group, accounting for about 12% of all single-bias incidents but 56% of religion-related hate crimes.

Muslims came next, with 19% of religion-based hate crimes.

Sexual orientation and gender identity

Accounting for a combined 18% of incidents, crimes based on sexual orientation and/or gender expression were the third most common type of bias-motivated offenses.

Gay men were the most frequently targeted among the entire group, accounting for 53% of the targets in this category of crimes. Lesbians accounted for 11%, and Trans people for 8%, but given the much smaller population of Trans people, 8% of all LGBT-related hate crimes is an appallingly high number.

Offenders

About 88% of incidents involved perpetrators who were at least partially identified, meaning some aspect about them was known to victims or witnesses. More than half of known offenders in 2017 were white, although 19% of offenders were of an unknown race.

Eighty-three percent of known offenders were over 18 years of age, while 17% were under 18.

NAACP to host LGBTQ town hall during 110th convention

BALTIMORE (July 9, 2019) – Thousands of activists, artists, entertainers, civil rights, and social justice leaders will gather for the 110th NAACP Annual Convention in Detroit, Michigan, July 20th to 24th. The five-day convention will include continuing legal education seminars, federal legislative and public policy workshops, youth workshops, civic engagement workshops, the signature NAACP Experience, and more.

The LGBTQ town hall entitled “The State of LGBTQ People of Color in America” will take place on Tuesday, July 23 at 2:30 p.m. at the COBO Center. The town hall will focus on establishing collaborative partnerships to ensure that all individuals are protected under the law irrespective of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or social classes to eliminate race-based discrimination. Panelists will include:

• Curtis Lipscomb, executive director, Safe Brave Space LGBT Detroit

• Michelle Elizabeth Brown, radio host, public speaker, author, and activist

• Nicole Denson, international activist and warrior

Attorney Robert Marchman, PFLAG

National Board member

“Effective policy changes are dependent on the active participation of all citizens. Without full inclusion, we acquire an outcome that is less than desirable communally,” said NAACP National Health Manager & LGBTQ Lead Rev. Keron R. Sadler. “The LGBTQ community’s voice rings loudly in the effective process to build and sustain systemic change toward a stronger democracy.”

To ensure that the LGBTQ voice is captured as we advocate for civil and human rights, we will explore distinct priorities that include a strong yet diverse representation of the Black LGBTQ population during this facilitated town hall. This dialogue will explore various topics, including: effective strategies for LGBTQ activism; acceptance and inclusion; representation in the workplace, Congress, and media; and LGBTQ power in the area of voting rights.

Convention participants, grassroots leaders, and sponsors will also gather for an LGBTQ networking reception, where they will hear from NAACP leaders about

their current work in addition to our stance around equal protection for all under the law. The NAACP along with other grassroots entities will come together over hors d’oeuvres and drinks [to identify] ways to prevent stigma and discrimination through an inclusive, intersectional approach. As we leverage partnerships, it is critical to identify ways to serve the LGBTQ community collaboratively with national LGBTQ organizations.

Honorary Reception: This convention for the NAACP LGBTQ Task Force marks the 10-year anniversary of the task force. During the NAACP’s Centennial Convention hosted in New York City (July 15, 2009), we officially unveiled the LGBT Equality Task Force. The task force, cochaired by the late Chairman Emeritus Julian Bond and CA-HI State/State Area Conference President & National Board [Member] Alice Huffman, was officially formed in February 2009 during the Association’s national board meeting.

About the NAACP’s 110th Convention

The NAACP Convention brings together over 10,000 activists, organizers, and leaders to set policies priorities for the coming year. Highlights will include a presidential candidates forum, a legislative session, a CEO roundtable, an LGBTQ workshop, the awarding of the prestigious Spingarn Medal to Ambassador Patrick Gaspard, and the signature NAACP Experience retail expo and diversity career fair. More information about the 110th Annual NAACP National Convention, including a detailed schedule of events, may be found by visiting naacpconvention.org.

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities. You can read more about the NAACP’s work and our six “Game Changer” issue areas [at www. naacp.org/about-us/game-changers/ ]

Courtesy of the NAACP

GLAAD issues new report on anti-LGBTQ activists leading State Department’s new “Commission on Unalienable Rights”

NEW YORK (July 9, 2019) – GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today released a new report highlighting the records of the antiLGBTQ activists appointed to serve on the US State Department’s new “Commission on Unalienable Rights.” According to reports, the “Commission” will provide the federal government “an informed review of the role of human rights in American foreign policy” – putting LGBTQ acceptance at risk on a global scale.

“This ‘Commission’ is a farce and further illustrates the bold-faced anti-LGBTQ agenda of this administration,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD. ”The Trump administration is knowingly appointing activists who have made careers out of fighting against LGBTQ progress and is now providing them an opportunity to export their anti-LGBTQ activism around the world through the US State Department.”

GLAAD’s new report dug into the records of the ten members appointed to serve on the State Department’s commission and found troubling, anti-LGBTQ history in seven of its members. The commission includes members like Mary Ann Glendon, a longtime anti-LGBTQ activist who claimed that marriage equality was a “radical social experiment,” and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson, who claimed marriage equality was “one of the signs of the End Times.” The launch of the “Commission on Unalienable Rights” now marks the 117th attack against the LGBTQ community by the Trump Administration since the start of 2017.

GLAAD REPORT: Anti-LGBTQ members of the State Department’s New “Commission on Unalienable Rights”

• Peter Berkowitz – Criticized the Supreme Court’s 2003 ruling overturning sodomy laws as “dangerous,” writing that “Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion seemed to follow the logic of his moral and political judgments rather than the logic of the law.”

• Mary Ann Glendon (Chair) – Has written extensively on her view that marriage equality is a “radical social experiment” that harms children. She also recently wrote a blurb for a viciously anti-trans book, calling the book – which culminates in a plan of action that calls for the complete erasure of trans people – “eminently readable and insightful.”

• Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson – Lectured that his belief is for Muslims to repress being gay, and that homosexuality and same-sex marriage are prophesized as “one of the signs of the End Times.”

• Jacqueline Rivers – Delivered a speech at the Vatican insisting that LGBTQ activists were “abolishing in law the principle of marriage as a conjugal union and reducing it to nothing other than sexual or romantic partnerships or domestic companionship.” She went on insist that LGBTQ activists have “unjustly appropriated” civil rights language.

• Meir Soloveichik – Called the notion of gay people’s marriages “nonsensical”; he went on to suggest that arguments favoring bestiality will follow same-sex marriage. Also, he blurbed an anti-LGBTQ book written by the National Organization for

Marriage’s co-founder.

• Christopher Tollefsen – Wrote an antitrans essay that culminated in the opinion that “...attempts to change one’s biological sex all fail. That is an undefeatable reason against trying to do so.” In a follow-up, he further argued that “...it is a mark of a heartless culture that it encourages such confusion even to the point of encouraging bodily mutilation as a solution to gender dysphoria and prohibiting therapy that might be psychologically and spiritually beneficial.”

• F. Cartwright Weiland (Rapporteur) –Served as policy analyst for the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute, an anti-LGBTQ think thank that advised the Texas legislature and governor’s office; also

HOUSE VOTE

continued from cover

the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a must-pass piece of legislation that funds the military.

Speier’s amendment stipulates that any person who meets gender-neutral occupational standards can serve in the military regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, or sex, including gender identity or sexual orientation.

“Over the last three years, 14,000 transgender service members have served openly and successfully,” Speier said. She represents a California district that includes the southwestern portion of San Francisco and the northern portion of San Mateo

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

NO. IRELAND

continued from cover

The Tory government headed by Theresa May said it would honor Parliament’s vote despite its own misgivings.

While Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, it is internally self-governing, and its own parliament has turned down the marriage equality bills that have been regularly introduced there.

McGinn, who is from Northern Ireland and is a veteran advocate for LGBT rights, took advantage of a commonplace administrative bill to add same-sex marriage rights and reproductive choice to the laws governing Northern Ireland.

In his speech from the floor, McGinn told Parliament that they had “failed LGBT people in Northern Ireland before” by not extending rights in a timely way.

“Tonight,” he continued, “we have the chance to do the right thing. People in Northern Ireland, and indeed across Britain and Ireland, are watching.

“I, for one, am not going to let them down. I hope colleagues do not let them down either.”

Speaking after the vote, director of the Rainbow Project and member of the Love Equality campaign John O’Doherty said: “We would like to express our gratitude to Conor McGinn and Robert Hayward for their efforts in progressing marriage equality through Westminster – helping to end second-class citizenship for LGBT+ people in Northern Ireland.

“Parliament has always had the power to legislate for marriage equality in Northern Ireland. We are glad the House of Commons has seen sense and voted to give people in Northern Ireland the same freedoms enjoyed by everyone else in these islands.

“All love is equal, and we are proud to celebrate this achievement with our com-

served as speechwriter to anti-LGBTQ US Sen. John Cornyn.

LGBTQ acceptance has been threatened by President Trump and his administration since the start of 2017. Not only has President Trump banned transgender Americans from serving in the nation’s armed forces but his administration has also opposed the Equality Act, a bill that would provide across-the-board protections for LGBTQ Americans at home, at work, and in their communities.

A full list of the Trump administration’s anti-LGBTQ actions can be found by going to GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Project [at https://www.glaad.org/trump].

Courtesy of GLAAD

County, bordering Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s district.

Speier is chair of the Military Personnel Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. The full committee is chaired by Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA).

Rep. Anthony G. Brown (D-MD), vice chair of the Armed Services Committee, tweeted about Trans service members “We need their skills. We need their courage. We need their patriotism. And they need our support in this fight for the right to fight.”

The NDAA, with Speier’s amendment, will now go to the Senate. The underlying bill must pass in order to fund the military, but Republican senators may seek to strip Speier’s amendment from the bill.

munity, friends, colleagues, and allies from across these islands. Our future got a little brighter today, and we hope that LGBT people across Northern Ireland will wake up tomorrow feeling more hopeful for the future we all want to see.”

The Northern Irish government has been deadlocked between Unionist and Nationalist factions for the past two years. Consequently, all administrative laws have reverted to the British parliament.

Sinn Fein, the leading Nationalist party

in Northern Ireland, has supported marriage equality and reproductive choice, in spite of being considered a “Catholic” party, while the Democratic Unionist Party has opposed both.