Celebrating 41 Years! Issue 27 Volume 43
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PRIDE PHOTOS by Nate Gowdy
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Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
Gay bashings in Seattle Jim Obergefell lays a wreath at Gay Pioneers historic marker last weekend after to launch National LGBT 50th SCOTUS ruling by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Every time the LGBTQ community advances our rights we face backlash; retribution for wanting the right to love and live in happiness and to finally not be a secondclass citizen. Members of our community are beaten, fired from their job, threatened and in some cases killed. In May of 2013, 32-year-old New Yorker Mark Carson was gunned down in the West Village. Another victim of hate. Carson was in a historically Gay neighborhood and just a few blocks from the Stonewall Inn. Carson’s tragic death was part of a troubling trend in New York at the time. Over the course of just two weeks, aside from Carson’s death, three hate crimes against Gay men occurred and earlier in May 2013, a Gay couple was attacked by disgruntled Knicks fans outside Madison Square Garden. According to NYPD, there had been 24 anti-Gay (hate) crimes in just the first four months of that year, compared to 14 in 2012. The rise in anti-Gay violence in New York came at a time when LGBTQ New
Yorkers were enjoying greater visibility and acceptance than they had at any point in the nation’s history. At that time, same-sex marriage was legal in 12 states and polls indicated that a majority of Americans supported equal marriage rights. “You can see in the mind of a mentally deranged person that the progress we’ve made around Gay rights recently is very threatening. That’s when these crimes tend to occur,” said political strategist and former Clinton administration adviser Richard Socarides, who suggested chilling possibilities for the months ahead in a May 2013 feature published by Salon.com. “This isn’t just confined to New York. If we see a Supreme Court ruling at the end of next month that we expect will be either favorable or very favorable and advance us closer to full equality for Gay people, we might see more of this.” Unfortunately, the case could be made that Socarides was right. SCOTUS ruled in favor that certain parts of DOMA were unconstitutional and President Obama
Anniversary Celebration
Jim Obergefell (l) with original picketers Paul Kuntzlers, Ada Bello and John James – courtesy of Cathy Renna
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see obergefell page 22
Girl Scouts give back $100K Love wins! Marriage donation requiring discrimination Equality Rally at Federal against Trans girls; raise $309,865 Courthouse with Seattle in four days on Indiegogo in response Mayor Ed Murray by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor It’s hard to write about history when it is made. Words don’t seem to do justice to what it felt like on Friday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for marriage equality. And even though it has been one week since that momentous marker in the decades long fight for LGBTQ equality, I still have trouble saying exactly the right thing about it. And maybe that is it? Maybe the fact is this win was so big, so historical and so meaningful that none of us truly knows the impact this will ultimately have on the world. We do know, without a doubt, it is good though. Still, I had to come up with something to say. The mayor had asked me to speak. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray organized a rally at the federal courthouse in downtown Seattle the day the decision came down from SCOTUS. At 5 p.m. the courtyard in front of the court would be full of rainbow flagwaving people who, regardless of anything – sexual orientation, gender identity, gender
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
expression – now had the right to marry the person they love and that marriage be recognized in every state of the Union. Because the Supremes ruled DOMA unconstitutional, America is now a more perfect Union and marriage means more than it ever has meant during any time of this nation’s existence. Love, truly has won. Local leaders in the fight to secure marriage equality in Washington state cheered the Supreme Court even though it will have a limited impact on Washington’s samesex couples because we’ve held the right to marriage since November 2012. Washington was one of the first states in history to approve a pro-LGBTQ marriage initiative by popular vote. On November 6, 2012 the streets of Capitol Hill became one giant celebration as people danced and sang and hugged and felt, for the first time ever, like a first class citizen when we had felt like second class citizens our whole lives just hours see love wins! page 22
The Girl Scouts of Western Washington have returned a donation of $100,000 because the donor asked that it not be used to benefit Transgender girls. The gift was substantial. The one donation alone represents almost 30% of the group’s annual $350,000 in donations. The organization said that the money would have been enough to help 500 girls who needed extra financial support to participate in GSA programs, but that their commitment to providing inclusive Scouting experiences was more important. “The donor asked us to return the donation unless we could guarantee that the money wouldn’t serve transgender girls,” the group said in their June 30 media release. “We said we couldn’t (and wouldn’t) guarantee such a thing because Girl Scouts is for EVERY girl. And we gave the money back.” To replace the donation and help pro-
vide financial assistance for additional girls, GSA of Western Washington has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. “We’ve never done anything like this before, but we want to send a loud and clear message that our community is stronger BECAUSE we are inclusive,” the group said in its media release. “Girl Scouts empowers every girl, regardless of her gender identity, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, to make the world a better place. We won’t exclude any girl,” the fundraising pitch on the Indiegogo webpage says. “Every girl deserves access to a safe, friendly environment where she can stand up for what she believes in and be proud of who she is.” According to GSA, 4,000 donors have responded to date, with enough money to fund activities for 1,000 girls. Many donors also left comments recalling their own experiences as Girl Scouts. Jennifer Leonard, one of the donors, said the see girl scouts page 7
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Celebrating 41 Years!
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Shape up, Alabama To the Editor: Now that the United States Supreme Court has declared a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, it’s time for President Obama to take a page out of the playbooks of Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy and throw down the gauntlet to the state of Alabama and their Supreme Court. The President should immediately nationalize
the Alabama Guard, order the U.S. Marshal’s office to be on standby, park U.S. Navy ships directly off the coast of Alabama, and tell the Supreme Court of Alabama they will comply with the orders of the Supreme Court and Federal District Courts, or face federal force, by any means necessary, to make them and their political subdivisions submit and comply. 600,000 Americans died 150 years ago
over state nullification of federal law. Alabama’s past assertion of nullification constitutes sedition, under color of law. Sincerely, Steven L. Kendall Seattle
Out in Front leadership development program Dear Editor: Out In Front, the premier leadership development program in Seattle for the LGBTQ community is currently accepting applications for the 2015-16 cohort. Sessions begin in September 2015 and carry through to June 2016. The application deadline is July 15, 2015. Out In Front is committed to building our community through the development of effective, engaged and passionate leaders in the LGBTQ community. Our work can
be best understood through the voices of our alumni: “Out in Front is a remarkable program…I am more aware of issues facing the LGBTQA community and increasingly prepared to take a leading role in addressing these needs.” –Hannah, Class of 2014. Core sessions in this groundbreaking program include the Leadership Retreat, Business Savvy, Organizing, Public Speaking, LGBTQ Diversity Retreat, Legislative Advocacy, Media, Finding Your Place and Sustainable Action.
We invite you to explore our website at www.outinfrontseattle.org to find out more about the program, submit an application or encourage a friend or colleague to apply. For more information, email info@outinfrontseattle.org. Thank you, Board of Directors Out In Front Seattle
God and marriage equality
God and Marriage Equality – nickrynerson.files.wordpress.com
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Many people of faith (Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, etc.) believe that God and Gays go together like oil and water. In fact, whenever the religious right aren’t using the “the Gays want to recruit your children” as a scare tactic they predictably fall back to that old tried and true “marriage is between one man and one woman” to justify hating on the LGBTQ community and, for decades, denying us the right to marry. And no matter how many open and affirming congregations there have been – and there have been a lot of them – the majority of religious-affiliated people of the world just don’t want us to be able to marry. It’s stupefying, really.
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KEY EXCERPTS ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM The Supreme Court on Friday ruled 5-4 that the Constitution requires that samesex couples be allowed to marry no matter where they live and that states may no longer reserve the right only for heterosexual couples. The case has raised questions over how legalizing same-sex marriage would affect religious institutions. Here’s a key section on religious views from the majority ruling: “Many who deem same-sex marriage to be wrong reach that conclusion based on decent and honorable religious or philosophical premises, and neither they nor their beliefs are disparaged here. But when that sincere, personal opposition becomes enacted law and public policy, the necessary consequence is to put the imprimatur of the State itself on an exclusion that soon de-
means or stigmatizes those whose own liberty is then denied. Under the Constitution, same-sex couples seek in marriage the same legal treatment as opposite-sex couples, and it would disparage their choices and diminish their personhood to deny them this right.” “Finally, it must be emphasized that religions, and those who adhere to religious doctrines, may continue to advocate with utmost, sincere conviction that, by divine precepts, same-sex marriage should not be condoned. The First Amendment ensures that religious organizations and persons are given proper protection as they seek to teach the principles that are so fulfilling and so central to their lives and faiths, and to their own deep aspirations to continue the family structure they have long revered.” In his dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. discussed religious liberty concerns. “Today’s decision, for example, creates
Celebrating 41 Years!
serious questions about religious liberty,” Roberts wrote. “Many good and decent people oppose same-sex marriage as a tenet of faith, and their freedom to exercise religion is – unlike the right imagined by the majority – actually spelled out in the Constitution.” “Respect for sincere religious conviction has led voters and legislators in every State that has adopted same-sex marriage democratically to include accommodations for 28 OBERGEFELL v. HODGES ROBERTS, C. J., and dissenting religious practice. The majority’s decision imposing same-sex marriage cannot, of course, create any such accommodations. The majority graciously suggests that religious believers may continue to “advocate” and “teach” their views of marriage. Ante, at 27. The First Amendment guarantees, however, the freedom to “exercise” religion. Ominously, that is not a word the majority uses.” Roberts noted that the question of taxexempt status of religious institutions could become an issue. “Hard questions arise when people of faith exercise religion in ways that may be seen to conflict with the new right to same-sex marriage – when, for example, a religious college provides married student housing only to opposite-sex married couples, or a religious adoption agency declines to place children with same-sex married couples. Indeed, the Solicitor General candidly acknowledged that the tax exemptions of some religious institutions would be in question if they opposed same-sex marriage. See Tr. of Oral Arg. on Question 1, at 36–38. There is little doubt that these and similar questions will soon be before this Court. Unfortunately, people of faith can take no comfort in the treatment they receive from the majority today.” Justice Clarence Thomas issued the following on religious liberty in his dissent: “Aside from undermining the political processes that protect our liberty, the majority’s decision threatens the religious liberty our Nation has long sought to protect. Numerous amici – even some not supporting the States – have cautioned the Court that its decision here will “have unavoidable and wide-ranging implications for religious liberty.” Brief for General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists et al. as Amici Curiae 5. In our society, marriage is not simply a governmental institution; it is a religious institution as well. Id., at 7. Today’s decision might change the former, but it cannot change the latter. It appears all but inevitable that the two will come into conflict, particularly as individuals and churches are confronted with demands to participate in and endorse civil marriages between same-sex couples.” He also wrote the following on religious liberty: “Although our Constitution provides some protection against such governmental restrictions on religious practices, the People have long elected to afford broader protections than this Court’s constitutional precedents mandate. Had the majority allowed the definition of marriage to be left to the political process – as the Constitution requires – the People could have considered the religious liberty implications of deviating from the traditional definition as part of their deliberative process. Instead, the majority’s decision short-circuits that process, with potentially ruinous consequences for religious liberty.” MORMON CHURCH REMAINS OPPOSED The LDS Church and Catholic Church maintain that marriage is only between a man and a woman, and neither church is about to bend its teachings or its opposition
to marriage equality. The high court has jurisdiction in civil laws, but not over heavenly decrees, they argue, and both faiths want to keep it that way. “The court’s decision does not alter the Lord’s doctrine that marriage is a union between a man and a woman ordained by God,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints said in a news release. “While showing respect for those who think differently, the church will continue to teach and promote marriage between a man and a woman as a central part of our doctrine and practice.” Given the Constitution’s freedom-ofreligion protections, enshrined in the First Amendment, the ruling does not force churches to recognize same-sex marriages or force them to perform the ceremonies in their church. That means, of course, that marriages performed in LDS temples will continue to be between only faithful men and women. Mormons view such marriages as lasting for eternity. LDS leaders teach that same-sex attraction is not a sin, only acting on it is. It is important to note though, that top Mormon officials have said Latter-Day Saints who support marriage equality are not in danger of losing their church memberships or temple privileges. CATHOLICS REMAIN ANTI-LGBTQ Conservative Catholic leadership has said the court’s ruling does not end “the debate over the definition of marriage.” “As Catholics, we seek to uphold our traditional belief in marriage as a sacrament, a well-established and divinely revealed covenant between one man and one woman, a permanent and exclusive bond meant to provide a nurturing environment for children and the fundamental building block to a just society,” Catholic leadership said in a statement. “Although we respectfully disagree with those who would define marriage otherwise, we firmly hold that all persons are loved by our compassionate God and deserve the respect and dignity that is inherently theirs as human beings.” MUSLIM IN A SECULAR LAND Imam Muhammed Mehtar, who leads services at the Khadeeja Islamic Center in West Valley City, Utah, took much the same approach. “It is our duty to teach that which is good and refrain from that which is poor in choice,” Mehtar said. “God wishes us to continue procreation for the sake of sharing good, kind, loving values.” But America is a country with strong secular values. “In such an environment, we feel that when individuals make choices that are contrary to us, we will try to defend them, their safety and well-being,” Mehtar said, “We will never say, ‘Hurt Gays and Lesbians, or take away their rights, or that they are less human than we are.’” HATE ON PARADE In Seattle, during the annual Pride Parade downtown, the same group of about a dozen anti-LGBTQ Christians show up with their poorly made signs with messages of hate in tow. They always stand off to the side of the route. This year was no exception. The group found themselves space to protest down the way from The Seattle Lesbian parade stand. This year no one was having it. They had the Dykes on Bikes rev up their bike motors to make more noise than them; people formed a physical wall, made of humans linking arms and standing their ground, and more. Confrontations between the community and our supporters remained nonviolent –
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unlike years past. In 2013, a street preacher was repeatedly punched in the head and kicked by two heterosexual men at Seattle’s Pridefest and the entire confrontation was caught on camera. In the 2013 video, two Christian street preachers can be seen standing on a grassy area at Seattle Center. One of the preachers holds a sign that says “Jesus saves and heals,” and “Repent or else,” while the other holds a Bible. A man approached the two preachers angrily, while another woman repeatedly shoves the man carrying the Bible and demands that the two men leave. The situation continued to heat up, until at one point a number of people attempt to snatch the sign away from the sign-wielding preacher. When one man succeeds, a melee ensues in which the angry man seen at the beginning of the video runs at and punches the preacher in the head several times while another kicks him repeatedly. Last year, local drag queen Mama Tits towered over a group of anti-LGBTQ street preachers who decided it would be a good idea to march down the parade route with their signs. Mama Tits stopped them in their tracks and schooled them about staying true to the Bible teachings, much to the delight of the crowd gathered at Westlake Center in downtown Seattle. A photo that hat has won the Internet over is, hands down, the big winner this year. In the photo, first-grader Zea peacefully stands up to a ranting street preacher during a festival in Columbus, Ohio, the day after the SCOTUS ruling on same-sex marriage. PROPONENTS OF TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE ARE NOT “RELIGIOUS EXTREMISTS” Judd Birdsall, the managing director of the Cambridge Institute on Religion & International Studies and an editorial fellow with The Review of Faith & International Affairs warns that the LGBTQ community should be mindful of messaging because before we know it, we could be the new bigots. “On Friday we saw religious extremism for what it truly is – and is not,” Birdsall said. “Despite dire warnings that “anti-Gay extremists” would lash out in anger over the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage, conservative American religious groups responded with remarkable charity, humility and civility.” Meanwhile, on the very same day, extremists linked to the Islamic State killed more than 60 people and injured more than 200 others in attacks at a seaside resort in Tunisia and a Shiite mosque in Kuwait, according to Birdsall. “And in southern France a man caused an explosion at an American-owned chemical plant after beheading his boss and leaving the head hanging on a fence. That’s religious extremism,” he said. Birdsall says he highlighted those actions not to make an argument about Christianity vs. Islam (the vast majority of Christians and Muslims abhor religiously inspired violence) but to bring the true nature of religious extremism into stark relief. “Labeling peaceful proponents of traditional marriage “religious extremists” is as misleading as it is mean-spirited,” he said. “Human Rights Campaign and other leading Gay rights advocates routinely smear their opponents as “extremists,’” points out Birdsall. As an example, Birdsall said, “Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State celebrated that “love and the Constitution triumphed over bigotry and religious extremism,” but warned that “aggressive Religious Right
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groups seek new ways to stop the spread of equality.” “To give Lynn and others the benefit of the doubt, they don’t seem to be equating marriage traditionalists with violent religious extremists,” he said. “Or perhaps they really do believe opposition to Gay marriage is a form of violence. Whatever the case, they surely understand the evocative power of “religious extremists” as a term of derision and exclusion – not unlike the epithets hurled at the LGBT community.” According to Birdsall, religious extremism is the stuff of bombings and beheadings. “Americans are fortunate to live in a democratic system that helps channel the passions of faith toward peaceful engagement rather than violent confrontation,” he said. “Our system faces a new challenge now that same-sex marriage is the law of the land,” said Birdsall. “How will America’s diverse religious and secular communities live together peacefully despite their deep differences on fundamental issues like gender, sexuality, and marriage?” “My hope is that the jubilant victors in the marriage debate will respond in kind,” Birdsall concludes. He says President Obama models a way forward. In his remarks on the Supreme Court ruling, Obama offered this reminder, “I know that Americans of good will continue to hold a wide range of views on this issue. Opposition, in some cases, has been based on sincere and deeply held beliefs. All of us who welcome today’s news should be mindful of that fact and recognize different viewpoints, revere our deep commitment to religious freedom.” Whatever the religious fallout is, the fact remains that the United States Supreme Court ruled DOMA unconstitutional and took away the ability for any state in our union to vote our marriages illegal. For the first time in the history of the United States of America, marriage equality is real. But even when facing a SCOTUS ruling that they do not agree with, it seems that the religious leaders of the country – and in some cases the world – are standing firm that they will not accept same-sex marriage. With dwindling numbers in congregations, the fact that the younger generations aren’t by and large anti-LGBTQ, and that once something becomes law it instantly begins to resemble normalcy, you will see that there really truly is only one winning argument and that is – LOVE – LOVE wins. And thanks to a poetic decision from SCOTUS, LOVE indeed prevailed, 100 per cent.
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Celebrating 41 Years!
girl scouts continued from cover
donation had a personal significance. “From a lifetime member of Girl Scouts, Gold & Silver Award recipient, and trans masculine identified person I thank you very much for honoring GSUSA’s mission to be for ALL girls by sacrificing such a huge gift. I am glad to see you are on track to be repaid 2 fold! Girl Scout Camp was such an important experience for me, I’m honored to enable a girl to attend,” Leonard wrote. GSA did not reveal the name of the donor, but they did say that they received the money before Caitlyn Jenner came out as a Trans woman in May. Once Jenner’s story went viral, the donor sent the Girl Scouts a short letter asking “Please guarantee that our gift will not be used to support transgender girls. If you can’t, please return the money.” Unlike the Boy Scouts, who are struggling with their inclusion polices, GSA has been open to Trans girls since 2011, and has been open to Lesbian girls and parents since 1991.
As of Thursday evening, July 2, Indiegogo’s “Girl Scouts is #ForEVERYGirl” has raised $309,685 by 6526 people in four days with 27 days left. Their goal was $100,000 to replace the donation they returned.
HRC commends Episcopal Church for historic vote allowing religious weddings for same-sex couples Storied denomination changes church law with vote embracing marriage equality WASHINGTON, DC – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, hailed the Episcopal Church for its vote today allowing clergy to preside over religious ceremonies for same-sex couples as of November 1. “We commend and celebrate the Episcopal Church for this embrace of marriage equality,” said Rev. MacArthur Flournoy, HRC Foundation’s Director for Faith Partnerships and Mobilization. “Episcopalians today, in voting to allow religious marriage ceremonies of all couples in the church, regardless of sexual orientation, set an example of love and inclusion that will resonate across the religious community and beyond.” “This move signals yet another step in the affirmation and inclusion of LGBT people by the Episcopal Church, which made history in 2003 when it elected its first openly-gay bishop, Gene Robinson,” added Rev. Flournoy. “The timing of this decision, coming just days after marriage equality became the law of the land, builds on progress the country continues to make on our journey toward equality.” “We also commend the church for electing its first Black presiding bishop, Michael Curry of North Carolina,” said Rev. Flournoy. “Black Episcopalians are leading congregations, faithfully attending services, teaching Sunday schools and organizing food pantries – and they ought to also be serving at the highest levels of the Church’s leadership.” On Friday, Curry said the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Friday on marriage equality “affirmed the authenticity of love.” In the past, Episcopal priests in many dioceses have been allowed to perform civil same-sex unions. With its vote Wednesday at the church’s 78th general convention in
HRC commends The Episcopal Church – ststephensfargo.org
Salt Lake City, Episcopalians eliminated gender-specific language from their laws on marriage, opening the door to religious weddings for same-sex couples. Clergy members may decline to perform same-sex marriages, with no penalty, if they choose. The Episcopal Church, which has nearly 1.9 million members, joins the United
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Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), as mainline Protestant denominations that allow same-sex weddings in all congregations. The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-
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gender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all. Courtesy of HRC
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After marriage equality, economic equality by Mike Andrew Pride At Work Martin Luther King County Chapter Like everyone else, our Pride At Work members were delighted by the U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing marriage equality as the law of the land. Although we in Washington won the right to marry in 2012, nationwide recognition of our relationships is a huge victory for all of us. At long last we’ll be able marry who we want, and build the families we want anywhere in the country we want to live. And we’ll be able to offer our husbands and wives all the protections that are attached to marriage in the American legal system. Nevertheless, winning marriage rights and everything that goes along with them is not the end of our struggle for equality. Nobody’s family is sustainable without affordable housing, healthcare, schools for the kids, public transportation, cheap electricity – all the everyday things we take for granted until the day we can’t afford them anymore. We all know this. Yet for most of us, all these things that we need to live a happy life with the husbands and wives that we love
are problematic. According to almost 15 years of studies by the prestigious Williams Institute, Gay and Bi men earn less and are unemployed more than straight men. In fact, Gay and Bi men may earn as little as 68 cents for every dollar a straight man earns. There is not much of a gap between the earnings of Lesbians and straight women, but women as a whole earn less and are unemployed more than men. Our Transgender brothers and sisters are in a dire situation. Fifteen percent get by on incomes of less than $10,000 per year. And because race is a pervasive basis for discrimination in American society, LGBT people of color are often in the worst position, regardless of which letter they identify with. All these economic disparities are legacies of long years of discrimination against our communities. LGBT workers are concentrated in the industries where we felt it was safe for us to work – often low-pay, low benefit industries like retail, hospitality and food service, and other service occupations. That’s why raising the minimum wage – as we did in Seattle – was so important to LGBT workers, and workers in other similarly marginalized communities. Our minimum wage may be going up to
$15 per hour, but housing prices are going up even faster, and many LGBT people have been forced to move away from Capitol Hill – the neighborhood we historically settled – and into the Central District, Columbia City, or Rainier Beach where we displace other marginalized communities. That’s not all. For years and years we were prevented by law from marrying our partners. That means that LGBT seniors will miss out on the Social Security and pension survivor benefits that help their straight counterparts live in at least modest comfort in their old age. So, in addition to higher wages, we also need controls on rent and utility costs, so our community can continue to live in a cohesive LGBT-friendly neighborhood, and we need to strengthen the safety net for our seniors. These issues are not news to anyone who lives paycheck to paycheck, like most of us do. The question is, what will we do about them? Remember that marriage equality did not just happen. It happened because we made it happen. We met years and years of discrimination with years and years of resistance, years and years of organizing, and years and years of educating our straight neighbors and coworkers.
Now that marriage equality is a done deal, we need to turn to the fight for economic equality. It will take the same kind of relentless organizing it took to win marriage, but we can do it. After all, we’ve done it before. And we have friends. Pride At Work is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, America’s largest union federation, and I’m proud to say that Washington state’s labor movement played an outstanding role in our fight for marriage equality in 2012, and continues to fight for equality in our workplaces. We look forward to the day when everyone’s work is well-rewarded, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic, and where people’s basic needs like food, housing, healthcare, and transportation are guaranteed. Mike Andrew is a Staff Writer for Seattle Gay News and a member of the National Writers Union (UAW 1981). He is an officer of Martin Luther King County Pride At Work – an LGBT labor organization affiliated with the AFL-CIO – and represents Pride At Work on the executive board of the Martin Luther King County Labor Council.
SASG losing house on Capitol Hill, looking to purchase New Capital Campaign includes $300,000 Matching Gift Challenge It is with mixed emotions that we announce that Seattle Area Support Groups & Community Center (SASG) will be losing its lease at 303 17th Ave. E. and is currently reviewing multiple options for purchase of a new location. Whether you have been a part of our organization since our founding as Seattle AIDS Support Group in 1984; found and shared strength through our peer emotional support programs; stopped by for free anonymous HIV testing; or have purchased your Christmas/Holiday tree, wreath, and greenery from us during our annual tree lot fundraiser; it is likely that you have become acquainted with our organization and the house on Capitol Hill at the corner of 17th Ave. E. and E. Thomas St. We have been leasing this space for the last 26 years and it pains us to bid farewell after cultivating so much rich history between these walls. However, with the rapid growth and new development in this area, a move was inevitable. We recognize that change can be unsettling, but we see this as the perfect opportunity to plant permanent roots on or near Capitol Hill. To that end, we will be purchasing a new space where we can continue to grow our services beyond what they are today. We want to extend our deepest gratitude to the owner of the house we are in for the many years of support, an excellent location, and for always providing below market rental rates. Capital Campaign – $300,000 Matching Gift We need your help! A very generous donor has pledged $300,000 towards the purchase of a new space for SASG and is issuing a challenge to the community to match
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this gift. Any donations, large or small, will be matched by this gift dollar for dollar up to $300,000. We are asking community members, business leaders, and supporters of the LGBTQ community to help us reach our goal. As a registered 501(c)(3), contributions are tax deductible as permitted by law. We will be honoring our capital campaign donors in the new location with a permanent wall display by level of contribution. This will include either donor name, business name (including logo with donations of $5,000 or more), “on behalf of,” “in memory of,” or anonymous as directed by the donor. How do I give? Checks, money orders, or cashier’s checks made payable to SASG can be mailed to us at 303 17th Ave. E., Seattle, WA 98112. Credit card donations can be given through our web site sasgcc.org by clicking on the donate button in the top right corner of our page. Please indicate that you wish your donation to be used towards this capital campaign. Questions regarding donations can be directed to Joshua Wallace at josh@sasgcc.org or by calling 206-8540248. What happens to programs and services in the meantime? Absolutely nothing. All groups and programs will continue as they have been. We are looking at new locations that can house all of our current programming with as smooth a transition as possible. We do not anticipate that this change in location will occur before November, and likely not until the beginning of 2016. Our annual tree lot will continue in the parking lot across from
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SASG’s Dunshee House – sasgcc.org
our current location thanks to the ongoing generous support of Group Health. We will continue to keep our members and community notified throughout this process.
Joshua Wallace, Executive Director, on behalf of the SASG Board of Directors
Celebrating 41 Years!
Your constitutional right to cuss out the cops by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Washington Supreme Court ruled on June 25 that citizens have a constitutional right to call police abusive names. The decision came in the case of a juvenile identified only as E.J.J., who swore at police officers when they arrested his sister. He was convicted of obstructing a law enforcement officer. “While E.J.J.’s words may have been disrespectful, discourteous and annoying, they are nonetheless constitutionally protected,” Associate Chief Justice Charles Johnson wrote for the six-justice majority. When citizens exercise their right to criticize “how the police are handling a situation, they cannot be concerned about risking a criminal conviction for obstruction,” Johnson added. Chief Justice Barbara Madsen concurred in reversing E.J.J.’s conviction, but on different grounds. Madsen noted that obstruction charges are “used disproportionately to arrest people of color…” Therefore, she said, the court Protestor yells at police o fficers in Baltimore – Sait Serkan Gurbuz/Reuters should require that obstruction charges be He then yelled a profanity, and police ardismissed if the officers’ conduct contrib- report of an out-of-control juvenile woman, the doorway and yelled at the officers not to use it on his sister. Officers ordered him to rested him for obstruction. utes to escalation of the situation. E.J.J’s sister. According to The Associated Press, poAs they arrested her, E.J.J. thought he saw go into the house and close the door, but he lice arrived at E.J.J.’s house in response to a one officer pull out a nightstick. He stood in kept yelling.
Reparative therapy is consumer fraud, NJ court says by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
Reparative therapy is consumer fraud, a New Jersey jury ruled on June 25. The decision came in a suit brought by the Southern Poverty Law center (SPLC) against Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH), a group claiming to convert men from Gay to straight. Reparative therapy for minors was outlawed in New Jersey in 2013, and the law was upheld by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals last year. Reparative therapy for adults was still legal, but the jury’s finding now throws its legality into question. Sometimes also called “conversion therapy,” the practice often involves aversion therapy, humiliation and even physical assault of Gays by so-called therapists. In the New Jersey case, clients were required to strip in front of other men, reenact traumatic childhood experiences and beat effigies of their mothers. After only three hours of deliberation, the jury agreed with SPLC that JONAH, JONAH owners Arthur Goldberg and Elaine Burk, and “life coach” Alan Downing “engaged in unconscionable commercial practices” and misrepresented their services. JONAH and Downing were ordered to refund thousands of dollars paid by former clients Michael Ferguson, Benjamin Unger, Sheldon Bruck, Chaim Levin, and parents Jo Bruck and Bella Levin for the individual and group counseling sessions and a so-called “journey into manhood” camping weekend. Unger was awarded $17,950. Chaim Levin got $650, and his mother Bella got an additional $4,000. Bruck’s mother Jo was awarded $500. Downing charged $60 to $100 for group and individual sessions but remitted 20% to JONAH to help defray its administrative costs.
Reparative Therapy billboard in Texas – www.lgbtqnation.com
At trial, attorney James Bromley, representing the plaintiffs, accused Goldberg of lying to his clients – three Orthodox Jews and a Mormon – who were desperate to conform to the expectations of their religious communities that they would marry and have children. They were lured by Goldberg’s false promise that JONAH’s therapy had a twothirds success rate, Bromley said. Bromley also revealed details of the “therapy sessions.” Chaim Levin was made to relive childhood sexual abuse by a relative. Downing coached Unger to blame his
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mother for making him Gay, then gave him a tennis racket and told him to beat a pillow while imagining he was hitting her. During weekend retreats and in group sessions, clients were encouraged to undress to rid themselves of “body shame” and masturbate to “express their manhood.” A former president of the American Psychiatric Association, Carol Bernstein, also testified, comparing conversion therapy counselors “to amateur surgeons operating on the minds of young Gay men.” “This is a momentous event in the history of the LGBT rights movement,” said SPLC
deputy director David Dinielli, who served as lead attorney for the plaintiffs. “The jury agreed not only is this based on lies, but it is an unconscionable business practice.” The legal battle is not over, Dinielli continued. He said SPLC would now ask the court for an injunction to stop JONAH from operating. They will also seek the payment of their attorneys’ fees, which is permitted under the consumer fraud act. “This is something brutal based on lies, and it needs to stop,” he said.
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Judge voids Louisiana laws against same-sex marriage; Bobby Jindal is still an ass by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is still an ass. That’s not news. What is news is that he no longer has legal cover to prevent Gay and Lesbian couples from marrying in his state. On July 2, U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman reversed his previous ruling and declared that same-sex marriage is a done deal in Louisiana. “IT IS ORDERED that this Court’s Order and Reasons and the accompanying Judgment dated September 3, 2014, are hereby recalled and rescinded,” Feldman wrote in his order. “IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Article XII, Section 15 of the Louisiana Constitution, Article 89 of the Louisiana Civil Code, and laws enacted pursuant thereto [banning same-sex marriage], violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and may not be enforced against the Plaintiffs or any other same-sex couple; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Article XII, Section 15 of the Louisiana Constitution, Article 3520(B)
of the Louisiana Civil Code, and laws enacted pursuant thereto [defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman], violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and may not be enforced against the Plaintiffs or any other same-sex couple.” In September 2014, Feldman became the only federal district judge to rule that state laws against same-sex marriage are legitimate. His new ruling puts an end to marriage discrimination in Louisiana and takes away the last shred of justification for Jindal to stand in the way of Gay and Lesbian weddings. On June 26, when the U.S. Supreme Court announced its landmark ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, Jindal announced that no Louisiana state agencies would recognize same-sex marriages until the Fifth Circuit Court affirmed the Supreme Court decision. In spite of Jindal’s instruction, many Louisiana parishes – that state’s equivalent of counties – began issuing licenses to Gay and Lesbian couples in compliance with the Supreme Court’s decision. On July 1, the Fifth Circuit also spoke in unequivocal terms, saying that marriage
equality is “the law of the land.” “Obergefell, in both its Fourteenth and Fifth Amendment iterations, is the law of the land and, consequently, the law of this circuit and should not be taken lightly by actors within the jurisdiction of this court,” the Fifth Circuit said in its ruling. “We express no view on how controversies involving the intersection of these rights should be resolved but instead leave that to the robust operation of our system of laws and the good faith of those who are impacted by them.” Perhaps the Fifth Circuit was wrong to trust in the governor’s good faith. No sooner did the circuit court affirm the Supreme Court’s ruling, than Jindal announced that he would wait for the US District Court that handled the original Louisiana marriages cases to tell him what to do. “Our agencies will follow the Louisiana Constitution until the District Court orders us otherwise,” the governor’s spokesperson said. Following the Supreme Court decision which rejected Feldman’s ruling, the Fifth Circuit gave him until July 17 to issue orders complying with the high court, though it encouraged him to do so sooner.
Jindal said he’d just as soon wait as long as possible. Meanwhile, all but two Louisiana parishes are now issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, according to the New Orleans Advocate. The newspaper reported that as of July 1 Lincoln Parish had not answered repeated calls for information. Red River Parish Clerk of Court Stuart Shaw said that “I plan on following the ruling in the Fifth Circuit,” which means the parish should soon begin issuing licenses. Unfortunately, even a few days delay may be too late for one of the plaintiffs in the original Louisiana lawsuit. Robert Welles, now 52, is in declining health. “I wait every day for a phone call,” Welles told the New Orleans Advocate. “The way I see it, we started this thing in New Orleans, and we want to finish it in New Orleans.” Kyle Duncan, a lawyer working for the Jindal administration, said state agencies would wait to recognize same-sex marriage until the district court ruling. “The court made it crystal clear,” he said. “It’s when the district court renders final judgment.”
Federal judge in Alabama: Marriage equality must begin in every county. Now. Across the South, most counties are moving forward with marriage equality.
Judge Callie Granade – photos.al.com
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – [On Wednesday, July 1], the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, put the spotlight on a new and crystal-clear order from Judge Callie V.S. Granade, a federal judge in Alabama, declaring in a matter argued by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) that all probate judges in the state must begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples immediately. “This order is crystal clear, and it should remove the cotton that Chief Justice Roy Moore has been stuffing in probate judges’ ears across this state,” said HRC Alabama director Patricia Todd. “Marriage equality must begin everywhere, and couples who have been waiting, in many cases, two or three decades to get married shouldn’t have to wait a minute longer.” The order reflected broader progress to implement the Supreme Court’s landmark marriage equality ruling across the South. In Louisiana, an interactive map compiled by The Advocate found that the vast majority of parishes are issuing marriage licenses to committed and loving same-sex couples, despite some suggestions that early comments by Governor Bobby Jindal and Attorney General Buddy Caldwell would lead to mass resistance to the ruling. In Mississippi, the state’s attorney general last night filed a request with the 5th Circuit, asking to formally stop defending the state’s unconstitutional ban on marriage equality. Meanwhile, a map compiled by the organization Unity Mississippi found that the vast majority of counties across the state are issuing licenses to same-sex couples.
Finally, in Texas, a Monday count by the Dallas Morning News found that 114 counties in the state had begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. However, since that report was published, some counties that had previously not been issuing licenses have already begun to comply with the law. HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow released the following statement in light of this progress: “Despite the best efforts of doomsayers and obstructionists, there is no mass movement to obstruct the implementation of the Supreme Court’s sweeping ruling on marriage equality. We will continue to monitor challenges wherever they emerge, but it’s clear today that most Americans in all 50 states are willing and happy to celebrate and support the constitutional rights of their LGBT neighbors.” The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. HRC envisions a world where LGBT people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community. Courtesy of HRC
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Gay Bashings continued from cover
said the U.S. would no longer defend the discriminatory same-sex marriage ban in court. As the LGBTQ community and our allies celebrated around the world, others seemed to sink farther into darkness. Plans were made and although nobody knew it at the time, we would all soon find out. Stories from major cities across the U.S. began to pop up and just like what happened in Seattle over the last couple of years, bias or hate crimes are on the rise. And, sadly, many of the people committing these crimes suffer from some sort of mental illness. The idea of newly empowered citizens becoming the target of heightened violence is not at all new says Michael Bronski, a professor in studies of women, gender, sexuality at Harvard and the author of A Queer History of the United States. “I think that’s true. But to apply that principle you have to be very careful,” Bronski continued. “We’ve seen it with AfricanAmericans, too – as people get power, other people feel their power is being taken away from them.” SUPREME COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF MARRIAGE EQUALITY Last Friday, the Supreme Court ruled unequivocally in favor of marriage equality. The landmark ruling has some experts bracing for an anti-Gay backlash. “We don’t know if it’s gonna have a direct effect yet,” says Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center. “But I think it’s extremely likely that we will see anti-Gay hate crime go up if and when same-sex marriage is legalized throughout the country.” • When France legalized same-sex marriage in 2013, it was accompanied by a reported 30 percent increase in such attacks. • In 2009, a surge in anti-Gay hate crimes in California was blamed on controversy surrounding Prop 8, a state ban on same-sex marriage. At the time, a Santa Clara County prosecutor in charge of tracking hate crimes said, “My belief from having done this work for many years is that surges in types of hate incidents are linked to the headlines and controversies of the day.” There are anecdotes of individual attacks inspired by same-sex marriage wins, too. A 28-year-old Michigan woman was beaten up by three men who recognized her from local TV footage of her wedding, which took place shortly after an amendment restricting marriage to heterosexual unions was struck down. There isn’t too much data to back up a causal connection; in fact, the data on antiGay hate crimes tells another story – one that seems to go against all logic. When it comes to Gay-friendly states, California, Massachusetts and New York are some of the very first that come to mind – but they are also among the top ten states with the highest rates of anti-Gay hate crimes. Why is that? Because, just like in Seattle, members of the LGBTQ community are actually reporting these incidents to police. In other areas, people remain silent, afraid of possible retribution. The latest FBI data from 2003 to 2013 found that in addition to those three states, the top offenders were the District of Columbia, Nevada, Colorado, Maine, Connecticut, New Jersey, Kentucky and Washington. However, Alaska, Mississippi, Rhode Island and Wyoming reported zero anti-Gay crimes that same year. The fact is, people were just not reporting crimes if they happened.
In Seattle, SPD arrested two men for hate crime attacks over Pride weekend, and are also searching for another group of suspects who attacked a Gay couple on Capitol Hill. In the first incident, officers responded to E. Pike St. and Boylston Ave. around 2 a.m. Sunday after a Gay couple reported they had been attacked by a group of suspects, who told them they were “celebrating Pride, too.” The victim told police he was sitting on the street when one of the victims struck him in the hand. When the victim asked the suspect what he was doing, he responded “we’re celebrating Pride, too,” followed by an anti-Gay slur. The suspect then punched the victim in the face, knocking him to the ground. The victim’s boyfriend intervened, but the two other male suspects joined the attack, knocking the second victim to the ground as well. The suspects then repeat-
LAST WEEKEND’S ANTI-GAY HATE CRIMES IN SEATTLE
edly kicked the victims as they lay on the pavement. One victim sustained a possible broken nose and scrapes in the assault. The other victim had a tooth knocked out in the attack, and sustained possible broken hand. The victims described the three attackers as: 1) a black male wearing a blue and white striped shirt and jeans, 2) a heavy set black male wearing a white shirt and jeans, and 3) a white male, approximately 5’11, 140 pounds, with blonde hair. The victims also said two women accompanied the suspects during the attack. The victims were only able to describe one woman as Asian, and the other as black. About 15 hours later, around 5:15 p.m., police received a report of another case of malicious harassment downtown. The victim flagged down a bike officer in the 1900 block of Westlake Ave. and pointed to a man on the street, who he believed had just
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threatened him with a weapon. The victim said he was walking down the street when he bumped into the suspect, who swore at the victim and used a homophobic slur. The suspect then reportedly pressed something into the victim’s stomach – the victim told police he believed it was a gun – and asked him “Is your life worth that much?” As the suspect walked off, the victim noticed SPD Sergeant Rob Brown riding by, told him about the incident and pointed out the suspect down the street. Sgt. Brown called other officers to the scene, who took the suspect into custody. The 23-year-old man again used an anti-Gay slur while referring to the victim, who was wearing rainbow-colored beads during the incident. Police booked the suspect into the King County Jail for malicious harassment, Washington’s statute for hate crime attacks. Officers were unable to locate a weapon on the suspect. Officers made a second malicious ha-
rassment arrest Sunday, after a man and woman attacked a Transgender victim near Yale Ave. and Denny Way. The victim was walking east on Denny Way near Yale Ave around 8:45 p.m. when the suspects approached and asked “Did you enjoy your parade?” followed by an anti-Gay slur. The male suspect then punched the victim in the face several times as the woman jumped on the victim’s back. The attack left the victim sprawled on the sidewalk. The male suspect put his foot on the victim’s head before fleeing the scene with his accomplice. The victim called 911 and received medical attention at the scene. The victim then drove around with SPD officers as they searched for the suspects. Police found the 35-year-old male suspect at Eastlake Ave. E. and E. Mercer St. and booked him into the King County Jail for malicious harassment. Police are still working to locate his female
accomplice. SPD’s Bias Crimes detectives are investigating all three of the incidents. They do not currently believe any of the attacks are connected. If you have any information about the E. Pike and Boylston incident, please contact detectives at (206) 233-5000. BIAS-CRIME IN SEATTLE Gay men have seen our fair share of bias-crime attacks in Seattle. In fact, according to police reports, cisgender white Gay men are the likeliest to be attacked on Capitol Hill and throughout the city; that is, of course, if you are talking about muggings, verbal assaults, and intimidation. But if you look at data on bias-crimes or physical attacks, cisgender Gay men of color have suffered the most. In August 2014, Ali Muhammad Brown, 29, was charged in the June 2014 murders of Ahmed Said, 27, and Dwone AndersonYoung, 23. According to police documents, the two young Gay men of color were gunned down after responding to a dating application meet up request Brown allegedly lured the men with. Court records indicate that Brown “essentially executed” the Gay couple, and killed each of his victims by shooting them at point-blank range. And there is still the unsolved beating death of Danny Vega, 58, who was an icon in the local Filipino community. On November 15, 2011, Vega was walking in the 4200 block of South Othello Street around 7:45 p.m. when he was attacked from behind by three young men who robbed and beat him and yelled anti-Gay epitaphs at him. He lost consciousness and awoke nearly an hour later “with pain all over his face and chest,” a police report said. Vega was able to walk home, where his roommates called 911. Wincing in pain and acting disoriented, Vega told officers he’d been attacked by three African-American males, all around 18 years of age but he “could not provide any further description due to his injuries and pain level,” the report said. Vega was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he later died. His friends pressed the SPD to make sure his death was investigated as a hate crime. We’ve also had some close calls. On New Year’s Eve 2014, a man set fire to Neighbours Nightclub essentially wanting to trap clubbers inside the burning nightclub as they tried to escape because, as he allegedly told an acquaintance, he wanted to “exterminate homosexuals.” Luckily for all of the LGBTQ and allied people at Neighbours that morning, nobody got hurt and the FBI/ ATF ultimately arrested Musab Masmari and he was sentenced to 10 years in a federal penitentiary. Seattle Gay News does not publish this story to fear monger or rain on the marriage equality Pride Parade. Instead, we want this information to serve as a warning to anyone out there that believes that because we are able to marry in all 50 states that somehow means we are safe – because we aren’t. The backlash might even get worse as time will tell. It is important for LGBTQ people to remain vigilant and mindful of their own personal safety. And it is also important to not allow or watch someone to get beaten, mugged, harassed or worse. Be a good witness, stop or call out violence when and where you see it, and do not walk alone after dark. NOTE: The local social justice nonprofit Social Outreach Seattle offers rides home in their LGBTQ Safe Space Safety Shuttle. Need a ride? Call 203-411-SAFE.
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You will marry Gay and Lesbian couples, judge tells Alabama by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
U.S. District Judge Callie Granade has issued a new court order instructing Alabama state officials that they must marry Gay and Lesbian couples. Granade was the trial judge who ruled in January that a Gay couple had the right to marry in Alabama, because the state laws forbidding that were unconstitutional. She issued an injunction forbidding Alabama from enforcing its laws against same-sex marriage, and then stayed her ruling pending the expected Supreme Court decision. Following the U.S. Supreme Court de-
cision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the plaintiffs returned to court asking her to lift the stay, which she did. “This matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs’ motion for clarification, in which they seek a clarification as to whether the preliminary injunction entered on May 21, 2015, is currently in effect and binding upon all probate court judges,” Granade’s decision says. “In that preliminary injunction order the Court stated ‘that because the issues raised by this case are subject to an imminent decision by the United States Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges and related cases, the above preliminary injunction is
STAYED until the Supreme Court issues its ruling.’ “The United States Supreme Court issued its ruling on June 26, 2015. Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. (2015). Accordingly, by the language set forth in the order, the preliminary injunction is now in effect and binding on all members of the Defendant Class. “Plaintiffs’ motion for clarification is therefore GRANTED as set forth above. “DONE and ORDERED this 1st day of July, 2015.” Granade’s order was aimed squarely at Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who instructed state officials that the Obergefell
decision “doesn’t apply” to Alabama. Moore, who was removed from his Alabama Supreme Court post in 2003 for violating the state’s Judicial Canon of Ethics and only returned to the court in 2013, is now the target of another ethics complaint – this time by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The SPLC has complained that Moore publicly commented on pending marriage cases, and urged state officials to defy federal court orders. In 2012 Moore flirted with the idea of running for the Republican presidential nomination, but decided to run for his former state court post instead.
New federal overtime rules: Who is eligible? by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer If you are a salaried employee making less than $970 per week, or $50,440 per year, and you work more than 40 hours per week, you will be eligible to collect overtime, if new rules proposed by President Obama go into effect. The president announced the new overtime rules on June 29. “In this country, a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay,” Obama wrote in an op-ed for The Huffington Post. “That’s at the heart of what it means to be middle class in America.” Under current rules, salaried employees who make more than $455 a week or $23,660 per year are considered management and are not eligible for overtime pay even if they work more than 40 hours per week. The new rules could raise pay for nearly 5 million American workers and are a key part of a White House campaign to reduce income inequality. Obama first announced his intention to overhaul federal overtime rules last March. “Right now, too many Americans are working long days for less pay than they deserve,” Obama wrote in The Huffington Post. “That’s partly because we’ve failed to update overtime regulations for years.” The new rules are “good for workers who want fair pay, and it’s good for business owners who are already paying their employees what they deserve – since those who are doing right by their employees are undercut by competitors who aren’t,” Obama wrote. The president’s proposal will be subject
New federal overtime rules affect you? – chrisnemelka.com
to a public comment period and could take effect in 2016. Predictably, business groups and Republicans in Congress oppose the change. GOP members of the House Education and Workforce Committee held a hearing earlier this month to blast the rules. Cory Fritz, a spokesperson for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said that
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“instead of working in a bipartisan way to streamline and modernize regulations,” the Obama administration is “proposing a new executive order that will limit opportunities and increase costs.” On the other hand, the president has the backing of Congressional Democrats and labor unions, who have urged the administration to raise the overtime threshold.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called it “a critically important step” toward raising wages for all Americans, but only a step because business owners can still deny overtime to employees. “We will continue fighting until every worker who deserves overtime protections is paid for all their time worked,” Trumka said.
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Germany blocking European Equality Directive, Euro Parliament VP says
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer European heads of government – and particularly Germany’s – are blocking adoption of the European Equality Directive, the openly Lesbian vice president of Europe’s parliament charged on June 29.
If adopted, the Equality Directive would give Lesbians, Gay men, and Bisexuals – as well as other groups like disabled people, religious minorities, and seniors – the same anti-discrimination protections currently on offer across Europe on the basis of race. Transgender and Intersex men and women are protected under a gender equality directive that has passed the EU – al-
though the rules are not always fully applied. Euro parliament vice president Ulrike Lunacek told business leaders at a Pride lunch in London that the new law would help LGBTI people in her own country, Austria. “In my home town of Vienna in January, in one of these old, traditional, beautiful cafés, two lesbians were thrown out because they kissed,” she reported. “They cannot go to the courts because of being discriminated against like that. Two straight, black people, thrown out because of kissing like that, could go to the courts because of discrimination. “That’s why we need this Equality Directive.” She also called on the EU to adopt a “roadmap” on LGBTI rights. The Equality Directive was first introduced by the European Commission, the body that proposes European Union laws, in 2008. The European Parliament passed it easily. But since 2009 it has been sitting in the European Council – made up of Europe’s heads of state and government. The EU’s prime ministers and presidents have been
haggling over the details but can’t agree. All must agree unanimously before the Equality Directive can go into effect. Germany is reported to be the biggest block on progress. Similar protections have existed in German law since 2006, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel head an increasingly fragile coalition government and is said to be afraid of alienating conservative members of her own party. In May Merkel ruled out same-sex marriage legislation, in a move widely believed to be a concession to her most right-wing supporters. Lunacek, who is also the co-President of the European Parliament’s LGBT Intergroup, told the business leaders in London that the EU could not force member states to offer same-sex marriage. But, “we can push for non-discrimination, for making gay and lesbian people more visible, and we can push for people being less afraid,” she said. She called on them to support both the Equality Directive and marriage equality, and to use their influence with their own governments to lobby for change. “This is something also important in the business world,” she said.
Turkish police attack Istanbul Pride march, draws international condemnation by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Members of Europe’s parliament condemned police violence against Pride marchers in Istanbul at a June 30 press conference. Turkish police used water cannons, tear gas, and rubber bullets to disperse Istanbul’s Pride march on June 28. Kati Piri, European Parliament rapporteur on Turkey and member of the parliament’s Intergroup on LGBTI Rights, called police action “unacceptable.” “Istanbul is a city of diversity and has a long tradition of peaceful pride parades,” she said. “I very much regret the unacceptable police violence yesterday against all the courageous marchers.” Isabella Adinolfi MEP, Vice-President of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights, backed the Pride marchers and called on Turkey to respect human rights. “All the courageous marchers, and their allies, who ignored the ban, demonstrated what a 21st century Turkey should look like: full respect for democratic values and fundamental rights,” she said. “This should play a large role in the accession negotiations, and I am certain that both the Commission and Parliament will take this up in their work with Turkey.” Parliament member Terry Reintke, also a member of the LGBTI Intergroup said “It is absurd that after years of peaceful pride marches, the government uses police forces that should have protected the Pride, to attack the Pride. “This state-orchestrated violence is an act of despair by the authorities, who are facing an increasingly stronger opposition, both in Parliament and in civil society.” Reintke was present at the Istanbul Pride march when police attacked. According to Al Jazeera, police attacked
the Pride march as people approached Taksim Square, the site of anti-government riots in May 2013. Opposition members of the Turkish parliament formed a human chain to block the riot police and protect Pride marchers, Al Jazeera reports said. According to the AFP news agency, police were ordered to stop the Pride march when marchers began shouting slogans accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of “fascism.” Other reports said the governor of Istanbul banned the march out of respect for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but Pride also coincided with Ramadan last year without incidents. The Turkish government is led by a right-wing Islamist party, AKP (Justice and
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LGBT rights activists run as riot police use a water cannon to disperse them before a Gay Pride Parade in central Istanbul, Turkey, June 28, 2015 – photo by Huseyin Aldemir/Reuters
Development Party). The AKP and Turkish President Erdogan have been accused of trying to run the country as an authoritarian one-party state. In parliamentary elections in June, AKP lost its majority status, as voters rejected Erdogan’s attempts to increase his presidential powers. In 2013, protests against a governmentsponsored move to raze Gezi Park, an urban greenspace next to Taksim Square in central Istanbul, touched off months of anti-government riots. The park was occupied by a number of groups, including LGBT rights groups because Gezi Park was a popular meeting place for Istanbul’s LGBT community. In a show of solidarity, Gezi Park protes-
tors joined the 2013 Pride march, swelling the crowd to tens of thousands. Police prevented them from entering Taksim Square, but there was no violence that year.
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Hundreds march in second Cyprus Pride Parade by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Several hundred Cypriots marched in their capital city of Nicosia on June 13 to celebrate the country’s second Pride. In 2014 scuffles broke out when a small group of Greek Orthodox protestors tried to disrupt the march, but this year the parade went off without a hitch. Cyprus is a member of the EU and is in the process of approving a same-sex civil unions law. The country also protects its LGBT community against discrimination, as it is required to do by EU human rights regulations. The Nicosia municipal government sponsored the Pride Parade, as it did in 2014. Nevertheless, the LGBT community in Cyprus faces some challenges, among them disapproval by the Greek Orthodox Church, the religion of about 75% of Cypriots. Parade organizer and Accept-LGBT Cyprus president Costas Gavrielides told The Mail newspaper that although the turnout was roughly the same as for the 2014 parade, societal taboos about homosexuality are disappearing. Cypriot Interior Minister Sokratis Hasikos, who has pushed the legislation on civil partnerships, was met with applause. “I am here in my official capacity as interior minister, but also as a representative of the government,” he said. “I personally, as well as the executive branch of government, have listened closely and fully understood the issue you have
Cyprus Pride Parade – mycyprusinsider.com
repeatedly raised with successive Cypriot governments, and responded positively,” he said to loud cheers. The vice-president of the Movement for a Federal Cyprus, Yiorgos Pittas, reportedly gave a fiery speech at the rally. “We are here to help pry open the windows and doors of Cyprus so that everyone can be free to choose their sexual identity,” Pittas said. “Be yourself! It’s the only way to be!
“It won’t be easy. We see that the carriers of darkness, the eunuchs of thought, react, shout obscenities and curse. But that’s OK. It’s their problem. We are here to tell them that in the society we dream of, there is a place for them, too.” Other speakers included government ombudswoman Eliza Savvidou, Childrens’ Rights Commissioner Leda Koursoumba, Nicosia mayor Constantinos Yiorkadjis and the head of the European Parliament’s Cy-
prus office, Alexandra Attalides. The northern third of Cyprus has been occupied by Turkish troops since Turkey invaded the island in 1974. Turkish-occupied territory calls itself the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, but the government is not recognized by any country except for Turkey. LGBT rights are not recognized in the northern sector of the island.
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Cuba eliminates mother-to-child HIV transmission WHO hails breakthrough by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Cuba has successfully eliminated mother-to-child transmission of both HIV and syphilis, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a June 30 statement. It is the first country in the world to have done so. WHO Director General Dr. Margaret Chan, called it one of the greatest public health achievements possible. It follows years of efforts to give pregnant women early access to prenatal care, testing, and drugs to stop HIV and syphilis from passing from mother to child. WHO said it hopes other countries will be able to achieve the same results. According to WHO, some 1.4 million women living with HIV become pregnant every year. Untreated, they have a 15-45% chance of transmitting the virus to their children during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or breastfeeding. But the risk drops to about 1% if antiretroviral medicines are given to both mothers and their babies. Nearly a million pregnant women are infected with syphilis every year. Again, early screening and treatment can help prevent infection of their unborn children. According to Cuban data, less than 2% of Cuban children whose mothers have
HIV are born with the virus, the lowest transmission rate possible with the available prevention methods. After some initial missteps in dealing with HIV infections in the 1980s – like forcibly quarantining HIV patients – Cuba developed progressive medical policies that emphasized early diagnosis and treatment of HIV. The Cuban government offers free treatment for HIV, and estimates that 97% of the country’s HIV-positive people get treatment. Cuba’s prevention campaign has also been notably successful, producing an infection rate of only 0.18% in the 15-49 age group, an “exceptionally low” rate by the standards of the joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS. Globally, about 70% of pregnant women living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries receive effective antiretroviral medicines to prevent transmission of the virus to their children. Among the 22 countries that account for 90% of new HIV infections, eight have already reduced new HIV infections among children by more than 50% since 2009 (based on 2013 data) and another four are close to this mark, the WHO says.
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continued from cover before the votes started pouring in. It was a moment I suspect many of us will never forget. So was Friday. Earlier in the day, Mayor Murray, who led the effort for marriage equality during his time in the state Senate, greeted the media at a City Hall news conference Friday morning with festive applause. “I never imagined this day. I never imagined myself as an elected official,” said Murray, whose husband, the first First Gentleman of Seattle, Michael Shiosaki, stood next to him. Shiosaki and Murray were married in 2014 while Ed was running for mayor. Joining Murray at the news conference was City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who took a moment to reflect. Rasmussen, who is openly Gay, said there once was a time when he couldn’t even conceive the idea of holding office. In fact, when he graduated from law school, Rasmussen said
he couldn’t envision holding a job or having an apartment because of long-standing discrimination. “This day is a dream,” Rasmussen said. “It seems like an impossible dream.” Later that day, I had agreed to reschedule the Capitol Hill rally that Social Outreach Seattle (SOSea) had planned in response to the SCOTUS decision. Because the event would interfere with the setup for Trans Pride and directly compete with Mayor Murray’s event, I told City Hall that combining the two seemed to be the best thing to do. That decision proved to be fruitful. As I rounded the corner of 7th avenue and Stewart I could see a crowd had formed, nearly spilling out into the street. People from all over the city had come to celebrate. The celebration began with the song: “Another One Bites the Dust,” performed by members of the Seattle Men’s and Seattle Women’s Chorus. “Today I’m able to say to Americans what I said to Washingtonians the day we
signed our marriage equality bill: Welcome to the other side of the rainbow.” Murray welcomed the crowd. Openly Gay state Senator Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle was instrumental in bringing marriage equality to Washington. He married his husband in 2013 and together they raise four sons. “There’s a great sense of peace that this is finally over after all these years,” Pedersen said at the rally. Seattle City Council member Tom Rasmussen, the first openly Gay man to serve on the council, said it is now “up to all of us” to elect leaders that will protect the decision. “Today the Supreme Court ruling means that our Constitution stands for equal rights for all,” he said. “This achievement is the result of decades of persistent, tenacious and courageous work by people throughout the country. Through steadfast advocacy to not accept anything less than full equality, this ruling moves LGBTQ rights forward.” Others spoke at the rally too, such as
King County Executive Dow Constantine, other members of the Seattle City Council, GSBA Executive Director Louise Chernin and I. Chernin reminded everyone the role that big business and small business played in Washington state and around the nation to secure marriage equality. She also talked about how the fight had been won because so many got involved. For me, it was simple. I told the crowd a personal story. My story. I told everyone that I married my husband Yee-Shin Huang in May of 2013 after having fought for marriage equality. My story is now “our” story because after growing up Gay in the 1980s and ‘90s and serving closeted in the U.S. Military for 10 years, I am now 35-yearsold, happily married to the man I love and equal in the eyes of the federal government. Amazing.
obergefell continued from cover
Philadelphia, PA – Organizers of the National LGBT 50th Anniversary Celebration, from July 2 to 5, announced that Jim Obergefell has launched the National LGBT 50th Anniversary Celebration by laying a wreath at the Gay Pioneers historic marker on Thursday July 2nd, at 2:15 p.m. He was surrounded by LGBT leaders and Gay Pioneers. The Gay Pioneers historic marker is directly across the street from Independence Hall and Liberty Bell Center. Said Malcolm Lazin, Chair, National LGBT 50th Anniversary Celebration: “With the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision, Jim Obergefell [plaintiff in the Obergefell v. Hodges case that lead to the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in support of marriage equality] is a historic civil rights hero. By laying the wreath at the Gay Pioneers historic marker, Jim connects the marriage equality decision to the groundwork laid by the Gay Pioneers.” The organized LGBT civil rights movement was galvanized when activists from New York, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia staged demonstrations at Independence Hall for equality each Fourth of July from 1965 to 1969. When 40 activists picketed in front of Independence Hall in 1965, it was the largest demonstration for Gay equality in world history. Organized by Frank Kameny and Barbara Gittings, the father and mother of the LGBT civil rights movement, these “Annual Reminders” laid the groundwork for the Stonewall Riot in 1969. After Stonewall, the Gay Pioneers suspended the Annual Reminders and turned their energies to help organize the 1970 march from Greenwich Village to Central Park marking the first anniversary of Stonewall. For more information, visit www.lgbt50th.org and www.gaypioneers.com.
Malcolm Lazin and Jim Obergefell – courtesy of Cathy Renna
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