Issue 27, Volume 43, July 3, 2015
PRIDE
2015 SEATTLE PRIDE 2015 SEATTLE PRIDE 2015 SEATTLE P
RIDE 2015 SEA
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Pride across America and the world: Significant monuments and buildings light up rainbow for Pride
White House
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor The rainbow. It’s ours. Every year during Pride celebrations around the world rainbow colored flags fly on flag poles outside of businesses, tied to parade floats going down the street during the annual Pride Parade, and made into stickers, rings, necklaces, bracelets, magnets – you name it! In Seattle, an annual tradition began a few years ago when the rainbow Pride flag was raised at City Hall. This past weekend the Pride flag flew high above the city atop the Space Needle. It wasn’t too long ago when the community was asking for that to happen; now the Space Needle does that all on its own. One year, Seattle Gay News announced our “A Flag on Every Corner” campaign to put as many rainbow flags as humanly possible around the city of Seattle. The outcome was glorious as the city seemed to turn rainbow colored. Of course, this year we got not one, not two, but eleven
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rainbow colored crosswalks painted on Capitol Hill. It just doesn’t get any better than that. Or so I thought. After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of LGBTQ marriage equality there was a kind of liberation that took place across the country. People in government, business owners, and more who were straight but in complete support of marriage equality were freed from their closet as supporters of same-sex marriage. This changed everything. In fact, I’m not so sure we know
City, and Chicago. The very top of New York’s World Trade Center was highlighted with rainbow colors on Friday night. Also in New York City, the Empire State Building lit up the night sky rainbow. C l e v e l a n d ’s theater district welcomed the Supreme Court decision by adding some color to its sign before the curtain rose Friday evening. Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the one of the cases the Supreme Court ruled on, is from Ohio, and the ruling over-
San Francisco City Hall turned ex a c t ly his state’s ban on same-sex marriage. how much yet. Only time will tell. Same-sex marriage was also illegal in Over the weekend more than 15 national monuments or historical iconic build- Florida until Friday, and the folks at Disings were lit up by ney World joined rainbow colored in on the rainbow lights in a display light display. The of approval for the Cinderella Castle SCOTUS decision. became even more Here in Seattle, magical when enwe celebrated the hanced with pride national move for colors. M i n ne ap ol i s equality by lighting up the giant lit up 1,200 feet of Ferris wheel on El- its I-35W bridge, which crosses the liott Bay. San Francisco Mississippi River. Niagara Falls, lit up its City Hall, along with Los An- which forms part geles, New York of the border be-
Niagara Falls
tween the U.S. and Canada, sent a colorful reminder that same-sex marriage has been legal in Canada for a decade and we are happy that it finally is the law of this land, too. Perhaps the biggest moment for many of us during the whirlwind Pride and Pridefest weekend came when, on Friday, after the announcement that the Supremes’ had ruled in favor of marriage equality for all Americans, the White House turned rainbow by nightfall. And Americans weren’t the only ones celebrating the SCOTUS decision. Nations around the world also showed their solidarity for marriage equality and LGBTQ Pride by lighting buildings and monuments rainbow colored, too. Berlin Germany’s Brandenburg Gate, Tel Aviv, Israel’s City Hall, the Capitol Building in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland, New Zealand and more participated.
World Trade Center
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I’ve waited a long time to write this George, I always believed we would win, but what a joy and relief it was when our victory came. As I read the Supreme Court opinion, as I followed the stories across the country of couples getting married, and as so many people wrote me with wonder, attaching pictures of their families, their kids, their weddings ... well, I cried and cried again. We won. We did it. The freedom to marry is now the law of the land throughout our whole country. At long last, loving and committed same-sex couples are able to share in the joy, the protections, the vocabulary, and the institution of marriage. We’ve been fighting this campaign for decades, and not a single step has come easily. To overcome the obstacles and to seize the opportunities, with stumbles and then successes, we built a machine that could guide and leverage a movement, driving a
strategy – and machines take fuel. Without your support, this transformation and triumph would not have happened. And our win is America’s win. Love won. We all did. Now – as Freedom to Marry prepares to wind down – we must remember that there’s still much work to do in our own LGBT movement and in the broader movements we are part of. I am grateful to my incomparable Freedom to Marry team, our close movement colleagues, the entire family of supporters and partners in the work, our allies, and our country. How lucky we are to see our work rewarded with the change and victory we sought and deserved. All that’s left is to say, with all my heart, is congratulations – mazel tov! – and thank you.
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Evan Wolfson Founder, Freedom to Marry
July 3, 2015
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A hot and exciting Trans Pride fills The Hill with Trans fabulousness inclusion, with all races being represented and folks who came together for the Trans Pride rally at Cal Anderson Park, making a special effort to make sure all were included in the festivities. Even a lone right wing Christian protester, carrying one of the familiar ugly signs with its hateful message, was peacefully engaged in debate over his position on Trans Pride. When I arrived at the park, the man was surrounded by a circle of feisty Trans people who held hands and chanted and peacefully disagreed with the message on the man’s sign. It was an empowering moment for all who witnessed it. On this year’s program were Anand Kalra, who represented the Transgender Law Center, Mayor Murray and First Gentleman, Michael Shiosaki, as well as Bamby Salcedo, President of the Transgender Latino Coalition, Monica Jones, social
by James Stansberry SGN Contributing Writer The Hill was filled with crowds that swelled to 4,000 (according to organizers Gender Justice League), and brought together Trans people of all ages, abilities, gender expressions – several people were doing great jobs of what’s called “gender fuck” in the community, this being folks who dressed not according to one of two genders, but mixed it up, defying any boxes – all celebrating in the hot, June sunshine last Friday. As the kickoff for Pride weekend on The Hill, this celebration was happily not marred by the tragic news of nine Black church goers who were gunned down by racist extremist Dylan Roof earlier in the week. This event seemed to further galvanize those gathered, so that there was an air of
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work student and Transgender Sex Worker activist, as well as Councilmember Kshama Sawant, who spoke to the problem of rising rents, and how this situation is displacing the GLBT community on Capitol Hill. Also present were a number of organizations, including Emerald City MCC (who has a new pastor, Brian Hutchinson, who gives his first, official sermon this Sunday, the 5th of July). And, as the sun started to set, and I made my way home with a friend from MCC, listening to the beginning of Councilmember Sawant’s speech, my heart swelled with pride and joy at seeing so many of my Trans sisters and brothers and our allies party and celebrate being themselves. Truly, for me, this was the best part of the whole Pride weekend. James Stansberry identifies as gender fluid, and is an mmj activist, working to make sure folks know cannabis not only supports standard cancer treatment, but that cannabis cures cancer and is proving that in his own body.
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41 Years of Pride in Seattl
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Octogenarian has fun at Seattle’s Pride Parade by John Mark Special to the SGN Most people love a parade, and I guess that I’m no exception. So I drove down from my home in Lake Forest Park to watch this year’s Seattle Gay Pride Parade. Unfortunately, it took me almost as long to find a parking space on the street as it did to drive into town. That’s because I have never seen so much building going on in Seattle since I moved here from the East Coast (New Jersey) in 1980. Consequently, many of the places that I used to park my car are now taken up with building equipment and machinery, that is, if the street is not completely closed off. I finally found a place to park, after saying a special prayer to the Parking God, or as a Protestant friend once told me his prayer when desperately looking for a place to park: “Hail Mary full of grace, I need a parking space.” I parked on Blanchard Street just off 9th Avenue, and then walked to Fourth Avenue and watched the parade. Luckily, just around the corner from Blanchard someone had placed a nice thick beige carpet about six feet square. So I was able to find a good viewing spot and a very comfortable surface to stand on for a couple of hours. There was a good-looking group of young Hispanic men standing in the same area who were constantly conversing in Spanish and having a lot of fun. Frankly, it was fun to be surrounded by them and I admired their pleasant smiles and beautiful white teeth. I did not hesitate to compliment the tallest and best-looking one, which he acknowledged and thanked me. (In English.) He was the same gentleman who received a lot of hugs from various people in the parade who came over to where he was standing near the aluminum metal barricade. He was also the one who asked for hand-outs from the various groups marching in the parade who had goodies to pass out. And, he was very generous with sharing his loot with his friends, and included me in the hand outs, especially the one and only bottle of favored drink. I don’t know how many groups and organizations were in this year’s parade, all I know is that it lasted about two and a half hours. Everybody who was anybody was in the parade, including our Gay Mayor Ed Murray who walked along the sides of the parade and said hello and shook hands with those he knew along the street behind the metal barricades. Our new Gay State Supreme Court Justice Mary Wu was also in the parade and rode atop a large flat-bed truck, and waved back to me when I waved to her. I also saw a former fellow member and former president of Ethyl Forever Car Club, which is now defunct, who came over to where I was standing to say “hello” before going back to the group in which he was marching. There were a lot of church groups, except Catholic of course, including a large group of young, healthy and happy Gay Mormons, one of whom had a sign around his neck offering a free hug from a Gay Mormon. Since I was standing right next to the metal barrier, I simply couldn’t resist the invitation so I put up my arms and this handsome hot young Mormon man came over a gave me a big hug, which sort of made the long drive and parking problem all worthwhile. (Smile.) This is the first year that I can recall when it was not sunny all day, which of course reduced the chance of getting skin cancer. Although the day started out sunny, which was forecast for the day and for a temperature of 88°, neither of which were
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reached, as we had a few sprinkles before I left home and then again briefly during the parade. However, since I was standing under a tree on Fourth Avenue, I really didn’t get wet at all, at least not as much as when some marchers shot water at us bystanders with their water pistols. But it was all in good fun and nobody got angry. As a matter of fact, love and happiness was in the air and I never saw so many smiling faces and people wishing each other “Happy Pride.” Although there is much work to be done in the LGBT Community, we certainly have a lot to be thankful for and proud of this year, especially those of us who are lucky enough to be living here in the liberal and progressive Pacific Northwest in general and here in Seattle in particular. In addition to the wide range of groups in the parade, there was a flat-bed truck with a group of Hillary Clinton supporters who flashed around a life-size cardboard image of Hillary. And, I was especially happy to see a large group of marchers who supported the Independent Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, who is running for President of the United States of America on the Democratic ticket, and whom I have heard speak many times on radio talk shows over the years and whom I intend to support. I plan to hear him speak in person on Sunday July 12th at 3:00 p.m. in The Royal Room at 5000 Rainier Avenue South in Seattle, and hear him expound on his “12 Initiatives to Restore American Middle Class.” The Sanders for President marchers handed out 2 x 2 inch square stickers with the rainbow flag colors superimposed with Bernie 2016. And, of course, many of the motorized floats had an assortment of young, cute and scantly-clad, attractive men shaking their booty to the blaring music. Thousands of people lined the street along the parade route, two and three deep in most places. There were also plenty of Seattle Police throughout the parade route, but they had an easy job as everyone was very well behaved. There were also a lot of Security Personnel constantly walking up and down along the edge of the marchers in order to keep viewers behind the metal barricades and keep a good sense of order. But as everyone knows, homosexuals are usually not the trouble-makers. Not surprisingly, there were no Republican politicians in the Seattle Gay Pride Parade! After all, they are the “Party of No” and are against anything which is liberal, progressive, or for the Middle Class. I saw several people in the parade that I know, as I’ve mentioned the former president of the defunct Gay car club, as well as one of my favorite librarians from the Shoreline Branch of the King County Library on 175th Street. The parade lasted about two and a half hours, and at the end was the huge streetwide flag being carried, which is also the custom in the San Diego Gay Pride Parade where I helped carry the flag along University Avenue in Hillcrest, which is the Gay Neighborhood in The City of San Diego. The almost block long rainbow flag in Seattle was being carried by about three dozen people who walked up Fourth Avenue towards the Seattle Center, holding it by the sewn-in straps. And since I was also walking up to PrideFest at the Seattle Center, and since there were a few empty straps, I decided to walk along gripping a strap and supporting the very large and very heavy rainbow flag. One of the fun things that we did at the cross-streets was to raise up the flag a few times so that the air current would raise it even higher so that people could run under
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the flag and cross the street. Of course, they had to cross very quickly before the flag came down to our waist and walking level, which I thought was great fun. Marchers gave me colored beads and a flowered lei to wear around my neck, which complimented my short-sleeve fuchsia pullover shirt and white shorts with rainbow belt. Needless to say, everyone was in a good mood and everyone was happy and smiling and shared many hugs. Love, peace and happiness, was in the air, and the passage of Marriage Equality by the Supreme Court of the United States simply helped to bolster the euphoric spirit which prevailed throughout the day. I finally let go of the strap on the flag a short distance before reaching Denny Way, which is where the parade officially ended. I proceeded to walk with the throngs of people to the Seattle Center where the Pride Fest was to be held. Upon reaching the Center there were many booths with canopies set up by various organizations which I found very interesting, and where I saw a couple friends from my Tuesday evening rap group at the S.A.S.G. who were manning one of the booths. So I sat down to chat for a while and rest my 81-year-old body for a while. After watching people frolicking in the Seattle Center Fountain from where I was standing at an elevated location, I wound my way down to the ground level where there were a lot of vendors selling food, as well as other types of vendors. I began to
walk around the grass area on the perimeter of the fountain, where I spotted a group of nude young men. However, at my age, everyone is young! (Smile.) And being who I am (Founder & Director of the Circumcision Information Center of Washington) I couldn’t help notice that one of the handsome young men possessed a nice long foreskin. Consequently, I simply had to engage him in conversation and find out how and why he still had his foreskin (including the 20,000 very sensitive nerve endings) unlike his three nude companions who were cut/ circumcised. Although there are a few exceptions, it’s only the Jews, Moslems and North Americans, who do this dastardly deed for dubious medical or religious reasons, while 85% of men in the world are intact/natural/uncut the way God/Nature intended, without any problems. Anyway, the man in question had light brown skin and a full head of bushy hair like an Afro, although he wasn’t an African-American. I handed him one of my anti-circ business cards, which he readily accepted with a bit of surprise, amusement and friendliness. He said that although he was born here, his parents were from Egypt. Evidently, although Egypt is essentially a Muslim country, who circumcise their male population, the Christians in Egypt do not practice this genital mutilation of circumcision on their males, which of course I found very interesting and enlightening, and the reason why he was spared this needless and very painful surgery as a result.
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Actually, I was able to give out two of my business cards at PrideFest. Earlier I saw two middle-aged men both of whom were wearing black T-Shirts which read “God makes no mistakes.” So I simply had to speak with them for a moment to tell them that I quite agreed with their T-shirt message, gave them my anti-circ business card, and shared with them one of my favorite quotations which is: “If God had intended men to have foreskins, they would be born that way.” They were very friendly, amused, but supportive. It seems a little hard to believe that it was 45 years ago that I walked in the first New York City Pride Parade in 1970. I drove in from my home in Bergen County in New Jersey to Manhattan on a beautiful sunny day. I parked in the shade near the docks which also brings back memories, but that’s another story! (Smile) Anyway as I made my way up Christopher Street I was simply overwhelmed by all the Gay people that I saw, as well as all the various booths which were set up along the street. As we marched up Fifth Avenue people were literally hanging out of the windows and angling from lamp posts to get a better view as we made our way north on Fifth Avenue. Obviously, the city and its population had never seen such a spectacular Gay event before in their life. And quite frankly, neither had I. Although I never considered myself a pioneer, in hindsight I guess people my age were. If anything, I thought of myself as a survivor, since many of my generation didn’t survive.
Younger Gay people today have no idea what we elders had to do to survive, considering the amount of bigotry, discrimination and homophobia that we had to contend with in order to keep a job and have a place to live. Since it was getting late in the day and I was beginning to get a little tired, I decided that I should try and retrieve my steps and hope that I could remember where I had parked my car earlier in the day. However, walking south on Fourth Avenue, I was amazed and impressed that several streetsweeping machines were cleaning up both sides of the street, as well as the company who provided the metal barriers were breaking them down and loading then unto trucks. I finally reached my car on Blanchard near Ninth Avenue and right near Whole Food Market. Needless to say, this youngat-heart octogenarian had a wonderful day, and really got a lot of exercise with all the walking that I did. I have no idea how many miles that I may have walked, but it didn’t matter when you have so many happy people smiling at you.
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In celebration of Pride
by Sister Ophelia Onassis Special to the SGN My Sisters and I were pleasantly surprised to be selected Community Grand Marshalls for the 2015 Seattle Pride Parade. The recognition of the work we do on behalf of our community is at once incredibly humbling and incredibly energizing. In April, we all listened in when the U.S. Supreme Court released the audio of arguments in the marriage equality case. We listened as Mary Bonauto presented our arguments clearly and beautifully. We listened as the opposing counsel presented the arguments that had largely been unsuccessful in the past (tradition, procreation, etc.). We listened to the line of questioning from the Justices, and some of us even guffawed as Justice Ginsburg eroded the opposition
posite gender, jailed – it seems – for daring to be different. I’m fascinated by how far we’ve come in the span of my years on the planet. Far from being criminalized as societal deviants, we now find ourselves in a position of ever-increasing equality. I weep for joy at the great progress we’ve made. Pride parades have been, for me, a time for small pockets of interaction as I walk the parade route. Many of the interactions have been joyful – many have been painful. This year was different. As I walked the route, reaching to touch the hands of those reaching out to me, the interactions were resoundingly joyful! Older community members expressed wonderment that we, as a community, had reached this level of societal equality – having shared many of arguments with her rapier wit. We then held my own memories. The love and joy (the abour collective breath while the Justices ar- solute LOVE, the absolute JOY) being exrived at a decision. On June 26, 2015, that decision was announced and marriage equality became the law of this great country! On my bus ride in to work that morning, I observed LGBT people and allies sitting in their seats, quietly crying tears of joy. In one 36 page opinion, Justice Kennedy and the four other Justices who concurred on that opinion, declared our love as equal to the love enjoyed by the straight people in our country! Truly heady stuff, even now when I think on it. As we moved from the marriage equality decision into Pride in our city, I spent a great deal of time in thought. I was born during a time when LGBT people were jailed for their private sexual expressions, jailed for dressing in the clothing of the op-
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pressed by the community was very nearly overwhelming. While we celebrate this momentous victory (and we SHOULD celebrate it), my mind is also drawn to the great amount of work still before us. Our brothers and sisters in the Trans* community need our allyship and our advocacy. There are 31 states where one can be terminated for employment simply for one’s sexual or gender identities. The idea of “reparative” therapy is still very much alive and well in conservative circles. HIV/AIDS continues to affect us and those we love and continues to ravage our communities. Our struggle for equality is far from over. So yes, let’s take this time to celebrate, but let’s not rest. Take good care of yourselves, and of one another. And for Pete’s sake, don’t forget to wash your hands!!
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