Celebrating 42 Years! Issue 13 Volume 44
FRIDAY March 25, 2016 FREE!
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Patti LuPone SGN EXCLUSIVE Interview
Paul Caldwell
SEC 2 PG 1
SGN EXCLUSIVE Interview
Seattle Gay News
Brussels airport and Metro massacre: Another coordinated ISIS attack in Europe
SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
Bernie Sanders will be back in Seattle on Friday, March 25 TONIGHT!
Brussels, Belgium Zaventem airport – www.zerocenshorship.com
Bernie Sanders – Jacquelyn Martin/AP
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor
target. To the shock of no one, ISIS claimed by Victor Hawthorne responsibility. SGN Staff Writer What investigators say they know is that Europe was dealt another deadly round three men staged three attacks in Brussels, Bernie Sanders is coming back to Seattle of attacks on civilian targets on Tuesday, this evening [Friday, March 25] – schedulMarch 22; this time around Belgium was the see brussels page 13 ing a rally at Safeco Field in what will be his
FREE JOB FAIR for LGBTQ TEENS, YOUTH AND ALLIES on Saturday, April 2
largest Washington venue yet. Sanders is returning to Washington state ahead of Washington’s Democratic Caucuses Saturday, March 26, making a stop in Yakima on Thursday [March 24] before arsee bernie sanders page 6
It’s official! North Carolina is the worst state State enacts sweeping right-wing bill
North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory – Mike Theiler/Reuters via reuters.com
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
by Randy Wiger Seattle Parks and Recreation
Allies on Saturday, April 2 from 1-3 p.m. at Miller Community Center (330 19th Ave. E). All youth of any age are welcome, and Seattle Parks and Recreation is hosting a there will be many youth employment opFree Job Fair for LGBTQ Teens, Youth and see job fair page 5
A special session of the North Carolina legislature passed a stunningly oppressive bill on March 23, making their state perhaps the most right-wing jurisdiction in the country. The legislation would:
• require North Carolina residents to use restrooms that correspond to the gender they were assigned at birth; • create a statewide nondiscrimination standard that excludes protections for LGBT residents; • prohibit municipalities from passing local nondiscrimination policies; and see north carolina page 6
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Celebrating 41 Years!
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Democratic Party Caucuses are Saturday, March 26 Dear Friends,
The Democratic Party Caucuses on March 26 will be one of the most important votes you will take in your lifetime. To find your caucus location, go to http://pollingplaces.democrats.org. To pre-register, go to https://www.demcaucus.com/register. If you can’t get to your caucus, at least fill out and send in the surrogate ballot that was mailed to you a week or so ago. Those votes will count along with the votes of those actually present. We are fortunate to be Democrats. We have two intelligent, seasoned, articulate
candidates from whom to choose. The Republicans caucus on May 24 and all they have are two wack jobs and a minor Ohio governor. I am supporting Hillary Clinton. Like many Seattleites, I like what Bernie Sanders says and I totally support our own Seattle socialist council member, but Hillary has the experience, the depth of knowledge, the toughness, and world wide rapport that Sanders lacks. Most of all, Hillary has solid, practical plans and an authentic connection to minorities – which is why so many of them have voted for her in the primaries. Hillary can carry forward the voices
of people of color and LGBT people from a genuine track record which Sanders doesn’t have. Besides, Hillary has withstood the full blast of the Republican defamation machine not once, but repeatedly, and she has done it with dignity, calm, and confidence. Yes, Sanders appeals to those who don’t like the “system” but Hillary knows how to make the “system” actually work. Janice Van Cleve PCO 37/1875 www.jvox.doodlekit.com
2016 Washington State Mr & Ms Leather Contest & Washington Bootblack Contest
Washington State Bootblack 2016, Brynn Beitzel; Washington State Ms. Leather 2016, Thea Roe; and Washington State Mr. Leather 2016, Clay Sales – Photo by Malixe Photo
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Celebrating 41 Years!
UW responds to demand for gender-neutral restrooms
UW Community Relations Director Sally Clark – evans.uw.edu
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The UW is working on providing gender-neutral restrooms for students and student employees, Sally Clark told SGN on March 24, and has money budgeted to con-
job fair
continued from cover portunities for high school age (14-19) and young adults (19-24). (NOTE: Miller Community Service is directly served by King County Metro Transit routes 8 & 12, with nearby service by routes 10 & 48.) www. facebook.com/events/190398621329444/ The Job Fair for LGBTQ Youth and Allies is a first-of-its-kind event that is seeking to connect LGBTQ teens and youth to jobs, internships, and work-readiness programs. The department hopes that 50 to 100 youth will take advantage of this opportunity, and that the April 2 event can lay the groundwork to make this an annual event. Beyond the fair itself, there will be ongoing dialogues with private sector employers to look at how more internships and entrylevel positions for LGBTQ teens and young adults can be created in LGBTQ-owned, and LGBTQ-friendly businesses. Attendees should come prepared to spend some time visiting the various booths, which will have representatives from private employers as well as city youth employment and stipend programs. The fair will kick-off with a drag performance by Ms. Ryannah Doll who will be on hand to meet and greet participants throughout the fair. When she is not performing, Ms. Ryannah strives for Trans and racial justice in her work for the Gender Justice League. Several city departments offer summer employment appropriate for teens and young adults, including positions in:
vert existing single-stall men’s or women’s restrooms to gender-neutral ones. Clark, a Seattle City Councilmember until April 2015, is now Community Relations Director at the UW. She was responding to demands by a campus union, UAW 4121, which repre-
• Aquatics (life guards, boat ramp monitors, day camp counselors and more); • Youth Engaged in Service (Y.E.S.) where youth jobs shadow adult mentors usually in an office setting; • Student Teen Employment Program (S.T.E.P.); • Summer of Service (S.O.S.) where participants build trails in local parks); and • Seattle Public Libraries Student Assistance program. Local businesses (such as Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream) and non-profits (such as Goodwill and Seattle Youth Garden Works) will also have positions and programs available. Additionally there will be employment-training programs for youth who need to get a GED, and services for homeless youth at the fair. Business organizations such as the Greater Seattle Business Association, the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, and Out and Equal Workplace Advocates are supporting the fair by helping promote and recruit their member employers to participate. Since 2000 the job market for teens and young adults has shrunk drastically, with a 40% decrease in the number of teens (age 16-19) able to find work. Job prospects for youth adults (age 20-24) has also decreased significantly in the same time period. LGBTQ teens and youth experience additional challenges to entering the job market. Transgender youth of color especially experience barriers. In many cases these barriers are so great that they result in lifelong
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sents academic student employees at the university. The union’s Trans Equity Workgroup has been pressuring the UW for adequate restroom access for years and led a March 10 action during which they occupied what was formerly designated as a women’s restroom and re-posted it as gender neutral. According to union members, their contract with the UW guarantees them “reasonable” restroom access, but they often have to walk from their workplaces to other buildings to find gender-neutral facilities. To dramatize their complaint, they led about 50 people on a walk from Condon Hall to the nearest gender-neutral restroom at the UW School of Social Work – almost seven minutes away. Before leaving, they occupied the restroom at Condon 118 and posted a sign proclaiming it gender neutral. “That took less time than walking to the nearest restroom,” one demonstrator remarked. “The university has been feeding us nothing but obfuscation for more than five years now,” said UAW 4121 member Adrian Kane at an impromptu rally outside the single gender-neutral restroom in the School of Social Work. “We want more than promises and timelines. We want action.” “Action is what Trans and gender-nonconforming people deserve,” Kane’s colleague Sam Sumpter agreed. And action is what Clark promised. “[UW] President Cauce said to me ‘Let’s just get this done,’” Clark told SGN.
According to Clark, the university and UAW 4121 had “agreed on an initial set of 24 gender-neutral restrooms, of which 21 have been converted.” Three additional restrooms have been slated for conversion but need more work, Clark said. But, she added, “there are at least 168 sites – maybe more – that could be converted, and we have to map them. For example, Condon Hall. One restroom they converted themselves [at the March 10 demonstration], but there are two additional restrooms that could be converted.” She had spoken with the union, Clark said, and planned to enlist its help to “truthtest” the university’s map of potential restroom sites. “Some sites may show on the map as having plumbing,” she explained, “but when you get there, they may be just be broom closets with sinks in them, and you say ‘Oh, OK, on to the next one.’ “And not all single occupancy restrooms have locks on them. Some may just have latches on the stall, so you’d have to install locks before they could be used. You and I could walk around posting [gender-neutral] signs, but we shouldn’t necessarily be trusted with power tools to install OSHAcompliant locks. “It’s a big campus, with a lot of pieces that were developed at different times, with different codes.” According to Clark, the university has budgeted $150,000 to work on restroom conversions through the end of summer.
under- and unemployment. LGBTQ teens and youth are at a greater risk of homelessness than non-LGBTQ youth, which often affects their ability to successfully enter and stay in the job market. As many as 40% of homeless youth in Seattle identify as LGBTQ, which is disproportionate to their numbers in the population as a whole. The Job Fair for LGBTQ Youth and Allies is a collaborative effort between the Youth Employment and Service Learning Unit of Seattle Parks and Recreation, and several city departments supporting the Mayor’s Youth Employment Initiative, such as the Office of Economic Development and the Seattle Human Services Department’s Youth Employment Programs, and a number of private businesses and non-profit employment and job readiness programs.
The Greater Seattle Business Association; Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce; Office of Economic Development; Out and Equal Workplace Advocates; Seattle Gay News.
Participants at the time of this press release include: Centerstone of Seattle; Lambert House; Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream; Seattle Goodwill Industries; Seattle Youth Garden Works; Youthcare Youthbuild Program; Seattle Parks Aquatics; Seattle Parks Youth Employment and Service Learning; Seattle Police Recruiting Unit; Seattle Public Library. Non-profit partners providing youth services and support include: HEYO Youth Program at Lifelong; Neighborcare Health’s 45th Street Youth Clinic; Reel Queer Youth; TRAC Associates; Youthcare James W. Ray Orion Center;
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All youth of any age are encouraged to attend. There will be many youth employment opportunities for high school age (14-19) and young adults (19-24). For more participant information: Gwen.Wessels@seattle.gov. For employer participation information: Randy.Wiger@ seattle.gov or 206-883-6110. References: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/201403-15/business/bs-bz-teen-young-adultjob-market-20140316_1_west-baltimoreandrew-sum-job-market http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-03-14/how-to-fix-the-shockingly-high-teen-unemployment-rate http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/ data-mine/2015/03/26/studies-suggestteens-getting-shut-out-of-workforce http://www.lgbtmap.org/policy-andissue-analysis/workers-of-color http://www.lgbtmap.org/policy-andissue-analysis/transgender-workers http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marakeisling/post_1685_b_818961.html http://www.transequality.org/issues/resources/national-transgender-discrimination-survey-executive-summary
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bernie sanders continued from cover
riving in Seattle. The Vermont senator made headlines earlier this week when more than 17,300 people turned out for Sanders’ packed rally at the Key Arena on Sunday, March 20. Well over 10,000 people filled the venue Sunday evening while a crowd of nearly 5,500 gathered outside and more than 1,000 people left after fans couldn’t fit into the arena. Sanders addressed the enthusiastic crowd outside before delivering his official speech indoors. Inside the arena, local progressive politicians and student leaders gave passionate speeches, stirring up the crowd before Sanders’ much anticipated entrance. When Sanders finally did appear on the stage, the crowd roared, chanting “Bernie! Bernie!” creating an energy that the senator himself seemed surprised by as he blushed and raised his hands to quiet his fans.
Touching on many of his familiar themes, Sanders delivered a speech that was truly progressive and to the point. Declaring that the nation’s economic, campaign finance, and criminal justice systems are rigged, Sanders did not hold back his bold criticism, at one point saying, “I got a lot of heat for saying this in the past...So I’ll say it again!” Sanders elicited huge roars when addressing a number of issues including racial justice, implementing universal health care, and fighting climate change. Referencing women’s reproductive rights and equal pay, Sanders made it clear that he is a feminist and didn’t shy away from addressing LGBT issues, at one point comparing his progressive movement’s plausibility to the fight for Gay Marriage. “Ten years ago, if somebody jumped up and said, ‘I think that Gay marriage will be legal in 50 states in America in the year 2015,’ the person next to them would’ve said ‘You are nuts, what are you smoking?’”
Sanders said. While Sanders avoided any mentioning of Hillary Clinton, he wasted no time in attacking Republican front runner Donald Trump, saying the United States “will never elect someone who insults Mexicans, who insults women, who insults African Americans.” After a roaring applause, he added “If we stand together and we don’t allow the Trumps of the world to divide us up, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.” In his hour-long speech, Sanders vowed to overturn Citizens United, saying,” That is not democracy, that is oligarchy. We do not accept that.” He also had harsh words for Republican governors across the country for their “cowardly” efforts to suppress voting by minorities. “If you can’t run in a fair election, get another job!” he said to an ebullient crowd. Sanders saved his kind words for Seattle and Washington state, praising the city
for leading the movement in passing a $15 minimum wage and the state for legalizing marijuana. Washington state is in fact “feeling the Bern” as more campaign contributions have gone to Bernie Sanders than any other candidate, Democrat or Republican. In fact, some fans at the Key Arena rally on Sunday arrived as early as 10:30 a.m. in the cold and drizzle for the event that began around 5:40 p.m. When asked about what is most appealing about Sanders, a supporter explained, “He’s the only one telling the truth.” Perhaps most attractive to Washington state is that Bernie Sanders has a vision, he is authentic, and he has courage – Bernie Sanders is telling the truth like no one else does and that the truth is long overdue. Tonight’s event [Friday, March 25] will be held at Safeco Field (1250 1st Ave. S.), with doors opening at 4 p.m.
We will sue North Carolina, legal groups say
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Responding to North Carolina’s enactment of sweeping anti-LGBT – and antiworker – legislation, Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),
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• prohibit municipalities from raising the minimum wage above the statewide level of $7.25 per hour. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed the bill just hours after it passed. The measure was widely seen as a response to the passage of a local civil rights ordinance in Charlotte that protected sexual orientation and gender identity. Republican lawmakers, who dominate both houses of the North Carolina legislature, abruptly convened a special session on March 22 and introduced the bill the next day. The House passed it after only three hours of debate by a vote of 82 to 26, with 12 Democrats joining all the Republicans to
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the ACLU of North Carolina, and Equality North Carolina announced that they are exploring legal challenges to the law. The North Carolina legislature passed the law – and Gov. Pat McCrory signed it – in a matter of hours on March 23. The bill deprives Transgender people
of the right to use gender-appropriate restrooms and forbids North Carolina cities from protecting LGBT rights. It also prohibits cities from raising the minimum wage above $7.25 per hour. “We expect the ACLU’s and Lambda Legal’s Legal Help Desks will light up with calls from those who suffer discrimination imposed by this law, and we stand ready to help,” said Tara Borelli, senior attorney with Lambda Legal. “This law is in direct conflict with protections provided to students under Title IX and could cause the state to lose billions in federal funds. Instead of solving any real problems, the law would create new ones and could lead to intolerable and unfair conditions for transgender students who are entitled, by federal law, to a safe and equitable education.” Chris Brook, legal director of the ACLU of North Carolina, called March 23 “a devastating day for LGBT North Carolinians
and particularly our transgender community members, who have been subjected to months of distorted rhetoric culminating in today’s display of bias and ignorance by North Carolina lawmakers.” “The ACLU, Lambda Legal, and Equality NC are reviewing all options, including litigation,” Brook added. “HB 2 is an undisguised attack on LGBT people and the efforts of one city to protect gay and transgender North Carolinians against discrimination,” said Chris Sgro, executive director of Equality NC. “This cruel and insulting bill is about more than bathroom access; it’s about fairness in employment, education, and local governance. It aims to override local school board policies, local public accommodations laws, and more. This law also violates many other federal statutes and the United States Constitution by attempting to mandate discrimination in government buildings”
support it. In the Senate, however, all 16 Democrats walked out in protest, leaving 30 Republican senators to vote unanimously to pass the bill. Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, who pressed to get her city’s nondiscrimination ordinance approved, said she was appalled by the legislature’s actions. “The General Assembly is on the wrong side of progress. It is on the wrong side of history,” Roberts said in a prepared statement. McCrory, who was mayor of Charlotte before becoming governor, replied that “the basic expectation of privacy in the most personal of settings” was violated by “government overreach and intrusion” by Roberts and the Charlotte City Council.
“North Carolina has gone against the trend,” said Sarah Preston, executive director of the North Carolina ACLU. “And they crafted a bill that was more extreme than others. They specifically left gays, lesbians, and the transgender community out of the antidiscrimination policy. They want to make it plain that they think that kind of discrimination is OK.” The Democratic National Committee (DNC) also issued a statement condemning what it called “one of the most extreme legislatures in the country.” “This is sadly unsurprising from a party that seems determined to stay stuck in the Stone Age on LGBT equality,” DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz wrote. “From their refusal to accept marriage equality as the law of the land, to their
disingenuous ‘free speech’ and ‘religious freedom’ justifications for discrimination, Republicans are hurting Americans who deserve the full and equal protection of the law. Now the same state lawmakers who pretend to love limited government are steamrolling over local officials just because they had the courage to stand up for transgender rights. Our friends in the LGBT community deserve better and so do all the people of North Carolina.” North Carolina Republicans have also enacted one of the most restrictive voting laws in the country, taking advantage of the June 2013 Supreme Court decision striking down key parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
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Celebrating 41 Years!
AG shuts down pay-to-pray scam Christian Prayer Center bilked 165,000 consumers by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A “pay to pray” website has been shut down by state officials, and the operator must repay his customers more than $7 million. Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced on March 16 that the Christian Prayer Center had defrauded as many as 165,000 customers who paid the online business $9 to $35 to pray on their behalf. Christian Prayer Center owner Benjamin Rogovy agreed to return as much as $7,750,000 to customers in order to settle the attorney general’s complaint. His prayer business ran web ads in English and Spanish offering to pray for customers in return for money. For the more secular-minded, Rogovy also operated a business called the Con-
sumer Complaint Agency, which promised to advocate on behalf of unhappy consumers in return for a $25 payment. According to the attorney general, the company did nothing more than forward the complaints to businesses. The attorney general charged that Rogovy’s actions violate the state Consumer Protection Act, which forbids businesses from making false claims, and the Charitable Solicitations Act, which prohibits churches and charities from using misleading or deceptive statements in any charitable solicitation. “I believe in the power of prayer,” Ferguson said in a statement. “What I do not believe in and what I will not tolerate is unlawful businesses that prey upon people – taking advantage of their faith or their need for help – in order to make a quick buck.” Rogovy created fake religious leaders and posted false testimonials in order to attract consumers, Ferguson charged.
A fictitious “Pastor John Carlson” ran the websites, Rogovy claimed. He would then send weekly inspirational emails to consumers under the pastor’s name, and even created a fake LinkedIn profile that described the pastor’s experience as “Senior Pastor, Christian Prayer Center, January 2009 – present.” Rogovy also used the name “Pastor Eric Johnston” to sign consumer correspondence. Neither of these people exists, Ferguson said. Rogovy wished to give the impression that the Christian Prayer Center had multiple pastors it regularly consulted on religious issues. In fact, it had none. Instead, the attorney general found, the websites were a for-profit operation with multiple employees and independent contractors. The deception didn’t stop there. The websites contained fictitious testimonials from consumers using stock photos, claiming they successfully prayed to avoid home
foreclosure, deliver a healthy baby, win the lottery, obtain negative results on an HIV test, and put cancer into remission. Once customers were convinced to request prayers, they were directed to a web page that gave them the option to receive “continued blessings.” The information was presented in a confusing manner to conceal the fact that they were signing up for recurring charges. From 2011 to 2015 Rogovy’s prayer center collected more than $7 million from 125,000 consumers nationwide. Some of these consumers were charged repeatedly, resulting in a total of over 400,000 transactions. In the same period, approximately 40,000 consumers paid Rogovy to pursue their business complaints. Some 1,000 Washingtonians were among Rogovy’s victims, and they have until June 12, 2016, to file for refunds.
Kentucky prison confiscates Gay mail ACLU files complaint by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The ACLU has filed a complaint charging that a Kentucky prison has violated the First Amendment rights of Gay prisoners by confiscating their mail. The Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex (EKCC) prohibits prisoners from receiving mail that “promote[s] homosexuality.” According to the ACLU the prison has invoked that rule “at least 13 time to reject mail sent to prisoners” since August 2015. The rejected mail items included “personal letters and photographs not marked as sexually explicit, as well as periodicals such as Out magazine and The Advocate, which contain articles about popular culture and politics of interests to the LGBT community,” the ACLU said. In a letter to EKKC warden Kathy Litteral, ACLU lawyers William Sharp and Ria Tabacco Mar note that prisoners are also protected by First Amendment guarantees of free speech, and that those guarantees apply not only to verbal communication but also materials sent through the mail. In other words, denying Gay inmates the right to receive mail violates their First Amendment rights.
Kentucky prison confiscating Gay mail – www.sniperview.com
“Reading articles about gay celebrities and newsmakers in Out magazine or The Advocate does not make anyone gay any more than reading articles about heterosexual couples in People magazine makes someone heterosexual,” Sharp and Mar state in their letter. In a blog post on ACLU’s website, Mar
said EKKC’s policy is outdated. “It’s 2016, but the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex didn’t get the memo,” she wrote. She also said that the prison’s mail policy is “based on the dubious notion that gay prisoners pose a security threat simply for being who they are and the equally absurd
idea that reading about gay people will somehow make you gay. “Gay people are no more likely to pose a threat than anyone else. “And reading articles about gay celebrities and news doesn’t make anyone gay, any more than it makes anyone heterosexual to read articles in People about Beyoncé and Jay-Z.” Mar told the Reuters news service that she is not sure if other Kentucky prisons have a similar policy. According to the Kentucky Department of Corrections website, prison officials are allowed to reject pornography and sexually explicit materials because they threaten prison security. Examples of justifiable exclusions include homosexual materials, along with those depicting BDSM, bestiality, and child nudity. But the state’s policy adds, “exclusion shall not be based upon sexual content alone.” The ACLU complaint is dated March 15, and the group gave EKCC until March 30 to respond. Kentucky State Corrections Commissioner Rodney Ballard told Reuters that “I have asked our general counsel to research the issue and provide guidance.”
Trans parolee to get surgery through state health care assistance by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A Transgender woman will finally get surgery through California’s health care insurance program for low-income residents, after being paroled by the state prison system. Michelle Norsworthy had been held in a male prison facility since 1987. She began to transition in the 1990s, but her prison records still showed her as a male, and prison officials insisted she remain in a male facility. After years of legal battles with the California state prison system, Norsworthy won
the right to hormone therapy and counseling, and was eventually transferred to a woman’s prison. “I had to adapt my personality in order to survive,” she said after her transfer. “I had to be a man just to be a woman. Now I’m in an all-female facility…I go to sleep knowing nobody’s going to hurt me or rape me. That’s a relief.” In April 2015 she also won a federal court order directing the California prison system to allow her to have gender reassignment surgery – three years after she first requested it. In August 2015, however, she was paroled before the state got around to sched-
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uling her surgery. While her release from prison was welcome news, it raised the question of how Norsworthy would pay for her surgery, but the treatment will now be covered by a state program designed to help low-income residents get health insurance. The surgery will be scheduled for this summer, she told the San Francisco Chronicle. Norsworthy told the newspaper she was proud of her long legal battle, because it prompted California prison officials to announce new standards for treating Transgender inmates. In a separate 2015 case involving another Transgender inmate, California agreed to
provide surgery for Shiloh Quine. “CDCR [the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] evaluates every case individually, and in the Quine case, every medical doctor and mental health clinician who has reviewed this case, including two independent mental health experts, determined that this surgery is medically necessary for Quine,” department spokesman Jeffrey Callison said at the time. California now includes surgery as a medically necessary procedure that must be provided to inmates held in state prisons.
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RFRAs are covers for discrimination, legal experts say by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Religious freedom arguments are being used as justifications for discrimination, legal experts said in a March 21 conference call sponsored by the Leadership Conference Education Fund. The call was arranged to announce updates to the Leadership Conference’s recent report, Striking a Balance: Advancing Civil and Human Rights While Preserving Religious Liberty. The report seeks to document how religious arguments have been used to justify discrimination against diverse communities, including opposing the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage and equality, racial integration, interracial marriage, immigration, the Americans with Disabilities Act, same-sex marriage, and the right to collective bargaining. The Leadership Conference noted that more than 100 anti-LGBT bills have been introduced in state legislatures this year, almost all of them aimed at creating religious carve-outs allowing discrimination.
The call was also timed just days before the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in Zubik v. Burwell, a consolidated case including several complaints against the contraceptive coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Speaking on the call, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said that the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act has been misapplied by states. “When RFRA was adopted in the early 1990s, it was supported by a broad bipartisan coalition and was intended to provide protection for religious minorities,” Scott said. “Since the passage of the federal RFRA, 21 states have passed state RFRAs, and this activity in the states makes it clear that it is past time for Congress to re-examine the overreach of RFRA. That is why I filed an amicus brief in the Zubik v. Burwell case. I am concerned that RFRA is being used as a sword, and not a shield, to advance harm to the rights of others in the pursuit of another’s religious exercise.”
The federal RFRA was sponsored by liberal Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Ted Kennedy to prevent prosecution of Native Americans who used peyote and other controlled substances for religious ceremonies. Now, the Leadership Conference said, the principle of not burdening religious practices has been distorted into a doctrine justifying discrimination. Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Leadership Conference Education Fund, said that “so-called ‘religious freedom’ bills like those introduced in Congress and in states nationwide, and similar arguments being used in Supreme Court cases like Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and this week’s Zubik v. Burwell, are attempting to twist these values into an ugly justification of bigotry. “These arguments are not new. But they are dangerous. There can be no religious exemption from basic human dignity. And to wrap this bigotry in a false flag of religious liberty is the true abomination.” Sarah Warbelow, HRC’s legal director,
worried that the LGBT community might bear the brunt of the new spin on RFRAs. “Over the years, it’s become clear that the new crop of states that are interested in perpetuating these RFRA laws are motivated by an interest in discrimination,” she said. “A lot of that discrimination will occur to the LGBT community, who are often the target of such legislation. These bills are not motivated by a true desire to protect religious minorities but instead to allow an individual to claim their religious beliefs as a reason to poke holes in legislation designed to protect us all.” Gretchen Borchelt, vice president for reproductive rights and health at the National Women’s Law Center, added that women need complete health care coverage, including contraceptive services. “Women deserve insurance coverage of birth control no matter where they work,” she said. “No woman should be denied the benefit she is entitled to as a matter of law because of her employer’s religious beliefs.”
NFL, major film studios to boycott Georgia if governor signs anti-LGBT bill
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal – AJC File photo via ajc.com
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The National Football League and three major film studios will boycott the state of Georgia if its governor signs the anti-LGBT measure HB 757. The bill, one of many state “religious freedom” measures, would weaken local nondiscrimination protections, allow businesses to discriminate and deny service to LGBT people, and explicitly allow discrimination by taxpayer-funded religious organizations. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has until May
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3 to decide whether to sign the measure into law or to veto it. The NFL warned on March 18 that if Deal signs the bill, it might decide not to hold the 2019 or 2020 Super Bowl in Atlanta, which is currently one of the finalists to host the game. The Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Falcons, and Atlanta Hawks have also said they oppose the legislation. Disney Studios and its affiliate, Marvel Studios, said they would not film in Georgia if Deal signs the bill. “Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan
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to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law,” a company spokesman said March 23. Marvel has filmed such movies as AntMan and the upcoming Captain America: Civil War and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 in Atlanta. AMC, which produces the hit series The Walking Dead and is set to begin filming the show’s seventh season in Georgia in May, also came out against the bill. “As a company, AMC Networks believes that discrimination of any kind is reprehensible,” the studio said in a statement. “We applaud Gov. Deal’s leadership in resisting a previous version of this divisive legislation and urge him to reject the current version as well.” The studios’ actions come as Georgia is celebrating its success in attracting film and television productions with attractive tax credits of up to 30%. On February 22, the governor joined other Georgia officials in celebrating Film Day, at which he reported that during fiscal year 2015 film and TV productions spent more than $1.7 billion directly in the state, which, in turn, generated a record $6 billion in economic impact. According to HRC, the bill “opens the door to discrimination in social services and employment against a wide range of Georgians.” On March 19, HRC President Chad Griffin urged the entertainment industry to speak out against HB 757 and to boycott
Georgia if Gov. Deal signs the bill. “We applaud Disney and Marvel for standing up for fairness and equality by sending a strong warning to Gov. Deal,” Griffin said after the studios announced they would follow his recommendation. “It’s appalling that anti-LGBT activists in Georgia are trying to pass legislation creating an explicit right to discriminate against LGBT Americans. We urge other studios, major corporations, and fair-minded Georgians to continue speaking out and urging Gov. Deal to veto this heinous piece of legislation sitting on his desk.” GLAAD also applauded Disney’s decision. “Disney is the first studio to speak out, but not the last,” GLAAD CEO Kate Ellis said. “Now, Gov. Deal needs to demonstrate his leadership by vetoing a law that would harm not only LGBT Georgians but the growing entertainment industry that supports Georgia’s economy.” In addition to the NFL and the movie studios, many major corporations have spoken out against the anti-LGBT bill, including Apple, Dell, Dow Chemical Company, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Hilton, Intel, Intercontinental Hotels, Live Nation Entertainment, Marriott, MailChimp, Metro Atlanta Chamber, Microsoft, Paypal, Salesforce, Square, Turner, Twitter, Unilever, Virgin, and Yelp. HRC and Georgia Unites have delivered more than 75,000 email petitions to Deal urging him to veto the measure.
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continued from cover killing 31 people and wounding 270 others, while a fourth assailant fled. The first suicide bomber struck at 7:58 a.m. in the departure hall at Brussels-Zaventem airport, followed 10 seconds later by a second suicide bomber. The explosions ripped through the airport filled with hundreds of passengers. While some were killed, many of them instantly, others were horrifically maimed. Their screams for help can be heard on video footage taken from multiple mobile phones seconds after the blasts occurred. The blasts were strong enough to cause part of the ceiling to cave in and shattered big windows. Both men appear moments before on airport security cameras pushing trolleys with dark bags through the departure hall walking towards the airline check-in counters. Pictured next to them is a man wearing a dark hat who, investigators believe, is a third assailant. Only, they say that he fled the scene because the bomb that he was carrying failed to go off in concert with the other two suicide detonations. But bombs are meant to explode and so, later in the day, just as bomb defusal experts arrived at the scene, a third explosion tore through the airport. Luckily, due to the fact that authorities had evacuated the airport, the blast hurt no one. This, of course, is not the way the men had planned for it to go down. We know this because the bomb that was in the abandoned bag, left by the third assailant, contained more explosives than the other two bags combined. Nobody knows how many more people would have died had it detonated earlier. Then, just after 9 a.m., a fourth suicide bomber struck the Maalbeek Metro station. The explosion shredded apart an underground train in the station, seriously damaging another train that stood next to it, headed in the opposite direction. The scene captured by video from mobile phones, like in the airport attack, taken seconds after the explosion, is similar to the other footage. People can be seen fleeing the underground tunnel, wounded and dead bodies are scattered around what is left of the train cars, while smoke and screaming fills the air. The death toll could rise Belgium officials announced Wednesday, saying many of the victims in the hospital are listed in serious condition and it is impossible to say exactly which ones might make it and which of them will not. Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said that out of the 31 dead and 270 wounded, there were around 40 nationalities among them, including citizens of Britain, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Portugal and the United States. Just a few hundred meters away from the Metro station blast are the main European Union offices and many of the 28 EU diplomatic missions. Foreign Minister Reynders also announced that three to four staff from the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, are among the dead and wounded. Police sources said the first airport bomber identified is Moroccan-born Na-
jim Laachraoui whose DNA was found on explosives used in the November 13, 2015 Paris, France attacks. Following a fingerprint analysis, officials named Ibrahim El Bakraoui as the second airport suicide bomber. Bakraoui’s younger brother Khalid El Bakraoui was identified as the suicide bomber who attacked the Metro station, also following analysis of his fingerprints. The identity of the third airport suspect is not yet known. BELGIUM HAD EXPECTED AN ATTACK FOR MONTHS Ever since the Paris attacks late last year, the Belgian capital had been seen as the likely next target. The government had troops deployed on the streets. Other nations dramatically ramped up support to the Belgian security services. Leadership throughout the EU understand that better-coordinated security systems such as cross-border cooperation are vital. Without inciting full-on widespread panic, the government told its people again and again to remain vigilant but to also brace for the worst. After months of living with the expectation of an attack but lacking the knowledge of exactly when or where such an attack would take place, their seemed to be
TERROR ATTACKS ARE THE NEW NORMAL IN EUROPE It is noteworthy, I believe, to look at the way in which different governments from around the world respond to brutal and seemingly “surprise” attacks on its citizens by jihadists, in order to really begin to write the handbook on how to deal with something as evil as ISIS. It really is a terrible thing to think, let alone write, but terrorists attacking civilian targets is the new normal in the EU. Or, a more accurate statement rather, is that as ISIS loses its “caliphate” or state, the terror group has realized that they simply do not have the resources to run a mini state for long. It is surrounded by enemies, like Russia and the United States, who are far more powerful and focused on its destruction. Nobody can deny that we have, for the better part of the last year, watched the ISIS strong holds, cities and territories that make up its so-called state, be reduced to rubble. It would seem that ISIS leadership has concluded that the best strategic response is to coordinate large-scale terrorist attacks abroad. Examples of this tactic playing out before our very eyes are 100 people in Ankara, a Russian airliner over Egypt, 43 people in Beirut, the Paris attack. And now we can add Belgium to that list. The fact is ISIS is certain to continue losing ground in Iraq
Emergency personnel tend to injured people after an explosion at Maelbeek Metro station in Brussels, Belgium, March 22, 2016 – Francesco Calledda/EPA via thenews.pl
a silver-lining in the dark cloud of terror. Late last week, one of the masterminds of the ISIS assault on Paris, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in Belgium. For a short time it would appear to Belgians and many others around the world that the extra security, deployed troops and sharing of intelligence between the allied nations of the world who oppose terrorism and Islamic extremism, had worked. That mirage of peace was destroyed early Tuesday morning as the world woke up to reports of yet another coordinated attack by ISIS in which the dead were among the civilian population.
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and Syria. Its efforts to establish new “caliphates” seems doomed as well. The bombs we drop are too smart, and there seem to be more of them than ISIS fighters anyway. So in order to ensure its survival, ISIS leaders are betting on the fact that it will survive, ideologically and militarily, on momentum, until that momentum shifts into more large-scale attacks against civilians, including in Europe. And here we thought that Al Qaeda changed the world forever. Like it or not, ISIS is the new standard for terrorism because they say they are. The security response in Belgium will be a lot like what we saw after Paris last year as well as in Madrid in 2004 after the attacks on its transport system killed 192 people.
March 25, 2016
Security services will identify the attackers (which has already been done, with the exception of the third suspect remaining unidentified) and then dismantle their wider networks. In both Paris and Madrid, just days after each attack, police assaults on the hideouts of the plotters yielded results. The political consequences of what happened in Brussels on Tuesday are only just beginning. It turns out, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday his government had detained and then deported Ibrahim El Bakraoui. He then accused the Belgian authorities of failing to confirm his links to terror. Turkey has also accused France of failing to heed its warnings about Omar Ismail Mostefai, one of the jihadists who blew himself up at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris in November. EUROPE’S TERRORIST THREAT COMES FROM EUROPEANS, NOT FOREIGNERS Sadly, the attacks in Belgium will serve as fire to feed the flames of propaganda by Western political leaders who wish to exploit fear that immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa are terrorists, for their own electoral gain. The myth is that “Europe’s terrorist threat comes from refugees.” The fact is, the threat of violence comes from fellow Europeans, not immigrants. As vox.com wrote this week, that makes the problem much more difficult for Europe to solve. “You can close borders or shut down immigration (or at least try),” vox.com published on Wednesday. “But when the threat comes from your own citizens, it’s a threat you can only manage and maybe never fully solve.” Take for instance the Paris attacks. The men who committed the acts of violence as well as conducted the planning of it, were mostly or all European nationals. Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested just a few days ago in Belgium, is in fact a Belgian-born French national. What makes matters worse is the reasons a European national might join ISIS are disputed by experts. What they do agree on is that radicalization is enormously complex, and the reasons vary from individual to individual. According to some, the social and political marginalization of Muslim communities in Europe are the cause. Others point to the estrangement and isolation inherent in youth. What seems to be the most popular theory at the moment is ISIS’s propaganda skills in exploiting these trends. Belgium is home to a significant number of Islamist extremists, and some of them are connected to militant cells across Europe. While tens of thousands of foreign fighters from multiple countries have joined extremist groups in the Middle East, Belgium is the European nation that exports the highest number of militants per capita. Some experts say Belgium is seen as the “weakest link” in European counterterror operations.
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No funding for PrEP, Brit National Health Service says by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer British HIV/AIDS activists were shocked and angry when their country’s National Health Service (NHS) announced that it would not pay for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) meds for more than 500 patients. “NHS England is not responsible for commissioning HIV prevention services,” the public health agency said on its website on March 21. The NHS is Britain’s single-payer medical provider. Their decision came after 18 months of study, including evaluation of a clinical trial that showed PrEP to be effective in preventing new HIV infections. Only 500 of the most at-risk individuals will get PrEP, NHS said, funded by £2 million ($2.85 million) set aside to create a “number of early implementer test sites. These will be undertaken in conjunction with Public Health England and will seek to answer the remaining questions around how PrEP could be commissioned in the most cost-effective and integrated way to reduce HIV and sexually transmitted infections in those at highest risk.” HIV/AIDS activists called the NHS decision “shocking” and warned of “serious consequences” for public health in Britain. “Over 5,000 gay men will get HIV over the next two years – very many of whom would not have done so if PrEP had been
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Britian’s NHS announced it would not pay for PrEP – pinterest.com via umhs-sk.org
delivered as proposed,” the National AIDS Trust (NAT) said. “Faced with one of the most exciting prevention options to emerge since the HIV epidemic began, and which offers the prospect of real success in combatting this virus, the NHS has failed miserably to deliver… “We call on Ministers to intervene and reverse this deplorable decision – securing a process to provide PrEP on the basis of evidence and need,” NAT’s statement con-
March 25, 2016
cluded. The Terence Higgins Trust, Britain’s biggest and longest-running HIV service organization, said it was in “shock and disbelief ” at the news. “By denying full availability of PrEP, we are failing those who are at risk of HIV,” the group said. “Today’s decision by NHS England to depart with due process and instead offer a tokenistic nod to what has the potential to revolutionize HIV prevention in the
UK is shameful.” Dr. Will Nutland, who runs prepster. info, a PrEP and Truvada information website, also blasted NHS for its decision. “The UK once had a reputation for being a leader in HIV prevention, and that reputation now lays in tatters,” Nutland told BuzzFeed News. “The proposal to fund PrEP for another 500 men is a stalling tactic to cover up the arguments and confusion about how NHS services and prevention services should be commissioned. “NHS England has turned its back on a process that could have significantly contributed to turning the tide of HIV in this country. The decision is ill-conceived, is not based on evidence, and will directly contribute to the ongoing sexual ill health of the nation.” NAT added that the NHS announcement raised more questions than it answered. “The decision is not informed by any due process; the amount of money is arbitrary; the claim that more ‘testing’ of PrEP is needed is disingenuous,” NAT said. “Five hundred does not remotely cover the number of gay men at high risk of HIV nor meet the needs of heterosexuals at risk. There is no clarity within the Department of Health, the NHS, or Public Health England as to who long-term is responsible to commission and fund PrEP.”
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