Celebrating 41 Years!
Lady GaGa
Time to have a ball with
Issue 21 Volume 42
Sec 2 Page 1
Seattle Gay News Marriage is on in Oregon FRIDAY May 23, 2014
FREE!
25¢ in bookstores & newsstands
U.S. District Judge Michael McShane ruled on May 19 that Oregon’s ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional, opening the way for Gay and Lesbian couples to marry. Couples were reportedly lining up at county courthouses as early as 5 a.m. in anticipation of McShane’s ruling, and began to apply for marriage licenses as soon as it was announced. McShane did not stay his decision to allow for an appeal, and state officials say they agree that the law is unconstitutional. Only hours before McShane announced his decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a petition from NOM to intervene in the case and block McShane from ruling. “Appellant’s emergency motion to stay district court proceedings pending is denied… The briefing schedule established previously remains in effect,” the Ninth Circuit said in a court order. The appellate court gave NOM until August 25 to demonstrate
why it should be allowed to intervene in the case. McShane rejected NOM’s petition to intervene on May 14 after the anti-Gay group admitted it could not find any residents of Oregon who wanted to be listed as a defendant upholding the state’s marriage ban. Unless NOM can convince the Ninth Circuit that it should be allowed to defend Oregon law, there will be no one with standing to appeal McShane’s decision to the circuit court. McShane, an Obama appointee, is openly Gay, and his written opinion in the case reflects his own experiences, as much as legal scholarship. “Oregon recognizes a marriage of love with the same equal eye that it recognizes a marriage of convenience,” he wrote. “It affords the same set of rights and privileges to Tristan and Isolde that it affords to a Hollywood celebrity waking up in Las Vegas with a blurry memory see OREGON page 9
Paul Carter / The Register-Guard / AP Photo
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. McShane (l) is helped into his judicial robe by sons Trevor Nyce, 13, and Brandon McShane, 20, in an investiture ceremony at the U.S. Courthouse in Eugene, Oregon, on April 21, 2014
Pennsylvania Governor drops Mary Yu sworn in as Associate Justice marriage appeal Rush for licenses is on!
Amy Hallman
Michael Henninger / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP
in Washington State Supreme Court
A Pittsburgh crowd lifts a large pride banner May 20 in celebration of the court’s ruling
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Gay and Lesbian couples rushed to get marriage licenses in Pennsylvania as Republican Governor Tom Corbett announced May 21 that he was dropping the state’s fight to keep its ban on same-sex marriage. Corbett, running for reelection and vastly unpopular, decided
not to appeal a decision by Federal District Judge John E. Jones III striking down the state’s marriage law. The state’s Democratic Attorney General, Kathleen Kane, determined that the law was unconstitutional and refused to defend it in court. “Given the high legal threshold set forth by Judge Jones in this case, the case is extremely unlikely to succeed on appeal,” Corbett
wrote in a statement posted on his official blog. “Therefore, after review of the opinion and on the advice of my Commonwealth legal Mary Yu team, I have decided not to appeal the high court has had an openly Judge Jones’ decision. by Tim Moffett Lesbian justice. The former King “The court has spoken, and I will SGN Staff Writer County Superior Court Judge was ensure that my administration follows the provisions of Judge Jones’ Mary Yu was sworn in as the sworn in by Chief Justice Barbara order with respect for all parties.” newest member of the Wash- Madsen following a symposium ington state Supreme Court on see Penn page 18 Tuesday, marking the first time see Mary YU page 9
2 Seattle Gay News
May 23, 2014
Celebrating 41 Years!
Visit us online www.sgn.org
May 23, 2014
Seattle Gay News 3
ENDA’s exemption Luckily for me, I get to write about a fun person in this column: my friend Matt Foreman, the former executive director of the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force (NGLTF), who has been lighting up social media lately. It all has to do with ENDA, the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, which has languished in Congress since first introduced in May 1974 by Congress-members Bella Abzug and Ed Koch. I was even enlisted by Koch and Abzug in the fall of that same year (reasons will be in my memoirs) to assist. But the legislation has failed to advance over the decades, and changed forms. Now, Foreman is calling for the community to “pull the plug on ENDA.” He – and others who were there at the time can agree – says that the current incarnation is a slim version of the original, and worse yet, it would still allow religious institutions to discriminate against LGBT people in services and adoptions. Many organizations are getting on board with Foreman and he has set up a hashtag – #ENDAisNOTEqual – which, accord-
ing to blog Joe. My. God., is being used by organizations like Queer Nation. The story here, that no one in LGBT media wants to tackle, is about what is called a “religious exemption,” which really isn’t. What that term is used for is to allow religious institutions (churches, synagogues, mosques, etc.) to use public taxpayer funds for all programs connected to their churches. Example: A church can’t afford to stay open due to low attendance. Answer? Open a youth program, adoption center, senior programs, basketball court, ball field, etc., and connect them to the church. All are getting funding, and some of those funds go to people who staff the church, work at the church and, of course, to the upkeep and part of the utilities of the church. The exemption is all about money and religion. Religion is already a protected class. Want proof? Try requesting an Orthodox Jewish temple to marry a Catholic woman to a Jewish male. Or do the same in a Catholic Church. It won’t happen and it is legal since religion is a protected class. Adding that provision is just a way to make you, the taxpayer, pay the cost of religious institutions. Courtesy of Mark Segal, Philadelphia Gay News.
www.algbtical.org
by Mark Segal Philadelphia Gay News
Matt Foreman
In your face, with cake
Reactions to Michael Sam kissing his boyfriend on ESPN show his impact by Richard J. Rosendall SGN Contributing Writer
sano mark a cultural shift, far more than Mitch and Cam’s fictional marriage on “Modern Family.” A confident athlete simply stopped hiding. He enjoyed his man’s support in his big moment. More important than cake, he smashed stereotypes. His highlight reel from Mizzou leaves little doubt about his worthiness. This could herald the end of self-consciously “safe” activism. We have had enough “outness” in the abstract, like past Gay sitcom characters who were never seen being affectionate with their partners. We don’t owe the world our disappearance. The haters were already braying “Think of the children!” (while excluding Gay children) when plans for a documentary by the Oprah Winfrey Network gave them an opening to further stoke the distraction they claim to deplore. The doc has been postponed, but the blowback reminds us that hatred persists. In Jackie Robinson’s day, the catcalls came from the stands. For Sam, they came faster, via comment boards and Twitter. One truth endures: the pioneering player must answer his critics on the field. He can leave the advocacy to others, such as writer and SiriusXM Progress host Michelangelo Signorile, who launched an online kiss-in (hashtag #kissin) to get the world used to same-sex smooching. Sam’s breakthrough is a milestone of our journey toward freedom and equality. In our lives, the moment flies past us and is gone. In our memories, it is a bright flash that illuminates all around it, and sustains us in moments of frustration and despair. Do not be intimidated by the dismissive comments of those who treat this as nothing. It is a big thing, or people would not be fighting it. Is it everything? Of course, not. A milestone is not the end of the journey; but we need our milestones. Now Sam’s task is to make the team. Play your heart out, champ.
Among the predictable reactions to The Kiss between Michael Sam and boyfriend Vito Cammisano, which was shown by ESPN during the closing minutes of the NFL draft on May 10, was the complaint about “Gays shoving their sexuality down our throats.” As long as we’re on the subject, I am tired of having my face smeared with the unresolved personal issues of people who use rape imagery to decry Gay visibility. I might add that the veiled eroticism of smashing cake in his lover’s face hardly competes with that of jocks spraying champagne on one another. Most people see through the homophobes’ feigned Victorian delicacy. Dallas sportscaster Dale Hansen mocked, “[W]hen Sam was seen celebrating with his family and boyfriend, the world apparently shook, we almost collided with the sun, and yet somehow we have survived another day.” Hansen dismissed locker room fears by griping that his Gay co-workers never hit on him. Hansen said there was no way the Southeastern Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year merited as late a draft pick as 249th out of 256. In this he agreed with Cyd Zeigler of OutSports, whose tweets grew restive as the draft waned, before Rams coach Jeff Fisher finally made the historic call. The video of Sam sobbing in Cammisano’s arms as his dream became real was moving and powerful. Because he stepped up, countless people’s prospects will brighten. Expectations will change as sexual minority youth see their lives affirmed. Kate Kendell of the National Center for Lesbian Rights told AP, “I feel like my support for the NFL now doesn’t have an asterisk come with it. It’s now truly America’s game.” I often say to people who talk as if they have to imagine themselves “doing it” to accept Gay Richard J. Rosendall is a writer and activist. and Transgender people: It’s not about you. You He can be reached at rrosendall@starpower.net. don’t get to vote on someone else’s happiness. Copyright © 2014 by Richard J. Rosendall. The images on ESPN of Sam kissing Cammi- All rights reserved.
4 Seattle Gay News
May 23, 2014
Related Links: “Michael Sam Reacts To Being The First Openly Gay Player Drafted In The NFL,” ESPN, May 10, 2014, http://youtu.be/XLUA5Y7GQ0E “Michael Sam at Rams Press Conference,” May 13, 2014, http://youtu.be/Fzn9IVuHO9E “Hansen Unplugged: 248 players better than Sam?” Dale Hansen, WFAA, May 13, 2014, http://youtu.be/J7GrGW1ul4U Cyd Zeigler, Twitter feed, https://twitter. com/cydzeigler “Michael Sam saga apt to expand NFL’s gay fan base,” David Crary, The Associated Press, May 17, 2014, http://tinyurl.com/mn35nxm “’Modern Family’ goes all out for Cam and Mitchell,” Bill Keveney, USA Today, May 13, 2014, http://tinyurl.com/l6l7o5e “Michael Sam Collegiate Highlights,” XOSSports, February 10, 2014, http://youtu. be/2DrIN0b25OI “Fox News, Michael Sam, And ‘Appropriate’ Homophobia,” Luke Brinker, Media Matters for America, May 15, 2014, http:// tinyurl.com/k4xo8mk “Oprah’s network postpones Sam documentary,” Associated Press, May 16, 2014, http://tinyurl.com/mlsjw35 “How Michael Sam Inspired the Great Facebook Kiss-In,” Michelangelo Signorile, The Huffington Post, May 14, 2014, http:// tinyurl.com/qy7scwo
Celebrating 41 Years!
“REVEALING QUEER” – LGBT HISTORY AT MOHAI FEBRUARY 14-JULY 6 Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry (860 Terry Ave. N. in South Lake Union) presents “Revealing Queer,” a landmark exhibit on the history of the Puget Sound region’s LGBTQ community. Admission: $14 general; $12-student/senior/military/ teacher; children under 14 free when accompanied by an adult. Museum hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, Thursdays until 8 p.m. First Thursdays FREE. www.mohai.org. NOTE: MOHAI is sponsoring walking tours of Early, Queer Pioneer Square 6/7 and Capitol Hill 6/21. Call 206-324-1126 or visit website for details. Cost: $25 general; $20 MOHAI members. SEATTLE PRIDE IDOL On Sunday, May 25, Seattle Out & Proud (SO&P) hosts the 6th annual Seattle Pride Idol talent showcase and competition. The event will be held at Neighbours Nightclub (1509 Broadway) – with contestant registration beginning at 6:30 p.m., doors at 7 p.m. and contest at 8 p.m. Registration is free, and contestants may bring their own musical accompaniment. There is no cover charge. The amateur voice competition will feature up to 10 different competitors at each event through the June 8 finale. Each competition winner will advance to the Finale to compete for the title of 2014 Pride Idol, while the runners-up will face off in the Wild Card Night on June 1 for two coveted spots at the Finale on June 8. A panel
of three to four judges will rate the contestants weekly based on vocal ability, overall performance and stage presence. The first place winner each night will win $100, second place $50 and third place $25. The 2014 Pride Idol winner will perform in the Seattle Pride Parade on June 29, at the Pride Picnic on June 14, and potential performances at other events representing Pride Idol, and receive the grand prize of $1,000 and a vacation package from Alaska Airlines. The first runner-up will receive $500 and a T-Mobile iPad Mini, and the second runner-up will receive $250 and a Microsoft Surface Tablet. All competitions will be hosted by Miss Gay Seattle, Olivia LaGarce. For more information, call 206-322-9561, email info@seattlepride.org, or visit www. seattlepride.org. FANTASTIC Z. – QUEERSPAWN Local theatre company, Fantastic Z., is proud to present the West Coast premiere of queerSpawn by Mallory Avidon, Thursday through Saturday nights, from May 23-June 7 at 8 p.m., at Eclectic Theater (1214 10th Ave.). queerSpawn is a playfully significant look at a different kind of bullying. A heterosexual cisgendered teenage boy with Lesbian mothers “who love him more than sunshine” struggles with surviving high school in a small town. Facing four more years of outrageous bullying, he attempts to cope with this harsh reality by creating imaginary
Visit us online www.sgn.org
friends of tabloid headliners rather than telling his parents. Tickets: $15 online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/647037 or $20 at the door, with a special Pay-What-You-Can Preview on Thursday, May 22. Fantastic.Z is a Northwest grown LGBT nonprofit theater company focusing on new and under produced works.
and valuable opportunities to enhance personal and professional development through social, educational, and philanthropic activities. Pre-registration: $10 members, $15 nonmembers, $10 students, walk-ins $5 more at the door. 206363-9188; www.thegsba.org.
May 23, 2014
Seattle Gay News 5
VELOCITY DANCE CENTER – “ORANGE” TRIANGLE RECREATION CAMP – A SHOW WITH PAT GRANEY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND AND FRIENDS CAMPOUT On Thursday, May 29 & Friday, May 30, at MAY 23-25 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., at Velocity Dance Center www.camptrc.org (1621 12th Ave.), enjoy an evening of dance works by Pat Graney with Jody Kuehner, MIRRIM 3D PORTRAITS – Shannon Stewart, Kaitlin McCarthy and JenA “TASTE OF MIRRIM” ny Peterson, Amelia Reeber. Tickets: $15 genOn Saturday, May 24, from 1-5 p.m., at eral; $12 senior. www.strangertickets.com. Calamus Auditorium at Gay City (517 E. Pike St.) see a demonstration of a new techGAY CITY ARTS – nology that creates 3D portraits. There will LEZ STAND UP be a door prize drawing for one free 1:12 size MAY 30-JUNE 1 (6”) Mirrim portrait valued at $250. http:// On Friday, May 30, through Sunday, mirrim3d.com. June 1, at 8 p.m., at Calamus Auditorium, Gay City Arts (517 E. Pike St.) presents Lez GSBA – Stand Up – may be the first comedy show YOUNG PROFESSIONALS ever that is Lesbian, feminist, AND funny. WITH PRIDE Featuring some of the best Queer comics in On Tuesday, May 27, from 5:30-7:30 the Pacific Northwest, bring a diaper, bep.m., at Mezcaleria Oaxaca Rooftop (422 cause you just might pee your pants! JoinE. Pine St.), the Greater Seattle Business ing the regular line up of Lez Stand Up will Association (GSBA), host a Young Pro- be local comics Elicia Sanchez, Danielle fessionals with Pride get-together. The Radford, Abbey Drake, and Sadie Blake. GSBA’s Young Professionals with Pride Tickets: $12. www.gaycity.org. is dedicated to providing Seattle’s LGBT see NW NEWS page 6 and allied young professionals unique
NW NEWS
continued from page 5 SEATTLE BUTOH FESTIVAL MAY 30-31 www.daipanbutoh.com SEATTLE EROTIC ART FESTIVAL MAY 30-31 & JUNE 1 SEATTLE CENTER EXHIBITION HALL Three days filled with the world’s finest erotic visual, installation, short film and literary art with performances, late night music, Sunday brunch and the festival store. www.seattleerotic.org PRIDE ASIA – RICE BALL 2014 On Saturday, May 31, doors at 6 p.m., show at 7 p.m., at Neighbours Nightclub (1509 Broadway), Pride Asia presents Rice Ball 2014, a fundraising event and show hosted by Miss U.T.O.P.I.A. 2014 Atasha Manila with 2012 Pride Idol winner Chase Silva. With keynote speaker Ms. Norma Timbang, music by DJ Bish of JKPop Seattle, and featuring many of Seattle’s fine drag entertainers, singers Jack Mozie and Yee-shin Huang, and more. Tickets: $20 advance via riceball2014.bpt.me; $25 at the door. Proceeds to benefit Seattle’s PrideASIA celebration. www.PrideASIA.org A RARE SCREENING OF THE CELLULOID CLOSET On Friday, June 6, at 7 p.m., at the Calamus Auditorium at Gay City (517 E. Pike St.), enjoy a rare screening of The Celluloid Closet. What That’s Entertainment did for movie musicals, The Celluloid Closet does for Hollywood homosexuality, as this exuberant, eye-opening movie serves up a dazzling hundred-year history of the role of Gay men and Lesbians on the silver screen. Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Curtis, Harvey Fierstein and Gore Vidal are just a few of the many actors, writers and commentators who provide funny and insightful anecdotes. Based on Vito Russo’s groundbreaking book on the history of the GLBT community’s portrayal in the movies. Admission is FREE. SEAMEC – SEEKING CANDIDATE EVALUATION INTERVIEWERS Get engaged in LGBTQ politics. Become a Volunteer SEAMEC Candidate Evaluation Interviewer! Election season is upon us once again, and it is time for our community to actively determine which candidates for public office are LGBTQ friendly. The Seattle Metropolitan Elections Committee (SEAMEC) is a non-partisan, all volunteer organization whose members are dedicated to rating candidates on how educated and amendable they are toward their LGBTQ constituents and their issues. SEAMEC needs volunteer candidate evaluation interviewers who can spare 3 hours on a weekday evening to ask our future leaders a whole lot of pointed questions, and rate them on their response. “We need about 20 interviewers who are available in the last three weeks in June. This is a great chance to get face time with future state legislators, judges, and members of the U.S. Congress. The interviews go in depth, but there is an opportunity for volunteers to ask their own questions at the end,” said a SEAMEC Board member. A high-ranking
6 Seattle Gay News
May 23, 2014
score from SEAMEC is much coveted by progressive and open-minded candidates. A volunteer orientation for prospective SEAMEC interviewers will be held on Saturday, June 7 from 3:30-5:30 p.m. at the Capitol Hill Branch of the Seattle Library located at 425 Harvard Avenue East. To get on the list of volunteers, call 206-666-8058 and leave a message, or email your name and phone number with a note that you would like to volunteer to seamec2014@gmail.com. THEATRE 22 – SUMMER PRIDE SERIES: THE LISBON TRAVIATA RICHARD HUGO HOUSE JUNE 6-28 Theatre22’s first annual SUMMER PRIDE SERIES presents The Lisbon Traviata, by Terrence McNally. Catty comedy meets operatic tragedy. Stephen adores Maria Callas and shares this obsession with his best friend, the wildly flamboyant opera queen, Mendy. They dish the latest gossip late into the night to distract Steven from a crumbling relationship with his longtime boyfriend. When Steven attempts to confront personal demons, his life takes on the scale of grand opera. The Lisbon Traviata is a story about Gay men in New York in 1985 when few had faith in the adage that love conquers all. Being rejected by a lover is painful for anyone. But for a middle-aged Gay male living in the age of AIDS, rejection is more than humiliation and hurt – it carries the threat of lifelong loneliness and celibacy, alleviated only by extremely risky sexual encounters. This threat is chilling, and the emotions it triggers are positively operatic in intensity. Wikepedia writes: “The Lisbon Traviata is a play by Terrence McNally initially written in 1985 and revised in 1989. “It focuses on two of the playwright’s favorite subjects, Gay relationships and Maria Callas, and includes one of his most memorable characters, flamboyantly bitchy and viciously wicked opera queen Mendy. Stephen, a depressed literary editor and opera fanatic, is on the verge of losing his doctor lover to a considerably younger Columbia University student. In Act I, he takes temporary refuge at the apartment of fellow opera aficionado Mendy to dish about divas, listen to records, and avoid thinking about his rapidly unravelling eight-year relationship. In Act II, he returns home to confront his unfaithful partner. “The play derives its title from an actual 1958 Callas production of La Traviata at Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in the Portuguese capital. Two thousand copies of an unauthorized recording made by a cast member during a live performance, despite their amateur quality, quickly became collector’s items among the diva’s fans. Stephen recently has acquired one, which he neglected to bring with him, and Mendy is obsessed with his going home to retrieve it.” Theatre22’s production opens on Friday, June 6, at 8 p.m., at Richard Hugo House (1634 11th Ave.) and runs Thursdays through Saturdays through June 28 at 8 p.m., with two matinees on Saturdays, June 21 and June 28 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets: $22-general admission; $14-senior/student/military; $10 TPS members. www. brownpapertickets.com/event/575647. www.theatre22.org.
Celebrating 41 Years!
U.S., U.N. mark International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia U.S. President Barack Obama and U.N. General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon were among the world leaders who observed the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on May 17. “As we commemorate the 10th annual International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, we recommit ourselves to the fundamental belief that all people should be treated equally, that they should have the opportunity to reach their fullest potential, and that no one should face violence or discrimination – no matter who they are or whom they love,” Obama said in a statement. “This year, the United States celebrates the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, and the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. “In doing so, we reflect on lessons learned from our own civil rights struggles and reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that the human rights of all people are universally protected. “At a time when, tragically, we are seeing increased efforts to criminalize or oppress LGBT persons, we call on partners everywhere to join us in defending the equal rights of our LGBT brothers and sisters, and in ensuring they are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.” In a separate statement, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pledged to “protect” LGBT rights “worldwide.” “We know that our work is not complete
when countries enact laws targeting LGBT persons and their supporters,” Kerry said. “We know that our work is not complete when LGBT persons and their allies are harassed, arrested, and even killed simply because of who they are and who they love. “When our LGBT brothers and sisters are threatened anywhere, it is a threat to freedom, justice and dignity of people everywhere. “The United States will continue to protect and promote the human rights of LGBT persons worldwide this day and every day. “Onward.” Neither the President nor the Secretary mentioned ENDA (the Employment NonDiscrimination Act), which would protect LGBT employees from discrimination on the job. The bill passed the U.S. Senate but is stalled in the House, and Obama has been under pressure from LGBT rights groups to issue an executive order barring discrimination by federal contractors. Vice President Joe Biden said he saw “no downside” to such an order, but White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said it would be “redundant.” U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon launched a new video to mark IDAHO (International Day Against Homophobia), and said on his blog that all countries should uphold human rights for LGBT people. “In all parts of the world today, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people experience discrimination in every aspect of daily life,” Ban wrote. “As children, too many are bullied by their peers, rejected by their own families, driven to drop out of school.
dayagainsthomophobia.org
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon
“As adults, too many suffer stigma, unfair treatment, even violence. “In 76 countries, having a partner of the same sex is even a prosecutable crime. People are arrested, imprisoned, and in some cases executed, just because they are in a loving relationship. “As Secretary-General of the U.N., I believe in and strive to achieve the world promised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a world rooted in tolerance, freedom and equality; a world where we are ALL free to live a life of dignity. “There are no exceptions. Human rights are for everyone, no matter who you are or
whom you love. “Changing people’s attitudes takes time, effort and perseverance. “It takes us all to speak up and speak out against homophobia, even when it’s presented as harmless fun or as an accepted cultural trait. It’s not. It’s discrimination. “And it’s our responsibility to fight it and to strive for a world that is truly free and equal.” Among other leaders who marked the day, the newly-elected President of Costa Rica flew the rainbow flag over his official residence in the capital, San Jose. Luis Guillermo Solis has been president only since May 8, representing the center-left Citizens Action Party.
Utah Supreme Court halts same-sex adoptions AP Photo / The Salt Lake Tribune, Keith Johnson
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes
Visit us online www.sgn.org
The Utah Supreme Court put a stop to adoptions by same-sex couples in an order issued May 16. The case is a spinoff of a federal challenge to Utah’s ban on same-sex marriages, involving a Lesbian couple married after U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby struck down the ban on December 20, and before the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the judge’s ruling on January 6. The couple subsequently obtained a court order allowing them to adopt a child. Neither the women nor the child are identified in court documents. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the federal government would recognize the 1,300 same-sex marriages performed during the December 20-January 6 window of opportunity, but Utah state officials said they would not. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes filed suit to prevent the state’s Department of Health from issuing adoption certificates to same-sex couples on the grounds that same-sex marriages are not recognized under state law. “The stay prevents further confusion as the district court order required the [health] department to list same-sex parents as the legal parents of an adoptive child,” the Reyes’s office said in a statement.
“The department sought clarification because the court orders appear to conflict with Utah law currently in effect, which prohibits the state and any state entities from recognizing same-sex marriages. “The attorney general’s office is encouraged that it will be able to present the department’s full arguments to the court so that these issues may be resolved to give people who seek adoption and the department clarity on the issues.” The couple’s attorney, Shane Marx, has filed a petition at a Salt Lake City court asking state officials to “show cause why they should not be held in contempt for their willful disregard and refusal to obey” the original adoption order. Reyes, Department of Health Director Dr. David Patton, and State Registrar Janice Houston were named in the petition. “The parents are the parents under Utah law,” said Clifford Rosky, Chair of Equality Utah and spokesperson for Marx. “They have an adoption, they have a court order that says they shall be named on the birth certificate, and the state of Utah is simply defying that court order.” The Utah Supreme Court’s action is temporary, and would be reversed if the Tenth Circuit Court issues a ruling upholding Shelby’s decision. The Tenth Circuit heard oral arguments on the case on April 20, but has not yet indicated when it will rule on the appeal.
May 23, 2014
Seattle Gay News 7
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
HRC Foundation releases inaugural edition of Equality Rising Report outlines major developments in 2013 in the Global Equality Movement
WASHINGTON – On Thursday, May 15, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation released the inaugural edition of Equality Rising, a brief overview of many of the successes and setbacks of LGBT activists, advocates, and allies around the world in 2013. Released in advance of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on May 17th, this report aims to educate the American public about many of the notable events from last year in the growing global equality movement. A copy of the report is available at www.hrc.org/equalityrising. “Despite entrenched homophobia and transphobia in many nations around the world, the global fight for LGBT equality made historic gains in 2013,” said Ty Cobb, director of global engagement for the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. “At the same time, last year included horrific new anti-LGBT laws as well as alarming trends in anti-LGBT harassment and violence. These serve as important reminders
of the many challenges ahead and the tremendous amount of work left to be done.” Equality Rising highlights victories for full marriage equality in five nations, progress in the fight for Transgender equality on at least four continents, as well as increased LGBT visibility broadly and tremendous acts of courage in nations as dangerous for LGBT people as Iran. The report also documents new anti-LGBT laws, ongoing persecution and violence, and efforts by extreme anti-LGBT Americans to export hateful rhetoric and misinformation abroad. A few highlights from the report include: More nations – Brazil, France, New Zealand, England and Wales in the United Kingdom, and Uruguay – opened the doors to marriage equality in 2013 than any year in history. These victories brought the total number of nations extending full marriage rights to all of its citizens to 16. Although millions of Transgender people around the world remain frequent targets for discrimination, at least eight nations on four
continents took tangible steps toward greater equality for Transgender and Intersex citizens. LGBT people have become more visible globally that ever before – in the workplace, on television, and running for office at the local, state, and national levels and winning. Nigeria, Russia, and Uganda passed laws in 2013 that inhibited the freedom of speech and association of LGBT people and their allies, with the law in Uganda allowing for life imprisonment as a punishment for “aggravated homosexuality.” In more than 80 countries, LGBT people are considered criminals for simply being who they are. They are frequently demonized for political gain, and they remain targets of harassment, arrest, violence, and in some cases, torture. Over the last several months, HRC has also focused on exposing Americans who are exporting anti-LGBT bigotry and promoting discriminatory laws in other nations. This includes reporting on American extremist
Scott Lively’s advocacy in Uganda, Eastern Europe and around the world, and highlighting the roles of the National Organization for Marriage, the Family Research Institute, and the World Congress of Families in advancing anti-LGBT legislation in Russia. “We’re increasingly seeing the fingerprints of American anti-LGBT extremists in many more nations. They’re exporting hate to countries on nearly every continent, and they’ve had a real impact where the global equality movement has experienced its greatest setbacks – Nigeria, Russia, and Uganda,” said Cobb. Equality Rising comes on the heels of last year’s announcement of HRC Foundation’s global engagement program, which is dedicated to joining advocates around the world in advancing global equality. The program aims to do so by educating Americans on the human rights of LGBT people around the world; exposing the work of prominent anti-Gay American organizations that have pushed anti-Gay laws and legislation overseas; leveraging its relationships with American policymakers, faith communities, corporations and other change agents to help protect the human rights of LGBT people abroad; and providing fellowships at HRC for foreign LGBT advocates. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender 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
Showdown: Federal judge orders Utah to recognize marriages
8 Seattle Gay News
May 23, 2014
wikipedia.org
In a move that could set up a showdown between federal and Utah state courts, U.S. District Court Judge Dale A. Kimball ordered Utah state officials on May 19 to recognize more than 1,000 same-sex marriages. The marriages were legally performed between December 20, when Federal District Judge Robert J. Shelby struck down the state ban on same-sex marriages, and January 6, when the U.S. Supreme Court stayed Shelby’s ruling pending a hearing by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said that the federal government will recognize the Utah marriages, but Utah state officials have refused to do so. In fact, the Utah Supreme Court ruled on May 16 that the marriages were not valid, at least as far as adoption rights go. Kimball is now the second federal judge to rule on marriages in Utah. He was nominated to the federal bench by Bill Clinton. In his ruling, Kimball wrote that “The State has placed Plaintiffs and their families in a state of legal limbo with respect to adoptions, child care and custody, medical decisions, employment and health benefits, future tax implications, inheritance, and many other property and fundamental rights associated with marriage. These legal uncer-
tainties and lost rights cause harm each day that the marriage is not recognized.” The lawsuit by couples seeking recognition of their marriages is separate from the original federal case challenging Utah’s marriage ban, which is now on appeal before the Tenth Circuit. While Kimball’s injunction is not a permanent order, it reflects his finding that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail on their legal claims and would suffer irreparable harm if the state refused to recognize their marriages. In his ruling, the judge gave Utah officials a 21-day stay to allow them to prepare a response. “Our clients, like over 1,000 other samesex couples, were legally married and those marriages cannot now be taken away from them,” said John Mejia, legal director of the ACLU of Utah. “While we await a permanent decision, we are relieved that our clients will receive the full recognition they deserve as lawfully married couples.” “We are grateful that the court has stepped in to prevent the state from stripping recognition from legally valid marriages that have already taken place,” said Joshua Block, staff attorney with the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project. “The court’s decision allows these committed couples to move forward with their lives with the same protections and security as any other married couples.”
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
Judge Dale A. Kimball
Celebrating 41 Years!
Two from the Ninth Circuit:
Court expedites Idaho hearing; rejects NOM plea on Prop 8 names The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals announced two decisions related to marriage rights on May 20. IDAHO In one, the court ordered expedited review of the state of Idaho’s appeal of a federal judge’s ruling striking down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. The judges set September 8 as the date for hearings in the case. U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy Dale ruled on May 13 that Idaho must allow Gay and Lesbian couples to marry. Idaho Governor Butch Otter and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden then appealed her decision and asked the Ninth Circuit for a stay pending hearings on the case. The court then granted the stay, but ordered an expedited review, based on their belief that Judge Dale’s ruling would be upheld. “I find it difficult to conclude that the Idaho ban on same-sex marriage would survive interim Ninth Circuit review,” Appellate Judge Andrew Hurwitz wrote. “We are very pleased that the court ordered expedited review and understood the critical importance and urgency of the issues in this case for Idaho’s same-sex couples and their children. We look forward to defending Judge Dale’s careful, thorough decision before the Ninth Circuit,” attorney Shannon Minter told the Spokane Spokesman-Review.
CALIFORNIA In the other decision, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit upheld the California law that requires disclosure of the names of donors to ballot measures. NOM challenged the law, hoping to keep the names of Prop 8 donors secret. In a 2-1 decision, the Ninth Circuit said that the disclosure law has long been established as a constitutional measure to inform the public about campaign financing, and the current suit is pointless because the donors’ names are already publicly known. The lone dissenting judge said that the court could consider requests for exemption from the law based on the claims of harassment made by NOM and its ally Protect Marriage. NOM Chairman and Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence attorney John Eastman represented his group in court. After the court’s decision he claimed a victory of sorts in a statement to reporters. “We’ve got people that have been shot at,” Eastman claimed. “We easily meet the Supreme Court’s standard for exemption from disclosure laws, and this court seems to recognize that.” Eastman noted the majority’s finding that the case might have ended differently had the plaintiffs appealed the denial of a preliminary injunction in 2009 before the names of Prop 8 donors were widely disseminated. “I think the opinion strongly suggests that we would have prevailed on such an effort,” Eastman said, adding that he may use the ruling in potential future challenges to Gay-marriage ballot initiatives in “half a dozen other states.”
Oregon
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Mary YU
continued from cover and a ringed finger. It does not, however, afford these very same rights to gay and lesbian couples who wish to marry within the confines of our geographic borders… “I am aware that a large number of Oregonians, perhaps even a majority, have religious or moral objections to expanding the definition of civil marriage (and thereby expanding the benefits and rights that accompany marriage) to gay and lesbian families. It was these same objections that led to the passage of Measure 36 in 2004. Generations of Americans, my own included, were raised in a world in which homosexuality was believed to be a moral perversion, a mental disorder, or a mortal sin. I remember that one of the more popular playground games of my childhood was called ‘smear the queer’ and it was played with great zeal and without a moment’s thought to today’s political correctness. On a darker level, that same worldview led to an environment of cruelty, violence, and self-loathing. It was but 1986 when the United States Supreme Court justified, on the basis of a ‘millennia of moral teaching,’ the imprisonment of gay men and lesbian women who engaged in consensual sexual acts. Bowers, 478 U.S. at 197 (Burger, C.J., concurring), overruled by Lawrence, 539 U.S. at 578. Even today I am reminded of the legacy that we have bequeathed today’s generation when my son looks dismissively at the sweater I bought him for Christmas and, with a roll of his eyes, says ‘dad ... that is so gay.’ “It is not surprising then that many of us raised with such a world view would wish to protect our beliefs and our families by turning to the ballot box to enshrine in
UANEWS.ORG
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
continued from cover law those traditions we have come to value. But just as the Constitution protects the expression of these moral viewpoints, it equally protects the minority from being diminished by them. “It is at times difficult to see past the shrillness of the debate. Accusations of religious bigotry and banners reading ‘God Hates Fags’ make for a messy democracy and, at times, test the First Amendment resolve of both sides. At the core of the Equal Protection Clause, however, there exists a foundational belief that certain rights should be shielded from the barking crowds; that certain rights are subject to ownership by all and not the stake hold of popular trend or shifting majorities. “My decision will not be the final word on this subject, but on this issue of marriage I am struck more by our similarities than our differences. I believe that if we can look for a moment past gender and sexuality, we can see in these plaintiffs nothing more or less than our own families. Families who we would expect our Constitution to protect, if not exalt, in equal measure. With discernment we see not shadows lurking in closets or the stereotypes of what was once believed; rather, we see families committed to the common purpose of love, devotion, and service to the greater community. “Where will this all lead? I know that many suggest we are going down a slippery slope that will have no moral boundaries. To those who truly harbor such fears, I can only say this: Let us look less to the sky to see what might fall; rather, let us look to each other ... and rise.”
Visit us online www.sgn.org
on juvenile justice that was presented at the Temple of Justice by the Washington State Minority & Justice Commission, of which Yu has been a co-chair. Yu was appointed by Governor Jay Inslee earlier this month. She replaces Justice James Johnson, who announced his retirement last month because of health issues. Governor Inslee said, in a written statement issued following the swearing-in ceremony, that Yu “will serve on our highest court with the same exceptional standards and unyielding sense of justice that have guided her throughout her life.” Yu boasts 14 years of trial court experience over a wide range of criminal, civil, family and juvenile cases. She has also lectured at Seattle University, served on the Board of Advisers of the Leadership Institute of the Washington State Bar Association, served on the Board of Directors of FareStart, an organization devoted to assisting homeless individuals develop job skills in the culinary industry, served on the State of Washington Minority and Justice Commission, and served on the Board of Directors, Future of the Law Institute, King County Bar Association, an organized effort to mentor young people from diverse backgrounds to consider the legal profession as a career. Among a list of accolades, Yu was recognized as “Judge of the Year” by the Washington State Association for Justice and as “Public Official of the Year” by the Municipal League Foundation. Additionally, she has received President’s Awards from both the Asian Bar Association as well as Washington Women Lawyers. Yu
is widely known for volunteering to officiate the vows of the first same-sex marriage in Washington, moments after the state’s marriage equality law went into effect. Her appointment will make her the first openly LGBT, first Asian-American, first Latina and first woman of color to serve on the state’s highest court. “It means everything,” Yu said following the event, noting that it was a good experience for the young attendees at the symposium to witness her taking her oath. “This is just a symbol for those young people on the panel. They can come here, too, and they could be a justice some day on this court.” As a superior court judge, when the state’s first Gay marriages started taking place around the state on December 9, 2012, she officiated over the first King County marriage just after midnight. Washington State law requires that Yu must win election to the state’s highest court in November 2014 in order to retain her seat for the remainder of Justice Johnson’s term, which ends in January 2017. The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, the nation’s largest funding resource for openly LGBT individuals in politics, has endorsed Mary Yu for Washington State Supreme Court Justice. “Mary Yu’s appointment shattered many glass ceilings,” said Chuck Wolfe, President and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. “Her experience and judicial knowledge make her the most deserving of a seat on the bench, and we are proud to endorse her campaign.”
May 23, 2014
Seattle Gay News 9
10
Seattle Gay News
May 23, 2014
Celebrating 41 Years!
Visit us online www.sgn.org
May 23, 2014
Seattle Gay News 11
12
Seattle Gay News
May 23, 2014
Celebrating 41 Years!
Visit us online www.sgn.org
May 23, 2014
Seattle Gay News 13
14
Seattle Gay News
May 23, 2014
Celebrating 41 Years!
MoSS Alley MotorS, Inc. SpecialiStS in VolVo, Honda, toyota and Subaru
932 12th ave. Seattle, Wa 98122 (206).325--.3992 www.mossalley.com Seattle’s most progressive auto shop!
Visit us online www.sgn.org
May 23, 2014
Seattle Gay News 15
First-Day-of-Issue Dedication Ceremony for the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp held at the White House on May 22
courtesy of
On Thursday, May 22, at 3 p.m., the White House Office of Public Engagement, the United States Postal Service and the Harvey Milk Foundation hosted a first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony for the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp at the White House. Attending the ceremony will be: Ambassador Samantha Power, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations; Representative Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader; Senator Tammy Baldwin; Representative John Lewis; Evan Low, City Councilmember, Campbell, CA; Ronald A. Stroman, Deputy Postmaster General; Stuart Milk, Founder and President, Harvey Milk Foundation; Anne Kronenberg, Co-Founder, Harvey Milk Foundation; Chuck Wolfe, President and CEO, Gay & Lesbian Victory Institute; Mary Lambert, Singer-Songwriter. For more information on the stamp, please visit: http://about.usps.com/news/ national-releases/2014/pr14_026.htm Courtesy of The White House Office of Communications
Dedication Ceremony for the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp
Remarks by Ambassador Samantha Power, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, at the White House’s Harvey Milk Forever Stamp Dedication, May 22, 2014 Totally humbled to be among you. I look out at the audience and you are the people who have worked to create so much progress. I’m truly, truly moved to be here today. I work for a President – I get to work for a President – who is identified with two words: hope and change. But it is hard to think of words that more succinctly describe Harvey Milk: the leader, the activist, the fighter, the elected official. Hope and change is about a deeply held and proud American tradition: a tradition of toil to ensure the triumph of progress; a tradition of love winning out over fear. Hope and change. Congressman John Lewis knows something about hope and he knows something about change. He did not imagine an America where black people could just sit at the same lunch counter; he envisaged an America where black people could lead in our Congress and, indeed, lead the country. And he went out and fought like hell to make it happen. That is change. Senator Tammy Baldwin knows something about hope and change. She wanted to be a United States Senator. She didn’t care that there had never before been an out LGBT person elected to the U.S. Senate – in her own words, she didn’t run to make history; she ran to make a difference. But thanks to her, no young person will ever have to wonder whether a gay person can be elected to the Senate. They have Tammy Baldwin. We have Tammy Baldwin. That is change. And, the intrepid Leader Nancy Pelosi knows something about hope and change. She envisaged an America where people had
access to quality, affordable healthcare, and where brave men and women can fight for the country they love, regardless of who they love. And, with President Obama, she made that happen. That is change. [Applause.] Hope is about envisioning a world where it is simply not okay to execute people on the basis of their sexual orientation, as is legal in seven countries. Change is about ensuring that homophobic countries, who seek to eliminate “sexual orientation” from the United Nations resolution on extrajudicial executions, fail. And thanks to President Obama’s leadership they have. Hope is about envisioning a world where LGBT persons have a seat at the table. Change is about ensuring that organizations dedicated to advancing LGBT rights enjoy the same privileges and accreditations at the United Nations as any other organization. And thanks to President Obama’s leadership, they now do. Hope is about envisioning a global consensus that LGBT rights are human rights, and human rights are LGBT rights. Change is about passing the first U.N. resolution in history that recognizes that. And under President Obama we have. Hope is about envisioning a world where promoting LGBT rights is a central part of our foreign policy. Change is about the President of the United States directing his entire government to do just that. And he has. Hope is about envisioning a world where leaders do not target their most vulnerable citizens with laws that criminalize their exis-
16
May 23, 2014
Seattle Gay News
tence, as is true, now, in 76 countries around the world, including Nigeria and Uganda, where new legislation, further targeting LGBT individuals, was signed into law earlier this year. Change is about standing up to them when they do. And under President Obama we have. Hope and change is about envisioning a world that is fairer, kinder, more just – not just for some people, but for all people. Hope and change is about being more like John Lewis, more like Tammy Baldwin, more like Nancy Pelosi, and more like Harvey Milk. Today each of us has come to the White House to honor a man who refused to accept anything short of equality. He was impatient with excuses. He was intolerant of injustice. He demanded dignity for himself and for all Americans. In so doing, he helped to make America more fair, more just, and more equal. In short, Harvey Milk made America more American. There will always be the cynics amongst us who mock the power of hope and the promise of change. “Hope will never be silent,” Harvey Milk told them. And his legacy is a reminder that hope is never to be mocked. For the millions of gay people in this country who can now choose to serve their country openly and proudly, hope and change has real meaning. For the millions of gay people in this country who can now enjoy the same federal benefits as their straight colleagues, hope and change has real meaning. For the millions of young people in this
country who for the first time have leaders committed to ending bullying rather than seeking to codify inequality in the Constitution, hope and change has real meaning. Hope and change is not a campaign slogan. It is a call to action. A call that Harvey Milk embodied, a cause he died for, and a crusade that we all must pledge to carry on. But in our celebration and pride about how far we have come – as we unveil stamps commemorating those who made this possible – we cannot lose sight of how far we have yet to go. While we now do live in an age where the National Football League has, for the first time, drafted an openly gay man, we still live in an age where the National Football League can fire him for being gay. Postage stamps will not change that. Legislation will. Supervisor Milk liked to begin his speeches by saying, “My name is Harvey Milk and I am here to recruit you.” For those who raise your voices in the face of intolerance, who speak up for equality, who fight for the vulnerable, you are continuing the work of a great American, an American we honor today with a stamp, but whose work will forever live in the freedoms he helped protect, the equality he helped advance, the Constitutional principles and promise he helped render real for all Americans, not just some. Harvey Milk, you have recruited us. And we will be forever grateful. And we will be forever changed. Thank you. Courtesy of the White House Office of Communications
Celebrating 41 Years!
Indian election: Disaster for LGBT community The landslide victory of the right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India’s month-long general election was a disaster for the governing Congress Party, but an even greater disaster for the country’s LGBT community. BJP leader and now Prime Minister Narendra Modi has long opposed legal protections for LGBT Indians. During the election, a group of Modi supporters handed out bumper stickers bearing the message “Who will you choose? Cow protection or Gay protection.” The stickers feature a portrait of Narendra Modi as well as the BJP’s lotus flower symbol. Although only the small reform party, Aam Aadami, campaigned for LGBT rights, Indian human rights activists denounced the stickers on social media. “Because cows are important to our economy and humans aren’t,” one person Tweeted. “A preview of what’s coming…no more vdays no pubs no short dresses for girls no freedom,” another said, referring to BJP’s well-known Puritanism. “If Narendra Modi doesn’t approve of this hate mongering by his party members, he should come clean against it,” LGBT activist Harish Iyer said. “A prime ministerial candi-
date who cannot take a stand for minorities, when his own party men make caustic homophobic remarks is a threat to humanity. His silence implies that he stands against the tenets of equal rights for all citizens of the nation.” But BJP party president Rajnath Singh did not retreat from the party’s anti-Gay stance. In fact, Singh emphasized during the election campaign that the party supports recriminalization of Gay sex. India’s Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that same-sex relations were constitutionally protected, but the court reversed itself in December last year. Even more worrisome is BJP’s association with the most thuggish elements of India’s extreme right, the paramilitary Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS. It was an RSS member who assassinated Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi in 1948 for advocating equal rights for India’s Muslim minority, and Modi is reportedly a lifetime member of the group. In fact, Indian Muslims may have even more to fear from Modi and the RSS than Gay people. As governor of Gujarat state since 2001, Modi has been accused of inflaming tensions between the Hindu majority and the Muslim minority. In 2002 RSS members rioted, murdering perhaps 1,000 Muslims, but Modi did nothing to stop them or protect Muslim citizens.
AFP
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
French Catholics short of cash; ask parishioners to Adopt-a-Priest DIOCESES DE NORMENDIE
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Catholic Church in France is offering its parishioners the chance to “Adopt-aPriest” in an attempt to raise funds, the news agency Agence France Presse (AFP) reports. According to the AFP website 20 Minutes, the Adopt-a-Priest campaign was initiated by six Catholic dioceses in Normandy and is modeled on the popular dating website Adopt-a-Guy.
Designed by an advertising agency, the campaign targets users between 18 and 40 years of age, “to encourage them to donate to the church,” Father Xavier Signagout, Vicar General of the diocese of Bayeux, told 20 Minutes. Visitors to the Church website first see the smiling face of a young man dressed as a priest. His photo is captioned “divine product, enter now.” By clicking the photo, visitors access additional pages promising “New Promotion: young seminarians,” or “Sale
Visit us online www.sgn.org
50% off / retired pastor, still very active,” with the photo of an older man. Visitors are then given the option “To support the mission of your priest, instead of adopting give us a donation.” Donations of 10, 80, or 100 Euros are suggested, for a meal, travel expenses, or one day’s salary. “A one day mission to preach the gospel, spread the love of God, unite lovers, accompany the spiritual life, bury loved ones ... Your pastor has a varied daily schedule. For these missions, he receives remuneration paid by
your donations,” the website explains. The light-hearted tone of the site belies a very serious funding problem for the French church. According to the leftist French newspaper Liberation, donations from the faithful are one of the French Catholic Church’s main sources of income. The diocese of Rouen, for example, reported 15,000 regular donors in 2013, but loses 500-700 each year, and needs remaining donors to be increasingly generous.
May 23, 2014
Seattle Gay News 17
Penn
continued from cover At least one Pennsylvania couple has already married. Pamela VanHaitsma and Jess Garrity of Pittsburgh were married by a state judge on May 21, hours before Corbett announced his decision. Pennsylvania requires a three-day waiting period before a couple with a marriage license can wed, but a county judge agreed to waive it, the couple’s attorney, Sam Hens-Greco, said. Jones struck down Pennsylvania’s marriage laws on May 20. He was appointed to the federal bench by George W. Bush, and, ironically, was recommended for the post by then Senator Rick Santorum. “[W]e hold that Pennsylvania’s Marriage Laws violate both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” Jones wrote in his opinion. “Because these laws are unconstitutional, we shall enter an order permanently enjoining their enforcement. By virtue of this ruling, same-sex couples who seek to marry in Pennsylvania may do so, and already married same-sex couples will be recognized as such in the Commonwealth. “The issue we resolve today is a divisive one. Some of our citizens are made deeply uncomfortable by the notion of same-sex marriage. However, that same-sex marriage causes discomfort in some does not make its prohibition constitutional. Nor can past tradition trump the bedrock constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection. Were that not so, ours would still be a racially segregated nation according to the now rightfully discarded doctrine of ‘separate but equal.’ In the sixty years since Brown [v. Board of Education] was decided, ‘separate’ has thankfully faded into history, and only ‘equal’ remains. Similarly, in future generations, the label same-sex marriage will be abandoned, to be replaced simply by marriage.
“We are a better people than what these laws represent, and it is time to discard them into the ash heap of history.” Attorney General Kane hailed the decision as “historic.” “This is an historic day,” she said in a statement. “More importantly, today brings justice to Pennsylvanians who have suffered from unequal protection under the law because of their sexual orientation. When state-sponsored inequality exists, citizens are deprived of the full protections that the Constitution guarantees. Our Commonwealth progressed today and so have the hopes and dreams of many who suffer from inequality.” The case decided by Jones was brought on behalf of 23 plaintiffs by the ACLU and is only one of seven same-sex marriage cases under consideration by courts in Pennsylvania. The state also dropped its suit against Montgomery County Register of Wills, D. Bruce Hanes, barring him from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. “What a great day!” said Mark Aronchick, one of the lawyers for plaintiffs in the case. “The court, in a bell-ringing opinion, has explained in crystal clear language why the promises of our Constitution extend to all Pennsylvanians. We urge the commonwealth to take whatever steps are necessary to allow marriages to proceed and the celebrations to begin immediately.” “I’m in shock,” Stephen Miller told reporters as he waited in line for a license to marry his partner Jim Devanty in Pittsburgh. “In a way, I never thought I’d live to see the day when Jim and I could get married.” In a March Quinnipiac University poll of Pennsylvania voters, 57% of respondents said they supported a law allowing same-sex couples to marry, while 37% opposed it. The poll results trended along party lines: 74% of Democrats supported same-sex marriage, while 59% of Republicans opposed it.
Pennsylvania
Legal Services MARTIN SJOLIE Over 20 Years Experience
Last Will, Power of Attorney & Health Care Directive (Living Will)
$500.00/Person or $750.00/Couple for complete, personalized services.
(206) 841–1373 www.sjolielaw.com
Auto accidents, DUI, Small business needs.
18
Seattle Gay News
May 23, 2014
Celebrating 41 Years!
Religion & Spirituality www.sgn.org
Health and Personal Services
www.sgn.org
Visit us online www.sgn.org
May 23, 2014
Seattle Gay News 19
Let us all be “fighting mad” For Al B. Feldstein, who now writes from Heaven Al B. Feldstein, past editor of Mad Magazine, passed away on April 29, 2014 at the gleaming age of 88 years old. He grew up in the same area of New York that my father grew up in, the Flatbush part of Brooklyn. After a discharge from the Air Force, Feldstein freelanced for Fox comic books. Eventually, he turned to his previous editor, Bill Gaines. He then spent the next 29 years as the editor of Mad Magazine. The circulation at the time Al B. Feldstein took over was about 325,000 to 750,000 in 1956. By the 1960s, it had increased to more than
a million. By the 1970s, the circulation had climbed to over 2 million. Mad Magazine was spoken of to be “full of indisputably clever spitball stories.” I, myself, grew up with Mad Magazine. To read a Mad Magazine was to read something very anti-establishment at the time. I found that I invariably experienced a thrill at reading all my favorite T.V. shows being lampooned beyond belief. This made laughs come very heartily from our radical throats. I remember one story making fun of Mary Tyler Moore that called her show “The Mary Taylor Made Show” and had her doing a 3:00 p.m. wardrobe change! Another memory of Mad Magazine was me getting a piece of acetate included with it, called “It’s a Gas!” No, this wasn’t any “Jumpin’ Jack Flash, it’s a gas, gas!”
made famous by the Rolling Stones! This tune had Mad Magazine mascot, Alfred E. Newman soloing on “It’s a Gas!” He would sing a verse, then heartily burp at the beginning of each line! What other Mad Magazine memories do I recall? I remember a send up Mad Magazine did on Easy Rider, only they called it Sleazy Rider! Rest in peace, Al B. Feldstein. Your magazine continues to be as irreverent as the day you first published it in 1956. All I can say is, I will continue to reply with this pearl gotten from Mad Magazine’s “Answers to Stupid Questions.” “Does this elevator go up?” “No, it goes sideways!” You can tell I always will go madly for Mad Magazine, and it will not drive me mad. To reference Socrates, an ancient Greek Philosopher, Mad Magazine needs no Apology!
AP Photo / Jerry Mosey
by Sugie SGN Contributing Writer
Al Feldstein
HOME & SPECIALIZED SERVICES
Gary D. TorGerson Co. Expert Painting and Repairs Rot Repair: siding, doors, windows, porches and decks. Lead-Safe Certified
See photographs of our work at www.TorgersonCompany.com Email: info@torgersoncompany.com Contractor Registration #: GARYDTC134CJ Phone: 206-781-0999
20
Seattle Gay News
www.sgn.org
May 23, 2014
Celebrating 41 Years!
New CDC campaign inspires life-saving conversations about HIV
“Start Talking. Stop HIV.” promotes candid discussions among Gay and Bisexual men
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today launched Start Talking. Stop HIV., a new national communication campaign encouraging Gay and Bisexual men to talk openly with their sexual partners about HIV risk and prevention strategies. Although research suggests that open communication leads to behaviors that can help reduce risk, such as HIV testing and status disclosure, studies have found that important discussions about HIV do not occur within many relationships. “Given the range of HIV prevention options available today, talking about HIV prevention has never been more important for Gay and Bisexual men,” said Jona-
than Mermin, M.D., M.P.H., director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. “Only after having open and honest conversations can partners make informed choices about which strategies will work for them. Start Talking. Stop HIV. urges Gay and Bisexual men to break the silence and take control of their health.” Men who have sex with men (MSM) – including those who inject drugs – continue to be the group most severely affected by HIV in the United States, accounting for more than half (57 percent) of the 1.1 million people living with HIV and approximately two-thirds (66 percent) of all new HIV infections each year. Young (ages 13-24) MSM, especially young black MSM, are at particularly high risk for HIV. Despite this heavy burden, a recent CDC study of Gay and Bisexual men in 20 cities found that 37 percent did not know the HIV status of their last male partner. Start Talking. Stop HIV., created in consultation with more than 500 Gay and Bisexual men, is designed to reach Gay and Bisexual men of all races and ethnicities
in all types of relationships, from casual to long-term. Featuring real-world individuals and couples, the campaign – which includes online and print advertisements, as well as social media outreach and online videos – encourages Gay and Bisexual men to talk to their sexual partners about HIV testing and their HIV status; safer sex, including using condoms and engaging in lower risk sexual behaviors; medicines that can prevent and those that can successfully treat HIV; and healthy relationships. The Start Talking. Stop HIV. campaign website features information and resources as well as practical tips for starting conversations about safe sex and HIV. The campaign will also be featured at Gay pride events and other community activities across the country. “Talking to your partner about HIV is one of the most important conversations you can have, but it’s not always an easy one,” said Scott Johnson, a campaign participant. “To anybody getting into a new relationship: Start talking immediately. There’s no reason to be embarrassed or silent about anything.”
Start Talking. Stop HIV. is the latest campaign of CDC’s Act Against AIDS initiative, a national communication campaign to combat complacency about HIV in the United States. The campaign helps advance the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which calls for decreasing the number of new infections, reducing stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV, and educating Americans about the threat of HIV and how to prevent it. Other elements of the Act Against AIDS initiative include Reasons/Razones, a campaign targeted to Latino Gay and Bisexual men, and Testing Makes Us Stronger, a campaign targeted to African American Gay and Bisexual men. For more information about Start Talking. Stop HIV., please visit http:// w w w. c d c . g o v / a c t a g a i n s t a i d s / c a m paigns/starttalking/index.html. Courtesy of the White House Office of Communications and the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
HRC’s statement on the launch of CDC’s New Start Talking. Stop HIV. campaign WASHINGTON – [On Wednesday, May 21] the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) launched Start Talking, Stop HIV, a new national HIV prevention campaign encouraging Gay and Bisexual men to talk openly and honestly about HIV. “It’s time to turn the volume up on HIV prevention. The virus is disproportionately affecting Gay and Bisexual men and Transgender women – particularly in communities of color,” said Jeff Krehely, HRC’s Vice President & Chief Foundation Officer Jeff Krehely. He added, “We commend the CDC for launching this campaign and look forward to working with them and others to raise awareness about HIV prevention and treatment and to end the stigma fueling this epidemic.”
HRC has long been involved in the fight to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic, particularly in the federal policy arena. With the creation of the Health & Aging Program last year, HRC is intensifying its efforts and engaging the public and the LGBT community around HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and efforts to reduce stigma. The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender 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 the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) – www.hrc.org
Visit us online www.sgn.org
May 23, 2014
Seattle Gay News 21
22
Seattle Gay News
May 23, 2014
Celebrating 41 Years!
Visit us online www.sgn.org
May 23, 2014
Seattle Gay News 23