Celebrating 42 Years! Issue 48 Volume 44
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Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
The 13th Annual Stronger Mayor Ed Murray signs Together World AIDS Day new City budget – Breakfast is December 1 Includes money for LGBT, Capitol Hill projects
Image courtesy of gaycity.org
Seven of Seattle’s preeminent non-profit AIDS services providers have joined together in a powerful collaboration: the 13th Annual Stronger Together World AIDS Day Breakfast. The largest benefit of its kind in the Northwest, the breakfast is a
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray – Photo courtesy of knkx.org
fundraiser for Gay City: Seattle’s LGBTQ Center, Seattle Counseling Service, and CareTeams, a program of Samaritan Center of Puget Sound, with support from Africansee WORLD AIDS DAY page 6
DATELINE:
London, England: Convicted killer found four victims on Grindr
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Seattle Mayor Ed Murray signed the new 2017-2018 City budget on November 22 at a ceremony in City Hall’s seventh-
So long as men can be cruel it can be dangerous to hookup. Heavy cruising by Gay men didn’t start with iPhone apps. Regardless, no matter how much as little boys
we were told not to talk to strangers or go home with someone we did not know, many Gay and Bisexual men do just that on phone apps like Scruff, Grindr, and others that use GPS tracking to inform users just how close see DATELINE page 15
see MURRAY page 9
West Hollywood Pink Pistols chapter: “LGBT citizens should arm themselves”
Photo courtesy of Pink Pistols Seattle
Stephen Port found guilty on four accounts of murder – Photo courtesy of fakt.pl
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor
floor conference room. The $5.4 billion budget passed the City Council the previous day on an 8-to-1 vote. Included in the budget are a number of
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Guns and Gays go together like oil and water, right? Not so, claim the LGBT members of the Pink Pistols. They claim that statement is not only wrong – it’s downright
dangerous. The gun-wielding Gays say a Donald Trump presidency is not a time to bluff. The Pink Pistolers assert their Second Amendment constitutional right to legally carry a gun. see PINK PISTOLS page 17
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Trump as easy as 1, 2, 3 & LGBT Community by Mark Segal Philadelphia Gay News 1. Trump is President-elect. If that angers or frightens you, don’t get upset, get involved. 2. What are the signs we in the LGBT community should be looking for? Trump has already made the statement that marriage equality is already the law of the land (in a “60 Minutes” interview last Sunday). But how about the Equality Act so that members of our community are not discriminated against? The reality is that, un-
less the Republican Congress decides it’s on their list, it will die – unless that organization I mentioned above begins to concentrate on those Republicans. What about all those executive orders that President Obama signed to give our community what relief he could without the Equality Act? The President-elect had promised during the campaign to undo all of Obama’s EOs on the first day. Does he actually do that, or do he and his staff understand that some of the orders have value? The same holds true for department directives issued under the Obama admin-
istration. This is where whom he appoints affects all of us. Will there be any LGBT appointments to high-level positions in a Trump administration? Or are we to be invisible again in government? And what about the small things like Pride? Will there be an LGBT Pride reception in June in the White House? That might sound silly, but I must admit as one who has been fighting against our community’s invisibility for almost 50 years now and who has been at a number of see MARK MY WORDS page 6
AFTERSHOCK – WHAT’S NEXT? by Janice Van Cleve Special to the SGN At first we were shocked. The unfathomable, the incomprehensible had happened. Donald Trump took the most electoral votes and became the President-elect. Stunned and hurt, we stumbled around in a daze. Some gave vent to their dismay by protesting in the streets. Others soaked their anguish at the Hothouse Spa. We passed through the 5 stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Hillary expressed the pain we all were feeling ten days after the election when she said, “There have been a few times this week when all I wanted to do was just to curl up with a good book, or our dogs, and never leave the house again.” She has given so much for so long and to face a blunt rejection in favor of a narcissistic racist demagogue is just too hard a blow from which to get up again. I admit I am still numb. Yet as we struggle to come to terms with this disaster, we see three dangers into which we must not fall: 1. Surrender and hunker down and hide from the awful reality. We cannot allow ourselves to do this. Germans did this in the 1930s
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and their own narcissistic racist demagogue destroyed their country and most of Europe. 2. Pretend Trump will change or at least surround himself with better people. This is a fool’s hope. His first appointments show he will open the door to the most loathsome rightwing nuts. Lt. General Michael Flynn will be the national security advisor. He was fired by Obama for bad management and ruthless hated of all Muslims. Mike Pompeo will be the CIA director. He wants to expand domestic surveillance by creating a universal database combining phone records, finance, and lifestyle information (Washington Post). Jeff Sessions will be attorney general. He is an outspoken racist. Stephen Bannon will be Trump’s strategist and senior counselor. He was the head of Breitbart News, an Alt-Right publication outspokenly racist and sexist. Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court appointments will radically turn SCOTUS into a right wing bastion for decades. 3. Argue among ourselves about what should be our priorities and undercut each other in self serving squabbles about who has the right answer. Our leaders urge us to organize, but too often that means creating yet another organization when we already have
perfectly good ones currently doing the work. So what can we do? Senator Elizabeth Warren had an answer on Rachel Maddow’s show: “Choose one issue that you really care about and then get involved with local organizations that fight for that issue.” It shouldn’t be hard to find an issue, since Trump has attacked so many of them. There’s LGBTQ protection, Immigrant support, Homeless sheltering, Climate change, Reproductive rights, Freedom From Religion, and many more. Go to Standing Rock to protest the oil pipeline. Donate to Planned Parenthood. Get involved with Equal Rights Washington. With just a little Internet research you will find a local organization fighting for issues you care about. If a friend is passionate about an issue different from yours, don’t try to convert them, encourage them. Our local progressive organizations are on the right side of history and we will survive and succeed caring for each other right here at home. Above all, do not be silent. Silence still = death.
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Janice Van Cleve PCO 37/1875 www.jvox.doodlekit.com
and my family. That’s nothing compared
it well. Powered with the new openness
you, but we’ve been here before and we know how to fight back if necessary. We were here and fought back during Nixon, Reagan and Bush. We’re stronger now and more organized.” Which led me to understand why I and I’m guessing all those in our community over 50 years of age and older look at this a little differently. We remember when we were invisible, we remember feeling helpless. We then organized, and we did
Front, the president no longer had our silence. Most important of these was Reagan, who during the early days of HIV/ AIDS felt that sting of ACT UP and the organized pressure of newly formed organizations to sustain that battle. And that is the answer: Get involved. If this shock creates one thing, it might very well end the apathy of our community and the realization that our struggle is not simply having cocktail parties and chatting
with office holders. It’s doing what this
what your community must feel.” The and visibility and more importantly the community did well, but no longer does: MARK MY WORDS towords just flowed out of my mouth: “Thank radicalization brought by Gay Liberation
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those receptions, I almost felt like we were no longer invisible, as we were before our struggle gained momentum after Stonewall. Which brings me to: 3. The other day I went to pick up my lunch from a place I often visit and where I know the staff well. When I arrived, a staffer said to me: “Last week [referring to the Trump election], I felt really sad for myself
Getting in their faces and not allowing them to forget us. That is the lesson of ending invisibility. We are an incredible community. Have trust in each other, and get involved.
Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nation’s most-award-winning commentator in LGBT media. His recently published memoir, And Then I Danced, is available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or at your favorite bookseller.
POCAAN hosts First Annual Legends Gala and Awards Dinner on Dec. 9 Since 1987, POCAAN has been fighting for communities of color that are affected by HIV/AIDS. On Friday, December 9, POCAAN will present their First Annual Legends Gala and Awards Dinner @ 7pm, at the Northwest African American Museum, 2300 S. Massachusetts St., in Seattle. The gala will become Seattle’s premier event to celebrate the contributions of communities of color within the Pacific Northwest, as well as raise money to support POCAAN’s justice work here in Washington state. The gala evening includes a VIP cocktail reception, dinner, awards presentation and live entertainment, followed by a dance. “It’s an extraordinary opportunity to honor community advocates, have a great meal and experience stellar artists in an intimate setting.” The event also seeks to recognize outstanding individuals and organizations that continue to empower com-
munities on the margin and fight for health and socio-economic equity. Admission for the full evening of events is free but the suggested donation is $100 per person. Proceeds from the Legends Gala and Awards Dinner are designated to our HIV/ AIDS outreach. Donations will go to funding our 2017 Same Gender Loving Men of Color and our Women and Girls initiatives. POCAAN is committed to fighting for health equity for communities of color here in Washington state. Each year we will nominate people and organizations from a wide range of backgrounds including, the LGBTQ, African American, Hispanic, Native American and Asian American communities. This event along with your support will assist POCAAN as it furthers its mission to embrace and mobilize communities of color by providing the necessary tools to promote personal responsibility for
health and holistic well-being.
WORLD AIDS DAY
Epamynonda of People of Color Against AIDS Network (POCAAN). Our community’s progress in responding to HIV has been remarkable. 92% of Gay men living with HIV in King County have been diagnosed. Of those people, 74% are virally suppressed, meaning that they are engaged in treatment sufficient to bring their viral load to undetectable levels, making it nearly impossible for them to transmit the virus to others. The rate of new HIV diagnoses in King County is down 23% from 10 years ago. These numbers are extraordinary, the best of any city in the United States and quite possibly the world. “Washington state is leading
the fight against HIV/AIDS, in no small part due to strong partnerships. In order to achieve our goal of reducing new infections in Washington by 50 percent by 2020, we must continue to work together. Now is the right time to end AIDS in Washington,” says Washington State Secretary of Health John Wiesman, who is delivering the keynote address at the breakfast. King County has achieved these extraordinary results through the combined efforts of partner agencies, and through the generous support of community members. This breakfast is an opportunity for supporters to make the strongest impact possible by supporting this entire network
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American Reach and Teach Health Ministry (AARTH), Center for Multi-Cultural Health, Lifelong and Seattle Area Support Groups & Community Center (SASG). This year’s event, emceed by KOMO 4 News anchor Molly Shen, will be held at the Sheraton Seattle, 1400 6th Avenue, on Thursday, December 1, 2016 from 8am to 9am, with registration starting at 7:30am. The event will recognize the achievements of long-time HIV/AIDS community activist Tony Radovich, and Phyllis Little-
POCAAN EQUITY AWARDS HONOREES: Our honorees and their categories for this year are as follows: • Mrs. Phyllis Little-Epamynondas – POCAAN’s Advocate of the Year Award. Phyllis is former Executive Director of POCAAN with twenty-six years of service. • Mr. Kenny Joe McMullen – POCAAN’s Equity Awards for Community Engagement. Kenny Joe works as a Community Health Worker at Seattle Neighborhood House. • Mrs. Vanessa Grandberry – POCAAN’s Equity Awards for Transgender Advocacy. Vanessa works as a Case Manager with the Center for Multi-Cultural Health. • Mrs. Maria Enriquez Lindsey – POCAAN’s Equity Awards for Advocacy
& Support. Maria is retired. She was POCAAN’s very first receptionist and also worked as a case manager with the Konnect II program. Mr. Hiram Calf-Looking – POCAAN’s Equity Awards for Transgender Advocacy. Hiriam works as a longtime advocate for transgender justice. 1ST ANNUAL GALA CORPORATE SPONSORS: • AIDS Healthcare Foundation • Gilead Science • Seattle Pride Foundation • HomeStreet Bank Registration is open now at http://www. pocaan.org/events.html. For more information on the Gala, call 206.322.7061. Courtesy of POCAAN of AIDS service providers in Seattle. Last year the event brought in over $100,000 for the combined agencies, which provided those living with HIV/AIDS care, support and most importantly – hope. The breakfast will honor those lost, help those who are living with HIV/AIDS, and celebrate the power of community in making a difference. While the breakfast is complimentary, the event is a fundraiser. All guests are encouraged to consider a minimum gift or pledge of $150 to the partner organization(s) of their choice. Register now at: www.strongertogetherseattle.com.
DelBene introduces bill to prohibit Muslim registry by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Washington Rep. Suzan DelBene has introduced a bill to bar federal officials from setting up a registry that would classify Americans on the basis of their religion. DelBene, who represents the 1st Congressional District, introduced the measure November 21, after Reince Priebus, soon to be White House Chief of Staff under Donald Trump, refused to rule out a registry of Muslims. The bill would cover both US citizens and lawful immigrants, and restricts actions by the US Attorney General and other federal officials. “President-elect Donald Trump is breaking his promise to be a president for all Americans by supporting the creation of a Muslim registry,” DelBene said in a statement. “This kind of xenophobic and hateful rhetoric has no place in our government. “My bill would prohibit the (incoming) administration from violating the
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Washington Rep. Suzan DelBene – Photo courtesy of alchetron.com
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constitutional rights of Americans because everybody should be treated equally under our laws.” According to DelBene’s statement, cosponsor Rep. Doris Matsui of California was born in 1944 in a Japanese-American internment camp in Arizona. The legislation faces an uncertain future in a Congress controlled by Republicans. On November 20, Priebus told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Trump is not actively planning a Muslim registry but refused to rule one out. “Look, I am not going to rule out anything,” Priebus said. “We’re not going to have a registry based on religion. But what I think I am trying to do is say, there are some people, certainly not all people . . . there are some people that are radicalized. And there are some people who have to be prevented from coming into this country.” Meanwhile, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the architect of the George W. Bush administration’s Muslim registry, met with Trump November 21.
Kobach built what was called the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) while an official in the Bush Justice Department. NSEERS required men aged 16 and over from specified countries – almost all of them predominantly Muslim – to register in person, be fingerprinted, and be questioned by federal officers. The NSEERS program registered nearly 100,000 people and deported about 14,000, mainly for overstaying visas, the Huffington Post reported. According to the Topeka Capital Journal, Kobach took an updated NSEERS plan with him to meet with Trump. Among other items, the plan called for the new Trump administration to “update and reintroduce the NSEERS screening and tracking system that was in place 2002-2005. All aliens from high-risk areas are tracked. “Add extreme vetting questions for highrisk aliens, question them regarding support for sharia law, jihad, equality of men and women, the United States Constitution.”
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LGBTQ community gathers around housing, hope, and change by Laurie Rocello Torres & Debbie Carlsen Special to the SGN On Saturday, November 19, the LGBTQ community came together to discuss the impacts of the housing crisis at “House of Queer: Housing (r)EVOLUTION,” an intergenerational LGBTQ conference hosted by LGBTQ Allyship. Seventy-five attendees gathered at the Senior Center of West Seattle to listen to community members affected by homelessness and housing instability, seasoned workers in social services, and presenters from the Seattle Office of Civil Rights. “Housing is a pressing issue that affects us all,” said local comedian Alyssa Yeoman, who emceed the event. “This conference was a place for people to give perspectives on housing that aren’t always highlighted and an opportunity to really talk about how to change things for the better.” House of Queer also featured keynote presentations from Lizz Aguilera and Norma Timbang. Aguilera is a case manager at Downtown Emergency Services Center who is passionate about housing, especially after having experienced the intersection of queerness and homelessness as a youth. In their keynote, Aguilera emphasized the need to really focus on supporting and listening to folks who are most affected, including those who have disabilities, identify as trans, identify as queer, are lowincome people of color, and/or have intersecting identities. Timbang is a professor at the University of Washington’s School of Social Work and an active member of the community. She was a founding mother of the API Family Safety Center, now API Chaya, a nonprofit organization that serves survivors of violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking, particularly in Asian–Pacific Islander and Southeast Asian communities. Her keynote shared deep reflections on her life in the Seattle area as a queer woman of color, how her children were born in Seattle but can no longer live in Seattle, and her growing concerns about aging as an LG-
CORRECTION: In last Friday’s paper (Seattle Gay News – 11/18/16) in the travel article about San Francisco in the Holiday special section – “San Francisco’s changing face: Making
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continued from cover items of interest to the LGBT community and the Capitol Hill neighborhood. The City’s Office of Housing will get an extra $54,000 to do a needs assessment on housing for low-income LGBT seniors. This study will include: • information on the demand for affordable housing by LGBTQ seniors; • identification of barriers and recommendations for reducing barriers to accessing housing for this population; • strategies for providing housing assistance to such seniors; and • a proposed work plan to implement identified recommendations and strategies. The number of LGBTQ seniors in the Seattle area is expected to double by 2030, and studies show this demographic experiences income inequality, discrimination, and a higher-than-average risk of health problems. Seattle City Councilmember Lorena
Members of the LGBTQ community gathered at the Senior Center of West Seattle – Photo courtesy of LGBTQ Allyship
BTQ person in a city that has displaced her and her loved ones. House of Queer provided an intergenerational perspective on LGBTQ housing history and impact on culture and resources from LGBTQ displacement in Seattle over the last 45 years through a workshop called “House of Older Queers.” Panelists Jack Barker, Mary Anne Moorman, Chad Goller-Sojourner, and Luis Fernando Ramirez shared their stories of community change. LGBTQ low-income senior housing needs came up throughout the conference. Councilmember Lisa Herbold, who attended the conference, said, “We must ensure LGBTQ housing equity in implementation of our 2016 Housing Levy. [Among] every
census division in the US, Seattle has the least developed services for LGBTQ older adults and their families. Unlike most large cities, we are also running behind on developing housing for LGBTQ seniors. The Council, in putting the housing levy on the ballot, named LGBTQ seniors as a priority population for levy housing production. Now that the levy has passed, we need to ensure this happens”. Sharing stories and collecting data about LGBTQ housing happened throughout the conference. Allyship launched a LGBTQ housing survey, asking community members about housing solutions and also staffed a booth where LGBTQ conference attendees could map their housing patterns in King County over the last 10
years. It also facilitated a listening session where community members came together to share their feelings, fears, and hopes given the current political climate and president-elect. The listening session then transitioned to a strategy session, where solutions and ideas to build capacity and connection were identified. “House of Queer was one of the smaller conferences I’ve attended, but the folks in attendance that day really showed up,” said Nathan Silpakit, a conference participant and volunteer. “I was blown away by the passion, creativity, and wisdom that came together that day. It is clear to all of us that there will be a tough road ahead, but I’m inspired by the collective power held in our community to make it through.”
the most of a long weekend in the City by the Bay” – the first paragraph of the “Day 3: Just Do It: San Francisco’s Landmarks” segment was inadvertently omitted. The opening paragraph to that segment should have read: “Some landmarks are so emblematic of San Francisco that you must – at
least once – give in and go. The Golden Gate Bridge, an Art Deco architectural marvel spanning 1.7 miles between San Francisco and its northern counties, is worth a drive; or if avoiding traffic is more your speed, park near the city side’s tower and explore the visitors center and pedestrian walkway. May of 2017
marks the bridge’s 80th anniversary.” We hope our readers who have not yet seen the Golden Gate Bridge up close and in person will do so on their next trip to San Francisco, if the opportunity presents itself, to enjoy its architecture, its history and its sweeping view of the City, the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.
Gonzalez proposed the study to help shape plans for future housing options. “When we’re dealing with real issues of how does housing affordability intersect with housing discrimination, this is a unique population, and as we are venturing down this path of investing significantly in the creation of more affordable housing, building a community can look different based on who we’re building it for,” said Gonzalez. The $54,000 study would look at what amenities could be co-located with LGBTQ senior housing, including health clinics and social support services. The budget also included funding for an ongoing Seattle Parks project that will expand the budget of Capitol Hill’s Miller Community Center to allow for extended operating hours. As part of a long-term plan announced in September, the Miller Community Center will become what the City calls an “LGBTQ community hub.” The so-called “hub-centric” pilot program is part of the City’s plan to address
social equity concerns by boosting Seattle’s community centers with “free or low-cost community-centric programs.” The plan also includes more money for the Central District’s Garfield Community Center to support more free use and community programs. The budget also has increased funding for homelessness services. On top of the $59 million in homelessness funding the mayor asked for, the City Council made some additions. They added $85,700 for a seasonal homeless shelter in Lake City, $200,000 for lockers or other storage of belongings at shelters, about $700,000 over the next two years to maintain extended hours at the Lazarus Day Center, and $300,000 to buy and install a public restroom and maintain it for the next two years. The City Council approved $29 million in new money for affordable housing as part of a compromise proposed by Councilmember Lisa Herbold. Councilmember Kshama Sawant had proposed taking money slated to build a new police precinct in
North Seattle and using it instead to build 1,000 units of low-income housing. Herbold got almost all the Council on board her plan to build the housing without abandoning plans for the new police facility. On the down side, the budget fails to provide dedicated funding for labor law enforcement. The City’s Office of Labor Standards, the agency that enforces the minimum wage, wage theft, and paid sick days laws, will also be charged with enforcing recently passed secure scheduling rules and hotel worker protections. The budget doubles the size of that office but without establishing a steady stream of money. The City Council passed the budget 8-to-1, with only Councilmember Sawant voting no. “The budget as a whole remains overwhelmingly the same business-as-usual budget that has failed to meet the needs of regular people in our city year after year,” Sawant said, adding that the budget “fundamentally depends on taxing poor and working people” instead of the wealthy.
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Clinton now ahead by 2 million votes, supporters urge her to contest results by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer As of November 23, Hillary Clinton is more than two million votes ahead of Donald Trump, and supporters are urging her to contest results in the three swing states that swung the election to Trump. The latest vote count puts Clinton at 64,223,958 votes, while Trump gets 62,206,395 – a difference of 2,017,563, according to the Cook Political Report. Despite consistently trailing in the popular vote since election night, Trump won the White House with 290 electoral votes (as of now) to Clinton’s 232. However, a group of attorneys and computer scientists are urging Clinton to ask for a recount in the three swing states that gave Trump the election: Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. According to New York magazine, the group includes voting-rights attorney John Bonifaz and J. Alex Halderman, the director of the University of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society. Although they are not commenting on their discussions with the Clinton camp, the group reportedly has found evidence they
Hillary Clinton – Photo courtesy of abcnews.com
describe as “persuasive” that voting results in the three key states may have been manipulated or hacked. The group held a November 18 conference call with Clinton campaign chairman
John Podesta and campaign general counsel Marc Elias to make their case, according to a source briefed on the call. As an example of possible irregularities, computer specialists presented find-
ings showing that in Wisconsin, Clinton received 7% fewer votes in counties that relied on electronic-voting machines than she did in counties that used optical scanners and paper ballots. Based on this statistical analysis, Clinton may have been denied as many as 30,000 votes. She lost Wisconsin by only 27,000. In other words, if potential irregularities were corrected, she might actually win the state. While the group admits it has not found proof of hacking or manipulation, they are arguing to the Clinton campaign that the suspicious pattern merits an independent review, especially in light of the White House’s accusation that the Russian government hacked into Democratic National Committee emails. The Clinton camp is running out of time to challenge the election. The deadline in Wisconsin to file for a recount is November 25; in Pennsylvania, it is November 28, and in Michigan, it is November 30. Whether Clinton will call for a recount remains unclear. Complicating matters, a senior Clinton adviser said, is that the White House, focused on a smooth transfer of power, does not want Clinton to challenge the election result.
John Kerry reaffirms US support for Trans rights by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer In what may be the last official recognition of the Transgender Day of Remembrance for a while, US Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement affirming US support for Trans rights: “On Transgender Day of Remembrance, the United States solemnly honors the memory of the many transgender individuals who lost their lives to senseless acts of violence,” Kerry wrote on November 20. “Transgender persons around the world are targeted by rising levels of violence fueled by hatred and bigotry. This is a global challenge and we all must do more to protect transgender persons on the basis of equality and dignity. “In the United States, our Constitution enshrines freedoms of peaceful assembly, speech, and association, and it affirms that everyone has equal protection under the law. Around the world, human rights and fundamental freedoms are recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that every person is born free and equal in dignity and rights. Every person includes transgender wom-
US Secretary of State John Kerry – Photo courtesy of washingtontimes.com
en, transgender men, and other individuals who face marginalization on account of their gender expression or gender identity. “Today we stand in solidarity with the incredible resilience and leadership of the transgender community in responding to
stigma and marginalization. Transgender persons deepen our diversity, broaden our communities, and strengthen the values we cherish. When all persons reach their full human potential, free from fear, intimidation, and violence, nations become
more just, secure, and prosperous. “The United States remains committed to advance the human rights of all persons, including transgender persons. On this Transgender Day of Remembrance, we reaffirm equality for all as part of our core constitutional principles and as a human rights priority of US diplomacy.” The Transgender Day of Remembrance was founded in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, a Transgender woman, to memorialize the murder of another Trans woman, Rita Hester, in Allston, Mass. The date has been commemorated by the Obama administration since 2009. The 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act was the first federal legislation to explicitly protect Trans people. The Obama administration followed up with administrative guidelines extending federal prohibitions against sex discrimination to protect gender identity as well. Trump has stated his opposition to federal protections for Trans people and has surrounded himself with enemies of the Trans community – notably his VP, Mike Pence. He has also promised to rescind “all” of President Obama’s executive orders, including those protecting Trans rights.
Federal judge blocks Obama overtime rule: 4 million workers to lose extra pay by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A federal judge has issued an injunction blocking implementation of new guidelines from the Obama administration that would have extended overtime pay to some 4 million US workers. The new US Department of Labor rule required employers to pay time-and-a-half to employees who worked more than 40 hours in a given week and earned less than $47,476 a year. Business groups charged that the new
rule would be unduly expensive and would force them to lay off workers. US District Judge Amos Mazzant III issued a preliminary injunction in the case on November 22, preventing the administration from going forward with the policy change. The administration exceeded its constitutional authority, he ruled, and could cause harm to state governments charged with spending money to enforce the new overtime rules. “We strongly disagree with the decision by the court, which has the effect of delaying a fair day’s pay for a long day’s work for
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millions of hardworking Americans,” the Labor Department said in a statement. “The department’s overtime rule is the result of a comprehensive, inclusive rulemaking process, and we remain confident in the legality of all aspects of the rule. We are currently considering all of our legal options.” In any event, the new guideline was not likely to be kept in force by the incoming Trump administration, which has pledged to rescind all Obama-era executive orders and administrative guidelines. “In any presidential transition, previous policies are subject to review,” NPR busi-
ness reporter Yuki Noguchi explained. “Trump has pledged to undo President Obama’s executive orders, dismantle the Affordable Care Act, [and] reverse policies on clean air, immigration, and Dodd-Frank financial reform. This [month], the Congressional Budget Office said canceling the overtime rule would reduce employers’ compliance costs and boost profits, a point advocates refute. This leaves businesses wondering how they should proceed on rules that might be unwound.”
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DATELINE
continued from cover or far away they are from Mr. Right Now. For some, that’s the thrill of it. Meeting up with someone for the first time, someone you barely know or don’t know anything about at all – except what they say (or don’t say) about themselves on a Grindr profile. For others, it’s a reason to stay out of the bars or the bathhouse. For a small membership fee (charged monthly or in a lump sum for the year) it’s cheaper than Happy Hour at the local Gay watering hole and you don’t have to deal with face-to-face rejection from a guy who looks like a hottie. Suffice to say Gay hookup app businesses are doing just fine in 2016 … but it’s the members who sometimes suffer a great price. On Wednesday, November 23, a London jury found Stephen Port, 41, guilty of the murders of four young men over a 15-month span between June 2014 and September 2015. Port also was convicted of drugging or sexually assaulting seven other victims who survived. Port, a chef by trade, met the young men on Gay dating apps (mostly Grindr according to court papers) luring them with sexual promises to his east London apartment. Once they arrived he poisoned their drinks, raped them while they were dying, and then dumped their bodies around London neighborhoods. Port planted drugs – and in some cases a suicide note – on his victims to make it appear they had overdosed or committed suicide. “He bought drugs on a regular basis and
used them to stupefy his victims without their knowledge so he could rape or sexually assault them,” said Commander Stuart Cundy of the Metropolitan Police after the verdict. “Four families have been left devastated by the loss of their loved ones in such awful circumstances and seven more men have suffered horrific sexual assaults, the trauma of which will stay with them for a long time.” Police say Port laced his victims’ drinks with fatal amounts of the drug GHB, or gamma hydroxybutyrate, otherwise known as liquid ecstasy, in order to carry out his crimes. In the murder trial in London, Port denied all the charges against him. Still, on Wednesday he was found guilty of the murders of fashion student Anthony Walgate, 23; Gabriel Kovari, 22, originally from Slovakia; fellow chef Daniel Whitworth, 21; and forklift truck driver Jack Taylor, 25. The London jury ultimately convicted Port of a total of 22 charges against 11 male victims, including four additional rapes, four sex assaults and 10 counts of administering a substance with the intent to stupefy. He was acquitted of three additional counts of rape. “We can’t rule out the fact there may be other victims out there who suffered at Port’s hands and have yet to come forward,” Cundy said. “We would appeal for them to contact us as soon as possible.” According to the London Evening Standard, Port had no reaction as the jury delivered the guilty verdict which condemns him to an automatic life sentence.
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“We are bereft at the loss of such a clever, talented and much loved boy,” said Mandy Pearson, Whitworth’s stepmother, in a statement she read outside the courthouse. “It has been difficult to say the least and has had a huge impact on our lives, which will never be the same again. We are emotionally and physically exhausted.” Grindr is cooperative with authorities. In 2014, after a string of murders, assaults, and rapes linked to Grindr in Seattle and Philadelphia, Grindr began to provide police with data when requested. “As a company, we treat all reports of crime very seriously,” Grindr officials said in a statement. “We encourage anyone with information on any criminal incidents to reach out to the police. If we are contacted by the authorities about an investigation, we fully cooperate with their requests. Regarding the recent incidents you pointed out, our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family and friends.” The Gay community in Seattle knows all too well what can happen if a person isn’t careful when using Grindr. On June 1, 2014 radicalized Muslim Ali Muhammad Brown, 30, used Grindr to meet up with Ahmed Said, 27, and Dwone AndersonYoung, 23, after they left R Place. Brown executed the two men, specifically because they were Gay, at 29th and King Street – just feet away from where AndersonYoung’s mother was sleeping inside the Central District home they shared. Brown confessed to the murder as revenge for the U.S. military involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Brown stole Said’s car after detectives say Said was shot
multiple times in the face at close range and also in the back, as was Anderson-Young. There was no evidence of a struggle and the victims were not armed. Police said they linked Brown to the slayings after finding his fingerprints and three spent 9mm shell casings inside Said’s car; which Brown abandoned in South Seattle before fleeing to New Jersey where he committed another murder. Police later linked Brown to another Washington shooting death of a 30-yearold Skyway man, although that shooting death, and his Philadelphia slaying of a 19-year-old college man had nothing to do with sexual orientation. Seattle Gay News hopes this story serves as a reminder to be careful whenever using a Gay, GPS enabled, hookup app. Some best practices to stay safe include, telling a friend or a roommate that you are meeting someone and where you will be meeting said hookup. Provide that confidant with an address, name (if possible), and perhaps even a photo. Tell the person you are going to see that others know where you have gone. If you don’t feel right for any reason at all (physically, mentally, etc.) once you have arrived, leave as soon as you can and as commandingly as you can. And this should go without saying: DO NOT let a person make you a mixed drink, open a beer or pour a glass of wine for you, out of your line of sight. That, of course, is when a dangerous person can take advantage and drug or poison a victim. Do not live in fear, live in knowledge.
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Celebrating 41 Years!
The Trump cabinet: It keeps getting worse by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Donald Trump’s cabinet keeps getting worse. Two weeks ago BuzzFeed published a leaked memo listing possible nominees, all of them old-time Republican retreads. Since then, prospects for the new administration have become even gloomier. Trump has already settled on veteran racist and homophobe Jeff Sessions for the attorney general spot. Sessions has earned a 0 rating from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), meaning he’s about as homophobic as you can get. His anti-LGBT record goes back to the mid-1990s, when he was Alabama’s attorney general. In that post, he wrote an opinion stating that Alabama would suffer “irreparable harm” if state universities funded gay-straight alliances. “[A]n organization that professes to be comprised of homosexuals and/or lesbians may not receive state funding or use statesupported facilities to foster or promote those illegal, sexually deviate activities defined in the sodomy and sexual misconduct laws,” he wrote at the time. A US District Court later ruled that Sessions’ opinion was in violation of the First Amendment in Gay Lesbian Bisexual Alliance v. Sessions (1996). As a US senator, Sessions voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment, against the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, and against the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT). He has also criticized Obama administration orders protecting LGBT employees and students from discrimination. Sessions was nominated for the federal bench by Ronald Reagan in 1986, but he was rejected by the Senate when his
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What are the Pink Pistols worried about anyway? The sudden surge in post-election hate crimes targeting minorities – specifically the LGBT community. Last month, images of beaten and bloodied openly Gay film producer Chris Ball circulated on Facebook after he was assaulted in Santa Monica. Ball alleges that his attackers shouted, “We got a new president, you fucking faggots,” before smashing Ball over the head with a bottle and slamming him onto the pavement. Four staples reportedly were required to close his wound. “It’s sickening to watch,” Fischer says, referring to the rise in LGBT hate crimes. “I think, as always, LGBT citizens should arm themselves in a way that’s legal to do so around the country. If they want to learn how, by all means, give Pink Pistols a shout.” The Pink Pistols warning to would-be attackers is simple: Pick on someone your own caliber. It’s easy to become a member of the Pink Pistols. According to officials, it doesn’t cost anything. There are no dues, and no membership form to fill out. “You just have to believe in the basic core principles of the Pink Pistols, that all people have the right to defend themselves from harm, and that everyone has the individual right to keep and bear arms as protected by the Second Amendment.” Pink Pistols leadership states on the
From left: Tom Price, Jeff Sessions, Jerry Falwell, Jr. & Ben Carson – Photos courtesy of politics.blog.ajc.com, patdollard.com, cnn.com & usatoday.com
previous record of racist remarks came to light, among them referring to an AfricanAmerican US attorney as “boy” and noting, “I thought the Klan was OK till I found out they smoke pot.” Sessions is not the only problematic figure being considered for the Trump administration, however. On November 23 Trump said he will nominate Amway heiress Betsy DeVos to be his Secretary of Education. In addition to being a supporter of charter schools and federal funding of religious schools, DeVos has been a major donor to anti-LGBT organizations. She and her husband Dick donated $200,000 to the 2004 campaign to pass an amendment to the Michigan constitution limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples. In 2009, the DeVos family foundation
donated $500,000 to the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), sparking a national boycott of Amway products. And there’s even worse to come. Jerry Falwell, Jr., heir to his father as president of Liberty University, confirmed that he visited with Trump in New York City on November 18. Falwell told local media that he and Trump met at Trump Tower to discuss Falwell’s future role in the US Department of Education. He did not confirm or deny whether he was being vetted as Secretary of Education but said he will “definitely play a role” in the administration. Falwell is a member of Trump’s Evangelical Executive Advisory Board. On the list for Secretary of Human and Health Services is Tom Price, a doctor and congressman from Georgia who is another
0 on the HRC rating scale. He has voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), against DADT repeal, and for the Federal Marriage Amendment. Laws that “promote some homosexualagenda item…should take into account the tremendous medical health impact and economic impact that promoting such a lifestyle will result in,” Price wrote. Ben Carson has also been mentioned for a cabinet post, as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or Surgeon General. Carson staffers discouraged speculation that he would join the Trump administration, however. Spokesperson Armstrong Williams told The Hill newspaper that “Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience; he’s never run a federal agency. The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency.”
group’s official website www.PinkPistols.org. “If you believe those things, just raise your right hand and say ‘I am a Pink Pistol!’” Pink Pistols leaderships says to wouldbe members, if they want to get together with other people to socialize, to practice, or to train, check the “Find A Local Chapter” page on their website to locate a group in your area. And what if there isn’t a chapter in your area? “Consider starting one,” says Pink Pistols leadership. “All members should download and read the Pink Pistols Utility Manual,” a message on the group’s website reads. “It has lots of background on the organization, and if you want to start a chapter, the instructions are in it.” Primarily, the Pink Pistols use a public Facebook page for staying in touch with members worldwide. Pink Pistols does not shy away from making bold statements on their right to bear arms. Immediately following the deadly Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, Gwendolyn Patton, First Speaker of the Pink Pistols, warned members not to jump immediately to the assailant’s guns as the object of blame, but to concentrate instead on his violent acts. “The Pink Pistols gives condolences to all family and friends of those killed and injured at Pulse,” began Patton. “This is exactly the kind of heinous act that justifies our existence. At such a time of tragedy, let us not reach for the low-hanging fruit of blaming the killer’s guns. Let us stay focused on the fact that someone hated Gay
people so much they were ready to kill or injure so many. A human being did this. The human being’s tools are unimportant when compared to the bleakness of that person’s soul. I say again, GUNS did not do this. A human being did this, a dead human being. Our job now is not to demonize the man’s tools, but to condemn his acts and work to prevent such acts in the future.” “It is difficult, if not impossible, to foresee such an event,” continued Patton, “But if they cannot be prevented, then they must be stopped as fast as someone tries to start them.” Patton said some bars and other establishments that serve alcohol are difficult to protect because many states forbid the carrying of weapons where alcohol is served. “But that just as one might have a designated driver who stays sober, one might have a designated carrier with a concealedcarry permit who goes armed and does not drink,” Patton continued. “It’s sad that we must consider such things, but when there are persons out there who mean us harm, we must find ways to protect ourselves within the law.” Depending on your personal views of gun ownership, so-called common sense gun control, and whether or not you know much about the Pulse nightclub shooting – Patton straight up does not prove much by making that last statement. The Pulse nightclub shooter, Omar Mateen, was immediately engaged in a firefight with an off-duty police officer at the nightclub who was working a security detail. Within two minutes more officers showed up to join the shootout with Mateen. Mateen still man-
aged to kill 49 people and injure 53 in what has become known as the worst mass shooting in modern American history. The “designated shooter” theory would not have worked. Patton and other Pink Pistols leadership opinions are not falling on deaf ears. Pink Pistol chapters are alive and well – now more than ever. There are now over 45 Pink Pistols chapters nationwide, and more are starting up. Whether you know it or not, Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma all have Pink Pistols chapters. The Seattle Chapter, https://www. facebook.com/PinkPistolsSeattle/, has more than 1,000 people who “Like” and follow their Facebook page. The group schedules monthly practices and trainings at a gun range. Additionally, Pink Pistols Seattle has a discussion page at https://www. facebook.com/groups/1027501837328749/. At the end of the day the message of the Pink Pistols is simple: “Armed queers don’t get bashed.” “We change the public perception of the sexual minorities, such that those who have in the past perceived them as safe targets for violence and hateful acts – beatings, assaults, rapes, murders – will realize that now, a segment of the sexual minority population is now armed and effective with those arms,” Pink Pistols leadership state on the group’s official website. “Those arms are also concealed, so they do not know which ones are safe to attack, and which are not…which they can harm as they have in the past, and which may draw a weapon and fight back.”
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Seattle Gay News 17
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18 Seattle Gay News
November 25, 2016
Celebrating 41 Years!
UN votes to keep LGBT rights watchdog by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A United Nations committee has voted to keep the international LGBT rights investigator it appointed in September in spite of objections by Russia and a number of African countries. In June, the UN Human Rights Council created the post of special investigator to look into abuses and discrimination against LGBTI people, and in September Vitit Muntarbhorn of Thailand was appointed to the position. He was given a three-year mandate to investigate charges of anti-LGBTI bias. However, several African countries put forward a draft resolution in the UN General Assembly’s “Third Committee,” which deals with human rights, questioning the legality of Muntarbhorn’s mandate. They also called for immediate suspension of the investigator’s work. Then Western countries introduced an amendment that gutted the African group’s resolution. The amendment was adopted in the Third Committee on Monday with 84 votes in favor, 77 against, and 17 abstentions. The amended resolution, which makes no change to the work of the LGBTI rights investigator, was then adopted by the committee with 94 votes in favor, 3 against, and 80 abstentions. Russia and Egypt, speaking on behalf of the 57-member Organization of Is-
UN LGBTI special investigator Vitit Muntarbhorn – Photo courtesy of independent.co.uk.
lamic Cooperation, said they would not recognize the investigator and would not cooperate with him. LGBTI rights have proven to be controversial at the UN. In 2014, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the UN would recognize all same-sex marriages of its staff members, allowing their spouses to receive UN bene-
fits. Russia unsuccessfully tried to overturn it last year, with Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, India, Egypt, Pakistan, and Syria among 43 states that supported Moscow. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a group of 51 Muslim states blocked 11 LGBT organizations from officially attending a high-level UN meeting in June on ending AIDS, spark-
ing a protest by the United States, Canada, and the European Union. In February the 54-member African Group, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the 25-member Group of Friends of the Family, led by Egypt, Belarus, and Qatar, protested the launch of six UN stamps promoting LGBT equality.
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November 25, 2016
Seattle Gay News 19
20 Seattle Gay News
November 25, 2016
Celebrating 41 Years!
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November 25, 2016
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22 Seattle Gay News
November 25, 2016
Celebrating 41 Years!
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