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Celebrating 43 Years! Issue 41 Volume 45

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Seattle Gay News

HRC endorses Jenny Durkan for mayor of Seattle

Civil-rights icon Congressman John Lewis on LGBT equality, social justice

Jenny Durkan mayoral announcement at PacMed Building – Photo by Nate Gowdy

WASHINGTON, DC – [On October 11], the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, announced its endorsement of Jenny Durkan in the race for mayor of Seattle. The HRC estimates approximately 389,000 of Seattle’s 512,000 registered voters are “equality voters” – meaning they are strong supporters of LGBTQ equality. “Jenny Durkan is a proven leader with

a passion for justice, fairness, and equality,” said JoDee Winterhof, HRC Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs. “As the first out LGBTQ US attorney appointed by President Obama, Durkan knows the importance of leading by example and has a clear vision to make Seattle an even stronger and more vibrant community. We are proud to endorse Jenny Durkan for mayor of Seattle.”

see HRC page 13

National Park Service drops sponsorship of flag raising at Stonewall National Monument

Photo by Brendan McDermid / Reuters

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The National Park Service pulled out of a flag-raising ceremony at the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village on the same day Tony Perkins announced

that Donald Trump would be the featured speaker at the 2017 Values Voter Summit. The Stonewall event was scheduled for October 11, and was to have featured a rainbow flag and a speech by National Park Service director Barbara Applebaum.

see PRIDE FLAG page 13

President Obama presenting John Lewis with the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom. Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson

by Jen Colletta Philadelphia Gay News When President Barack Obama linked Selma, Seneca Falls and Stonewall in his second Inaugural Address, it was a connection that hit home for Congressman John Lewis.

For more than six decades, Lewis has been on the front lines of the fight for social justice – whether it’s racial equality, the women’s movement or LGBT rights. Lewis began his work in the civil-rights movement in the 1950s, and quickly became a

see JOHN LEWIS page 8

Connect and engage with Generations Aging with Pride leadership and supporters on Capitol Hill Oct. 23

Photo courtesy of GAP Seattle

Generations Aging with Pride, Seattle’s newest resource for all things LGBTQ aging, is hosting a community conversation at Miller Community Center (330 19th Ave. E. at E. Harrison St) on Monday, October 23 from 5:30 to 7:30pm. Board members and the new outreach coordinator, Liz Illg, will be on hand to answer questions about

the group’s plans for the future. Generations Aging with Pride, affectionately known as GAP, is committed to promoting, connecting and developing innovative programs and services that enhance belonging and support, eliminate discrimi-

see GAP SEATTLE page 16

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Editor in Chief George Bakan Associate Editor Shaun Knittel Travel Editor George Bakan Copy Editor Rick McKinnon (since Dec 2013) Advertising George Bakan • Maggie Bloodstone MK Scott National Advertising Rep. Rivendell Media (212) 242-6863 Staff Writers Mike Andrew • Sara Michelle Fetters Miryam Gordon • Shaun Knittel Albert Rodriguez Contributing Writers Rev. Barbara Allen • Ron Anders Eric Andrews-Katz • Madelyn Arnold Alice Bloch • Maggie Bloodstone Beau Burriola • Sharon Cumberland Jessica Davis • Tina Gianoulis Anthony Greer • Milton W. Hamlin Nevin Jefferson • Richard Kennedy Liz Meyer • Jason A. Miller Jesse Monteagudo David Nguyen aka Teriyaki Temple Rod Parke • Don Paulson Jerry Peerson • Jessica Price Scott Rice • Leslie Robinson MK Scott • Gaysha Starr Paul Torres • Janice Van Cleve Ed Walsh • James Whitely Scott Wittet • Rex Wockner Calendar Editors Mike Andrew • Rick McKinnon Classifieds Rick McKinnon Photographers Nate Gowdy • Joseph P. Herron Shaun Knittel • James Whitely Production Mike Pham Website Designer Barry Thorsness / Digital Team Works Seattle Gay News is published by Frogs and Ink, Inc. © 2017. Frogs and Ink, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reprints by permission. Publication of names, photographs, or likeness of any person, organization, event or business in this publication cannot be taken as any indication of the sexual orientation of the person, organization, event or business. Opinions expressed in bylined articles, columns, and letters are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff or management of this paper. Seattle Gay News welcomes unsolicited material, including letters to the editor, but reserves the right to edit or reject material. All rights revert to authors upon publication. We assume no liability for loss or damage of materials, solicited or not. We invite feedback, please write. And please play safe. It is our policy that no money shall be refunded if you choose to cancel your ad. Credit will be given for the balance owed. No exceptions.

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Silencing LGBT Pride in Egypt by Mark Segal Philadelphia Gay News Donald Trump and his fake excuse and misdirected attack on the NFL players who are kneeling for social justice have some people saying it’s a sign of a leader cracking down on the First Amendment, which leads to an authoritarian state. Think that’s an overreach? Take a look at a similar issue in another country with an already-authoritarian state. A few weeks ago at a concert in Cairo, Egypt, by a Lebanese band, Mashrou’ Leila, several people in the audience proudly waved the rainbow flag – and guess what happened? Police arrested seven people, reportedly for “promoting sexual deviancy,” even though there is no law against homosexuality in Egypt – no less against the rainbow flag. The band issued the following statement: “Dear everyone, we were on a flight to New York, where we will be teaching a workshop for the next two months, when the media frenzy began. We have not yet commented about the situation in Cairo, as we have received conflicting reports, and honestly have not been able to figure out what is actually happening. Our trusted sources on the ground have not been able to verify anything pertaining to the arrests or the alleged ban on future performances. We hope everyone is safe and well, and appreciate your patience.” According to the BBC, the Egyptian state news agency reported that public prosecutor Nabil Sadek ordered an investigation after images of the Pride flag being raised at the concert were uploaded on sites like Facebook and subsequently condemned by certain politicians and members of the media. You might be surprised to know the band comes from Beirut, which at times is known as the Paris of the Middle East.

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A Mashrou’ Leila concert – Photo by Jamal Saidi / Reuters

I’ve been there a number of times and, like many others, I found it to be one of the most tolerant areas in the region. That attitude is the result of a delicate balancing act due to its neighboring countries and the culture of various religions that call it home, but somehow this one city has had a government whose members comprise a diversity of religions, which makes a statement that we can all live together. After the flag incident, Mashrou’ Leila was banned from performing in Jordan. The band’s response and spirit should be applauded: “We also have been unofficially informed that we will never be allowed to play again anywhere in Jordan due to our political and religious beliefs and endorsement of gender equality and sexual freedom,” band members wrote. “We deeply regret having to cancel this event in this country that we have made our own. Jordan is the home of some of the most supportive, beautiful and kind people we have had the pleasure of working with and playing for. Jordan is also the only place where we get to perform for our Palestinian audience, who organize elaborate bus trips to come from Palestine to see us play. Jordan is the birthplace of our lead singer’s mother, a formative part of his identity and writing and a place we have always considered our second home. “We denounce the systemic prosecution of voices of political dissent. We denounce the systemic prosecution of advocates of sexual and religious freedom. We denounce

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the censorship of artists anywhere in the world. We apologize for having thus far failed at creating a cultural environment that allows our children to speak their minds. We believe whole-heartedly that we have only ever acted with the intention of making our world a more equal and just place, even if ‘only through song.’ We pledge to our audience that we will continue to place the integrity of our art as our foremost priority, and to never succumb to the pressure to compromise our message or to waive our freedom to speak. We promise to continue to write out of love, and with the desire to spread love. We will fight, as we have always done, for our right to freely play our music and speak our mind. “We urge our fellow musicians and artists across the world to continue to produce work that challenges any unfair status quo, despite the difficulties confronted.” Egypt is about to open a new national museum to re-launch its lagging tourism campaign. It might want to rethink how this act looks to people who might want to visit that amazing country. It’s a place I had hoped to revisit. As a gay man, am I no longer welcome? 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.

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Celebrating 43 Years!

LGBT HISTORY MONTH

Is LGBT support for broad social-justice issues a new thing?

John Knoebel at the first Gay Pride March in 1970 – Photo courtesy of John Knoebel

by John Knoebel Special to the SGN Are American LGBT activists becoming more engaged in wider “social-justice” issues than they have been in many years? I am hearing more about this trend and applaud it strongly. From new groups like “Gays Against Guns” to the proud appearance of rainbow flags at anti-Nazi rallies following the incident in Charlottesville, LGBT activists are reaching out to support many progressive causes outside of traditional, narrowly defined core LGBT agendas. Certainly the widespread horrors of the Trump presidency have inspired many to broaden their activism. But I also sense a growing wave of moral maturity within a new generation of LGBT youth who have personally benefited from the progress of the last 50 years. They know they are people of value. Their feet are firmly planted in a belief in human justice and they want to reach out to improve the world. Today’s multi-issue activists will be pleased to learn that the modern LGBT movement began with much the same sense of involvement in a broad range of socialjustice causes. Although spurred by the rebellion at Stonewall in June of 1969, the activists who founded the pioneering Gay Liberation Front (GLF) in New York City only three weeks later came from a wide variety of that era’s progressive movements – women’s liberation, the anti-war movement, the new left and the black civil-rights movement, among others – and they gave vocal support to the Black Panthers, Young Lords and other radical organizations of those years. Like Gay Liberation itself, I was a child of the ’60s. When I joined GLF in New York in late 1969, I’d already been active in the anti-war movement at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I’d experienced more than my share of leafletting, street actions, tear gas and sit-ins. I’d protested the presidential campaign of Gov. George Wallace when he appeared in Wisconsin. I’d joined more than 10,000 UW students and faculty marching to the State Capital Building

following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This was the same shared background of most of the young gay and lesbian activists I came to know so well in my two years as a core member of GLF. No surprise then that, when GLF sprang onto the New York scene as the first gay and lesbian organization of the modern LGBT-rights era, none of us abandoned our passion for the groups we came from. Yes, with our iconic slogan, “Out of the closets and into the streets,” GLF took immediate aim at the specific antigay forces that surrounded us. Within the first few months, GLF protested against police raids on mafia-owned bars, picketed negative media, railed against church and psychiatric bigotry and began publishing our pioneering radical newspaper, Come Out! And before the first year was out, we achieved what was probably our most important accomplishment – creating an all-new “out and proud” gay and lesbian community that had not existed before us. We did this through our continual protests and public presence, Sunday night meetings, all-gay and women’s dances, consciousness-raising groups, gay living collectives and through our central role in organizing the first Gay Pride March in June of 1970. Nonetheless, from the very start, GLF also reached out to other causes. We defined ourselves as part of the progressive revolution dedicated to transforming American life in the 1960s and ’70s. Diversity was a hallmark of GLF membership and from the beginning we counted among us male, female, white, black, Latino, Asian and trans members. We proudly carried our GLF banners at many peace marches on the streets of Manhattan. We bussed to attend large anti-Vietnam War moratorium events in Washington, DC. In November 1969, GLF voted to donate meager organization cash to support the “Free the Black Panther 21” appeal. In May of 1970, lesbians from GLF pulled off the famous “Lavender Menace” action challenging the homophobia of the National Organization for Women. Groups of GLF members joined the socialist-inspired Venceremos

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Brigade, and travelled to Cuba to help agricultural workers cut sugar cane. We attended the first Earth Day celebration on April 22, 1970. For my own part, in August 1970 I was among several GLF members who met with Huey Newton to discuss joint demonstrations between GLF and the Black Panthers. Later that year, I joined more than 100 GLF members and participated in sessions of the Black Panther Party’s “Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention” held in Philadelphia and Washington, DC, where members of our black and third-world alliance group presented a multi-point program of LGBT inclusiveness. Subsequently, I joined several other gay men in the creation of the Effeminist movement – dedicating several years to supporting feminist goals to oppose sexism and male supremacy summarized in our much-republished position document, “The Effeminist Manifesto.” These alliances did not always lead to concrete achievements, but they effectively expressed the intentions of GLF members towards a just and humanistic world vision. Sometimes this diverse program was controversial. Despite their own sympathies with civil rights and other causes, some early GLF members felt that our support for other progressive groups was a distraction to achieving central LGBT goals. After GLF’s November 1969 cash donation to the “Free the Panther 21” appeal, some GLF men were so opposed that they left GLF and formed the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), with the express purpose of concentrating only on specific gay-related actions. GAA went on to many important achievements, campaigning publicly for gay-rights issues within both the city and state of New York. They founded a very successful gay community center at a Firehouse in lower Manhattan. However, they consistently maintained a policy of gay-only politics and generally refrained from joint demonstrations with non-gay groups or causes. In many ways, GAA set the tone for other early LGBT groups that followed in the late 1970s, including the National Gay Task Force and the Gay Rights National Lobby.

While for tactical reasons, some of these gay-only organizations played important roles in agitating for gay and lesbian visibility and rights, I always felt a frustration in their narrow focus. Why could we not reach out to be a part of other progressive causes, maintaining strong alliances with other agents of social change? The broad political agenda of GLF had not seemed to interfere with its solid achievements of formulating a new politics around LGBT oppression and inspiring the formation of hundreds of additional gay-rights groups in the U.S. and Europe within the following two years. When GLF disbanded as a functioning group in early 1972, I think its demise had less to do with any failure on its part, but rather was a result of its success. As an almost archetypal “umbrella organization,” it had attracted participants from every stripe of LGBT identity and interest. It then acted as a centrifugal force, spinning off a rainbow of successor organizations, including GAA, Radical Lesbians, Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), the Effeminists, the Black and Third World Caucus and others that went on to influence the next 50 years of LGBT activism. Today’s concept of “intersectionality” would be no stranger to early GLF activists. Despite the abuses that can occur – and I am talking about the reprehensible expulsion of Jewish lesbians from the recent Chicago Dyke March – I am still cheered by the broader social-justice agenda re-emerging in today’s LGBT activist movement. And I am proud to have played a part in the early LGBT organization that embraced that same philosophy.

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For over 45 years, John Knoebel made significant contributions to LGBT history, first as a pioneer gay activist in New York City from 1969-1976 and then during his 33-year career as a senior executive with The Advocate, OUT and other LGBT magazines from 1979-2012. Knoebel is currently writing a memoir of his lifelong involvement with LGBT politics and publishing. Courtesy of Philadelphia Gay News

LGBT HISTORY MONTH

JOHN LEWIS continued from cover

national leader. He was the youngest of the “Big Six” – a national group of movement leaders, alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who organized the 1963 March on Washington – and an original Freedom Rider. Lewis led hundreds of civilrights marchers into Selma, Ala., in 1965, in a demonstration that would come to be known as “Bloody Sunday,” as protestors were beaten and tear-gassed by police; Lewis still bears the scars of a skull fracture suffered that day. Lewis parlayed his protests into politics, rising from a City Council member in Atlanta to a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a role he has held for more than 30 years. During that time, Lewis has been a constant ally to and advocate for LGBT causes. PGN sat down with the Congressman to explore his view of the evolution of American equality. PGN: You led a congressional sit-in following last summer’s shooting at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando. What did that accomplish, and do you think something like that would be effective again, given the events in Las Vegas? JL: Dr. Martin Luther King once said, “The time is always right to protest for what is right.” We have had too much gun violence, lost too many people. After Orlando, and after the sit-in on the House floor, we thought we’d see some action on the part of the House and the Senate, but we have not seen any action. We have not moved. Even now, with what happened in Las Vegas, people are saying, “It’s too early to do something.” We have to do something. As I said on the steps of the Capitol today, we lost too many mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, too many of our friends. The time is right for action. We will be engaged in some form of non-violent protest at the Capitol or in some building because we cannot wait. We cannot see more and more people being murdered at a concert, a dance hall, in a school, in a church, a mosque, a temple. We are determined to put control of the proliferation of gun violence on the Congressional agenda. The American

Lewis speaking at the 1963 March on Washington – Photo courtesy of bettergeorgia.com

people are demanding it. They want us to act, to do something. People say, “We have to wait, we have to be patient.” Before the March on Washington, they told us to wait, to be patient. We cannot wait. We cannot be patient. We want freedom, and we want it now. We want gun control now. PGN: Switching gears, you have degrees in religious studies. What do you think can be done to close the chasm between the LGBT community and some religious communities? JL: I think it’s important for members of religious communities to understand and know that members of the gay community are part of the human family. I grew up in a Baptist Church. I attended churches of all kind in Atlanta, in Nashville. People shouldn’t discriminate against someone who is gay or put someone down. Many of the members in our churches, in our reli-

gious institutions, are gay. The church is supposed to preach the gospel of love, the gospel of peace, the gospel of sisterhood and brotherhood, that we are one family – that we all live in the same house, not just an American house, but a world house. As Dr. King said, “Learn to live together as brothers and sisters. If not, we’ll perish as fools.” The church needs to learn and understand that there is not any room in our society – or any society – to discriminate against someone because of sexual orientation. PGN: You’ve been fighting for civil rights, particularly racial justice, for decades. What are your thoughts on the current state of race relations in this country, compared to 60 years ago when you started this work? What’s changed and what hasn’t? JL: We’ve come a distance and made

A 1961 mugshot of Lewis, after he was arrested for using a “Whites-Only” restroom. Photo courtesy of John Lewis / Twitter

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a lot of progress. When I was growing up and getting involved in the movement, you would see signs: “White men” and “Colored men,” “White women” and “Colored women.” In 1961, the year President Obama was born, blacks and whites couldn’t be seated together on a bus leaving Washington, D.C., and traveling through the South. We were arrested. We were jailed. We were beaten. But today, the signs are gone and the only places we see those signs are in a book, on video or in a museum. So we have come a distance. We made progress. People who say we haven’t, I feel like saying to them, “Come walk in my shoes.” People can register to vote now where during the 1950s and ’60s they were beaten, arrested, jailed. Some people were murdered when they attempted to register to vote or encouraged others to register. There are folks who are trying to make it harder, to undo the progress we’ve made. What happened in [Charlottesville] Virginia a few weeks ago traumatized this country more than anything in recent years. The scars, the stains of racism and bigotry are still deeply embedded in American society. It’s a constant struggle for us to redeem the soul of America – during the movement, we called it “a beloved community.” I believe we will get there. I think many members of the gay community today are playing a major role in helping us get there, along with women’s groups, young people, children. I believe our finality will be the young – middle school, elementary school, high school, college. They will help us get there, to lay down the burden of sexism, bigotry, hate, anti-Semitism. We will get there. I’m very optimistic. PGN: What do you say to those who don’t share that optimism, in light of the current administration? JL: I say over and over to people – young people and not so young – that, in spite of everything that has happened, you must be hopeful. You must be optimistic. If you lose hope and you lose optimism, it’s like you don’t exist, like you are dead. You cannot afford to lose it. Right after the election, people would come up to me and say, “Congressman, I’m so down, so down.” They’d walk up and say, “I need a hug.” I said, “I need a hug too,” and we all hugged. But we have to get up – keep picking up and putting down and keep saying, “I’m going to keep the faith, keep moving, keep hoping and keep building that sense of community for the common good.” Jen Colletta is the editor of Philadelphia Gay News.

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Roy Moore backed by neo-Confederate money man LGBT folks aren’t the only ones they hate by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Roy Moore – twice removed from office as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, and now the Republican nominee for US Senate from Alabama – is notoriously anti-Gay. In fact, he was removed from his post at the Alabama Supreme Court in April because he illegally urged state judges to defy the US Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling and refuse to marry same-sex couples. It turns out that LGBT folks aren’t the only ones Moore and his backers hate, however. According to a report in Talking Points Memo (TPM), Moore, his foundation, and his various political campaigns have received “well over a half-million dollars over the past decade-plus” from Michael Anthony Peroutka, a neo-Confederate and “dominionist.”

PRIDE FLAG continued from cover

Applebaum dropped out at the last minute, organizers said, and the Park Service dropped its sponsorship of the event. Ann Northrop, co-host of Gay USA, who presided over the ceremony, said, “This is an unbelievably petty, sleazy, transparent bit of cruelty by the Trump

HRC

continued from cover “I am proud to have earned the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign, which was a critical partner in the fight for marriage equality and which stood against the harmful and discriminatory anti-trans ballot initiative earlier this year. For decades, I’ve been fighting for full civil rights and LGBTQ equality, and as the next mayor of Seattle, I will fight tirelessly

Dominionism is a right-wing Christian ideology that aims at establishing a Christian nation governed by biblical law. Peroutka is a former board member of the League of the South – designated as a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center – which calls for Southern states to secede and form a Christian nation run by an “Anglo-Celtic” elite. As the 2004 Constitution Party presidential nominee, Peroutka received the League of the South’s endorsement, although the group usually boycotts federal elections because they refuse to recognize the post-Civil War federal union. “I come from Maryland, which by the way is below the Mason-Dixon Line,” Peroutka said in a campaign speech to the League. “We’d have seceded if they hadn’t of locked up 51 members of the legislature. And by the way, I’m still angry about that.” In that speech, Peroutka praised his

daughter for refusing to play the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” in her school band, and praised his son for calling the Confederate rebel flag the “American flag.” “Of course the South is this remnant of a Christian understanding of law and government where there is a God and government is God-ordained. That stands right in the way of this pagan understanding that the state, the new world order, is God,’” he continued, warning that secularists were out to destroy the South. In 2012, speaking at the League’s annual convention, Peroutka urged the audience “to take a biblical worldview and apply it to civil law and government,” rather than arguing about what is or isn’t in the US Constitution. “I don’t want the people from the League of the South to for one minute think that I am about reforming the current regime, and studying the Constitution is about reforming the regime,” he declared.

“I, like many of you and like Patrick Henry, have come to the conclusion that we smelled a rat from the beginning.” Peroutka then asked the crowd to “stand for the national anthem” – and played “Dixie.” Moore himself has ties to the League as well. For example, his so-called Foundation for Moral Law – another dominionist group – hosted the League’s Secession Day event in 2009 and 2010. Secession Day, of course, celebrates the Southern states’ secession from the Union in 1861. According to BuzzFeed, Moore gave a 1995 keynote address to the Council of Conservative Citizens – a white supremacist group that Charleston mass murderer Dylann Roof said was a key influence on his thinking. Moore’s office is adorned with a portrait of Jefferson Davis and busts of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.

administration. Evidently, we are so filthy to them and their right-wing supporters that they can’t even be associated with a few yards of rainbow fabric.” The event went on as scheduled without Applebaum or her agency. According to Gay City News, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, whose department has jurisdiction over the National Park Service, ordered Park Service employees to certify that the flagpole adjacent to the Stonewall Inn was not technically on feder-

al land so that no rainbow flag would be flying on US government property. The Stonewall Inn and the adjacent eight acres were designated a national monument by President Obama to commemorate Pride Month 2016. The same day that the Trump administration snubbed the Stonewall ceremony, Family Research Council boss Tony Perkins announced that Donald Trump would speak at the Values Voters Summit to be held October 13 through 15.

Also on the Values Voters agenda are House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.); Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), Mark Walker (R-N.C.), and Chris Smith (R-N.J.); Dr. Bill Bennett; Dana Loesch; “Duck Dynasty’s” Phil Robertson; Laura Ingraham; Todd Starnes; Dr. Sebastian Gorka; Steve Bannon; former judge Roy Moore; and Lt. Col. Oliver North.

for fairness and equality for every person in our city,” said Jenny Durkan. “While Seattle has led the nation on equality, our city and country face constant attacks from the Trump administration and those who want to roll back progress on civil rights, which is why our city needs a mayor who has the experience and vision to protect our values.” Durkan became the first out LGBTQ US attorney when she was appointed the US Attorney for the Western District of Washington in 2009, where she served until

2014. Proving her commitment to equality, Durkan created a civil rights unit within the US Attorney’s Office to focus on housing discrimination, job discrimination, and the rights of returning veterans. The HRC recently announced a bold, proactive grassroots expansion with the launch of HRC Rising – a campaign to accelerate progress in states from coast to coast, resist the politics of hate, fight antiLGBTQ legislation, and fuel pro-equality candidates and initiatives. The expansion is the biggest strategic investment in the orga-

nization’s 37-year history. The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. The HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work, and in every community. Courtesy of the Human Rights Campaign

INTERNATIONAL NEWS Greece passes gender identity law Prime minister affirms “right to self-determination” by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Greek parliament passed a law on October 9 recognizing people’s right to change their legal gender markers to match their identity. In total, 285 out of 300 lawmakers voted, with 171 backing the government’s bill and 114 opposing it. The most controversial piece of the legislation, Article 3, allowing those as young as 15 to change their gender identity, got 148 yes votes against 124 no votes. The bill was introduced by the left-wing SYRIZA party, which passed a same-sex civil union bill in December 2015. Like the earlier civil union bill, the Transgender rights bill was opposed by the Greek

Orthodox Church. Greek prime minister and SYRIZA party leader Alexis Tsipras gave a combative speech before the October 9 vote, challenging church intervention. “No tradition, no religion, no perception of family requires people to remain on the sidelines, or be pushed into an institutional and social oblivion. None!” he told Parliament. “The parliament is being called upon today to do the obvious towards a substantial part of our fellow citizens who were deliberately kept invisible by the state for decades. It is called upon to ensure the right to self-determination for every person living in this country.” Tsipras then turned toward opposition members of parliament, who had carefully

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avoided taking a position on Trans rights. “Are you in favor or against? At least answer with a yes or no!” he demanded. In the end, the opposition New Democracy party voted against the government’s bill. So did the small right-wing ANEL party, which is part of SYRIZA’s governing coalition. Although ANEL announced on September 27 that it would withdraw its objections to the bill, all but one of its 10 members voted no. ANEL leaders are known to be allied with high-ranking Orthodox Church officials. The left-wing SYRIZA and right-wing ANEL came together to form a government after Greece’s 2015 election because both oppose the fiscal austerity policies imposed on Greece by the European Union. The debate on the bill was long – almost

two days – and intense, with party leaders trading accusations. New Democracy boss Kyriakos Mitsotakis cited the case of a young man who claimed to have been advised by aliens to change his gender, provoking an angry reaction from Tsipras, who condemned his rival for suggesting that Trans people are mentally ill. There were several other tense moments in Parliament, such as when Union of Centrists leader Vassilis Leventis said changing gender identity should not be allowed. “These are abnormal things,” he declared to boos from SYRIZA members and visitors observing from the gallery.

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Seattle Gay News 13

The New Purr Cocktail Lounge celebrated their Grand Opening in Montlake last week The New Purr Cocktail Lounge at 2307 24th Ave. E. in Montlake opened Wednesday, October 4 with a great crowd. For those of you who ride the bus the New Purr Cocktail Lounge is right on the #48 bus line just across and down the street from the northbound E. McGraw St stop at Mont’s Market and just down the street half a block from the southbound E. Calhoun St stop by the Montlake Library. Ernie Lou was there and commented, “Barbie and her team have done a great job creating a great bar and lounge for the new Purr location! Great place and layout!” Photos courtesy of Ernie Lou.

14 Seattle Gay News

October 13, 2017

Celebrating 43 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

October 13, 2017

Seattle Gay News 15

Pride Foundation and GSBA Scholarship Fund announce 2018 scholarship application timetable and workshops Hello from Pride Foundation and the GSBA Scholarship Fund! We are excited to announce that our scholarship application has opened. These scholarships are for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and ally students of any age from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, or Washington. This support is for students pursuing any kind of post-secondary education -- including community college, public or private colleges & universities, trade schools/ apprenticeships, or certificate programs. Since 1990, Pride Foundation and GSBA have awarded more than $7.82 million in scholarships to support the educational pursuits of LGBTQ and ally students. There are over fifty different types of scholarships, but only one web-based application for students to complete. Scholarship applications are completed online through the Pride Foundation or the GSBA Scholarship Fund websites and are

due on Friday, January 12, 2018 at 4:00 pm AKST | 5:00 pm PST | 6:00 pm MST. To assist students applying for these scholarships, we will hold Scholarship Application Workshops throughout the Northwest and online in the fall. See the Pride Foundation website for specific times and locations. https://www.pridefoundation.org/ We look forward to receiving applications and to another year of partnering with our communities to support tomorrow’s leaders! With hope, Gunner Scott, Director of Programs, Pride Foundation Travis Mears, Director of Development & Scholarship Programs, GSBA

About Pride Foundation Pride Foundation is a regional community foundation serving the Northwest region of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Mission Pride Foundation inspires giving to expand opportunities and advance full equality for LGBTQ people across the Northwest. Vision We envision a world in which all LGBTQ youth, adults, and families enjoy the freedom to live safely, openly, and genuinely. Learn more at: https://www.pridefoundation.org/about/mission-vision-values/

About the GSBA Scholarship Fund The GSBA Scholarship Fund awards scholarships to LGBTQ and allied students who exhibit leadership potential, demonstrate strong academic abilities, and are actively involved in school and community organizations. The fund is a program of the Greater Seattle Business Association. Mission To invest in the education of a diverse group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and allied students who have the capacity and vision to be the next generation of leaders working to create a better world for all. Vision Diverse leaders who have the vision, compassion and capability to solve global issues and secure human rights for all. Learn more at: http://thegsba.org/ scholarship-home/about-us

Happy 25th anniversary Seattle Prime Timers Seattle Prime Timers to host 25th anniversary potluck Oct. 21 by Dan Frickell, Former Chairman Seattle Prime Timers It is hard to believe that we are celebrating our 25th anniversary this October. Yes, Seattle Prime Timers have been around for 25 years and plan to make the next 25 years just as great as the last 25 years. We hope that everyone is enjoying our club and making the most out of everything that we offer each of you. The Seattle Prime Timers chapter is part of Prime Timers World Wide. There are chapters in all of the major cities throughout the United States and Canada, and in Australia and Israel as well. What is Seattle Prime Timers about? We are a group of gay men, 40 years and older, getting together and having a great time together. We enjoy eating together and have a monthly potluck besides dining outs at many different types of restaurants. We have coffee once a month at Kaladi Brothers Coffee, card games at Ballard NW Senior Center, a unique Rap Group, and many different events from time-to-time. In the summer, we have a picnic at Woodland Park where the club provides all highquality barbeque items. In December, the club has a holiday party where we all get together and have a great time. We also exchange an inexpensive gift for someone in the club. Often it is a good laugh gift. We invite everyone to attend each of these events. Come and enjoy these and many other events with your friends. Members are always welcome to stage events of their own.

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nation, and honor the LGBTQ elders in Seattle with funding and support from the City of Seattle. Illg, who joined the organization less than a month ago, is eager to meet and greet community members who share LGBTQ aging concerns. “We’re not getting any younger,” she said recently, “and we need to use our knowledge and skills to make

16 Seattle Gay News

Annual Seattle Prime Timers Picnic – Photo courtesy of Seattle Prime Timers

Seattle Prime Timers was started in October 1992. It began in the living room of one of the group’s founders. My first time to an event was at a potluck at the Nettleton Apartments. We had our potlucks at the Nettleton for several years before moving our potluck dinners to Seattle First Baptist Church. We were there for many years before moving to our current location at Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church. We meet for our potluck meals on the

3rd Saturday of each month at 2pm. We will be celebrating our 25th anniversary on October 21st. We encourage each of you to come and join us in celebrating. It is time for all to look forward to the next 25 years. Please remember that our club cannot function without every one of us working to make our club better. You can sponsor an event, and become a member of the Steering Committee. So, please come and help us to celebrate our great club.

For more information, visit www.seattleprimetimers.org. We also publish a monthly e-newsletter.

sure our community institutions do right by their LGBTQ elders.” As a veteran of the early Lesbian Resource Center days and as co-founder of the Lesbian Cancer Project in the early ’90s, Illg is no stranger to advocacy and community organizing. The board of Generations Aging with Pride, reflecting the diversity and history of service to Seattle’s LGBT community, will be present at the event. The board is led by co-chairs Karen Fredriksen-Goldsen and Ruben Rivera-Jackman, and other members include Patricia Throop, Paulette

de Coriolis, Marsha Botzer, Jessica Coifman, Leo Egashira, Jeff Howard, Debbie Jae, Pat McIntyre, Rita Smith, Maureen Linehan and Tiffany Kopec. The Miller Community Center is located on the east side of Capitol Hill at 330 19th Ave. E. at E Harrison St (a block north of E. Thomas St, and a block and a half south of Country Doctor Community Clinic in Seattle and is handicap accessible. Transit: #8 and #12 stop one block south at E. Thomas St. The #10 and #48 are within a few blocks walking distance or one can

transfer from those routes to the #8 at 15th Ave. & E. John St and 22nd Ave. & E. John St. respectively. (The #43 route also stops at 19th Ave. & E. Thomas St but doesn’t run throughout the day so check the bus scheduled.) People interested in LGBTQ aging issues are invited to join in the conversation. Please RSVP at info@gapseattle.org. If you would like more information, please contact Liz Illg, Outreach Coordinator at (206) 495-8312 or email at info@gapseattle.org .

October 13, 2017

Celebrating 43 Years!

PETS OF THE WEEK Adoption Center

Sunday – Wednesday | 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. Thursday – Saturday | 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. 13212 SE Eastgate Wy, Bellevue, WA 98005 (425) 649-7563 | adoption@seattlehumane.org

Is your life missing a furry friend? Now is the

perfect time to open your world to a pet in need. Coldwell Banker’s Homes for Dogs program

with Adopt-a-pet.com has helped place 20,000

dogs into homes across the country. Could your

place be the next happy ending for a pet in need?

Prime

Wicket

and bringing back the pet of your dreams.

Meet Prime, a 5-year-old Whippet/Pit Bull Terrier mix who would love to be your snuggle buddy. He prefers an easy walk, and a little more time to get used to his environment. Once he gets to know you, his favorite spot in the world is where he can be right next to and love on his people. Prime would do well with a quiet owner who can help his personality shine. He’s sure to be a sweet and loyal member of your family. If you have room in your heart and home for this sweet boy, then come meet him today at the Seattle Humane – you’ll be glad you did!

Meet Wicket, a 4-year-old domestic shorthair with the unforgettable snippet of black on her nose. Charlie Chaplin you say? You bet! That little “mustache” matches that bemused expression you will always find in her face. Her eyes are always round and bewildered as if to say, “What’s going on humans?” It’s just adorable and unforgettable. Don’t miss out on meeting Wicket, come to Seattle Humane today!

Make your house a home by visiting the shelter

Adoption specials: Weekday Wags and Whiskers | Daily through 9/13 Why wait for the weekend to have fun and change your life? Adopt a pet at Seattle Humane from Oct. 9-13 to take advantage of $50 off adoption fees for adult dogs or waived fees for cats. Let the weekday adventure (and beyond) begin now! See adoptable pets at Seattle Humane dot o-r-g or drop by the shelter in Bellevue to meet new friends. Seattle Humane makes happy memories every day – make the next one yours!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

As with all of our dogs, Prime has been neutered, microchipped, and vaccinated. He will go home with a certificate for an examination by a King County veterinarian and an identification tag. PLUS, most dog adoptions include 30 days of pet insurance from Trupanion and a training rebate when you complete a dog behavior course - a great way to start off on the right paw!

As with all of our cats, Wicket is spayed, microchipped and vaccinated. All of our cats have been tested for Feline Leukemia/FIV and go home with a certificate for an examination by a King County veterinarian and their very own identification tag and collar. PLUS, most cat adoptions include 30 days of pet insurance from Trupanion – a great way to start off on the right paw!

Introduce to children 16 years and older. Resident dogs are required to visit Prime prior to adoption. Cat free home. Please see our adoption advisors for additional behavior information.

October 13, 2017

Seattle Gay News 17

religion & spirituality

Health services

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HOME services

Gary D. TorGerson Co. Expert Painting and Repairs Rot Repair: siding, doors, windows, porches and decks. Lead-Safe Certified

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See photographs of our work at www.TorgersonCompany.com Email: info@torgersoncompany.com Contractor Registration #: GARYDTC134CJ Phone: 206-781-0999

18 Seattle Gay News

October 13, 2017

Celebrating 43 Years!

MoSS Alley MotorS, Inc. SpecialiStS in VolVo, Honda, toyota and Subaru

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Visit us online www.sgn.org

October 13, 2017

Seattle Gay News 19

HEALTH AND SEX BELONG TOGETHER

Healthysexuals

PROTECT THEMSELVES

Know your prevention options. Tag in. VISIT AND TALK TO A HEALTHCARE PROVIDER

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