Celebrating 41 Years! Issue 42 Volume 43
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Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
Seattle’s End AIDS Walk Kroger OKs Transinclusive health care benefits for employees
End AIDS Walk took place September 26 – Photo by Alex Garland for CHS
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Every year, for the past nearly 30 years, Seattleites have participated in what has been known as the Seattle AIDS Walk. The walk would generally start and end at Volunteer Park – although some started at Memorial Stadium at Seattle Center and wended their way through Downtown Seattle or Myrtle Edwards Park many years ago. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of
people would participate. There were guest speakers, moments of silence, reflecting on those we lost to the epidemic and calls for solidarity and a cure for those who are still fighting. Since its onset in the early 1980s by Mike Andrew HIV/AIDS has been a terrible part of our SGN Staff Writer history and the walk was a way to show ourselves and the world that we were not going The Kroger Company – the largest suto fade away or die quietly and that we wanted a cure dammit! and we raised money permarket chain in the United States – has agreed to offer its employees Transgenderinclusive health care benefits. According to Alliance of Kroger, a group see end aids walk page 4
of LGBT employees, “Beginning January 1, 2016, medical procedures, including surgery and drug therapy for gender reassignment, will be covered up to a $100,000 lifetime maximum for eligible associates and their dependents.” The benefits will be offered by the company insurance plan, Anthem Blue Cross see kroger page 7
Texas court recognizes SOSea raises over same-sex common law $3,000 at annual gala; marriage awards leadership in community
The late Stella Powell (l) and her partner Sonemaly Phrasavath – www.statesman.com
by Shaun Knittel In orders signed October 5, Travis SGN Associate Editor County Probate Judge Guy Herman ruled that Stella Powell and her partner Sonemaly For the first time, a Texas court has rec- Phrasavath met the legal requirements to be It is well known that I wear two hats in ognized a same-sex common law marriage. the community. I’ve spent nearly seven by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
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years at the Seattle Gay News, first working as a staff writer and photographer, working my way up to associate editor, and then, launched Social Outreach Seattle (SOSea) in October 2012. It has been an honor to work see sosea page 7
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Celebrating 41 Years!
SEAMEC announces endorsements
SEAMEC, the Seattle Metropolitan Elections Committee for Gays, Lesbian, Bisexuals & Transgender individuals, announced its general election endorsements on October 15. Incumbent King County assessor Lloyd Hara was endorsed for reelection because of his long record of support for the LGBT community. Veteran King County Council member Larry Gossett, who is running unopposed, was also endorsed. Gossett, a veteran of the Black Liberation Movement in his youth, has always earned SEAMEC’s highest ratings and endorsements. County Council member Joe McDermott, one of two openly Gay Council members, was also endorsed. In Seattle City Council races, SEAMEC has endorsed Michael Maddux, Sandy Brown, and Lorena Gonzales. Maddux, running in District 4, is openly Gay and has been an activist in Washington Stonewall Democrats. Brown, in District 5, is a Methodist minister who has defied his church to marry Gay and Lesbian couples. In 2012, he was a leader in organizing the faith community to support Referendum 74 for marriage equality. Gonzales, running for the at-large District 9 seat, was formerly legal counsel for Mayor Ed Murray. SEAMEC’s ratings for the general election are shown below. Numerical ratings indicate our evaluation of the candidates on the whole range of LGBT issues. A 5 rating means the candidate has shown leadership on our issues; 4 means the candidate exceeds expectations; 3 means
they meet expectations; 2 means they need improvement; 1 means the candidate resists LGBT rights or interests; 0 means they are actively hostile to our community. Where SEAMEC could not interview a candidate and found insufficient information to rate them based on our own research, we assign a ?. In the case of perennial candidate Goodspaceguy, running this time for Port Commissioner, we have assigned him an X, meaning we decline to rate him. (i) stands for incumbent.
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STATE LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT 30 • Carol Gregory (i) 3 • Teri Hickel ? KING COUNTY ASSESSOR • Lloyd Hara (i) 5, ENDORSED • John Wilson 3 KING COUNTY DIRECTOR OF ELECTIONS • Zack Hudgins 4 • Julie Wise ? KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 2 • Larry Gossett (i) 5, ENDORSED KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 4 • Jeanne Kohl-Welles 4 • Rufe Orr ? KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 6 • Claudia Balducci 3 • Jane Hague (i) 3
KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8 • Joe McDermott (i) 5, ENDORSED PORT OF SEATTLE POSITION 2 • Courtney Gregoire (i) 3 • Goodspaceguy X PORT OF SEATTLE POSITION 5 • Fred Felleman 2 • Marion Yoshino 2 SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1 • Lisa Herbold 4 • Shannon Braddock 3 SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 2 • Bruce Harrell (i) 4 • Tammy Morales 3 SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 3 • Kshama Sawant (i) 4 • Pamela Banks 3 SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 4 • Michael Maddux 5, ENDORSED • Rob Johnson 3 SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 5 • Sandy Brown 5, ENDORSED • Debora Juarez 3
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SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 6 • Mike O’Brien (i) 2 • Catherine Weatbrook 2 SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 7 • Sally Bagshaw (i) 3 • Deborah Zech-Artis ? SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8 • Tim Burgess (i) 3 • Jon Grant 3
SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 9 • Lorena Gonzales 3, ENDORSED • Bill Bradburd 2 SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 1 No ratings SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 2 No ratings SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 3 • Lauren McGuire 3 • Jill Geary 2 SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 6 • Leslie Harris 3 • Marty McLaren (i) 3
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year after year to support our brothers and sisters who were affected by HIV/AIDS as well as to fund education and prevention efforts. There were some powerful moments indeed. The current AIDS Walk route is a 5K loop through Capitol Hill that is followed by an after party at Volunteer Park that includes music, snacks, and celebration. The cost to participate as a walker at the End AIDS Walk is free. Runners pay $35. This year, Lifelong (formerly Lifelong AIDS Alliance), the organization that puts on Seattle’s annual fundraising walk in support of people with HIV/AIDS, joined forces with Pierce County AIDS Foundation and Spokane AIDS Network to rename their largest fundraiser of the year. Previously known as the Seattle AIDS Walk, South Sound AIDS Walk, and the Spokane AIDS Walk, these events are now known as: End AIDS Walks. The first End AIDS Walk took place September 26 at 9 a.m. at Volunteer Park. By all accounts the walk was a success. “With a combined history of 68 walks spanning nearly 30 years, this collaboration is a new and innovative approach that brings the Seattle, South Sound, and Spokane regions together around a common goal – to raise funds for HIV prevention and care services and to build awareness that, by preventing new infections, an end to AIDS in Washington state is near,” said Lifelong officials. Current rates of HIV infection in Washington have decreased slightly in recent years according to officials. Still, there are about 510 new cases each year and over 12,000 people estimated to be living with HIV. “By providing resources and support for years to come, the launch of the End AIDS Walks will continue to be a testament to our unified effort to support those living with HIV/AIDS, reduce new infections, and end AIDS once and for all,” said Lifelong. Lifelong relies on the generous support of individuals, corporations and foundations to fulfill their important mission.
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End AIDS Walk is a fundraiser as well as an important event to all who have been or currently are being affected by HIV/AIDS. Individuals are asked to recruit people to sponsor them during the walk; some people even put together whole teams and set out to raise money. The first thing Lifelong asks participants to do is to set up a personal fundraising web page and send out e-mails to friends, family, and co-workers inviting them to sponsor them. Social media sites, say officials, are also a great way to connect with your personal network. They ask participants to create a Facebook event and include links to the personal fundraising page. In the future, Lifelong officials say they will also provide an online fundraising kit. That money is then donated to the organization and a total is later calculated, which is then announced to the public so everyone knows how much was raised. It truly is a community effort and even high school students have become involved – often times raising more than $10,000 towards the cause. The event raises hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Currently, the organization has not reported the full amount raised at the September 26 End AIDS Walk event. Lifelong AIDS Alliance (now simply Lifelong) was formed in 2001 through the merger of Chicken Soup Brigade and Northwest AIDS Foundation. From its beginnings in 1983, when they passed a soup can around Volunteer Park and collected $42 to help people living with HIV/AIDS in the community, Lifelong has remained a leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS and continues to be a champion of healthy lives for all. Today, 30 years later, their years of serving people with HIV/AIDS have provided them with the knowledge base to help others experiencing hunger and the spectrum of HIV illnesses. “Our history is grounded in the support of the HIV/AIDS community and so is our future. As long as this disease is here, so are we,” say officials.
can make a huge difference in the struggle for wellness. Our food program, Chicken Soup Brigade, provides nourishment to our clients through its grocery and meal program. • Housing: When people have a safe place to live, they are less likely to transmit their infection to others. At Lifelong, we provide a variety of housing options to create stable living situations for our clients. • Health: At Lifelong, we do whatever it takes to improve the lives of people living with chronic illnesses such as HIV/AIDS. We help them access health insurance so that they can get the care they need. We ensure that individuals have a safe place to live and food in their stomachs. Until there is a cure, preventing new HIV infections is our best hope. We distribute hundreds of thousands of condoms each year, along with safer-sex messages aimed at stopping new infections. We also counsel individuals to help reduce risky behaviors and offer prevention education programs and activities to promote and increase community awareness. And our caring case managers help people every step of the way. It is important to note that decisions made in Olympia and Washington, D.C. have a profound effect upon people living with HIV/AIDS here in Seattle/King County. “At Lifelong, we advocate for those living with HIV/AIDS to ensure that their voices are heard at the local, state and federal levels,” say officials. If you are newly diagnosed or know someone who is, and are confused about where to find help, you are not alone. There are many ways Lifelong can help. Most people experience a mix of emotions including pain, confusion, fear, anger and loneliness. You do not have to face this disease alone. At Lifelong, they are here to help people living with HIV/AIDS get connected to services that can help optimize the outcomes of living with the disease. Visit them at www.llaa.org.
Lifelong believes the following: • Food: For people living with HIV and other chronic illnesses, a nourishing meal
Celebrating 41 Years!
Calvary Lutheran Church in Federal Way to display section of AIDS Quilt
Calvary Luther Church in Federal Way – calvaryfw.org
Calvary Lutheran Church has partnered with Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) to present an AIDS Quilt exhibit during the month of October. This coincides with TAM’s Art AIDS America exhibition. A 12’ x 12’ section, featuring 8 blocks, of the AIDS Quilt will be on display in Calvary’s vaulted Sanctuary. The exhibit will be open Monday, October 12 to Sunday, November 1. Exhibit hours are Monday to Thursday, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and Saturdays, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Guests will be
able to view the quilt in a quiet, contemplative environment. There is no charge. There will be guest speakers, including a representative from the Pierce County AIDS Organization, who will present “Progress in AIDS Research, Treatment, Cure” on Monday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m., and a representative of the Tacoma Art Museum, who will discuss the Art AIDS America exhibition on Sunday, October 25 at 4:00 p.m. The exhibit will conclude with a Com-
munity All Saints Prayer & Remembrance Service on Sunday, November 1 at 4:00 p.m. Participants will have the opportunity to place the name of a loved one lost to AIDS on a Memorial Display. For more information, visit www.calvaryfw.org/aids-quilt or call Calvary at 253839-0344. Calvary Lutheran Church is located at 2415 S. 320th Street, Federal Way, WA 98003. Calvary has been serving the Federal Way community since 1954.
City Council candidate Jon Grant charges developer with blackmail plan Mayor Murray says City will cut ties with Triad Capital by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The District 3 City Council race between Kshama Sawant and Pamela Banks isn’t the only one generating drama. District 8 candidate Jon Grant has charged a major downtown developer with trying to blackmail him. Brett Allen, a senior vice president at Triad Capital Partners, approached Grant at an October 10 campaign event, the candidate told the Seattle Times, and asked him to help settle a lawsuit with the Tenant’s Union of Washington, where Grant had been executive director. In return for his help, Grant says he was told, Triad Capital would shut down an independent expenditure campaign that was preparing to spend big money to defeat him.
Allen also texted former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, asking him to put pressure on Grant to comply. McGinn also released the text message to the Seattle Times. Grant’s campaign manager, John Wyble, told the Times he’d never seen “this kind of blatant intimidation before,” in spite of being active in local politics for 20 years. “I think there’s some desperation with this development company and they’ve lost sight of their ethics,” he said. The Tenants Union suit challenges Triad’s signature Civic Square development between Third and Fourth Avenues at Cherry Street. City officials illegally renewed Triad’s use permit for the site, the suit charges. If Triad does not make progress on its development at the plum downtown site – which they can’t without a current city use permit – they stand to lose rights to develop the property, so big money is at stake.
Mayor Ed Murray said he was “extremely disappointed by these questionable actions” and said the City would cut its ties with the developer as soon as possible. “They do not represent the values of our city,” Murray added. “Seattle expects and deserves better.” Allen, meanwhile apologized for the “inappropriate” text to McGinn, but said his remarks to Grant were totally innocent. “For [Grant] to try to spin this into something it’s not, at least it’s consistent,” Allen told the Seattle Times. “The misinformation, the outright fabrications and lies he’s told to the media. This is consistent with that.” Triad CEO Fred Grimm said he’d fired Allen. “These actions were not authorized nor in line with our values or the long-standing history of this company,” Grimm wrote in a statement. “We severed ties with that em-
ployee yesterday. As for the Position 8 City Council race, we have not contributed to either candidate or to an independent expenditure.” City Council District 8 is one of two atlarge positions set up under the new district election law. The race pits Grant, a veteran affordable housing advocate, against incumbent City Council member Tim Burgess. The independent expenditure campaign that was used to threaten Grant is named “Seattle Needs Ethical Leaders” and is registered with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission. Its spokesman, Jason Bennett, described it as a pro-Burgess and anti-Grant committee and said it could raise some $200,000. By law, independent expenditure campaigns must not coordinate their efforts with candidates’ campaigns, and no allegations have been made against Burgess in this affair.
37th District Democrats drama:
Ethics Commission rejects charges, Dems admit improprieties but refuse to change endorsement by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer In a bizarre ending to a bizarre story, the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission dismissed charges that Pamela Banks supporters bought the endorsement of the 37th District Democrats organization, and the group’s chair admitted that ineligible people voted in the endorsement meeting, but the Dems refused to redo the flawed vote. Supporters of City Council member Kshama Sawant had hoped for a “no endorsement” vote from the Democrats, and she charged that Bruce Harrell’s campaign paid for 15 new memberships in the 37th District organization to swing the vote toward Sawant’s opponent, Pamela Banks. Sawant, a member of Socialist Alternative, could not be endorsed outright because she doesn’t identify as a Democrat. Sawant supporters said they were not even allowed to mention her name at their group’s endorsement meeting. Sawant’s supporters also charged that several of the new members were not eligible to vote for endorsements because they did not live in the 37th District. Since Banks won endorsement by less than three votes,
they said, the vote should be redone with only eligible members voting. The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission (SEEC) turned down their complaint, but without refuting many of their charges. Of the allegations of wrongdoing lodged by Sawant’s friends, only one was within SEEC’s jurisdiction, the agency said. “If an employer asked or directed an employee to engage in political activity, that employer would not violate any law administered by the Commission,” SEEC said. “If contributions were ‘bundled,’ that would not violate any law administered by the Commission. If a legislative district’s endorsement process were manipulated, that would not violate any law administered by the Commission. “The only one of your allegations that falls within the jurisdiction of the Commission is that memberships – which are contributions under the City’s Elections Code – were purchased by unknown persons for others in such a way as to conceal the true identity of the contributor. “Our inquiry found no evidence to believe that occurred.” In a statement, Bruce Harrell announced
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he’d been cleared of any wrongdoing and called for Sawant’s supporters to apologize to the East African community “so conciliation can begin for the 37th and all parties involved.” The 15 individuals whose memberships were being challenged were all reportedly of East African origin. For his part, Harrell said, “I look forward to helping heal the wound this incident has caused in the 37th Legislative District family. I hope we can be a stronger democratic organization moving forward, welcoming all new members.” 37th District chair admits flaws, but refuses to redo the vote Meanwhile, Rory O’Sullivan, chair of the 37th District Democrats, admitted that many of the improprieties alleged by Sawant’s supporters were true, but said he would not rescind the Banks endorsement. “Our endorsement meeting was held on September 21, 2015, in which we considered endorsements in 19 races,” O’Sullivan wrote in a statement posted on the Democratic group’s website. “When we conducted our normal review of our sign-in records after a meeting,
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we determined that we inadvertently provided voting credentials to three individuals who were not eligible to vote… “A review of the votes taken at our September 21, 2015, meeting show that there were three races that were decided by three or fewer votes: Seattle City Council District 3 [Sawant vs. Banks], Seattle City Council Position 8 [Burgess vs. Grant], and Seattle Proposition 1 [a transportation tax levy]. We do not know how the three individuals who were improperly credentialed voted. It is not our intent to rescind or take back any endorsements made at our endorsement meeting.” The issue came up again at the group’s October 12 meeting, where critics of the endorsement process asked for a revote with only eligible members participating. O’Sullivan ruled two motions to that effect out of order. A subsequent motion to refer the whole endorsement process to an independent investigator was voted down, but the group did approve an executive board retreat “to work through issues.”
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Celebrating 41 Years!
SGN takes part in pioneering national journalism effort documenting LGBT history Seattle Gay News is pleased to announce its participation in the 10th-annual National LGBT History Month Project, a nationwide journalism endeavor that seeks to uncover and explore the storied history of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community. The project was begun by Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal in 2006
to help the LGBT community and its supporters both document and understand the community’s rich history. More than three-dozen partner publications and websites will carry stories on LGBT history throughout October, National LGBT History Month. Topics this year range from an interview with the attorney who defeated the federal
ban on marriage equality, an in-depth timeline of the history of the Trans-rights movement and an exploration of the potential Bisexuality of the author of the children’s classic, Mary Poppins. Previous History Month coverage has featured interviews with President Barack Obama and then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and in 2011 the “We Are
America” special featured never-beforeseen evidence suggesting that the country may have already had its first Gay president, James Buchanan. Throughout its 10-year history, the project has featured more than 100 stories about LGBT history.
sosea
erment and an individual’s right to protect themselves and others against violent attack. Classes are open to all ages, held on Capitol Hill, and are instructed by world champion martial arts expert and selfdefense specialist Mac S. McGregor. Visit www.SocialOutreachSeattle.com for information about when and where the next class will be. • From the Heart: SOSea’s LGBTQ homeless youth/adult outreach program. From the Heart is SOSea’s most successful program to date. Quarterly, SOSea raises money, accepts donations, and conducts direct outreach to aid LGBTQ and Allied homeless youth, families and adults who are struggling to survive. To date, we’ve handed out more than 600 jackets, scarves, winter hats, pairs of gloves, and pants. We also hand out personal hygiene kits, tarps for wet months, feminine hygiene products and more. For more information about how you can help or get involved, go to http://www.socialoutreachseattle. com/?team=ben-haong#!from-the-heart/ c1oj3.
awards:
It was a banner year for SOSea. After advocating for three years for rainbow crosswalks to be painted in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray ordered 11 crosswalks to be painted rainbow colors days before the 2015 Seattle Pride celebration in June. Our work in selfdefense and safety has catapulted the organization into the mainstream conscious of the neighborhood. People cheer and give the thumbs up when the safety vehicle passes them on the street. In fact, last month, I was honored to meet with the U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch at the Northwest African American Museum to discuss community organizing and our work with the Seattle Police Department on reform and LGBTQ safety. Our board of directors consists of a multi-cultural, diverse in age and sexual orientation and gender expression, group of people that work in the Seattle Parks Department, United States Navy, area preschool, nightlife, and more. We enjoy partnerships with Gender Justice League, Washington Hero Initiative, Pride Foundation, and more. We remain a grassroots organization of volunteers that get results, make changes in the neighborhood and community to positively impact the lives of people around us, and there is nothing slowing us down. No organization can get so much done without making friends and allies with others whose values match our own. In this sense, SOSea has worked with some of the city’s most ambitious and outspoken artists, activists, and organizers. On October 1, SOSea was proud to present the following
In addition to receiving his leadership award, out Gay Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen delivered the keynote speech for the evening, local drag legend Aleksa Manila (a founding member of SOSea) hosted the event, and local comedian and out Gay artist Jeffrey Robert did the official ask of the evening for donations. Several entertainers offered performances for the evening including local hip-hop dance crew + ULTRA, Peruvian vocalist Jack Mozie, a SOSea founding member and current board member, Latin music and hip hop recording artist LatinRose, and singer/ songwriter Michael Cagle.
of an HIV/AIDS memorial and work with City officials and community advocates to pick a location for the memorial to rest. • The Legacy Project documentary film: For the last three years, SOSea has conducted, in cooperation with Visual Affairs Media Company, interviews with some of Seattle’s pioneers in the fight for LGBTQ equality. Interview subjects include: Seattle Gay News publisher George Bakan, GSBA’s Louise Chernin, Pride Foundation’s Jeffrey Hedgpeth, Ingersoll Gender Center founder Marsha Botzer, Washington Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu, and many more. The roughly two-hour documentary film is in the editing phase and is set for a January or February release at a red carpet event in a Seattle theater. The film will then enter the international and national film festival circuit as well as be made available to college and high school GSA’s for educational purposes. • Rainbow Pride Flag and Flagpole 365 days a year: Seattle does not show our Pride year-round. Instead of waiting for once a year, SOSea will model the pride flagpole project after the one that sits outside of the Castro BART Station in San Francisco. While it may be true that Seattle’s LGBTQ community is no longer attached to just one neighborhood, it is important to note that Capitol Hill remains the community hub and cultural anchor. Aside from the rainbow crosswalks, this is another way to recognize and honor that space.
continued from cover in this community at such a capacity and given all the advances at the local and national level for LGBTQ equality, I feel humbled by what we’ve been able to accomplish. So many people have worked for decades to secure freedoms and equality that we now have. It is a great feeling to know that the children born today and tomorrow will never know a world with “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a federal DOMA, and more. Soon we hope to achieve a nation with all gender restrooms and full equality under the law. It has been said before, and I will say it again because it is vitally important – there is still a lot of work to be done. At SOSea, our belief is to jump in and do it. Get up, get out and do something. And so we do. On October 1, SOSea held our Third Annual SOSea Gala & Community Awards Ceremony at The Summit (420 E. Pike St.). This was our largest gala yet and a tremendous amount of work went into the event. It was a success and we couldn’t be more thankful to those that showed up to support our work in the community. For $25 per ticket, attendees got a three course dinner, could bid on silent auction items donated by local comedian and artist Jeffrey Robert (Gay Uncle Time), guerrilla street artist (Woo Girls, Legendary) John Criscitello, and more, as well as cheer on SOSea and especially, the local community members who received leadership awards from SOSea for their work in our neighborhood and community throughout 2015. All together, the community raised $3,000 for SOSea programs and projects, which include: • SOSea Safety Vehicle: In an effort to keep people safe at night on Capitol Hill, where there has been an increase in bias crime attacks, SOSea launched a neighborhood safety shuttle, a nine-passenger rainbow colored van, that operates ThursdaySunday, 9 p.m. until 4:30 a.m. Riders are asked to donate to gas and to help pay the driver, insurance and maintenance for the vehicle, however, nobody is charged a fare. In other words you pay what you can; but nobody is turned away if they don’t have any cash. The van can be flagged down or you can download the app, which allows you to contact the driver directly, at http:// sosea.igenapps.com/safetyshuttle or call (203) 441-7233. • SOSea Self-Defense Academy: A series of self-defense classes, scheduled once per month, designed for people to begin entry level self-defense and gradually increase their skill level and knowledge through additional classes. We believe in empow-
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• Excellence in Leadership: Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen • 2015 Public Safety Award: SPD LGBTQ Liaison Officer Jim Ritter • 2015 Transgender Excellence Award: Gunner Scott, PRIDE Foundation/Seattle LGBTQ Commission • Media Award: Nate Gowdy, Photojournalist, and Jamie Lynn Tompkins, Q13 • 2015 Community Service Award: Brittin Baker, SOSea Safety Shuttle • 2015 Grassroots Activism Award: John Criscitello, Capitol Hill PSA • 2015 Community Partner of the Year: Brian Tracey, Empowerment through Education UW • 2015 Sponsor of the Year: Steamworks Seattle • 2015 Entertainer of the Year: Grant Cabebe, #LIVING Dance Competition • Rayo de Sol: LatinRose • 2015 Race & Social Justice Award: Tyrone Brown, Moral Mondays Seattle University
Social Outreach Seattle has set a $10,000 fundraising goal from October 1 through October 31. That is less than $1,000 a month to cover our programs and projects. It costs money to do what we do and although we are a nonprofit registered with Washington state, we do not have a million dollar budget, and we are an all-volunteer organization. We receive fiscal sponsorship through Chance Fashion, a local 501(c)(3) organization, so large donations are tax detectable. Moving forward, SOSea is raising money for the programs listed at the beginning of this article, but also for: • HIV/AIDS Memorial: Seattle has lost thousands of people over the years to the epidemic and there are thousands more who still live with the infection every day. As a way to memorialize the dead and a sign of solidarity with the living, SOSea will raise money for the design and installment
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These, of course, are just a few of the things SOSea works on throughout the year. If you can, please consider donating to an organization that yields real results. Go to www.SocialOutreachSeattlecom and click on the DONATION tab and follow the prompts to a safe and secure donation today. We thank you in advance for your willingness to help and to make certain that as the city grows, LGBTQ visibility grows with it. Lastly, SOSea would like to thank, again, all of the volunteers we’ve had from over the years and the board of directors past and present that have worked hundreds of hours to make this neighborhood, our city and especially our community a better one. If you can help, then do so. If you can work, then lend a hand. If you can feel, then love. At SOSea we believe that “We Are One Community, Working Together.” If you believe the same and want to help out or have some suggestions or ideas please contact SOSea at SocialOutreachSeattle@gmail.com.
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Judge to Kentucky governor: Tell me Rowan County marriage licenses are valid by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A federal judge has ordered Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear to confirm whether marriage licenses issued by Rowan County are valid even if they lack the name of county clerk Kim Davis and the name of the county. Davis, who served time in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses at all, was released after agreeing to allow her deputy clerks to issue them. She removed her name and the name of Rowan County from the forms, however, raising the question whether the altered forms are still legal. Beshear’s spokesperson Terry Sebastian told the Associated Press that Kentucky recognizes the licenses and that the governor would file a formal confirmation of that with the court. In September, the ACLU asked U.S. Dis-
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continued from cover Blue Shield, and will not affect health care coverage negotiated by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) in its collective bargaining agreements. About 75% of Kroger employees nationwide are represented by UFCW, including QFC and Fred Meyer employees in Washington. In all, Kroger owns some 400 stores nationwide and employs 400,000 workers, making it the seventh largest employer in the country. “I am very pleased indeed that the companies are now offering coverage,” Seattle activist Marsha Botzer told SGN. “It is the right and fair thing to do.
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considered married under Texas law. Powell died last year, and her siblings filed suit to have her considered single because at the time of her death she could not have legally married her partner, Phrasavath. On the other hand, Phrasavath sued to be recognized as Powell’s common law wife. Common law marriage – sometimes called “informal marriage” – results from
trict Judge David Bunning – the judge who jailed Davis for contempt of court – to order Davis to reissue the licenses in their original form, with Davis’ and the county’s name. In their reply on October 13, Davis’ attorneys charged that the civil rights group was trying to “needlessly create controversy where it does not currently exist.” The next day Bunning ordered Beshear to decide definitively whether the altered licenses were legal or not. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell legalized same-sex marriage, Davis claimed that she had a First Amendment right not to issue marriage licenses to Gay or Lesbian couples because her religion disapproves of homosexuality. Bunning ordered her to comply with the Supreme Court decision, however, and Beshear sent a directive to all 120 of Kentucky’s county clerks instructing them to issue licenses to same-sex couples.
Davis ultimately spent 10 days in jail for refusing to follow court orders to issue licenses and was released only after promis-
ing not to interfere when her deputy clerks issued them.
“This demonstrates how understanding brings equality, because once individuals and companies understand Transgender and gender-nonconforming people are a part of human diversity and not any form of pathology, they see inclusion as simply another empirically supported medical and care need. And a great move to keep productive employees as well! So, cheers for coverage, and cheers for the future!” Botzer, the founder of Ingersoll Gender Center, has been active in the Coalition for Inclusive Healthcare, advocating for Transinclusive changes in insurance coverage. Washington state unions have also been advocating for Trans-inclusive benefits. At the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) in July, delegates passed a resolution promising to remove discriminatory
exclusions from their health care policies and to bargain for Trans-inclusive benefits in future collective bargaining. Tom Geiger, spokesperson for UFCW Local 21, the union that represents QFC and Fred Meyers employees, welcomed the change in Kroger policy. “We’ve been an advocate for Trans rights and were part of the effort to get a resolution passed at the recent Washington State Labor Council Convention that included support for Transgender-inclusive health care for union members and members’ dependents,” Geiger told SGN. Getting big nationwide employers like Kroger to agree to Trans-inclusive policies is important because major corporations are often exempt from state nondiscrimination laws, like those that guarantee insur-
ance coverage to Transgender Washingtonians. The largest U.S. corporations often self-insure, or if they offer insurance plans to their employees, as Kroger does, their benefits packages are administered under federal ERISA laws, which set minimum standards for most voluntarily established pension and health plans in private industry. “I am pretty excited. I never thought when I came out three years ago that with a little bit of work, I could help make a big change and help so many other people,” Kroger employee Britney McGannon said on her Facebook page. “I never thought that would happen.” McGannon has worked at a Kroger store in Cincinnati for 10 years and began transitioning three years ago.
agreement between the partners that they are married, even if they do not obtain a legal marriage license or have a ceremony. Common law marriages are recognized in Texas, eight other states, and the District of Columbia, but not in Washington state. New Hampshire recognizes common law marriage for probate purposes only. Under Texas law, courts can recognize a common law marriage if a couple agrees that they are married, lives together, and presents themselves as being married, for example introducing each other as a spouse.
Phrasavath argued that she and Powell met the legal requirements, since they began dating in 2006 and celebrated a 2008 marriage ceremony performed by a Zen Buddhist priest. Although that ceremony was not valid at the time under Texas law, they subsequently lived openly as spouses in their Austin home, she said. “The goal here was always to have Som and Stella treated like any other couple,” said Brian Thompson, lawyer for Phrasavath. “And now we know that other samesex couples are going to be treated equally,
not just in Travis County but now I think we have precedent for the state of Texas.” Republican State Attorney General Ken Paxton opposed Prasavath’s claims, arguing that her relationship with Powell ended before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling that legalized same-sex marriages. Judge Herman rejected Paxton’s arguments and removed him from the case last month.
U.S. District Judge David Bunning – Getty Images / heavy.com
No communion for you!
Newark Archbishop denies sacraments to equality supporters priests in his diocese, cutting off Catholics who support marriage equality from Church sacraments. According to Religion News Service, which published the text of Myers’ memo, the instructions were dated September 21 but not sent out until the week of October Newark’s Roman Catholic Archbishop John Myers – 11. Photo by Paul Haring / Catholic News Service “Catholics must be in a marriage recognized as valid by the by Mike Andrew Church to receive Holy Communion or the SGN Staff Writer other sacraments,” Myers wrote. Newark’s Roman Catholic Archbishop “Non-Catholics and any Catholic who John Myers has issued new instructions to publicly rejects Church teaching or disci-
8 Seattle Gay News
October 16, 2015
pline, either by public statements or by joining or supporting organizations which do so, are not to receive the Sacraments.” Myers’ statement seems to include not only Catholics in same-sex marriages but even Catholics, Gay or straight, who join organizations like Dignity USA or PFLAG. In another section of the two-page memo, Myers says Church functionaries should not even be present at pro-Gay events. Catholics, Myers writes, “especially ministers and others who represent the Church, should not participate in or be present at religious events or events intended to endorse or support those who reject or ignore Church teaching and Canon Law.” In 2012, during the campaign to get the New Jersey state legislature to pass a marriage equality bill, Myers sent out a pastoral
letter instructing Catholics in his diocese to work against same-sex marriage. Myers is due to retire in July 2016, when he turns 75. In 2013, Pope Francis named Bernard Hebda coadjutor archbishop of Newark, meaning that he will take over automatically when Myers hits 75. This was regarded as a disciplinary move on the Pope’s part, in response to a number of controversies Myers got himself involved in. In one case, he allowed a priest accused of child abuse to continue working with young people, in spite of a court order barring him from even being around minors. In another scandal, Myers was severely criticized by lay people in his diocese for using church funds to build himself a 6400-square-foot retirement villa.
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Dick Leitsch: History is unavoidable
Dick Leitsch – Courtesy of Mark Segal
by Perry Brass Special to the SGN For my friend Dick Leitsch, the last president of the Mattachine Society of New York, who last May turned 80, history was unavoidable. I met Dick in two different periods of my life. At 20, I attended my first and only meeting of the New York Mattachine Society, at the old Wendell Wilkie House near Bryant Park in New York City. He moderated, handsome, stylish, with a soft-spoken Kentuckian polished air. I was turned totally off: Mattachine was strictly out of my world as, new to New York, I struggled to make sense of myself. Two years later, a few months after Stonewall, I joined the Gay Liberation Front. GLF offered me a valid political understanding of why queers were being destroyed in American society, and what we had to do, often rowdy as we were, to change it. Both Dick and Mattachine were loathed by many of my young GLF brothers and sisters, some of whom had been in it and, like unruly kids, resented their dowdier parents. Dick was often referred to as “Pig Leitsch.” For us, he represented gay accommodationists, what we called “dragonfaggots,” “Aunt Sallies,” queer “Uncle Toms.” His very image seemed like a ghost from the 1950s and mid-1960s. Then in 1975, I started freelancing for Countrywide Publications, a scrappy pulp magazine conglomerate on lower Park Avenue, run by the infamously cheap Myron Fass and his brother (often described as “borderline personality” types for their explosive dealings with employees), who presided over a farm team for a later generation of successful writers and editors. My editor was Robert (Bobby) Amsel, a gifted young man editing a group of low-end, hetero porn magazines often written by hungry gay scribes like myself. Bobby and I became close; he literally taught me how to write for commercial publication. He revealed that his long-time partner was Dick Leitsch, “president of the old Mattachine Society.” I blinked twice. Bobby had actually had a history with Mattachine, and after Stonewall, as Mattachine was folding, became president while Dick remained executive director. I soon met Dick again, and quickly adored him. He was a throwback to another era, of courtly Southern gentlemen (he’s from Louisville) and old-school gay bar queens, denizens of a complete culture of gay bars, something that younger people now find difficult to understand. For decades, gay bars were our most visible institutions. Gay men and lesbians found their only home in them. In New York, bars were raided cyclically: usually before elections,
before major events like the 1964 New York World’s Fair when Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr. closed the bars to keep innocent tourists from wandering in (like, what were they going to do in them?), or when cops decided they wanted to squeeze out a bit more payola from mafia barkeeps. This was fostered by New York’s state alcoholic beverage agency, which had rules dating from the 1920s against serving homosexuals “openly” in any bar. In 1966, Leitsch, along with other members of NY Mattachine staged the “Sip-In,” the first “out” gay demonstration in New York state history. They walked into Julius’, an oft-raided bar on Waverly Place in the West Village, declared themselves gay and were immediately refused service. The event was recorded in Fred W. McDarrah’s famous photo showing Dick in profile next to Craig Rodwell (soon to open the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore, the first gay bookstore in the United States) and long-time activist Randy Wicker [co-author with Kay Tobin of Gay Crusaders: Homosexuality: Lesbians and Gay Men in Society, History, and Literature]. Mattachine took Julius’ and the state agency to court, paying the bar’s legal fees because, as Dick put it, “We just wanted to make a case, not punish them.” A New York judge declared that the state’s policy denied gays their basic right to free assembly; the rule was unconstitutional. But this did not stop gay bars from being harassed, and three years later a June raid on the Stonewall Inn in the Village exploded as no one thought it would. Dick told me he never thought of himself as being political; he was simply for “our right to exist.” For close to a decade before Stonewall, he was one of a few openly gay men in America. To be that open, he’d had to take a virtual vow of poverty, and for several years lived rent-free in a room in a spacious rent-controlled apartment leased by Madolin Cervantes, a straight woman and Mattachine officer who loved gay men. To make money, as a solitary advocate for gay rights, he got sent out on college lecture circuits where he met the Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, America’s second openly gay man. “We would criss-cross each other on college campuses,” Dick told me. “We became friends. He published stuff in Mattachine publications.” Dick worked as a journalist, a holiday decorator for restaurants and stores, and a bartender. He loved working in bars and restaurants. “When you’re a writer, you have to wait for the reviews to come out. When you work in a restaurant, you get the review immediately. It’s called a tip.” He was very close to his siblings back in
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Kentucky who all had children, so Uncle Dick had a large extended family. Later, when I became close to Jack Nichols, another Mattachine pioneer and a prolific writer who died in 2005, after becoming much more radical than most of his generation, Dick told me that having family made him less interested in leaving a legacy for history. “I have lots of nieces and nephews,” he told me. “They will live after me.” But history is unavoidable. We are now starting to see what huge courage and sacrifices these gay pioneers went through – Frank Kameny, who was jobless after a federal witchhunt deprived him of a position as an astronomer; Jack Nichols, whose own father, an FBI agent, plotted to have him murdered as a teenager; and Dick Leitsch, who took his role in it with such gallantry, never trying to re-invent history to try to concoct a place for himself. He went from being America’s most famous, if only, homosexual, to almost forgotten. In 2006, on the 40th anniversary of the Sip-In, he was asked by Scott Simon on National Public Radio: “Mr. Leitsch, is there still a Mattachine Society?” He answered, “Oh, no, not after Stonewall. I kept saying, what’s the goal of Mattachine? And I always said the goal of Mattachine is to put ourselves out of business. When the cops walked into Stonewall, they tried to close it. People said, no, you’re not going to close our bar. We have a right to have our bars and it’s been established we
have the right to have our bars. And Mattachine had nothing to do with Stonewall. That was something where the people rose up and did it. And that’s the beginning of the gay movement.” Perry Brass has published 19 books, is the author of the bestseller The Manly Art of Seduction, How to Meet, Talk to and Become Intimate with Anyone and Ferro-Grumley Award-nominated King of Angels, a gay, Southern Jewish coming-of-age novel set in Savannah, Ga., in 1963. His newest book is The Manly Pursuit of Desire and Love, Your Guide to Life, Happiness and Emotional and Sexual Fulfillment In a Closed-Down World. The Manly Art of Seduction is now available as an audio book through Audible. com. Brass frequently writes for the Huffington Post and can be reached through www. perrybrass.com.
Dick Leitsch – Courtesy of Mark Segal
October 16, 2015
Seattle Gay News 13
Swiss dismiss hate speech charge against Catholic bishop, LGBT groups appeal
Bishop Vitus Huondor – Keystone / www.swissinfo.ch
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A Swiss court decided on October 9 not to prosecute a Roman Catholic bishop for hate speech against the LGBT community,
14 Seattle Gay News
but a coalition of LGBT groups has appealed. Pink Cross, a federation of Swiss LGBT rights organizations, filed their appeal October 12. Their original complaint against Bishop
October 16, 2015
Vitus Huonder was filed with authorities on August 10, eight days after Huonder suggested that LGBT people should be executed. In a public debate, the bishop quoted Bible passages, notably Leviticus 20:13, which says “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” The Pink Cross legal brief charged that Huonder represented the passage as “the church’s position on homosexuality,” thus “inciting people to crime or violence,” in violation of Swiss laws against hate speech. If Huonder were to be tried and found guilty, he could go to jail for three years. Bastian Baumann, director of Pink Cross, said in a statement: “As a figure of authority within the church, Vitus Huonder accepts that his demand will meet with approval among Christians and other fundamentalists and could be followed obediently.” It’s not clear if the bishop actually called for present-day Christians to literally put
homosexuals to death or was simply reading the Bible verses. Pink Cross Director Bastian Baumann told Newsweek that his group filed the legal complaint because they feared that Catholics would take the bishop’s words seriously and act on them. “We believe in freedom of expression, and taking quotes from the Bible is fine,” Baumann said. “But then he said the words should be applied to real life, which is the equivalent of calling for the death penalty for gay people. We were worried about that. He is the leader of a big church, and he was calling for people to follow his words, and we thought this could be dangerous.” Some Catholic Church officials tried to distance themselves from Huonder. Bishop Markus Büchel of St. Gallen diocese said that people should not be reduced to their sexuality. Reacting to the controversy, the Swiss Bishops’ Conference released a statement in early September saying, “The Church is open to all.”
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