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Celebrating 41 Years! Issue 40 Volume 43

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Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Washington state man receives VA benefits as surviving spouse of deceased husband in a precedent setting decision

Broad range of FREE dental, vision and medical services offered at giant health clinic

Making the promise of Marriage Equality a lived reality for Washingtonians Washington man receives amended death certificate, VA benefits after being recognized as surviving spouse of deceased husband

fought for years to obtain legal recognition of his marriage to his deceased husband, Jerry Hatcher. Joe and Jerry married in a religious ceremony in Seattle in 2003. Jerry, a decorated veteran, passed away in 2008. Because WashingIn June 2015, the ton had an unconstiU.S. Supreme Court tutional law on the ruled in Obergefell v. books when he died Hodges that it is unthat prohibited marconstitutional for riages of same-sex states to ban marriages couples, Jerry’s death of same-sex couples. certificate did not inThe ripple effects of dicate that he and Joe the Court’s decision were married. are now permitting Joe appealed to Joe Krumbach – seattletimes.com LGBT people to obtain the Department of Vetlong-overdue recognition of their mar- erans Affairs (VA) for benefits that are availriages. Legal Voice and the office of Sena- able to spouses of deceased veterans. The tor Patty Murray recently helped to secure VA denied his request on the grounds that one such victory for Joe Krumbach, who has see joe krumbach page 7

WHO expands PrEP guidelines

People in need of dental, medical and vision services may receive them free of charge at the largest free health clinic ever organized in the State of Washington, Seattle/King County Clinic, October 22-25, in KeyArena at Seattle Center Now in its second year, Seattle/King County Clinic brings together over 100

healthcare organizations, civic agencies, nonprofit entities, private businesses and thousands of volunteers with a goal of providing over $2.5 million in services to underserved and vulnerable populations. This extraordinary free clinic offers a broad range of medical, dental, and vision care with an see free clinic page 7

Pope still Catholic

Meets with Kim Davis, endorses resistance to marriage equality

Nine million added to group who should get treatment

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer In new guidelines released at the end of September, the World Health Organization (WHO) expanded its recommendations on the use of antiretroviral drugs. All HIV-positive people should get antiretroviral therapy (ART), and all people at risk for HIV infection should get the same drugs as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) therapy, WHO said. “The first of these recommendations is based on evidence from clinical trials and observational studies released since 2013 showing that earlier use of ART results in better clinical outcomes for people living with HIV compared with delayed treat-

ment,” the group said. “The second recommendation is based on clinical trial results confirming the efficacy of the ARV drug tenofovir for use as PrEP to prevent people from acquiring HIV in a wide variety of settings and populations.” According to the New York Times, the new guidelines would increase the number of people receiving medications by about nine million. Previous WHO guidelines had recommended PrEP for Gay men, people with HIV-positive partners, and prostitutes. HIV specialists welcomed the expanded guidelines, noting that the so-called “ABC strategy” – abstinence, being monogamous, and condoms – had not worked. Dr. Mark Dybul, executive director of

President Barack Obama shares a laugh with Pope Francis – primanews.org

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

The Pope is still Catholic. In spite of his image-building visit to the United States, in which he spoke warmly about social justice and held up Catholic outsiders Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton as examples to the faithful, Pope Francis has not budged an inch on marriage equality. In fact, Francis met with anti-Gay county clerk Kim Davis, endorsed her refusal to issee who page 14

sue same-sex marriage licenses, and asked for her prayers. Later he repeated his support for her to reporters travelling with him, although he did not mention her by name. Davis recounted the meeting in a September 30 interview with ABC News. “I was crying. I had tears coming out of my eyes,” she said. “I’m just a nobody, so it was really humbling to think he would want to meet or know me.” “I put my hand out and he reached and see pope francis page 13

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Celebrating 41 Years!

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Fr. John McNeill dies at 90

“The first major prophet of the Catholic LGBT movement” by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Fr. John McNeill, former Jesuit priest and pioneer of the Catholic LGBT movement, died September 22 at the age of 90. His long-time partner Charlie Chiarelli was at his bedside. McNeill was one of the organizers of the Catholic LGBT organization Dignity USA in 1969, and founded the group’s New York chapter in 1972. He also founded the Upper Room AIDS Ministry, which assisted homeless HIV-positive residents of Harlem. In 1976 McNeill published a groundbreaking book, The Church and the Homosexual, and in 1998 he published his memoirs, Both Feet Firmly Planted in Midair: My Spiritual Journey. McNeill was a hero to LGBT Catholics, “the first major prophet of the Catholic LGBT movement,” according to Dignity USA’s executive director Marianne DuddyBurke, and an antagonist of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – later Pope Benedict XVI. McNeill was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1925 and served in Europe during World War II, where he was captured by German troops and confined in a POW camp. After the war, he returned to the United States with his spiritual outlook transformed, he said later. In 1948 McNeill joined the Jesuit order and was ordained as a priest in 1959. He got his PhD from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, in 1964. While there, he fell in love with another man. McNeill met Chiarelli in 1969 and the two formed a relationship that would last 46 years until McNeill’s death. In 1976 McNeill published The Church and the Homosexual with the permission of his Jesuit superiors, who had it translated into several languages. That same year, McNeill came out as Gay on national TV, in an interview with NBC’s Tom Brokaw. McNeill was then ordered by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican’s doctri-

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Father John McNeill with his husband Charlie Chiarelli in 2012 – Gary Rissman

nal watchdog, to stop speaking about sexuality or risk expulsion from the church. While he complied with Ratzinger’s orders, McNeil continued to minister quietly to LGBT Catholics for many years. However, when the Vatican issued its letter “On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons” in 1986, he felt he could no longer keep silent. Authored by Ratzinger and approved by the Cardinal’s ally, Pope John Paul II, the document described Gay people as having a “tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil.” McNeill spoke out against the document in statements given to the National Catholic Reporter and the New York Times and Ratzinger retaliated by ordering him to give up all ministry to LGBT people. McNeill was also expelled from the Jesuits and forbidden to say Mass, although he technically remained a Catholic priest. McNeill took his expulsion from the Jesuits as an opportunity to speak out freely against homophobia in the Catholic Church without fear of further discipline, and he continued to be an advocate for

LGBT Catholics for the rest of his life. In 2012 McNeill was the subject of the documentary “Taking A Chance On God” in which he spoke of having tried “with the help of the Holy Spirit to free Gay Christians from the lies of a pathologically homophobic religion.” In a statement announcing his death, Dignity USA executive director Marianne Duddy-Burke remembered McNeill as a pioneer activist for LGBT Catholic rights. “His groundbreaking bravery in daring to question official Church doctrine was truly liberating to so many people. The Church and the Homosexual was really the ‘coming-out’ Bible for LGBT Catholics,” Duddy-Burke said. “We offer our deepest condolences to Charlie and commend him for his faithful companionship and care-giving to John over so many years.” McNeill’s family has established a Father John J. McNeill Legacy Fund in his memory to preserve his books, articles, and interviews, and continue his work for LGBT Catholics around the world.

Celebrating 41 Years!

Memorial planned for Heidi Durham, pioneering tradeswoman and socialist feminist leader

A public memorial will be held October 11 for Heidi Durham, one of the first women in the U.S. to break into the electrical trades and a veteran leader in the Freedom Socialist Party (FSP) and Radical Women (RW). She died of Alzheimer’s in Seattle on August 23. Born in San Pedro, California, on July 9, 1953, Durham came of age during the antiwar and civil rights ferment of the 1960s and early 1970s. Her participation in these movements marked the beginning of what she once called “a lifelong unofficial occupation” as an impassioned activist for working-class men and women, especially those most discriminated against. Says her sister Guerry Hoddersen, “Heidi was brave and fiercely loyal in pursuing the causes she believed in. She did not bow to power nor apologize for being outspoken. She drew people to her because she was so genuinely concerned with their welfare.” Durham moved to Washington state in 1971 and attended Western Washington University for two years. Shortly before her 21st birthday, Durham became one of the original 10 women hired into Seattle City Light’s groundbreaking Electrical Trades Trainee (ETT) program, launched in 1974 by Clara Fraser, a co-founder of both FSP and RW. This hotly contested affirmative action program was to leave an indelible mark on the Seattle scene and open a 30-year chapter of Durham’s life as a City Light employee and union champion with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The ETTs, who were the first women in the country to break into the male-dominated electrical trades, walked into a politically charged situation at City Light. Workers angry over the heavy-handed management of then-Superintendent Gordon Vickery had just staged an 11-day walkout, which Fraser had organized support for. When workers’ grievances continued to mount, the ETTs supported their fellow unionists. In retaliation, both Fraser and the entire ETT group were fired in 1975. Both sued, and both of their cases were eventually upheld, Fraser’s not until 1982. The ETTs were awarded $120,000 in back pay and damages and rehired in 1976. This rocky beginning was not the end of a tough road for Durham and her sister tradeswomen. They faced management hostility and resentment at times from many male coworkers, but drew strength and solidarity from Black workers at City Light who themselves faced abuse and unequal treatment as trailblazers in a mostly white trade. The hazing they sometimes endured contributed to Durham’s fall from an electrical pole when she was 24. Despite the trauma of the fall, a months-long recovery from a broken back, and a permanent mea-

sure of disability, she fought to continue working in the field and retired from City Light as a Senior Power Dispatcher after a 30-year career. Meanwhile, Durham continued her activist “unofficial occupation.” She was an early and longstanding leader in both RW and the FSP, serving as a member of the party’s elected National Committee for many years. An irrepressible fighter for gender and race equality and against all forms of discrimination, she was a founding member of the Committee for Equal Rights at City Light (CERCL) in 1983 and of the Ad Hoc Committee for Fair Employment and Open Housing in 1984. CERCL formed to oppose management’s biased policy and practices and its attacks on whistleblowers and advocates for progressive change at City Light. Public support for CERCL’s goals caused the mayor to force the utility superintendent at the time to resign. The Ad Hoc Committee successfully organized community support to defend and strengthen Seattle anti-discrimination laws. This resulted in the addition of people with disabilities as a protected group and the retention of threatened protections on the basis of sexual orientation and political ideology, among other gains. Durham wrote The War on the Disabled: Adding Insult to Injury in 1982, and in 1990 with Megan Cornish co-authored Women Workers: Sparkplugs of Labor, an analysis of the changing demographics of the U.S. workforce. In 1991, she ran together with Yolanda Alaniz as an FSP candidate for Seattle City Council. With a platform including a guaranteed annual income for poor families and individuals, an elected civilian review board over the police, and extension of domestic partnership rights to all workers, Alaniz and Durham were the first socialist Seattle candidates to win union endorsements. Durham’s concern for workers and the poor was international in scope. She was a main organizer of the 1997 12-day International Feminist Brigade to Cuba, a joint project of Radical Women and the Federation of Cuban Women that aimed to increase feminist resistance to the U.S. blockade. She spoke often of the tremendous impact that seeing the gains of the Cuban revolution, and experiencing the collective spirit of the island’s people, made on her. In 1998, Durham was a member of a coalition that sought to defeat a state initiative that repealed affirmative action, an initiative that is the target of repeal efforts currently. In 1999, she participated in planning leading up to the Seattle protests against the World Trade Organization. She played a key role in the Seattle Million Worker March Committee, which worked locally to build a labor march on Washington, D.C., in 2004. She won roaring applause at the rally when

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she called for socialism as the ultimate solution to attacks on workers’ wages, conditions, living standards, and right to employment. Her last battle was with early-onset Alzheimer’s, which claimed her life at the age of 62. Even in this she was a leader who won the support and affection of workers and residents at her assisted living facility, Sunrise of Mercer Island, and staff and participants in the arts programs of the Frye Art Museum and Elderwise. As the ability to converse increasingly failed her, she would often simply say “I love you” to family, friends, and caregivers. According to her sister Guerry Hoddersen, “Heidi faced life’s struggles with humor and optimism. She had a commitment to improving the lives of workers and oppressed people that lasted through her entire life. She will be deeply missed and never forgotten, not only by family and political comrades, but by the many people whose lives she touched and changed.” Besides Hoddersen, Durham is survived by another sister, Sukey Wolf, and a brother-in-law, Hugo Orellana, of Seattle; and a brother, Stephen Durham, and sister-inlaw, Dr. Susan Williams, of New York City. Remembrances may be sent to Red Letter Press, 4710 University Way NE #100, Seattle, WA 98105, earmarked for the Pioneer Tradeswomen Publication Fund. A public memorial will be held in Seattle on Sunday,

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October 11, at 2:00 p.m. at New Freeway Hall, 5018 Rainier Ave. S. For more information, call 206-722-2453. For reference: • “City Light’s pioneering female line workers are retiring,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 3, 2004 http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/ City-Light-s-pioneering-female-line-workers-are-1150826.php • “On The Left, 5 Serious Candidates -City Council Hopefuls Bring Tough Issues To The Forefront,” Seattle Times, August 15, 1991 http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19910815&sl ug=1299979 • “CERCL zeroes in on management abuses at Seattle City Light,” Freedom Socialist, Summer 1983 http://www.socialism.com/drupal-6.8/ articles/cercl-zeroes-management-abusesseattle-city-light • “Women electricians win stunning victory,” Freedom Socialist, Spring 1977 http://www.socialism.com/drupal-6.8/ articles/women-electricians-win-stunningvictory

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Celebrating 41 Years!

IN MEMORIAM: DALE A. “CHIP” PERALA MARCH 17, 1968 SEPTEMBER 16, 2015 Dale A. “Chip” Perala, 47, a beloved friend of many and caring nurse to his patients, passed away recently at his residence in Seattle following an injury resulting from an automobile accident. Born in Willoughby, Ohio, March 17, 1968, Chip was a graduate of North High School in Eastlake, Ohio and studied nursing at The Ohio State University and Capital University. He was a U.S. Air Force veteran, where he served as a Security Police officer. Chip lived at various military installations in Texas and South Carolina during his enlistment, which included a deployment to Panama. After leaving the military, he called Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Seattle; New York and Dallas home. He was a Registered Nurse and cared for patients in Washington state, New York City, Ohio and South Carolina over the years. Throughout his life Chip enjoyed travel and the outdoors, cruises and had an ongoing love of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. He also loved the desert and traveled often to Palm Springs, Calif. He was a proud pet parent to cats Maxwell and Boo, and dogs Buster, Jocko and Chester.

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Washington state did not permit same-sex couples to marry until after Jerry’s death. He also asked the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) to issue an amended death certificate that indicated the couple was married; he received a similar reply denying his request. Legal Voice intervened, arguing that the DOH must recognize the couple’s marriage as a valid marriage in light of the Oberge-

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expectation of helping as many as 4,000 people in need over the four-day period. Here is how the Clinic works: • Clinic patients receive treatment on a first-come, first-served basis. • Patients may park free of charge in Mercer Street Parking Garage at Seattle Center, between 3rd and 4th avenues north, on each day of the Clinic. • Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, located at 301 Mercer Street, serves as the ticket waiting and distribution area and opens at 12:30 a.m. each day. Organizers distribute admission tickets for the day beginning at 5 a.m., and tickets are limited. • Doors to KeyArena open at 6:30 a.m. Patients are admitted by ticket number into the Clinic, and it is expected to take three to four hours to admit all ticket holders. • Patients register as they enter. They do not need to show identification or proof of citizenship. • Inside KeyArena, all procedures and services are provided free-of-charge, and interpretation services are available for those who need them. • Patients may seek services in up to two areas per day, but they are not able to seek care in both dental and vision in one day.

Chip is survived by many dear friends across the country, particularly in Washington state, Ohio, South Dakota, South Carolina, Texas and New York City. He is also survived by his long-time partner and former husband Joel Hastings, of Chevy Chase, Md. Although their marriage ended in divorce in 2014, they remained very close and intimately involved in each other’s lives. Also surviving are cousins and aunts in Seattle, South Dakota and Ohio. A memorial service will be held in Seattle Saturday, October 3, 2015, at Bonney-Watson Capitol Hill, 1732 Broadway. Friends can call beginning at 2 p.m., with the remembrance commencing at 4 p.m. Following the remembrance, friends can gather at C.C.Attle’s, 1701 East Olive Way, for a toast in Chip’s memory. It is suggested that memorial donations be made in Chip’s name to Three Dollar Bill Cinema, producers of the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, or to the charity of the donor’s choice. Additional information regarding arrangements can be found at http://bonneywatson.com/obituaries/2015/09/Dale--ChipA-Perala.html. Chip was injured in a multi-car accident in Seattle over Labor Day weekend, and passed away 10 days later, September 16, 2015, at his residence on Capitol Hill in Seattle.

fell decision. The DOH agreed with the arguments, and recently issued an amended death certificate correctly indicating that the two men were married. Legal Voice also assisted Joe in appealing the VA’s denial of benefits, and the office of Senator Murray urged the appeal through. Last week the VA granted benefits to Joe as Jerry’s surviving spouse. “We are thrilled that the VA has recognized that Joe and Jerry were a married couple,” said David Ward, Legal & Legislative Counsel for Legal Voice. “With this

victory, we are another step closer to seeing the promise of marriage equality become a lived reality for all same-sex couples in Washington.” “While our state and our country have come so far in ensuring all couples have the right to marry, it is critical that spouses receive the benefits they deserve,” said Senator Murray. “I am proud my office was able to work with Joe and Legal Voice to help make this happen.” Joe is not alone in his fight for true marriage equality. LGBT people nationwide are

seeking recognition of their marriages to their deceased partners in hopes of securing emotional closure, benefits, and respect. “Every journey starts with a step, and I made that first step,” said Joe Krumbach. “What matters now is the people behind me, the people who will benefit from this.”

They may return to the Clinic on other days for additional services.

current healthcare system. Learn more about Seattle/King County Clinic at: www.seattlecenter.org or by calling 206-684-7200.

Seattle/King County Clinic transforms the form and function of KeyArena. The licensed healthcare professionals and general support volunteers who staff it donate their time and expertise. Patients receive real, and in many instances, extensive care including dental fillings and extractions, comprehensive eye exams and free prescription eyeglasses, physical exams, Pap smears, mammograms, EKGs, x-rays, lab tests, flu vaccines, foot care, acupuncture and much more. The Clinic is made possible through thousands of donated work hours as well as cash and in-kind donations of goods and services. Donations are accepted at: www. seattlecenter.org. Healthcare professionals and general support volunteers may sign up for a variety of work shifts through an online registration system at: www.seattlecenter.org/volunteers. Organizing and implementing an event on this scale represents the serious dedication of a caring community to make a difference for the most vulnerable among us. By meeting immediate healthcare needs and providing connections for ongoing care, it is hoped that this event will positively impact the health of the region and raise awareness of the scale of those left out of the

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org

Courtesy of Legal Voice – www.legalvoice.

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Mayor hands out $1 million to support minimum wage law Two LGBT groups get funding

Mayor Ed Murray delivers his first State of the City address – City of Seattle

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Entre Hermanos and LGBTQ Allyship will get funding to do community outreach supporting Seattle’s $15 per hour minimum wage law. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced the recipients of $1 million in City money on September 30. The community groups receiving the money will be charged with doing outreach to their constituencies to educate workers about their rights under Seattle’s Minimum Wage, Wage Theft, Paid Sick and Safe Time, and Job Assistance Or-

dinances. The City’s Office of Labor Standards selected 10 organizations to head up a series of “community partnerships” to do the ground work necessary to make Seattle’s new worker-friendly ordinances successful. “These new community partnerships will help educate workers to ensure they understand their rights and receive the wages and benefits they deserve,” Murray said at the press conference announcing the grants. “We focus our efforts on reaching immigrant and minority communities because they are most at risk for wage theft and

other abuses, and may not be well served by traditional English-language news sources.” Community outreach and education is necessary, the Mayor said, because enforcement of the ordinances is largely complaintbased, and workers must know their rights in order to bring valid complaints to the City. Employers will also be included in the community outreach programs so they will know what the City expects them to provide to employees. Entre Hermanos will partner with Casa Latina and the Eritrean Association for outreach to Latino, East African, LGBT, and youth communities. Allyship and other groups will partner with the Fair Work Center for work in the Asian Pacific Islander, Somali, African American, Latino, youth, and LGBT workers. Their work will include door-to-door outreach, hosting community-based education events, developing training materials to educate workers and other organizations about Seattle’s labor standards, and providing labor rights intake, counseling, and referral for workers experiencing labor standards violations. Ninth Circuit approves minimum wage plan In a related decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals approved Seattle’s minimum wage plan, refusing a request by the International Franchise Association (IFA) to block a key part of the ordinance from

going into effect. The IFA represents fast food franchise operations like McDonalds and Subway, which fought the minimum wage ordinance and now hope to derail it. They argue that franchise owners should be treated like small business people – who are allowed a much slower phase-in of the $15 per hour wage – rather than big businesses. Mayor Murray and other $15 per hour supporters say that franchise owners get all the benefits of big businesses and should comply with the more rapid phase-in schedule expected of corporate giants. The Ninth Circuit agreed, saying that the IFA was not likely to win its case on the merits. “The panel held that the International Franchise Association did not show that it was likely to succeed on the merits or that a preliminary injunction was in the public interest,” said the ruling by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit. It is the second legal defeat for the franchise association. U.S. District Judge Richard Jones denied a similar request for an injunction earlier this year. “Today’s unanimous decision by the 9th Circuit is a victory for Seattle workers,” said Mayor Ed Murray. “This year we’ve shown that higher wages benefit workers, their families and the local economy. Today’s decision clears the way for Seattle’s next raise to go into effect on January 1 [2016].”

It’s time to book a cruise as Cruise Planners celebrates “National Plan a Cruise Month” Cruise Planners offers exclusive, month-long cruise deals this October since it is a great time for travelers to book a cruise

The month of October is “National Plan a Cruise Month” and a great time for travelers to book a cruise to get the strongest offers, value-added amenities and more cruise benefits. The nation’s largest homebased travel agent network, Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, is celebrating all month long and making it easy for cruisers to get value-added deals for cruises in 2016. Local Cruise Planners franchise owner, Kyle Smith, is offering incredible values and exclusive cruise promotions. “We are seeing a shift in cruisers booking farther out, so for 2016 cruises, booking early will be key,” said local Cruise Planners franchise owner, Kyle Smith. “For those who haven’t booked their 2016 cruise yet, now is the best time to book a cruise and get the most money-saving deals since October is National Plan a Cruise Month.” “The cruise industry has a long history

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of welcoming the LGBT community,” Smith said. “There has been a definite rise in the amount of LGBT vacation seekers booking cruises and an increased awareness in the cruise industry to cater to the LGBT community through full and partial ship charters to travel companies focusing specifically on the LGBT travel market.” To help promote and celebrate National Plan a Cruise Month, the Cruise Lines International Association is holding a cruise-a-day giveaway throughout October. Each day from October 1 through October 31, 2015, people can enter for a chance to win one of 31 cruise vacations from 23 different cruise lines. Anyone can post a “cruise smile” on Twitter or Instagram using #CruiseSmile and #Sweepstakes. Participants will have the opportunity to share their posts for more chances to win. Cruise Planners travel agents are encouraging people to share their excitement on social media using #CPTime2Cruise. Using a travel agent continues to be the most popular and best way to book a cruise as well as take advantage of cruise deals and promotions. In fact, studies show that

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most cruisers – both first time and veterans alike – are more likely to use a travel agent to book their trip. “There are so many options when it comes to cruising, and it can get complicated,” Smith said. “My clients know that booking through a travel advisor is the best way to get access to the industry’s top deals and value, and I do all the legwork for them based on my cruise experience and training.” This year, Cruise Planners has exclusive offerings including prepaid gratuities, shipboard credits, reduced deposits, onboard savings, air and cruise fare discounts, stateroom upgrades, coupon books with up to $375 in savings, and shore excursion credits, to name a few. “Each of the cruise lines is offering something different,” Smith said. “So it’s best to work with a travel advisor to find the right deals for your travel preferences and help customize your cruise vacation.” Some of the biggest cruise lines – from ocean-going vessels to river cruise ships and even luxury yachts – are providing these exceptional deals to customers. To

book a cruise, travelers should reach out directly to Kyle Smith at (206) 617-5429 or visit www.QualityCruiseAndTravel.com to customize their next vacation experience. About Cruise Planners Cruise Planners, an independently owned and operated home-based franchise, is part of the American Express Travel Representative network and the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise company in the travel industry. Cruise Planners’ travel professionals independently book amazing vacation and travel experiences for their clients around the world. Cruise Planners franchise owner Kyle Smith is based in Seattle, WA and specializes in LGBT travel. For more information, please call (206) 617-5429 or visit www.QualityCruiseAndTravel.com. Courtesy of Cruise Planners

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Celebrating 41 Years!

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Celebrating 41 Years!

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he grabbed it, and I hugged him and he hugged me,” Davis added. “And he said, ‘thank you for your courage.’” As they parted, Davis says, the Pope asked her “please pray for me,” and she replied, “please pray for me, Holy Father.” On the papal plane returning to Rome on September 27, Francis was asked by reporters if he supported “those individuals, including government officials, who say they cannot in good conscience, their own personal conscience, abide by some laws

or discharge their duties as government officials, for example when issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples?” “I can’t have in mind all cases that can exist about conscientious objection,” the Pope answered. “But, yes, I can say the conscientious objection is a right that is a part of every human right. It is a right. And if a person does not allow others to be a conscientious objector, he denies a right.” Asked if that right also applies to government officials, Francis said, “It is a human right and if a government official is a human person, he has that right. It is a human right.”

ABC News later said they had submitted the question for the Pope because they already had the Davis interview taped and ready to broadcast. Vatican spokesperson Father Ciro Benedettini originally released a statement refusing to comment on reports the Pope had met with Davis. “The Holy See is aware of the reports of Kim Davis meeting with the Holy Father. The Vatican does not confirm the meeting, nor does it deny the meeting. There will be no further information given,” the statement said. A few hours later, Benedettini seemed to

confirm reports of the meeting. “I do not deny that the meeting took place,” he said, “but I will not comment on it further.” Francis DeBernardo, head of New Ways Ministry, a Catholic LGBT group, said the Pope sometimes seems to “talk out of both sides of his mouth,” when it comes to Gay rights. “The time for vagueness, ambiguity, and secret meetings is over,” DeBernardo said. “Pope Francis needs to state clearly where he stands in regard to the inclusion of LGBT people in the church and society.”

Email surprise: Clinton feared political backlash over genderneutral passports

Hillary Clinton – www.nationofchange.org

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Just-released emails from 2011 show that Hillary Clinton – who was then U.S.

Secretary of State – opposed issuing gender neutral passports because she feared the political backlash in Congress. Following recommendations from the Obama White House, Clinton’s State De-

partment subordinates proposed replacing the terms “mother” and “father” on the passports of children of same-sex couples with the gender neutral terms “parent one” and “parent two.” Under the old rules, a same-sex couple would have had to cross out one of the terms, or the passport would have listed a male “mother” or a female “father.” In a January 8, 2011, email Clinton exploded at her State Department colleagues. “Who made the decision that State will not use the terms ‘mother and father’ and instead substitute ‘parent one and two’?” Clinton wrote. “I’m not defending that decision, which I disagree w and knew nothing about, in front of this Congress. I could live w letting people in nontraditional families choose another descriptor so long as we retained the presumption of mother and father. “We need to address this today or we will be facing a huge Fox-generated media storm led by [Sarah] Palin et al.”

Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s chief of staff at the time, responded, “Reaching out to folks to find out.” The State Department ended up dropping the proposed change. In December 2011, Clinton delivered her historic speech in support of LGBT rights at a U.N. meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, after which public support for LGBT people became a hallmark of her tenure as Secretary of State. She endorsed the idea of marriage equality in 2013. In a September interview, Clinton explained her slow evolution on complete legal equality by referring to the conservative values of her family when she was growing up. “I was not raised to even imagine this,” she said, “and I’m thrilled now that it is the law of the land – I have a lot of good friends who are now able to be married because of the changes we’ve made legally and constitutionally.”

Hookup apps feud with AIDS Healthcare Foundation by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Hookup apps Tinder and Grindr are locked in a legal feud with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) over AHF’s new billboard ad campaign. First appearing the week of September 21, AHF billboards feature silhouettes of two couples, one same-sex and one opposite sex. The same-sex one is marked with the words “Grindr” and “gonorrhea,” the other with “Tinder” and “chlamydia.” Tinder’s lawyers have already fired off a cease-and-desist letter to AHF, arguing that the advertising “falsely” associates the app “with the contraction of venereal diseases.” Tinder attorney Jonathan D. Reichman, charges that the AHF’s “ unprovoked and wholly unsubstantiated accusations are made to irreparably harm Tinder’s reputation in an attempt to encourage others to take an HIV test offered by your organization.” The lawyer goes on to say that the “statements” are not based on science and would not withstand “critical analysis.” Tinder, which says it “strongly supports [STD] testing,” accuses AHF of false advertising, disparagement, libel, and interference with its business.

The app demands that AHF take down its billboards. AHF’s chief counsel replied that the billboards would remain and that the group has not made “any false or disparaging statements against Tinder.” “Rather than trying to chill AHF’s public health message by threatening AHF with frivolous lawsuits, AHF urges Tinder to support its message of sexual health awareness by encouraging Tinder users to get tested for STIs and to get treated promptly if they have an infection,” AHF attorney Laura Boudreau wrote. Meanwhile Grindr has dropped all AHF ads from its site. “We were surprised at the approach [AHF] took, and paused the [ad] campaign in order to speak with them and assess our relationship,” a Grindr spokesperson told the LA Times. “At the end of the day, we are all on the same side in this issue, and strive to work with our partners and advocacy groups to achieve similar goals. A more connected and informed gay community is a better thing for us all.” AHF says its campaign is justified and it will not back down. “In many ways, location-based mobile dating apps are becoming a digital bathhouse for millennials wherein the next sex-

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Just one of many billboards Tinder and Grindr want taken down – fox6now.com

ual encounter can literally just be a few feet away – as well as the next STD,” AHF public health division director Whitney EngeranCordova said in a statement. “While these sexual encounters are often intentionally brief or even anonymous, sexually transmitted diseases can have lasting effects on an individual’s personal health and can certainly create epidemics in communities at large.” AHF President Michael Weinstein, in a weekend TV news interview, argued that apps like Tinder’s are responsible for an up-

tick in STD reports. People who use Tinder, Grindr, or similar apps are more likely to have casual sex, engage in high-risk behaviors, and are more likely to test positive for gonorrhea and chlamydia, he said. AHF provides HIV/AIDS healthcare for hundreds of thousands of patients in the U.S. and other countries, but some of its stands have been controversial. Weinstein, for example, is an outspoken critic of PrEP medication, calling it a “party drug” that encourages irresponsible sexual behavior.

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WHO

continued from cover the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said the two recommendations were “critically important to moving us toward fast-track treatment and preven-

tion goals.” Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the United States’ Global AIDS Coordinator and head of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, called the new guidelines “transformative to epidemic control.” The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC) has advocated the combination of ART for HIV-positive individuals and PrEP for HIV-negative people for years. Cities that have devoted significant resources into the program – San Francisco and Vancouver, British Columbia, for example – have seen their infection rates

plummet. About 37 million people are now infected with HIV, WHO says, but only 14 million are now on ART. WHO did not estimate the cost of expanding ART and PrEP treatments.

French official gets fine and jail sentence for refusing to marry Lesbian couple by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A deputy mayor of Marseille, in southern France, has received a five month suspended jail sentence and must pay 2,400 Euros because she did not marry a Lesbian couple. Sabrina Hout performed four oppositesex marriages on August 16, 2014, but when she saw that the next couple on her schedule was Lesbian, she feigned illness and asked a colleague in her office to perform the ceremony. Unfortunately for the couple who wanted to get married, that individual was only a city council member and lacked the legal authority to perform the marriage. French officials later decided the marriage was invalid, so the couple then had to go to another part of town and have a different deputy mayor marry them. Hout told the court that she was not

prejudiced against Gays and Lesbians and claimed that all concerned were victims of a “bad set of circumstances.” “I’m really sorry,” she told the court. “I’m ashamed of what I did, if it was interpreted as homophobia.” However three witnesses told the court that she said that her “religious convictions” as a Muslim would not allow her to perform the couple’s marriage. The court found the evidence against Hout to be “damning.” “It is imperative that no citizen, irrespective of age, handicap, race, political opinion and, indeed, sexuality, has reason to doubt the neutrality of … elected officials,” the court ruling said. Hout received a suspended sentence because this was her first offense. If she refuses to marry same-sex couples in the future, she may go to jail for up to five months. She was also required to pay 1,200 Euros in damages to each member of the couple she offended.

Deputy Mayor of Marseille Sabrina Hout (Center) – Mickaël Penverne / 20 Minutes

Same-sex marriage has been legal in France since May 2013. About 7% of the French population is Muslim, compared

to 51% who are Roman Catholic, but more than one-third say they have no religion.

London rally urges: Repeal Nigeria’s anti-LGBTI laws Petition with over 65,000 signatures demands LGBTI equality in Nigeria Nearly 100 people rallied outside the Nigerian High Commission in London on 30 September. They handed in a petition with over 65,000 signatures, urging Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to repeal of all Nigeria’s anti-LGBTI laws. The embassy refused to take the petition, instead locking the doors. The rally was organised by Nigerian Lesbian activist Aderonke Apata, with the support of the African LGBTI organisation, Out and Proud Diamond Group, and the Peter Tatchell Foundation. “Since the insidious 2014 anti-LGBTI law was passed in Nigeria, there have been waves of police arrests and torture, antiLGBTI mob attacks, public whippings, evictions from homes, harassment and discrimination against ‘suspected’ LGBTIs. Equality advocacy organisations and activists in Nigeria are not spared mistreatment,” said Aderonke Apata. “Growing up in Nigeria, I was unable to disclose my sexuality, yet unable to hide it. The culture in Nigeria makes it clear that being gay or transgender is a sin, a sentiment that is fueled by homophobic messages from faith communities, political leaders, families, and schools. I took these messages in, identified with them, and carried the shame of being a lesbian woman in Nigeria. I was arrested, tortured and extorted by the Nigerian Police. I demand a repeal of this toxic law,” she said.

Edwin Sesange, Director African LGBTI organisation Out and Proud Diamond Group said: “We urge Nigerian President Buhari and his government to repeal the anti-gay laws in Nigeria. He was elected by many people including LGBTI Nigerians and should therefore stand up for their rights. I call upon the African Union to speak out against these anti-gay laws that violate its own charter. It is time for them to stand together with the oppressed, rather than looking on when fellow Africans are being persecuted because of their sexuality or gender identity.” Pliny Soocoormanee of the human rights organisation, the Peter Tatchell Foundation added: “Under a nineteenth century law imposed by the British colonial administration, male homosexuality is punishable in Nigeria by a sentence of 14 years imprisonment.” “More recently, a draconian new anti-LGBTI law – the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill – was signed into law in January 2014. It is one of the harshest and most punitive of the many laws in nearly 80 countries that criminalise Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) people. “This draconian anti-LGBTI law prohibits same-sex marriage with a penalty of up to 14 years in prison. It also stipulates

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October 2, 2015

Peter Tatchell and supporters rally outside the Nigerian High Commission in London – Courtesy of Peter Tatchell Foundation

10 years jail for public displays of same-sex affection and 10 years for membership or support of LGBTI equality and advocacy groups. “These two repressive laws are a toxic abuse of the human rights of Nigerian LGBTI people. They violate the non-discrimination clause (Article 42) of the Nigerian Constitution, Articles 2 and 3 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, and

the equality provisions of the Commonwealth Charter, to which Nigeria is a signatory and which the country has pledged to uphold and respect,” said Mr Soocoormanee. Further information: www.PeterTatchellFoundation.org Courtesy of Peter Tatchell Foundation

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