Issuu

Issue 39 Volume 37

Celebrating 36 Years!

FRIDAY September 25, 2009 FREE! 25¢ in bookstores & news stands

beau is back! p. 4

afl-cio p. 13

Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

New HIV vaccine Fight to Approve Ref. 71 trials promising ramping up to fever pitch

Dr. Anthony Fauci

by Shaun Knittel SGN Staff Writer For the first time, an experimental vaccine, RV 144, has prevented infection with the AIDS virus. According to researchers in Bangkok, Thailand, the vaccine cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31% in the world’s largest AIDS vaccine trial of more than 16,000 volunteers in the country.

by Shaun Knittel SGN Staff Writer The campaign to approve Ref. 71, which aims at keeping Washington State’s domestic partnership law, has ramped up over the past two weeks. Washington Families Standing Together (WAFST), the Gay advocacy group leading the charge, has enlisted the help of hundreds of volunteers who seek equality for all Washington families. On November 3, voters will be asked to approve the referendum, meaning they support the extended benefits for registered same-sex domestic partnerships, or reject it, meaning they do not wish to see domestic partners in Washington receive all the rights, responsibilities, and obligations granted by or imposed by state law on married couples.

CAMPAIGN UPDATE “We are delighted by the interest coming out of volunteers,” said Josh Friedes, WAFST campaign manager. “Our phone banking efforts have really improved, with hundreds of people signing up to make calls.” Additionally, he said, union see vaccine trials page 14

Lurleen

nih.gov

Col. Jerome Kim, who helped lead the study for the U.S. Army, which sponsored it with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on September 24, “It’s the first evidence that we could have a safe and effective preventive vaccine.” “It gives me cautious optimism about the possibility of improving this result,” said the institute’s director, Dr. Anthony Fauci. “But, this is not the end of the road.” Even though the benefit is modest, a marginally helpful vaccine could have a big impact. Every day, 7,500 people worldwide are newly infected with HIV; 2 million died of AIDS in 2007, the U.N. agency UNAIDS reports. The Thailand Ministry of Public Health conducted the study, which used strains of HIV common in Thailand. It is important to note that whether such a vaccine would work against other strains in the U.S., Africa or elsewhere in the

Drew, a WAFST phone bank volunteer

groups are calling their phone lists, as are many other groups – such as the Jewish Federation, one of the 186 organizations that have endorsed the campaign since May. Friedes said the bottom line is, through a WAFST estimation, “We are at 51% approve and 44% reject. That is a razor-thin margin that we need to be very, very dis-

turbed about. We need our base to vote.” He said WAFST came to 51% by conducting a poll of “likely” voters in a 2009 off-year election. “We have a base that can really grow if we can get the people who are planning not to vote, to vote,” see r-71 page 14

GSBA lunch brings Seattle Washington, D.C. and candidates to center stage the Equality March file photo

seem to be in the minority on both Following Chernin’s introduccases. With a tion, GSBA member Mona Smith month before the PLLC, led the group in a moment march, I was in of silence for Senator Ted KenD.C. to get infornedy (D-Mass.), who passed away mation and make last month. In her speech, Smith a list of events reminded attendees of the tireless for anyone atwork Kennedy did for the nation tending. What and the Gay community. I found was alThe roughly two-hour candimost a complete date forum, moderated by retired lack of knowltalk-radio host Deborah Bryant, edge on the subwas light on campaign rhetoric ject, and what and heavy on the candidates’ overlittle information whelming support for the LGBT I could gather community. The rules were simple: was given with each candidate would give a onewhat seemed to minute opening, have one minute be apathy. to answer a GSBA approved quesAccidentally tion, and one minute to close. Brycaught in the ant said candidates had not seen middle of the any of the questions in advance Conservative Tea and that there would be no rebutBagging protest tals. Congressman Jay Inslee march on SepParticipating candidates were: tember 12, I beDow Constantine and Susan gan to wonder why I hadn’t heard Hutchison, King County Ex- by Eric Andrews-Katz any progress about the upcoming ecutive; Joe Mallahan and Mike SGN Contributing Writer March for Equality with less than a McGinn, Mayor of Seattle; Tom Did you know there was an month to go. After being offended Carr and Pete Holmes, Seattle City Attorney; Richard Conlin and Da- Equality March on Washington, D.C. going on in October? Do see march page 16 see gsba page 16 you care? If so, you unfortunately

shaun knittel

Seattle Mayoral Candidate Mike McGinn

by Shaun Knittel SGN Staff Writer The Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) hosted 16 candidates for major Puget Sound political races at the Red Lion Hotel on September 23. The GSBA Candidate Forum, an 11:30 a.m. luncheon attended by 120 members, was unique in that it brought together the candidates in one place in order to address the needs

of the Seattle-area LGBT community, business and residents. The morning began with GSBA’s Executive Director Louise Chernin thanking the candidates and GSBA members for supporting the important political meeting between the politicians and LGBT Seattle business owners. Washington State Senator Joe McDermott (D) of the 34th Legislative District was in attendance, as well as City Council member Sally Clark.

Volunteers needed we need your help. Washington Families Standing Together is hosting phone banks out of the Equal Rights Washington Office in Seattle, every Monday thru Thursday. Many shifts are available, so please consider donating your time to make a difference in the lives of thousands of families across the state. Log on to: www.approve71.org for more details.

seRvice DePaRtMeNt oPeN MoNDaY tHRu satuRDaY Sales contact David Yama davidyama@carpros.com 206-817-4459

Seattle Gay News

September 25, 2009

Celebrating 36 Years!

REGISTER NOW TO APPROVE REF. 71 As you all know, we have to get out the vote to approve R-71. Washingtonians overwhelmingly support domestic partnerships, but they also overwhelmingly don’t vote in off-year elections like this one. The average age of voters in WA in off-year elections is 59. They are also disproportionately conservative. Furthermore, there is an anti-tax initiative on the ballot, which will increase conservative voter turnout. If we lose R-71, it will not be because we lack support – it will be because the supporters didn’t actu-

ally vote. But in order to vote, you need to be registered in WA at your current address. This is the first WA election that will not involve ballot booths – it is all vote by mail. Because the mail-in ballots go out October 14, the voter registration deadline is October 5 – about 10 days away. You can register online at https://wei.secstate.wa.gov/osos/secure/ pages/Onlinevoterregistration.aspx. Please register by October 5! Tell your friends too. And then vote to approve R-71!

A Gay Pride Parade scheduled for September 20 in Belgrade, Serbia, had to be cancelled after Serbian police refused to guarantee the participants’ safety. An anti-Gay march called by Serbian ultra-nationalists for the same day flopped, however, with only a dozen people turning out. The next day, several nationalist groups called for rallies, which Serbian authorities broke up, arresting a reported 37 ultra-nationalists in various parts of Belgrade. Meanwhile, a Serbian government official threatened to go to court to suppress ultranationalist groups. Belgrade’s first – and last – Pride Parade in 2001 fell apart in chaos as right-wing counter-demonstrators attacked the marchers and police fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the brawling crowds in a vain at-

tempt to restore order. This year’s events unfolded in the context of a power struggle between Serbian President Boris Tadic – who wants his country to join the European Union – and right-wing Serbian nationalists who oppose European influences. While EU membership would open Serbia to foreign investment and allow Serbs greater freedom to emigrate to other European countries to seek work, it would also require Serbian compliance with EU human rights standards, including protections for Serbia’s LGBT community. Even as police officials were threatening to hold Gay Pride organizers responsible for any violence that might break out at their parade, President Tadic was promising to protect them. Tadic ally Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic met with the Pride organizers and offered them an alternate parade site away

SGN INTERVIEW – Eagle, Gay bar, raided in Atlanta On September 10, The Atlanta Police Department (APD) raided the Atlanta leather bar The Atlanta Eagle, at approximately 11:30 p.m. Using excessive force and questionable tactics, the raid has incited unrest in Atlanta’s LBGT community, and has left Atlanta asking one question: Why? SGN recently spoke with the co-owner of the Atlanta Eagle, Richard Ramey, who’s run the business for more than 13 years. He agreed to shed some light on what happened the night of September 10-11, during the arguably unprecedented police raid on his business. “We were having our underwear party. At approximately around 11p.m. or so, the police came in.” Ramey estimates that 30 Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) officers were present, from the APD’s “Red Dog Unit,” a drug unit which, according to their website, “provides aggressive police presence in areas that have a high incidence of street drug sales, use, and drug related crimes.” “They were here for about two and onehalf hours,” Ramey told SGN. Eight staff members were arrested and charged for not having the proper permit to work in an “adult entertainment facility,” which the Atlanta Eagle has never claimed to be. “We’re a nightclub and a bar,” said Ramey. According to Ramey, APD illegally searched 62 patrons. “After they weren’t

able to find any illegal drugs or weapons, they brought in a computer and ran the IDs of the 62 patrons. … They didn’t even find an unpaid traffic ticket, so they called them out by ID, one by one, and released them. Throughout the ordeal, patrons were reportedly told to ‘Shut the fuck up,’ not to ask questions, and that they didn’t have any rights,” Ramey told SGN. The Eagle opened for business again the next day. ”Most – but not all – of the officers were incredibly derogatory and insulting, whether they found evidence of drugs or not,” claimed one patron. The APD has yet to give a satisfactory explanation as to why they entered the Atlanta Eagle with such force. According to Ramey, 15-20 formal complaints have now been filed. “Our customers have been going on their own time, but a group of us did go down together to file formal complaints at the APD Office of Professional Standards the Monday after the raid.” In the initial APD statement, released the day after the raid, the APD said, “While there have been allegations of improper behavior by police officers conducting the investigation, there have not been any official complaints filed with the Atlanta Police Department.” Although true at the time, the statement almost seemed like a call from someone within the APD for people to come forward about the incident. “There are a lot of good police officers that protect our city, but there are always a

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from the center of the capital. The government’s offer was rejected by Pride organizers, however. “Pride parades are traditionally organized in the main streets of big cities,” said Pride organizer Dragana Vuckovic. It is “unacceptable” to stage the parade in a “field,” she told international media. As ultra-nationalist activists were being arrested on September 21, Junior Justice Minister Slobodan Homen told Serbian television that authorities were planning to ask Serbian courts to “ban all organizations that voice threats.” He singled out the ultra-nationalist groups Obraz (Honor) and the Serb Popular Movement 1389. “1389” is a reference to the 14th-century Battle of Kosovo, in which the Serbian army was massacred by Ottoman Turks. The two groups had warned of violence if Gay Pride organizers went ahead with their plans for a parade. “We’re expecting you” posters had been stuck around the Serbian capital. Serb Popular Movement 1389 hailed cancellation of the Pride Parade as “a great vic-

tory for normal Serbia.” “In our city, infidels and Satanists will not pass,” it added. Also on September 21, other key officials spoke out against the nationalist groups. Belgrade Mayor Dragan Djilas came out in favor of outlawing “groups and organizations that condone violence.” In spite of his refusal to guarantee protection for the Pride Parade, police chief Milorad Veljovic told Serbian television that “stricter measures” would be taken against groups inciting violence. Homosexuality was legalized in Serbia in 1994. In 2005 an amendment to the Labor Law prohibited workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. On March 26 this year, the Serbian Parliament passed a unified Anti-Discrimination Law which prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in all areas. Boris Tadic has been president of Serbia since 2004. He was re-elected to his second term in February 2008. Cvetkovic has been prime minister since June 2008, heading a coalition government committed to eventual Serbian membership in the EU.

few bad apples in the bunch,” said Ramey, member. The rally served to educate and who supports the efforts of his community’s unite the community over the events of the police force, but believes this particular in- raid and address the statement that the APD cident didn’t go right at all. had released. “The statement didn’t really However, this is not the first time the “Red address what was going on. We felt it was Dog Unit” has dramatically overused force lacking,” Gentle told SGN. in their methods of stopping drug crimes. The second rally, which was sparsely at“It’s apparent that tended due to there’s some trouweather, occurred ble with that unit,” outside city hall said Ramey, citing on September 19 the Johnston case and was intended of 2006. as more of a proKathryn Johntest. The Eagle ston, an elderly Atstaff had nothing lanta woman, was to do with arrangshot in her home ing either rally; on November 21, both were orga2006, by three RDU nized in their enpolice officers. Actirety by the comcording to the court munity and local hearings, the police, Gay rights group using a “no-knock GLBT Atlanta. warrant,” entered “This is not her home. Johnston, about the Atlanta thinking they were Eagle; it’s about burglars, used her the entire Gay personal firearm to community across fire a warning shot the country. I think at the intruders. She Atlanta has an inwas then shot by credible GLBT the officers, who community, and Atlanta Eagle left her handcuffed this is the time on the floor of her home. Johnston bled to for all of us to come together and support death as officers planted marijuana on her to one another. We want to make sure our Gay justify the shooting. brothers and sisters aren’t afraid to come to, Two rallies/protests have spawned in the and support us, here in Atlanta,” Ramey told wake of the Eagle incident. On September SGN. 13, the Sunday after the raid, almost 1,000 Atlanta Pride takes place on October 31, people showed up in the Eagle parking lot. and Ramey wants to make sure that people “We came together as a community and from surrounding areas aren’t afraid to come held a rally … not really a protest. There and be part of the Atlanta community. “We was a lot of misinformation in the commu- have to let everyone know the truth about nity about what people were arrested for,” what happened, so we can make sure we all said Laura Gentle, a concerned community have equal rights,” said Ramey. az_map

by James Whitely SGN Contributing Writer

Charles “Chuck” Lazenby passed away at age 78 on September 17, 2009 after a short illness. He was a Seattle native, born August 19, 1931. Chuck was featured in the local documentary Inlaws & Outlaws. He was laid to rest at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery next to David Asplund, his beloved partner of 50 years. Chuck is survived by his sister Lucille Hillis, nieces and nephews, his good friend Michael Santovec, George and Cory Glisson-Munier, and many others who knew and loved him. He will be missed.

Sam Bernstein

Serbian Pride Parade cancelled, anti-Gay demos flop by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Charles “Chuck” Lazenby 1930-2009

September 25, 2009

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Tour de Life : Stubborn hands

by Beau Burriola SGN European Correspondent

We were just going about our evening walk, the way we do most evenings after dinner, when we saw him approaching. I had a bad feeling in my gut before he was a hundred feet away, a feeling that he was determined to cause trouble, but in spite of him or anyone else, Julien and I continued down the Boulevard du Midi hand-in-hand. Sure enough, right when we walked by, he and his family stopped and turned to us. His veiled wife didn’t look directly at us, but the children did. Then, without provocation, the man spit at us with a look of utter disgust and mumbled something neither of us could understand. We kept walking, in the same way we always do these days. It isn’t easy to deal with every day. Both Julien and I have moved from our own countries to a third country altogether, just to be able to be together. Belgium is supposed to be the land of Gay marriage, so to have someone spit at us when we are walking or, worse, to stop and openly berate us for affection, is absolutely infuriating and nauseating. They have no idea what we’ve

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little can despise us so much. It seems too easy, too “us and them.” I think about those protests in Iran and how all the competing protestors always yell “death to ____,” where the blank is the enemy, and where death is an easy answer for anything you don’t understand or feel comfortable with. Death to the dictator! Death to those who oppose the dictator! Death to women who wear makeup! Death to anyone but us! All over Europe, the population of Muslims is growing quickly and providing a new challenge to Gay Belgians, who by all right of law should be as comfortable and free as our heterosexual counterparts. Instead, though, freedom is a “gray area,” a sort of brittle protection that can be destroyed by any low-minded person bent on proving something to his friends or family. It says something, then, that since moving from Seattle, and in all the cities I have visited in this world, that I most fear for my life in Brussels. It shows me that legal equality is not necessarily social equality, and that the battle continues even after “equality” has supposedly been achieved. But with the same stubbornness and determination to claim our right to be who we are, Julien and I both insist on doing as we always do, in the face of and in spite of all the opposition we face on a nearly daily basis; even if it seems, sometimes, like we are the only ones with any gall left to show a little affection in public. In the crushing tide of Islamic conservatism, we remain handin-hand each day, perhaps foolishly. It’s our right, and we didn’t move halfway around the world to give it up. Tonight we fell asleep angry and afraid again, but still unwilling to change. It’s the only way we can respond, because given the choice to change our behavior or remain who we are, we understand that the capitulation of even just a single gesture of affection leads to a far more difficult future. It’s our right, and it is worth fighting for.

gone through to get here, to be legally married. As Gay men, we like to think of ourselves as inclusive and open to all ideas and people equally, but it is increasingly harder and harder to accept those people who refuse to accept us. “Just because they come to this country doesn’t mean they have to integrate,” Julien grumpily tells me one evening while we walk back from the cinema to our home in the heart of Brussels. His view of Muslim migrants reminds me of some views about Latino migrants in the States. There’s a feeling of xenophobia on both sides of the aisle, but what makes us fear Muslims is not their religion or culture, but their lack of respect and open hostility for our very right to exist as we are. So, and perhaps inevitably, Julien and I have been reduced to carrying pepper spray on our walks. It’s unfortunate, but after too many extremely difficult situations with groups (or mobs) of roaming Muslim men on our way home, we have been forced into a position of being prepared to defend ourselves. As peaceful men, we find this distasteful, but as human beings, we find this necessary. So, each of us carries two types of defensive sprays, and we are trained and ready to use them at the first sign of trouble. “It shouldn’t be this way,” Julien complains in frustration after our latest confrontation with a screaming man on a bike. The man got off his bike and came up to us, face to face, saying something I could only understand every other word of, but which was vulgar enough for me to be immediately repulsed and angry. Hardened to these situations, we no longer show fear. We give them nothing. We are a stubborn minority of “An idea that is not dangerous is unworequality in a sea of volatile beliefs. thy of being called an idea at all.” I wonder how people who know us so – Oscar Wilde

In Loving Memory Of Steve Foiles, Scott Roger Alpert, Cookie Andrews-Hunt, James Leland Moore, Randy Peters, Lee Richeson, Shaun Shelton, Jim Tully, James Arnold

Seattle Gay News

September 25, 2009

Celebrating 36 Years!

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

“I only run for jobs that impoverish me,” Max Vekich says with a grin. Vekich is running for an open seat on the Seattle Port Commission. Because the annual salary is only $6,000, seats on the Commission are more often filled by corporate attorneys and business executives seeking international trade connections than by scrappy grassroots reformers. Vekich hopes to change that. A member of ILWU (International Warehouse and Longshore Union) Local 52, Vekich says he is running to make the Port “more open, more accountable, and [to] involve the community more in the decision making process.” “I don’t want to be just a rubber-stamp commissioner,” he says. “We have the highest-paid executive director of any port in the US, and I’m wondering where the results are.” Races for port commissioner are usually not high-profile affairs, but Vekich says the position is vital to the economy of the Puget Sound region. “It’s a $1 billion entity,” he tells SGN. “One out of every three jobs in King County is related to Port activity. The Port is a big employer in its own right, and it sets an example for other employers in the region.” “The Port’s number-one priority needs to be moving cargo as quickly and efficiently as possible,” Vekich says. He believes that a more efficient 24-hour a day operation will give the Port of Seattle an advantage over competing ports, and will help keep familywage port jobs in Puget Sound. “The economy has to be the focus,” Vekich contends. “This is the time to pay attention to jobs. We want to retain the good jobs we do have and build on that.” Vekich also wants the Port to be a leader in protecting Puget Sound, and restoring the Duwamish River to its natural state. The Sierra Club – which has endorsed him – credits him with “an in-depth knowledge of environmental issues.” In a challenging county-wide race where

money is often the deciding factor, Vekich lacks the financial resources of his opponent, businessman Tom Albro, whose firm operates the monorail. Nevertheless, he remains optimistic about his chances. “If people know the choice they have – between a progressive with a history of leadership or a downtown businessman – who do you think they’ll choose?” he asks “Of course my opponent has more, but we’ve raised $80,000 in four months,” he says. “There’s another $10,000-$20,000 on the way. $130,000 is doable by the end of the campaign.” “I have the endorsement of 16 Democratic District organizations,” he adds. “We have a county-wide presence. We have yard signs all over.” While reforming the Port’s insider political culture might seem like a daunting task, Vekich is looking forward to it – and is already lining up his alliances. He’s formed a close working relationship with candidate Rob Holland. “Rob Holland and I are running to change things,” he says. Holland, an openly Gay African American, is running for the other open seat on the Port Commission. Like Vekich, he has been endorsed by a broad coalition of groups including organized labor, the Sierra Club, and SEAMEC. Vekich also has good things to say about John Creighton, an incumbent commissioner who is running unopposed for reelection. “He has a social conscience,” Vekich says. “He’s a Republican, but he’s thinking through a lot of his beliefs, and he’s shown leadership on issues Rob and I care about.” This is not Vekich’s first run for public office. He served in the Washington State Legislature from 1983 through 1990, representing his hometown of Aberdeen. While there, he formed a close personal friendship and political alliance with Cal Anderson, the state’s first openly Gay legislator, who represented Seattle’s 43rd District.

ENDA gets US House labor committee hearing by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

The US House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee began hearings on ENDA (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act) Wednesday, September 23. ENDA’s prime sponsor, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) testified in favor of the legislation, as did the other openly Gay members of the House, Reps Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.). “I find it hard to argue for legislation that bans discrimination,” Frank said. “It just seems to be so self-evident that an American who would like to work and support himself or herself ought to be allowed to be judged solely on his or her work ethic and talent that I don’t know what more to say.” A version of ENDA which omitted protection for Transgender workers passed the House in 2007. The new ENDA bill – officially HR 3017 – includes all LGBT workers. While Frank also sponsored the 2007 bill, he argued forcefully for the new, inclusive ENDA. “There is no more reason to discriminate against someone because he or she is Trans-

gender than because he or she is Gay or Lesbian or any other category,” he said. Baldwin cited a 2007 study from the ACLU, finding that nearly 30% of LGBT workers reported that they experience workplace discrimination. One in four said they experience it on a weekly basis. “There is a clear record demonstrating the need for these protections: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender employees are harassed, fired, not hired and passed over for advancement without regard to their merit,” she said. Polis added that discrimination harms the economy because it “means that somebody who is second-best, or third-best, fills the position rather than the best candidate because the employer discriminates based on criteria that do not affect that person’s job in the workplace.” The Committee Chair, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), also spoke in favor of the legislation. “Fully qualified individuals are being denied employment or are being fired from their jobs for completely non-work-related reasons,” Miller said. “This is profoundly unfair and, indeed, un-American. And, it

“I find it hard to argue for legislation that bans discrimination.”

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maxforourport.com

SGN exclusive interview Port Commission candidate Max Vekich

Max Vekich, candidate for Seattle Port Commission

“I knew Cal before he became a legislator,” Vekich recalls. “We were both young Democratic Party activists. Ivy – my wife – was good friends with Cal.” “We were both part of an effort to reshape the state [Democratic] Party organization. Karen Marchioro was in that, too,” he says. “We wanted to go one person, one vote – that shifted the power to the urban areas.” The late Karen Marchioro was chair of the state Democratic Party 1981-1992, leading the successful struggle for proportional representation on state Party committees. Prior to the reforms, each county committee had one vote, giving greater weight to conservative but sparsely populated rural counties. “I got elected in 1983, one term before Cal. When Cal came in, the [Democratic] caucus changed. The homophobes had to rethink their position. Here was a guy who’d vote for lots of stuff they wanted. He forged alliances – he was a solid ally.” “It was right at the beginning of the AIDS crisis,” Vekich continues. “We had so many public health issues to deal with. The Republicans were going nuts. It was ‘mark of the devil’ stuff, just vilifying and demonizing the victims.”

“Cal helped keep the discussion mostly sane,” Vekich recalls, “but he wasn’t afraid to confront the haters.” “We worked on fair housing issues,” Vekich adds. “Cal and I, and Janice Niemi, too. I used to sit right behind Janice in the legislature.” Janice Niemi represented the 43rd District in the state House of Representatives before Cal Anderson. When she moved to the state Senate, Anderson was appointed to fill her House seat, winning the seat on his own in the next election. He became a state Senator in 1994 and died from complications of AIDS in 1995. Niemi later served as a judge and a member of the state Gambling Commission. She has endorsed Vekich for Port Commissioner. “You remember Ernie Steele’s?” Vekich asks. “Sometimes we’d go out to Ernie Steele’s – Cal, Janice Niemi, and I. Remember that tiny little bar they had? It was always packed. Oh, that was fun!” What was Vekich drinking? “Stolichnaya,” he grins. “Sometimes beer, but I hosted a group of Russian longshoremen for the Goodwill Games [1990], and we really got into Stolis….”

is bad for business.” However, the Committee’s ranking Republican member, Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), opposed the bill – the only Committee member to do so at the hearing. “HR 3017 represents a significant departure from longstanding civil rights law,” Kline said. “It creates an entirely new protected class that is vaguely defined and often subjective.” Kline especially objected to creating protections for “perceived” sexual orientation. “Attempting to legislate individual perceptions is truly uncharted territory, and it does not take a legal scholar to recognize that such vaguely defined protections will lead to an explosion in litigation and inconsistent judicial decisions,” he said. The Obama administration delegated Equal Opportunity Commission Acting Chair Stewart Ishimaru to testify in support of ENDA. President Obama pledged his support for a fully inclusive ENDA during the 2008 campaign. Transgender worker Vandy Beth Glenn

also testified, describing how she was terminated from her job as an aide to the Georgia General Assembly in 2007, after announcing she was transitioning from male to female. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced the Senate version of ENDA in August. LGBT activists hope that the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee will hold hearings on the legislation this fall. While several states have enacted antidiscrimination legislation, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is permitted in 29 states, and discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression is legal in 38 states. ENDA would expand the protections of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act – which prohibits discrimination by employers based on race, gender and religion – by extending similar protections to sexual orientation and gender identity. The US armed services, veterans’ service groups, religious organizations and groups with fewer than 15 employees are exempted from coverage.

September 25, 2009

Seattle Gay News

INTERNATIONAL

NEWS

by Rex Wockner SGN Contributing Writer file photo

you deserved so much better,” Brown wrote. “Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes,” Brown explained. “It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of WWII could well have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war. The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ – in effect, tried for being Gay. His sentence – and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison – was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later.” “Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated,” the apology continued. “While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what hap-

Alan Turing

British prime minister apologizes to Alan Turing British Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologized to Alan Turing on September 11 after 31,564 people signed a petition on Brown’s website asking him to do so. Turing – the openly Gay founder of modern computing who cracked key Nazi military codes during World War II – was prosecuted in 1952 for the crime of engaging in Gay sex and was chemically castrated and stripped of his security clearance. He committed suicide in 1954. “On behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan’s work I am very proud to say: we’re sorry,

NATIONAL

NEWS

by Rex Wockner SGN Contributing Writer

HRC endorses march on Washington The Human Rights Campaign said September 14 that an August 12 “statement” it made about the upcoming National Equality March in Washington, D.C., was an “endorsement” of the march. “Yes, we have endorsed the march,” said Communications Director Brad Luna. “Yes, the release didn’t say the word ‘endorse,’ but clearly that release is an endorsement.” HRC’s August 12 “statement” included these hesitant comments from President Joe Solmonese: • “The Human Rights Campaign considers October 11 in Washington DC to be a starting point – not a destination.” • “With thousands of LGBT people and allies coming to Washington to make a difference, it’s our mission to help them become the citizen lobbyists that they want and need to be.”

• “I’ve heard criticism about this gathering diverting resources from existing goals such as marriage equality in Maine and New Jersey. It’s our intention and our obligation to ensure that in October, we amplify our energy not divert it.” Other national groups that have endorsed the October 12 grassroots/netroots march include the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; Join The Impact; the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches; the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network; Immigration Equality; the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission; and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. On September 15, march organizers provided a list of entertainment-industry people who recently endorsed the march. They include Calpernia Addams, Annette

se e kin g f- buds! giv e until it hurts!

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und

Bud?

Seattle Gay News

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September 25, 2009

pened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other Gay men who were convicted as he was convicted under homophobic laws were treated terribly. Over the years millions more lived in fear of conviction. I am proud that those days are gone and that in the last 12 years this government has done so much to make life fairer and more equal for our LGBT community. This recognition of Alan’s status as one of Britain’s most famous victims of homophobia is another step towards equality and long overdue.” Leading Gay activist Peter Tatchell called Brown’s apology “most welcome and commendable.” “But,” Tatchell said, “a similar apology is also due to the estimated 100,000 British men who were convicted of consenting, victimless same-sex relationships during the 20th century. Singling out Turing just because he is famous is wrong. Unlike Turing, many thousands of ordinary Gay and Bisexual men were never given the option of hormone treatment. They were sent to prison.” Another famous victim of the gross-indecency law was Oscar Wilde, who was prosecuted and jailed in 1895. British consul murdered in Jamaica The honorary British consul in Montego Bay, Jamaica, was strangled in his home September 9 in a possibly homophobic attack. John Terry’s nude and beaten body was found with a handwritten note calling him a “batty man,” which means “faggot.” Police believe Terry knew his killer. Honorary consuls are volunteers who represent the British government and help people for whom the United Kingdom has consular responsibility. Terry, 65, filled the role for the western end of the island. Jamaica is considered by human-rights defenders to be one of the world’s most virulently homophobic countries. Gay sex is illegal. Uruguay OKs Gay adoption Uruguay reportedly became the first country in Latin America to allow Gay adoption September 9 when the Chamber of Senators passed a bill that previously had passed the Chamber of Deputies. President Tabaré Vázquez indicated he Bening, Greg Berlanti, Ilene Chaiken, Wilson Cruz, Melissa Etheridge, Carrie Fisher, James Franco, David Marshall Grant, Swoosie Kurtz, Chad Lowe, Camryn Manheim, Ewan McGregor, Sir Ian McKellen, Julianne Moore, Max Mutchnick, Kathy Najimy, Peter Paige, Felice Picano, David Hyde Pierce, Meg Ryan, Marisa Tomei and Gus Van Sant. Marchers will “demand action from the federal government to protect our rights in all 50 states,” said organizer Kip Williams. “Real equality can only come from the president, the Congress and the Supreme Court.” The march route still is not finalized. For a schedule of the weekend’s events and more information, see equalityacrossamerica.org/ blog/?page_id=33. DOMA repeal bill introduced in Congress U.S. Reps. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Jared Polis, D-Colo., introduced a bill September 15 to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, the Clinton-era law that prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages and affirms that states don’t have to recognize other states’ same-sex marriages. The “Respect for Marriage Act” would extend all 1,100 federal rights and obligations of marriage to married same-sex couples, including in critical areas such as Social Security, spousal immigration, income taxes and family medical leave. It also would ensure that a Gay couple’s federal marriage rights remain intact when a couple is in a state that does not allow samesex marriage. “It is long past time for DOMA to go,” said Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal. “When DOMA passed in 1996 it was a gratuitous slap in the face. But now, 13 years later, there are thousands of

will sign the bill into law. Questions have been raised, however, about a confusing provision in the bill that requires children’s full names to include both their mother’s and father’s last names. Uruguay also has a national civil-union law for same-sex couples and lets open Gays serve in the military. The civil-union law requires that couples have lived together for five years before they can take advantage of it, and grants spousal rights in areas that include inheritance, property ownership, pensions, parenting and health care. The couple must “maintain an emotional relationship of a sexual nature [and] an exclusive, singular, stable and permanent character.” Other Latin American localities with civilunion laws include the city of Buenos Aires, the Argentine province of Río Negro, the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, Mexico City, and the Mexican state of Coahuila, which borders Texas. Clinton says U.S. will battle anti-Gay violence worldwide U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said September 11 that the United States will fight anti-Gay violence anywhere in the world that it happens. Speaking in New York at the Roosevelt Institute’s Four Freedoms Medals Gala Dinner, where she received the institute’s Four Freedoms Award, Clinton explained: “[We] must condemn violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In country after country after country, young men and women are persecuted, are singled out, even murdered in cold blood, because of whom they love or just based on claims that they are Gay. “We are starting to track violence against the LGBT community, because where it happens anywhere in the world, the United States must speak out against it and work for its end. Through our annual human rights report, we are documenting human rights abuses against LGBT communities worldwide. And we are seeking out partners at the United Nations such as Brazil, France, Sweden and the Netherlands to help us address these human rights abuses.” With assistance from Bill Kelley married same-sex couples who are hurt by this law. We’ve come a long way in 13 years and the federal government shouldn’t be in the business of deciding that some married couples are worthy of federal respect and others are not. Married same-sex couples pay federal taxes just like everyone else and have a right to the same respect, important benefits and protections as everyone else.” National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey called DOMA “one of the most discriminatory and farreaching laws to emerge against our community.” “DOMA is and has always been an immoral attack on same-sex couples, our families and our fundamental humanity,” Carey said. “This hateful law has only served to discriminate against people and belittle our country’s heralded values of freedom, fairness and justice. It is long past time to repeal DOMA, which has left a moral scar on this country.” Ninety-one members of Congress are cosponsoring the repeal bill. Notably missing from the list is Gay Rep. Barney Frank, DMass., who refused to support the measure because he believes it is unlikely to pass and fears it may divert energy from such goals as repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. President Barack Obama has repeatedly said that he supports a full repeal of DOMA. Same-sex marriage is legal in four states – Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont – and there also are 18,000 married same-sex couples in California, though voters have banned any more same-sex marriages. Same-sex marriage will become legal in Maine in November if it survives a voter referendum. It becomes legal in New Hampshire in January. With assistance from Bill Kelley

Celebrating 36 Years!

NORTHWEST

NEWS

compiled by Rick McKinnon SGN Staff Writer

REGISTER TO VOTE – DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 5 If you live in King County and are not registered to vote or need to change your voter registration because you have moved, visit the King County Office of Records and Elections website at www.kingcounty. gov/elections or phone their office at 206296-8683. There is extensive information about voter registration on their outgoing voice mail if you reach their office after hours. If you live outside of King County, visit the Washington Secretary of State’s website at www.secstate.wa.gov and scroll down to the “Register to Vote” link in the home page’s “Most Requested Info” category or call the Elections Division at 360902-4180. Deadline for mail-in registration is 29 days before the November 3 General Election. Mail-in registrations must be POSTMARKED no later than Monday, October 5 to meet the deadline. Online registration must be received no later than Monday, October 5 at 11:59 p.m. If you miss the 29-day mail-in and online registration deadline AND you are not currently registered in the state of Washington, you can register in person 8 days before the November 3 General Election at the King County Elections office in Renton. Contact the Secretary of State’s Elections Division for 8-day in-person registration locations in other counties. If you have moved from one county to another and need to change your voter registration, you must revise your registration by mail, online or in-person by Monday, October 5. If you have not revised your registration by Monday, October 5, call the King County Office of Records and Elections or the Washington Secretary of State’s office for further information on how you can vote in the November 3 election. If you have any questions or concerns about registering to vote or revising your voter registration, please contact the King County Office of Records and Elections or the Washington Secretary of State’s office. “JUST ART” SMC/SWC’S 6TH ANNUAL BENEFIT ART AUCTION & COCKTAIL PARTY On Friday, September 25, from 6-10 p.m., at Fremont Studios, 155 N. 35th St., join the Seattle Men’s Chorus and Seattle Women’s Chorus for “Just ART,” their 6th annual benefit art auction and cocktail party. Enjoy fine wine from Darby and Joan Winery, delicious nibbles from Flying Fish Restaurant, decadent dessert items by Suess Chocolates. Entertainment by The Swedish Housewife, Lily Verlaine, Miss Indigo Blue, Ben De La Creme, Waxie Moon, Dyno the Aerialist, Eric Lane Barnes, Nathan Young, Body Painting by Scott Ward. The silent and live auctions will feature exquisite work by some of the Pacific Northwest’s premier talents, as well as pieces by gifted up-and-comers who have not shown in galleries or other usual venues - 96 different artists. Proceeds benefit SMC and SWC and the contributing artists receive 20% of the selling price of their work. Tickets are $75 at 206-388-1412. www.flyinghouse.org. THE ART OF JOHN LENNON A major exhibition of artwork by the late John Lennon will be held Friday, September 25 - Sunday, September 27, at Pacific Place, 3rd Level, 600 Pine St. Admission is FREE. Exhibition hours are Friday/Saturday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. SEATTLE AIDS WALK On Saturday, September 26, join the Lifelong AIDS Alliance’s Seattle AIDS Walk – 9 a.m. registration, 9:30 a.m. rally, 10 a.m. walk – at Volunteer Park, 1400 E. Prospect

St., in support of their AIDS prevention and client support programs, including the Chicken Soup Brigade meals program. For more information and to sign-up visit www. SeattleAIDSWalk.org. Q-SQUARED BOOK GROUP On Saturday, September 26, at 1 p.m., at the Capitol Hill Branch Library, 425 Harvard Ave. E., the Q-Squared Book Group will discuss the novel, Living Upstairs, by Joseph Hansen. Author of the acclaimed Dave Brandstetter mystery series, Hansen is also a Lambda Award winner. The Los Angeles Reader described Living Upstairs as a “A gripping novel of love and lies, innocence and treachery ... confirms the New York Times’ judgment that Joseph Hansen is ‘one of the best we have.’” Q-Squared Book Group is open to men who are interested in Gay literature and always welcomes new members. For more information, visit www. qsquared.org. “SPEAK!” - THE HRC’S 10TH ANNUAL PACIFIC NORTHWEST DINNER On Saturday, September 26, doors at 5:30 p.m., at The Westin Seattle, 1900 Fifth Ave., join local LGBT activists, community members and allies for “SPEAK!” - “A night to speak up! For yourself, your family, and your community. A night to speak out! For equality, hate crimes protection, the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the end to DOMA. A night to speak proudly! For your accomplishments, individuality and passion. Join us for a dazzling night of united voices!” Enjoy dinner, silent and live auction, entertainment, awards ceremony, dancing. Tickets are $200; $150-student/ senior. 1-800-494-TIXS or online at www. hrcseattle.org. NORTHWEST NETWORK SPONSORS RELATIONSHIP SKILLS CLASS On Mondays, from October 5 to November 9, 6:30-8:30 p.m., the Northwest Network of Bi, Trans, Lesbian and Gay Survivors of Abuse will be teaching a relationship skills class to get the skills you need to build the relationships you want. Topics include: identifying cultural norms and values, accountability, naming and setting boundaries, strengthening support networks, and more. This class is open to all, regardless of relationship status or history, and to previous relationship skills class participants. Deadline for registration is Monday, September 28. Contact DeAnn at the Northwest Network, 206-568-7777, deann@nwnetwork.org, for more information and to register. www.nwnetwork.org. SEATTLE VOLLEYBALL CLUB FALL 2009 LEAGUE SEASON The Seattle Volleyball Club Fall 2009 League Season will run from Monday, September 21 to Monday, December 7. (The Winter 2010 League Season will run from Monday, January 25 to Monday, March 31.) Seattle Volleyball Club is an organization for Gay volleyball players and their friends. For complete details, visit www.seattlevolleyball.com. BELLEVUE COLLEGE LGBTQ RESOURCE CENTER OPENS WITH SPECIAL PERFORMANCE BY MISS COCO PERU Bellevue College will open its new LGBTQ Resource Center in public ceremonies on Wednesday, September 30. The Center will provide a focal point for educational seminars and presentations on LGBTQ issues, as well as a gathering place for members of the campus Gay-Straight Alliance. The Center’s resources will include books and computers for use in research on LGBTQ issues. The celebration kicks off with a special

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performance by Miss Coco Peru at 1 p.m., at the college’s Carlson Theatre (E Building). Doors open at 12:30 p.m., free admission, seating is limited. (See related article about Coco Peru in this week’s SGN.) The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 2:30 p.m. at the Center, located in Room 225, in the college’s student union building (Building C, next to the fountain on the college’s main campus). “I’m delighted with the opening of the new LGBTQ Resource Center,” said Bellevue College Dean of Student Services Tom Pritchard. “Its educational programs will contribute significantly to our progress in providing a welcoming and supportive academic environment for all.” Bellevue College’s main campus is located at 3000 Landerholm Circle SE, Bellevue, at the intersection of SE 28th St. and 148th Ave. SE. SEATTLE OUT & PROUD SEEKS BOARD MEMBERS Seattle Out & Proud (SOaP), producers of the annual Seattle Pride® Parade, seeks several at-large board members to fill recently vacated spots. Ideal candidates will have a passion to serve the LGBT community by advancing their dual missions of advocating for equal rights for all persons and presenting the best and largest LGBT event in the Pacific Northwest. For complete information on time commitment, qualifications and how to apply, visit www.seattlepride.org or call the Pride office at 206-322-9561. Deadline for application submission is Wednesday, September 30, 2009. SEATTLE GAY & LESBIAN BOOK CLUB AT DUNSHEE HOUSE The Seattle Gay & Lesbian Book Club meets every Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Dunshee House, 303 17th Ave. E. at E. Thomas St. The club will discuss the following titles in their ongoing reading and discussion series: October – Wild Dogs by Helen Humphreys; November – The Gifts of the Body by Rebecca Brown; December – Death in Venice by Thomas Mann. All GLBTQ folks in the community are welcome to participate in this free book club. The reading list is chosen and the discussion facilitated by Nick DiMartino, published novelist and playwright, currently a book reviewer for ShelfAwareness.com, and a 30-year employee of University Book Store. For more info, email nickdimartin@earthlink.net or contact Dunshee House at 206-322-2437. PRISM COMICS SEEKING SUBMISSIONS FOR FIFTH ANNUAL QUEER PRESS GRANT Prism Comics is seeking submissions for its fifth annual Queer Press Grant, established to support and encourage new LGBT comics creators. Application guidelines are available at www.prismcomics.org/grant. Deadline for application is Thursday, October 1, 2009. CENTRAL DISTRICT FORUM FOR ARTS & IDEAS CELEBRATES 10 YEARS WITH BASH AT SOLE REPAIR On Thursday, October 1, starting at 6:30 p.m., the Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas (CD Forum), Seattle’s leading Black arts and culture presenter, will commemorate its 10th season with an anniversary celebration at Sole Repair, 1001 E. Pike St. The bash will feature readings, music and performances by participants in CD Forum’s CREATION Project, a new works and professional development program for local contemporary performing artists. Storme Webber and okanomodé (aka SoulChilde) will preview their work for next year’s CREATION Project showcase, which will be held on May 14 and 15, 2010. Past program participants Gin Hammond and Chad Goller-Sojourner will present work that shows how they’ve developed and grown since their involvement in the program in 2008. Food as Art participant, Island Soul, will cater the evening. Food as Art is CD Forum’s highly anticipated annual spring fundraiser that showcases the diversity of Seattle’s Black culinary artists and restau-

September 25, 2009

ranteurs. Cost for the evening is $10. For more information, visit www.cdforum.org or call 206-323-4032. SOUTH ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL October 2-4 at Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway. www.tasveer.org. MULTIFAITH WORKS SHANTI AND CARETEAM PROGRAMS SEEKING VOLUNTEERS Most of us have known people in our community who have been affected by either AIDS or addiction. Many of us have watched as acquaintances have retreated into isolation due to stigmatization of who they are or who they are perceived to be. Two local programs that excel in providing support to isolated members of our GLBTQ community are the Shanti and CareTeam programs at Multifaith Works, an agency that welcomes volunteers and clients of any cultural, sexual or spiritual orientation. Both programs are a mainstay for companionship and support in the lives of many people within the LGBTQ community. Both programs are in dire need of more volunteers to serve a growing waitlist of individuals needing support. Can you help? The CareTeam training for new volunteers is Saturday, October 10. The next Shanti training takes place the weekends of October 17, 18 and 24, 25. For information on these programs and how to become involved, visit www.multifaith.org or call 206-324-1520. Shanti Program Coordinator, ext 228. CareTeam Program Coordinator, ext 226. SEATTLE COUNSELING SERVICE GALA DINNER & DANCE On Saturday, October 10, celebrate Seattle Counseling Service’s 40th anniversary with fun and elegance and special surprise guests, including SCS founders and other dignitaries too numerous to mention. The gala will be held at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel, 1400 6th Ave. at Pike St., with reception at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m. The celebration continues till midnight. Tickets are: $125 per person, with $25 discount for hosted tables. For more information and to RSVP, call 206-323-1768 or visit www.seattlecounseling.org. WICKED WOMYN CONFERENCE Wicked Womyn 2009, a bi-annual leather women’s conference in Seattle, will be held on the weekend of October 23-25 in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. The event is open to all past, present and future women who can respect and honor a woman’s SM/ BDSM play space, education and fun. The event will include a Meet & Greet and auction, vendors, 16 workshops, evening play parties with more with 250+ sexy attendees expected. For more information and to register, please visit www.wickedwomyn.com. HARMONY HILL RETREAT CENTER WILL HOST FREE 3-DAY CANCER RETREAT FOR SEXUAL MINORITY WOMEN DECEMBER 4-6 Harmony Hill’s cancer retreats are weekend residential programs that help those facing cancer, and their loved ones, cope with the physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges of cancer. The Sexual Minority Women Cancer Retreat is designed specifically to meet the needs of Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Women in an environment that is safe and supportive. Harmony Hill’s twelve-acre facility on Hood Canal, in Union, WA, offers a tranquil retreat environment of gardens, nature trails, labyrinths, and spectacular mountain and water views. Participants enjoy whole-food meals grown in Harmony Hill’s gardens or from local farmers. Space is limited to 20 participants and is filled on a first-come-first-served basis. Those placed on the waiting list will be notified as space becomes available. Cancer participants may have one companion/support person attend with them. All Harmony Hill Cancer Retreats are offered at no cost to participants. For more details and to register, visit www.harmonyhill.org.

Seattle Gay News

by Rex Wockner SGN Contributing Writer About 35 people gathered at the TubmanChavez Multicultural Center in southeast San Diego on September 20 to kick off San Diego’s part of the effort to repeal Proposition 8 in 2010. Attendees at the meeting – which took place in a predominantly African-American neighborhood, far from the city’s Gayborhoods – elected three regional representatives to Restore Equality 2010’s 30-member Statewide Advisory Council. The 2010 campaign has divided the state into 10 regions, with San Diego County as one of them. The campaign’s first main task is to collect 694,354 valid voter signatures to put an initiative on the 2010 ballot to remove Prop 8 from the California Constitution. It is generally believed that about 1 million total signatures need to be collected to get the required number of valid ones. Prop 8, passed last November by 52 percent of voters, amended the constitution to immediately halt same-sex marriage in California. Same-sex marriage had been legal for four and one-half months, and 18,000 same-sex couples married. The state Supreme Court later declared that those 18,000 couples are still married. Much of California’s GLBT activism establishment, including lobby group Equality California, opposes returning to the ballot in 2010, arguing that 2012 offers a better chance of success. But the 2010 effort has support from the large Courage Campaign and more than 50 other GLBT organizations of varying sizes and clout. The 2010/2012 disagreement has split the state’s Gay activists into two sometimesfeuding camps, with the “grassroots” and

Seattle Gay News

“netroots” favoring 2010 and the GLBT “establishment” favoring 2012, though those labels are not precise across the board. Ordinarily, the wishes of the GLBT activist establishment would carry the day, but the California GLBT grassroots and netroots have become a force to be reckoned with in the wake of the large, virally organized “Stonewall 2.0” protests that rocked the state in the days and months after Prop 8 passed – and as the grassroots Courage Campaign, which claims 700,000 members, has emerged as a major player in California GLBT activism. PAT WASHINGTON AND TONI ATKINS WEIGH IN Attendees at the San Diego gathering heard from, among others, activist and academic Pat Washington and former city councilwoman and former deputy and acting mayor Toni Atkins. Both are openly Lesbian. Washington told the group: “It’s all about you – what you think is important and how you can put your body in places, as Bayard Rustin used to say, to make some comfortable people pretty damned uncomfortable. ... You have a truly – I mean absolutely unequivocal – grassroots movement. ... So what if the powers that be don’t like it? What if they don’t like your timing? What if they don’t like your message? ... There is no wrong time to fight for what’s right. “Anytime someone tells you to sit down and shut up, anytime somebody siphons off some of your best leadership and gives them really nice jobs or gives them really, really good, big promises about what they’re going to get when they get onboard for the 2012 campaign, you’re not going to be surprised about that. That’s called divide and conquer, and it happens every time in every movement, and every time it happens, sometimes it just makes us a little bit stronger. “Your strategies, your insistence on what’s right today is built on the back of a multimillion-dollar failure – to stop California voters from putting discrimination into the state constitution. I will tell you right now: I still can’t believe that it happened. ... We put discrimination into our state constitution. So there is nobody – I don’t care how much money they have, how much political clout they have, how long they’ve been doing whatever they’ve been doing – there’s nobody who can tell what the right way is. Because if anybody had a lock on the right

September 25, 2009

api.ning.com

Campaign to undo Prop 8 in 2010 kicks off, activists meet in San Diego

way. “In the past few days, I’ve taken a couple of calls from some very respected and longtime and good friends who’ve asked me why I would agree to be here and talk about this issue and effort tonight. So, I had to back up and do a little research. Thank God for the internet. I read the editorials, I read the blogs, I talked to people on both sides of the discussion, I had more than a few beers over the weekend with a couple of my friends here that I see, and I think both sides have made some very reasonable and rational comments. I can’t deny the relevance of any of the points that have been brought forward. “But plain and simple, here’s ... really what I think, and it’s from my gut. ... In my heart, I know the work that you, and that we, are doing on this issue is right, and it is a movement. I do want to challenge you, everyone in this discussion, whether you are a 2010er or a 2012er, I want to caution you and just remind you of a few things: The other side is going to be thrilled that we have a schism in our community and that we are debating this. So let’s be a model of civility. ... I’m going to challenge each and every one of us not to make enemies within our own community, not to try to hit below the belt or say the thing that could be lasting after 2010. ... Because it doesn’t matter, we are going to win this fight. So, let’s just do the work. We can disagree and we can not be disagreeable.” For more information on the 2010 campaign, see restoreequality2010.com.

Pat Washington

way, we would all have the freedom to marry. One of the things I want you to take pride in is the fact that you refuse, you absolutely refuse to labor under the weight of a discriminatory state government.” Atkins told the group: “I didn’t immediately stake out a position in my heart or in my mind when I heard of the schism that seems to be occurring in our community and throughout the state, and I’m not sure that I have even a passionate position now. But what I do know is that there is absolutely no way that I wouldn’t support this effort. No

MIT students’ Facebook “Gaydar” surprisingly accurate by Shaun Knittel SGN Staff Writer Two MIT students, Carter Jernigan and Behram Mistree, teamed up to create “Gaydar,” a program that could be used to “out” closeted Gay and Lesbian users of the online social network Facebook. The two concluded that determining the sexuality of someone might be as simple as browsing through their lists of online friends. The unpublished 2007 MIT experiment is another way of saying birds of a feather flock together, or the “homophily principle” – the tendency for similar people to group together. Jernigan and Mistree downloaded data from Facebook, choosing their sample from MIT students who joined the network, which included the classes of 2007-2011 and graduate students. The two were interested in three specific categories people fill in on their social profile: gender, “interested in,” which usually denotes sexual preference, and their “friends” links. Using the information to train their computer program, they analyzed the friend links of 1,544 men who identified as straight, 21 who said they were Bisexual, and 33 who stated they were Gay. According to their findings, Gay men had proportionally more Gay friends than straight men, giving the computer program a way to identify a person’s sexuality based on their friends. Applying what they’d learned about Gay users, they did the same analysis on 947 men who did not report their sexuality. Although the researchers admit they have no way to confirm the analysis with scientific exactitude, they used their private knowledge of 10 people in the network who were Gay but did not declare it on their Facebook page. According to Jernigan and Mistree, they found all 10 people were predicted Gay by the program. The two men said the analysis worked in identifying Gay men – the same technique, however, was not as successful with Bisexual men or women, or Lesbians. “It’s just one example of how information could be inadvertently shared,” said Jernigan. “It does highlight risks out there.” The researchers said they treated their

data anonymously, never using names except to validate their predictions during data analysis. The only copy of the data is on an encrypted DVD they gave to a professor, according to the Boston Globe. “When they first did it, it was absolutely striking – we said, ‘Oh my god – you can actually put some computation behind that,’” said Hal Abelson, a computer science professor at MIT who co-taught the course. “That pulls the rug out from a whole policy and technology perspective that the point is to give you control over your information – because you don’t have control over your information.” Facebook has not responded to the study, citing that it would not be possible because Jernigan and Mistree’s analysis is not available to the public. “In general, it’s not too surprising that someone might make inferences about someone else without knowing that person based on who the person’s friends are. This isn’t specific to Facebook and is entirely possible in the real world, as well,” said Facebook spokesman Simon Axten. “For example, if I know that someone has certain political views because that person makes them known in some way (say, by putting a bumper sticker on his car), and then I see a person walking out of a movie with friends I don’t know, I might assume those friends also have the same political view.” Privacy has become a growing and evolving concern for social networks like Facebook. They are dealing with the fact that they provide a resource that brings people together, but may also jeopardize privacy in ways no one could foresee. “You can do damage to your reputation with social networking data, and other people can do damage to you. I do think that there’s been a very fast learning curve – people are quickly learning the dos and don’ts of internet behavior,” said Jason Kaufman, a researcher at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. “Potentially, everything you ever do on the internet will live forever. I like to think we’ll learn to give each other a little more slack for our indiscretions and idiosyncrasies.”

Celebrating 36 Years!

Every knight needs shining armor.

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AFL-CIO – American labor movement calls for full inclusion of LGBT workers Courtesy of AFL-CIO If there were any doubts that the American labor movement stands strongly in favor of LGBT rights, they were set to rest the minute former United Mine Workers president Richard L. Trumka took the podium last Wednesday, September 23, as the newly elected president of the AFL-CIO. Speaking at the labor federation’s quadrennial national convention, the feisty third-generation coal miner issued a clear call for the full inclusion of LGBT voices in the labor movement and American life. “What does labor want?” Trumka asked the 3,000 elected delegates and guests gathered in Pittsburgh’s David L. Lawrence Convention Center. “We want a nation where it doesn’t matter what the color of your skin is ... or what sex or religion you are ... or whether you’re Gay or straight or what country your family’s from because here, in America, we believe everyone ought to have their chance to step into the winner’s circle.” Trumka’s election, along with the selection of 39-year-old Liz Shuler as the AFLCIO’s new Secretary-Treasurer and the return of Arlene Holt Baker as the labor federation’s executive vice president, capped a week that LGBT activists called historic. Delegates to the convention, elected to represent 11.5 million members across the country, repeatedly included issues of concern to the LGBT community during debates and speeches, including marriage equality and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). President Barack Obama, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Caroline Kennedy were among the guest speakers at the convention, which marked a high point in the labor movement’s commitment to LGBT equality. LABOR CALLS FOR INCLUSION Prior to Trumka’s election on Wednesday, the convention issued a bold call for the full inclusion and participation of LGBT workers in American society and the labor movement. The resolution, entitled “A Diverse and Democratic Labor Movement,” declared that “LGBT workers make a tremendous contribution to the labor movement. We must include LGBT brothers and sisters in all our efforts to achieve diversity within the labor movement.” It called for LGBT workers to be given “every opportunity for full participation and representation at every level of the labor movement, including leadership” while reasserting that the AFL-CIO “will do all in our power” to secure the enactment of an inclusive ENDA. The resolution passed unanimously. It can be read at the AFL-CIO website (http://www.afl-cio.org/aboutus/ thisistheaflcio/convention/2009/upload/ res_7.pdf). The debate preceding the vote was marked by a series of impassioned speeches from a diverse group of leaders and delegates. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Secretary-Treasurer Bill Lucy, who marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with striking AFSCME sanitation workers in Memphis on the day the civil rights leader was assassinated, was among those who called for passage of the resolution. “This is not an issue of being Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual or Transgender,” Lucy said. “This is an issue about all of us.” Maine AFL-CIO President Ed Gorham informed the delegates of the November 3 referendum on marriage equality in Maine. Opponents of Maine’s Gay marriage law have secured a place on the ballot to overturn the law signed earlier this year that would make Maine the sixth state to allow Gay marriages. Gorham urged delegates to contact ev-

eryone they know in Maine to vote against the referendum and support marriage equality for the LGBT community. Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Secretary-Treasurer Nancy Wohlforth, an open Lesbian member of the AFLCIO executive council, received a standing ovation after decrying the countless numbers of federal benefits denied to her partner of 28 years, including Social Security benefits. She noted that only a union contract can protect workers in 32 states who otherwise could still be fired simply because of their sexual orientation. “A person should not be discriminated against because of who they love,” Wohlforth said. In a fiery and emotional speech, United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts declared that support for women, people of color and LGBT workers was essential for the growth of the labor movement. “When we open doors, we build for the future,” Roberts said. “The door is wide open. We celebrate diversity. We are not afraid of diversity.” The resolution requires that state, area and local labor bodies designate one or more seats on their governing boards for representatives of constituency groups that are viable in their area. It further urges “all national and international unions to appoint liaisons who will work with the AFL-CIO to focus on diversity and full inclusion of women, people of color, LGBT workers, young workers and workers with disabilities in their unions.” Wohlforth said this language would encourage LGBT workers to organize additional Pride at Work chapters across the country and become more engaged in the effort to build strategic partnerships among labor and LGBT organizations. “We’ve made tremendous progress,” she said, “but there is a lot more work that needs to be done.” In 1980, Wohlforth was a founding member of the Lesbian and Gay Labor Alliance, the forerunner of Pride at Work. She was a primary mover in seeing that Pride at Work received official status as a constituency group of the AFL-CIO in October 1997. Wohlforth noted that the Pittsburgh meeting would mark the end of her tenure as co-president of the group. She and CoPresident T Santora, president of Communications Workers of America Local 9000 in Los Angeles, had previously announced their plans to retire as leaders of the group. They presided at the 2009 Pride at Work convention, which was held in Pittsburgh in the days leading up to the AFL-CIO convention. Pride at Work executive director Jeremy Bishop also announced that he would be leaving the organization to take a position in the Obama administration. He will be a special assistant at the U.S. Department of Labor.

the delegates that “you are working on behalf of millions of Americans” and he called Wohlforth “the greatest leader for your cause who has ever existed.” Among the guests were outgoing AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney, Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker, former AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez Thompson, Association of Flight Attendants President Pat Friend and one of two openly Gay national union presidents, Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers. John Sweeney expressed his thanks to the group for all they have done to strengthen the lives of working Americans. “As busy as the convention preparations are, I really wanted to stop by. I am so proud of Pride at Work,” he said. “I thank you for all the great work you have done.” Sweeney is credited with spearheading the inclusion of Pride at Work as an official AFL-CIO constituency group. As AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee noted during a convention tribute to Sweeney, “Our movement is stronger today because he understood that labor would be stronger when our house was more open to the voices of all workers.”

Local 1000 in San Diego and a steward for his staff union, UAW Local 2350, was elected vice president of Organizing. Connie Cordovilla, associate director of the Human Rights and Community Relations Department of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) was reelected to the position of Secretary. Cynthia Paul, an SEIU lawyer in Michigan, was elected treasurer. Jo Kenny of San Jose was appointed interim executive director. She has been the group’s development director for the past five years. As the AFL-CIO convention came to a close, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette highlighted the message of inclusion sent throughout the week: “Diversity has emerged as a strong subtext throughout the week,” the paper noted, “with speakers at plenary sessions recalling the labor movement’s history of becoming increasingly inclusive, and attendees in breakout sessions pushing discussions.” The convention’s theme was “We Are Many, We Are One.” For LGBT leaders at the historic gathering, this was the convention when the labor movement and the LGBT movement were joined as one.

PRIDE AT WORK WELCOMES NEW PRESIDENTS Pride at Work’s new co-presidents are Stan Kino, a San Francisco based United Airlines flight attendant and organizer for the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) and Donna Cartwright, a Baltimore based writer and member of the Newspaper Guild. Cartwright is among the first Transgender officers of a national LGBT organization. Tony Fernandes of Boston and Cheryl Bollinger of Michigan, both with SEIU, were elected co-vice presidents. Brian Polejes, a union representative and organizer for SEIU

STRONG BRIDGE BUILT BETWEEN LABOR, LGBT MOVEMENTS The Pride at Work Convention focused on strategic planning and laying out a foundation for future growth. Delegates to the convention elected a new slate of officers noted for its diversity. The new executive committee includes an Asian-American, a Latino, a Transgender woman and one LGBT ally. Delegates and leading labor officials gathered at a Saturday night reception hosted by Wohlforth, OPEIU International President Michael Goodwin and the national executive board of Pride at Work. The reception was held to build additional labor support for passage of the Employee Non-Discrimination Act. Goodwin praised the efforts of Pride at Work to build a strong bridge between the labor and LGBT movements. “It is amazing what you are doing,” he said. He reminded

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Seattle Gay News 13

R-71

continued from cover Friedes said. “If we can do that, we’ll be in better shape. There are other polls that show us in much better shape, but those polls are of voters in general, not ‘likely’ voters.” According to voting statistics gathered during off-year elections, the people who tend to not vote are urban, younger, and more progressive voters. WAFST said there aren’t many undecided voters on the issue of Ref. 71. “We don’t know when the opposition is going to air T.V. campaign adds,” Friedes told SGN. “Still, we aren’t going to allow any window of opportunity for our opponents to be on air, and we are not.” Friedes likened this phase of the campaign to a chessboard, where “part of winning is your strategy, and then responding to theirs.” Addressing the concern over confusion to approve or reject, Friedes said, “We have to make sure everyone knows they need to approve. We need to just get out there and talk approve, approve, approve, so Washington families keep their same-sex domestic partnership law.” “It’s very important that we be very clear: failure to approve the referendum will take rights away,” he said. “This law provides unbelievably important rights and protections to our families. Families will suffer real harm if they lose the protections they

need.” WAFST is asking people to send suggestions for viral videos (catchy web videos on YouTube) that they would like to produce. The campaign will work with them, providing advice and approval on how to make the video effective. If you have an idea for an Approve Referendum 71 Campaign video, you can e-mail the campaign directly at tech@approve71.org. VOLUNTEER FOR A NOBLE CAUSE Lurleen, a Lesbian blogger for www.pamshouseblend.com, recently spent time at a WAFST phone bank and told SGN the campaign has a diverse and dedicated team of volunteers who are doing all they can to see that Ref. 71 is approved this November. The Equal Rights Washington (ERW) and WAFST volunteer told SGN, “I think that my family, like every other family in Washington State, needs to be protected to the full extent of the law. We will be losing some important rights and protections if the referendum isn’t approved.” She said that, to her, one of the most important provisions of the extended samesex domestic partnership law is granting a partner the right to sick leave. If someone in a same-sex relationship is ill and needs to be taken care of, their partner can do so. Additionally, she says, the current tax structure – taxing registered domestic partners as if they are single – is unfair. The approval of Senate Bill 5688 changed all that. When

Gov. Chris Gregoire signed the bill into law, it granted said sick leave and tax breaks. On the night of September 21, according to Lurleen, 20 volunteers met at the WAFST Seattle campaign headquarters to phone bank for the Approve Referendum 71 Campaign. It was many of the volunteers’ first time participating in phone banking, but most found the experience to be interesting. As one volunteer put it, “I got great satisfaction out of providing voters with needed information.” A straight ally told Lurleen she was volunteering because she believes that “It is wrong to put civil rights up for a vote, and it’s wrong to subjugate a minority population based on religious views.” Another volunteer, Yessica, an international student who cannot vote, told Lurleen she is volunteering “Because everyone should have equal rights,” while another, Drew, said he was inspired by his Gay brother, who worked on the No on Prop 8 campaign in California. He said he was angry when he saw a group of WAFST outreach volunteers met with silence by Gay colleagues. That, mixed with the recent bombing of a Gay youth center in Tel Aviv, Israel, motivated him to volunteer. He said he was “not going to be a lazy Gay.” “With ballots hitting mailboxes in just three weeks, there has never been a more important time to identify and mobilize our voters,” Lurleen said. CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS MATTER “Our fundraising has picked up, but we need more,” Friedes said. “Plus, we are dealing with a large donor ban of October 12, so we need to have all of the large donations physically in our hand by that date.” “We have raised well over $500,000,” he said, “The money is coming in, but we still need to raise a lot more to pay for costly ad

campaigns.” Friedes said the hard reality is that TV ads and mail pieces are very expensive. “Simply put, we need a million dollars in the next month in order to execute our outreach plan,” he said. “I know that sounds like a lot, but we will get there with the support of hundreds of people in the community who have stepped up to help.” In a September 23 e-mail sent to Approve Referendum 71 Campaign members and its supporters, the campaign said, “We only have 23 more days before ballots are mailed out to voters across the state. Can you make a contribution today? Every bit helps.” Local and national organizations heeded the call to fill the campaign’s coffers this week. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced September 24, that it has contributed $32,000 to the Approve Referendum 71 Campaign. In addition, the ACLU of Washington office and the national ACLU LGBT Project are making significant staff contributions to the campaign. “Families need legal protections for their relationships, especially in these difficult economic times. Approving R-71 will ensure that all families in Washington are treated fairly under the law,” said Kathleen Taylor, executive director of the ACLU of Washington. The ACLU is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization devoted to defending the principles of the Bill of Rights and extending them to individuals and groups that historically have been denied equal treatment under law. The ACLU of Washington is the state affiliate of the ACLU and has more than 25,000 members throughout Washington State. To make a donation to the Approve Referendum 71 Campaign or for more information about WAFST, visit them online at www.approvereferendum71.org.

vaccine trials continued from cover

world, cannot be known at this time. The study tested a two-vaccine combination of ALVAC and AIDSVAX in a “primeboost” approach, where the first vaccine primes the immune system to attack HIV and the second strengthens the response. ALVAC uses canarypox, a bird virus altered so it can’t cause human disease, to ferry synthetic versions of three HIV genes into the body. AIDSVAX contains a genetically engineered version of a protein on

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Celebrating 36 Years!

Pub:HERALD RETAIL Tag Line: Color Info: Thailand. Before the trial began, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said other studies would be needed before the vaccine could be considered for U.S. licensing. “We are cautiously optimistic about the promising results made by the researchers in Thailand who tested the RV 144 experimental vaccine,” said David Richart, executive director of Seattle’s Lifelong AIDS Alliance. “These results shine a light on what has been a very long, dark tunnel for people living with HIV/AIDS and those who advocate on their behalf here in Seattle and worldwide.” Richart said this is the first positive sign in more than 20 years of HIV vaccine testing and is “a step in the right direction.” He said Lifelong AIDS Alliance applauds the efforts

of these researchers and of the many working tirelessly across the globe to “discover a vaccine that will truly eradicate HIV.” Despite this success, he said, “all of us working on behalf of those who have passed away from, or who are living with, HIV/ AIDS understand that much more needs to be done.” “That’s why 3,000 Seattleites will come together this Saturday to participate in the 23rd annual Seattle AIDS Walk, to increase awareness about the disease and raise the funds needed to continue the fight against HIV/AIDS,” said Richart. “On behalf of the thousands of people we serve, Lifelong AIDS Alliance remains steadfast in its commitment to creating a world without HIV or AIDS.”

0001659527-01

HIV’s surface. According to scientists, the vaccines cannot cause HIV. When each vaccine was individually tested, it failed to prevent HIV infection. But when tested as a combo on HIV-negative Thai men and women ages 18 to 30 over the course of six months, no one knew the results would turn out this way. New infections occurred in 51 of the 8,197 given the combo vaccine, and in 74 of the 8,198 who received a “dummy shot.” That worked out to a 31% lower risk of infection for the vaccine group. The vaccine had no effect on levels of HIV in the blood of those who did become infected. It is unclear whether vaccine makers will seek to license the two-vaccine combo in

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Gay supervisor to run for San Francisco mayor by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Openly Gay San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty announced on September 24 that he will run for mayor of San Francisco to succeed Gavin Newsom. He also announced that former Obama aide Steve Hildebrand would advise his campaign. If elected, Dufty will be the first openly Gay mayor of the city. Both Dufty and Newsom will be required to vacate their current offices because of California’s term-limit laws. Dufty will lose his seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in January 2011, and Newsom will have to step down in January 2012. Because San Francisco has a combined city and county government, the Board of Supervisors does work equivalent to both Seattle’s City Council and the King County Council. San Francisco Supervisors are elected by district, with Dufty representing the heavily LGBT Castro district. Dufty had made no secret of his plans to run for mayor. Although the filing deadline for the office is in August 2011, Dufty said he saw no reason to wait before announcing his decision. “I am not a coy person. Rather than speculate on it, I am going to go and start working,” he told the Bay Area Reporter, the LGBT newspaper in San Francisco. “Having worked 16 years in city government I have a lot of experience in addressing the day-to-day needs of people in our

city,” Dufty told the Bay Area Reporter. “I am excited about being a leader of city government and creating a dynamism and responsiveness that will make people proud of their city.” Dufty is serving his second term on San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors. Prior to his election as supervisor, he was director of Neighborhood Services in Mayor Willie Brown’s administration. He also served as a legislative assistant to the late New York Congressperson Shirley Chisholm. As he did in his campaigns for supervisor, Dufty will limit individual political contributions to $200 from people who either live or work in the city. He also said he would abide by the current spending cap of $1.475 million and would seek public financing. “I am committed to a grassroots campaign and a low-dollar campaign, which requires a lot of time and shoe leather,” he said. Dufty approached the openly Gay Hildebrand to advise his campaign because he admired the successful grassroots effort Hildebrand put together for President Obama. “I was drawn to him because of the type of campaign he leads,” Dufty said. On his side, Hildebrand expressed admiration for Dufty’s ability. “In just talking to various folks in the San Francisco area,” Hildebrand said, “I know he is very well thought of by a lot of people. He works incredibly hard and has a smart vision for the future of this city. I want to help good people get elected, and I think he is one of the good ones.”

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gsba

continued from cover

vid Ginsberg, Position 2; Sally Bagshaw and David Bloom, Position 4; Jessie Israel and Nick Licata, Position 6; Mike O’Brien and David Rosencrantz, Position 8; and David Doud and Rob Holland, Port of Seattle Commissioner Position 3. The GSBA extended the invitation to the candidates, and all of them accepted. Perhaps the most important thing achieved on Wednesday was the fact that every single candidate had to publicly state his or her support for the Approve Referendum 71 Campaign. This November, during the General Election, Washingtonians will be asked if they want to approve or reject the domestic partnership law, which grants same-sex domestic partners and the elderly the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. Each candidate was put on the spot, and in most cases they expounded on why they support keeping Washington’s domestic partnership law, and what they plan to do, if elected, for Seattle’s LGBT community. All 16 candidates agreed that Referendum 71 should be approved this November. Washington Families Standing Together (WAFST) Chair Anne Levinson approached the podium and gave a spirited speech about the Approve Referendum 71 Campaign. WAFST is the Gay advocacy group leading the fight to keep the domestic partnership law in place. Again and again, Levinson asked, “How are we going to vote?” Each time the audience yelled out a raucous, “Approve!” Levinson told GSBA members, “Do not assume victory.” She asked everyone to get the word out, through word-of-mouth, phone banking and on social sites. Levinson said, “We must do all we can to approve Referendum 71.” The community leader’s speech commanded the longest applause from attendees. The GSBA has been the LGBT and allied business and professional chamber of commerce since 1981. With over 1,000 members, GSBA is the largest business chamber of its kind in the United States. The GSBA may not seem like an activist hub, but activism is often at their core. The politically aware and community vested members could be seen taking notes and intently listening to every word the candidates had to say. Certain themes were prevalent throughout the forum – mainly the econo-

my, environment, and LGBT rights – but in the end, it was the approval of Referendum 71 that stole the show, and undoubtedly will receive approve votes and support from the GSBA members.

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continued from cover

by child exploitation (a 7-year-old holding a sign that said “Obama is a socialist, fascist, communist”), I started looking for any sign of our own protest, and found nothing. I went to the website (www.EqualityAcrossAmerica.org) to make sure I had my dates correct – October 10-11 – and that the march was still being planned. The purposes of the march were outlined, and aside from contact information, there was a notice saying that a national flyer campaign was being planned across the country for Sunday, September 13. It’s been over eight business days as of this writing since I sent the first of three e-mails to the people at E.A.A., and so far, not a single response. I was in the heart of DC on that Sunday and never saw a flyer. (Did any of you?) The only response I had to the march came in an unexpected way, via my Congressman Jay Inslee and his office staff. We went to the Congressman’s office to say thank-you (to his aide) for setting up a tour of the White House during our stay in D.C. The Congressman came in and introduced himself to all waiting, asking what brought them to D.C. When I mentioned the march, he said he had heard of it, but not many details. Being an extremely vocal supporter of Referendum 71, he immediately offered to set up an appointment between Brian, his chief-of-staff, and us so details and information could be exchanged. The appointment was made for the next day. “Lobbyists get only 10 minutes, so we might get five,” I was warned by my friend Garth, to whose political mind I often defer. I went back to the hotel, gathered my research and organized my notes for our meeting, not really knowing what to expect. We met Brian and the three of us sat down for our discussion. The time from the moment we started to talk to the moment we shook hands afterward was just shy of an hour. Brian not only heard what we had to say, he listened and took notes. We discussed the goals E.A.A. hopes to achieve and added

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personal examples to demonstrate why they were important and why Referendum 71 needs to be approved. The Domestic Partner law in Washington is a great start. I proudly showed them my official registration card (no one there had seen one) and explained what benefits it entitled me. I also explained how it makes me feel like a second-class citizen in my own country. I have two siblings, and in my immediately family, my marriage is the longest, excluding my parents’ of 50 years. In fact, my marriage has outlasted one sibling’s two marriages combined, and yet they don’t have to carry registration cards. We discussed my experiences of coming out in a Southern high school and the many daily discriminatory comments I received by students and faculty alike. When we left the office, I felt that finally someone had responded. We went over each point of what E.A.A. is trying to accomplish and Brian took notes. He heard and he listened. He introduced us to other members of the staff and explained why we were there, and they listened as well. It was the first time I saw any kind of positive action about the upcoming March on Washington D.C. I was at both previous marches in 1987 and 1993, and was proud to be in them. But then again, I had heard of them at least six months in advance and had ample time to make arrangements. The official statement for this march is “Equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states.” Some of the particular points hoping to be achieved are (among others): • The right to work our jobs and go to school free of harassment or discrimination. • Protection from hate crimes • The right to marry in all 50 states • The right to serve openly in the military Despite the short time left for planning, there are still ways to be active. If you are not going to the march, contact your Congressman. Let them hear you and know

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Seattle Gay News 17

by Rajkhet Dirzhud-Rashid SGN A&E Writer As I sit here in the WiFi café I so love (hey, the grrls are cute and the beverages are cheap) nibbling trail mix (my secret to losing the weight I’ve been working on) and trying not to stress about cash flow, several things are going through my noggin at the moment. One is that I’m still steamed at the driver of that black Cadillac who, thinking he was the coolest fool on the street, tried to run down both yours truly and an innocent bicyclist. And the wacko’s girlfriend (Little Miss Stupid to his Mr. Stupid) even smiled when she exited that gas-guzzling flash mobile. I so wanted an anvil to fall on both their heads like in the cartoons and giant “voice of the Goddess” to say to them both, “Learn to drive and respect cyclists and pedestrians bozos, or get off our hill!” Ah, for cartoons to come true. Ah, but this one is less and less worried about little moments of anger like that one, as she is so sublimely happy with my sweet life partner/slave and looking to meeting that one’s family in the very near future,

too. We have been regulars at The Crypt, and that one even sat with me at my last full moon gig at The Cuff, making me feel all special and grounded through my stint as their tarot reader. Call it “bring yo sweetie to work” night, eh? Yes! This one has been in this little town that thinks it’s a city for 22 years this month, and this column is six years old (I think, ‘cause honey, the brain forgets dates these days, ya know?). So, happy anniversary to me and to all my loyal three readers, brava, you rock, and such. Maybe someone should buy me a present or take me to dinner, or, heck, at least get a reading to increase my cash flow, hmmmm? Yes indeed, my little tomatoes. So what else has been going on in my little love nest with my darling one? Well, as of this month, I no longer have healthcare, at least not coverage for Western medicine. Thank Goddess for the Divine Dr. Que and my sweetie getting me hooked up with his chiropractor (who that one sees on a regular basis, and this one will be seeing, too, to get some needed clearing-out of old crap), or I’d be a walking mess. Shame on our po-

rajkhet dirzhud-rashid

Good times with the slave and healthcare woes

liticos and on the morons fighting any kind try something outstandingly different, do try of reforming healthcare – that’s why me and Chanel’s new line of black lipsticks, which millions of others are in this awful, awful are so much better than that stuff you’re boat – and shame on UW for not taking the probably wearing now – not too pricey, eiHippocratic oath seriously and getting me ther. scheduled for the procedure my female parts So, that’s it for now, babies, and I’m so need. Shame, shame! pissed that whatever high muck-a-muck On a better made the very note, this one bad decision to and her sweetie, put both my fave in his grrrl drag, shows, Fringe went to Nordand Supernatustrom, where ral, opposite we not only got each other on a makeovers at the Thursday, makChanel counter, ing me play but also got to be “speed remote” chatted up (and to try to see them flirted with a both. Dang it, bit) by the sweet change Fringe French rep of back to Tuesday the line a couple already, and stop of weeks ago. making us fans Honey, we did miss our show! look fab, and got On a happier smiles and stares note, the two everywhere we shows started 5th Ave. hotties went after. Treat off with kickass yourself someday soon to a little makeover season premieres, so do watch as you won’t at either Nordstrom or Sephora, and see if it be disappointed by either. don’t make ya all bettah. Be nicer to each other out there in the So, what has this one tried and loved that world, especially you nutjob drivers like she wants to tell ya about, darlin’? (I’m Miss and Mr. Stupid, and remember bicycles channeling my Haitian roots after sampling ARE traffic, not something to hit in your big some delish Haitian cuisine recently with car, and pedestrians always have the right of my slave/honey bunny). Well, I love, love, way, jackass. If only SPD would start looklove Creed’s Love In Black eau de parfum ing out for me and other pedestrians and cyand the newly mixed and revamped Chanel clists and ticketing these nuts, maybe they’d No. 5, which me and sweetie got at Nord- stop using us for target practice with their strom recently. Also picked up a sample of vehicles. And keep smiling at your bus driva new line of facial care, a wonderful mois- er, ‘specially if she’s a sistuh of color, ‘cause turizer called Youth Surge, which does ex- she probably needs some cheering up here actly that for skin that needs a bit of pep. in “rat city.” More and better healthcare, and And, honey, don’t we all – especially us let’s vote against the bigots trying to tell evolder ones – need that for la face? Def! Go eryone who should and shouldn’t be married in, see the nice people who’ll treat you like or have benefits. Approve Ref. 71! Go Mariroyalty, and say this column sent ya! And if ners, go Huskies, and spread love wherever you’re a goth, or just someone who likes to you go. Buhbye, peace out, kiss kiss!

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18 Seattle Gay News

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