QUARTERLY SPRING ISSUE 2018
WWW.SACSTONEWALL.ORG
last year he won our freedom from fear award. now evan is leading the way for others.
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
FEARLESS
ELECTIONS
Hear from the Madame President herself. Jann Donorthy's report on the Big Blue Beacon of Hope.Â
Learn about Evan's fight.
Catch up with our PAC Chair, Matthew Nielson, as he maps out the upcoming election cycles and the club's priorities.
PAGE 1
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR By Lanz Nalagan, Communications Chair Another year, another Quarterly. But 2018 is much different. Since the election, our board and membership have been inspired to RESIST. We unveiled a new page dedicated to resisting an administration that doesn't reflect who we are as a country. And we've seen such amazing leadership over two short years. From running for elected office, to major job changes, to standing up against discriminatory practices in court.... thanks for your continued readership and getting things done. -- The Stonewall Quarterly is published 4 times a year by the Stonewall Democrats of Greater Sacramento and distributed to all members of "The Club That Gets Things Done!" I encourage you to submit news, advertisements, and features for publication. The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the contributors and not necessarily of the Stonewall Democrats of Greater Sacramento.
PAGE 2
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE By Jann Dorothy, President Two big events are on the horizon that all Sac Stonewall members should Save the Dates for: May 23 is our 15th Annual 4 Freedoms Awards Gala and June 10 is the Sacramento Pride Festival hosted by the Sacramento LGBT Community Center. Every year, the Sacramento Stonewall Democratic Club holds a gala where we recognize local leaders who embody the goals of the club and of the Democratic Party – freedom from fear and want, freedom of speech, and freedom of worship. The idea comes from Franklin Roosevelt’s Annual Address to Congress in 1941. Our Annual 4 Freedoms Awards Dinner will be held this year on Wednesday, May 23, at 5:30pm at Sacramento’s Dante Club, 2330 PAGE 40 Fair Oaks Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95825. We are proud to present our Freedom of Speech award to SMUD Board Member Genevieve Shiroma; the Freedom from Want award to Carrie Holmes; the Freedom of Worship award to California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman; and the Freedom from Fear award to State Senator Cathleen Galgiani; and our President's award to Col. Pat Thompson. Sacramento Stonewall is the only club whose political action committee is singularly focused on equality for the LGBTQ community. Since Stonewall is an all-volunteer organization, your participation by purchasing a ticket or becoming a sponsor directly funds our work for LGBTQ equality rights here in greater Sacramento. Early bird tickets are $100 through April 17 when pricing goes up to $125. Act now and purchase your tickets here: http://sacstonewall.org/news-events/four-freedoms/ After our 4 Freedoms Awards Gala, we’ll be gearing up for robust participation at the Pride Parade and Festival on June 10. The Parade starts at 11:00am at 3rd and N Street and ends at 10th and N Street. Stonewall invites you to join our marching contingent carrying our Stonewall banner. Those who join us in the Parade will receive a free RESIST! T-shirt before the march begins. Come on out and join us! After the Parade, join us at the Festival, 11:00am-5:00pm. Entrance fee is $10 per person (children ten and under are free), and is located on the Capitol Mall between 3rd and 7th streets. Be sure to stop by Stonewall’s booth where we’ll have a spinning wheel and free prizes. You can also join or renew your Sac Stonewall membership right at our booth. We hope to see you there!
PAGE 3
By Nate Pelczar, Candidate for SCOE Area 2 I am running for Sacramento County Office of Education Board of Trustees for Area 2 (Natomas) and I'd love your support. I've been a member of Sacramento Stonewall since 2008, served two terms on the Sacramento Stonewall Board, and have been a social justice activist for years. I am honored to be one of Sacramento Stonewall's priority candidates and would love your support!
PAGE 5
Supporting "The club that gets things done!"
PAGE 6
Check out our current 2018 Endorsements! More soon. Doris Matsui – Congressional District 6 Phil Serna – Sacramento County Supervisors District 1 Patrick Kennedy – Sacramento County Supervisors District 2 Jeff Harris – Sacramento City Council District 3 Lisa Kaplan – Natomas Unified School District Jay Hansen – Sacramento City Unified School District 1 Don Saylor – Yolo County Supervisor District 2 Christopher Cabaldon – West Sacramento Mayor Rosanna Herber – SMUD Board Ward 4 Richard Pan- State Senate District 6 Cathleen Galgiani- Board of Equalization District 3 Ken Cooley- Assembly District 8 Angelique Ashby- Sacramento City Council Darrel Woo- Sacramento City Unified School District 6 Jackie Smith- Assembly District 6 Jay Schenirer- Sacramento City Council Noah Phillips- Sacramento County District Attorney Jaclyn Moreno- Consumnes District Hillary Hodge- Nevada County Board of Supervisors District 3 Bina Lefkowitz - SCOE 1 Nate Pelczar- SCOE 2 Rachaelanne Vander Werf - American River Flood Control District Jessica Morse- Congressional District 4
FEARLESS.
PAGE 7
Excerpt from Scientific American 1/19/18 by Harper Jean Tobin When it comes to medical care, the needs and health of patients should always come first. But a new federal office and a new proposed regulation from the Trump Administration are trying to elevate the personal beliefs of providers above the command to “do no harm”—and above civil rights laws. In 2016, Evan Minton’s doctors recommended a medically necessary hysterectomy, and scheduled the procedure with a qualified surgeon who regularly performed it. During a routine phone call with a nurse two days before the scheduled surgery, Minton mentioned he was transgender. The next day he learned the hospital had canceled his procedure for exactly that reason—while not canceling a hysterectomy the same day for a non-transgender patient. The hospital system said it only performed hysterectomies to treat a medical condition. Minton’s procedure was needed to treat gender dysphoria, under standards endorsed by the American Medical Association. Still, the hospital would not relent. Minton was lucky to be able to reschedule the procedure with the same surgeon elsewhere, but too many patients face long delays and even medical complications when refused care. The Trump Administration [today] cited Mr. Minton’s case not as an example of the need to protect patients—but rather the supposed need to protect providers. The case is mentioned twice in the preamble to a proposed rule aimed at protecting and promoting the refusal of medical care by providers who disapprove of patients’ identities or choices. Under the proposed rule—touted as protecting “conscience rights”—hospitals, insurers, or individual health care workers can pick and choose who receives care based not on medical science or medical need but rather on their own personal beliefs. The rule— which goes far beyond established law—is virtually certain to encourage discrimination against LGBT patients and other minority groups.
PAGE 8
The nation’s major medical associations strongly oppose discrimination against patients based on their identities, whether in the name of religion or “conscience” or anything else. The vast majority of medical providers, and the vast majority of people of face, don’t believe in discrimination. Nevertheless, discrimination against LGBT people in medical care remains all too common—and well-documented. In a national survey of over 27,000 transgender Americans in all 50 states, 33 percent of those who had sought health care in the prior year reported being refused care or mistreated because they were transgender. And nearly one-quarter of all respondents said they had avoided health care when they needed it in the last year out of fear of discrimination.
Resist and Engage!
Numerous surveys and reports from sources such as the National Academy of Medicine, document discrimination’s harmful effects on patients’ lives and health. Organizations such as the National Center for Transgender Equality regularly hear from patients, and their families, who have been turned away by providers who don’t want to treat (or sometimes even touch) an LGBT person. We’ve heard from people who were refused routine screenings, necessary medications, and urgent care. We’ve also heard from people who drive 50 or 100 miles or more for routine care because doctors in their small town refused to treat them. In one ongoing case in California, a transgender teen’s mother and therapist had him released early from an emergency psychiatric hospitalization. The reason? They feared he was being harmed rather than helped because hospital staff constantly harassed him based on their belief he was “really” a girl. We all cherish the freedom of religion, which is rightly enshrined in our Constitution and numerous laws. But allowing the refusal of medical care because someone disapproves of a patient’s identity is a perversion of that principal that goes far beyond current law. By redefining basic terms like “assist” and “refer,” for example, the rule seeks to empower health care workers not only to not participate in a procedure they object to, but to refuse to do anything (no matter how indirect) that would allow the patient to receive care from someone else. No wonder the new rule was rushed out without ever being listed in the Department Health and Human Services’ public rulemaking agenda. Unfortunately, the Department isn’t stopping there, but included pages of requests for public comments on how it could expand the rule to promote even more refusals of care.
PAGE 9
If this rule is finalized in its current or an even more sweeping form, legal challenges are inevitable in light of the conflicts with federal, state, and local civil rights laws and other patient protections. Yet it’s in keeping with the Trump administration’s efforts in many spheres to promote discrimination and undermine basic civil rights. We all need health care, and none of us should be turned away because someone disapproves of who we are or how we live our lives. Period. -Need a refresher on Evan Minton's case? Excerpt from Sacramento Bee 4/20/17 By Claudia Buck and Sammy Caiola More than seven months after a Dignity Health hospital refused a hysterectomy to a Sacramento-area transgender patient, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Wednesday on his behalf. The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, alleges that Dignity discriminated against Evan Michael Minton, 35, a former state Capitol legislative aide, when he sought a hysterectomy as part of his transition from female to male. Last summer, Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael, part of the Dignity Health chain, abruptly canceled Minton’s surgery the day before it was scheduled to take place. His doctor eventually performed the procedure at another Sacramento-area hospital, but the initial denial still causes frustration and disappointment, Minton said. After months of reflection, he decided to take legal action against the San Franciscobased hospital chain.
PAGE 10
“It devastated me, and I don’t want it to affect my transgender brothers and sisters the way it affected me,” Minton said Tuesday. “No one should have to go through that.” The case pits the desires of transgender patients seeking sexual reassignment surgery against Catholic doctrines, which bar sterilizations such as hysterectomies in most instances. And it comes as federal and state lawmakers across the country are attempting to roll back protections of transgender persons, according to the ACLU, which joined the firm Covington & Burling in filing the lawsuit. “Given the national context, where legal protections for transgender people are under attack, it’s particularly important that in states like California the law is really clear,” said Elizabeth Gill, senior staff attorney for the ACLU Northern California. She said the hospital’s denial is a “clear-cut case of discrimination,” based on the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination against individuals based on their sex, race, religion, age, disability, marital status or sexual orientation. The suit seeks $4,000, the minimal amount of damages under the law, Gill said.
Proud Stonewall Member
PAGE 11
“We have not been served with the complaint and cannot speak to the allegations until we have the opportunity to review them,” Dignity Health Mercy San Juan officials said in a statement Wednesday. “What we can share is that at Dignity Health Mercy San Juan Medical Center, the services we provide are available to all members of the communities we serve without discrimination. We understand how important this surgery is for transgender individuals, and were happy to provide Mr. Minton and his surgeon the use of another Dignity Health hospital for his surgery within a few days. “We do not provide elective sterilizations at Dignity Health’s Catholic facilities in accordance with the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (ERDs) and the medical staff bylaws.” Dignity Health historically has been affiliated with the Catholic church. But today, not all of its hospitals are required to follow Catholic doctrine. Last August, Mercy San Juan said the procedure went against the hospital’s anti-sterilization policies, which are based on ethical and religious directives issued in 2009 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “In general, it is our practice not to provide sterilization services at Dignity Health’s Catholic facilities,” said spokeswoman Melissa Jue, in an emailed statement last August. Sterilization procedures, such as hysterectomies or tubal ligations, she said, are permitted by Catholic hospitals only to cure or alleviate a “serious pathology and (if) a simpler treatment is not available.” After Mercy San Juan denied the hysterectomy, Minton’s surgeon said Dignity Health officials helped her obtain emergency privileges at Methodist Hospital of Sacramento, a Dignity facility that is not bound by Catholic doctrines.
PAGE 12
The hysterectomy was performed at Methodist in September. “I don’t blame the staff,” said his surgeon, Sacramento obstetrician gynecologist Dr. Lindsey Dawson, at the time. “I don’t blame the administrators. I blame the (Catholic) doctrines.” In November 2015, a group of 10 religious entities, including the Conference of Catholic Bishops, opposed inclusion of gender identity in federal health care laws barring sexual discrimination. “We believe, as do many health care providers, that medical and surgical interventions that attempt to alter one’s sex are, in fact, detrimental to patients,” states the letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Such interventions are not properly viewed as health care because they do not cure or prevent disease or illness. Rather they reject a person’s nature at birth as male or female.” The letter also states that “surgical alteration of the genitalia, in particular, mutilates the body by taking a perfectly healthy bodily system and rendering it dysfunctional.” It said such medical alterations could potentially expose health care providers to claims of medical malpractice. Minton’s hysterectomy was part of a series of surgeries to complete his transition from female to male. The Orangevale resident, who came out as transgender six years ago and has been living as a man since, has had a double mastectomy and a phalloplasty, or male organ construction surgery. “It’s almost magical, just to be able to be congruent with who I am – to have my outer body match my inner self,” Minton said this week. “When I got my complete body, I said, ‘The rest of my life starts here.’ ”
ELECTIONS PAGE 13
By Matthew Nielsen, PAC Chair It’s been a very busy start to the year for the Stonewall Political Action Committee (PAC)! We’ve made endorsements in 22 races across the Greater Sacramento region so far and we aren’t done yet. The group has spent three Saturdays meeting with candidates in races from district attorney to city council to the House of Representatives. We have been impressed by the ground swell of candidates that have been motivated to run following the disastrous national election of 2016. Our January General Membership meeting focused on endorsing “friendly candidates”, office-holders who have been previously endorsed by the club. We also had the opportunity to endorse one of our own members, Rosanna Herber, for SMUD Board District 4. February’s meeting focused on two Sacramento City Council races, District 5 and District 7. The club also endorsed Jackie Smith for Assembly, Noah Phillips for Sacramento County District Attorney, Jacklyn Moreno for Cosumnes Service District, and Hillary Hodge for Nevada County Supervisor. Nate Pelczar, another Stonewall member, was featured in his race for the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) Area 2 at our March meeting. Along with Nate in SCOE Area 2, Bina Lefkowitz was endorsed for SCOE Area 1. We also discussed the very important race in the 4th congressional district and endorsed Jessica Morse in her effort to un-seat Tom McClintock. It was also our pleasure to support Rae Vander Werf, a scientist with a background in hydrology and meteorology, for American River Flood Control District. April will feature the very interesting race shaping up for two spots on the Davis City Council. This race has even broader implications, as the highest vote getter will become Mayor Pro Temp and will transition to the Mayor of Davis in 2020. The PAC has currently interviewed 4 Democratic candidates and looks forward to announcing endorsement recommendations at the next general membership meeting on April 9th. 2018 is perhaps the most important election of our time, and the Sacramento Stonewall PAC has enjoyed the opportunity to support such a wide slate of candidates from across our region. Over the next few months, we will begin to transition from the primaries and prepare ourselves for the main event in November. Please join us at our general membership meetings and lend your voice to our endorsement process!
PAGE 15
Regarding hate mail.
By David Heitstuman, Executive Director, Sacramento LGBT Community Center This week we received a pair of hate-filled letters at the Center that, amongst a litany of other violent acts, threatened to destroy or murder every LGBTQ person in Sacramento. While it is very concerning that this kind of hate and threat of violence persist in Sacramento, we will not be deterred from our mission to create a region where LGBTQ people are not only safe and welcome, but able to thrive. By coincidence, I had the opportunity to visit to the Unity Center at the California Museum today. As I walked through the exhibit I was reminded of how resilient our community has been to many acts of violence in its past. Reading the children’s artwork with messages of support for a more equitable and just world than the one I was born into, I was filled with hope. For 32 years the Center has served as a beacon of hope and affirmation for our community. The rainbow flag out front will continue to fly as a symbol of hope and welcome. Despite the threats and trauma that persist in our world, as a community, we remain proud, strong, and open to all. Thank you for your support and love. Please let us know how we can help if you experience discrimination, violence, or hate. Call (916) 4420185, email info@saccenter.org, or come by. In Solidarity, David
PAGE 16
The Importance of Criminal Justice and District Attorney to LGBTQ People By Kim Angulo Let me start off by saying something most people are unaware of: the incarceration rate of LGB people is three times the general population. (https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/williams-in-thenews/incarceration-rate-of-lesbian-gay-bisexual-peoplethree-times-the-general-population/). A full one-third of women in prisons are lesbian or bisexual. Transgender and gender nonconforming people are regularly subjected to police harassment and criminalization. Criminal justice issues, including police misconduct and violence, overcharging of crimes, and lengthy sentences, disproportionately affect LGBTQ people. When police give someone a citation or arrest them, they write a police report and send it to the District Attorney with recommendations on what the person should be charged with. District Attorneys are elected officials who decide who gets charged with crimes and who does not. Each county elects a District Attorney.
The District Attorney has full discretion in charging and no oversight besides that provided by the electorate. Because of the immense power that district attorneys have in deciding who gets charged with crimes and what plea deals to offer, they have a huge impact on the prison population and who has a criminal record. Having a criminal conviction places thousands of barriers on employment, housing, public services, and more. Several progressive organizations have begun highlighting the importance of paying attention to district attorneys and holding them accountable for their decisions on who to charge. For example, in 2017 the ACLU launched a website called “Meet Your DA.” The tagline on the web page is telling – “Meet Your DA – the most powerful elected official you may not know.” District Attorneys operate with little to no oversight from the public. Samantha Bee, the host of “Full Frontal” recently focused the majority of an episode on Cy Vance, the New York District Attorney and elected prosecutors who can do “whatever they want.” (http://www.tbs.com/shows/full-frontal-with-samantha-bee/season-3/episode-3/march-14-2018) We as active citizens, and particularly as members of the LGBTQ community, need to pay attention to district attorneys. This June residents of Sacramento County and Yolo County will have the chance to vote for District Attorney. Sacramento Stonewall has already endorsed Noah Phillips for DA in Sacramento County and is considering endorsing Dean Johansson for DA in Yolo County. While the majority of us as members of Stonewall and the LGBTQ community may not have much direct contact with the criminal justice system, there are many more in our community who are homeless, people of color, or otherwise targeted by the law enforcement who need our help to make sure that they are not over-charged and punished for being poor and LGBTQ.
WWW.SACSTONEWALL.ORG
QUARTERLY SPRING ISSUE 2018
Paid for by the Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento FPPC #1247892 and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. © Sacramento Stonewall Democrats The mission of the Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento is to advance equal rights for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. We will support public policies that advance that mission in the United States, the State of California, and the greater Sacramento area. We help elect to public office qualified Democratic Party candidates who are openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, as well as allies who support equal rights for the LGBT community. \We will work to sensitize and educate all Democratic candidates and office holders, the Democratic Party in general, and the community at large, to the issues and concerns of the LGBT community. Conversely, within the LGBT community we will promote the Democratic Party’s broad message of economic justice and social equality. To achieve this mission, the Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento will work: To lead our party to improve its record and speak out on issues of importance to the LGBT communities, and to work for the nomination and election of Democratic candidates, including qualified openly LGBT candidates; To achieve diversity in our membership and our governing bodies; To elect openly LGBT people to local office and to achieve appointments of openly LGBT people to city and county boards and commissions in the greater Sacramento area who will be fully supportive of our fight for equality and against bigotry and intolerance; To take a position on candidates and ballot measures; To register voters who support the Club’s mission and encourage their participation in the electoral process; To educate LGBT communities and supporters about the equal rights issues we face, as well as assist them with those struggles; To collaborate with other LGBT groups and individuals to promote our mission of equality; and to aid other local grassroots Democratic Clubs in the greater Sacramento Area, and our non-gay allies, in order to advance the prominence of openly LGBT people within the Democratic Party. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1