SGN December 25, 2020

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Seattle Gay News S E AT T L E ’S L GB T Q

N E W S & E N T E R TA I N M E N T W E E K LY

Louise Chernin

GSBA President & CEO – community activist and community leader extraordinaire – retiring after 28 years of service GSBA Weekly Update

by Louise Chernin GSBA President & CEO Words from 2020 I never want to hear again: pivot, pandemic, and social-distancing. But one word that never gets old is community. Forty years ago, it was the small LGBTQ business community that launched GSBA and today it is this same community that is buying those gift cards, doing curbside pickup, eating out in chilly rainy weather, all to support our locally owned small businesses.

Another word, transition, is on my mind, as I prepare to retire from GSBA. By now this is old news to many, but it is still something

I am working towards accepting.

How do you prepare to fill the hours in a day that for over 28 years (19 as President & CEO), was all about appointments, calendars, lunch dates, board and staff meetings, and events? What new worries will replace my worrying over budgets, hiring, preparing presentations, and the middle-of-the-night realization that the outfit I was going to wear at Saturday’s event is the same one I wore to the same event last year. It’s amazing how many small and large worries crowd your brain when you feel the weight of responsibility of ensuring the sustainability of an important organization.

Photo courtesy of GSBA

see CHERNIN page 11

VICTORY!

Judge halts implementation of ban on speech about systemic racism, sexism, and implicit bias

Trump eats his own

Photo courtesy of SAGE

SAN FRANCISCO (December 23, 2020) – Last night, US District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman issued a nationwide preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from implementing its executive order that prohibits federal contractors and grantees from conducting work-

Photo by Evan Vucci / AP

place diversity trainings or engaging in grant-funded work that explicitly acknowledges and confronts the existence of structural racism and sexism in our society.

Judge Freeman issued her ruling after hearing oral argument November 10, 2020,

see VICTORY page 4

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer In his final days in the White House, Donald Trump is turning on once-faithful allies and staff, according to a new report from Axios.

Sources identified as “top White House officials” told the newsmagazine that Trump is bitterly critical of “anyone who refuses to indulge conspiracy theories or hopeless bids to overturn the election,” several top officials tell Axios.

see TRUMP page 4

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The time for a fully inclusive military is now Statement from PFLAG National Executive Director Brian K. Bond on 10th anniversary of the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” WASHINGTON(D.C.) (December 18, 2020) – On Dec. 22, 2010 then President Barack Obama signed the repeal of the military policy known as “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” which banned service of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people.

Brian K. Bond, a member of the ObamaBiden White House staff who worked closely on the repeal (2009-2011) and current Executive Director of PFLAG National issued the following statement: “‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was always bad policy. When President Obama signed the repeal 10 years ago, it was the culmination of the combined efforts of scores of former and active duty LGBTQ+ service members whose lives were impacted by this policy, together with LGBTQ+ advocates and

allies, congressional champions, and leaders in the Department of Defense. It was a bipartisan effort I am proud to have been a part of, recognizing that it was only a step toward a fully inclusive military force.

“Yet its remnants, specifically anti-transgender policies, continue to affect our military readiness, unit cohesion, recruitment and retention. PFLAG’s military families, inclusive of openly LGBTQ+ servicemembers and servicemembers whose children are LGBTQ+ struggle to navigate discrimination -- some having moved to find gender-affirming health care, inclusive education, and safe housing.

“We as a nation must do better by the brave individuals and their families who make up our military force. With the incoming Biden-Harris administration and the progressive will to do the work, now is

the time for a fully inclusive military and to completely end ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’”

ABOUT PFLAG NATIONAL PFLAG is the first and largest organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people, their parents and families, and allies. With over 400 chapters and 200,000 members and supporters crossing multiple generations of families in major urban centers, small cities, and rural areas across America, PFLAG is committed to creating a world where diversity is celebrated and all people are respected, valued, and affirmed. To learn more, visit pflag.org, like PFLAG on Facebook (/pflag), and follow @pflag on Twitter or Instagram.

Courtesy of PFLAG

MARK MY WORDS

Mayor Pete will make a great Secretary of Transportation

by Mark Segal Philadelphia Gay News In my October Q & A with candidate Joe Biden, I asked whether he would put LGBT people in his cabinet. His answer was “I’ll nominate and appoint federal officials and judges that represent the diversity of America, including LGBTQ+ individuals.”

That wording is important since not only does it state clearly that he will be inclusive of our community, but it’s also historic since there has never been a senateconfirmed LGBT cabinet secretary before.

While Biden/Harris should be applauded for appointing numerous LGBT

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people in major roles thus far, the choice of Mayor Pete Buttigieg to be Transportation Secretary is a good choice.

The LGBT community is unique in that LGBT people exist everywhere in America. We are a part of every racial group and every economic group. We are in every state. We are in every industry. And we always have been.

Last week, over a hundred members of Congress from the Equality caucus wrote President-elect Biden to urge him to keep his promise to appoint an LGBT cabinet member. Behind the scenes there was jockeying for particular candidates from the various LGBT organizations as well as LGBT individuals close to Biden and those

in the transition team. This writer didn’t have a horse in that race, but I’m thrilled that they ignored the pressure from the outside world and picked a person who is not only qualified but is also a trailblazer.

We are part of America and have been since its revolution. In fact, as I often say, without Baron Von Steuben, a gay man, there would be no United States of America. George Washington included him in his Valley Forge Cabinet. Now it’s the Biden/Harris Cabinet that will be inclusive of our community.

December 25, 2020

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Reprinted courtesy of Mark Segal and Philadelphia Gay News

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The Trump family’s last grift

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Trump reelection campaign amassed an astonishing $1.26 billion in contributions, but half of it was siphoned off by a phony campaign company and ended up in the pockets of Trump family members.

The so-called “shell company” was incorporated by Jared Kushner in 2018. Named American Made Media Consultants Corporation and American Made Media Consultants LLC (AMMC), the front corporation had Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump as its president, Vice President Mike Pence’s nephew John Pence as its vice president, and Trump campaign chief financial officer Sean Dollman as its treasurer and secretary.

According to Business Insider, records show that the Trump campaign spent more than $600 million through the shell company.

According to the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog group, the supposed consulting company paid millions of dollars to Trump family members, including Lara Trump and Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle.

But wait, there’s more: Reports say the shell company served as a cover for financial and operational details that the campaign wanted to keep hidden from the public.

Brendan Fischer, the director of federal reform for the Campaign Legal Center, told Business Insider that the payments to AMMC are a “scheme to evade telling voters even the basics on where its money is really going” and a “shield to disguise the

TRUMP

continued from cover Targets of Trump’s wrath are said to include Vice President Pence, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Secretary of State Pompeo, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

According to Axios sources, Trump thinks everyone around him is weak, stupid, or disloyal. Increasingly, the president is seeking out advice from extremists who encourage his desperate fantasies about overturned the 2020 election results.

Among them are self-described “Kraken” lawyer Sidney Powell, Rudy

VICTORY

continued from cover on the motion for a preliminary injunction sought by Lambda Legal in its lawsuit filed earlier in November challenging the ban.

From the ruling: “The Court agrees with Plaintiffs that the Government’s argument is a gross mischaracterization of the speech Plaintiffs want to express and an insult to their work of addressing discrimination and injustice towards historically underserved communities. That this Government dislikes this speech is irrelevant to the analysis but permeates their briefing.”

“This injunction could not come at a more crucial time,” said SAGE CEO Michael Adams. “We have already had trainings cancelled because of the threat of this executive order, trainings that are integral to SAGE’s ability to do its work on behalf of LGBT older adults in a meaningful and impactful way that recognizes explicitly the impact of systemic racism, sexism, and anti-LGBT bias on our communities and the country writ large.”

The executive order, issued September 22, 2020, and later Trump administration guidance labels the discussion of intersectionality, critical race theory, white privilege, systemic racism, or implicit or

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Photo by Alex Brandon / AP

ultimate recipients of its spending.”

While Jared Kushner set up the phony corporation, the mastermind of the plan was Republican lawyer Ben Ginsberg, who set up similar front groups for Mitt Romney in 2008 and 2012.

Ginsberg reportedly suggested that Trump’s then–campaign manager Brad

Parscale head the secret slush fund. Trump reportedly distrusted Parscale, however, so Kushner was tasked with creating the dummy corporation.

The Campaign Legal Center has already filed an 82-page complaint with the Federal Election Commission, charging the Trump campaign with multiple violations of cam-

paign finance laws.

The accusations may already be the subject of a criminal investigation within the Department of Justice, which would leave Trump vulnerable to an expensive legal disaster upon his departure from the White House.

Giuliani, former White House strategist Steve Bannon, and newly pardoned Gen. Mike Flynn.

“We cannot stress enough how unnerved Trump officials are by the conversations unfolding inside the White House,” Axios reported.

The new constellation of advisors around Trump are reportedly telling him to use the Department of Homeland Security or the military to impound voting machines and stage a do-over election, one that they assure him he would win.

Trump has even been asking advisers whether they can get state legislatures to rescind their electoral votes. When he’s told no, he lashes out even more, said a source

who discussed the matter with the president.

Many top officials are trying to stay away from the White House, realizing they no longer have influence with Trump, and fearing that he will turn on them publicly.

An Axios source who spoke to Trump said the president was complaining about Vice President Mike Pence and brought up a Lincoln Project ad that claims Pence is “backing away” from Trump. This ad clearly got inside Trump’s head, the source said.

Trump believes Pence is simply not fighting hard enough for him, and he worries that Pence will simply hand over the country to Joe Biden when the vice president – as presiding officer in the Senate – certifies the election results on January 6.

Trump’s extremist advisors are said to be encouraging his fantasy that Republican senators will reverse the results and proclaim Trump president for a second term.

Trump also believes that Senate Majority Leader McConnell sold him out by squelching an incipient move among some right-wing senators to challenge the election results.

The president had an assistant email Republican lawmakers a PowerPoint slide attacking McConnell as “the first one off the ship,” and absurdly claiming credit for the Senate majority leader’s victory in his Kentucky re-election.

unconscious bias in diversity training as “race and sex scapegoating” and forbids agencies from “promot[ing]” these “divisive concepts.” The order describes such trainings as un-American, directs agency heads to audit internal training curricula and discontinue these trainings, to conduct a similar audit of federal contractors, and to suspend or deny funding to contractors and grantees whose trainings or grant-funded activities cover these topics.

“This injunction was critically important for our clients – organizations and individuals on the front line combatting COVID-19, HIV/AIDS, and the violence perpetrated against Black and Brown people by law enforcement,” said Avatara Smith-Carrington, Tyron Garner Memorial Law Fellow at Lambda Legal. “Judge Freeman saw this ban for what it is: an effort to quash the truth and sweep under the rug an honest and long overdue reckoning with structural racism and sexism in our society.

“To effectively address racial disparities in our health care and legal systems, our clients have to train people on systemic racism, sexism, and anti-LGBT bias,” Smith-Carrington added. “This is a victory for truth, science, and for the principle of services focusing on the needs of the people being impacted instead of serving the agenda of the Trump administration.”

On November 2, Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit challenging the ban in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of a consulting company, an individual plaintiff, and six organizational plaintiffs. The organizational plaintiffs include LGBT centers, an advocacy and service organization for LGBT seniors, and HIV/AIDS health and advocacy organizations from across the country. Lambda Legal filed its brief seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the Trump administration from implementing the order and cutting funding for federal contractors on November 15, 2020.

The consultancy plaintiff is B. Brown Consulting, a Michigan-based business with a federal contract to train correctional facility staff, governmental agencies, and nonprofits. The individual plaintiff is Dr. Ward Carpenter, co-director of Health Services at LA LGBT Center. The organizational plaintiffs include the Los Angeles LGBT Center; the Diversity Center in Santa Cruz, CA; the AIDS Foundation of Chicago; CrescentCare in New Orleans, LA; the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown, PA; and, SAGE, based in New York City.

The lawsuit is The Diversity Center v.

Trump. Read the ruling at www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/legal-docs/diversity_

ca_20201222_order-granting-part-nationwide-preliminary-injunction.

Read more about the case at www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/cases/the-diversitycenter-v-trump More about the clients is available at www.lambdalegal.org/the-diversity-centerv-trump_plaintiffs.

Lambda Legal’s team working on the case includes: Camilla Taylor; Karen Loewy; Scott Schoettes; Currey Cook; Omar Gonzalez-Pagan; Avatara A. SmithCarrington; Alexis Paige; and, Cheryl Angelaccio. They are joined by pro-bono co-counsel from Ropes & Gray, including: Douglas Hallward-Driemeier; Kirsten Mayer; Nathalia Sosa; Jessica Soto; Thanithia Billing; Annie Monjar; Jennifer Cullinane; Ethan Weinberg; Fred Boehrer; and William Richard Allen.

December 25, 2020

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education and policy work. More at www. lambdalegal.org.

Courtesy of Lambda Legal

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Miguel Cardona, Joe Biden’s intriguing choice for education secretary, offers promise

WASHINGTON, DC (December 22, 2020) – Jeanne Allen, the founder and CEO of the Center for Education Reform (CER), a national leader in the fight to achieve educational excellence in the United States, today issued the following statement about President-elect Biden’s decision to nominate Miguel Cardona as US Secretary of Education: “President-elect Joe Biden’s choice of Connecticut Commissioner of Education Miguel Cardona is good news for the millions of parents and students whose fates have been so derailed by the coronavirus this year. Had Biden picked a union leader or equivalent, it would have been akin to an act of war on the progress of the last three decades of pushing power to parents, and on those who have fought to get their kids educated this year, whether back in traditional schools or by their own hand.

“Instead, his choice of Cardona is reminiscent of President George W. Bush’s choice of then-Houston Superintendent Rod Paige.

Both were lesser known, lifelong educators with a record. Paige understood that not every school is the right fit for every child – a sentiment that Cardona has expressed and will hopefully put into action fully.

“Like many immigrants whose families came here for a better life, Cardona seems to be driven by hard work, respect for education, and family. That’s always a good start. We hope he will also come to embrace fully the notion that such choices for a better life must extend first to the education of our youth.

“Equally encouraging: As a parent with school-age kids, he has expressed understanding about the importance of options and of communities making decisions for their own unique circumstances.

“Finally, his actions during the pandemic signal that he’s eager to resume in-

Miguel Cardona – Photo by Carolyn Kaster / AP

person education safely. As commissioner, he has pushed to reopen schools against union demands to keep them closed. While he deferred to district decisions, under his leadership the state required districts to prepare different reopening plans – virtual, in-person, and hybrid, the latter which most ultimately followed.

“All in all, it seems the President-elect

has, with this pick, carved a refreshing path for his education agenda that isn’t automatically rooted in the platitudes of powerful interest groups. Parents and education opportunity advocates are welcoming Miguel Cardona with open arms – and a clear plan for him to ensure he puts the interests of their children first.”

HRC’s Transgender Justice Initiative announces new small grants program

WASHINGTON, DC (December 18, 2020) – Today, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF), the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, announced the launch of a new small grants program as a part of the organization’s Transgender Justice Initiative (TJI). The program will award $30,000 nationally in the form of thirty $1,000 grants to community members advancing transgender justice initiatives rooted in partnership with outside organizations. Four grants per city will be available in Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas, Kansas City, New Orleans, and Philadelphia. An additional six grants will be available nationally. To learn more about applying for a grant, visit https://form.jotform. com/203525280512042.

The HRCF is also proudly supporting Destination Tomorrow’s work offering onetime COVID-19 rapid response grants to trans and nonbinary community members in need. The grants will be available nationwide. During this increasingly difficult time, many transgender people who already face high rates of poverty are in need of additional assistance. Destination Tomorrow is providing emergency aid grants for help with food, housing and other basic necessities. To learn more about applying for a grant, visit https://destinationtomor-

row.org/grants-personal/.

“Last September, the Human Rights Campaign [HRC] launched the Transgender Justice Initiative, partnering with community-based activists to combat stigma and discrimination, and advance meaningful solutions to the challenges facing transgender and non-binary people,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “With today’s launch of this small grants program and our new partnership with Destination Tomorrow, we are embarking on a new phase in this important work. Through these programs, we will work to develop and strengthen our communities and provide tangible support to activists who are doing the work on the ground of supporting

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Founded in 1993, the Center for Education Reform (CER) aims to expand educational opportunities that lead to improved economic outcomes for all Americans – particularly our youth – ensuring that the conditions are ripe for innovation, freedom, and flexibility throughout US education.

Courtesy of the CER

transgender and nonbinary people, as well as those who need additional assistance.”

“Today, we’re proud to launch this new program and partnership to support transgender and nonbinary people,” said HRC director of community engagement for the TJI Tori Cooper. “As someone who has done this work on the ground for decades, I know firsthand that these grants will go a long way towards helping local advocates continue to support their communities, and support transgender and gender-nonconforming people who need assistance during the holidays. Through the Trans Justice Initiative, these small grants and all of our programming, the Human Rights Campaign is committed to uplifting the work that’s being done throughout the country to help transgender and nonbinary people to not just survive but thrive.”

First launched in September 2019, the HRC’s TJI was created to advance new initiatives that address the urgent needs of the transgender and nonbinary community, with specific attention to community members deeply impacted by racism, sexism, and transphobia. Through the four pillars of economic opportunities, strategic communications, capacity building, and public safety, the HRC’s TJI works with community-based activists across the country to combat stigma and discrimination and to advance meaningful solutions to the chal-

lenges facing transgender and nonbinary community members.

Destination Tomorrow is a grassroots agency and the LGBTQ+ center of the Bronx borough. It is our belief that no individual should have to leave his, her or their neighborhood to access LGBTQspecific services. It is our belief that all LGBTQ young people deserve a space to grow, learn, and flourish. It is our belief that people, regardless of their sexual identity or gender expression, deserve a space they can call their own. Through its comprehensive programming and services – both in-house and referral based – we work diligently to make sure Bronx LGBTQ+ community members, and those who love and support them, have this space. We also offer capacity building to agencies that wish to work with LGBTQ communities but lack the cultural competency, expertise, and space to do so.

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

Courtesy of the HRC

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Billie Jean King, Megan Rapinoe, and Candace Parker join nearly 200 athletes supporting Trans youth participation in sports

Billie Jean King – Photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

Megan Rapinoe – Photo by Mary Altaffer / AP

SAN FRANCISCO (December 21, 2020) – Today, sports icon Billie Jean King, US National Women’s Soccer Team cocaptain and World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe, and WNBA trailblazer and legend Candace Parker joined nearly 200 fellow athletes in women’s sports to support providing girls and women who are transgender the equal opportunity to participate in sports.

The athletes joined Athlete Ally and the Women’s Sports Foundation as signatories to a friend-of-the-court brief Lambda Legal filed today with the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, urging the court to affirm a lower court ruling enjoining an Idaho law that effectively banned transgender girls from participating sports in Idaho schools. Athlete Ally is a nonprofit organization that advocates for LGBTQ inclusion in sports. The Women’s Sports Foundation is a nonprofit organization focused on enabling girls and women to reach their potential in sport and life.

“There is no place in any sport for discrimination of any kind,” Billie Jean King said. “I’m proud to support all transgender athletes who simply want the access and opportunity to compete in the sport they love. The global athletic community grows stronger when we welcome and champion all athletes – including LGBTQI+ athletes.”

The Idaho legislature passed the antitransgender HB 500 in March, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The so-called “Fairness in Women’s Sports” law effectively bans girls and women who are transgender, and some who are intersex, from participating in sports, while inviting invasions

of privacy against all girls and women in sports. In August, the US District Court for the District of Idaho granted an injunction sought by the ACLU and the ACLU of Idaho on behalf of two students, preventing implementation of the ban while the case winded its way through the courts. The State of Idaho has appealed that ruling to the 9th Circuit.

“The dozens of athletes joining this brief – many internationally recognized stars, others still in college and high school – share one thing in common: a deep understanding and appreciation of the life-long benefits that come from participation in sports. They acknowledge they would not have accessed these benefits without the guarantee of equal opportunity to participate in sports in primary, secondary, and university schools,” Lambda Legal staff attorney Carl Charles said. “They recognize the value of inclusive and welcoming sports environments and firmly believe laws like HB 500 that single out groups of women and girls from participation in sports harm the entire athletic community.”

The amicus brief underscores the multitude of benefits all young people experience by participating in sports, not only in terms of physical fitness but also, and perhaps more importantly, in the learned values of teamwork and sportsmanship. Denying girls and women who are transgender the ability to participate flies in the face of everything that sports stand for in this country. Throughout the brief, the athletes who signed the brief discuss the real and enduring benefits of participating as their true and authentic selves in the sports they love, as well as how such

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December 25, 2020

Candace Parker – Photo by Richard Shotwell / Invision / AP

participation benefited them on the field, in the classroom, and later in life.

“Sport has the power to change lives, and this amicus brief is a testimony to that power,” said Anne Lieberman, director of policy and programs at Athlete Ally. “Professional, Olympic, and Paralympic athletes have come together to underscore the tremendous benefits sport has brought to their lives, including invaluable lessons of teamwork and discipline, and their support for transgender athletes who simply want the same access and opportunity. Athlete Ally is proud to sign on to this brief, and we are grateful to the partner organizations and athletes who join us in fighting for sport to truly be inclusive for all.”

“The fight for equality is the very cornerstone of the Women’s Sports Foundation, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or ability; all girls and women deserve the opportunity to play, compete, and lead,” said Deborah Antoine, WSF CEO. “We are proud to join the partner organizations and the many advocate athletes signing this important brief. We firmly believe that humanity wins when everyone, including transgender athletes, are represented and included.”

Read the full brief at www.lambdalegal.org/in-cour t/legal-docs/hecox_ id_20201221_amicus-176-athletes-et-al.

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education, and policy work. More at

www.lambdalegal.org.

Athlete Ally believes sport will change the world when it welcomes and empowers all people. As a leading national nonprofit working at the intersection of sport and LGBTQI+ equality, Athlete Ally works to end the structural and systemic oppression that isolates, excludes, and endangers LGBTQI+ people in sport. We educate individuals and institutions to understand obstacles to inclusion for LGBTQI+ people and how they can build an inclusive culture within their athletic communities. We work to ensure that sport-governing bodies, teams, and leagues adopt policies that reflect the diversity of their constituents.

We incubate athlete activism to advance LGBTQI+ equality in and through sport.

More at www.athleteally.org/.

The Women’s Sports Foundation exists to enable girls and women to reach their potential in sport and life. It is an ally, an advocate, and a catalyst. Founded by Billie Jean King in 1974, it strengthens and expands participation and leadership opportunities through research, advocacy, community programming, and a wide variety of collaborative partnerships. The Women’s Sports Foundation has positively shaped the lives of millions of youth, high school, and collegiate student-athletes; elite athletes; and coaches. It’s building a future where every girl and woman can #KeepPlaying and unlock the lifelong benefits of sport participation. All girls.

All women. All sports. More at www.WomensSportsFoundation.org.

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Women’s and civil rights groups, athletes, coaches, corporations, and legal and medical experts tell federal appeals court to strike down Idaho anti-Trans law BOISE, Idaho (December 21, 2020) – Hundreds of athletes, coaches, and businesses, as well as civil rights, legal, and medical experts, submitted friend-of-thecourt briefs with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today in Hecox v. Little.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Lindsay Hecox, a student at Boise State University who is transgender and had been planning to try out for the cross-country team; and Jane Doe, a senior at Boise High School who is cisgender and concerned about being subjected to the law’s invasive “sex verification” testing. In August, a federal judge blocked Idaho’s law, HB 500, which targeted student athletes who are transgender and many who are intersex and harmed all women and girls in Idaho.

The briefs filed before the court today include: • Over 60 women’s rights and civil rights groups, including the National Women’s Law Center; • Over 175 athletes in women’s sports led by the Women’s Sports Foundation and Athlete Ally and signed by Billie Jean King, Megan Rapinoe, and Candace Parker; • Three former Idaho attorneys general; • Businesses including Nike, Inc., Altria Group, Inc., The Burton Corporation, Amalgamated Bank, Asana, Ben & Jerry’s, and Lush Cosmetics; • interACT; • Coaches and administrators; • The American Medical Association and other leading medical and mental health associations; and

• Transgender athletes.

“I love running, and part of what I enjoy about the sport is building relationships with a team. I’m a girl, and the right team for me is the girls’ team,” said Lindsay Hecox. “It means a lot to me that so many people are on my side and supporting me.”

The court has not yet set a date for oral argument.

The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Idaho, Legal Voice, and Cooley LLP. Arnold & Porter filed an amicus on behalf of the corporate signatories.

Legal documents are available at www. aclu.org/cases/hecox-v-little. Additional briefs will be added as they are filed.

Legal Voice is a progressive feminist organization using the power of the law to make positive change for women, girls, and LGBTQ people in the Northwest. Legal Voice uses groundbreaking litigation, legislative advocacy, and community education to fight gender oppression and injustice. More at legalvoice.org.

The ACLU of Idaho is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of civil liberties and civil rights. The ACLU of Idaho strives to advance civil liberties and civil rights through activities that include litigation, education, and lobbying. Learn more at acluidaho.org.

Lindsay Hecox – Photo courtesy of ACLU

Courtesy of the ACLU

Trans students in Idaho fight for rights guaranteed them by the US Constitution and federal law WASHINGTON, DC (December 21, 2020) – The rights of transgender studentathletes must be protected from sexual discrimination, harmful legal targeting, and sexual assault, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the National Women’s Law Center, and attorneys from Hogan Lovells and 60 other organizations argued today in an amicus brief filed in the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

The brief was filed in response to Hecox v.

Little.

In 2020, the Idaho legislature passed, and the governor signed, an anti-trans law called HB 500. The harmful law bans women and girls who are transgender and many women and girls who are intersex from participating in sports. Gov. Brad Little signed the law, making Idaho famous not only for its potatoes and gems but also now internationally famous for its antitrans bigotry. The state also became the first to impose an outright ban on the participation of transgender athletes and also allows any person to challenge a person’s gender, further subjecting them to trauma and physical tests.

The law, however, was temporarily blocked by a US district court, finding that the law violated students’ equal protection rights. The state has appealed that ruling.

“If some members of the Idaho legislature and the governor sought to improve the lives of all women and girls by endorsing the ill-conceived and bigoted HB 500, they have failed and actually accomplished the exact opposite,” said Bryanna Jenkins,

Lindsay Hecox – Photo courtesy of ACLU

legal fellow at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “Sex and race discrimination pervade the history of athletics. HB 500 constitutes another chapter in this shameful history and is a law that will have a particularly devastating impact on women and girls of color.”

Boise State University student Lindsay Hecox, who is a transgender woman, and one other unnamed high school student, who is cisgender, are represented by the ACLU and are challenging HB 500 on

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constitutional and statutory grounds, saying it violates their 14th Amendment rights guaranteeing equal protection under the law, rights secured under the Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, and the 4th Amendment rights against illegal search and seizure.

Read the brief [at https://bit. ly/3h9aZo5].

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request

December 25, 2020

of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. Its principal mission is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice for all, particularly in the areas of voting rights, criminal justice, fair housing, community development, economic justice, educational opportunities, and hate crimes. More at lawyerscommittee.org.

Courtesy of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

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Sen. Murray negotiates wins to make college affordable and accessible to more students WASHINGTON, DC (December 20, 2020) – Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate Education Committee, negotiated wins in a bipartisan, bicameral higher education proposal that will be included in the must-pass year-end spending bill to make college more affordable and accessible to more students. Sen. Murray successfully fought to significantly expand who is eligible for financial aid, remove barriers students face in accessing financial aid, provide financial relief for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and better support working students, working families, students with low incomes, and student parents – all of which Sen. Murray has long fought for. Each year, an additional 555,000 students will be newly eligible for the Pell Grant, and 1.7 million more grant recipients will be newly eligible for the maximum Pell Grant, as a result of this legislation.

Specifically, Sen. Murray secured policies that restore Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated individuals, students who have been defrauded, and students with drug-related offenses; significantly expand who is eligible to receive Pell Grants and the maximum award; simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA); make the financial aid process easier to navigate for students experiencing homelessness and students formerly in foster care; forgive outstanding debts of HBCUs that received loans under the federal HBCU Capital Financing Loan Program; increase support for working students and families by reducing the “work penalty” threshold for financial aid; and take steps to ensure students with low-incomes and student parents can access programs that support their basic needs.

“Every single person in this country should be able to access and afford a quality

Photo by Patrick Semansky / AP

higher education – and today we move substantially closer to that goal. For too long, students who are incarcerated, students who have been defrauded by for-profit colleges, and students who have drug-related offenses have been blocked from receiving federal aid.

But now, I’m incredibly pleased that these students will finally be able to access aid and begin and continue their education. And as the pandemic and economic recession have made it even more difficult for students to afford and continue college, I’m proud we have taken important strides to make our financial aid process work better – especially for students experiencing homelessness, students formerly in foster care, and working families,” said Sen. Murray.

“These are important steps forward, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. I’ll keep fighting to build on this progress and make higher education more affordable, accessible, accountable, and safer for all students,” continued Sen. Murray.

The bipartisan, bicameral proposal takes

language from Sen. Murray’s Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act and the Higher Education Access and Success for Homeless and Foster Youth Act, and builds on her longtime efforts to support HBCUs, tribal colleges, and minority-serving institutions, and her efforts to support students with lowincomes and student parents in order to: • restore Pell grant eligibility for incarcerated individuals, by removing a counterproductive prohibition that has encouraged recidivism and limits incarcerated individuals’ ability to support themselves and their families upon release. Especially important during this pandemic, investing in postsecondary education for incarcerated individuals has also been shown to improve conditions inside prisons; • restore Pell Grant eligibility for defrauded students, by resetting the clock on a student’s eligibility if they are defrauded by predatory for-profit colleges and successfully receive a borrower defense discharge;

• restore Pell Grant eligibility for students with drug-related offenses, by repealing a 1998 prohibition on federal financial aid for college students convicted of a drug offense, which disproportionately disqualifies students of color and students with low incomes from receiving aid; • expand eligibility for the maximum Pell Grant award, by ensuring that all families who make under 175%, and single parents who make under 225%, of the federal poverty level will receive a maximum Pell Grant; • increase support for working students and families, by reducing the “work penalty” that many students face when working to support themselves and pay for the rising costs of college. The legislation enacts a 35% increase for working students and 20% increase for families to the income protection allowance (IPA), shielding more of their income from reducing their financial aid; • make critical investments in our nation’s HBCUs, by forgiving the debt HBCUs have received to finance capital infrastructure projects and allowing HBCUs to redirect that spending on educating their students; • support students with low-incomes and student parents, by requiring the Secretary of Education to notify students of their eligibility of programs that support students’ basic needs, including housing and food security and access to child care; and • remove barriers to financial aid for students experiencing homelessness and students formerly in foster care, by easing the application and determination process for becoming eligible for aid.

Courtesy of Sen. Patty Murray

44 civil rights organizations call on EEOC to withdraw proposed update undermining non-discrimination protections WASHINGTON (D.C.) (December 18, 2020) – The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Human Rights Campaign, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the National Women’s Law Center submitted a comment [https:// civilrights.org/resource/rin-3046-za01comment-in-response-to-eeocs-proposedupdated-compliance-manual-on-religiousdiscrimination/] on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Proposed Updated Compliance Manual on Religious Discrimination, which would undermine employment protections for women, people of color, LGBTQ people, people who adhere to minority religious or are non-religious, and those from other minority populations.

In response to the Proposed Update, the groups issued the following joint statement: “The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Proposed Update would create new and unneeded carveouts and exemptions to workplace discrimination protections for workers in this nation. As published, the proposed update’s flawed and unclear guidance would license discrimination against women, communities of color, LGBTQ people, people of minority faiths and non-religious faiths and other minority groups. The proposed revisions run counter to decades of Title VII case law and the longstanding practices of the EEOC’s mission to defend employees against

discrimination.

“It is clear this new guidance, alongside recent rules from the Department of Labor, is a part of an ongoing campaign to prioritize the interests of employers over working people. As organizations dedicated to fairness and equality, we urgently call on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to withdraw the proposed update.”

In EEOC’s decision to pursue significant substantive changes to a key compliance manual that lacked both transparency and inclusiveness, the Commission undermined the Proposed Update’s integrity. EEOC recently disclosed it held “dialogue sessions” before issuing the update but did not publish a list of all organizations that participated in the “sessions.” More expansive and timely engagement of other stakeholders would have ensured balanced diversity of viewpoints in advance of issuing the Proposed Update.

As published, the Proposed Update presents a flawed guidance on the scope of coverage, including expanding the definition of “religious organizations,” an incorrect interpretation of the scope of the ministerial exception and lack of proper guidance on the limited scope of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and a failure to assert that addressing discrimination is a compelling interest and EEOC’s mission; a lack of clarification that religious employers cannot use religious objections to engage in

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discriminatory behavior; a need for more, not less, clarity regarding the prevention of employee harassment; and a distortion of the law regarding reasonable accommodations.

In addition to these comments, a group of 44 civil rights and gender justice organizations submitted comments [http://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/policy/letters/2020/Coalition_EEOC_Relig_Comment_Letter.pdf] in opposition to the Proposed Update.

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

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (National Lawyers’ Committee), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was

formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice for all, particularly in the areas of voting rights, criminal justice, fair housing and community development, economic justice, educational opportunities, and hate crimes. For more information, please visit https://lawyerscommittee.org.

The National Women’s Law Center fights for gender justice – in the courts, in public policy, and in our society – working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls. We use the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us – especially those who face multiple forms of discrimination, including women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families. For more than 45 years, we have been on the leading edge of every major legal and policy victory for women.

Find out more at NWLC.org.

Courtesy of HRC

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Poor People’s Campaign tells Biden team: Nation’s healing begins by lifting from the bottom up (December 18, 2020) – Poor and lowincome people met Thursday with the top leaders of the domestic policy team of the Biden-Harris administration, putting forth powerful policies for the first 100 days of the new president and vice president.

More than 30 leaders of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, including poor and low-income people, economists, public health officials, clergy, and organizational partners representing millions across the country, met online Thursday with members of the domestic policy team of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice PresidentElect Kamala Harris.

The discussion centered on the campaign’s 14 policy priorities to help poor and low-income people that must be goals of the incoming administration and Congress, including a demand for just COVID relief that goes beyond anything elected officials are considering.

“I was in the meeting because I have been impacted from the coronavirus in a lot of different ways: financially, mentally,” said Zillah Wesley, an organizer with the Poor People’s Campaign in Washington, DC. “Also as of today, I’ve known 41 people who died because of coronavirus and because of this healthcare system.”

The 90-minute conversation took place among Poor People’s Campaign co-chairs, Bishop William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, policy advisers, and impacted people. The Biden team included Rep. Cedric Richmond, Ambassador Susan Rice, Yohannes Abraham, Cecilia Munoz, Minyon Moore, Ashley Allison, Stefanie Feldman, Jessica Hertz, and Mark Gitenstein.

The campaign reiterated that it wants a meeting with secretaries of relevant departments and a White House conference, after the inauguration, that includes poor and low-income people, economists, and moral and religious leaders.

Even before the pandemic, 140 million Americans were poor or low-income. Since COVID-19, at least another 8 million people are considered impoverished, and that number is calculated using an antiquated government standard.

While Sen. Mitch McConnell plays with people’s lives and offers a measly extra $600 for COVID relief, billionaires have made nearly $900 billion from so-called relief in a country that spends 54 cents of every discretionary dollar on war and less

Image courtesy of Repairers of the Breach

than 16 cents on education, healthcare, and infrastructure.

If addressing poverty and low-income and the interlocking injustices are not at the center of the administration’s goals, then efforts to heal the nation are constitutionally inconsistent and morally indefensible, Rev. Barber said at the news conference.

“We cannot heal the soul of the nation without healing the body, and the body of the nation is sick with poverty, systemic racism, and the other interlocking injustices we talked about,” he said.

The campaign told the Biden-Harris team that “we hope we can be allies … but we also reserve the right to critique,” he said.

Rev. Theoharis told reporters that domestic policy adviser Cecilia Munoz told the group that “it’s not often to have impacted folk talking about the stories that they come from and the solutions poor and low-income people are bringing forth. She took it very seriously and has every intention of both continuing to meet and making sure that the real expertise of poor and impacted leaders that are organizing across this country can help inform what needs to happen to heal the nation.”

In September, Biden told more than one million people who viewed a Poor People’s Campaign online program that “ending

poverty will not just be an aspiration, it will be a theory of change to build a new economy that includes everyone.”

In addition, he and Harris campaigned on a platform of $15 an hour and a union, expanding healthcare and relieving student debt, all of which also are principles of the Poor People’s Campaign.

Thea Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), said the EPI supports the 14 policy priorities laid out by the Poor People’s Campaign.

“Addressing poverty and inequality is not just about feel-good altruism, about doing the right thing,” she said. “It is about supporting a healthy, robust, resilient, and sustainable economy. We cannot have a healthy and robust economic recovery if we do not address the inequality and deal with the systemic racial injustice and the gender injustice that is at the heart of it that the pandemic has exposed the rock in the US economy. …As economists, we are enthusiastically in support of these important public policy priorities and we look forward to working with all of you,” she said.

Other comments from impacted people at the news conference: Kenia Alcocer, CA Poor People’s Camapign and Union de Vecinos: “I was in the meeting because I am an undocumented

mother of two. I am currently COVID positive. But one of the things I think is horrendous is the fact that we are expecting an eviction tsunami here in California. We are seeing our tenants being displaced during this pandemic, so we are no longer just having to organize community members fighting for their housing but also are having to address increasing homelessness.”

Sara Fearrington, from Durham, NC, works in the service industry and organizes with Fight for 15: “I personally have worked since I was 7 years old. And here I am 43 years later still poor and still broke. We have to unionize. We need the $15 minimum wage raised immediately. What is wrong with paying people more money and giving back into the economy so we can all eat and grow?”

Fernando Garcia of El Paso, executive director of Border Network for Human Rights: “What we saw today was a powerful collective presentation by the campaign on the systemic issues impacting our communities – the political violence, economic violence, social violence against people of color but specifically poor people in the United States.”

Courtesy of Repairers of the Breach

AHF to HRSA: Reject Kalderos’ plan to hurt 340B drug discount program WASHINGTON, DC (December 21, 2020) – The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) sounded the alarm today at reports that drug companies – through their vendor Kalderos – are moving forward with plans to undermine the 340B drug program – to the harm of safety net providers, who are already struggling to maintain services to their populations in the midst of a pandemic (340B Report 12/17/20). “The Kalderos’ plan would convert the 340B Drug Price Program from a discount to a rebate program and would set Kalderos up as the arbiter of who will get the rebate and when, putting the fox in charge of the henhouse,” said Tom Myers, the AHF chief of public affairs and general counsel.

The 340B program is not funded by taxpayers but rather is a discount that by law drug manufacturers must provide to nonprofit hospitals and clinics through an

agreement with the government as a condition of Medicaid and Medicare covering their drugs.

“Anyone who shops knows the difference between getting a discount at the time of purchase and a rebate at some unspecified date. At best, rebates mean long delays.

At worst, they are illusory – denied when a manufacturer finds fault with your application or your receipt or determines that someone else has already claimed the rebate. Under the 340B statute, drug manufacturers are required to sell drugs to safety net providers at or below the discount price. It is not for drug manufacturers or their agents to determine when or who or on what conditions covered entities get that price,” added Myers.

Congress intentionally expanded the 340B program with the full knowledge and explicit approval of the drug industry. In

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2010, when it enacted the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Congress increased the number and types of nonprofit hospitals that can participate. Drug companies actively lobbied for the ACA because they knew that, between Medicaid expansion and the ACA individual mandate, they would have a payer source for their drugs for tens of millions of new people. Since 2010, total drug company sales have increased over $85 billion per year.

“This proposal violates the congressional intent that created 340B. Kalderos is trying to ramrod its new rebate model, even while 246 members of Congress have expressed their alarm in a letter and even while the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) itself has not approved this model. The AHF urges the [HRSA], which runs the 340B, to assert its authority as enforcer of the 340B program

December 25, 2020

and reject the Kalderos steal,” concluded Myers.

Please visit www.let340b.org for more information on the program and campaign to maintain the integrity of 340B. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/ or services to over 1.5 million individuals in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/the Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific region, and Eastern Europe.

More at www.aidshealth.org, or find us at www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us @aidshealthcare.

Courtesy of the AHF

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AHF milestone: 1.5 million lives now in care!

Louise and the GSBA team at Equalux 2018 – Photo courtesy of GSBA

LOS ANGELES (December 22, 2020) – The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, which now operates in 45 countries, is privileged to announce that it has reached a remarkable new milestone in its history: as of December 1 – World AIDS Day – the AHF now provides lifesaving HIV/AIDS medical care and services to 1.5 million individuals worldwide through its US, Europe, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, and Asia bureaus.

The AHF previously crossed the one million patient mark just two short years ago in October 2018. As remarkable: despite the devastating global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the AHF was able to add 36 new global treatment clinics and 114, 667 new patients since February 2020, just as the coronavirus was taking hold and wreaking havoc worldwide.

“It is a privilege to report to that the AHF has now reached a truly heartwarming new milestone: the AHF now has 1,500,000 lives in care across the globe,” said Michael Weinstein, AHF president. “When you consider that we started with one small but mighty 25-bed facility known as Chris Brownlie Hospice during the early days of the AIDS epidemic back in 1989, or that we set what we thought was a lofty goal of reaching 100,000 lives in care – something which we accomplished in 2009 – this is a momentous achievement. And one that the AHF’s leadership and board of directors share with all our staff and the AHF family, whether they work at a care site, an Out of the Closet thrift store, an AHF pharmacy, or in an administrative position. What makes this so gratifying is that we know that the AHF’s potential to march those last miles to ending AIDS as an epidemic are within our reach and capability. Now, onward to two million lives in care!”

“Congratulations and thanks to all of the dedicated AHF staff, board members, volunteers, partners and our patients for contributing your best to help the AHF reach this remarkable goal,” said William Arroyo, MD, chair of the AHF’s Board of Directors and a regional medical director of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the Keck USC School of Medicine. “This achievement is all the more remarkable, given the devastation the coronavirus wrought and how it also affected and slowed everyday life over the past 10 months. Yet the AHF remained true to its core values, nimbly adapting and pivoting. We were even able to open or add 36 new global AIDS treatment sites and bring over 114,000 new

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patients into treatment since this past February when the pandemic was first gaining ground. On behalf of the AHF’s Board of Directors, we thank and truly appreciate all of you who made this happen.”

“We started with just 100 patients on ART in Durban, South Africa, at the AHF’s first clinic outside of the US. Today, we have 1.5 million people in care. I think of the millions more orphans – and millions more orphans that have been prevented by keeping parents alive and healthy,” said Terri Ford, chief of global advocacy and policy for the AHF. “But we still have so much more work to do. There are an estimated 12-15 million people still living with HIV/AIDS who are still not able to access life-saving treatment. So, as the AHF marks and celebrates these 1.5 million lives in care, we maintain a real sense of urgency to fight for those others not yet in care to also help keep them alive.”

Global HIV/AIDS statistics According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, “There were approximately 38 million people across the globe with HIV/AIDS in 2019. Of these, 36.2 million were adults and 1.8 million were children (<15 years old). Per UNAIDS, as of the end of 2019, 25.4 million people with HIV (67%) were believed to be accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART) globally. That means 12.6 million people are still waiting.”

AHF’s global treatment role In November 2013, the AHF kicked off “20X20,” a collective global advocacy campaign to try to get 20 million people living with HIV or AIDS worldwide in care and on treatment by the year 2020. At the time, the AHF committed to getting one million of those 20 million on treatment by 2020 – a benchmark the AHF reached in October 2018, two years prior to our 2020 goal.

Prior AHF treatment benchmarks • 1 million lives in care under the AHF reached/celebrated on October 1, 2018 • 500,000 lives in care under the AHF reached/celebrated on November 13, 2015 • 250,000 lives in care under the AHF, reached/celebrated on November 27, 2013 • 100,000 lives in care under the AHF, reached/celebrated on April 15, 2009 …

• …a time when the AHF operated in just 21 countries with only 65 global treatment clinics total worldwide AHF to roll out “1.5 million lives in care” billboard campaign in the US and to global sites

December 25, 2020

To mark its 1.5 million patient milestone, the AHF is rolling out a new “1.5 Million Lives in Care” billboard campaign in six US cities with 21 billboards, starting in Los Angeles (then expanding to Atlanta, Dallas, South Florida, and the Northeast).

The campaign will also be shared with some global countries and sites. The artwork, created by Jason Farmer, the AHF’s senior director of marketing, features an image of white numbers and letters making up “1.5 MILLION” on a backdrop of a crowd of thousands and thousands of people, giving the billboard a pointillist effect – one that underscores the concept of all the lives now under the AHF’s care globally.

AHF’s early history The AHF began operations in 1987 as the AIDS Hospice Foundation by a group of activists in response to the urgent need to provide hospice services to patients dying of AIDS on the streets of Los Angeles. By July 1990, the organization had changed its name to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, as the need for ongoing medical care for HIV/AIDS patients grew.

When the advent of lifesaving antiretroviral medications ushered in a treatment revolution in 1996, the AHF began supplying these medications to patients for free without guarantee of reimbursement and at great financial risk. In 2002, at the invitation of local South African activists, the AHF opened its first free HIV/AIDS clinic outside the US in this hard-hit country. In 2004, the AHF declared its pledge to reach 100,000 people worldwide with its services, and by 2009, the AHF reached that major milestone.

Today, in addition to its clinics and treatment centers, the AHF also operates a chain of 60 AHF pharmacy outlets in 14 states (and DC & Puerto Rico) and runs managed care and/or disease management programs for people with AIDS or HIV in California, Florida, and Georgia under the AHF’s Positive Healthcare umbrella. Through its Public Health Division, the AHF operates one of the largest community-based free HIV testing programs in the US (221,277 free tests in 2019). In addition, over 4.4 million free HIV tests were done globally by the AHF in 2019 (4,463,357 tests). The AHF also operates 24 wellness centers in nine states and Washington, DC (and nine additional ones in four other countries) and also operates two AHF dental clinics: one in South Florida and one in Southern California. The AHF Research Division now has 25 years of experience with antiretroviral (ARV) studies.

AHF’s housing programs Recognizing the role that stable housing plays as a crucial determinant in people’s health and wellbeing, the AHF kicked off its Healthy Housing Foundation (HHF) in late 2017 in Los Angeles to provide direct housing services. So far, the AHF has purchased and refurbished eight former motels or single-room-occupancy (SRO) hotels in Southern California and repurposed them as housing for extremely low-income or formerly homeless individuals and families. The HHF expanded its footprint to South Florida, where we are underway with the plans, design, and permitting of for the construction of new, truly “affordable” housing. The AHF also launched Housing Is a Human Right (HHR), the housing advocacy division of the AHF to support its work for housing justice across the US. AHF countries • THE AMERICAS – 13 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, and Peru (as well as the United States).

• AFRICA – 13 countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Eswatini, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

• ASIA – 10 countries: Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

• EUROPE – 9 countries: Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

In addition, the AHF operates 68 free HIV/AIDS healthcare centers in 15 states (California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington state), and the District of Columbia and the US territory of Puerto Rico.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/ or services to 1.5 million individuals in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/the Caribbean, the Asia/ Pacific region, and Eastern Europe. More at www.aidshealth.org or www.facebook. com/aidshealth; follow us on Twitter: @ aidshealthcare.

Courtesy of the AHF

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GSBA President & CEO Louise Chernin and her partner Mary Klein march with the National Organization for Women's Seattle chapter during a Pride parade in the early 1990's.

Louise was the director of the chapter in the 1980s and became the CEO & President of GSBA in 2002. – Photo courtesy of GSBA

CHERNIN

continued from cover The importance of GSBA was not clear to me in 1992, since I had no idea how much a community and an economy relied on thriving, diverse small businesses. I came from an activist background, always fighting for civil rights, women’s liberation and gay rights. Business to me was part of the problem, certainly not the solution. It was a shock to my progressive system, to meet the small business owner. The generous, creative people behind our storefronts and small offices who employ the local community, donate to our nonprofits, create our gathering places and the character of our neighborhoods.

Times are tough and our small businesses are in a precarious position, hoping to survive. I still believe it is our community, our LGBTQ and progressive business community, that will help us get through these times of upheaval. I believe our members and community understand the role GSBA plays in retaining a strong, diverse small business culture. I am confident we will continue to invest in GSBA so that GSBA is able to continue to support those with fewer resources. GSBA and our sponsors stepped up their support this year so that the Ready for Business Fund was able to invest $200k in BIPOC, LGBTQ, and women-owned small businesses. GSBA came through for our students, investing in over $600k in their education and providing emergency support to help with food

Louise and the GSBA team at Equalux 2018 – Photo courtesy of GSBA

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and housing insecurity.

GSBA was founded on the principle of advancing equality in business and is ready to center racial justice in our continuing work to create a more just world. GSBA is at a crossroads of broadening its impact to address two important crises, that of racial and economic inequality. As I transition from employee to volunteer, I look forward to remaining an active member and donor of GSBA. I am forever grateful to our extraordinary members, Board and staff and confidently pass the reins on to Mark Rosén, our Acting President & CEO. I hope you will join me and renew your membership in GSBA and, if you are able, invest in small businesses with a gift to the Ready for Business Fund, or support a student with a donation to the GSBA Scholarship

Fund. Together, as a community, we will prevail.

As we end year 2020 and prepare for the challenges and opportunities of 2021, I wish each of you a safe, healthy, and peaceful holiday. I hope you find comfort and support from your family, be they your birth or chosen family. As movers and shakers, we have much work ahead of us in 2021, but there is no community more resilient and ready to fight the good fight.

With loving warm wishes to my GSBA family, Louise Chernin (She/her) GSBA President & CEO Greater Seattle Business Association

Louise marches for the GSBA at the Seattle Pride Parade in 2018 – Photo by Nate Gowdy

December 25, 2020

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Celebrating 46 Years!

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ARTS

ArtsWA and Dept. of Commerce announce investment of $3.405 million in relief grants OLYMPIA (December 21, 2020) – Nearly 390 nonprofit arts and culture organizations serving 32 Washington counties received funding in recent rounds of CARES Act funding in Washington State.

The state’s creative economy supports more than 17,600 arts and culture-related businesses and more than 305,000 jobs.

Administered by the Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA) in partnership with the Washington Department of Commerce (Commerce), and with the support of the governor’s Office of Financial Management (OFM), the $3.405 million available in two successive grant pools will bolster organizations whose arts and creative programs employ thousands of people and contribute to the economic vitality and quality of life in communities across the state.

The one-time grants were made available to nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, including tribal organizations, and fiscally sponsored groups impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Funds can be used

to cover pandemic-related losses during the 2020 calendar year.

In the first pool of funds, ArtsWA partnered with Commerce to provide $1.445 million in grants to nonprofit arts organizations. The agencies received 387 applications and were able to fund 249 organizations. Organizations were able to request up to $10,000, and grant amounts ranged from $2,000 to $8,300. Funding was prioritized for organizations that serve underresourced communities, culturally diverse populations, and underrepresented groups.

“Nonprofits are essential to supporting a vibrant creative economy in good times, and the pandemic has stretched many to the breaking point,” said Lisa Brown, Commerce’s director. “These grants provide a lifeline to both struggling artists and the organizations that support them, helping to strengthen part of the very fabric of our communities.”

To help Commerce and ArtsWA fund more applicants, the OFM provided a second

pool of CARES funds, in the amount of $2 million, to ArtsWA. These additional funds allowed ArtsWA to provide grants to the 138 organizations from the first round that were not funded and increase the awards for the 249 previously funded organizations.

“We are grateful that the governor, Commerce, and the budget office recognize the importance of the arts and culture sector to Washington’s economy,” said Karen Hanan, executive director of ArtsWA. “Providing relief funding to these organizations, which have all been enormously impacted by the pandemic, will allow them to move toward a post-COVID world and continue to contribute to the vibrancy of their communities.”

The grants will support organizations all throughout the state. Approximately 58% of all grants went to organizations outside King County. In addition, 165 organizations that were funded had never received grants from ArtsWA before.

In early spring, ArtsWA received

$431,600 in CARES Act funds from the federal government through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Monies were aimed at providing rapid-relief grants to nonprofit arts organizations. At that time, 143 organizations from 29 Washington counties were funded. In total, ArtsWA has disbursed $3,836,600 in CARES Act funding in 2020.

Commerce works with local governments, businesses, community-based organizations, and tribes to strengthen communities. The department’s diverse portfolio of more than 100 programs and effective public and private partnerships promote sustainable community and economic development to help all Washingtonians thrive. More at www. commerce.wa.gov. For information on locating or expanding a business in Washington, visit choosewashingtonstate.com.

Courtesy of the Washington State Department of Commerce

Taproot Theatre co-founders Scott & Pam Nolte retire after 44 years of leadership

Pam and Scott Nolte in 1989 – Photo courtesy of Taproot Theatre

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SEATTLE (December 21, 2020) – The first act for Taproot Theatre Company is coming to a close: Producing Artistic Director Scott Nolte is retiring from his position after co-founding Taproot with his wife Pam over 44 years ago. The first press Taproot ever received in one of Seattle’s major papers couldn’t have said it better: “Six young people in pursuit of a dream, which older heads might consider unlikely if not impossible, have formed the Taproot Theatre Company…” (Ray Ruppert) The company began as a touring company in 1976 with performances in churches, schools, and libraries, but in 1977 when the company was incorporated into a not-forprofit theatre with a board of directors and by-laws, the future vision already included an acting school and mainstage productions.

Under Nolte’s careful guidance, Taproot has grown to become Seattle’s oldest and largest mid-size professional theatre, serving over 180,000 people annually with its “theatre of hope” through its mainstage and touring productions and acting studio.

The first printed program for Taproot Theatre describes the 1976 company as “an ensemble of actors with our life and faith firmly rooted in God the Creator.”

That rootedness has remained, allowing the company under Nolte’s leadership to pursue plays exploring issues of justice, race, and economic division in addition to plays that entertain and bring laughter. This combination is what Nolte has liked to call “a wellbalanced meal” for the company’s over 3,000 subscribers. That same rootedness has also granted perseverance for the challenging job of maintaining and growing a theatre company through four location moves, five recessions, floods, thefts, a massive fire that destroyed an entire building, an explosion, and now a global pandemic.

In 1988, Scott Nolte’s vision and leadership led to the purchase of an old movie house, the China Theatre, in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle and renovation work began with contractors and the efforts of countless volunteers and donors.

Taproot’s vagabond existence, producing

in three different locations over 20 years, ended in 1996 when the company moved into the remodeled space as a fully operational 226-seat theatre in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle. A devastating fire destroyed the company’s second building in 2009. Seattle’s entire theatre community joined Taproot’s loyal patrons to come alongside with help at that time. The Kendall Center opened in 2013, providing more room for the company’s acting classes, offices, and the 119-seat Isaac Studio Theatre. Taproot now had the space that Nolte envisioned to help grow the next generation of theatre artists.

Nolte directed over 150 productions in his 44 years with Taproot Theatre, including regional premieres, classics, and new works along with his beloved classic comedies.

Co-founder Pam Nolte served in multiple positions through the years with the company, working for 25 years as the theatre’s marketing director, Taproot’s community liaison, a company actor, and teaching artist.

Her most recent years were spent creating and managing Taproot Theatre’s pioneering work in providing theatre classes for individuals experiencing memory loss.

Although the Noltes’ formal roles with Taproot are coming to an end, they will continue their work as theatre artists, directing and acting with the company when their skills are requested. When the theatre is allowed to reopen its Jewell mainstage, after the pandemic, Scott Nolte will direct two of Taproot’s postponed productions, and Pam will resume the acting roles she was originally cast in for the mainstage season.

Over their 44-year tenure, the Noltes created a family of over 1,000 actors, designers, technicians, teaching actors, and staff members. Their legacy will live on through that family, a family that also includes the hundreds of thousands of donors, subscribers, and students Taproot has served with its “theatre of hope.”

At the end of this difficult year, Scott Nolte can trust that as he passes the torch to

December 25, 2020

Seattle Gay News 15

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TAPROOT

continued from page 15 incoming producing artistic director Karen Lund, Taproot Theatre Company will continue to tell the stories of hope and courage that its audiences can look forward to for years to come.

Taproot Theatre Company is a professional, nonprofit theatre company with a multifaceted production program. Founded in 1976, Taproot Theatre serves the Pacific Northwest with Jewell mainstage productions, Isaac Studio Theatre productions, touring productions, and the Acting Studio. Taproot creates theatre experiences to brighten the spirit, engage the mind, and deepen the understanding of the world around us while inspiring imagination, conversation, and hope. Taproot is a member of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), Theatre Puget Sound (TPS) and the Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Association (PNA).

Courtesy of Taproot Theatre Company

Scott and Pam Nolte in Arms and the Man in 1981 – Photo courtesy of Taproot Theatre

Christmas in quarantine makes for an array of yuletide sugarplums and surprises

by Tom Orr SGN Contributing Writer While living in lockdown or being cloistered in quarantine for some has been boring or frustrating at best, and depressing, demoralizing and nightmarish at worst, there are those resourceful souls who have actually thrived creatively during this period of social distancing restrictions and pandemic isolation. The following are various works by a handful of local institutions and organizations as well as independent artists who all managed to not only be productive and prolific during this unprecedented time but created new works of lasting value to be shared and cherished throughout the holiday season.

Evergreen City Ballet presents THE NUTCRACKER SUITES This hour-long feature is a fascinating hybrid of behind-the-scenes documentary, affectionate archival record and innovative and forward-thinking dance film that takes the Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s beloved masterpiece, the iconic classic The Nutcracker, from its hallowed historic place as an ubiquitous seasonal

daily dedication to the arts, the grassroots video showcases various aspects of the dayto-day workings of the dance school during lockdown and how they engineered classes and reimagined rehearsals while observing proper health guidelines and protocols.

Interspersed with backstage footage are interviews with the young artists themselves, family and faculty members, and the team responsible for this novel Nutcracker for a new generation to discover, particularly Artistic Director Bennyroyce Royon’s revealing inspiration from his Filipino cultural heritage, creative partners Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra, Seattle performer Aleksa Manila reprising her 2019 role of Mother Ginger; and two special guest artists from New York City Ballet, Georgina Pazcoguin and Alec Knight. It’s charming. https://www.evergreencityballet.org/ SCOTT SHOEMAKER’S WAR ON CHRISTMAS! One new Christmas tradition that has survived from “The Before Times” is Scott Shoemaker’s War on Christmas! Cocreated by frequent collaborators Freddy Molitch and Scott Shoemaker – the pair responsible for the popular Ms. Pak-man and

Image courtesy of Emerald City Ballet

special achieves a sort of low-budget nirvana as a silly shoestring spectacular. The song parodies, original songs, comedy and dance numbers are absurd and absurdist, and the surreal shenanigans, heightened by partial nudity, make one long for a frosty pitcher of a local microbrew to whet your wolf whistle while catcalling the cast of crazies, even if only virtually at home. ht t p s: // b t t. b old t y p e t icke t s. c o m / events/109487234/scott-shoemakers-waron-christmas.

ArtsWest presents A VERY MERRY KRAKEN TEA PARTY Following the success of their sleeper hit, powerhouse playwright/composer/lyricist Justin Huertas’ strange, offbeat and surprisingly poignant The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion in 2019, ArtsWest commissioned this original musical sequel, A Very Merry Kraken Tea Party, that follows the characters’ continuing adventures and romantic complications. Featuring five new songs from the fertile and fecund mind of Huertas, the short video film finds romantic discord in the age of Covid taking on hidden, nearly devastating, meaning,

Christmas at Home – Photo courtesy of Taproot Theatre

favorite and predictable Christmastime perennial to someplace new, a post-Covid commentary on this overly familiar piece.

Beginning with an amusing montage of various young ballerinas and their supportive “Dance Moms” (and Dads and Younger Brothers) sheltering in place in their suburban homes while maintaining yuletide spirit and managing to keep a degree of

PROBED! at the now defunct Re-bar – this irreverent variety show returned for a third year with a month of online viewing that continues to January 3, 2021. Featuring the same cast of uniquely talented and entirely original Seattle clowns and burlesque songbirds – Shoemaker, Adé, Waxie Moon, Mandy Price, and Fageddy Randy -- plus a bevy of new material, the homespun holiday

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when social distancing and physical isolation literally keep two halves of the same octopus from coming together. Meanwhile their friends and allies Todd and David are getting ready to celebrate their first Christmas together, which has its own obstacles.

Though musical performances in the Zoom Room era have become part of our daily cultural landscape, this is the first original

musical to my knowledge that makes camera phones part of the narrative, and the composer and his fine cast of exceptional actors plumb emotional depths that, while not entirely unexpected, are still able to walk that delicate tightrope between sentimental schmaltz and nuanced subtlety.

Streaming through January 31, 2021, there’s still time for you to release your inner kraken. www.artswest.org.

Taproot Theatre Company presents CHRISTMAS AT HOME For 44 consecutive years, Taproot Theatre has offered wholesome and festive family fare for the holidays, and this year was no different, as incoming Artistic Director Karen Lund and the entire extended Taproot family put together Christmas At Home, an all-new seasonal special available for streaming through January 3, 2021. Filmed in homes across the USA, the 75-minute video features a cast of local favorites singing songs, sharing stories and other seasonal specialties, with shout outs from Eric Jensen, Rebecca Davis, Hugh Hastings and others. Some highlights include the Russell Sisters, Sarah and Be, in a rousing opener, “Shepherds We Have Heard On High” aka “Gloria (In Excelsis Deo)”; Mark Lund and Eric Ankrim’s smooth cover of “The Little Drummer Boy” and “Peace On Earth,” in the duet arrangement made famous by Bing Crosby and David Bowie; Kate Jaeger’s one-woman quartet on “We Need A Little Christmas” from Mame; Tré Cotton in a stirring fireside rendition of “The Christmas Song”; Bill Johns’ deadpan “Peas On Earth” pun; Benjamin Wippel, Tyler Kimmel and Brad Walker in excerpts from A Charlie Brown Christmas; Faith Bennett Russell’s smashing mash-up of “O Holy Night” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah!”; a dramatic rendering of “Martin The Shoemaker” from Christmas Past by retiring Taproot founders Pam & Scott Nolte; and a haunting and hopeful “I’m-not-crying!You’re-crying!” finale with Cayman Ilika serenading her son Teddy with “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” from Meet Me In St. Louis, bringing new poignancy to the lyrics: “Next year all our troubles will be out of sight!” One can only hope, for Taproot and all of us. https://taproottheatre.org/shows/2020/ taproot-theatre-co-presents-christmas-athome/. 206-781-9705.

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Ernest who? Drag queens really DO save Christmas in The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special

by Tom Orr SGN Contributing Writer THE JINKX & DELA HOLIDAY SPECIAL On Demand Vimeo and HULU Thru January 3

One late summer day in 2019, I was strolling down 15th Ave. atop Capitol Hill. As I passed the mini mansion known as The Gaslight Inn, something sparkly caught my eye through the window. Well, two sparkly somethings: a drag queen duo – one a redhead, one a brunette, bedecked and bedazzled in glittery gay apparel – filming something Christmasy under big lights. I didn’t recognize them but could tell immediately they were quality professionals: to be prepared, polished and on poinsettia, in August? I felt like a Peeping Tom and a stargazer. Little did I know: these two would someday save Christmas!

Soon enough, posters popped up touting All I Want For Christmas Is Attention, starring Rupaul’s Drag Race veterans Jinkx Monsoon & BenDeLaCreme, a follow-up to their gargantuan 2018 hit, To Baby Jesus, Thanks For Everything. I didn’t see either, but they were blockbusters and the two savvy stalwart workhorses clearly found their calling – and new cash cow. They began writing a new show for 2020.

Then Covid-19 struck and suddenly they had to reinvent the wheel of their fortune in the Mascara and Mask Era. Wearing an array of hats (Director, Co-Author, Executive Producer & Santa), and fabulous wigs, DeLa moved onto an L.A. soundstage to quarantine and shelter in place with her sister-friend-collaboratrix Jinkx, a small army of glamorous and gloriously androgynous chorines, a naked mystery man and a kickass creative team to virgin birth her epic musical comedy spectacular and directorial debut, The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show, now available to stream on demand on Vimeo and HULU. From the opening moments, we know we’re in for an unforgettable holiday with these gorgeous clowns as they wake to greet the day on their studio soundstage, give some welcome exposition and firmly establish their characteristic dispositions as they tell us in song that it’s “That Kind Of Holiday Show”: DELA: It’s December! Oh the splendor Of the season known as Christmas time!

There’s carols and cocoa, Blinking bulbs and boughs of pine ...

We’ll sing some, bells will ring some,

Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme in The Jinkx & Dela Holiday Special – Photo by Matt Baume

As we sleigh ride through the snow!

Trim the tree and follow me ...

It’s that kind of holiday show!

JINKX It’s December! Hey bartender!

Can I get another vodka here?

The season just started But I can’t take Christmas cheer!

So we’ll sit some, and we’ll bitch some, ‘Til the New Year comes and goes ...

Deck the hall with alcohol -It’s that kind of holiday show!

And later: DELA: Here we come a-wassailing!

JINKX: What the fuck is wassailing?

Oh the lyrics – whether to original tunes

by Major Scales & Keith Harrison, or parodies of traditional Christmas carols – are perhaps the subversive secret to the success of this entire enterprise. Penned by DeLa and Jinkx themselves, the witty words they sing are not only skillfully crafted and

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cleverly well-rhymed but filled with meaty messages that bring an unusual heft to the frantic antics underway as we learn of their jarringly different attitudes towards the holidays and the backstories that got them there.

When you ain’t got no money, honey, Christmas is a joke, sings Jinkx in the bluesy, ballsy ballad, “No One Played Santa For Me” in a clingy catsuit and Peg Bundy meets Charo via “I Dream of Jeannie” hair: Naughty or Nice? All I knew was I was broke.

Santa came to my house in a beat up Chevrolet.

He cased the joint, said, “What’s the point?”

And then he drove away. …

We had a plastic Christmas tree, and we said “Fuck The Bourgeoisie!” ...

When you come from poverty, Yuletide’s just a fantasy …

If you grew up like me, there’s no Hallmark fantasy ...

‘Cause No One Played Santa For Me!

December 25, 2020

From such inauspicious white trash roots, Jinkx’s yuletide memories clash with those of DeLa, whose Connecticut Yankee in Bea Arthur’s courtyard childhood is filled with nostalgic memories of a picture postcard Christmas tradition, as personified by her deceased grandmother’s family beverage recipe. As DeLa sips a sample of the stuff, Nana’s eternal spirit comes to life in the eggnog, or “Nanog,” itself, and, voiced by the inimitable Varla Jean Merman, we get a glimpse into DeLa’s past (and her comedy instinct influences, though her many fierce lewks all suggest a healthier, heartier Michelle Visage).

A Gay and A Stranger! Don’t waste time with head.

If a redhead bear fucks you, you’ve been Ginger-Bred!

Thus Jinkx sweeps down the staircase with her boozy bawdy bastardizations of Christmas classics, and the stage is finally set for the upcoming showdown as the two take time out from rehearsing the tap happy finale (dressed as a frightening-yet-fashion-

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FILM

Western News of the World a hopeful tale of emotional rebirth

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer NEWS OF THE WORLD Theaters / PVOD on 1/15/2021 (Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Xfinity, etc.)

Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) travels from one secluded Texas town to the next to read the news. It’s been five years since the end of the Civil War, and like many who fought on the losing side, life has become something of a constant struggle. But Kidd is a born storyteller, his tales pulled straight from newspaper headlines and townsfolk love it whenever he stops by for one of his evening readings.

Kidd’s life of wandering repetition is interrupted while out on the secluded backwoods roads between stops. This immediately changes the moment he stumbles upon 10-year-old Johanna Leonberger (Helena Zengel). She was taken by the Kiowa tribe six years prior during a raid where her entire immediate family was killed. Recently recovered, against her will she is being turned over to an aunt and an uncle she’s never met.

News of the World is an old school western which easily could have been made

by John Ford or Howard Hawks back in the 1940s. Captain Kidd is an emotionally wounded man going through the motions of his life who nonetheless takes it upon himself to protect Johanna and deliver her to the girl’s surviving relatives come what may. Along the way they encounter several terrifying obstacles, fighting through giant sandstorms and fending off armed villains to complete their quest. During the trip they form an almost unbreakable bond, and for both the journey, not the destination, is what ends up being most valuable.

Based on the novel by Paulette Jiles, director and co-writer Paul Greengrass reunites with his Captain Phillips star Hanks, and together the pair once again produce a superb piece of cinematic entertainment that’s exceedingly easy to love.

It is a robust, beautifully shot drama, and

Helena Zengel and Tom Hank in News of the World – Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

while little that is unexpected transpires, the characters are so richly drawn and their travels so wonderfully realized that honestly isn’t much of a problem.

In some ways this is a reverse The Searchers. Instead of a story about trying to find a missing girl taken during a brutal raid, here we have the return trip after recovery. Johanna doesn’t speak English.

She barely remembers anything of her life before the slaughter of her family. She’s afraid to trust Kidd and, if it was up to her, she’d rather remain “Cicada” (the name given to her by the Kiowa) and never have been rescued in the first place.

Kidd has his own demons, and they aren’t just due to having fought in the war.

He carries a photograph of his beloved wife

wherever he goes, and his reasons for never returning home for a visit carry an emotional weight he finds difficult to bear. In protecting Johanna he finds new reasons to, not only carry on, but to revisit this painful past so he can move forward into an unpredictable future.

The inevitability of the outcome for the pair is never in doubt. As strong as the climactic scenes are, that they offer zero surprises might potentially rub some viewers the wrong way. But Hanks is his typical outstanding self, bringing a level of internalized gravitas to the story that’s undeniably moving. Newcomer Zengel matches him step for step; a feat made all the more incredible considering the nearsilent nature of her performance. The two

Pixar’s Soul a jazzy piece of empathetic whimsy

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer SOUL STREAMING ON DISNEY+ Pixar’s Soul has a lot on its mind. Inside Out and Monsters, Inc. impresario Pete Docter has delivered a meditative animated comedy centered upon complex, whimsically multidimensional ideas that frequently caught me by surprise. Co-writing the script with Mike Jones (EvenHand) and Kemp Powers (One Night in Miami), Docter’s story overflows with childlike imagination yet still revels in dissecting adult issues involving identity, self, aging, family and community with gracefully empathetic aplomb.

So why am I not doing enthusiastic cartwheels over this one the same way I have for so many other Pixar successes? I’m not entirely sure. I liked Soul. It’s very good and features the year’s best score, a creative

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Soul – Photo courtesy of Disney

December 25, 2020

are outstanding together, and I loved watching their friendship continually deepen the closer they got to their intended destination.

Greengrass skillfully weaves all the various elements together into a seamless whole, eschewing the quick-cutting documentary-like style he perfected with the likes of Bloody Sunday, United 93 and his first two Jason Bourne efforts (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum). Veteran cinematographer Dariusz Wolski (Alien: Covenant) has been gifted a broad outdoor canvass to work with and does wonders with it, each corner of the frame offering something of interest to look at.

But he never lets chaos reign, and even during sequences of extreme peril and action I never lost track of who was where or what was happening to any of the characters I cared about the most.

Even though the supporting cast is relatively stacked with familiar faces (Elizabeth Marvel, Mare Winningham, Ray McKinnon, Michael Angelo Covino, Bill Camp, Thomas Francis Murphy, Neil Sandilands and Winsome Brown all make notable, albeit brief, appearances), this remains Hanks and Zengel’s show. They are the focal point, and as such Greengrass doesn’t spend a ton of time fleshing out any of the side characters more than is necessary.

I think what I loved most about this film was how much value is put on the written word. Stories are Captain Kidd’s stock and trade, his oratory excellence as he fleshes out each tale from the pages of area newspapers beyond reproach. Hanks delivers these tales of tragedy, love, sacrifice and humdrum normality with passionate grace, and these brief soliloquies are a reminder of the power of the press and the value placed in honest, trusted reporters.

For all that’s familiar about News of the World, insights like these almost feel groundbreaking. This Western chronicling the early days of a fractured nation putting the pieces back together after a devastating calamity of unfathomable proportions couldn’t be coming out at a more opportune time. Here’s hoping those who need to hear its message of healing and rebuilding community most take the time to listen to what the film has to say.

Celebrating 46 Years!

JINKX & DELA continued from PAGE 17

forward Santa Claus and a tap-dancing burlap sack) to fight for control of the way their seasonal storytelling will take shape.

By this point in the show, the over-the-top wardrobe wizardry and costume couture rises to Bob Mackie on The Carol Burnett Show zeniths. Co-Designers Dallas Coulter, Jamie Von Stratton and Eric Gorsuch deserve huge kudos, as do Art Directors Paul Velasquez & Melanie Leandro’s sets under Paul Aguilar’s candy coated lights.

DeLa has a down and dirty ditty with a chorus of scantily clad elves, and there is a sidesplitting and surreal section retelling the Nativity Story to the tune of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with a lot of this-never-happened Noel nonsense as DeLa has one too many slurps of Nanog and gets her wires crossed.

Meanwhile the sexy and mysterious naked man who is Jinkx’s night before XXXmas trick lurking in the wings has a sleighful of sound advice on not forcing your traditions and beliefs on others, and Jesus Christ, what a body!

Revealing too much more would be a spoiler for the real meat and potatoes of the feral family feast and figgy pudding foodfight ahead – let’s just say Jinkx transforms from a spectral solstice Stevie Nicks (think American Horror Story: Coventry Carol) to become a shit-kicking punk rocker a la Hedwig’s wighead and an angry Grinch in the rollicking, wreck-the-hallicking “A Passive Aggressive Christmas”: Let’s have a Passive Aggressive Christmas!

Let’s hurt the one’s that love us most!

We’ll bitch behind each other’s backs And then pretend that we’re all close It’s only 7 hours, so buckle up; strap yourself in ...

We did it all last year and we’ll do it all again!

Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme in The Jinkx & Dela Holiday Special – Photo by Matt Baume

There’s bloodshed and blasphemy and by the end of it all, this reviewer was leaking salty tears to see that pessimistic pandemic panic and colossal creative collaboration may make strange bedfellows, but comedy and artistry will prevail. And if you feel strangely warm-hearted and wistful listening to the sardonic strains of “Everyone is Traumatized by Christmas!”, well, it’s that kind of Christmas show!

So let’s have a joyous holiday we won’t detest!

Keep the rituals that serve you and then say Fuck The Rest!

The winter is grim, and life is hard ...

But you can’t put that on a Hallmark card!

So next year our traditions will be new, Until the day that they get old too! ...

No matter where you come from, no matter who you are,

There’s something ‘bout this holiday that’s sure to leave a scar!

An overbearing family? No family at all?

Run over by a reindeer or just working at the mall!

Everyone is Traumatized by Christmas!

Be sure to stay tuned during the credits for a bonus song and check out www.jinkxanddela.com.

Messy Wonder Woman sequel lassos hope

the silliness of such a thing, after a suddenly resurrected Steve walks into a Smithsonian fundraising gala it becomes clear the stone’s power isn’t a joke. Not as immediately noticeable, utilizing it also comes with an unforeseen cost, each person making a wish paying a personal price that can sap them of their superheroic strength, change kindness to hate or even lead to untimely illness and almost certain death.

Pedro Pascall is the key player instigating the majority of the mayhem. He plays Maxwell Lord, an infomercial kingpin and wannabe oil magnate who promises those who go into business with him that all their desires will come to pass as long as they want it bad enough. Lord is after the stone, and in his pursuit of wealth and power he activates a doomsday clock that could inadvertently trigger WWIII. Pascall is wildly, almost gleefully over the top in the role, but he’s having so much fun all his sweaty hyperbolic gusto is oddly charming, and I found his performance grew on me as the film went on.

But of the two actors portraying supervillains, it is Wiig who impressed me the most. Minerva’s transformation from

mousy scientist to vicious anthropomorphic feline adversary Cheetah is outstanding. Wiig does an excellent job hitting all these seemingly unimportant emotional beats, Minerva’s ungainly joy at discovering her new powers after wishing on the stone slowly ebbing away as new, far more primal predatory instincts emerge. She makes a good foe for Diana, their initial impromptu showdown inside the White House nothing short of spectacular.

If only Jenkins had done more with her.

There are long stretches where Minerva/ Cheetah becomes something of an afterthought, and when she finally chooses to embrace the inherent evil fueling her transformation this decision does not register in the way I am certain it was designed to.

Worse, the final face-off between a fullyempowered Cheetah and freshly-armored Diana is a mess of cartoony digital effects and incoherent editing that zaps all the thrills and chills right out of their climactic confrontation.

The quieter, more personal moments are where the sequel soars. Gadot and Pine once again have luminous chemistry that leaps off the screen, and I still love it that Steve Trevor is basically the same sort of sidekick/love interest women have been forced to portray in adventures like these going back to the silent era. That the actor does it with such aplomb remains glorious, and an entire gender-flipped sequence mirroring Diana’s dressing room montage from the first film is goofily sublime.

Most of all, even with all its faults, Wonder Woman 1984 is worthwhile mainly because its sense of hopeful uplift is genuine. Jenkins truly does appear to believe in humanity, embracing the better angels within us all we like to imagine exist yet so rarely seem to see on a day-to-day basis, especially right now.

This allows her sequel to ride a lightning bolt of pure escapist propitiousness it never would have been able to lasso otherwise, provoking a sensation of wondrous awe I’m thankful I was able to experience.

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Seattle Gay News 19

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer WONDER WOMAN 1984 Theaters / HBO Max Whether one cared for the film or not, you can’t diminish the cultural impact director Patty Jenkins’ 2017 smash Wonder Woman had upon the moviegoing populace. In the time since its original release, the picture has only grown in popularity, some even singling out its signature “No Man’s Land” action sequence as one of the greatest they’ve ever seen. Needless to say, a sequel was inevitable, the only question being where Jenkins and her team would take creator William Moulton Marston’s iconic DC heroine next and what era they’d plop her down in to explore.

The answer is right there in the title, Wonder Woman 1984 attempting to both dissect the Reagan-era while also not-sosubtly paralleling similarities to what is happening in today’s world right this second. It is an ambitious adventure, one that exuberantly gallivants between Themyscira, Washington, DC, the Middle East and an isolated top-secret military satellite station with breakneck enthusiasm.

While Jenkins has her heart in the right place, the director’s script, co-written with Geoff Johns (Aquaman) and Dave Callaham (Godzilla), is something of a sprawling, unfocused mess. Even at a robust 150-plus minutes, keeping track of all that’s happening or why certain characters are behaving the way they are takes some work. There’s precious little development of any of the central themes other than those involving the heroine herself, and it’s never entirely clear exactly what the point of all of this is other than to study a blandly rudimentary take on the age-old axiom, “Be careful what you wish for.”

And yet, I still find I cannot dismiss this sequel out of hand. The sense of hope. The

Gal Gadot and Chris Pine in Wonder Woman 1984 – Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

feeling of optimism. How the film explores what is best about humanity. Jenkins imbues this tale with a cathartic gracefulness that I couldn’t resist. There are moments that filled me with empathetic happiness on an almost unheard of scale, making comparisons to Richard Donner’s 1978 classic Superman difficult to avoid. This is as forward-looking and as comfortingly humanistic a superhero adventure as we’ve seen in ages, no small thing as far as I’m concerned.

It has been over seven decades since Diana Prince’s (Gal Gadot) WWI adventure concluded. It is 1984, and the secretive superhero works as an antiquities specialist at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. She has never gotten over the death of Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), living alone and having few friends. But after bumping into charmingly klutzy gemologist Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig) Diana lets her guard down, the two women discovering they have more in common than initially meets the eye.

The McGuffin that kicks off all the action and chaos is an ancient stone that promises to grant any who hold it a single wish. While at first Diana and Barbara openly laugh about

Visit us online www.sgn.org

Allyship - an organization of LGBTQ individuals fighting for economic and social justice. www.LGBTQAllyship. org, allyship@yahoo.com, (206) 279-8169.

American Veterans for Equal Rights - www.aver.us Another Gay Social Club! - www.meetup.com/AnotherGay-Social-Club/ Bellingham/Whatcom County - www.theslowlane. com/guide.html BiNet Seattle is a mixed gender, social group for Bisexuals, their partners & other Bi-friendly folks - www. binetseattle.org.

Bremerton/Kitsap County - www.outwestsound.org Capitol Hill Alano Club - www.chacseattle.org Cascade Rainbow Community Center (Mount Vernon) - (360) 840-8499 and on Facebook.

Central Washington University GALA Hotline: (509) 963-1994.

Channel Q 103.3 FM - LGBTQ+ Talk Radio Network News and information, pop culture and music. radio.com COLAGE unites people with LGBTQ parents and caregivers into a network of peers and supports them as they nurture and empower each other to be skilled, self-confident, and just leaders in our collective communities - www.colage.org DIFFA/Northwest (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS). (206) 763-8885; www.diffanorthwest. org DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT: Crisis Clinic, (206) 461-3222 (24 hour line); King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (KCSARC) - 24-hour crisis line for information, support, & medical & legal assistance: 1-888-99-VOICE; Northwest Network support & advocacy for Bisexual, Trans, Lesbian & Gay Survivors of Abuse & Dating Violence, (206) 568-7777 (voice), 517-9670 (tty), www.nwnetwork.org; Pierce County Domestic Violence Helpline: Teresa, (253) 798-4166; Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities - offers on-going support groups for men: 323-1768; Seattle Police Dept Domestic Violence Unit, (206) 684-0330; State Wide Domestic Violence Hot Line, 1-800-562-6025. In an emergency call 911.

Report domestic violence and sexual assault.

Equal Rights Washington - (206) 324-2570; www. equalrightswashington.org Everett/Snohomish Cty - www.gaysnohomish.org Freely Speaking Toastmasters - www.freelyspeaking.org Gay City promotes wellness in LGBTQ communities by providing health services, connecting people to resources, fostering arts, and building community. Gay City Health Project’s Wellness Center provides anonymous & confidential HIV/STD testing. 517 E Pike St. More info or to schedule an appointment, (206) 860-6969. www.gaycity.org Gay & Lesbian National Hotline (GLNH): 1-888-THEGLNH (1-888-843-4564). Non-profit, peer-counseling, information & local resources telephone hotline for GLBT people across the country.

Generations Aging With Pride empowers elder LGBTQ adults to live with pride and dignity by promoting, connecting, and developing innovative programs and services that enhance belonging and support, eliminate discrimination, and honor the lives of older members of our community - (206) 393-3400; info@gapseattle.org; gapseattle.org GLSEN/WA - Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network - (206) 330-2099; www.glsenwa.org Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) - (206) 363-9188; www.thegsba.org HIV/AIDS Program, Seattle/King County Dept of Public Health, provides confidential/anonymous information about & testing for HIV/AIDS. (206) 205-7837. For a comprehensive list of HIV/AIDS service organizations see the GSBA Guide or visit www.thegsba.org or call Lifelong AIDS Alliance, (206) 328-8979.

Imperial Sovereign Court of Seattle & the Olympic & Rainier Empire - www.facebook.com/ISCSORE; www. imperialcourtofseattle.com Lambert House - (206) 322-2515; www.lamberthouse. org LGBT Library - 517 E Pike St. Open Mon-Fri 2-8pm; Sat 2-5pm. A wide range of fiction and non-fiction for the LGBT community and allies can be borrowed free of charge.

LGBT MS Connection - (425) 785-8593; lgbtmsconnections@comcast.net. Support group for LGBT persons with MS and their partners and their caregivers.

Sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Lifelong AIDS Alliance - (206) 328-8979, www.lifelongaids alliance.org Lion’s Main Art Collective - www.lionsmain.org MEN: Gay City: (206) 860-6969, www.gaycity.org; Knights of Mantra: (206) 329-0886, www.jetchapterkofm.com; Mature Friends: Gay men & women 40 & over, www.maturefriends.org; Northwest Bears: www. nwbears.com; The Olympians: www.TheOlympians. net; POZSeattle: www.pozseattle.com; Q-Squared: www.qsquared.org; Rain City Jacks: www.raincityjacks. org; Seattle Gay Couples: www. seattlegaycouples.org; Seattle Men in Leather: www.seattlemeninleather. org; Seattle Prime Timers: Gay & Bi men 40 & over, www. seattle primetimers.org; Tacoma Older LGBT: www. tacomaolderlgbt.org. (See also listings under Bisexual, Parenthood, People of Color, Transgender.)

MUSIC: Diverse Harmony: www.diverseharmony. org; Rainbow City Band: 1-866-841-9139 ext 2126; rainbowcityband@onebox.com; www.rainbowcity band. com; Seattle Men’s Chorus and Seattle Women’s Chorus: (206) 388-1408, (206) 323-0750. www.seattlechoruses.org.

Northwest Lesbian & Gay History Museum Project - gayhistnw@aol.com

20 Seattle Gay News

community resources Northwest Rainbow Alliance for the Deaf - www. nwrad.org Olympia/Thurston County - www.RainbowCenterOly. org Out & Equal Workplace Advocates/Seattle Regional Affiliate supports the work of LGBT employees and the growing number of ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) making a difference within local companies, including Alaska Airlines, Amazon.com, Amgen, AT&T, Bank of America, Deloitte, Macy’s, Microsoft, Russell Investments, Safeco Insurance, Starbucks Coffee, Xerox. www.outandequal.org/affiliates/seattle Out & Proud Grays Harbor Coalition - http://outandproudgh.org PARENTHOOD: Families Like Ours provides a gateway for LGBT families interested in adoption & provides a network of safe placement agencies, training, support & resources: (206) 441-7602, www.familieslikeours. org; Family Works offers support, information & activities for LGBT families: (206) 694-6727, www.familyworksseattle. org; Gay Fathers’ Association of Seattle offers support groups & social activities: www.gfas. org; Proud & Loud Families - Northwest, www.meetup.com/proudand-loud-families-northwest, plfnorthwest@aol.com; Queer Parent Networking Dinners: (206) 568-7777, qpnd@nwnetwork.org, www.nwnetwork.org; Rainbow Families of Puget Sound: www.rainbowfamiliesps.org PFLAG is the national organization for parents, families, allies, and LGBTQ people united for equality with chapters in Seattle, Bellevue/Eastside, the Puget Sound region and across Washington state. PFLAG Seattle: (206) 325-7724, info@pflagseattle.org, and www.pflagseattle.org; PFLAG Bellevue/Eastside: (425) 483-6642, info@bellevue-pflag.org, http://community. pflag.org/PFLAGBellevue; PFLAG Pacific Northwest: www.pnwpflag.org; PFLAG Washington State Council: www.pflagwsc.org.

Peer Seattle (formerly Seattle Area Support Groups) is a non-profit organization that builds community and cultivates powerful, healthy lives by providing emotional support and personal development services to those affected by HIV/AIDS, the Queer communities, and those who love them. Our work is done in a spirit of safety, trust, inclusiveness, and celebration of individual differences.

(206) 322-2437; www.peerseattle.org PEOPLE OF COLOR: AARTH (African American Reach & Teach Health Ministry), (206) 850-2070, www.aarth.org; Asian/Pacific Islander Queer Network Program at API Chaya, (206) 467-9976; Center for MultiCultural Health, (206) 461-6910, www.multiculturalhealth.org; Entre Hermanos, GLBT Latinos/as, (206) 322-7700, www.entrehermanos.org; Ile LaiLai, (206) 781-3565, iya@ilelailai.org; Men of All Colors & Cultures Together (MACCT), (206) 923-8313, macctseattle@yahoo.com, www.macctsea.org; Northwest Two Spirit Society, https://www.facebook.com/ groups/nw2spiritsociety/, Nubian Pride Productions, nubianpride@gmail.com; People of Color Against AIDS Network (POCAAN) offers rapid HIV testing, M-F, 10am-5pm, (206) 322-7061, www.pocaan.org and on Facebook; QBASS - Queer Black Alliance of the South Sound, (253) 256-1846, weareqbass@gmail. com; Sistah 2 Sistah, LBT women of African descent, (206) 322-7061, (206) 255-8951; Somos Seattle, somosseattle.org; Trikone-Northwest, GLBT South Asians, (425) 985-4376, www.trikonenw.org; Two-Spirit Honor Project, 1-866-685-0164; U.T.O.P.I.A. Seattle, www.utopiaseattlewa.org; VietQ Greater Seattle, vietqorganization@gmail.com Pierce County AIDS Foundation - (253) 383-2565; www.piercecountyaids.org Pride Foundation - (206) 323-3318; www.pridefoundation. org Pride Lives - www.facebook.com/PrideLives/ Pride Radio 93.3 HD2 Project NEON is a program of Seattle Counseling Service providing FREE information & services to Gay & Bi men to reduce health risks associated with methamphetamine use. (206) 323-1768. www.crystalneon.org Public Health-Seattle & King County Online Comprehensive Health Information for Sexual Minorities: www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/personal/ glbt.aspx Q Law: The GLBT Bar Association of WA - (206) 682-6711; www.q-law.org Q Law GLBT Legal Clinic - (206) 235-7235.

Queer Geek! - queergeekseattle.org Rainbow Center - Resource Center for Tacoma/Pierce County LGBTIQA community. Through education, advocacy and celebration, the Rainbow Center expands resources, and safe space for the LGBTQIA community.

December 25, 2020

Sponsors Tacoma Pride Festival. (253) 383-2318, www. rainbowcntr.org SEAMEC interviews, researches & rates candidates for public office on issues of concern to the LGBT community. www.voteseamec.org Seattle Area Support Groups & Community Center (SASG) i- SEE LISTING for Peer Seattle.

Seattle Bisexual Women’s Network - BiSeattle.wixsite. com/SBWN and on Facebook.

Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities is a community mental health service for GLBT persons & their families providing comprehensive mental health services on a sliding scale. (206) 323-1768.

Seattle LGBTQ Commission - (206) 684-4503. www/ seattle.gov/lgbtq Seattle Out & Proud - (206) 322-9561; www.seattlepride.org Seattle Police Department Sexual Minorities Community Advisory Council: kim.bogucki@seattle.gov Seattle PrideFest - www.seattlepridefest.org Servicemembers Legal Defense Network - (202) 328-3244; www.sldn.org Sex Workers Outreach Project - https://seattle. swopusa.org Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, The Abbey of St. Joan - (206) 860-3666; www.theabbey.org Snohomish Health District HIV/AIDS Program provides free confidential/anonymous HIV counseling & testing 9am-5pm Monday-Friday, until 7pm Tuesdays.

(425) 339-5298.

South Sound Q Calendar - LGBTQ events in Tacoma, Olympia & Sound Puget Sound area; www.SouthSoundQCal.com Spokane/Inland Northwest - www.outspokane.com; www.stonewallnews.net SPORTS & RECREATION: Bent Car Guys: www. bentcarguys.org; Border Riders Motorcycle Club: www.borderriders.com; Bottom Dwellers Scuba Club: www.bottomdwellers.org; Capitol Hill Cyclers: join their Facebook group or email capitolhillcycling@ groups.facebook.com or jordan.l.simonson@gmail.com; Cascade Flag Football: www.cascadeflagfootball.org; Cascade Flyers: www.cascadeflyers.org; Emerald City Mudhen Rugby: www.mudhenrugby.com; Emerald City Softball Association: www.emeraldcitysoftball. org, www.eteamz.com/womensecsa; Ethyl Forever Car Club: ethylforever@hotmail.com; Festival of the Babes: www.festivalofthebabes.com; Olympic Yacht Club: www.oycnw.org; OutVentures: outdoor education & recreation activities, www.outventures.org; Pacific Northwest Gay Rodeo Association: www.pacificnwgra.org; Puddletown Squares: www.puddletownsquares.org; Rain City Soccer: www.raincitysoccer.org; Rain Country Dance Association: a country-western dance organization catering to the LGBTQ community but open to all, www.raincountrydance.org; Sea Dawgs: LGBT ice hockey - SkateSeaDawgs@gmail.com and on Facebook; Seattle Frontrunners: www.seattlefrontrunners.org; Seattle Gay Basketball Association: www. seattlegaybasketballassociation.com; Seattle Orca Swim Team: www.orcaswimteam.org; Seattle Otters Water Polo: www.otterpolo.com; Seattle Quake Rugby: www.quakerugby.com; Seattle Tennis Alliance: www. seattletennisalliance.org; Seattle Unified Bowling Association (SUBA): magee98106@aol.com, www. teamseattle.org/bowling.htm, www.theprideleague. com, Century 21 League; Seattle Volleyball Club: www.seattlevolleyballclub.com; Ski Buddies: www. skibuddies.org; Team Seattle Gay Sports Network is an umbrella organization for a wide range of local GLBT sports activities, (206) 367-4064, www.teamseattle.org (see website for comprehensive list of sports clubs); Triangle Recreation Camp at Bender Creek: recreational camping for GLBT folks. Must be 21; ID required. trc@ camptrc.org, www.camptrc.org, 1122 E Pike St #1069, Seattle 98122-3934.

Strength Over Speed - www.strengthoverspeed.org Tacoma/Pierce County - Rainbow Center, 2215 Pacific Ave, Tacoma, a resource center for the LGBTIQA community of Pierce County, (253) 383-2318, www. rainbowcntr.org Three Dollar Bill Cinema - TWIST: Seattle Queer Film Festival; Translations: Seattle Transgender Film Festival; Outdoor Cinema at Cal Anderson Park. www. threedollarbillcinema.org TRANSGENDER: Emerald City Social Club: (425) 827-9494; Gender Alliance of the South Sound: www.

SouthSoundGender.com; Gender Diversity: www. genderdiversity.org; Gender Justice League: www.genderjusticeleague.org; Gender Odyssey: www.genderodyssey.com; Hermanos Trans Latino & Foreign-Born

Support Group: (206) 322-7700; Ingersoll Gender Center: (206) 329-6651, www.ingersollcenter.org; Lion’s Main Art Collective: www.lionsmain.org; The New BoyZ Club: www.olympiaftmgroup.webs.com; Olympia Trans Discussion Group: www.facebook.com/pages/ Olympia-Trans-Discussion-Group/262449878114; [trans] ACTION: Trans* & Gender Non-Conforming Sex Workers’ Support Group - a safe, peer-led space. mail@utopiaseattle.org; TRANSform Washington: transformwashington.com; Trans Resource & Referral Guide: kctransguide.org; Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network: Funding the collective liberation of Trans women of color – https://m.facebook.com/ TWOCSolidarityNW/; Washington Gender Alliance: (360) 445-2411, www.washington genderalliance.com WOMEN: Aging Ballard Lesbian Exchange (A.B.L.E.): We are Lesbians 60 years (generally) and up, living (mostly) in the north half of Seattle. The purpose of the group is to connect, socialize and support each other. ruthemilyvogel@gmail.com; Aging Lesbians in South Seattle (ALISS) - Lesbian Group at the Southeast Seattle Senior Center. This is a gathering primarily for Lesbians but all are welcome to attend. Kate, (206) 722-0317; www.sessc.org; BABES: support groups for HIV+ women. (206) 720-5566, 1-888-292-1912; Coming Out Women Support Group of Tacoma: www. comingoutwomen.org; Festival of the Babes: www. festivalofthebabes.com; Mature Friends: Gay men & women 40 & over, www.maturefriends.org; Puget Sound Old Lesbian Organizing for Change: http:// psoloc.org, (253) 777-3357; Older Lesbians Organizing for Change/WA State Chapter: gloria@oloc.org, mary@oloc.org, www.oloc.org; Pacific Northwest Lesbian Archives: www.pnwlesbianarchives.org; RainshadowWomen: RainshadowWomen@aol. com; Seattle Bisexual Women’s Network: BiSeattle. wixsite.com/SBWN; Seattle Girls of Leather: www. sgol.org; Tacoma Lesbian Concern (TLC): www.tacomalesbianconcern.org; Tacoma Older LGBT: www. tacomaolderlgbt.org; Women of West Seattle (WOWS): a fun, member-driven social group for Lesbians, http:// groups.yahoo.com/group/womenofwestseattle; YWCA Women’s Health Outreach: providing low or no-cost mammograms for income eligible 40+ LBTQ individuals. Follow us at http://lbtqhealth-ywca.blogspot.com, twitter.com/ingridWHO or email lbthealth@ywcaworks. org, (206) 461-4493. (See also listings under Bisexual, Parenthood, People of Color, Transgender.)

YOUTH: B-GLAD (Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Trans & Questioning Adolescent Drop-In Group): Youth Eastside Services offers many programs for GLBT youth, including B-GLAD, (425) 747-4937; Coyote Central: www.coyotecentral.org; Diverse Harmony: www.diverseharmony. org; GLSEN/Washington State (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) & Washington State GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) Network: GLSEN works to create safe schools for LGBT students. WA GSA Network supports youth-led GSA’s to fight harassment & homophobia in Washington state schools. (206) 330-2099; www.glsenwa. org; www.wagsa.org. GLOBE (GLBTQ Loving Ourselves, Becoming Empowered): a support group & HIV/STD prevention program for GLBTQ youth, 14-20, in Everett, (425) 263-2908, www. globeyouth.org; It Gets Better Project: www.itgetsbetter.org; Lambert House: an activities & resource center for LGBT youth, 14-22, 1818 15th Ave @ E Denny Way, with additional support groups organized in smaller towns throughout King County, (206) 322-2515, www. lamberthouse.org; Lifelong HEYO (Health Education Youth Outreach): for LGBTQ youth, ages 16-24: (206) 957-1665; www.llaa.org/HEYO; www.MatthewsPlace. com; The Mockingbird Society: (206) 323-KIDS (5437), www.mockingbirdsociety.org; New Horizons: social services and shelter for homeless youth, 2708 3rd Ave (in Belltown), (206) 374-0866, http://namin.org; Oasis Youth Center: for GLBTQ youth, ages 14-25, in Tacoma, (253) 671-2838, www.oasisyouthcenter. org; OKAY! LGBTQ+ Outreach for Kent Area Youth: (253) 859-0699 ext 3034. OKAY! is an open support group for youth ages 13-19 who identify as LGBTQ+. A program of Kent Youth & Family Services; OUT There Adventures: www.outthereadventures.org; Parents, Family & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG)/ Puget Sound: (206) 325-7724, www.seattle-pflag.org; Pizza Klatch: weekly lunchtime support groups for LGBTQ youth in Thurston County, www.pizzaklatch. org; Prism: for LGBTQ youth, 14-21, in Puyallup Cherise.Alexander@ multicare.org; www.facebook. com/PuyallupPrism; Proud Out Wonderful (POW!): for LGBTQ youth, 13-21, in South King County, (206) 326-9112, www.facebook.com/proudoutwonderful; Q Youth Resources: in Kitsap County - (360) 698-3335; www.kchaf.org; Roots Young Adult Shelter: 1415 NE 43rd St., (206) 632-1635; www.rootsinfo.org; Safe Schools Coalition: www.safeschoolscoalition.org; (206) 451-SAFE, (206) 451-7233 (non-emergency), 1-877-SAFE-SAFE (1-877-723-3723) (crisis line); Seattle Young People’s Project (Queer Youth Resource Board): (206) 860-9606, www.sypp.org; Street Youth Ministries (SYM): (206) 524-7301 ext 111; www. streetyouthministries.org; Teen Link: (206) 461-4922, 1-888-431-TEEN; The Trevor Project: 866-4-U-Trevor; www.thetrevorproject.org; True Colors - Connecting LGBTQ Teens: in Shoreline, (206) 362-7282 x 8018, lbagley@chs-nw.org; The Vera Project: fuels personal & community transformation through collaborative youthdriven engagement in music and art. (206) 956-8372; theveraproject.org; Vista Youth Center: for LGBTQ, questioning and allied youth, ages 14-21, in Kennewick, (509) 396-5198, www.vistayouthcenter.org; YouthCare/ Isis Program (Transitional Living Home for LGBTQ Young Adults, 18-22): (206) 522-8412; YouthCare/ Orion Center Young Adult Shelter: 1828 Yale Ave @ Stewart St. (206) 622-5555; Youth in Focus: (206) 723-1479; www.youthinfocus.org; Youth Suicide Prevention Program (OUTLoud-GLBTQ): (206) 297-5922, ext 116, 1-800-273-TALK, www.yspp.org

Celebrating 46 Years!

www.gofundme.com/f/seattle-gay-news-needs-your-support-now • VISIT SGN.ORG

FILM

Emotionally astute disaster epic Greenland enjoyably ridiculous

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer GREENLAND PVOD (Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Xfinity, etc.)

If Roland Emmerich’s outlandishly overblown 2009 hit 2012 and Roar Uthaug’s 2015 critical darling The Wave got together and had a baby, it would probably look a lot like Ric Roman Waugh’s (Angel Has Fallen) goofy if grounded Gerard Butler disaster epic Greenland. Chris Sparling’s (Sea of Trees) efficient script strips this end-of-the-world thriller down to its barest essentials, keeping things focused on one family’s perilous journey to survive while eschewing many of the typically cartoonish tropes the genre is known for.

On his son Nathan’s (Roger Dale Floyd) birthday, structural engineer John Garrity (Butler) receives an alert claiming to be from the federal government. He, his estranged wife Allison (Morena Baccarin) and his little boy are to immediately leave their home, head to a nearby airport and be processed for emergency evacuation to an undisclosed location.

Initially thinking this must be a bad joke, the family quickly changes their tune when they see the breaking news. A fragment from a passing, initially thought to be harmless comet has made impact and the devastation is massive. Worse, it’s only a small taste of what is to come, larger pieces, including one which is being dubbed as a potential planet killer, all going to be hitting the planet over the coming days.

It’s not exactly shocking where things go next. For a variety of reasons which are essential to keep tensions high and the plot purposefully convoluted, Allison and Nathan will not make their scheduled flight and John will only find that out seconds before all heck breaks loose. Separated, the family will race to Allison’s father’s farm to hopefully reunite, encountering several increasingly perilous obstacles along the way. Once brought back together, they will learn the location of where the government is relocating everyone and will make one

SOUL

continued from page 18 jazz-infused sonic soundscape composed and arranged by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jonathan Batiste that’s magnificent.

But even with that being the case I still can’t quite embrace the film with both arms.

Something about it keeps me at a distance, and after watching it twice I’m still not 100% certain I know exactly why that is.

On the day part-time middle school band teacher and jazz pianist Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx) is offered a fulltime position, thanks to one of his former students he also lucks into auditioning for legendary vocalist Dorothea Williams (Angela Bassett). Impressed with the educator’s skills tickling the ivories, she gives him the chance to perform with her and her band while they’re in New York. For Joe, it is a dream come true, so many years of hard work seemingly about to pay off.

But with his head in the clouds and not on where he is going, Joe stumbles face-

Gerard Butler and Roger Dale Floyd in Greenland – Photo courtesy of HBO

final dash to get there before the comet’s debris makes the surface of the Earth a desolate unlivable nightmare.

What is startling is how effective all of this turns out to be. Sparling’s screenplay keeps the focus on the family and their relationships. When they are apart, we root for them to get back together. Once that happens, we find ourselves emotionally invested in their fight for survival. These are flesh and blood human beings and not stock caricatures typically found in big-budget Hollywood disaster flick tentpoles. While inhabiting characters well inside their respective wheelhouses, Butler and Baccarin are still strong in their roles, the former carrying things with the requisite gruff yet compassionate gravitas the story requires.

I think I was sold on the picture early on.

There’s a magnificent scene of the Garritys leaving for the airport where one of their

neighbors pleads for them to take their daughter, Nathan’s best friend, with them. It’s a heartbreaking sequence infused with a stark, unvarnished honesty these types of genre pictures typically avoid like the plague. Waugh plays down the inherent sensationalism of the moment and instead focuses on the tragic emotional truths driving John’s decisions, making the impact as they drive away all the more palpably upsetting.

It sets a tone for how things will play out from that point forward. Much like The Wave, it’s easy to become absorbed in even the more outlandish set pieces mainly because I felt so connected to the family.

Granted, as we’re dealing with the end of the world, it’s not like Waugh eschews special effects-fueled spectacle and comically excessive visual pyrotechnics entirely. Not at all. But no matter how silly it all gets the reality of the situation for the family is

rarely inauthentic, making the ridiculous stupidity even easier to digest.

Scott Glenn pops up in a key supporting role near the end of the second act, while composer David Buckley (Jason Bourne) provides a suitably atmospheric score overflowing in adrenaline. The effects work is solid if not spectacular, and while the frenetic finale works, it’s also a bit on the anticlimactic side if I’m being perfectly honest.

Not that it matters much. Greenland is a winner. Waugh has delivered one of the better major studio disaster epics I’ve seen in ages, imbuing it with enough heart, empathy and compassion that watching it in a 2020 featuring far too much actual grief, tragedy and despair ends up being satisfactorily worthwhile, a surprising turn of events I can’t say I saw coming.

first into calamity. With his comatose body in the hospital, the teacher’s soul heads straight for the hereafter. But instead of going to the Great Beyond Joe makes a frantic U-turn and ends up in the Great Before, a playful way station for new souls trying to figure out their various personality traits before being born back down on Earth.

Confused? Don’t be. Docter and company do a fine job fleshing out their scenario and establishing the various rules souls have to follow both entering and exiting the earthly plane. The short version is that Joe has no wish to die and is willing to do whatever he can to return to his body so he can play that gig with Dorothea. In his pursuit to make this happen, he is tasked with mentoring 22 (Tina Fey), a wayward soul who’d rather remain in the Great Before instead of going through the turmoil of being born living a human life.

In typical Pixar fashion, a lot of imaginative hijinks involving the pair ensues, including both Joe and 22 ending up down on Earth only with the young soul in his

former body while he’s forced inside the skin of a fluffy kitty. The pair run around New York trying to return 22 to the Great Before and the pianist back to his own body so he can perform with Dorothea. Along the way they learn several lessons about what it means to live a rich, fulfilling life, finding that metaphorical spark within that makes every experience, good, bad and inbetween, worth having.

It’s a lovely story, and I adored the lessons both Joe and 22 ended up taking to heart.

I also appreciated many of the quieter moments, ones where Docter gets to show his artistic genius; and his obvious affection for these characters and what they are going through is never in question. There is a goofy idiosyncratic charm to the Great Before that’s magical, and I likely spent at least half of the film’s 100-minute running time happily giggling in tearful joy.

So what’s the problem? Unlike Inside Out, there is an odd binary finality to Soul that for whatever reason rubbed me the wrong way. Everything tends to be an either/or proposition, giving things a rudi-

mentary gender-coded irrevocability that doesn’t feel nearly as well thought out or as craftily developed as one expects from a filmmaker as talented as Docter. Also, while I do not believe I am the person to go into this in detail, the fact Foxx barely spends even a quarter of the picture inhabiting Joe’s body and instead spends almost all of it either inside a cat or bopping around the screen as a squishy blue wraith was a little weird to me. It just didn’t sit right.

These misgivings aside, Docter’s latest is still pretty terrific. There’s marvelous supporting work from Phylicia Rashad as Joe’s seamstress mother Libba, while an entire set piece set at a local barbershop is outstanding. Foxx and Fey have luminous chemistry, while a running gag regarding all of the Great Before counselors being named “Jerry” is far more consistently amusing than it has any right to be. Most of all, Soul ends on the perfect note, its last moments overflowing in voluminous human insights so melodious I could happily hum its climactic tune for a lifetime and likely never grow tired of hearing it.

December 25, 2020

Seattle Gay News 21

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