SGN June 20, 2014 - Section 1

Celebrating 41 Years!

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Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Tel Aviv - Celebrating Pride in the Middle East Afp / Getty images

Tel Aviv Pride

by Viktor Bogatko SGN Contributing Writer Vibrant is the best way to describe Tel Aviv’s 16th annual Pride Parade last Friday that attracted more than 100,000 participants.

Shirtless Israeli men, colorfully dressed drag queens, and countless

partygoers celebrated Pride through central Tel Aviv as many thousands of people took part in the city’s annual Gay Pride Parade, the largest of its kind in the Middle East.

In a sea of rainbow clothing and accessories, participants wearing plain apparel were the ones who stuck out the most at this event. “I

should have worn a neon orange reflector!” said one such attendee, who smiled blushingly in her gray shirt. “I seem to be a clothing outsider here.”

With a Gay scene that competes with all Gay capitols around the world, a stunning beach, spectacular weather, delicious food, and many other attractions, Tel Aviv is

the Gay mecca of the Middle East.

The city was voted the world’s top Gay travel destination in 2011 in a survey by American Airlines and GayCities.com and hosts the biggest Pride event outside of Europe, Australia, and the Americas.

Thanks to a mayor who understands that equality and acceptance are paramount to the State of Israel, it is only getting bigger every year.

Mayor Ron Huldai decided several years ago to push Tel Aviv’s image as both peaceful and pink. He was able to secure about a quarter of a million dollars from the city’s tourism budget as part of the plan and vows to make his city a symbol of Israel’s hospitality for both the local and international LGBT communities.

“We are trying to create a model for openness, pluralism and tolerance,” Huldai later told the Associated Press. “Live and let live – this is the city of Tel Aviv.”

The annual parade featured a new route that started at Gan Me’ir Park with music, drag shows, and speeches. Specially designed floats, marching groups, uplifting music, and countless participants and spectators marched down Bo-

grashov, Hayarkon, Fishman, and Herbert Samuel streets, ending up at world famous Charles Clore Beach, where a party was held from 3 p.m. till sunset.

It was the most widely attended event of Pride Week, a seven-day Tel Aviv celebration packed with musical events, film screenings, festivals, bar nights and beach parties.

Throughout the week, Rabin Square was alight with rainbow lights and flags and even the streets were painted to reflect the city’s thriving LGBT culture.

A participant from the U.S. said the event, unlike many like it around the world, was a far more “inclusive celebration.”

“At the Chicago parade, you can watch on the other side of the street, but you can’t really participate in the actual procession,” she explained. “In Tel Aviv, the parade is the people.”

While the parade was certainly celebratory, there was also an emphasis on activism. Numerous stalls had been set up along the park’s main pathway, staffed by community organizers and activists. see tel aviv page 24

chimpreports.com

SeattlePI.com

The Color Guard: U.S. bans Ugandan officials, A proud tradition cuts aid over anti-Gay laws at Seattle PRIDE

Seattle Color Guard 2007

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Whenever a parade turns 40 years old, there’s bound to be some traditions that carry with it. Such is the case for the Seattle Pride Parade.

There’s the Dykes on Bikes, the dancing GSBA businessmen and women with their briefcases, and one group that literally stands out in front and sets the tone for the parade: The Color Guard.

Seattle Gay News caught up with some of the members of the Color

Guard to talk about its history and what parade revelers can expect to see June 29 at the Seattle Pride Parade.

Ron Rasmussen, a former United States Air Force Captain (19771989), organizes and participates in Color Guard. “Often I carry the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) flag, which is especially significant, because the U.S. was the second-to-last country in NATO to authorize Gays and Lesbians to serve in the military openly and honestly without regard to sexual orienta-

Museveni signing the anti-gay Bill at State House

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

The White House announced on June 19 that the United States would ban Ugandan officials involved in human rights abuses, and would cut off funding for Ugandan government services.

The press release specifically cited “the Government of Uganda’s enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality see Color Guard page 6 Act (AHA)” which “runs counter to

universal human rights and complicates our bilateral relationship.”

Although the White House press release reaffirms “our commitment to providing development and humanitarian support for the Ugandan people,” and “our partnership with the Ugandan government to counter the murderous Lord’s Resistance Army and improve security in Africa,” it also enumerates a number of measures designed to punish the Ugandan government

for enacting anti-Gay measures. “[T]he Department of State is taking measures to prevent entry into the United States by certain Ugandan officials involved in serious human rights abuses, including against LGBT individuals,” the White House said.

Banning foreign officials from entering the United States is considered a serious step, usually resee Uganda page 24

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Celebrating 41 Years!

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Celebrating 41 Years!

Trans* Pride celebrates and organizes for gender justice with renowned Trans* activist CeCe McDonald

Local activist group elevates experiences for celebrating and organizing the Trans* community On Friday, June 27, Trans* Pride Seattle 2014 marches through the streets of Capitol Hill, ending at Cal Anderson Park, for a community festival and resource fair. Trans* Pride Seattle 2014 builds on the momentum of Trans* Pride 2013, the second largest Trans* Pride in the country with 2,200+ Trans* and allied participants. Seattle held the first‐ever Transgender pride in the nation in 1997.

In 2012, Vice President Joe Biden proclaimed that Transgender discrimination is “the civil rights issue of our time” and it elevated the narrative of Trans* justice. However, there is much work to be done in breaking down barriers and isolation. In hopes to leverage the conversation of gender justice and Trans* justice, Gender Justice League and its event, Trans* Pride Seattle, seek to draw attention to the work that still needs to be done for Transgender and gender non‐conforming folks across Washington state and across the country.

The march begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 27 with an award presentation for two well‐ known allies, Heklina Heklina and Mama Tits. Marchers will assemble on Broadway in front of Seattle Central Community College, march south to E. Pike St., then east to 11th Ave. E. and continue toward and enter Cal Anderson Park for an inclusive, no smoking celebration, with ASL interpreters, wheelchair and chemical sensitivity, community resource fair, and local food trucks.

Gender Justice League enthusiastically welcomes nationally renowned Trans* speakers, Queer musical guests, and SPECIAL Trans* Pride parties and celebrations. Trans* Pride Seattle 2014 welcomes CeCe McDonald, frequent speaker alongside Laverne Cox of Orange is the New Black, and author Janet Mock.

She is an outspoken activist around the experiences of Trans women and incarceration – especially Trans women of color. CeCe was arrested for the death of her Transphobic attacker and sentenced to 41 months in prison.

Visit us online www.sgn.org

Currently, she is free and works to expand the narrative around Trans* women beyond outdated stereotypes and narratives.

“Trans* women are women. Trans* men are men. There’s no distinguishing between a “real” woman and a trans* woman. The problem,” explains McDonald, is that “Trans people are seen as objects or props, and people don’t attach the humanity to us and the things we go through.”

Trans* Pride Seattle 2014 and Gender Justice League hope to break isolation, attach humanity to the Trans* community, and allow the whole community to see each other authentically. In addition, Trans* Pride Seattle 2014 welcomes Kai M. Green, writer, poet, and filmmaker of It Gets Messy in Here.

His work centers on Trans* men and masculine identified women of color.

Kai says, “I had this whole idea that I couldn’t be black and I couldn’t be Gay at the same time. I had to choose, and at the end of the day if I had to choose, I was going to choose black.” He states, “I basically decided that I just had to be myself and that came with, one, embracing the fact that I was black, and Gay, and I didn’t want to let either of those go. That is a coming out moment, but it was over a span of years, where it was really coming out to myself and realizing how to manage my own identities, which for me were in conflict.” Finally, Kai shares “Now, my consciousness has changed, where I feel like they’re not in conflict. It’s a beautiful thing to have all of those identities in one body.” Kai speaks truth to a similar feeling Trans* people confront in their deeper understanding and acceptance of self.

Finally, Trans* Pride Seattle 2014 welcomes Elena Rose (Rose) a mixed-race, mixed‐class, mestiza writer, religious scholar, and artist currently attending seminary in Northern California, whose forthcoming book, Mountain of Myrrh, is set to be re-

leased by Dinah Press.

Additionally, Trans* Pride Seattle 2014 features The Nasty Habits, a punk-glam group playing music from the ‘80s and ‘90s with an edge and energy as well as music by DJ Trinitron.

Trans* Pride Seattle 2014 and Gender Justice League are proud to have the support of community groups and friends. Parties and celebrations that have named them as beneficiaries of their parties: Nark Magazine’s Gender Blender at Neighbours Nightclub on June 26, featuring Le1f, Ben DeLaCreme, Joslyn Fox, Mama Tits, and more! LICK! hosts the official Trans* Pride Seattle 2014 After Party at Chop Suey on June 27, featuring DJ Dewey Decimal, Res, and Troubled Youth. Finally, T-Shack Seattle Pride Edition, on June 27th at Unicorn will donate all cover proceeds to Gender Justice League. T-Shack is hosted by Mama Tits and Heklina Heklina, 2014 Gender Justice League Trailblazer Awardees.

Trans* Pride Seattle 2014 (www.transprideseattle.org), a Pride event organized by Gender Justice League, energizes the Trans* movement for more gender justice and connects racial justice, disability justice, economic justice, immigration justice, and more because Trans* people are not of a single identity or movement. The collaboration between community groups and sponsors indicates a commitment to building community across movements. Most importantly, Trans* Pride Seattle seeks to break the isolation so the whole community can see each other more fully and authentically. Building empathy and connecting neighbors, allies, and Trans* folks is imperative to dismantling barriers to access, health, and a happy life.

The primary sponsor and organizer of Trans* Pride Seattle 2014 is Gender Justice League (www.genderjusticeleague.

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see TRANS* Pride page 21

Seattle Dyke March celebrates 20th anniversary gan. And arguably there have been even more changes in our culture at large. Marriage equality is becoming the law in more states every day. In 1994, we were still three years away from the frenzy that surrounded Ellen Degeneres’ coming out on her television show, which prompted advertisers to flee from the show, which was cancelled the following season. Today Ellen is a top-rated talk show host and homemakers all over the country cooed at Ellen and Portia’s wedding photos.

Even in light of remarkable progress, the Dyke March remains important.

“The Dyke March is important for the same reason the Pride Parade is important, the Million Man March is important, May Day is important. In our day-to-day lives, we are the minority,” Jill Mullins-Cannon said. “A girl who is too strong, too opinionated, too talented, but especially pro-woman – she is accused of being a Dyke. The Dyke March is our opportunity to say, ‘If being a woman and loving it, and believing women are worthy of loving, well then, hell yeah! Sign me up.’”

tion,” he told Seattle Gay News.

“The Color Guard in the Seattle Pride Parade offers parade-watchers a Norman Rockwell-style moving tableau, conveying GLBT military history and timeless tradition,” Rasmussen told Seattle Gay News. “Because the Color Guard carries many flags, including the Rainbow flag, the Color Guard sets the tone for commemoration, celebration, and moving forward into the future, with colorful flags and colorful personalities.”

Rasmussen is a member of Veterans for Human Rights (VfHR), a group that was incorporated in 1993 as a public benefit corporation, organized and operating under the laws of the State of Oregon. He told Seattle Gay News that from the mid-1990s through 2010, the Color Guard was organized and provided by American Veterans for Human Rights/Puget Sound Chapter. “I participated with them in Color Guard for many of those years,” he said.

When that group went defunct, Portlandbased VfHR has, since 2012, organized and provided the Color Guard for the Seattle Pride Parade. In addition, VfHR has done the Color Guard for the Portland Pride Parade each year since 1996.

Rasmussen says that while the Color Guard for the Seattle Pride Parade for 2004 and 2010 were especially poignant; 2012 was “especially celebratory: the first parade after the end of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’”

“Because individual members of the Color Guard are GLBT U.S. military veterans, as well as guard and reserve and active military, each person can readily understand that we are no longer second-class citizens and unwanted patriots,” he explains. “Individual participants routinely report feeling a sense of determination, dedication, pride, character, and service to others, all magnified by the cheers of the thronging crowds on parade day.”

“When I participate in Color Guard, the second line of the Declaration of Independence

rings like a carillon of bells in my mind: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’” said Rasmussen.

There’s another Color Guard volunteer who believes, like Rasmussen, that the membership of the marching unit should be lined with individuals that believe in the declaration of independence and fight for what is right. You may recognize the name Geoffrey McGrath as the embattled openly Gay Scoutmaster of the 98th Rainier scout group from Seattle, Washington. Currently McGrath is fighting the Boy Scouts of America for no longer recognizing the troop as an official part of the organization after they learned he was Gay. Last week at the Portland Pride Parade, for the first time in the nation, Scouting units from the BPSA (Baden-Powell Service Association) lead the nation by participating in the parade with their unit banners – units from the 55th Cascadia of Portland, Oregon, accompanied by the Group Scoutmaster from the new 98th Rainier scout group from Seattle, Washington, said McGrath.

“This year in Seattle is different, in that for the first time in the nation here in Seattle we are marching with unit flags (flags representing individual units of the BSA) – specific Packs and Troops have asked their flags be flown in support of the LGBT community, and as a commitment that the discrimination will end here, today, with us, and that forevermore these units will stand in mutual support and defense of their LGBT members, and will provide equal dignity to all,” McGrath told Seattle Gay News.

Last year, the Chief Seattle Council and the Boy Scouts of America separately declined the request for a color guard at Seattle Pride, stating “Providing a color guard in a Gay pride parade is going to be perceived and could suggest an endorsement of homosexuality and homosexual behavior. Such endorsement – be it active or passive – is not permitted,” wrote

Richard John Mathews, General Counsel of BSA, in a June 5, 2013 letter to McGrath.

In the next paragraph it stated the general rule: “[U]niformed unit members and leaders may participate in flag ceremonies at political events and may lead the Pledge of Allegiance; however, they should retire after the ceremony and not remain on the speakers’ platform or in any conspicuous location where television viewers could construe their presence as an endorsement or symbol of support.”

“While I respect BSA’s legal right to selectively refuse this courtesy, I want to urge them to remember their moral obligation to act equally towards all community organizations,” McGrath told Seattle Gay News.

“With the BSA’s vote last year to allow openly Gay youth, we feel it is important to engage and support our newly accepted community of Gay youth. What message are we sending to these youth, if we don’t? Together, Ron Rasmussen and I believe that the mutual exchange of courtesies and normalization of relations without making special exceptions will allow civil society to mend the harms caused by years of exclusion of openly Gay youth and adults in Scouting.”

McGrath believes it is the right of the LGBT community to expect a display of the national symbols, provided by the military, police, fire, or Boy Scouts that form a Color Guard, just as it is done in any other parades. “By doing so, these systems in turn begin to respond better to the needs of the LGBT community,” he said. “It opens channels of communication and normalizes relationships. It is part of becoming the center of American life, rather than forever existing on the fringe.”

“The crowd really responds to these visible displays of our national symbols – it can be very healing and normalizing, just as when religious groups, PFLAG, or other typically ‘straight’ groups, march in Pride with their banners,” he said. “It communicates ‘we’re here, we are you.’ This is us – we are our community, staking our claim in equal dignity.”

Because of BSA’s continuing discrimina-

tion against LGBT adult participation as volunteers or as employees, it is necessary to communicate to the audience messages such as “It STILL isn’t OK to be Gay in the BSA,” said McGrath.

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The Seattle Lesbian

that is reserved for celebrating the activism and adventures of the Dykes of Seattle,” said Whitney Fraser, who has been an organizer since 2000. “We also bring a political voice to Pride as opposed to the more commercial endeavors.”

Speakers and performers at this year’s event include Chonie Vargas, Sistah Hail Storm, Nina Packenbush, Rainbow City Band, Militant Child and others. The event’s organizers open the stage to performers and speakers who are Queer women and Dyke-identified people across the gender spectrum.

“Gay women need their own space within the Gay world and also within the female world,” said Laura Mullins-Cannon, who joined the planning team with her wife, Jill Mullins-Cannon, who has been an organizer for about a decade.

“A lot of our lives are spent among peo-

ple who we like, but who don’t necessarily understand or identify with us. The Dyke March is a healthy, fun way for us to be completely comfortable with our Gay female selves and surrounded by other like-minded women,” Laura Mullins-Cannon said.

For Jill Mullins-Cannon, that sense of community may be the most powerful part of the Dyke March experience.

“Women are often marginalized, even in the LGBTQ community. The Pride parade is overwhelmingly male. There needs to be a space for women,” Jill Mullins-Cannon said. “I love walking on the streets and being surrounded with Queer women in every direction. All ages, races, abilities, gender expressions, and feeling like the sea of women doesn’t stop. There is simply nothing like being with about 1,000 Queer women and feeling that sense of powerful community.”

Diversity of identity and expression are key components of the event, and organizers work hard to find speakers and performers who represent a broad spectrum of Queer women’s experience.

“The first Dyke March I ever went to had several members of the deaf community, and I learned there was a vibrant deaf LGBT community. Being LGBTQ can be hard, when we have multiple identities it can even be harder,” Jill Mullins-Cannon said. “I think a Dyke March is always a success if a person has seen themselves and found a community that fits her and all of her identities. I also love it when the Dyke March can inspire us and show us all that we are capable of.”

There have been many changes in the LGBTQ community since the Dyke March be-

Seattle Dyke March

by Elizabeth Trever Special to the SGN The Seattle Dyke March, the oldest continuous Pride event on Capitol Hill, is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2014. The event kicks off with live music and speakers at 5 p.m., Saturday, June 28 at Broadway and E. Pine St., followed by the march. New this year is an after party in Cal Anderson Park featuring a performance by The Redwood Plan.

Seattle Dyke March began in 1994, just one year after the inaugural Dyke Marches in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, as a way to create visibility for a community whose long involvement in Gay pride activism was often sidelined or diminished.

“I think it’s critically important to our community that we create and maintain this space

Color GuarD continued from cover

Seattle Dyke March and Rally Saturday, June 28 5 p.m., Rally, corner of Broadway and Pine 7 p.m., Dyke March 8 p.m. After party featuring The Redwood Plan, Cal Anderson Park March Route: Begin from the south plaza of Seattle Central Community College, head up E. Pine St., then go north on 12th Ave. Turn west on E. Mercer St. and march down Broadway back to the starting point.

Details: https://www.facebook.com/SeattleDykeMarch

“This is a particular message that is needed to get out – to help make it clear even to an awkward 12 year old who is thinking about coming out to a trusted adult, that their Scoutmaster is not a guaranteed safe place to talk about his concerns,” he said.

“The BSA still has a discriminatory and homophobic stance that doesn’t allow anyone over 18 to participate who is Gay. We want to make it clear that we are marching to end this discrimination and to demand equality.”

As same-sex marriage now becomes legal, state by state, backed up by the Supreme Court ruling, and President Obama is signing legislation to end discrimination in the public sector, McGrath says, “we still have a long way yet to go to end discrimination in the private sector, which is how the BSA gets away with this hurtful stance.”

“It is for these critical messages – national pride and equal dignity as well as safety considerations for our Gay youth – that ask that our Color Guard lead the parade,” he said.

“It makes a bold statement for everyone.”

“As a member of the color guard, whether Gay or straight (and we are both!), I feel overwhelmed by the response of the crowd – the love we feel extended towards us reinforces our feeling in a beautiful heterodyne, and bonds us tightly together in allegiance to each other,” he concluded.

All LGBT Military Veterans, Guard/Reserve or Active-Duty Military are cordially invited to join Veterans for Human Rights for this year’s Color Guard for the Seattle Pride Parade on Sunday morning, June 29 at 4th Ave. & Union St. Parade steps off promptly at 11 a.m. www. vfhr.org or call Ron at 360-896-9394 (9 a.m.-9 p.m.). (If leaving a voice message, please state your phone number slowly and clearly.)

Celebrating 41 Years!

Obama will sign executive order to protect LGBT employees The White House announced on June 16 that President Obama will sign an executive order protecting LGBT employees of federal contractors from workplace discrimination.

Most large employers do business with the federal government and would likely be covered under an executive order.

The President had been under intense pressure from LGBT rights groups to issue just such an order, but in the past said he preferred that Congress pass ENDA (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act). The U.S. Senate passed ENDA last year, but Republican House Speaker John Boehner said he would not bring the bill to a vote in the House.

In March, 195 Democratic lawmakers sent the White House a letter urging him to act quickly to protect LGBT workers.

At an HRC dinner on June 17, Obama joked about his initial reluctance to issue the order banning discrimination against LGBT employees.

“Sometimes you guys were a little impatient,” Obama said. “Sometimes I had to say, ‘Will you just settle down for a second?’”

“That’s why I’ve directed my staff... “ he went on. Knowing what was coming, the crowd drowned out the rest of the statement in thunderous applause.

The President added that ENDA is still necessary because an executive order would cover several million employees, but federal law would cover everyone.

“We’ve got to keep working for equality in the workplace,” he said. “Every day millions of people go to work knowing they could lose their jobs, he said, not because of something they did “but because of who they are.”

Washington’s Democratic Senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, applauded the President’s announcement, but reaffirmed their support for ENDA. They were

among the signers of the March letter urging Obama to issue an executive order.

“This announcement is long overdue, but a major step nonetheless,” Murray said in an email to SGN. “Who you are or who you love has no implication on your quality of work. Unfortunately, House Republicans seem to disagree. Every American deserves these protections and I will keep fighting until Congress finally does right by the LGBT community and passes the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.” “This is a major step forward to protect millions of Americans from workplace discrimination,” Cantwell said in a statement. “Today, the federal government is sending an important message: Federal contractors will be judged on their work, not their sexual orientation.

“But we still have work to do. Today, millions of Americans can still be fired solely on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. It’s time for Congress to put an end to that discrimination and pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.” LGBT and workers’ rights groups also joined in praise for Obama, but vowed to continue pushing for federal legislation.

“We are glad the president is taking this important step to protect federal contractor employees from discrimination on the job,” Pride At Work Executive Director Jerame Davis said. “But unfortunately for many Americans – especially in states with no employment discrimination protections – their only option for workplace protections is still a strong union contract.

“Congress still must act to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to ensure that all LGBT Americans are protected from workplace discrimination. Only 18 states currently ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity while three other states ban discrimination based on sexual orientation alone. With marriage equality sweeping the nation, it is

theguardian.com

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Barack Obama

unconscionable that gays and lesbians could still be fired for putting a photo of their legal spouse on their desk at work.”

“This is a major step forward in the struggle for freedom and justice for LGBTQ workers and their families,” said National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey. “Now millions of people will have the economic security they need to provide for their families. Through his actions, the President has demonstrated again his commitment to ending discrimination…

“Unfortunately, many of us who don’t work for federal contractors will still lack workplace protections. Now we must redouble our efforts for the urgent passage of state employment protections and strong federal legislation.”

Many LGBT rights organizations have expressed reservations about the religious exemptions allowed in the current form of ENDA, and Carey did not explicitly endorse the measure.

According to the White House, staffers are still drafting the executive order, and it is not yet clear what exemptions – if any – will be allowed. Republican Senator Orin Hatch said he expected the executive order to include the same broad exemptions as ENDA now does.

“ENDA strikes a good balance to ensure that discrimination based on sexual orientation will not be tolerated, but also that one of our nation’s fundamental freedoms – religious freedom – is still upheld,” Hatch said.

“The same must be said for any Obama Administration initiative on this issue.”

New guidelines: Insurers can cover Trans federal employees, OPM says The federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued new guidelines June 13, striking their previous requirement that the Federal Employees Health Benefits program (FEHB) exclude care for gender transition.

In a letter to FEHB insurance carriers, OPM acknowledges the “evolving professional consensus that treatment is considered medically necessary” for Transgender people.

The new guidelines mean that insurers who cover federal employees may now offer medical services related to transition, but they are not required to do so.

OPM’s letter to insurance providers “is consistent with decades of research and practice demonstrating that access to transition-related care significantly improves the health of transgender people and that exclusions blocking coverage put patients’ lives at risk and undermine the ability of medical professionals to appropriately care for their

patients,” Center for American Progress policy analyst Andrew Cray wrote.

“Removing barriers to coverage has become a proven good employment practice, and enables transgender employees to live healthy, authentic lives.”

OPM’s decision places the federal government on the growing list of American employers who are reversing discrimination against their Transgender employees by treating their health care needs as they do other types of care.

The California Public Employees’s Retirement System (CalPERS), the country’s second-largest purchaser of health insurance, removed exclusions for transition-related care last year, and several state and municipal governments have also increased access to healthcare for their Trans employees.

In the private sector, HRC’s 2013 Corporate Equality Index found that more than a quarter of Fortune 500 companies now offer their employees healthcare coverage that is fully inclusive of Transgender health needs.

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Seattle Gay News 7

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Visit us online www.sgn.org

Iowa Supreme Court reverses HIV conviction Bill Wadman

Nick Rhoades

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer In a June 13 ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court reversed the conviction of a man accused of “criminal transmission of HIV” after a consensual sexual encounter in 2008.

The defendant in the case, Nick Rhoades, had been convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison and classified as a sex offender.

In June 2008, Rhoades hooked up with Adam Plendl. Rhoades had been diagnosed

as HIV-positive ten years earlier, was on medication, and had an undetectable viral load. The two had unprotected oral sex, followed by anal sex using a condom. Rhoades did not disclose his HIV status.

Some days later, Plendl was told by friends that Rhoades was HIV-positive and filed a complaint with police. They arrested Rhoades in September 2008, forced him to undergo HIV testing, and charged him under an Iowa law making it a crime for HIV-positive people to have sex – protected or unpro-

tected – without disclosing their HIV status.

On the advice of his public defender, Rhoades pleaded guilty, without, as he later maintained, being informed of what the consequences of a conviction would actually be.

Although his sentence was subsequently suspended, and he was released from prison, he was required to serve five years of probation during which his sex life was monitored by state officials, and he was required to register as a sex offender.

In March 2010 Rhoades filed an Application for Post-Conviction Relief, arguing that the attorney who advised him to plead guilty had failed to inform him of the specifics of the statute, resulting in his conviction for a crime he did not in fact commit.

In December 2011, an Iowa district court denied the application. Lambda Legal then agreed to represent Rhoades in his appeal, and argued the case on his behalf in the Iowa Supreme Court in March 2014.

In reversing the conviction, the Court recognized that HIV-positive individuals who have a reduced viral load as a result of effective treatment pose little risk of transmitting HIV. “Based on the state of medicine both now and at the time of the plea in 2009, we are unable to take judicial notice that an infected individual can transmit HIV, regardless of an infected individual’s viral load, when that individual engages in protected anal or unprotected oral sex with an uninfected person,” Justice David Wiggins wrote in his majority opinion.

Christopher Clark, Counsel for Lambda Legal, applauded the court “for applying the law in light of current medical understanding of how HIV is and is not transmitted.”

“An individual who takes precautions to prevent transmission should not be considered a criminal for choosing to be sexually active, and we are very pleased that the Court agrees,” Clark added.

“The importance of the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision cannot be overstated. We look forward to making these arguments again and to taking this Court’s clear guidance on the interpretation and application of these types of laws to the many jurisdictions in which HIV criminalization remains a pressing issue.”

Scott Schoettes, HIV Project Director for Lambda Legal, called on Iowa and states with similar laws to update them to reflect current scientific understanding of HIV. “In light of today’s decision, we believe that additional modifications to the state’s infectious disease law should be considered,” Schottes said.

“Great strides were made through the law’s recent amendment, and we are hopeful that today’s decision – acknowledging the effectiveness of various HIV prevention measures – will fuel the Iowa Legislature’s clear desire to bring the state’s law fully up to date.

“Thirty-nine states have HIV-specific criminal statutes or have brought HIV-related criminal charges resulting in more than 160 prosecutions in the United States in the past four years. Among other things, HIV criminalization perpetuates the many myths and misconceptions that fuel other types of discrimination against people living with HIV. It sends an inaccurate message regarding prevention responsibility, creates a disincentive to getting tested, and may actually discourage disclosure of HIV status.”

A historic day for our judiciary

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June 20, 2014

that our courts reflect the growing diversity of our country, but we have a long way to go,” Lesh said in a written statement.

Though there is much more work to be done, these historic milestones are trend-

ing fairly well with history making events taking place all over the country over the past couple of years proving America is becoming a more just and accepting place for its LGBT community.

TWITTER

On Tuesday, June 17, the Senate made history by confirming two openly Gay African American judges to the federal judiciary.

Darrin Gayles was nominated by President Obama and confirmed unanimously by the Senate to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He is the first openly Gay African American man to be confirmed as a lifetime appointed federal judge in our nation’s history.

His vote came just after the Senate confirmed Staci Yandle to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, by a vote of 52-44. She will be the first African American Lesbian federal judge in two decades, the second one in the nation’s history, the first African American to serve on her court, and the first openly Gay lifetime appointed federal judge in Illinois.

“Never before in the course of the history of our state has there been an Article III federal judge who is openly a member of the LGBT community,” Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said ahead of Yandle’s vote. “In short, Staci Yandle’s confirmation marks another important milestone in America’s journey toward equality of opportunity.”

The Senate also confirmed Salvador Mendoza to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington by a vote of 92-4, making him the first Hispanic federal judge to serve on that court.

The historic confirmations come amid an equally historic string of confirmations during President Obama’s time in office that will leave the federal judiciary more diverse than ever before.

President Obama’s judiciary diversity record is unmatched by any other president in U.S. history. He has appointed more openly Gay judges than any other president, more female judges than any other president, more Hispanic judges than any other president, more Asian American judges than all the presidents combined, and the first ever Native American female federal judge in the nation’s history.

Presidential counsel Neil Eggleston called it “a historic day for our judiciary” in a blog post.

“These milestones are important not because these judges will consider cases differently, but because a judiciary that better resembles our nation instills even greater confidence in our justice system.”

While Gay judges aren’t necessarily going to rule in favor of the LGBT community, it’s a good bet they will be more inclined to do so, as witnessed in both the California and Oregon marriage equality cases, in which Gay judges ruled in favor of marriage equality.

Still, according to Eric Lesh of Lambda Legal, most of the nearly 900 top federal judges remain white men, an impediment in improving the quality of justice and boosting public confidence in the courts.

“Today, it is more important than ever

by Viktor Bogatko SGN Contributing Writer

Darrin Gayles

Celebrating 41 Years!

LGBT groups have second thoughts about ENDA A number of LGBT rights groups are having second thoughts about ENDA (the Employee Non-Discrimination Act).

Although the measure – which would prohibit employers from discriminating against LGBT workers – was once part of the platform of every LGBT group, many people have come to believe that the broad religious exemptions included in the language of the bill would be harmful to the LGBT community.

Specifically, many LGBT rights advocates charge that ENDA’s religious exemptions would allow employers who claim religious affiliation to discriminate against LGBT workers even if they are not employed in ministerial or pastoral positions.

Such broad exemptions, once thought to be essential to passing the legislation, are unprecedented in U.S. civil rights legislation, and some fear they could gut the nondiscrimination protections.

Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said in an email that NCLR now “strongly oppose[s] any religious exemption in ENDA or any other federal, state, or local non-discrimination law that is broader than the religious exemption that already exists in federal civil rights laws.”

“We do not support legislation that will create a new and broader exemption for LGBT people than exists for other protected groups,” Minter said. “While we are confident the current discriminatory religious exemption in ENDA will not be part of the final legislation, we will not continue to support ENDA if it is not changed to be consistent with Title VII’s religious exemption.”

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act contains an exemption that addresses a narrow issue, specifically the interest of a church-affiliated organization to create a community of fellow believers.

Therefore, Title VII’s exemption allows such organizations to hire employees based on their religion, which would otherwise be prohibited, in order for the employer to maintain its religious identity. Title VII does not restrict protections in the law against

workplace discrimination based on race, sex, or national origin.

“There is a long history now of accommodating religious beliefs, by permitting certain narrowly defined religious employers to favor individuals from the same faith,” Minter explained. “That Title VII exemption is reasonable” because “religious liberty is important.

That kind of accommodation, we have decided for a long time now, makes sense.”

“But never, ever,” he added, “has a civil rights law – certainly not at the federal level or state level – said in addition to that, you can also discriminate on the basis of other protected categories, such as race, gender, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity… “[S]anctioning that type of discrimination is antithetical to the whole purpose of an anti-discrimination statue. And to set the precedent that there is somehow something special or different about antidiscrimination laws for LGBT people that warrant that kind of unprecedented and unprincipled exemption would open a door that we do not want to open. I think it is very dangerous.”

Mark Snyder, communications manager for the Transgender Law Center said that his organization is also “unable to support ENDA in its current form.”

“We are fully committed to continuing to work for the passage of a law like ENDA that contains an exemption for religious organizations that is no broader than the exemption in Title VII,” Snyder added.

GetEqual and Queer Nation also say they no longer support ENDA in its current version.

Queer Nation has called for a comprehensive civil rights law that would ban discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, education and federallyfunded programs.

In a recent joint statement, TLC joined with NCLR, ACLU, and Lambda Legal to explain their reservations about ENDA as it now stands.

“Some courts have said that even hospitals and universities may be able to claim the exemption; thus, it is possible that a religiously affiliated hospital could fire a transgender doctor or a religiously affiliated

Maria Belen Perez Gabilondo / AFP / Getty Images

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

university could terminate a gay groundskeeper,” the statement says.

HRC, Lambda Legal, ACLU, and the National Center for Transgender Equality say they would support passing the current draft of ENDA, but they remain concerned about any religious exemption carve-out provisions.

Several state LGBT groups have also withdrawn support from ENDA. FreedomOhio, Equality New Mexico, the Transgender Education Network of Texas, and Wyoming Equality now say they do not support the bill with the current exemption.

Other state LGBT groups say they still support the legislation, but are deeply concerned about the effects of the broad religious exemption.

“Equality Michigan supports the passage

of ENDA because our role as advocates is to stop harm, and in Michigan, a report from our own Civil Rights Department showed that discrimination against LGBT people in our state is pervasive,” said Emily Dievendorf, executive director.

“Equality Michigan does not support the religious exemptions and holds onto enough concerns around the exemptions that we reserve the right to withdraw support for ENDA should the exemptions prove likely to endanger its ability to provide the intended protections and/or to do no harm – two criteria any quality policy must meet the first time around.”

Equal Rights Washington did not respond to a recent Washington Blade poll on the issue.

Judge rejects challenge to Pennsylvania marriage ruling

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer U.S. District Judge John E. Jones ruled on June 18 that a Pennsylvania county official may not intervene to challenge his ruling that the state must allow same-sex couples to marry.

Jones initially ruled on May 20 that Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional in a case brought by the ACLU on behalf of 11 couples.

Pennsylvania’s Democratic Attorney General, Kathleen Kane, said before trial that she agreed the law was unconstitutional and she would not defend it. Republican Governor Tom Corbett hired outside attorneys to defend the state’s marriage law, but within 24 hours of Jones’s ruling he decided to drop the state’s appeal.

Enter Schuykill County Registrar of Wills Theresa Santai-Gaffney. As the county official charged with issuing marriage licenses, she then petitioned Jones to be allowed to intervene in the case and appeal to the

Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Citing her “deep personal disagreement” with Jones’s ruling, Santai-Gaffney said she should be allowed to represent the state of Pennsylvania in the appeals process.

Jones rejected her reasoning, however.

“If the highest elected official in the commonwealth chooses to abide by our decision, it defies credulity that we would permit a single citizen to stand in for him to perfect an appeal,” he wrote.

Santai-Gaffney also claimed Jones decision made the state’s marriage law and the scope of her duties unclear.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Jones wrote, saying the decision was clarified in a notice issued by the state Department of Health to clerks that handle marriage licenses.

“There is nothing remotely ambiguous about how Santai-Gaffney must perform her duties relative to issuing marriage licenses,” Jones said. “At bottom, we have before us a contrived legal argument by a private citizen who seeks to accomplish what

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the chief executive of the commonwealth, in his wisdom, has declined to do.”

James Smith, an attorney for SantaiGaffney, said a notice of appeal to the Third Circuit in Philadelphia was filed

within an hour of Jones’s ruling.

“We were prepared for this decision,” Smith told The Associated Press. “We expect the Third Circuit to allow us to intervene. This is an important matter that deserves an appeal.”

June 20, 2014

Seattle Gay News 9

Compiled by Doug Hamilton SGN Contributing Writer and by Rick McKinnon SGN Staff Writer

FRIDAY, JUNE 20 “Out & In: A Pride Comedy Showcase” Seattle’s biggest and Gayest stand up

comedy showcase is back at the Neptune SATURDAY, JUNE 21 Theatre (1303 NE 45th St.) at 8 p.m., headCapital City Pride Festival lined by the incomparable Guy Branum Olympia’s Pride Festival starts at 11 a.m. (“Chelsea Lately,” “Totally Biased,” “Last in Sylvester Park at Legion & Capital Way. Comic Standing”). Guy will be preceded by Regional entertainers, food, arts & crafts, hometown favorite Soloman Georgio along booths. www.capitalcitypride.net with Elicia Sanchez, Abbey Drake, Nick Sahoyah and special guests. “Out & In” is SATURDAY, JUNE 21 made possible by Seattle Theatre Group’s Future Unfolding: Nights at the Neptune and is proud to supA New Queer Arts Showcase port the efforts of Gay City Health Project.

Followed by a Dance Party FREE. www.stgpresents.org.

LOVETUNNEL and Landon Longhill team up to curate this showcase, featurFRIDAY, JUNE 20 ing performance by Landon Longhill celSATURDAY, JUNE 28 ebrating the new chapbook “Pack Light.”

Theatre22 Presents The Lisbon Traviata An all ages event; cash bar with ID. 7:30

by Terrence McNally p.m. at The Piranha Shop (1022 1st Ave. Theatre22’s First Annual Summer Pride S.) across from the sports stadiums. Cost: Series production runs Thursdays through $6-$20 sliding scale (no one turned away Saturdays, with industry night performance for lack of funds). www.facebook.com/ Monday, June 23, at 8 p.m. and two matinees events/794213183936937 Saturdays June 21 & June 28 at 2:30 p.m., at Richard Hugo House (1634 11th Ave.). TickSUNDAY, JUNE 22 ets $22 general; $14 student/senior/military; Seattle Frontrunners $10 TPS, with $10 minimum pay-what-you2014 Run & Walk with Pride can tickets on Thursdays and Monday, June Run and Walk With Pride is an annual 23. www.theatre22.org or www.brownpap- community event open to all, presented by ertickets.com/event/575647.

Seattle Frontrunners, an LGBT running club. Join us on Sunday, June 22 in Seward FRIDAY, JUNE 20 Park (5895 Lake Washington Blvd. S.) for PBS/Independent Lens a fun 4K run, 10K run, or 4K walk. Event Presents The New Black starts at 9 a.m. www.rwwp.org; seattleKCTS-TV, Channel 9, at 9 p.m., broad- frontrunners-3zjf.squarespace.com casts The New Black, a groundbreaking documentary about the conversation on SUNDAY, JUNE 22 same-sex marriage in the African AmeriCapital City Pride Parade & Festival can community during Maryland’s fight for Olympia’s Pride Parade starts at noon marriage equality in 2012. The New Black at the State Capitol Building / Festival in takes viewers into the pews and onto the the Park starts at 1 pm in Sylvester Park streets and provides a seat at the kitchen at Legion & Capitol Way. Regional entertable as it tells the story of the historic fight tainers, food, arts & crafts, booths. www. to win marriage equality in Maryland and capitalcitypride.net charts the evolution of this divisive issue within the black community.

SUNDAY, JUNE 22 Seattle Storm Pride Kickoff Game SATURDAY, JUNE 21 against the Washington Mystics A History of Queering Up the Hill: The first 3,000 fans in attendance will A Walking Tour of Capitol Hill receive a free T-shirt. The Seattle Storm Discover Capitol Hill’s LGBTQ commu- has invited Greater Seattle Business Asnity organizations and legendary bars, and sociation (GSBA) Scholars to attend the engage in stories and discussion. MOHAI’s game in recognition of their achieveguides will explore various viewpoints, is- ments. 6 p.m. at Key Arena (Seattle Censues and challenges facing present and ter, 1st Ave. N. & Harrison St.). Tickets at past Seattle Queers. Meet at fountain at Cal www.wnba.com/storm/tickets/ Anderson Park (11th Ave. & E. Howell St.) Tickets: $25-general, $20-MOHAI memSUNDAY, JUNE 22 bers. NOTE: Must be 21+ to attend this Seattle Frontrunners tour. www.mohai.org.

5th Annual Underwear Fashion Show Some of Seattle’s hottest athletes and SATURDAY, JUNE 21 boylesque performers model fashion underPride ASIA wear from UnderU4men to raise money for Founded in 2012, Pride ASIA’s mission the first time in 30 years for Seattle Frontis to celebrate, empower and nurture the runners. From 8-10 p.m. at R-Place (619 E. multi-cultural diversity of the Lesbian, Pine St.) Hosted by Matthew Love of LoveGay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Ally sevents.com. Tickets: $15 advance, $20 at communities through the Asian-Pacific the door, $40 VIP. www.brownpapertickets.

Islander American lens. Hosted by Aleksa com/event/714180 Manila. Noon-4 p.m. at Hing Hay Park (423 Maynard Ave. S.) in Seattle’s ChinaMONDAY, JUNE 23 town/International District. FREE all ages The Admiral Theater – The Nance event. www.prideasia.org In The Nance, celebrated playwright Douglas Carter Beane tells the story of SATURDAY, JUNE 21 Chauncey Miles (Nathan Lane), a headTheatre22 Presents The Lisbon Traviata line nance performer in the twilight of (See June 6 for details.)

New York’s burlesque era. Integrating

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ATTN: LGBT MILITARY VETERANS OR GUARD/RESERVE OR ACTIVE-DUTY MILITARY! You are cordially invited to join Veterans for Human Rights for this year’s Color Guard for the Seattle Pride Parade on Sunday morning, June 29 at 4th Ave. & Union St. Parade steps off promptly at 11 a.m. www.vfhr.org or call Ron at 360-8969394 (9 a.m.-9 p.m.). (If leaving a voice message, please state your phone number slowly and clearly.)

ONGOING (thru JULY 6) Revealing Queer MOHAI (Museum of History & Industry) proudly presents Revealing Queer, a landmark exhibit exploring how the Puget Sound LGBTQ community has grown, changed, become more visible, and worked towards equality. Informed throughout by the lived experiences of this incredibly diverse population, the exhibit traces its history from an emerging underground group in the years before the Stonewall Riots of 1969, to the large and politically active community that helped make marriage equality law in Washington State in 2012. MOHAI (860 Terry Ave.) Tickets: $14-adults; $12 students/ seniors/military. First Thursday is FREE. Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Thursdays until 8 p.m. www.mohai.org NOTE: MOHAI is sponsoring a walking tour of Capitol Hill 6/21, noon-2 p.m. Meet at the fountain in Cal Anderson Park (11th Ave. & E. Howell St.). Call 206-324-1126 or visit website for details. Cost: $25 general; $20 MOHAI members.

ONGOING (thru JULY 7) Portraits of Pride 2014 In celebration of Pride, Gay City Arts (517 E. Pike St.) is hosting their annual Portraits of Pride exhibit showcasing selfportraits from LGBTQ and allied artists: Amy C. Abadilla, Cody Blomberg, Andrew Caldwell, Dale Davis, McCade Dolan, Scott Dunn, Stephen Eaker, Juan Franco, Elise Koncsek, Nan Leiter, Mario Lemafa, Lector Morales, Grego Rachko, Brian Reindel, Matt Wenci and more… from June 12-July 7. www.gaycity.org FRIDAY, JUNE 20 Seattle Women’s Pride Seattle Out & Proud and The Seattle Lesbian present a Seattle Women’s Pride event celebrating 40 years of barrier breaking women in Seattle – featuring Washington State Supreme Court Justice, Mary Yu; Vicci Martinez, from NBC’s “The Voice”; and “The Bravest Woman in Seattle” Jennifer Hopper. 6-11 p.m. at The Lobby Bar (916 E. Pike St.). $10 suggested donation. Raffle prizes all night.

Seattle Gay News

burlesque sketches into his drama, Beane paints the portrait of a homosexual man living and working in the secretive and dangerous Gay world of 1930s New York, whose outrageous antics on the burlesque stage stand in marked contrast to his messy offstage life. This presentation of The Nance was filmed last year.

The Nance will screen at West Seattle’s Admiral Theater (2343 California Ave SW) for a limited run from June 23-June 26 as part of Seattle’s Gay Pride Month. The movie screens each night at 6:50 p.m. Tickets: $20 through www.brownpapertickets.com/ event/722451 or 1-800-838-3006 – or at the theater starting Friday, June 20.

TUESDAY, JUNE 24 Pride Mindfulness Gathering Japanese Garden tour at the Washington Park Arboretum (1075 Lake Washington Blvd. E.) ($6 entrance fee) at 6 p.m. Free talk and meditation at 7 p.m. to explore the great breadth of “presence” within the LGBT community. Discussion will share Eastern and non-dualist philosophical and spiritual traditions. Followed by a tea social. RSVP required at info@dharmabuddies.org. Held at the Tateuchi Room at the Japanese Garden. Join the spirit mindful celebrating your spirit. A gathering of LGBT mindfulness communities to share our spirit, our reflection, and our presence.

Hosted by Lotus Sisters and Dharma Buddies, Seattle area meditation groups.

TUESDAY, JUNE 24 Celebrating Queer Bodies with Drs. Linda Bacon & Lucy Aphramor Meet Drs. Linda Bacon and Lucy Aphramor, Queer activists and thought leaders in the Health at EverySize/Body Respect movement, as they help opal: Food & Body Wisdom (1100 NE 45th St., Ste 600) celebrate Seattle Pride. Bacon & Aphramor give you a rare behind the scenes look at their personal journeys and political path to affirming diverse embodiment. Expect a combo of story telling and performance poetry, where narrative, the erotic and memory collide and coalesce. This is a unique opportunity to join with other advocates and thought-leaders in a vibrant discussion of where we’re at, and where next, in advancing body respect for all in the LGBTQ community. 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Food and drink provided.

TUESDAY, JUNE 24 The Nance (See June 23 listing for details.)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25 The Nance (See June 23 listing for details.)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25 “Write With Pride” An evening of celebration as LGBTQ writers from across the community perform messages to our futures and to our pasts in a night of spoken and written words that share our hopes and reflect on how our see PRIDE page 20

Celebrating 41 Years!

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Celebrating 41 Years!

Titles on the line in Emerald City Softball Association’s final week Who will represent Seattle at the Gay Softball World Series in Dallas?

Check out this weekend’s games to see who takes the division crowns.

The Emerald City Softball Association, Seattle’s LGBTQ softball league, is set to begin the final weekend of its 2014 season on Saturday, June 21, with a full slate of games at Celebration Park in Federal Way. But with 10 teams still in the hunt for an automatic North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance World Series berth in each of the league’s three divisions, the excitement is far from over as the ECSA’s 35th year winds down.

In the B Division, reserved for the top-skill-level teams, Dirty Dawgs have clinched their fifth-straight division crown.

Joining them at the World Series, Sept. 2227 in Dallas, will be the Battalion and one of two other B Division teams – the Vendetta or Seawolves – based on the outcomes of this weekend’s games.

One of three teams – the Knights, SIN or Browns – can still claim the C Division crown based on the weekend’s games. At midseason, all three qualified for the division’s Parham Division (reserved for teams with the best records at that point) and have played fellow top C teams, as well as each B Division team. The Knights and SIN are tied for the division lead with a 5-4 record, with the Browns one game behind. This would be the first division title for each team.

In the D Division, the Atomic remains in the hunt for its third division title, having won the World Series in 2008. But it has company: Four other teams – the Fat Cats, Monsters, Plastix and Xtreme – are tied with the Atomic for the division lead entering the final week. None of those four has represented Seattle at the World Series before.

Tiebreaker games will be played on June 22 at Celebration Park, if necessary.

Should teams come up short, they may

have another shot: All C and D Divisions teams may compete in a berth tournament July 12-13 to secure the ECSA’s additional berths for the World Series. In all, the ECSA plans to send 10 teams to the Dallas World Series, with three teams in each division plus the Rainiers, representing the ECSA’s Masters Division for players ages 50 and older.

EMERALD CITY CLASSIC ECSA competition doesn’t end there.

The league will play host to the Emerald City Classic tournament on July 5-6. This year’s tournament features 74 teams from 14 cities – a tournament record. Welcome out-of-town players at the ECC’s opening party, 7 to 10 p.m. July 4 at World Sports Grille, 731 Westlake Ave. N. An ECC closing party is scheduled for July 6 at Neighbours, 1509 Broadway.

The ECSA also would like to thank its five league sponsors: Bud Light, PB&J Textiles, Rick A. King of Cobalt Mortgage, 1st Security Bank and Rein Fire Ranch.

More than 40 community businesses also support individual ECSA teams – including numerous sponsors that have joined the league for the first time in 2014.

For more information about the ECSA – the Pacific Northwest’s largest Gay-softball league – please visit emeraldcitysoftball.org or contact marketing/communications director Tony Stasiek at marcom@ seattlegaysoftball.com.

Courtesy of Emerald City Softball Association

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June 20, 2014

Seattle Gay News 19

PRIDE

continued from page 8 hopes change. This will be a fantastic evening, as writers and voices from across the LGBTQ spectrum and across generations come together to celebrate looking back and looking forward with love, respect, hope, strength, and pride.

“Write with Pride” performers include Lambda Literary winner Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, spoken word performer Roma Raye, Pride Foundation’s Gunner Scott, The Seattle Lesbian’s Sara Toce, and more! This event is presented by Gay City Arts and hosted by Gay City and Old Growth Northwest’s Gay Romance Northwest initiative. 7 p.m. at the Calamus Auditorium at Gay City (517 E. Pike St.). www.gaycity.org.

THURSDAY, JUNE 26 The Nance (See June 23 listing for details.)

THURSDAY, JUNE 26 Three Dollar Bill Cinema – Flash Gordon (1980) A homoerotic space trip with harnessclad birdmen, a fanciful emperor with a penchant for beaded gowns, and numerous scenes with our shirtless hero tied up and helpless. Delish! It’s Danilo Donati on poppers, going full Gay outré space in this gold phallus of cinematic art. Donati designed for films by Fellini and Pasolini, and the great costume houses of Rome. Here he gets shiny, sexy, and silly, so unbutton your shirt one more button and enjoy!

Part of Three Dollar Bill Cinema’s “Coming Out All Over: Queer Film Style” Pride month film series at Northwest Film Forum (1515 12th Ave.). Happy Hour at 6:30 p.m., film screened at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets: $11 general admission with student, senior and member discounts. www. threedollarbillcinema.org THURSDAY, JUNE 26 Gender Fierce Queer Youth Variety Show & C89.5 Safari Dance Party A FREE drag/gender ALL AGES variety show and dance party for the whole gender and sexuality spectrum hosted by Aleksa Manila. Produced by Lifelong’s HEYO with collaborative partner, C89.5 radio station, Seattle’s HOTTEST music! Doors 6:30 p.m., show 7 p.m., dance 9 p.m. At Fred Wildlife Refuge (128 Belmont Ave. E.). Lifelong Thrift Store donating FREE clothing and wigs – gender play the night away. www.facebook.com/ LifelongHEYO; michaelb@llaa.org.

THURSDAY, JUNE 26 SATURDAY, JUNE 28 Parlor Live Comedy Club (Seattle) Presents Pride Tour!

With Chuck Roy & Cameron Esposito Chuck Roy, better known as “Bear,” established himself as the warm-up performer for “The Late, Late Show with Craig Kilborn.” He has made guest-starring appearances on shows such as “Will & Grace” and “3rd Rock From The Sun” and was a semi-finalist on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.” Cameron Esposito is a regular on “Chelsea Lately” on E! and has appeared on “The Tonight Show” as well as clubs and festivals across the country, including TBS’ “Just for Laughs Chicago” and “SXSW.” Watch these two at Parlor Live Comedy Club (Seattle) (1522 6th Ave. at Pine St.) just in time for the Gay Pride weekend!

Two item minimum purchase. 21+ (18+ Thursday.) Tickets: $20/$30. 206-6021441. www.parlorlive.com. Thursday: 7:30 p.m., Friday: 7:30 p.m. & 10 p.m., Saturday: 7:30 p.m. & 10 p.m.

THURSDAY, JUNE 26 OutDancing Fundraiser for Seattle Dyke March A Pride Benefit dance with music mix

by MC Koop will be held at Century Ballroom, West Hall (911 E. Pine St.) from 7:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. $10 suggested donation. Part of the proceeds go to the Seattle Dyke March. 21+.

THURSDAY, JUNE 26 Gender Blender: A Queer Revolt and Benefit All night party at Neighbours Nightclub (1509 Broadway), 8 p.m.-4 a.m. with Ben DeLaCreme, Le1f, Josyln Fox, New York & MORE! Ticket sales benefit Gay City Health Project and the Gender Justice League. Sponsored by Nark Magazine. www.narkmagazine.com THURSDAY, JUNE 26 Theatre22 Presents The Lisbon Traviata (See June 20 for details.)

THURSDAY, JUNE 26 Turn Back Time Party Join W Seattle for the official 2014 PrideFest Kick-Off Party. Turn back time to the 1970s for the Cher drag queen semi-finals before the main stage finals on Saturday, June 28 at PrideFest Seattle Center. W Seattle (1112 4th Ave.), 8-10 p.m. Tickets: $20 per person includes appetizers and 2 drink tickets. www.pridefest.org/kickoff.

Gender Non-Conforming people. Details at www.transprideseattle.org.

FRIDAY, JUNE 27 Pride Shabbat The 2014 Pride Shabbat will be held at Temple Beth Am (2632 NE 80th St.) in North Seattle starting at 6:15 p.m., with a Shabbat dinner following the service. Pride Shabbat is open to the entire Jewish community and is a celebration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Jews, with their friends, allies, and families. Temple Beth Am is a Welcoming Synagogue and our program team is excited to make this Pride Shabbat inclusive and joyous. After the service, everyone is invited to attend a free Shabbat dinner. An ASL interpreter will be available for the evening. Temple Beth Am is delighted to host this year’s city-wide Pride Shabbat!

Pride Shabbat is an opportunity that provides a way for our community to come together and share joyous and meaningful prayer in an inclusive environment that welcomes Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and questioning Jews, their friends and families. Last year there was a fabulous turn out of more than 300 participants at the Pride Shabbat service.

Pride Shabbat 2008 marked a step forward in the embracing of all GLBTQ Jews of our community. In the past, rejection by congregations and exclusion from full participation in Jewish life were common and were part of the reason for the founding of Congregation Tikvah Chadashah. Since 2008 Pride Shabbat has demonstrated that the majority of congregations today in our community are welcoming and inclusive.

Pride Shabbat has the endorsement of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and other groups including Congregation Tikvah Chadashah and Kolenu. Its attendance grew when it was a project of Bashert: the LGBT initiative of the Jewish Federation. It has been a celebration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and questioning Jews, friends, allies and families. 2014 is the sixth year that Pride Shabbat has been endorsed by the full membership of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. We’ve come a long way! It is inspiring to pray for liberation and freedom together.

Congregation Tikvah Chadashah has been Seattle’s GLBT Synagogue since 1980. Congregation Tikvah Chadashah is a chavurah-style congregation, and a member of the World Congress of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Jewish organizations. CTC holds egalitarian chavurah services for Shabbat and holidays. All are welcome to our events, regardless of observance, religious background, ethnicity or sexual orientation. CTC is proud to co-sponsor Pride Shabbat. www.tikvahchadashah.org.

THURSDAY, JUNE 26 Rainbow City Band Summer Concert Come out for an evening of music with our own Rainbow City Orchestra under the direction of Jerilynn Harris-Kilgore.

7 p.m. at the Fremont Abbey Arts Center (4272 Fremont Ave. N.). FREE (donations accepted). Details at www.rainbowcityband.com

FRIDAY, JUNE 27 Trans* Pride Annual celebration of the Seattle-area Transgender community. Assemble in front of Seattle Central Community College (1701 Broadway) at 5 p.m.; march to nearby Cal Anderson Park at 6 p.m.; FRIDAY, JUNE 27 speakers and music 7-10 p.m., featuring a Open Seattle Pride Weekend schedule of nationally-renowned speakwith the Storm ers from the Trans* community, a perforSeattle welcomes the reigning WNBA mance by The Nasty Habits, and an in- Champions Minnesota Lynx to KeyArena formation & resource fair with organiza- (Seattle Center, 1st Ave. N. & Harrison St.). tions that serve and support Trans* and 7 p.m. The first 3,000 fans will receive Storm

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Rainbow beads and guest DJ Ricki Leigh will be in the bowl performing before and during the game. Tickets at www.wnba. com/storm/tickets/ FRIDAY, JUNE 27 Diverse Harmony – “Walt’s Vault” Seattle’s LGBTQ and allies youth chorus celebrates their 12th season with their favorite songs from childhood cartoons.

Through their music, they will examine gender, performance, sexuality, fear, love, and acceptance. Broadway Performance Hall (Broadway & E. Pine St.) at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets: $20-general admission; $30-VIP at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/660268 or 1-800-838-3006. As always, youth 22 and under are admitted free. (Also, Saturday, June 28.)

FRIDAY, JUNE 27 GLSEN Youth Pride Dance A FREE night for LGBTQ youth, friends and allies through age 21, the GLSEN Youth Pride Dance promises to be a fun night! Emcee by Regine Dynasty and Nubian Pride.

Music by DJ Puerto Roc. Make-up table by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Crazy hat theme with hat-making supplies. Doors 7 p.m., music 8-11 p.m. Belltown Community Center (415 Bell St.) www.facebook. com/events/1386942978213647 Sponsored

by GLSEN WA, Nubian Pride, Seattle Parks & Recreation, and Seattle Pride.

FRIDAY, JUNE 27 Parlor Live Comedy Club (Seattle) Presents Pride Tour!

With Chuck Roy & Cameron Esposito (See June 26 for details.)

FRIDAY, JUNE 27 Seattle Ladies Choir in Concert The Seattle Ladies Choir is an open and inclusive musical community for women made up of 50+ members with varying musical experience, from shower singers to professional musicians. Hear us sing in perfect harmony at our Season 7 Summer Concerts, at Cornish Playhouse (201 Mercer St.) featuring choral versions of songs by Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, One Republic, Adele, Hall & Oates, and more! Showtimes: Friday, June 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, June 28 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $12/$14 general admission; $6/$7 kids and seniors. www. brownpapertickets,com/event/683525, 1-800-838-3006 and at the door. The Seattle Ladies Choir will also perform at the opening ceremony of the Seattle Pride Parade.

FRIDAY, JUNE 27 Theatre22 Presents The Lisbon Traviata (See June 20 for details.)

FRIDAY, JUNE 27 T-Shack Seattle Pride Edition San Francisco’s world famous party, TrannyShack, comes to Seattle! Join Hostess Heklina as she leads the all-star SF Cast, including Holotta Tymes, Turleen TailSpin, Sasha Stephane and Ginger Snap, in a night of performances you won’t want to miss! $5.00 cover at The Unicorn/Nar-

Celebrating 41 Years!

Seattle Ladies Choir in Concert (at 2:00 p.m.)

(See June 27 listing at 7:30 p.m.)

whal (1118 E. Pike St.) Doors at 8 p.m., show at 10 p.m., 21+. www.facebook.com/ events/1438624926386524 SATURDAY, JUNE 28 2014 SVC Pride Quads Grass Tournament Seattle Volleyball Club is hosting its 5th Annual Quads Pride Grass tournament to celebrate Seattle Pride 2014. Proceeds of this annual event will benefit Kraken VC, a youth volleyball program based on Capitol Hill. 8 a.m.-7 p.m. at Judkins Park (2150 S. Norman St.).

SATURDAY, JUNE 28 Dignity Seattle’s 26th Annual Pride Pancake Breakfast Enjoy a great pancake breakfast. 8 a.mnoon at Central Lutheran Church Social Hall (1710 11th Ave. at E. Olive St., across from Cal Anderson Park.) $7 donation; raffle prizes. Proceeds to: Pride ASIA, Lifelong AIDS Alliance, Dignity Seattle. (A recycling drop-off will be provided for old cell phones and empty ink cartridges.)

SATURDAY, JUNE 28 MOHAI Family Pride Day Celebrate your family pride at MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry, 860 Terry Ave. N.) with Seattle Pride! Check out the Revealing Queer exhibit along with all-day activities, including special performances by Seattle Pride Idol winners, bingo with Lunch Lady Mama, family portraits, make-your-own flair for the 40th Annual Seattle Pride Parade, and more! 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tickets: $14-adults; $12 students/seniors/military. www.mohai.org/ exhibits/item/2620-revealing-queer SATURDAY, JUNE 28 Capitol Hill Pride Festival Celebrate Pride in Seattle’s Gayborhood at this annual street fair on Broadway from E. John St. to E. Roy St, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Live local music, food, and more than 100 booths featuring nonprofits, artists, and commercial vendors. www.capitolhillpridefestival.info.

SATURDAY, JUNE 28 2014 Seattle Dyke March Rally from 5-7 p.m. at the Seattle Central Community College Plaza at Broadway and E. Pine St. The March steps off at 7 p.m. to go around Capitol Hill. Join us at 8 p.m. in Cal Anderson Park for free afterparty with Redwood Plan, beer garden and food trucks. www.seattledykemarch.com/ SATURDAY, JUNE 28 CHER Dressed to Kill Tour Pre Function Benefiting Inspire Youth Project Come and pre func to benefit Inspire Youth Project (formally Rise ‘n Shine). Lots of fun and entertainment including an appearance by a CHER impersonator! Admission will include a ride on our CHER Shuttle to and from KeyArena so you don’t have to worry about fighting traffic and finding parking. 5-7:30 p.m. at R Place (619 E. Pine St.) on the 3rd Floor. More info at http://seattle.gaycities.com/ events/359421-cher-dressed-to-kill-tour-prefunction-benefiting-inspire-youth-project SATURDAY, JUNE 28 Maxim’s Unity Ball: Tuxedos and Gowns Celebrate Pride at Maxim’s (5608 Rainier Ave. S.). Featuring BOYeurism with Isaiah Tillman 6 p.m. Tickets: $10-general; $25 VIP. http://www.brownpapertickets.com/ event/660849 SATURDAY, JUNE 28 Diverse Harmony – “Walt’s Vault” Seattle’s LGBTQ and allies youth chorus celebrates their 12th season with their favorite songs from childhood cartoons. Through their music, they will examine gender performance, sexuality, fear, love, and acceptance.

Broadway Performance Hall (Broadway & E. Pine St.) at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $20-general admission; $30-VIP at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/660268 or 1-800-838-3006. As always, youth 22 and under are admitted free.

(Also, Friday, June 27.)

SATURDAY, JUNE 28 PrideFest Family Day Annual event sponsored by Seattle PrideFest, in Cal Anderson Park (11th Ave. & E. Howell St.), noon-5 p.m., Lots of childfriendly activities including magic shows, bouncy houses, storytelling, free ice cream, and a concert with Recess Monkey. www.seattlepridefest.org/family/.

SATURDAY, JUNE 28 Parlor Live Comedy Club (Seattle) Presents Pride Tour!

With Chuck Roy & Cameron Esposito (See June 26 for details.)

SATURDAY, JUNE 28 Seattle Ladies Choir in Concert (at 7:30 p.m.)

(See June 27 listing at 7:30 p.m.)

SATURDAY, JUNE 28 Annual Interfaith SATURDAY, JUNE 28 PRIDE Celebration Service Cher: Dressed To Kill Tour Many faiths join together to celebrate ErMerGerd! It’s Cher & Cyndi Lauper!

PRIDE: the spirit of Love and the Accep- ‘Nuff said. tance of all people. Come just as you are to 8-11 p.m. at Key Arena (Seattle Center, 1st sing, pray, chant, and made Sacred Com- Ave. N. & Harrison St.) Tickets at: munity. 1 p.m. at All Pilgrims Church (500 http://arena-wa.com/Tickets-Active.

Broadway E. at E. Republican St.). php?eventID=2185598&venueID=229 SATURDAY, JUNE 28 SATURDAY, JUNE 28 16th Annual Rainbow Health Fair Theatre22 Presents The Lisbon Traviata From 1-5 p.m. at All Pilgrims Church (500 (See June 13 for details.)

Broadway E. at E. Republican St.) Seattle/ King & Snohomish County YWCA Women’s SATURDAY, JUNE 28 Health Outreach presents free mammograms 10th Annual “ALL WHITE” Affair for eligible people 40+ and free pap tests for Boat Cruise Party, all. Massage, nutrition, mammograms, safer the “Masquerade Edition” sex. Insurance welcome. To schedule an apEnjoy a spectacular evening on the wapointment, call 206-461-4489. For more ter as we take you across the globe with information and volunteer opportunities: music, fun & excitement. 8 p.m.-2 a.m. on lbtqhealth-ywca.blogspot.com.

The Islander Yacht. http://seattle.gaycities.com/events/353648-10th-annual-allSATURDAY, JUNE 28 white-affair-boat-cruise-party PrideFest Cyndi/Cher Welcome Party featuring Heklina 3-8 p.m. at the Seattle PrideFest MainSATURDAY, JUNE 28 stage (Seattle Center, International FounSeattle PrideFest Presents X tain). More info at www.facebook.com/ 9:00 pm at Neumo’s (925 E. Pike St.). DJ events/1453170404928167/ Brian Gorr + DJ Bret Law. Tickets at https:// SATURDAY, JUNE 28 www.etix.com/ticket/online/performanc-

Visit us online www.sgn.org

eSearch.jsp?performance_id=1807900 SUNDAY, JUNE 29 Build Your Own Bloody Mary Brunch Whether you crave pancakes or biscuits and gravy, start the day at Trace, W Seattle (1112 4th Ave.) with a Bloody Mary, your way – with your choice of vodka, spice and garden veggies. 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Make reservations at 206-264-6060.

ly event. Watch for more info at www.rainbowcntr.org or http://tacomapride.org/ out_in_the_park_2014 SATURDAY, JULY 12 Bellingham Pride Family Picnic Come enjoy a picnic at noon in Bloedel Donovan Park (2214 Electric Ave.) with the entire Bellingham Pride family (that includes you!). Donations gratefully accepted to cover the cost of food. www.bhampride. org/events.shtml

SUNDAY, JUNE 29 Seattle Pride Parade George Takei will be the Celebrity Grand SATURDAY, JULY 12 Marshall for the 40th Annual Pride Parade Bellingham Annual themed “Generations of Pride.” Recently apISCEE Pride Drag Show (21+) pointed Washington State Supreme Court JusDoors 6:30 p.m. Show at 7:30 p.m. Rutice Mary Yu will be a special guest of SO&P at mors Cabaret (1119 Railroad Ave.) $5 cover. the beginning of the parade. Starting at 11 a.m., Annual Rumor’s Pride Party to follow. the parade kicks off at 4th Avenue & Union www.bhampride.org/events.shtml St., and will proceed north down 4th Avenue to Denny Way. It will last approximately two SATURDAY, JULY 12 and a half hours and will be held rain or shine.

Bellingham All Ages B-Proud Dance www.seattlepride.org/pride-parade/ 8:00-11:00 p.m., Bloedel Donovan Park Community Building (2214 Electric SUNDAY, JUNE 29 Ave.) $3.00 admission, proceeds benSeattle PrideFest efit Pride. All ages welcome! www.bhamSeattle PrideFest 2014 “United We pride.org/events.shtml Pride” will be more bedazzling than ever.

Four stages, events over four days, dozSATURDAY, JULY 12 ens of artists, men’s and women’s parties, Bellingham and over 130,000 attendees. www.seatRumors Pride Celebration (21+) tlepridefest.org/ 10 p.m.-2 a.m. (close), Rumors Cabaret (1119 Railroad Ave.), cover. www.bhamSUNDAY, JUNE 29 pride.org/events.shtml Cuff Street Party Featuring DJ/performers at The Cuff SUNDAY, JULY 13 Complex (1533 13th Ave.). www.cuffcomBellingham Pride Parade plex.com.

Noon. Starts at Ohio & Cornwall, travels along Cornwall Ave., ends at Depot Market SUNDAY, JUNE 29 Square (1100 Railroad Ave.). More info at PrideFest Closing Concert: http://www.bhampride.org/events.shtml Steve Grand & Chely Wright Steve is a (quickly) rising singer-songwriter SUNDAY, JULY 13 and Chely is a well-established country star.

Bellingham Pride Festival Both are out artists and we are thrilled to host Until 4:00 p.m., Depot Market Square them for our closing concert for Pride week- (1100 Railroad Ave.). end at the Delta Stage at the Seattle Center Features various vendors, children’s Mural Amphitheatre. 100% of proceeds to activities, appearances by local and state benefit marriage equality non-profits. ALL dignitaries. $2 suggested donation. Pride AGES SHOW. Doors: 7:30 p.m., Steve Grand: Party to follow at Rumors Cabaret (1119 7:45 p.m., Chely Wright: 8:30 p.m.. Pre-sale: Railroad Ave.). www.bhampride.org/ $25, at the door: $30. www.brownpapertick- events.shtml ets.com/event/688293 Info and VIP at: www. seattlepridefest.org/concert SUNDAY, JULY 20 Kitsap Pride SUNDAY, JUNE 29 “Reflection of Pride” is this year’s theme SUNDAY, JULY 6 for Kitsap Pride’s annual celebration, Victoria, BC Pride noon to 5 p.m., at Evergreen Park (1500 A week of events and activities culmi- Park Ave.) in downtown Bremerton. www. nating in the annual Pride Parade and kitsappride.org.

Festival on Sunday, July 6. www.victoriapridesociety.org SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 Vancouver (B.C.) SATURDAY, JULY 12 Pride Parade & Festival Out in the Park – Parade begins at noon in Vancouver’s Tacoma’s annual downtown/West End at Robson and LGBTQA Pride Celebration Thurlow streets and proceeds via DenNoon-5 p.m., Broadway between 9th man to festival site at Sunset Beach. and 11th streets. Entertainment, food, Sponsored by Vancouver Pride Society. fun, and community at this family-friend- www.vancouverpride.ca. at AT&T, Greater Seattle Business Association, Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, continued from page 5 Pride Foundation, Social Justice Fund NW, Capitol Hill Community Council, Caffe org), a nonprofit formed by a group of local Vita, and Seattle Gay News.

Transgender activists and their allies. Their mission is to advocate for Seattle’s growing About Gender Justice League Transgender and gender‐nonconforming Gender Justice League is a Washington community. Trans* Pride Seattle 2014 is an state Trans*and allied activist collective important way for Gender Justice League headquartered in Seattle. We are a fiscally and the Trans* community to elevate is- sponsored project of Gay City Health Projsues Trans* people face (such as social iso- ect. GJL was started by a group of long time lation and discrimination in employment, Trans*, Queer, and allied activists who were housing, healthcare and public accommo- looking to increase the community’s capacidations) while celebrating our beautiful ty to address cissexism, Transphobia, TransTrans* communities, and to motivate and misogyny and Homo, Bi, and Queer phobias excite people about changing the climate for that Trans*, genderqueer, and gender‐nonTrans* people in Washington state. conforming people face.

Additional sponsors include: Gay City Health Project and myhivmoment, League Courtesy of Gender Justice League

Trans* Pride

June 20, 2014

Seattle Gay News 21

Health and Personal Services

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Celebrating 41 Years!

Religion & Spirituality

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First ever Cyprus Pride

Cypriot parliament considers bill to ban homophobic acts

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Republic of Cyprus celebrated its first ever LGBT Pride on May 31 with a parade through the capital city of Nicosia.

Several thousand people joined the march, astonishing the organizers, who said they expected only a few hundred. It was reportedly the largest demonstration seen in Cyprus for many years, and even larger than the raucous anti-austerity rallies held at the peak of Cyprus’s financial crisis last year.

About 200 anti-Gay demonstrators organized by the local Greek Orthodox Church scuffled with police as they unsuccessfully tried to break through police lines to attack the march.

The church condemned the parade and issued a strongly-worded statement saying it considers homosexuality “the human being’s fall from grace and an illness

and not a natural way of life or choice.”

LGBT activists hailed the event as a “huge success” and Tweeted “Cyprus is changing. Thank you all” after the day’s festivities concluded.

ACCEPT-LGBT Cyprus President Costas Gavrielides said he was overwhelmed by the turnout.

“This proves that Cypriot society has progressed much more than politicians say,” Gavrielides told The Associated Press.

In a speech at the celebration, Gavrielides urged Cypriot lawmakers to pass measures to further LGBT rights, including a civil partnership law.

The star of the celebration was 81-year-old Gay rights pioneer Alecos Modinos. In the 1990s, Modinos took a case to the European Court of Human Rights, which led to the decriminalization of Gay sex in Cyprus in 1998.

“I am incredibly moved,” Modinos told the crowd. “A dream of 25 years has come true.”

“We hope Cyprus becomes a European Union member country that respects rights not only in words, but in deeds as well,” he added.

Cyprus is a member of the European Union, so all EU human rights protections apply there, but the northern third of the island nation has been occupied by Turkey since 1974, and samesex relations are still illegal in the Turkish zone.

In the southern part of the island, the population is largely Greek, and the conservative Greek Orthodox Church has opposed pro-Gay legislation.

Nevertheless, the Cypriot parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee has introduced a bill criminalizing homophobic acts, and establishing penalties of a €5,000 fine and up to three years in prison. The bill defines homophobic behavior as anything “that encourages hate against individuals or groups that have a sexual preference.”

Committee chairman Sotiris Sampson said the bill will be discussed by the commit-

tee at their next meeting and then sent to the full parliament for action. The measure has support of both the government coalition and the Cypriot Communist party AKEL. AKEL spokesperson Aristos Damianou told the press that it was about time to introduce a bill regarding homophobic behavior, since racist and xenophobic acts are already illegal. “[I]n this day and age we are required to do so by our international commitments,” Damianou added.

Asked by the Cyprus Mail newspaper why “homophobic behavior” is only vaguely defined in the bill, Damianou said that vagueness was actually one of the goals of the legislators.

“The definition is purposefully vague so as to give courts the flexibility to judge such cases based on the evidence before them…

“What we did, basically, is to ensure that people have a right to choose their partners regardless of whether other people like it or not,” Damianou said.

Actually we do have homosexuals, Iran admits.

Lots of them! of a survey of 141,552 young men and women, and has been posted on the official website of Iran’s parliament.

According to the report, nearly all Iranian high school students are breaking the country’s strict sexual laws. Seventy-four percent admitted to engaging in “heterosexual relations,” which would be adultery under Iranian law and could be punished by 100 lashes, or by death for the fourth offense.

Even more astonishing, considering Iran’s record of executing young Gay men, 17.5% of high school students admitted to “being homosexual.”

According to Hossein Alizadeh, Middle East and North Africa program coordinator for the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, “The report

is authored by a clergy man (Hojjatol-Islam Bahram Shojai), and mainly focuses on the virtues of temporary marriage as a solution to end different forms of ‘sexual irregularities’ within the Iranian society.”

Alizadeh translated parts of the report for the British Gay Star News.

So-called “temporary marriage” is legal under Iranian law and Shiah Islamic jurisprudence. Legally, a temporary marriage can last for as long as 99 years, or just long enough to have sex. According to Alizadeh, “while it is religiously sanctioned, it is disapproved of by society.”

“The author’s argument,” Alizadeh explains, “is that sex work, sex outside marriage, masturbation, and homosexuality are all the result of inability of the youth to engage in ‘proper sexual relations’ (i.e. mar-

riage), given the high cost of wedding and social expectations around marriage.

“The author claims that temporary marriage, which is a low key form of marriage, can end most of these sexual ills.”

The report also contains fascinating data on prostitution in Iran. For example, it reveals that “The average age of sex workers in Iran is now 15 years of age.”

Research by Shaheed Beheshti University and cited in the report shows that “more sex workers are married, and 11% of them engage in sex work with their husband’s consent.” Out of 2,000 sex workers surveyed, 600 of them say their chose to become sex workers, while 1,400 say they were “tricked” into the business.

Uganda

The Mediterranean city’s openness stands in contrast to more conservative Jerusalem, just a short drive away, home to some of the holiest sites to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Still, Jerusalem has a thriving Gay scene and an annual Pride parade, though on a much smaller scale.

LGBT Israelis serve openly in the country’s military and parliament, and many famous artists and entertainers are openly Gay. Due to Israel’s unique marriage laws, there are no Gay marriages in Israel. All weddings must be conducted through the Jewish rabbinate, which considers homosexuality a sin and a violation of Jewish law. The country does, however, recognize same-sex couples who marry abroad and same-sex couples are allowed to jointly adopt.

In many ways, Israel and Tel Aviv are pioneers in the LGBT movement, way ahead of the U.S. on many issues.

Americans are often surprised to hear that discrimination based on sexual orientation

in Israel was banned in 1992 or that the Israeli Supreme Court ruled in 1963 that same-sex activities between consenting adults was legal.

The progress made by Israel’s LGBT community is astonishing indeed, especially since the small nation of just over eight million residents is surrounded by some of the most anti-Gay cultures on earth.

In the nearby West Bank, a 1951 Jordanian law banning homosexual acts remains in effect, as does a ban in Gaza passed by British authorities in 1936. Out of fear of such draconian laws, most LGBT Palestinians are secretive about their social lives.

Beyond Israel’s borders, for thousands of miles in every direction, LGBT people face some of the harshest sentences, including death, in many African and Middle Eastern nations.

For these people, Tel Aviv is a distant beacon of light representing a shred of hope in a sea of intolerance.

One can only hope the vibrant city’s Pride celebration and its devotion to “openness, pluralism and tolerance” radiate out towards the rest of the Middle East – and beyond.

message that the United States will not tolerate foreign governments engaging in state-sponsored acts of homophobia and transphobia against their own people,” said Ty Cobb, HRC’s Director of Global Engagement.

“We must put all world leaders on notice that such efforts have no place in the 21st century, and there will be severe consequences for engaging in them. This creates an important precedent for leaders and governments considering implementing similar laws. It is important that the Administration continues to review our diplomatic relationship with Uganda, as well as with other nations such as Nigeria and Brunei, which have also taken disturbing steps backwards.”

HIV/AIDS groups, on the other hand, have in the past expressed concern that cutting aid to Ugandan health efforts would impede the fight against AIDS in a country where the disease is a widespread public health problem.

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June 20, 2014

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A report issued by Iran’s Ministry of Education says that – contrary to the claims of former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad – the country’s high schools are hotbeds of Gay sex.

The 82-page report, which appeared in English-language media June 12, was compiled by Iranian officials based on studies done in 2007 and 2008, while Ahmedinejad was still president. In 2007, he famously told an audience at Columbia University that “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals.”

The report, titled “Temporary Marriage and its Impact on Lowering Illegitimate Sexual Contacts,” was based on a survey

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continued from cover served for war criminals or representatives of hostile countries.

“In addition, the United States will take steps, consistent with current authorities, to prevent entry into the United States by Ugandans who are found responsible for significant public corruption. We are also discontinuing or redirecting funds for certain additional programs involving the Ugandan Police Force, Ministry of Health, and National Public Health Institute, and cancelling plans to hold a U.S. militarysponsored aviation exercise in Uganda.”

The U.S. and other Western countries had threatened to cut aid and other ties with the Ugandan government if the country enacted anti-Gay laws. The United Kingdom and several Scandinavian countries have already reduced financial aid.

LGBT rights groups had urged the Obama administration to take just such a step, and they applauded the announcement.

“This announcement sends a clear

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