SGN November 14, 2014 - Section 1

Celebrating 41 Years!

Issue 46 Volume 42

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Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

SCOTUS to get all six Sixth Circuit marriage appeals Marriage bans fall in additional states frontpagemag.com

SCOTUS (The Supreme Court of the United States)

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Plaintiffs in all six marriage cases turned down by the Sixth Circuit Court have appealed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court for a review of the appellate court’s decision.

Meanwhile federal judges struck down marriage bans in Missouri and South Carolina. The U.S. Supreme Court lifted a stay on marriage in Kansas, and at least one county is issuing licenses to Gay and Lesbian couples, but the state’s Attorney General insists that samesex marriage must wait for a state Supreme Court ruling.

Breaking ranks with other circuit courts, a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit ruled on November 6 that same-sex marriages bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee were just fine constitutionally. Plaintiffs could have asked for en banc review, meaning a hearing in front of the full Sixth Circuit, but they chose to go straight to the top – the Supreme Court.

“We just had a conference call with the attorneys from all four Sixth Circuit states on the marriage cases. We were all in agreement to apply for certiorari at the Supreme Court, and not to first seek en banc review in the Sixth Circuit,” Abby Rubenfeld, lead attorney for the Tennessee plaintiffs told BuzzFeed’s Chris Geidner on November 7.

Certiorari is a legal writ issued by the Supreme Court, indicating it will hear an appeal.

“Given the significance of the issue, the reality that it will end up in the Supreme Court ultimately, and the harms that all of our clients are suffering each day that their marriages are not recognized, we want to get to the Supreme Court sooner rather than later,” she added.

“We hope to file within two weeks, and hopefully sooner, so that we can still be on the docket for this term – which means resolution by June 30, 2015.”

The high court is not obligated see SCOTUS page 7

Pride Foundation awards grants to As weather turns 56 organizations supporting LGBTQ from cold to freezing, local activists help community in the Northwest homeless stay warm 32 Washington organizations among grantees

SEATTLE – On Thursday, November 13, Pride Foundation announced that it has awarded $303,775 to 56 organizations that support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) youth, adults, and families in the Northwest. In Washington State, 32 organizations received funding – totaling $175,000.

Despite the surge in marriage

equality victories across the country, and progress in Washington to provide inclusive healthcare coverage for Transgender people, LGBTQ people still face heightened risks of hate crimes, poverty, homelessness, discrimination, bullying, HIV infection, and mistreatment in social and human services. In fact just this year, Seattle was listed as having the third highest rate of anti-

DENNIS NETT

scalingwhatworks.org

Pride Foundation Executive Director Kris Hermanns

LGBT hate crimes in the country.

By directing resources to those who remain most invisible and vulnerable despite recent progress, Pride Foundation’s community grants program is making an important statement about the work that lies ahead and the continued need in the LGBTQ community.

“Our grantees reflect the diversity of our community, and the breadth of issues affecting LGBTQ people throughout their lives,” said Kris Hermanns, Executive Director of Pride Foundation. “When viewed collectively, these investments paint a comprehensive picture of the road ahead – from safe schools, to workplace equality, to culturally-competent healthcare and social services, to food and housing security, to elder care.”

Grantees in Washington will be working to reduce barriers faced in rural communities, and other priorities include youth, people of color, Transgender people, and elders.

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor It’s simple really. Whenever you can help people, you should.

The Golden Rule, right?

Right.

This week, as a polar vortex blanketed most of the United States (only the Southwest, Hawaii, Alaska and South Florida escaped the grip of the Arctic blast) – basically, a large pocket of very cold air, typisee PRIDE page 8 cally the coldest air in the Northern

Hemisphere that sits over the polar region entered into the U.S., temperatures went from cold to freezing. It was time to turn up the heat, bundle up, and in some states (including parts of Washington) prepare for snow. And while this was all a minor inconvenience for most of us, the truth is, for some, and I’m talking about the thousands of Seattle’s homeless population, when winter sets in, the days – and especially the nights – are brutal. see Sosea page 4

2 Seattle Gay News

November 14, 2014

Celebrating 41 Years!

Mayor announces medical marijuana symposium to be held November 20

November 14, 2014

Seattle Gay News 3

KUOW Photo / Bond Huberman

such a registry might be prosecuted under federal drug laws, then-Governor Christine Gregoire vetoed the registry.

Because there is no registry, all the existing state law allows for is what is called an “affirmative defense” in case patients or dispensary workers are prosecuted.

An affirmative defense means that if you are caught with marijuana, then you are not protected by state law. The burden is on you to prove you are a medical marijuana patient or were providing medical marijuana to a patient. In other words, it would be as if pharmacists had to prove they were supplying prescribed drugs to valid patients or face federal drug charges.

In March the Washington Court of Ap-

peals ruled that the City of Kent may ban medical marijuana dispensaries for this reason. The court said that absent a statewide registry, dispensaries are illegal, and Kent has the right to pass ordinances against such unlawful activity.

According to the Mayor’s office, Murray does not want to shut down medical marijuana facilities in Seattle. In fact, he is promising “to increase protections for medical marijuana patients and establish a common-sense regulatory framework to govern where and how these businesses operate in Seattle,” according to a statement released November 13.

The City Hall symposium is part of Murray’s plan to draft a City of Seattle ordinance to regulate medical marijuana.

The mayor plans to submit a draft ordinance to the City Council by the end of the year, his office said.

“We are still looking to Olympia to enact broad medical marijuana reform next session, but we need to take action here in Seattle to address immediate concerns of patients, businesses and neighbors,” said Murray.

“Even if the state acts, we know implementation could stretch into 2016. We don’t want patients and businesses waiting in limbo, even as they face increasing legal risks.”

The symposium will be chaired by Patricia Lally, Director of the Office of Civil Rights, and will feature panel discussions on related topics, including: • Testing of marijuana products for purity and strength, • Best practices for manufacturing marijuana-infused products, • Packaging and labeling requirements, and • The location of dispensaries and collective gardens.

The panels will include patient advocates and medical providers, marijuana business representatives, testing providers, community representatives and city agency leaders, the Mayor’s office said.

Those unable to attend will be able to submit questions through the Mayor’s website: www.seattle.gov/mayor.

Mayor Ed Murray

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Seattle Mayor Ed Murray has announced a medical marijuana symposium to be held November 20, in City Hall’s Bertha Knight Landes Room. The symposium will start at 5:00 p.m. and run till 7:45 p.m.

While marijuana has been used to alleviate symptoms of HIV/AIDS and side effects of medications since the early days of the epidemic, medical marijuana only became legal in Washington state in 2011.

The 2011 law would have created a statewide registry of patients eligible to buy marijuana, but after the U.S. Attorney’s office threatened that state workers who compiled

Visit us online www.sgn.org

SOSea

continued from cover Social Outreach Seattle (SOSea), a social justice organization that I am founder and president of, and other homeless outreach organizations took this opportunity to announce upcoming outreach dates, shared with folks the list of donations they could make, and booked benefit shows all in the name of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

In short – we can help, so we are going to do just that. And the many homeless people – with 40% of the demographic alleged to be LGBTQ youth – need us. But we need your help to make a greater impact.

GOT HEART? DINNER TO BENEFIT HOMELESS OUTREACH PROGRAM For anyone looking to quell their appetite and get involved in homeless outreach, SOSea invites you to the GOT HEART? dinner & show benefiting SOSea’s FROM THE HEART Program, on Tuesday, November 18, 7-10 p.m. at El Quetzal (3209 Beacon Ave S.).

For $30, guests at this fundraiser will enjoy a fixed menu consisting of ” Appetizer:

• Chipotle Caesar Salad – Romaine Lettuce, Toasted Tortillas, House Sauce Your choice of entrée: • Fish Tacos – Halibut Fish, Flour Tortilla, Cheese and Apple Salad • Cheese Enchilada – Rice, Beans, Cheese, and Green Chili Sauce • Chicken Fajitas – Chicken, Red and Green Peppers, Onions, Mushrooms Dessert: • Cheesecake In addition, entertainment will be provided by 2014 Seattle Pride Idol Ruth Soto (Latin Rose), Peruvian recording artist and SOSea Director of Outreach to the LGBTQ Latin Community Jack Mozie, and Latin Pop Star Esteban Naranjo.

ALEKSA MANILA & FRIENDS: WINTER DRIVE BENEFIT FOR PSKS Local drag legend and Seattle LGBTQ activist Aleksa Manila invites you to attend the 12th Annual Aleksa Manila & FRIENDS: Winter Drive Benefit for PSKS (Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets) on Saturday, November 29, door at 6 p.m., show at 7 p.m., at Neighbours (1509 Broadway) presented by Aleksa Manila and HEYO at Lifelong with Neighbours Nightclub. A $10

donation or donation of winter essentials (coats, socks, dental kits, snacks, toiletries, etc.) gets you in to this 21+ event.

The benefit will feature performances by Pride Idol 2014 Ruth Soto AKA Latin Rose, Miss UTOPIA 2013 Atasha Manila, Miss Gay Seattle 2013 Olivia La Garce, Pride Idol 2012 Chase Silva, Miss Gay Seattle 2012 Donnatella Howe, Miss Neighbours 2012 Lady Sahara, La Femme Magnifique 2013 Diamond St. James, Jessica Paradisco of Pulse 18+ Dance Night at Neighbours, La Femme Magnifique International 2013 Amora Dior Black, Miss Neighbours 2013 Anastasia Beaverhausen, Miss Gay Washington 2014 Brook Lynn Bradshaw, Isaac Scott of Hollaback Thursdays at Neighbours, Miss Gay Seattle 2014 Drew Paradisco, Youtube Sensation Sparkle Leigh and more.

Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets’ mission is to support homeless and at-risk youth and young adults to become empowered to lead positive and self-sufficient lives. Its philosophy and practice of inclusion has allowed PSKS to develop low access barriers to engage young people who are at-risk of falling through gaps in community services. PSKS provides support and services to Seattle area homeless youth and young adults and committed efforts are targeted at providing stepping stones to transition youth from the streets to self-sufficiency and productive roles in community.

Many of PSKS clients are squatters, have animal companions and/or children, suffer from addiction or have other circumstances that make it tough to find indoor shelter. Most of their youth don’t follow the linear flow of shelter to transitional housing to secure housing.

Often they are living under bridges, in cars or tents in the woods until they can secure their own housing. Their approach to basic needs is one of harm reduction – making human safety, health and security a priority whether they are living in an abandoned building or still struggling with substance abuse. To learn more, visit www.psks.org SOCIAL OUTREACH SEATTLE’S FROM THE HEART PROGRAM FROM THE HEART is a Social Outreach Seattle (SOSea) program that aims to provide, year-round, much-needed items to families and people in need.

Each year, from October 1-December 15, SOSea asks local businesses and nonprofit organizations to host one FROM THE HEART Gift Box in their storefront to collect new, unopened, unused toys, canned

goods, dry foods, hygiene products, winter clothes (knit cap, scarf, gloves, jacket, sweater), pots, pans, tarps, backpacks, and more. SOSea will even come and pick up the items when the box is full or when the SOSea Gift-Giving Holiday Project comes to an end December 15.

The items will then be distributed to Lambert House youth, YouthCare, Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets (PSKS) and to families in need on Christmas morning by directors and volunteers.

If you are a business, nonprofit organization or club that would like to participate in FROM THE HEART SOSea Gift-Giving Holiday Project, please send email to SocialOutreachSeattle@gmail.com.

If you are a business, nonprofit, club or individual that would like to donate BIG items like a new or used flat screen TV, refrigerator, couch, desk, or other electronics and household goods, please email SocialOutreachSeattle@gmail.com and schedule a pick-up or drop-off.

At SOSea our motto is “We are one community working together” and when we come together there isn’t a problem we can’t solve or group of people that we can’t help.

Help us make a difference in the lives of people who need a little help. Let’s help make this the best Christmas possible for some kids and their families this season.

HOLIDAY CHEER CD RELEASE PARTY & CONCERT For the second year in a row, Social Outreach Seattle (SOSea), has recorded a Christmas music CD using local talent, to raise money for homeless outreach during the holiday season. HOLIDAY CHEER Vol. 2 is jam packed with songs that will put you in the Christmas spirit!

Vocalists appearing on HOLIDAY CHEER Vol. 2 include Jack Mozie (the album’s producer), Ricky Caudle, Ryan Crawford, Yee-Shin Huang, Michael Cagle, Karin Parks, Jon Noble, Eric Blu Martin from Eric Blu & The Soul Revue, Ruth Soto (Latin Rose), Kitty Kitty Bang Bang and many more!

On Friday, December 5, all of the artists that lent their time and talent to the project have come together to perform all of the songs on the album at the HOLIDAY CHEER Vol. 2 CD Release Party at Neighbours Nightclub (1509 Broadway). For $10 guests get the CD and a show. You won’t want to miss out on being a part of this local holiday tradition!

History made as Gay vets march in Boston Veterans Day Parade

4 Seattle Gay News

November 14, 2014

AP Photo / Steven Senne

A group representing LGBT military veterans marched, for the very first time, in Boston’s annual Veterans Day parade.

OutVets, a non-partisan and non-political group, had 30 people show up to march Tuesday.

Spokesman Ryan McGill said the Suffolk County American Legion, the parade organizers, have embraced the group and its message of promoting awareness about the contributions of Gay armed service members with “open arms and strong support.”

The parade’s acceptance of OutVets stands in contrast to the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade, whose private organizers have blocked Gay groups from marching for years – a controversial decision upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh called OutVets’ participation in the parade a “groundbreaking historical moment.”

“Today we made the statement that we’re

But parade organizer Stephen Peers said “I was very emotional, every person who honoring our veterans, whether you’re Gay, marched in our organization today never whether you’re straight, whether you’re black, the decision to let the group in was simple.

“They’re veterans, period,” he said. thought this would happen,” Bishop said. whether you’re white, we all have shed the same red blood,” OutVets founder and CEO Bryan Bishop said.

From Boston Common to City Hall, loud applause followed the OutVets.

“It was an amazing experience, it really blew me out of the water the outpouring of support that we got from the folks that were lining up the streets,” OutVets COO Robert Santiago said.

“I think it’s wonderful. I think everybody should always be included,” Newton resident Wendy Matthews said.

“I think it’s great. I think they should just be marching as everybody else,” Medford veteran Brian O’Neill said.

Some veterans had mixed feelings about letting OutVets into Boston’s parade.

“They’re all God’s people so you know, if this is what it is, this is what it is, each of us have our own beliefs,” Boston Army vet WanLGBT military veterans at Veterans Day parade in Boston na Flores said.

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

Celebrating 41 Years!

HRC launches groundbreaking LGBT public education campaign in Deep South

With faith front and center, HRC launches new engagement effort – including TV commercials, mail, phone banking, billboards, and online advertising – to promote LGBT equality in Mississippi WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) equality, announced a new public education and engagement campaign – the first of its kind in the history of the Deep South – that aims to strengthen the foundation of public support for LGBT Mississippians, aid in the passage of pro-equality legislation, and bolster efforts to win marriage equality for Mississippi’s Gay and Lesbian couples.

Placing faith at the center of the effort, “All God’s Children” is a $310,000 campaign that’s built around four consecutive weeks of television ads in the Magnolia State – 2,000 gross rating points in total – and will be amplified by robust direct mail, phone bank operations, telephone town halls, billboards, online advertising and conversations taking place door-to-door.

“All God’s Children” was built to test a replicable model that can be used to move people of faith on LGBT issues throughout the South.

According to Gallup, Mississippi is the most religious state in America, and it’s believed that an estimated 55% of its population is Baptist.

Visit www.hrc.org/campaigns/all-godschildren to watch the television ad and visit the campaign’s website.

Vi s i t ht t p s : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / watch?v=KeYJx179pXQ for an embeddable version of the ad.

Visit http://hrc-assets.s3-website-useast-1.amazonaws.com//files/assets/resources/AllGodsChildrenFactSheet_final. pdf to read the campaign’s fact sheet.

Or go to www.hrc.org and search their website for this information “This first ever campaign in the Deep South is an unprecedented opportunity to tell the true stories of LGBT Mississippians – stories of hope, family, perseverance and progress,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “LGBT people are just like everyone else – they go to church, volunteer in their communities, and want to build a better future for their families. Most importantly, they’re born and raised in the state of Mississippi, and they want to help make it a more inclusive place to live for everybody.”

This effort launches just days before Mississippi’s first marriage equality lawsuit will be heard in federal court on Wednesday, November 12th. The case will be argued by Roberta Kaplan, who successfully argued United States v. Windsor before the United States Supreme Court last year.

Anchored by a series of TV commercials, the first ad will feature Mary Jane Kennedy, a Southern Baptist mother who has taught Bible study and Sunday school at her church.

A stay-at-home mother who’s lived in Mississippi for most of her life, Mary Jane believes her faith compels her to love others and value the worth of all human beings – including LGBT people. From there, the stories of a trailblazing state legislator, an Iraq War veteran, a student, and a preacher will be featured in subsequent TV ads. And for the first time in the history of public education campaigns in the South, the story of a Transgender woman from Mississippi will also be highlighted.

In order to maximize the television ads’ impact, and soften the ground for future efforts to achieve full equality, the campaign will also engage Mississippians in a number of ways: • Person-to Person Engagement – Campaign representatives will go door-to door with campaign materials and reach more than 10,000 homes. In addition, the campaign will start conversations in prominent public spaces in communities across the state. This includes reaching out at one of Mississippi’s most prominent in-state college football games, the Egg Bowl.

• Direct Mail and Phone Calls – Two rounds of direct mail pieces will be delivered, and they will be followed up with complementary calls from staff to reinforce the campaign’s message.

• Online – Online ads will be placed prominently on select websites, and will be promoted on social media.

• Billboards – The campaign will also be promoted on billboards.

• Telephone Town Halls – More than 50,000 Mississippians will be asked to participate in a statewide telephone town hall to discuss the importance of treating LGBT people equally.

Based on rigorous research, the campaign aims to reverse the fact that only one in five Mississippians say they know an LGBT person when the national number stands at nine in ten Americans. Research and our practical communal experience clearly indicates that people are far more likely to support LGBT rights and legal protections when they know someone who is LGBT. “This campaign sends the profoundly important message that LGBT people are our neighbors, coworkers, and family members – they’re the congregant down the pew and the friend who watches your pet when you go out of town,” said Griffin. “LGBT people come from all walks of life and inhabit each and every community in this state. This campaign focuses on LGBT Mississippians as contributing, thriving and prospering members of society – folks who do nothing to deserve the discrimination they too often

face, and who seek only to be treated fairly and decently by the state they love.”

The campaign is the latest large-scale effort of HRC’s Project One America, an initiative geared towards advancing social, institutional and legal equality in Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas. HRC Mississippi is working to advance equality for LGBT Mississippians who have no state or municipal level protections in housing, workplace, or public accommodations; legal state recognition for their relationships and families; state rights to jointly adopt children; and state protections from hate crimes. Through HRC Mississippi, we are working toward a future of fairness every day – changing hearts, minds and laws toward achieving full equality.

Motivation for this effort comes in part from the passage of the Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act earlier this year. Considered by many as a license to discriminate, the law’s passage – and the governor’s signing of it surrounded by staunch opponents of equality – was a sign that Mississippi could be moving in the wrong direction on LGBT issues.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender equality. HRC envisions a world where LGBT people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community. www.hrc.org Courtesy of the Human Rights Campaign

New study finds global increase of acceptance of Gay and Lesbian communities worldwide

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Public attitudes towards Gay rights across time and countries has improved. A new Williams Institute study finds that residents in 90% of all surveyed countries have become more accepting of homosexuality over the past 20 years.

The study examines the responses to 2000 survey questions asked in hundreds of surveys since 1981. Each included questions about attitudes regarding Lesbians and Gay men in 10 to 52 countries.

“Available research on global public acceptance of Lesbians and Gay men is limited,” said Andrew Park, Director of International Programs at the Williams Institute. “This study shows a clear trend toward increasing acceptance across the globe.”

• In 98% of the countries, those under 30 are more likely to say that same-gender sex is not wrong at all, compared to those aged 65 and older. The average gap in supportiveness between these age groups is 23.4%. The study indicates that people remain supportive as they grow older.

• In Latin America, acceptance of homosexuality ranges from a high of 34% in Uruguay to a low of 2% in Ecuador. On the legal recognition for marriages for same-sex couples, Uruguay has the highest level of support at 57% while Guatemala has the lowest level of support at 12%.

• In Africa, acceptance of homosexuality ranges from a high of 38% in South Africa to a low of 2% in Ghana. However, most countries in Africa are ranked in the bottom third Key findings include: of all countries in the world in their level of • Women are on average more than one acceptance of Lesbian and Gay people.

• 91% of European countries have become and a half times more likely to be accepting more accepting over the past 20 years. The most of Lesbian and Gay people than men.

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accepting are those in Northern Europe while those in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States have the lowest levels of acceptance. The level of acceptance across all surveyed countries has increased an average of 0.9 percentage points per year.

• Countries in Northwestern Europe are the most accepting, followed by the following clusters of countries: Australia/Canada/New Zealand/United States, Southern European countries, Latin American countries, former Soviet Union/Eastern & Central Europe, Asian countries, African countries, and majority Muslim countries.

The study, “Public Attitudes toward Homosexuality and Gay Rights across Time and Countries,” is authored by Tom W. Smith, NORC at the University of Chicago; Jaesok Son, NORC at the University of Chicago; and Jibum Kim, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul Korea. To read the complete study, visit williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu

The Williams Institute is dedicated to conducting rigorous, independent research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. A national think tank at UCLA Law, the Williams Institute produces high-quality research with real-world relevance and disseminates it to judges, legislators, policymakers, media and the public.

November 14, 2014

Seattle Gay News 5

Courtesy of The Williams Institute

SCOTUS to review Obamacare courtesy of

John Doe

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Two years after funding the Affordable Care Act, known as the ACA or Obamacare, the U.S. Supreme Court said it would review a new challenge to the law.

The challenge to President Obama’s signature legislation claims that the tax credits

that incentivize individuals to buy coverage through the federal insurance exchange are contrary to the provisions of the ACA as passed by Congress. Plaintiffs – four residents of the state of Virginia – want to block the tax credits for residents of 36 states.

The Obama administration, plaintiffs claim, is engaging in a “gross distortion” of the law’s wording by granting billions of dol-

lars in tax credits to people in those states.

According to a RAND Corporation study, 87% of the 5.4 million people who have bought ACA policies have enrolled in an insurance plan relying on federal tax credits to make it affordable. If the plaintiffs in this suit are successful, those buyers may see their insurance premiums triple.

The Urban Institute estimates that some 7.3 million people could lose out on $36.1 billion in subsidies by 2016.

Individuals who previously could afford insurance only because of the federal subsidies would then apply for a hardship exemption, allowing them to go without. That would potentially leave only the sickest individuals seeking insurance through the individual market. That, in turn, would raise coverage costs for insurers, forcing them to raise rates. Hospitals would be left to foot the bills for more uninsured patients.

In the end, the RAND study warns, eliminating the tax credits could spell the end of the ACA altogether. “[I]n scenarios in which the tax credits are eliminated, our model predicts a near ‘death spiral,’ with very sharp premium increases and drastic declines in individual market enrollment,” RAND analysts concluded.

At issue in the suit is a four-word phrase in the ACA. The law says individuals qualify for tax credits when they buy insurance on an online marketplace “established by the state.” Washington is one of only 14 states that have established ACA exchanges. But many states with Republican-led

governments have refused to set up insurance exchanges, and so the federal government stepped in with its own exchange.

Under a rule issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), insurance buyers can claim tax credits no matter where they live.

The Obama administration says the IRS approach is consistent with the law’s aims.

“Congress determined that the tax credits at issue here are essential to the Affordable Care Act’s goals of making affordable health coverage available to all Americans and ensuring functional insurance markets,” U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli argued in court papers.

Republican critics say Obama has adopted an interpretation that flies in the face of clear statutory language.

“Nothing in the ACA supports the notion that Congress meant to create the legal fiction that the federal government acts on behalf of a state when it establishes an exchange,” five Republican senators led by John Cornyn of Texas argued in support of the appeal.

In the case in front of the Supreme Court, a federal appeals court based in Richmond, Virginia, upheld the IRS regulation in July on a 3-0 vote. On the same day a federal appeals court in the District of Columbia reached the opposite conclusion, rejecting the administration’s approach in a 2-1 ruling.

The Supreme Court’s decision to hear an appeal of the Virginia decision means that at least four justices are ready to take a second look at Obamacare, after upholding the law’s so-called “individual mandate” provision in a 2012 decision.

LGBT veterans are still being denied equal federal benefits from Department of Veterans Affairs WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the eve of Veterans Day, the American Military Partner Association, the nation’s largest organization for the partners, spouses, families, and allies of America’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) service members and veterans, once again called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to immediately begin granting full and equal benefits to legally married LGBT veterans and their spouses.

“This is completely unacceptable and must be fixed now,” said Gene Silvestri, a U.S. Army veteran and AMPA’s Veterans Affairs Coordinator. “It’s unconscionable that legally married LGBT veterans are still being denied their full veterans benefits if they happen to live in a state that doesn’t respect their marriage. These are earned federal benefits, not benefits from the state.”

“How much longer do these families have to wait for the benefits they’ve sacrificed for and earned serving our nation?” asked Ashley Broadway, spouse of a U.S. Army officer and AMPA’s Director of Family Readiness.

“More importantly, why does no one seem to care that these families are being treated differently? Where are the Members of Congress who are supposedly champions of our veterans and their families?”

Even after the fall of the Defense of Marriage Act that prevented the federal government’s recognition of same-sex marriages, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is still following discriminatory language in Title 38 section 103c when determining

the validity of marriages for veteran benefits purposes. As service members transition from active duty, same-sex couples in nonmarriage equality states are denied full and equal access to many earned veterans’ benefits from the VA. Legally married active duty service members living in non-marriage equality states are also denied access to the full backing of VA home loans.

In August, AMPA filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of the VA challenging the VA’s regulations. The petition filed in the Federal Circuit Court argues that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in United States v.

Windsor striking down Section 3 of DOMA specifically flagged as unconstitutional the deprivation of veterans benefits to samesex spouses. The VA should not rely on discriminatory state marriage bans that have been declared unconstitutional by federal courts far and wide throughout the country as the basis to deny these spousal benefits now. The petition further states, “Having weathered the federal government’s past, longstanding discrimination against them, lesbian and gay veterans and their families find themselves once again deprived of equal rights and earned benefits by the government they served and the nation for which they sacrificed.”

The challenge is now pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit [AMPA v. McDonald, No. 14-7121 (Fed. Cir. 2014)].

For more information about the Ameri-

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November 14, 2014

can Military Partner Association and LGBT military spouses and their families, please visit our home on the web at www.

MilitaryPartners.org.

Founded and led by same-sex military partners in 2009 as the Campaign for Military Partners, AMPA has grown to over 30,000 members and supporters and is committed to education, advocacy, and support for our The American Military Partner Associa- “modern military families.” tion is the nation’s largest organization for the partners, spouses, and families of AmerCourtesy of the American Military Partner ica’s LGBT service members and veterans. Association

Celebrating 41 Years!

HRC praises Attorney General nominee Human Rights Campaign (HRC) praised Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch in a statement released November 7.

“Loretta Lynch will have big shoes to fill thanks to the incredible leadership of outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder and his unprecedented commitment to LGBT equality,” said HRC President Chad Griffin.

“Based on her strong record on civil and human rights as a U.S. Attorney, we have no doubt she will continue that leadership as Attorney General. We look forward to working with her to ensure equal justice under the law for all LGBT Americans.”

President Obama nominated Lynch to fill the post being left by current Attorney General Eric Holder. Holder announced his retirement in September, but said he would continue in office until a successor was confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Lynch currently serves as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. She held the same position in 1999-2001, under the Clinton administration. George W. Bush replaced her when he became President, but Obama reappointed her in 2010.

In a statement, White House spokesman Josh Earnest called Lynch “a strong, independent prosecutor.”

If confirmed she would be the first woman Attorney General, and the second African American, after Holder, to hold that position.

Republican leader Mitch McConnell said

SCOTUS

continued from cover to hear any appeal, but as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg has indicated, if appellate courts reach contradictory decisions – and now they have – it is likely the Supreme Court will take up at least one marriage case.

Baker v. Nelson and the Fourteenth Amendment One of the issues the Supreme Court will have to settle, if it does accept the appeals from the Sixth Circuit, is whether Baker v.

Nelson applies at all since the high court’s

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by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch

will restore confidence in the Attorney General as a politically independent voice for the American people,” Grassley said.

Unlike Holder, she is not thought to be personally close to the President, and this will probably help her avoid Republican obstruction of her confirmation. She did build a close relationship with Holder through her work on the Attorney General’s advisory committee, which she has chaired since the beginning of 2013.

Her office has worked closely with the Justice Department on several big corporate fraud cases, and helped investigate Citi-

group’s sale of phony mortgage securities, which led to a $7 billion settlement in July.

Lynch’s office also was involved in the December 2012 $1.2 billion accord with HSBC over the bank’s lapses in its anti-money laundering controls.

In her first stint as U.S. Attorney Lynch worked on the prosecution of the New York police officers charged with torturing Haitian immigrant Abner Louima. More recently, her office has brought several highprofile indictments, including the April fraud prosecution of Republican U.S. Representative Michael Grimm.

Windsor ruling striking down DOMA. Baker was a 1971 case in which a Gay couple in Minnesota sued for the right to get married.

State courts turned them down, and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected their appeal “for want of a substantial federal question,” meaning they considered marriage to be a matter for state law.

In his majority opinion for the Sixth Circuit panel, Judge Jeffrey Sutton held that Baker is the applicable precedent for current marriage cases, and requires federal courts to allow same-sex marriage bans if they reflect local views.

Sutton argued that the more recent Windsor decision did not overrule Baker.

“Windsor invalidated a federal law that

refused to respect state laws permitting gay marriage, while Baker upheld the right of the people of a State to define marriage as they see it,” he wrote.

On the other hand, in her comments during oral arguments in the Windsor case, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg seemed to dismiss Baker as a precedent-setting case.

“The Supreme Court hadn’t even decided that gender-based classifications get any kind of heightened scrutiny,” she said. “And the same-sex intimate conduct was considered criminal in many states in 1971, so I don’t think we can extract much in Baker v. Nelson.”

In spite of Sutton’s interpretation, the Windsor decision may have changed the legal landscape fundamentally, simply by asserting that samesex couples have rights that must be respected.

In his majority opinion in Windsor, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that defining marriage in a way that disadvantages Gay and Lesbian couples violates their Fifth Amendment equal protection and due process rights.

Kennedy relied on the Fifth Amendment – one of the ten Bill of Rights amendments limiting the power of the federal government – because DOMA was a federal law. However, liberal legal scholars believe that the Fourteenth Amendment “federalizes” the Bill of Rights.

In other words, the Fourteenth Amendment says that states cannot restrict any rights that the federal government is forbidden to restrict.

While Kennedy did also say that states which allow Gay and Lesbian residents to marry should not be subject to federal interference, he did not say that states have complete freedom to limit marriage rights in any way they want.

Therefore, the liberal argument goes, once the high court ruled that Gay and Lesbian couples have rights that the federal government must respect – in this case the right to marry – the Fourteenth Amendment re-

quires states to respect those rights also.

Conservative Justices Anton Scalia and Clarence Thomas are known to have a much more limited interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, however, and they are likely to side with Sutton. The outlook for a favorable Supreme Court ruling depends on how many other justices they can persuade to join them.

November 14, 2014

Seattle Gay News 7

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he expected the confirmation process to be held up until the newly elected Senate – which will have a Republican majority – convenes in January. Neither President Obama nor Democratic Senate leaders insisted on confirmation during the so-called “lameduck” session of Congress, while Democrats still have a majority in the Senate.

The senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and presumed chair once Republicans assume control of the Senate in January, Chuck Grassley, said she will “will receive a very fair, but thorough, vetting” by the panel.

“I’m hopeful that her tenure, if confirmed,

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Visit us online www.sgn.org

Is Kansas the crystal ball?

Kansas may be the crystal ball that predicts how the high court might rule if and when it accepts the appeals from the Sixth Circuit.

After the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear appeals of the Tenth Circuit decision striking down marriage bans in Utah and Oklahoma, U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Crabtree ruled on November 4 that Kansas, which is also under the jurisdiction of the Tenth Circuit, has to comply with the precedent established by the appellate court and allow same-sex marriages.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor granted a temporary stay to allow her colleagues to look at the case, but the full Supreme Court lifted the stay on November 12.

Only Justices Scalia and Thomas wanted to keep the stay in place.

While the justices did not comment on their decision, it would be hard to imagine why the court would allow Gay and Lesbian marriages to proceed if they intended to turn around and invalidate them in a later decision.

In fact, marriage equality may already have passed the tipping point. To reverse so many lower court decisions would demoralize the federal judiciary, and throw thousands of existing marriages into legal limbo.

No one knows what the Supreme Court will do, but at least at this stage they are showing reluctance to interfere with the progressive legalization of same-sex marriages and that might bode well for the future.

Tony the Tiger comes out – “That’s grrrrreat!”

Is Tony the Tiger Gay? That’s a rhetorical question, of course, because advertising mascots don’t have sex, but the beloved Frosted Flakes icon does appear in a new series of Kellogg’s ads urging LGBT customers to “Wear your stripes with Pride!”

The ads appeared in Georgia media markets in October, marking Kellogg’s sponsorship of the Atlanta Gay Pride Festival.

“At Kellogg, we’re evolving culture that respects and accepts employees’ sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression so that all employees can be authentic and fully engaged,” the text of the ad says.

Predictably, Tony’s guest appearance in the Atlanta Pride Guide ad had anti-Gay bigots fuming. The American Family Association called for a boycott of Kellogg’s products.

In 2012, the cereal giant was also the target of a boycott called by Catholic League head Bill Donohue. Donohue was incensed when Kellogg’s sponsored Jon Stewart’s Daily Show, an “anti-Catholic” production, according to Donohue.

“Change the channel or turn off the TV,”

Kellogg responded to his complaints.

Ironically, the Kellogg company was founded by Seventh Day Adventist brothers Will Keith Kellogg and John Harvey Kellogg to promote their religion’s dietary beliefs. In addition to being pro-vegetarian, Adventists were – and remain – rigidly anti-Gay. They are also anti-sugar, and the Kellogg brothers parted ways on the issue of adding sugar to their breakfast cereals. Will, who thought sweet cereals would sell better, went on to lead the Kellogg Company. John ran an Adventist sanitarium that specialized in a whole foods diet and yogurt enemas.

In a second irony, C.W. Post, the founder of Post Cereals and later General Foods – one of Will Kellogg’s biggest competitors – was cured of depression at John Harvey Kellogg’s sanitarium, adopted his food doctrines, and founded his own cereal company to promote healthy eating a la Kellogg.

Kellogg’s is not the only cereal company to reach out to the LGBT community. General Mills’ Cheerios also launched Gay-friendly commercials in October, starring a Canadian Gay couple and their kids. General Mills Lucky Charms also celebrated Pride for the past two years with an ad campaign featuring rainbow marshmallows.

Kelloggs

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

U.S. Catholic bishops vs. the Pope liberal social policies, and the bishops have continued on that course even though the current Pope wants them to back off.

In fact, the Catholic Conference of Illinois, which represents every bishop in the state, flatly contradicted the Pope in a pre-election voter’s guide. The Illinois bishops told their parishioners that abortion and family issues had far greater moral weight than immigration and poverty – the issues Pope Francis says are “at the center of the Gospel.”

“It used to be your career in the church could be advanced if you took a hard stance on issues,” the Rev. James Bretzke, a professor of moral theology at Boston College, told the Boston Herald. “Pope Francis wants people who are more bridge builders instead of bridge burners.”

New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, one of the most political of the U.S. bishops, publicly rejected the synod’s moderately liberal draft report, but is now walking back his opposition to the Pope.

“What I heard and read, the real synod was divisive, confrontational, partisan, and dwelt only on same sex-marriage, cohabitation and divorce,” Dolan said on November 10. “In fact it was plodding, even at times tedious, but it was a synod of consensus.”

In spite of Dolan’s spin on it, the synod’s initial draft report, which identified many positive aspects of Gay relationships, was rejected by conservative bishops with Burke and Dolan in the lead. The synod eventually considered a watered-down version, but failed to reach the required two-thirds majority even on that.

HIGHLIGHTS from Pride Foundation’s 2014 Washington grants include: Entre Hermanos (Seattle): $7,500 to support Mujeres Diversas, the Women’s Program of Entre Hermanos. The program is a resource and unique space for LBTQ Latinas in Seattle, offering a culturally appropriate environment in which young LBTQ Latinas (1824) share their challenges and resiliencies.

Gender Justice League (Seattle): $10,000 to support Gender Justice League’s work to empower Transgender activists and allies to fight oppression based on gender identity and sexuality in Washington state and to create a community where Transgender people can live

their lives safely, true to themselves, and free of discrimination.

Northwest Youth Services (Bellingham): $4,000 to support a training for Skagit County professionals who work with young people to identify, prevent and/or intervene in LGBTQ youth homelessness/housing instability.

Pizza Klatch (Lacey, WA): $5,000 to support Pizza Klatch – an organization offering weekly lunchtime support groups for LGBTQQIA and allies in Thurston County – in building its infrastructure to support increasing program demands, with the goal of solidifying operations and perfecting the support experience provided to LGBTQ students.

Spokane AIDS Network (Spokane): $7,500 to help provide transportation, housing, food, and other supportive services to HIV positive people living throughout 20 counties of Eastern Washington.

This year’s grantees include LGBTQ organizations as well as mainstream organizations providing programming and services specifically to the LGBTQ population. LGBTQ issues only receive 0.26% of total foundation dollars (26 cents for every $100 dollars), making Pride Foundation’s work even more critical.

In addition to their community grants program, Pride Foundation also makes investments in LGBTQ youth, adults, and families through a scholarship program, donor-advised, and donor-designated funds.

In total, the foundation has invested nearly $7.1 million this year to support LGBTQ people in their home communities.

“In all that we do, we are focusing our resources and grant dollars on bridging the gap between legal victories and the ability for all LGBTQ people to be who they are,

where they are,” said Hermanns. “We are honored to partner with wonderful organizations and individuals throughout our region and country that share our values and hopes for our community.”

The full list of Pride Foundation grantees and project descriptions is available at www. pridefoundation.org/grantees.

Pride Foundation is a regional community foundation that inspires giving to expand opportunities and advance full equality for LGBTQ people across the Northwest. Learn more at www.pridefoundation.org.

8 Seattle Gay News

November 14, 2014

AP Photo / Patrick Semansky

Benedict XVI – who appointed every serving Catholic bishop in the United States – were social conservatives who backed up the bishops in their pronouncements on hot-button issues like Gay rights, contraception, and divorce.

Francis, in contrast, has challenged them to stop scolding their parishioners and open their churches to different points of view – even, as he put it, to “make a mess” in the diocese.

The bishops did not take kindly to that message.

“Pope Francis is fond of ‘creating a mess.’

Mission accomplished,” Providence, Rhode Island Bishop Thomas Tobin wrote, describing the Pope’s recent special synod on family relationships.

The debate at the synod, which exposed deep divisions among the church’s leaders, struck Tobin as “rather Protestant,” he said – about the worst thing a Catholic synod could be, from a bishop’s point of view.

Other U.S. bishops said the synod sowed confusion about church teaching.

“I think confusion is of the devil. I think the public image that came across was confusion,” said Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia.

Cardinal Raymond Burke, the former St. Louis archbishop and leading spokesperson for conservative Catholics, charged that the church “is like a ship without a rudder” under Francis.

Burke has been twice demoted by the Pope – once just before the special synod, when he was removed as head of the Congregation of Bishops, and a second time on November 8, when he lost his job on the Vatican’s religious appeals court.

“Many of the U.S. bishops have been disoriented by what this new pope is saying and I don’t see them really as embracing the Pope’s agenda,” John Thavis, a former Rome bureau chief for Catholic News Service, told The Associated Press.

Francis’s predecessors wanted U.S. bishops in the front lines of the fight against

Timothy Dolan delivering remarks at the conference of U.S. Catholic Bishops

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer As the annual conference of U.S. Catholic bishops begins November 17 in Baltimore, the bishops find themselves more and more at odds with their nominal leader Pope Francis.

Although he still clings to traditional Catholic doctrine on sexuality and the family, the Pope has put his bishops in an uncomfortable position. His predecessors John Paul II and

Pride

continued from cover

Courtesy of the Pride Foundation

Celebrating 41 Years!

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November 14, 2014

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Celebrating 41 Years!

The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) announces nearly $1.5 million in new grants

First grants awarded in new initiative to re-focus LGBT movement on HIV/AIDS crisis; grants also address LGBTQ health and rights priorities for the Foundation.”

A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation examined the understanding of HIV among Gay and Bisexual men, and their results further underscore the importance and timeliness of EJAF’s LGBTQ Community Initiative. The survey revealed that few Gay and Bisexual men report discussing HIV with their friends and sexual partners; most are not getting tested for HIV as regularly as they should; and more than half report that their doctors have never recommended that they be tested for HIV and that they rarely ever discuss HIV with their doctors.

The Initiative also includes a particular emphasis on programs for Transgender people.

“Transgender people are sidelined within the broader movement to end HIV and in the fight for expanded access to healthcare,” said EJAF Executive Director Scott Campbell.

“We look forward to working directly with advocates from the Transgender community who can help us ensure that our grants continue to go where the need is highest.”

“The Elton John AIDS Foundation is committed to confronting HIV/AIDS where it exists,” said EJAF Founder Sir Elton John. “We recognize that the health needs and rights of LGBTQ people, and particularly Transgender people, are critical components to ending HIV in the United States. The Foundation also recognizes the lack of funding and leadership in this area and is rising to the challenge to meet this need.”

courtesy of EJAF

NEW YORK – On November 6, The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) announced nearly $1.5 million in new grants, including a new program aimed at addressing the rampant stigma against HIV-positive people and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) community.

With this round of grant-making, EJAF is awarding seven new and six renewal grants that fund innovative projects addressing the health and human rights challenges facing LGBTQ people, and supporting cutting-edge advocacy work on drug policy and HIV decriminalization. The new funding amounts to $1.456 million, bringing EJAF’s grant investments for 2014 to date to nearly $2 million.

In particular, EJAF’s new LGBTQ Community Initiative will engage directly with marginalized voices within the LGBTQ community to identify urgently-needed new approaches in our ongoing fight against HIV/ AIDS. Specifically, the Initiative will work to address the lack of knowledge surrounding HIV among Gay Americans, to create a more transparent culture in LGBTQ communities affected by HIV, and to fight the severe lack of access to welcoming medical care available to LGBTQ people in this country.

“This has been a year of great triumphs for LGBTQ Americans. However, rates of HIV infection are still increasing in the community. That’s why we are investing an additional $1.0-$1.5 million across our second and third grant cycles to support new, dynamic, innovative programs by LGBTQ organizations and organizations working to confront the AIDS crisis in the community,” said EJAF Chairman David Furnish. “The health and equality of Gay people will continue to be top

Elton John

fective programs and policies, and also by speaking out with honesty and compassion about the realities of people’s lives. Sir Elton John created EJAF over twenty years ago, first in the United States in 1992 and then in the United Kingdom in 1993. Through hard work and with the help of our network of kind, amazing, creative, and generous friends and supporters, the two foundations together have raised more than $300 million over the past two decades to combat stigma, prevent About EJAF At the Elton John AIDS Foundation infections, provide treatment and services, (EJAF) we believe that AIDS can be beaten. and motivate governments to end AIDS. The We act on that belief by raising funds for ef- U.S. foundation focuses its efforts on pro-

grams in the United States, the Americas, and the Caribbean, while the U.K. foundation funds HIV-related work in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Join us in speaking out, taking action, and contributing to our efforts to achieve a world without AIDS. For more information, and for a complete list and descriptions of EJAF’s 2014 round two grantees, please visit www.ejaf.org.

American Airlines is the official sponsoring airline of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Courtesy of the Elton John AIDS Foundation

Elton John AIDS Foundation to fund Transgender HIV Project

Funding will support a community-led strategy to address inequities in HIV prevention and access to care asmdc.org

Cecilia Chung

Visit us online www.sgn.org

OAKLAND – Transgender Law Center is excited to announce a new partnership with the Elton John AIDS Foundation in the development of a constituent-driven strategy to reduce structural inequities that drive high rates of HIV incidents in Transgender communities.

The funding is for one year and will enable Transgender Law Center to form a diverse national advisory board of eight to ten Trans people living with HIV, with strong focus on Trans women of color. The advisory board will assist in a systems gap assessment, identify best and promising practices in community response to HIV, and issue recommendations.

Cecilia Chung, Senior Strategist of Transgender Law Center, will be leading this effort to change the course of the HIV epidemic in Trans communities and improve health outcomes for those who have been diagnosed.

It is important to develop policy recommendations as well as legal and legislative strate-

gies guided by communities most impacted – Trans people living with HIV. “With the support of the advisory board, Transgender Law Center will engage the community meaningfully in the examination of how systemic barriers and social conditions (such as discrimination, Transphobia, criminalization and violence) drive the HIV epidemic and negatively impact health outcomes,” says Cecilia. “This will also give us an opportunity to support and strengthen the leadership of some of the most vulnerable members in the Transgender community.”

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Seattle Gay News 13

About Transgender Law Center Transgender Law Center (TLC) works to change law, policy, and attitudes so that all people can live safely, authentically, and free from discrimination regardless of their gender identity or expression. www. transgenderlawcenter.org Courtesy of the Transgender Law Center

First Trans Pride in Bangladesh

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

there is no law in the country for the purpose,” Bangladeshi parliament member Tarana Halim told The Independent newspaper.

“I recommend, if the law is enacted, it must let them choose if they want to inherit their part of the family property as a male heir or a female one.”

In Muslim law, male heirs inherit more than female heirs.

“While enacting law for the hijra community we should keep in mind that the law must not limit their human rights,” Halim added.

Nurun Nabi, vice chancellor of Begum Rokeya University, recommended setting up schools for hijras, who are often bullied by their classmates.

“There should be a counselor in every school who will be counseling the hijra students and also other students to make them accept the hijras as their normal schoolmates,” Nabi said.

Hijra leaders urged the government to ensure their safety and basic rights at a Hijra Pride press conference in October.

Zuma / Rex

More than 1,000 hijras staged Bangladesh’s first ever Pride Parade on November 10, marking the one-year anniversary of a government ruling recognizing them as a “third gender.”

“Hijra” is more or less equivalent to what Americans mean by “Transgender,” although hijra is applied only to people who present as female, and the term includes professional drag entertainers.

According to Gay Star News reports, the Pride Parade brought downtown Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, to a standstill. Hijras sang and danced through the streets, displaying a huge Bangladeshi flag and banners with hijra liberation slogans.

“The days of stigma, discrimination and fear are over,” one of them read.

“I never dreamt that I would see this day in my life,” Sonali, one of the marchers, told AFP news agency.

“We are stigmatized everywhere. We are discriminated against. We are laughed at just because we do not feel like a man or woman. But today is different. We feel like we’re normal human beings.”

The march was the climax of a nine-day Hijra Pride celebration, organized by Bandhu Social Welfare Society (BSWS), the Bangladeshi Ministry of Social Welfare, and UN-

AIDS. It was reportedly “the first of its kind in the country at central and divisional level.”

The aim of the march was “to appreciate and acknowledge the decision of the government of Bangladesh on recognizing hijra as a third gender... create social awareness on the respect of gender diversity [and] to sensitize policy makers on the need for social justice and dignity [for the] hijra community for a better future,” BSWS said in a statement.

“With opportunities, [the] hijra community can add value to the society and its growth with dignity and honor.”

Other Pride events included a seminar on hijra rights. A talent show to name the top singers and dancers, and a hijra beauty contest will be held later this month.

During the seminar, Bangladeshi lawmakers put forward several proposals for expanding hijra rights, including inheritance rights. While hijras can now identify as a distinct gender on their identity papers, they are not allowed to inherit family property.

“We are still not entitled to our inheritance like our siblings under the rule of law,” activist Bobi Hijra told the Dhaka Tribune newspaper. “The sooner the government took action in this regard, the sooner it would get better for us.”

“The hijras are not only deprived of their family property, they can’t even claim it as

Transgender Bangladeshis dance in Dhaka’s first-ever pride parade on Monday

Gay and Trans prisoners sue California Sheriff Allen J. Schaben

Former West Valley Detention Center inmate Dan McKibben, speaking at the ACLU’s L.A. headquarters, says he saw deputies in the jail use homophobic slurs on fellow inmates

cess, it is substantially less than that available to non-GBT inmates.”

Among other grievances, the suit also alleges that some staff at the jail have an “unwarranted fear of AIDS” with regards to the GBT inmates, and so “do not conduct the required safety checks for GBT cells.”

The inmates also allege that they are “regularly subjected to abusive conduct and derogatory name-calling” by deputies at the jail.

While they acknowledge that authorities claim there is a “rational basis” for separating inmates according to sexual orientation or gender identity, the plaintiffs believe “there is no legitimate penological reason to treat GBT inmates worse than non-GBT inmates just because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Plaintiffs are represented by the ACLU and a local law firm, and are seeking damages for the discrimination and mistreatment. As a class action, the suit is filed on behalf of all GBT inmates at the West Valley Detention Center.

“Gay, bisexual and transgender people

housed at West Valley Detention Center are punished twice, first for the crimes they allegedly committed, and again, simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” ACLU attorney Brenden Hamme told CBS News.

“They’ve been told most frequently that it’s for their own safety, but jails are quite capable and are constitutionally mandated to not only provide for the safety of their charges, but to also provide equal access to jail programs and facilities.”

The ACLU believes that the outcome of the case could have ramifications for GBT prisoners in all of California.

“What’s happening in San Bernardino County is particularly egregious, but unfortunately, it is not unique,” another ACLU attorney, Melissa Goodman, told Associated Press.

A spokesperson for the San Bernardino Sheriff ’s Department said that it does not comment on any matters that are subject to ongoing litigation.

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Allen J. Schaben

Bisexual or Transgender.

“Unlike the male, non-GBT general population, sentenced GBT inmates at WVDC Fifteen current and former Gay, Bi, are generally not allowed to participate in and Trans inmates of the San Bernardino the inmate work program, and, to the exCounty Jail in California have initiated a tent they may occasionally have limited acclass action lawsuit against the County Sheriff ’s Department. The suit was filed on October 22.

According to court documents, all inmates who identify as Gay, Bi, or Trans are sent to the jail’s “Alternative Lifestyle Tank” at the West Valley Detention Center (WVDC). This consists of 16 cells that can hold up to 32 inmates at any one time, and are separate from the rest of the jail.

This particular detention center is the only one in San Bernardino County that houses self-identified GBT inmates.

The plaintiffs say that the “inmates are not given equal access to opportunities to reduce their sentences, services, programs and facilities, and are often treated in an abusive and neglectful manner. In short, GBT inmates at WVDC serve longer sentences Former West Valley Detention Center inmate Peter Guzman, says that after he identified himself as Gay, he was placed in an “alternative life and endure substantially worse conditions style” unit and forced to stay in his cell for up to 23 hours a day, restrictions he says were not placed upon his fellow, straight inmates of confinement simply because they are Gay,

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Celebrating 41 Years!

GLSEN releases 29 state snapshots from most recent national school climate survey on America’s middle and high schools

Benchmark survey reveals LGBT youth regularly hear anti-LGBT remarks and are harassed NEW YORK – On November 13, GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) released state-level data from its biennial National School Climate Survey report for 29 states that show that schools remain unsafe for the majority of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) students.

The latest edition of GLSEN’s National School Climate Survey, which first began in 1999 and remains one of the few studies to examine the middle and high school experiences of LGBT youth nationally, includes four major findings: schools nationwide are hostile environments for a distressing number of LGBT students; a hostile school climate affects students’ academic success and mental health; students with LGBTrelated resources and supports report better school experiences and academic success; and school climate for LGBT students has improved somewhat over the years, but remains quite hostile for many.

“The large number of students who reported hearing anti-LGBT language and who continue to experience verbal and physical harassment in schools in these states is unacceptable,” said Dr. Eliza Byard, GLSEN’s Executive Director. “GLSEN calls on everyone in these states and across the country to join us in ensuring students and educators are given the resources and supports to create safe and affirming school environments. All members of the school community need to feel empowered to intervene when others are undermining these efforts.”

The 29 states with snapshots are Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Snapshots were created for states that had enough LGBT student respondents to allow for the analysis of the local findings.

Each state snapshot shows the percentage of students who regularly hear anti-LGBT remarks, the percentage who are victimized at school and whether the incidents were reported, and the availability of in-school resources and supports such as school staff, a comprehensive anti-bullying policy and Gay-Straight Alliances.

“Our research tells us that policymakers and education leaders in these 29 states must do more to create safer and more affirming schools for LGBT students,” said Dr. Joseph G. Kosciw, GLSEN’s Chief Research & Strategy Officer. “Training and empowering educators to create supportive environments, supporting Gay-Straight Alliances and increasing access to accurate and positive information about LGBT people, history and events and inclusive policies can improve school climate for all students.”

State snapshots for 29 states can be found at www.glsen.org/statesnapshots. To access a summary video, infographic and both the executive summary and complete GLSEN

Visit us online www.sgn.org

National School Climate Survey report, visit orientation or gender identity/expression. www.glsen.org/nscs.

GLSEN seeks to develop school climates where difference is valued for the positive About GLSEN contribution it makes to creating a more GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Edu- vibrant and diverse community. For inforcation Network, is the leading national edu- mation on GLSEN’s research, educational cation organization focused on ensuring resources, public policy advocacy, student safe and affirming schools for all students. organizing programs and educator training Established in 1990, GLSEN envisions a initiatives, visit www.glsen.org. world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual Courtesy of GLSEN

November 14, 2014

Seattle Gay News 15

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Celebrating 41 Years!

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Back by popular demand – Sister Hillda Billy presents

“Sisters’ Pantry 3”! of community support. The clients served

by Chicken Soup Brigade need toiletries (toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, etc.), canned foods, and dry goods (pasta, beans, rice, etc.).

Collection boxes will be at R-Place, C.C. Attle’s, The Wild Rose, Madison Pub, The Cuff Complex, Changes in Wallingford, Pike Place Dental, and Lifelong AIDS Alliance Thrift Store November 14th through December 14th.

Sister Hillda Billy, who organizes the annual food drive, said, “I am positively giddy with excitement for this year’s food drive! We’ve added new collection locations this year, in response to last year’s community generosity.

“Last year, the community donated several hundred pounds of food and toiletries.

We’re hoping to be able to help the community donate even more of these essential items this year!”

On Saturday, December 13th, the Sisters will be conducting a bucket drive to collect monetary donations to add to the food donations. The Sisters will also be hosting a post food-drive party that evening that will be held at R-Place (619 E. Pine St.) at 10 p.m.

Thank you for helping to make the food“Sisters’ Pantry” is a food drive for drive a success!!!

Chicken Soup Brigade, a project of Lifelong AIDS Alliance. This year, because of Courtesy of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulrising demand and budgetary constraints, gence, the Abbey of St. Joan Chicken Soup Brigade is in desperate need

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