SGN December 12, 2014 - Section 1

Celebrating 41 Years!

Issue 50 Volume 42

Seattle Gay News

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SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Comprehensive LGBT civil rights bill to be introduced in new Congress Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call

U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley

rights in the new Congress that will convene in January. Unlike ENDA (the Employment Non-DiscrimiU.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) nation Act), Merkley’s bill will cover said on December 10 that he will in- housing, public accommodations, troduce a comprehensive LGBT civil and credit as well as employment.

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

The Senate’s bipartisan passage of ENDA in November 2013 was a “tremendous victory,” Merkley said, but if discrimination against LGBT Americans is wrong at work, it is also wrong in all other areas of life.

“Such an act would be a major advance for opportunity and equality for the LGBT community and would be a major stride toward a more just society,” Merkley said.

Merkley made his announcement

at an event for the Center for American Progress, which was releasing its own new report on the need for just such a comprehensive civil rights bill.

The Oregon Senator has been the lead sponsor of ENDA in the Senate since assuming that role from Senator Ted Kennedy in 2009. The new legislation would replace ENDA. Most national LGBT organizations withdrew support for ENDA in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision, because they feared that ENDA’s very broad religious exemption would allow employers to gut protections for their LGBT employees under the pretext of religious convictions.

The National LGBTQ Task Force, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Gay and Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Lambda Legal, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Transgender Law Center, and Pride at Work all dropped support for ENDA at that time.

The HRC reaffirmed their support for ENDA, but also promised to back a comprehensive LGBT see Merkley page 6

Honoring Lou Ellen Author and activist Mary Dispenza talks Couch, street-tough about her memoir Split and her life’s journey and soulful fallen friend SGN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:

Courtesy of Justin Reed Early

Lou Ellen “Lou Lou” Couch (front)

her death, with a new headstone to be unveiled at her grave at Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery (11111 Today, at 3 p.m., author Justin Aurora Ave. N.) Section 10, Plot 3.

“By remembering my lost friend Reed Early, her brother Frankie and friends will honor unsung Lou Lou, I hope to make people LGBT hero, Lou Ellen “Lou Lou” see Lou Lou page 5 Couch on the 29th anniversary of

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

“It is my time to give hope, love, and support to those on their journey of healing from childhood abuse to health and wholeness,” Mary Dispenza writes in her new book, Split.

“The call inspires me and gives my life renewed meaning and purpose.”

“I hope your readers will buy the book,” Dispenza tells SGN, “and pass it along if they find it worthy.”

Dispenza, a former nun, teacher, artist, and veteran LGBT rights activist, began the book four years ago when she was asked to become Northwest district director of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests).

The title, Split, refers both to her shattered relationship with her Catholic faith, and to the separation between “Little Mary,” her name for her childhood self, and the adult Mary Dispenza grappling with memories of rape by her priest, Father George Rucker.

It all began, she says, in 1989 when she was appointed director of Pastoral Life Services in Seattle by then-Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen. As an official of the archdi-

www.king5.com

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Mary Dispenza

ocese, Dispenza was required to attend a workshop titled “The Sexual Misconduct of Clergy.”

“As I sat there listening,” she tells SGN, “I suddenly realized, ‘Oh my gosh! They’re talking about me!’

“Then the memories and the flashbacks came…”

Dispenza realized she had been suppressing memories of a time when she was seven years old and was raped by Father Rucker dur-

ing the showing of a movie in her Catholic school auditorium. Told by the workshop facilitators that those who know about abuse by priests have a duty to report it, Dispenza informed Church officials about the incident, and initiated contact with Rucker more than 40 years after the rape.

“I finally confronted my abuser see Dispenza page 5

2 Seattle Gay News

December 12, 2014

Celebrating 41 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

December 12, 2014

Seattle Gay News 3

Black LGBT religious leaders act with historically Black churches: “Black Lives Matter” LGBT Black Christians and faith leaders join tens of thousands of historically Black congregations/denominations and allies to wear black to church on Sunday, December 14, in response to police brutality: “Black LGBT bodies must matter, too!” vimeo.com

Bishop Yvette Flunder padconference.mccchurch.org

Rev. Elder Darlene Garner

Spokespersons: Bishop Yvette Flunder, Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM) Rev. Elder Darlene Garner, Director of the Office of Emerging Ministries, Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) Black America faces an unspoken agenda of terror and racism. In response, tens of thousands of historically Black congregations/denominations and allies across the country will be wearing black on December 14, 2014, to protest the criminalization, disproportionate incarceration, and killing of Black and Brown people by law enforcement. As Black lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) religious leaders, we are all too familiar with oppressive systems that discriminate and kill.

Over the last six years, fair minded Americans have moved the country to elect our first Black president, opened the doors of marriage to same gender loving people in over 35 states and Washington D.C., began a national conver-

4 Seattle Gay News

December 12, 2014

sation on the inclusion of transgender brothers and sisters, and confronted the need to finally address immigration reform. This decided shift toward progressive social values has been met with an escalating conservative backlash most abhorrently embodied in the aggressive policing of Black and Brown bodies. The conservative climate has also led to rampant unresolved murders of transgender people.

Action: As more than 150 Black LGBT faith leaders, we commit to mobilize our LGBT led congregations, denominations, and faith communities to participate in a day of solidarity and to pray for healing, justice, and holy boldness as we respond as a united front. We call for the Black community and our allies to stand with us. In turn, we sign on to the following actions:

Intentionally collaborate with Black civil rights and faith-based organizations, Black church denominations, and grassroots social justice actions.

Participate in “Black Lives Matter” Sunday, December 14, by wearing black in solidarity and offering prayers to stop the violence against African Americans, to heal Ebola in Africa, and to end to the exportation of homo-hatred by conservative Evangelicals.

We, as LGBT religious leaders across faith traditions and across our country have created an historic alliance among ourselves as we assert that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! We declare and decree our wholehearted commitment to participating in a new wave of sacred resistance to power structures, which demean Black bodies, and reinforce policies, that undermine the life and vitality of our community. We uphold that All Black Lives Matter and condemn all the ways Black bodies are marginalized, and subjected to hostility.

To that end, we call for all Black religious voices to unite together across the diversity that exists among us to proclaim that we stand on the side of justice for all and that every life is sacred.

To do so we must connect the dots between the forms of oppression that rise up from the toxic root of racism. We stand against oppressive practices wherever they exist and are committed to the practice of peace and we encourage our communities to find common ground.

We commit to moving from the margins

to the middle as we articulate an integrated multi-issue justice movement embracing the totality of concerns impacting Black and Brown bodies: police brutality, mass incarceration, violence against trans people, income inequality, immigration discrimination, malnutrition, gun violence, the assault on reproductive health, unequal pay for women, inferior education, disproportionately high HIV/AIDS, Ebola, the homeless crisis among Black gay youth, and the lethal exportation of homophobia to Africa by the Religious Right.

As demonstrators around the country are organizing themselves to speak truth to power, we join our voices to this chorus of justice seekers and stand in solidarity with all who seek to change the ways our communities are oppressed and disenfranchised.

In response to grand jury decisions in Ferguson, Missouri, and Staten Island, New York, and in other parts of the country where Black lives are ended senselessly over minor offenses or for no offense at all, our hearts are broken by the lack of justice for the victims of violence at the hands of law enforcement. We grieve with the families in St. Louis, Cleveland, and New York City who have lost their loved ones. We are also dismayed by militaristic police tactics that try to silence the voices of peaceful protesters reacting to the lack of justice from our legal system.

As religious leaders, we lift our voices in solidarity with the families, protesters, and all those who stand against discrimination.

We affirm that the walls of racism, homophobia, transphobia and injustice must be pulled down in our communities, nation, on the continent of Africa and throughout the Diaspora.

Sponsoring organizations: The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries Metropolitan Community Churches United Church of Christ Unity Fellowship Fellowship Global Global Justice Institute Many Voices Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies Bishop Tonyia Rawls Courtesy of Metropolitan Community Churches

Celebrating 41 Years!

continued from cover in 1991,” she explains. The occasion was a church-sponsored therapy session for survivors of abuse by priests.

“I wanted two things out of it,” Dispenza remembers, “recompense and reconciliation.

“But the priest didn’t tell the truth. He said I was the only one he’d ever raped. But I was one of 40 little girls. He was a serial pedophile. I was told later by [Los Angeles police] Detective James Brown that they’d been on his trail for years.”

At that point Dispenza’s other big secret also came out. Shortly after confronting Rucker, she told co-workers she is a Lesbian. She was then featured in a Seattle Times story, “Ex-Nun Comes Out of the Closet.” Seattle Archbishop Thomas Murphy promptly fired her.

“After I left [the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, her order of nuns] I tried so hard to be heterosexual,” Dispenza grins. “As a child I always had a close girlfriend, but all girls do. In the convent, I had affection for one sister, but I filed these incidents away.”

Finally, convinced that healing from sexual abuse also required her to acknowledge her sexual orientation, she decided she had to come out.

Never one to do things halfway, Dispenza threw herself into LGBT activism, volunteering with Lambert House, and joining Hands Off Washington to beat back two anti-Gay ballot initiatives.

Dispenza also got into a noteworthy confrontation with the powerful Cardinal Rog-

continued from cover pay more attention to homeless LGBT youth,” said Justin Reed Early, who authored the book Street Child: A Memoir, adding, “I want to cultivate hope and bring new life to my childhood friends as well as other LGBT youth on the street.”

Street Child: A Memoir details Justin Reed Early’s harrowing experiences as a homeless Gay youth on the streets of Seattle and San Francisco in the 1980s and explains how he survived the dire circumstances to become a leading advocate on the issue of LGBT youth homelessness. The children portrayed are real and the stories are authentic. Early provides books at no cost to at-risk and homeless children in crisis.

“Lou Lou is an unsung, massive LGBT hero,” said Justin Reed Early. “She died very young after living a very ‘out’ and authentic life – always protecting others, especially if they were vulnerable.”

According to Early, Lou Lou was “strong, protective, loved, and sometimes hated. She looked like a guy, fought like a man, with fists of steel that were used frequently on street thugs who often preyed on our more vulnerable street family members.”

“She was bold, brave, butch, and beauteous as well as misunderstood and physically scarred all over her body and deep into her crazy soul,” said Early. “Her loyalty, humor, and zest for life somehow always outshone her demons and masculine protective energy.”

“Men often made the mistake of crossing her because they wanted her to submit into her ‘womanly’ place, but she never once backed down and rarely did she lose a battle – in fact, I know of only one battle she would ever lose, and it was her last,” Early recalled.

“In 1985, on a very cold and rainy December night in downtown Seattle, while enduring the

to their parish community. I don’t think they want to look at all the stumbling blocks.

“An intelligent Catholic – well, maybe it’s not fair to say ‘intelligent,’ but one who analyzes things – how can they accept what the Church leaders have done? Regular parishioners are not forced to think about things that way.”

While Dispenza sees Pope Francis as “a breath of fresh air” in the Church, she is still waiting to see the results.

“He is saying the words we want to hear,” she tells SGN, “but I don’t see the actions.”

While Dispenza’s life story is undoubtedly a story of loss, it is also a story of gain, and one of the greatest gains, she says, is her wife Mary Ann. The two met 20 years ago at a retreat for women, and married “after a very long engagement” on February 10, 2013. It is a pairing Dispenza calls “The Great Experiment.”

“I fell in love instantly,” Dispenza says, recalling meeting her future wife at the retreat.

“But she’s not a risk taker.” It was only after buying their first home together that Dispenza felt “I passed,” she recalls.

Another gain, she says, was the opportunity to live out her spiritual principles.

“My spirituality is not just about words,” she says. “It’s always been about action. If I believe all people are equal, I need to do something about it.

“I loved my last round, working for marriage equality. All the young people – so smart, so committed, so strategic!

“I have to do these things because they come out of my soul and my heart!”

Asked what else she would like SGN readers to know about her life, Dispenza answers quickly “I’d like them to know how grateful I am to the LGBT community who have loved and supported me all these years.

“And I’d like them to keep believing that people working together can bring about great change.”

hatred that was so freely thrown her way, she left us,” he continued. “While she was standing up to the men who were taunting her and her girlfriend, one of them pushed a knife into her chest, piercing her tender heart. She died moments later, leaving nothing of monetary value behind, but leaving thousands of broken hearts and a heroic legacy – a legacy that sadly, too few know about to this day.”

Lou Lou was also a star in the way that she was one of the main characters in the film documentary Streetwise (by Martin Bell and Mary Ellen Mark). In other words, her likeness has been seen by millions, enamored by her authenticity and bravado, never really knowing who she was outside of the film. The film was an instantaneous cult hit and nominated for an Academy Award in 1984. However, the Oscar went to a film The Times of Harvey Milk, a better-known LGBT hero, who had been assassinated just a few years prior.

According to Early, “Lou Lou was never rich or educated. She grew up in the projects in South Seattle with her siblings, including her youngest biracial brother.”

Lou Lou introduced Frankie, her brother, to Early when he was just 10 years old and living on the streets.

“They would both change my world and live in my heart forever,” he said. “Their family would often take me in for a night and feed me with very limited resources. They were very poor, and although the creators of the movie were kind enough to provide a casket for her burial, no one had the resources for a headstone. As time moved forward no one seemed to remember.”

“I remembered and so did Frankie,” said Early.

“I’ll never forget Lou Lou because she was the first person to help me begin to accept my beautiful, intimate, intelligent LGBT design and the strong feelings of ‘first love’ that I had

so long ago with her brother,” he said. “Even after she left, I remembered her coaching me and empowering me to be the greatest me, reinforcing a tiny light of remaining hope left inside me, most of which had been dimmed by the pain of the streets and a broken juvenile and criminal justice system.”

Early describes the system that contained “infrastructure that never seemed to care what happened to me, even when sleeping in one of the jail cells that seem to be built faster and more profitably than any housing developments in America.”

“Not many from that long-ago life made it off the streets and out of the ‘system.’ Fortunately, Frankie and I were able to write new stories, which preclude anything that involves the old ways. We remain friends and extremely blessed contributing members of American society,” he said.

Though Early moved away from the Pacific Northwest, he says that when he often goes back to visit with family and sometimes Frankie, he also visits “his sister” Lou Lou. “Sometimes I spend an hour or more dig-

ging my fingers into the dirt looking for her little 4-by-6-inch piece of cement with the initials “LEC” and a plot number; both have worn away over the years.”

“Now I won’t have to look that hard,” said Early. “After many years of discussion, sometimes bumping heads, Frankie will finally be able to place a headstone on his fallen sister’s grave. On December 12, Frankie and I, along with Lou Lou’s surviving girlfriend, Jenny, and a few other close friends and family, will gather at her grave and celebrate her life, a life that was far too short, but one that made a huge impact.”

“It’s been 29 years since our friend and sister was brutally murdered in a street life that seems so many worlds away from our present, healthy lives – but we have never forgotten her,” said Early. “Though she is gone, her life and death were not in vain. Her love, light, and lessons live on in my book Street Child: A Memoir, where she has been brought back to life and continues to educate, inspire and empower people who struggle into better lives.”

“RIP, dear friend,” Early said. “We love and miss you.”

December 12, 2014

Seattle Gay News 5

Visit us online www.sgn.org

Mary Dispenza

Justin Reed Early

Lou Lou

er Mahony, who, as Archbishop of Los Angeles, was Father Rucker’s superior.

In LA as one of the plaintiffs in a civil suit leveled against Rucker and the Catholic Archdiocese, Dispenza met with Mahony as part of a pre-arranged session with survivors of abuse. In the course of their conversation, Dispenza informed the Cardinal that she is a Lesbian. Mahony replied that the U.S. bishops had just issued new guidelines on “pastoral care of homosexuals.”

That was too much for her, Dispenza remembers.

“I thought to myself, ‘This man just does not get it!’ So I told him everything that was on my mind. “‘I don’t want to be ministered to!’ I said. ‘I want full participation! I want to be a leader in the church! I want my partner welcomed into the church, I want the same attention and resources other couples get!’”

Mahony, whose archdiocese had one of the worst records of child abuse by priests, was subsequently forced by the Vatican to retire. He now lives in a parish house in North Hollywood where he was born 78 years ago.

Dispenza, on the other hand, found her spirituality evolving away from the Catholic Church.

“It’s taken me many years to say – and to be comfortable saying – I’m not a Catholic,” she explains. “My spirituality has moved from trying to be like Jesus to trying to live Gospel values – healing, forgiveness, service.

“I tried to recreate these values in my life, and these are values I found in my work in the Gay community.

“Most Catholics see themselves in respect

www.marydispenza.com

Dispenza

courtesy of Rod Wheeland

In Memoriam

Gary “Pepè” J. Krukowski – 1957-2014 Pepè ended his long battle with liver cancer on October 8th, 2014. He was born in Flushing, NY on January 8th, 1957. A lover of travel, he began just out of high school on his quest to see the world. With South America, Canada and parts of Europe behind him, Pepè settled in Seattle in 1982.

Here he studied horticulture and began designing gardens.

Later, as a hobby, he spearheaded a transformation of a briar and vinechoked vacant lot at 411 13th Ave. E. into a cherished and award-winning garden

for the community.

Pepè was filled with love for everyone, but especially appreciated children and enjoyed playing Santa year round. He will be fondly remembered by his many friends, his daughter, Zimique, his grandson, Dallas, as well as his loving cousins on the East Coast.

Although he had a lifetime love of flowers, Pepè would have been delighted to know that his friends chose to help foster children in their own neighborhoods; either in his name or in his spirit.

Gary “Pepè” J. Krukowski

Annual holiday celebration for Ingersoll Gender Center a great success Beam, and Nobody Passes by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore; a certificate for massage: a 90 minute massage with Marian DiPerna with Horizon Massage; a gift certificate to the “Eat Like Anthony Bourdain” featured local restaurant Rainier BBQ and Restaurant on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way with local host Thao Tran ($80 value for two people); and a copy of “Finding Your Female Voice” and Spectrogram DVDs with Audio CD & Digital.

At press time for Seattle Gay News Ingersoll had not yet released the total amount earned from donations made to the Transgender organization on Saturday, but in terms of attendance and community awareness, it is clear that Snowball 2014 was a tremendous evening for all involved.

Founded in 1977 in Seattle, Ingersoll Gender Center is a peer support and education organization for Trans*, gender variant and genderqueer people and allies. For more information go to www.IngersollGenderCenter.org.

Merkley

Republican support, and he doubted the legislation’s viability without similar language.

Since Republicans will control both houses of the new Congress, Merkley’s chances of passing his new bill “are probably zero,” Takano added.

HRC President Chad Griffin said passing federal LGBT protections could take years.

“I have great faith in those on Capitol Hill in the House and the Senate, Democrats and Republicans, who have led on ENDA who will lead us on how we get there,” Griffin said.

“This is going to take a long time and this is going to be perhaps the biggest battle we’ve ever had when it comes to federal legislation.”

Ironically, the old ENDA bill, which Republicans have kept off the floor of the House, may become the preferred vehicle for Congressional conservatives, as pro-Gay members of Congress line up to support Merkley’s more ambitious measure.

A spokesperson for Representative Ileana RosLehtinen (R-FL), one of ENDA’s eight GOP cosponsors in the House, said options remain open for reintroducing ENDA in the next Congress.

“We are in conversations regarding ENDA reintroduction but as of yet, no decisions have been made,” Ros-Lehtinen spokesperson Keith Fernandez told the Washington Blade.

continued from cover civil rights bill in the next Congress.

Merkley said the religious exemption in his new bill would be identical with federal nondiscrimination provisions related to race.

“Obviously, there’s going to be an intense conversation between stakeholders and we hope to bring in a bipartisan coalition,” Merkley said.

However openly Gay Representative Mark Takano (D-CA) noted during a panel discussion that ENDA’s broad religious exemption was put into the bill to draw more

Jeff Merkley speaks at The Center for American Progress

Ralph Alswang / Center for American Progress

On December 6, Ingersoll Gender Center, produced their biggest Snowball holiday celebration to date, at Seattle City Hall in the beautiful Bertha Knight Landes Room, sponsored

by Seattle City Council member Sally Clark.

Hundreds of attendees were treated to poetry by local writer Sarah Galvin (www. cityartsonline.com/articlaes/funniest-bookpoetry-world). In addition, the $25 per person ticket price included tapas-style catering provided by local Salvadorean Bakery and Restaurant and Stuffed Cakes. Social Outreach Seattle provided video services (www.SocialOutreachSeattle.com).

Ingersoll founder, Marsha Botzer, an internationally recognized Transgender and human rights activist, presented community awards to Seattle Counseling Service (accepted

by SCS executive director Ann McGettigan),

Gay City (accepted by Gay City Executive Director Fred Swanson) and Pride at Work (accepted by Pride at Work member Mike Andrew, who also writes for Seattle Gay News).

Raffle tickets were also sold at the event.

Raffle sponsors and prizes include: $500 certificate for laser treatment at Queen Anne Medical Associates PLLC, generously donated by Linda Gromko MD and Queen Anne Medical Associates; two beautifully framed prints by local Pacific Northwest Artist Kinoko Evans (her work can be found here: http://kinokogallery.com/ ); $20 gift card to Café Solstice; $35 gift certificate to Stuffed Cakes, a fabulous cupcakery in West Seattle; a gift certificate for a cake from the Salvadorean Bakery; a collection of trans* books: Redefining Realness by Janet Mock, Unintentional Time Traveler by Everett Maroon, Becoming Chaz by Chaz Bono (autographed), Transparent: Love, family and living the t with transgender teenagers by Cris

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

As Senator Jeff Merkley prepares to introduce LGBTQ Equality Bill, GetEQUAL launches effort to ensure bill is truly comprehensive WASHINGTON, DC – On Wednesday, December 10, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) announced at a Center for American Progress event that he intends to introduce an LGBTQ equality bill in the next Congressional session.

The event comes on the heels of an effort by GetEQUAL – a national grassroots social justice organization fighting for full LGBTQ equality – to survey and then directly insert the voices of LGBTQ individuals from across the country about what they actually need in such a bill.

Rather than simply including what political insiders believe might be attainable, GetEQUAL will be working hard over the next few months to ensure that a federal LGBTQ equality bill truly serves the needs of all LGBTQ people, especially those in our community who are poor, people of color, and transgender. The first step in that process was to launch a national survey on Tuesday that aims to hear and lift up the voices of those who will be most impacted by the bill to be introduced in the next Congress.

This year marks 40 years since a full equality

bill was first introduced by Bella Abzug and Ed Koch in 1974. Since then, LGBTQ Americans have struggled to survive under the cloud of employment discrimination, homelessness, religious discrimination, criminalization, and a refusal by the federal government to fully recognize our families. The introduction of an LGBTQ equality bill must address all these things and more to be effective for the vast majority of LGBTQ individuals and families.

“While we’re excited that the effort to move a full LGBTQ equality bill through Congress is getting a jolt today, we’re concerned that it’s moving forward with zero input from the community – from those who will be most impacted by the content of the bill,” said Angela Peoples, co-director of GetEQUAL. “Yes, we must include employment protections and federal marriage equality – but we must also include measures that will keep our community safe, provide access to inclusive health care, and ensure that our youth have a safe place to sleep after being kicked out of their homes by discriminatory parents. We will maintain pub-

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December 12, 2014

lic pressure on decision-makers writing this bill to ensure that it truly reflects the comprehensive solutions needed to address the multiple layers of inequality facing LGBTQ people.”

“Our full equal rights as LGBTQ individuals continue to be woefully denied. More than 40 years after Congresswoman Bella Abzug, my mother, introduced the first-ever federal equality bill that would ban discrimination against LGBT individuals, we are increasingly impatient,” said Liz Abzug, longtime activist for LGBTQ equality. “We demand now that the U.S. Congress pass a full and equal civil rights bill that will protect LGBTQ Americans under federal anti-discrimination

law. We refuse to wait another decade for LGBTQ equality to become a reality!”

GetEQUAL is a national grassroots social justice organization whose mission is to empower the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community and our allies to take bold action to demand full legal and social equality, and to hold accountable those who stand in the way. For more information go to www.getequal.org. You can also follow GetEQUAL on Facebook at www.facebook. com/getequal or on Twitter at @GetEQUAL. Courtesy of GetEQUAL

Celebrating 41 Years!

“Ex-gay” billboard highlights PFOX’s profound ignorance of science Twin studies actually show genetic link to sexual orientation Screengrab / WTVR-TV

PFOX billboard

CHICAGO – Truth Wins Out (TWO) condemned a scientifically inaccurate billboard placed on a section of Interstate 95 in Richmond, Virginia by the “ex-gay” political organization Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX).

The billboard proves that PFOX is a purveyor of junk science and its affiliated therapists are unqualified to practice legitimate therapy.

The offensive billboard reads: “Identical Twins: One Gay. One Not. We believe twins research studies show, Nobody is born Gay.” It is important to point out that PFOX’s bill-

board uses the words “we believe,” which show that the groups leaders view science as a matter of faith rather than fact, to be distorted and twisted for political ends, notes TWO. “PFOX’s billboard underscores the groups scientific illiteracy and shows that ‘ex-gay’ activism is about demagoguery and marketing, rather that truth and results,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen.

“In reality, twin studies prove that there is a genetic link to sexual orientation. It is stunning that PFOX would pay for a billboard to

showcase its ignorance and incompetence.”

Unfortunately, anti-Gay activists consistently distort research. They point to twin studies and say, “if homosexuality was truly genetic, the concordance rate for identical twins would be 100-percent.” Scientists say that this is a gross misunderstanding of the research. According to Dr. Eric Vilain, Professor of Human Genetics, Pediatrics and Urology at UCLA, and the Director of the Institute for Society and Genetics: “All sorts of traits that are clearly genetic do not show 100% concordance [in twins]. I’ll give you examples, if people look at obesity.

Or autism, looking at twins. There is undeniably, no one will even challenge that there is a genetic cause for both obesity and autism.

The twin studies do not show that it is 100% genetic. They just demonstrate that there is a genetic influence. There could be other influences on sexual orientation.

Some of them might be environmental. For instance, the older brother effect [studies showing the more older brothers a boy has, the more likely he is to be Gay] is an environmental influence. That’s what has happened in the past, in the same womb seems to influence the sexual orientation of future pregnancies. So, it is certainly not an all or nothing phenomenon.”

Dr. Marc Breedlove, Michigan State University, Rosenberg Professor of Neuroscience

says that sexual orientation is likely to be influenced by several genes, although more research needs to be done to identify them: “The example I like to use is, to talk about height. The estimates are there are 150 different genes that influence height. So, is there a gene for being tall? A gene, if you get that gene you will be tall no matter what?

No, there probably isn’t a gene for being tall.

But, does that mean there is no genetic influence on height? Of course not, that would be silly. Of course, there is a genetic influence on height. Of course there is a genetic influence on sexual orientation. The data are really completely firm.”

You can learn more about the science of sexual orientation at LGBTScience.org.

Truth Wins Out (TWO) is a non-profit organization that works to demolish the very foundation of anti-Gay prejudice. Our philosophy is simple: We attack the underpinnings of homophobia by debunking harmful lies, discrediting hateful myths, and countering anti-Gay organizations. By chipping away at the underlying ignorance that fuels anti-LGBT attitudes, we can ultimately win our fight for fairness and achieve full equality for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender people worldwide. www.truthwinsout.org Courtesy of Truth Wins Out.

New York to require insurers to cover Transgender Healthcare

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

Visit us online www.sgn.org

If Transgender New Yorkers have trouble getting medical care on an equal basis they can contact the Lambda Legal help desk at 212-809-8585 x 235 or visit http://www. lambdalegal.org/help.

“We remain encouraged by recent prog-

ress, but we are also well aware that much remains to be done,” said Levasseur. “Lambda Legal will continue to look for opportunities to expand health care access for transgender people through both policy work and impact litigation because lives depend on it.”

Andrew Burton—Getty Images

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued guidance to health insurance companies on December 11, that bar them from discriminating against Transgender individuals by denying them medically necessary treatment.

Lambda Legal Transgender Rights Project Director Dru Levasseur said, “What a week for transgender New Yorkers! Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and his administration sent a letter to private insurers in the state that they cannot discriminate against transgender policyholders and that they are required to provide coverage of medically necessary health care for transgender people under New York state law.”

This news comes just days after the New York City Council passed a bill that made it easier for Transgender New Yorkers to correct the sex designation on their birth certificates to reflect who they are.

“We applaud the state of New York for making it clear that insurance companies can no longer deny transgender individuals the medical and mental health care that is routinely provided to non-transgender policy holders,” said Levasseur.

According to Levasseur, this is life-saving news for many Transgender New Yorkers.

New York is the tenth jurisdiction to mandate Transgender medical services joining California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Washington, D.C.

Last June, Lambda Legal and other organizations also worked with the Cuomo administration to change the New York State policy to eliminate the surgery requirement for Transgender people seeking to change the sex designation on their birth certificates.

“Transition-related health care can be medically necessary,” said Levasseur. “The American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health have confirmed this, and courts have affirmed their conclusion. We are glad that a growing number of states are addressing the widespread discriminatory practice of excluding this type of health care in insurance plans.”

In 2013, Lambda Legal successfully filed a lawsuit against the state of Oregon on behalf of Alec Esquivel, a Transgender Oregon public employee who was denied coverage for a medically necessary procedure that would have been covered for non-Transgender employees.

“These steps are significant, but the progress is incremental at best and transgender people continue to face significant barriers to accessing medical services,” said Levasseur. “To date only five jurisdictions have extended Medicaid coverage to transitionrelated medical services. Given that most transgender people face high rates of poverty, we urge New York to continue taking strides to grant transgender people access to health care and remove the discriminatory exclusion of transgender health care from its Medicaid program.”

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo

December 12, 2014

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NYC OKs official gender change without surgery Mark Lennihan / AP

New York City Councilman Corey Johnson

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer New York City decided on December 8 to allow Transgender residents to change the gender markers on their birth certificates without having to prove they had gender reassignment surgery.

The measure, introduced by City Council member Corey Johnson, passed 39-4 with three abstentions. The city’s Health Board updated its regulations the next day.

The new policy requires that Trans people

wishing to change their birth certificates present a statement from their healthcare providers saying that their actual gender is not accurately recorded on the birth certificate. They previously had to provide documentation of surgery.

This new legislation comes after the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF) sued the city of behalf of its clients Joann Prinzivalli, Patricia Harrington, Marco Wylie, and Naz Seenauth.

The TLDEF characterized the suit as the “first-of-its-kind” in U.S. law.

The change brings New York City, which

issues its own birth certificates, into line with New York state policy. The New York State Department of Health said in June that they would no longer require documentation of sex reassignment surgery.

“We are thrilled by the passage of this legislation,” TLDEF Executive Director Michael Silverman said in a statement.

“Today’s action will dramatically improve the lives of transgender people born in New York City. We thank Councilmember Corey Johnson, the City Council and the Board of Health for taking action. The city’s policy

served only to harm transgender people and they moved to change it. We also thank the many activists and advocates who have worked tirelessly to ensure that the city’s harmful policy will be changed.”

“This change comes as welcome news to the many New Yorkers struggling with harassment, discrimination, and endless bureaucratic nightmares all because they lack identification documents that match who they are,” New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman said.

“We applaud the City Council and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for their efforts to promote equal opportunity for transgender New Yorkers.”

According to the Sylvia Rivera Law Project – named for Stonewall rebel Sylvia Rivera – New York City’s policy prevented many Trans people from getting legal documents like driver’s licenses and passports that were needed to prove eligibility to work, or apply for housing programs and other social services.

“Having a birth certificate that shows the wrong gender can make doing any of those things difficult or impossible,” the Sylvia Rivera Law Project said.

“When we show a certificate with a gender other than the one we live in, we are often accused of fraud, turned away, or harassed, attacked, humiliated, or discriminated against because of our gender. Even in the best of cases we face embarrassment, confusion, and delays.”

According to the New York Times, only 25% of Trans people have had any surgical procedures related to their transition, and many choose not to because surgery is expensive and can pose significant health risks.

Win one, lose one:

Plano, TX passes LGBT rights ordinance; Fayetteville, AR repeals theirs

8 Seattle Gay News

December 12, 2014

versity of Arkansas Dean Danny Pugh tried to suppress voting by cancelling the university’s shuttle bus service to the polls. Anti-Gay Arkansas legislator Senator Bart Hester had threatened to cut the university’s funding after Chancellor David Gearhart announced his support for the civil rights ordinance.

Hester also promised to introduce a state

law to prevent Arkansas cities from passing similar measures in the future.

The Fayetteville ordinance had been opposed by all the usual suspects, led by the anti-Gay Arkansas Family Council, but also by the state Chamber of Commerce, which argued that employers should be able to hire and fire employees at will.

Doualy Xaykaothao KERA News

The City Council of Plano, Texas, passed an LGBT rights ordinance on December 8; but the next day a similar law in Fayetteville, Arkansas was repealed by voters.

The Plano ordinance, passed by 5 votes to 3, bans discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The legislation was supported by Plano Mayor Harry Larosiliere, who is African-American.

Larosiliere, who presided over the City Council meeting that passed the measure, repeatedly admonished anti-Gay forces not to interrupt the proceedings. In his remarks, the mayor compared the city’s lack of LGBT protections to prior federal laws counting blacks as three-fifths of a person or barring women from voting.

“Tell me the appropriate time to do the right thing?” he asked. “Frankly, the question is not, ‘Why now?’ It’s, ‘What took us so long?’”

Council member Andre Davidson responded to speakers who objected to the ordinance on religious grounds.

“Quite honestly, if my goal really is as a Christian to emulate Jesus, that means serving all of mankind,” Davidson said. “And with that in my heart, I truly believe the right thing to do is to support this ordinance.”

Texas Attorney General-elect Ken Paxton weighed in with an open letter urging Plano officials to postpone a vote on the measure.

“As husbands and wives with children, we have concerns that your sexual orientation and transgender ordinance may place women and children at risk and does not consider the moral or religious beliefs of Plano citizens or vendors who do business with the city,” the letter warned.

The Plano-based Liberty Institute has threatened to sue the city if the ordinance goes into effect.

Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Brownsville, El Paso, and Waco already have similar laws on the books.

“They’re reporting great success with this,” Plano City Attorney Paige Mims noted.

“None of them have been sued and had their ordinances overturned.”

With nearly 300,000 residents, Plano is the ninth most populous city in Texas, and is the location for several corporate headquarters, including JC Penney, FritoLay, Toyota Motors USA, and Yum Brands – the parent company of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC. Meanwhile, a similar city ordinance was repealed by voters in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Ordinance 119 extended civil rights protections to several classes of people, including LGBT residents. It was passed on August 20 and repealed in a special election on December 9.

Although figures for early voting suggested that the measure would be approved by voters, the final tally was 7,523 for repeal, and 7,040 for retention.

LGBT rights supporters charged that Uni-

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Plano mayor Harry LaRosiliere

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Chilean coalition will introduce same-sex marriage bill A group of lawmakers from parties in Chile’s governing New Majority coalition say they will introduce legislation to legalize same-sex marriage.

The bill is expected to be introduced on December 11, with support from members of the Socialist Party, Christian Democrats, Party for Democracy, and the Broad Social Movement.

Christian Democrat Deputy Gabriel Silber said that it was important that “equal feelings, must have equal rights – there is no reason to have first and second class citizens.

“We hope that the Government sponsors the initiative and drives its progress by giving it proper priority. We will meet with government ministers once we table the bill, for co-sponsorship.”

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, a Socialist, supports marriage equality in principle, and the lawmakers said they hope her government will lend its support to their bill. Bachelet introduced civil union legislation this year, which has been passed by Chile’s Senate.

The civil union bill has yet to be voted on by the Chamber of Deputies, although Bachelet has been promising legal recognition for same-sex couples since before her first term as president in 2006-2010. She began her second – non-consecutive – term in March this year.

The New Majority coalition, which includes the Socialists and supports Bachelet’s government, has a majority in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate so the outlook for marriage equality in Chile seems promising.

On the other hand, the right-wing Inde-

courtesy of

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet

pendent Democratic Union (UDI) remains the largest political party in the country, with about 20% of the vote. UDI includes the socalled “military family” – die hard supporters of the late dictator General Augusto Pinochet. They are opposed to rights for Chile’s LGBT community.

In some ways, Chilean politics are still divided along lines established by Pinochet’s bloody 1973 coup, in which democratically-

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elected Socialist President Salvador Allende was overthrown and killed.

Bachelet’s father was an Air Force general who remained loyal to the democratic Allende government. He was arrested and tortured to death by Pinochet’s henchmen.

Her opponent in the 2013 presidential election, UDI candidate Evelyn Matthei, was also the daughter of a general and had been Bachelet’s childhood friend, until her father

supported Pinochet’s coup.

Pinochet’s grandson, Augusto Pinochet Molina, recently announced he was starting his own right-wing anti-Gay political party.

If the marriage bill passes in both houses of Chile’s legislature, the country will be the fourth in South America to recognize samesex marriage, the others being Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Colombia and Ecuador recognize civil unions.

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IOC forbids anti-Gay discrimination Reuters

IOC President Thomas Bach

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

December 8. The reforms were introduced

by IOC President Thomas Bach, and were adopted unanimously.

The IOC (International Olympic ComAmong the new measures was the admittee), the governing body of the Olym- dition of “sexual orientation” to the IOC’s pics, adopted a 40-point reform package on non-discrimination policy.

The amended Principle 6 clause says that the Olympics should be free of discrimination “of any kind, such as race, color, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”

Although the IOC did not comment on the new language, the addition of protections for Gay and Lesbian athletes was seen as a response to controversy generated by anti-Gay laws in Russia, host of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. At least 14 pro-Gay demonstrators were reportedly arrested during the games.

Former Olympic diving gold medalist Greg Louganis said the new wording removes all doubt about the interpretation of the clause.

“Today’s move will make it clear about open hearts and open minds in the spirit of the Olympic Games,” he said.

Some LGBT rights activists hoped the new language would prevent countries with a history of human rights violations from being selected to host future Olympics.

“Today is a great step forward for the Olympics, and particularly for the athletes, spectators, and residents of host countries who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual,” said Human Rights First Advocacy Counsel Shawn Gaylord.

“Our hope is that potential host countries, like Kazakhstan and China, will understand that protecting the rights of sexual minorities is no longer something they can dodge. We call on the IOC to continue its efforts to support equality by including gender identity in Principle 6 as well.”

Human Rights First, formerly the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, is a U.S.based human rights organization.

The IOC has faced criticism in the past for picking countries with poor human rights records to host Olympic Games. Amnesty International criticized the group for choosing China to host the 2008 Summer Olympics because of that country’s sometimes violent suppression of traditional Tibetan culture.

Bach, a German, became IOC President in 2013 and promised reform of the organization.

Mayor of Seoul caves to LGBT protest, will meet with activists Protestors vow to continue sit-in LGBT activists who seized the office of Seoul’s Mayor Park Won-Soon vowed to continue their sit-in, even though the mayor agreed to meet with them and explain his decision not to enact a new human rights charter.

The protestors, organized by the LGBT rights group Rainbow Action, said the mayor agreed to meet with them on December 17, but also said they will continue to occupy his office.

In a statement published on December 10 by the Huffington Post, the activists asked for the support of the global LGBT community.

Park, a former human rights lawyer, promised to proclaim a new human rights charter – including protections for Seoul’s LGBT community – during his campaign for mayor. He also said he hoped that South Korea would be the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage.

Many South Koreans are evangelical Christians, however, and Park soon began to walk back his commitments after large and rowdy anti-Gay demonstrations, including a disruption of the Seoul Pride Parade by

right-wing Christians.

The human rights charter was drafted and passed by a committee composed of 134 Seoul citizens and 30 human rights experts, including professors and activists. The committee passed the final draft on November 28, but two days later the Seoul municipal government announced it would not enact it.

On December 1, Park told a meeting of evangelical Protestant pastors that “As the Mayor of Seoul, I do not support homosexuality.” He apologized to the pastors for the “social conflicts” he may have caused by his remarks on LGBT rights and promised to remove pro-Gay provisions before endorsing the rights charter.

Rainbow Action occupied Park’s office a week later. In their December 10 statement, the activists accused Park of pandering to conservative Christians for his own political gain.

“Perhaps Mayor Park chose to build a coalition with them as a foundation for his future political career because he is considering running for presidency in the next election,” they wrote.

“We deeply deplore that he has become a turncoat, and are worried about its ripple effect on our previous and potential political allies. The extreme rightists and conser-

realtime.wsj.com

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Seoul Mayor Park Won-Soon

vative Protestant groups now have a firm ground to stand behind, and can use the mayor of Seoul’s discriminatory comment to justify their agenda of fanatical bigotry.”

To the dismay of LGBT rights advocates, the human rights charter has become intertwined with the division of Korea between nominally Communist and capitalist governments. According to Rainbow Action, conservatives

have “consistently accused Mayor Park of being a pro-North Korea communist who will ultimately lead South Korean society astray.”

In addition to opposing human rights abuses by previous South Korean governments, Park once said he would like to see a friendly soccer match between North and South Korean teams, a statement that provoked outrage from the South Korean right.

Church should help parents “stand by” Gay children, Pope says

Pope Francis

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

18

Seattle Gay News

Pope Francis embarked on the latest round of his on-again-off-again romance with the Gay community with new comments on families with Gay children.

In an interview with La Nacion, a newspaper published in his native Argentina, the Pope recounted behind-the-scenes stories of the Vatican’s recent Extraordinary Synod on the Family. The meeting of church officials took place in October, but its draft report – praising some aspects of same-sex relationships – was attacked by conservative cardinals and ultimately failed to get enough votes to be adopted.

“Nobody mentioned homosexual marriage” at the synod, the Pope told La Nacion, because “it did not cross our minds,” but the synod did discuss the church’s relationship to LGBT family members.

“What we did talk about was of how a family with a homosexual child, whether a son or a daughter, goes about educating that child, how the family bears up, how to help

December 12, 2014

that family to deal with that somewhat unusual situation,” Francis said.

“That is to say, the synod addressed the family and the homosexual persons in relation to their families, because we come across this reality all the time in the confessional: a father and a mother whose son or daughter is in that situation. This happened to me several times in Buenos Aires.

“We have to find a way to help that father or that mother to stand by their son or daughter.”

The Pope’s remarks were immediately hailed by Lisbeth Melendez Rivera, director of Latino/a and Catholic initiatives for the HRC’s Religion and Faith Program.

“These are welcome remarks by Pope Francis, and we hope that the leadership of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is paying attention,” Melendez said.

“Embracing inclusion goes a long way to heal the lives of the many hurt by the destructiveness of church leaders past and present who have encouraged parents to re-

ject their children based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

“There is much to do, but we celebrate these small steps and look forward to more progress in our lifetime. Who we are, what we believe, and who we love should not be undermined by doctrine or dogma.”

Shortly after the Pope’s interview was published, the Vatican sent out documents for the next round of talks on problematic families – people living together without being married, people divorced and then remarried, same-sex couples – all relationships that the Catholic Church does not recognize.

A new questionnaire sent to all the Church’s bishops urges them to “let yourselves be guided by the pastoral turning point that the extraordinary synod began to sketch out.”

Bishops should not turn in responses that merely echo established Church doctrine, the Vatican said, or ones that “start from zero” by ignoring ideas that emerged from the October synod.

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