SGN January 15, 2021

Celebrating 47 Years!

Issue 3 Volume 49

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TRUMP IMPEACHED AGAIN

SEE PAGE 16

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

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

CAPITOL HILL IN 2020

Pandemic, protests, and small businesses

by Egan Orion Special to the SGN

For small businesses on Capitol Hill and across Seattle, two dates in 2020 symbolize the story of this oh-so-bad year: Monday, March 23, when Gov. Inslee announced a two-week shutdown of all nonessential businesses to curtail the spread of the coronavirus; and Saturday, May 30, when violence

between police and protesters erupted on the streets of downtown Seattle in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The first told businesses if and how they could be open; the second started months of protests on Capitol Hill that put them on the frontlines and for some, in the crosshairs.

2020 was perhaps the hardest year in a generation to run a small business on Capitol Hill, as owners swam upstream against a tide of government mandates, fear of the virus, a loss of profits, Paycheck Protection

see CAPITOL HILL 2020 page 5

Truth or consequences

Trump’s parting shot strips LGBTQ protections

Mike Solan – Photo courtesy of NBC News

Mike Solan – Photo courtesy of NBC News

Pressure on head of Seattle police union to resign

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Eight of the nine members of Seattle’s City Council have joined the growing call for Mike Solan to resign as president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG).

Solan – who campaigned for his position as an anti-protest hardliner – stirred up a hornets’ nest of controversy with remarks

blaming Black Lives Matter for the violent attack on the US Capitol on January 6.

On January 8 Solan retweeted a rightwing conspiracy theory that “an extreme BLM activist” was among those in the proTrump mob.

“As the [mainstream media] point to one group as being the culprits, clearly evi-

see SOLAN page 4

place under the Obama administration.

The Obama-era rules forbid federal grant recipients from discrimination In the waning days of his embattled against people on the basis of age, disabiladministration, Donald Trump found the ity, sex, race, color, national origin, religion, time for a parting shot at the LGBTQ com- gender identity, or sexual orientation.

They also required federal grant recipimunity.

New rules issued by the Department of ents to recognize same-sex marriages.

Health and Human Services (HHS) strip see TRUMP page 16 LGBTQ people of legal protections put in

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

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Celebrating 47 Years!

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OBITUARY

FOUNDED 1974 MEMBER

509 10th Ave E Seattle, WA 98102 (206) 324-4297 sgn2@sgn.org sgn.org

2020

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IN MEMORIAM Nora Ann Hempseed Michaels December 29, 1947 - December 23, 2020

Editors SGN Staff Copy Editor Rick McKinnon • Richard Isaac Advertising Maggie Bloodstone, Advertising Manager National Advertising Rep. Rivendell Media (212) 242-6863 Staff Writers Mike Andrew • Sara Michelle Fetters Miryam Gordon Contributing Writers Alice Bloch • Maggie Bloodstone Sharon Cumberland • A.V. Eichenbaum Jesse Monteagudo David Nguyen aka Teriyaki Temple Rod Parke • Tim Peter Jessica Price • Renee Raketty • Scott Rice MK Scott • Mark Segal Gaysha Starr • Sarah Toce • Ed Walsh Social Media Manager MK Scott Cartoonist Ken Campbell Calendar Editor, Classifieds Rick McKinnon Op-Ed Columnist, Contributing Writer Tom Orr Photographers Nate Gowdy • Renee Raketty Chris Rojas • MK Scott Production Mike Pham Website Designer Barry Thorsness / Digital Team Works Seattle Gay News is published by Angela Cragin. © 2020. All Rights Reserved. Reprints by permission.

Publication of names, photographs, or likeness of any person, organization, event or business in this publication cannot be taken as any indication of the sexual orientation of the person, organization, event or business.

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In Loving Memory Of George Bakan

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Nora Michaels was a highly respected performer on the Seattle music scene. She is best known for her masterful renditions of Edith Piaf’s oeuvre, in particular her onewoman, self-penned tribute, “La Môme Piaf,” for which she became known as Seattle’s Blues Chanteuse. Nora also performed with Seattle Women in Rhythm and Blues, and appeared at blues festivals and venues around the world.

Her wit was expressed on stage and in writing, and her idealism was expressed in her politics as she used her talents for causes she believed in. Many local fans first met Nora when she worked on Give Peace a Dance, a 24-hour live dance marathon held at Seattle Center during the 1980s. As program manager, she recruited bands in every genre to participate in this event, and organized all their techno-needs as the stage turned over every hour, before performing herself to the crowd’s delight.

Nora grew up in Oil City, Pennsylvania, “where French is not the mother tongue,” she used to say, as she introduced herself at the Edith Piaf show. She publicly gave thanks to her parents, Grace and Hym, who raised her and her sister, Marion, with love and support as they grew up around musicians and performers. Grace was often in the front row at Nora’s shows and got to know many of Nora’s friends and fans.

Her Oil City High School friends remember Nora as “always a bundle of energy and laughs,” “always friendly and outgoing.” Nora was “most talented” in our senior class! She was in Girls Chorus, A Capella, and Girls Ensemble, and was selected for District Chorus and took First Place. One friend wrote, “She reminded me of Barbra Streisand and I

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knew she would “make it” one day. We were looking forward to her coming to our 55-year class reunion and hoped that she would share her music with us. I’m sure she is now singing in the Angel Choir.”

In her youth, Nora stole away to Woodstock for the big event in 1969, which inspired her. She played in an Off-Broadway performance of Hair. She was an early proponent and continued advocate of the healing properties of marijuana and CBD. She discovered in her ancestry the surname Hempseed, which she adopted. She came out as Nora Hempseed Michaels at Hempfest in 2014 at 4:20 pm. She loved playing Hempfest with Neal Storme and The Band of Amazing Friends. Nora was also an accomplished Reiki practitioner.

In her early performing days, she played Elks clubs and bowling alley and restaurant lounges, and went on to play Bumbershoot, Northwest Folklife, Hempfest, Jazz Alley, The Paragon, The New Orleans, The Wildrose, The Pink Door, Spags, Highway 99 Blues Club, ReBar, and The Moore Theatre in Seattle. In Portland, she played the Portland Rose Festival, Waterfront Blues Festival, Key Largo, Roseland, Parchman Farm and The Candlelight. She performed her Edith Piaf show at The Old Church in Portland and Oregon Cabaret Theatre in Ashland. In the Big Apple, she played Chicago Blues, Manny’s Car Wash, The Versailles, La Bar Batt, Windows on the World, Judy’s Cabaret, and The Rainbow Room, plus The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. And she played The Fairmont Hotel, The Albion and I Beam in San Francisco. Nora shared the stage with Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Bonnie Raitt, Marianne Faithful and Sam the Sham just to name a few.

Nora’s television series, “On the Beat”

was awarded Best Variety Cable Television show. Her life story is chronicled in Jennifer Jason Leigh’s film “Georgia.” Nora was a featured performer in the PBS American Masters series “Yours for a Song” based on her tribute to forgotten women songwriters.

In 2018, Nora produced her CD “Blue Lullaby” featuring seven new tracks of originals and collaborations with Blues Chanteuse Band. “Blue Lullaby” is available at Amazon.com, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, and I Heart Radio. Her 2017 recording, “Portrait of Piaf,” has not yet been released publicly. Some of Nora’s favorite tracks are available on SoundCloud and ReverbNation.

Few people other than her close friends knew that Nora was a prolific writer. She gathered stories from real life – her exciting, often X-rated, stories are adventures in the life of a musician – and wrote almost every day. She also captured dramas going on in the apartment buildings she managed. These stories may someday be published, protecting the names of the innocent if there are innocents.

She would say “Life is just one lesson after another...I hate that!” Still, she remained optimistic through hard times and kept singing.

She rejoiced in the recent election outcome.

As she performed over the years, Nora would quip from the stage “old chicks still rock” and, after an anticipatory pause, added “...and roll...and recline!”

She performed an electrifying blues show at Highway 99 on her 70th birthday three years ago.

Nora died in Seattle just before her 73rd birthday, still singing every morning and making plans for the new year.

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Durkan Digest special edition: Our road to reopening and an equitable recovery starts with vaccinations SEATTLE (January 12, 2021) – There’s no denying that 2020 was a difficult year.

We faced so many overlapping crises, from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic devastation, to the greatest civil rights reckoning in decades, to wildfires that choked our communities.

While we had a difficult start to 2021 this past week, I believe we have so much hope on the horizon with vaccinations.

Seattle has proven we can take bold collective action as we faced the pandemic.

Our collective action has saved so many lives over the past year, and Seattle still leads every major city with the lowest cases and hospitalizations.

Even still, there is so much at stake to quickly get our community vaccinated.

Across the country and Washington state, so many people have lost their jobs and had their livelihoods profoundly disrupted – more than one million people have collected unemployment benefits in Washington state since the pandemic began. In Seattle alone, our most loved small businesses have been forced to close their doors for good, including more than 600 restaurants and bars. Most somberly, more than 365,000 people have lost their lives in our country due to the COVID-19 virus. And the burden of the pandemic has fallen disproportionately on our Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities.

Along with these immense tragedies, we have also experienced other challenges and immaterial losses in 2020. We haven’t been able to hug our loved ones in months.

Parents have juggled new school and childcare challenges. We haven’t been able to see our families face to face, and we’ve been worried for the health and safety of our family and other vulnerable people in our lives. We haven’t been able to appropriately mourn the losses of loved ones.

We haven’t been able to visit some of our favorite small businesses, music venues, and museums. And at a time when the surest way to cope and deal with these crises is to be together, we’ve had to remain isolated from one another.

But it’s a new year, there’s a COVID19 vaccine, and that brings about hope and renewal. The COVID-19 vaccine is a testament to the intelligence and ingenuity of the global scientific community, and some of the top medical experts in our great city have contributed to its success.

Mayor Durkan announces initial City of Seattle vaccination actions For the past several months, working with our partners at the county, state, and public health experts, we’ve been develop-

SOLAN

continued from cover dence also shows another group w/a history of riotous criminal actions,” Solan added.

“Far right and far left are responsible for that sad day,” he wrote.

Seattle City Councilmembers Lorena González, Lisa Herbold, Andrew Lewis, Tammy Morales, Teresa Mosqueda, Kshama Sawant, and Dan Strauss all called for Solan to resign as head of the SPOG. “Mr. Solan’s remarks and their implications are reprehensible and untrue,” Councilmember Alex Pedersen said at a January 10 City Council briefing.

Pedersen has been one of only two

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X

ing a plan to ensure between 70 – 85% of people who live or work in Seattle get vaccinated so that we can reach COVID-19 immunity in Seattle.

Today, I’m excited to announce the first milestone in that ongoing effort: The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) has approved the City to serve as a vaccine distributor, meaning the City is eligible to receive weekly shipments of vaccine from the DOH and can administer vaccine to Seattle residents and workers. Following this approval, the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) will quickly launch two mobile vaccination teams to vaccinate nearly 1,000 residents and staff at adult family homes within the next two weeks. You can find more information on this effort [at https:// bit.ly/3ilRf1f].

Today is the first step in the City’s efforts to significantly increase the vaccination rate and ensure the vaccine is easy and accessible to our City’s workers and residents. Ultimately, it will take all of us – employers, health care providers, philanthropy, unions, nonprofits, communitybased organizations, and all levels of government – using all the tools at our disposal to get our community vaccinated.

Our focus will be to fill gaps in the system and reach those who are most vul-

nerable for COVID-19 and have been historically underserved by government and health care, including communities of color, immigrants and refugees, people who are unhoused, and people who are unor underinsured. These vulnerable communities have been disproportionately hit

by COVID-19, and we must center them in our vaccination efforts. Our plan will build on the success of our early mobile testing to older adults at long-term care facilities and Seattle Fire’s incredible four citywide COVID-19 testing sites, which to date have provided over 550,000 tests, and have been used by roughly one in four Seattleites.

Right now, only a small number of our highest-risk communities are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine and vaccine supply has been limited, but in the coming weeks, more individuals will become eligible and more vaccines will become available. The state’s plans were developed to keep people safe, and to prevent continued deaths and COVID-19 spread among our highest-risk communities.

Please wait until you’re eligible to get vaccinated, and in the meantime, help the most vulnerable members of your community get vaccinated, talk with those in your life who may be hesitant to get the vaccine, and spread correct information through

your networks. Even before getting vaccinated, we all have a role to play in reaching immunity in our community.

We know that Seattle’s road to reopening and economic recovery starts with vaccinations, so I will be focusing the City’s efforts to significantly increase the vaccination rate and ensure the vaccines is easy and accessible to our City’s workers and residents.

Even as more of us begin to get vaccinated, we’ll need to continue wearing masks, practicing social distancing, and following all public health guidance. It’s up to all of us to stop the spread and protect our communities. The City of Seattle is committed to working with our partners to make vaccinations as easy and accessible as possible. Please, get vaccinated as soon as you’re eligible. It’s safe. It’s free. It’s the right thing to do for you, your loved ones, and our city.

We can get through this, Seattle, but we have to do it together.

As always, please continue to write me at Jenny.Durkan@seattle.gov, reach out via Twitter and Facebook, and stay up-to-date on the work we’re doing for the people of Seattle on my blog [https://durkan.seattle.gov/].

council members who have been friendly to the Seattle Police Department (SPD), consistently opposing efforts to defund it.

“It’s time for Mr. Solan to hand this important position over,” Pedersen said.

“We must have a partner who has truly embraced that we cannot go back to the way things were. The current president of the police union has, in my view, disqualified himself to be a fair partner in negotiating the contract.”

The only council member not to call for Solan’s resignation was Debora Juarez.

Mayor Jenny Durkan had previously called on Solan to retract his statement and apologize, or to resign.

The Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council, which expelled the SPOG

from its ranks in June, also called for Solan’s resignation. So did Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County, and the Black Law Enforcement Association of Washington.

“Mike Solan’s comments on the rightwing mob are out of line & an affront to those fighting for racial justice,” the MLK Labor Council wrote on Twitter. “This is part of a pattern of behavior that shows Solan is more interested in building his public profile than representing his members. He should resign.”

Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County said Solan “is incapable and unwilling to do the work that needs to be done to dismantle racism in the union.”

Robert Alexander, a retired Seattle

police officer who leads the Black Law Enforcement Association of Washington, said his group works to bring accountability to law enforcement.

“Mike Solan’s comments undermine not only our work but those of others who seek to make law enforcement better by regaining the trust of our communities,” Robert Alexander, a retired police officer and head of the Black Law Enforcement Association of Washington, said.

“Anything short of his resignation would be considered an insult to all of the good men and women in law enforcement who work tirelessly to be the best stewards and guardians of the communities in which they serve.”

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CAPITOL HILL 2020 continued from cover

Program (PPP) shortages, boycotts, vandalism, largely feckless municipal and national governments (with a few exceptions), and most of all, uncertainty.

There were bright spots, too: businesses helping their community; patrons stepping up to support their favorite shops, restaurants, and venues; a long overdue racial reckoning; and Seattleites who did the right thing to protect each from the virus.

As 2021 starts with new federal assistance and a vaccine rollout, small businesses – like all of us – are happy to see 2020 in the rearview mirror. But it’s worth remembering how we got here.

The pandemic arrives Even before Gov. Inslee’s first stay-athome order, late winter saw COVID on the march in Western Washington. The fear of contracting the virus kept most people out of their favorite restaurants, shops, and salons.

So when the shutdown of all nonessential businesses came on March 23, the economic impact on small businesses had already begun. The order was set to expire at midnight on March 31 but was extended several times as the United States, along with countries around the globe, shut down to try to stop the rapidly expanding pandemic.

Some businesses closed down altogether to ride out the crisis, while others limped along and tried to figure out how to survive.

On Capitol Hill, many areas – especially the nightlife-heavy Pike-Pine district – became a ghost town. At first, there were just empty boards covering the windows of businesses, but within weeks, artists were out all over the Hill, turning those boards into murals. At E. Pike and Broadway, a massive mural on Frame Central featured a person in a mask with the words “Stay Home, Stay Healthy.” On the Broadway Market, a space-themed mural with the requisite rainbow told everyone we’d see each other again “When We Land.”

Businesses begin to adapt During the first few months of the pan-

demic, businesses – especially restaurants and bars – had to pivot quickly, testing both their creativity and resilience and the loyalty of their customers. Some, like Olmstead (in the old Broadway Grill space) and Star Fusion at Broadway E. and E. Mercer had been open only a matter of months, so they were still introducing themselves to the community when the lockdown began.

It was an incredibly challenging time.

Even outdoor dining was banned during the lockdown, and not every restaurant or bar was set up well for takeout service alone.

on 15th E., and in front of Barrio on 12th and Spinasse and Artusi on 13th, among many others. As fall came, restaurants added heaters to their outdoor seating areas to extend the season as long as possible, which was a lifeline once the governor again closed all indoor dining in November.

Hallie Kuperman, owner of The Tin Table and Century Ballroom, started the pandemic by simply shutting down altogether. When The Tin Table reopened for business in May, Kuperman had been thinking long and hard on how to distin-

Photo by Ernie Lou

Some benefitted from PPP and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds through the CARES Act, but this was just a temporary bandage. What they needed was to have outdoor dining and at least some limited indoor dining options.

Business owners had to get creative – fast. With only 25% of indoor seating capacity allowed and many restaurants not comfortable with any indoor seating, tents popped up around Capitol Hill; outside Caffé Vita on E. Pike and Poquitos just across the street, at Harry’s Bar and Rione

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guish her takeout service, which had an intrinsic challenge since her restaurant was on the second floor.

“So I got a basket and some rope, and I would go out on the fire escape, put your stuff in, lower it down to you, say ‘hi,’ and bring it back up,” said Kuperman. “It was a very good photo opportunity … it also gave us a chance to wave ‘hi’ to people.”

Later, once indoor dining was allowed, she used the vast Century Ballroom dance floor to space out tables, separating them with tall, sheer curtains, with air circula-

January 15, 2021

tion provided by the many windows lining the space. Her customers quickly filled the tables to capacity. She was even able to hold small dance classes. After months of struggling, this was a bright spot – until, of course, indoor dining was shut down again.

Ian Eisenberg, owner of the pot shop Uncle Ike’s, was not subject to the governor’s restrictions. “Overall we’ve been very fortunate because we’re an essential business,” said Eisenberg, “and we’ve been able to keep our staff employed … in a safe environment – that’s the most important thing.” Though statewide pot sales went up, Eisenberg said Seattle didn’t follow the trend. “It could be that people aren’t coming in to Seattle and getting their pot here because of lockdowns,” he said. “We’re seeing our local customers come in, but not the ones that live outside the city.”

Protests begin On May 29 Gov. Inslee announced his Safe Start plan to reopen the economy – just one day before protests (and some accompanying violence and vandalism) descended on downtown Seattle and just three days before they spread to Capitol Hill. The Black Lives Matter movement was supported universally by the small business community, but the protests themselves over time would prove challenging to businesses trying to reopen and survive, right as COVID restrictions began to be eased.

During the protests in June and in and around the occupied zone that followed, pandemic art yielded to racial justice art.

Portraits of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd popped up on the streets of Capitol Hill, along with ubiquitous tags of ACAB (“All Cops Are Bastards”) and its numeric equivalent, 1312. A giant BLACK LIVES MATTER mural was painted on E Pine St. between 10th and 11th Aves. The signal boxes along Broadway were painted with the faces and names of local and national victims of police violence. In countless residential and business windows, there appeared “BLACK LIVES MATTER” posters or hand-drawn signs. Art was at the center of so much of the expression in Capi-

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CAPITOL HILL 2020 continued from page 5

tol Hill’s occupied zone. Graffiti – on businesses, on walls, on barricades – expressed the justified outrage and sadness of Black and Brown communities and their allies.

Many small businesses on Capitol Hill were in the thick of the action. Vermillion set up a mutual aid station outside its doors, with snacks and hydration for protesters.

The nonprofit PrideFest joined with the Broadway Business Improvement Area and Seattle Central College to provide portable restrooms. The outdoor dining area of Rancho Bravo at 10th and E. Pine served as a staging area for volunteer medics.

Neighborhood businesses, both publicly and on social media, proclaimed their support for the protesters and Black Lives Matter, and many joined in the subsequent marches for the cause that culminated on June 12 in the largest BLM march Seattle had ever seen, with an estimated 60,000 participants.

These public displays of support persisted even during the days of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ, aka CHOP – Capitol Hill Organized Protest). However, behind the scenes, nearby business owners were growing weary of the lack of action by the city. One, on condition of anonymity, told me: “It was like we were on our own.

Smashed windows, graffiti, shootings, and even deaths, plus growing encampments … with little to no access to emergency services and no help from the city. And none of us felt safe to say a word publicly, out of fear of retribution from protesters. I believe in the Black Lives Matters Movement. This was no longer that. We were eager to get our neighborhood back.”

But protesters also turned their ire on another local small business, Uncle Ike’s.

The popular pot shop has three locations on or near Capitol Hill and has been a target for protesters for years for, in part, making money off the same Black and Brown people in the CD who were once busted on that same street corner for pot sales and possession. Protesters made escalating claims about Eisenberg in 2020, but he wasn’t clear why he was being targeted.

“I have a whole list of all the things I’ve been accused of over the last six months,” he said. The most outrageous claim, according to Eisenberg, accused him of sex trafficking. Representatives claiming to be from King County Equity Now and Engage Now demanded that he give a percentage of his profits to them, with the implication that that if he didn’t, “bad things would happen.” He didn’t give in to the demands – and bad things did indeed happen to his shops: windows were smashed, and his staff were threatened, though by whom isn’t entirely clear. There was even an attempt to burn down the E. Olive St. location just before it was slated to open. “It almost reached a

Aftereffects of the protests The end of the protest zone on Capitol Hill didn’t mean the end of protests, which, though much smaller, often had followon, more radical participants in them that left graffiti and shattered windows in their wake. Small businesses boarded and unboarded throughout the year, trying to anticipate these sporadic protests.

Rancho Bravo – which had a front-row seat to the protests – stayed open most of 2020, but some days opening the restaurant was impossible. “We wanted to keep serving the folks in the neighborhood,” said owner Freddy Rivas, “but some days there was too much going on and it wasn’t practical.”

Outlets of large multinational companies on Capitol Hill put up their boards early and for the most part never took them down, as Starbucks, Amazon Fresh, chain drug stores like Rite-Aid and Walgreens, and banks were regular targets for the more destructive protesters.

6 Seattle Gay News

point during the protests that it didn’t matter who the money from Ike’s was going to.

If it wasn’t going to the groups represented by the protesters, they weren’t happy.”

Still, Eisenberg has continued his longstanding commitment to give back to the community. Currently, 5% of all profits are going to the Seattle Foundation’s Black Future Co-op Fund and The Last Prisoner Project. In September, with help from partners, Uncle Ike’s raised nearly $30,000 to help bail out protesters through the Northwest Community Bail Program. And every Friday, through Uncle Ike’s Emergency Food Program, they distribute free groceries to anyone who needs it, at both their 23rd & Union and White Center locations.

Century Ballroom’s Kuperman, who opened and closed regularly based on government mandates and what was going on in the neighborhood, said that long after the protest zone was cleared, people who didn’t live in the neighborhood stayed away, saying that “People are still worried about going to the Hill, I think, or were for quite some time, even though it wasn’t dangerous.” Businesses on Broadway, far away from Pike-

Pine, would get calls, even months later, asking, “Is it safe to come to Capitol Hill?”

Financial challenges and closings As the year wore on, there were many other challenges for small businesses – and specifically for restaurants. For many, the openings and closings due to the decrees or the protests took their toll. Some, like 15th Ave. E.’s Wandering Goose, the Volunteer Park Café, Bill’s Off Broadway, and Hana, had to close for good.

The number of guests most restaurants can accommodate on patios or tents isn’t sufficient to stay afloat, but for most, takeout alone isn’t enough, and many are just limping through until more federal aid is released and the vaccine efforts starts to yield larger capacity for indoor dining.

Enter the remedy for many businesses in 2020: GoFundMe. Century Ballroom launched a fundraiser in the fall with the goal of raising $240,000. “I am in awe of the community support,” said Kuperman.

“We were able to hit our first goal [raising over $120,000] in about two days. That said, it’s going to get harder now, since the

Photo courtesy of Century Ballroom

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second half of the money is a projection of what we believe will be our shortfall until we’re back in business. The Tin Table cannot support us. Classes and dances are where are actual income is made, and I don’t see public dances happening until the summer (if we’re lucky), though some classes, maybe with no more than 10 people, will probably start earlier.” Community, she concluded, was undoubtedly her bright spot of 2020. (The GoFundMe currently has raised $164,000.)

Seattle’s only Lesbian bar, the Wildrose, also spent long stretches of 2020 closed.

The front of the business was boarded up early on and painted with the words “We could be heroes.” It also turned to community to try to stay afloat, launching a GoFundMe campaign in April. “The last thing we want to do right now is ask of folks, when so many are struggling, but we’ve been left with virtually no choice,” wrote owners Shelley Brothers and Martha Manning on their GoFundMe plea. “The rent, insurance, and other costs continue to accumulate, while revenue does not.

The [possibility] that we may not be able to serve our community is devastating to us.

Our hope is that if you cannot contribute, perhaps you can share this far and wide.

There is nothing more that we would love than to welcome our staff and the community back when we get through this, together.” The community stepped up and they’ve raised over $55,000 so far, just over the $50,000 goal. Still, depending on how long the pandemic drags on, it may not be enough to save this Capitol Hill institution and one of the last Lesbian bars anywhere in Washington state.

Joey Burgess, owner of two queer bars and clubs on the Hill, closed Queer/Bar in March and has been operating The Cuff Complex according to the governor’s mandates.

“LGBTQIA+ bars and venues serve as safe spaces, community centers, living rooms, and identity points for a population across the spectrum of sexual and gender identities, age groups, race and socioeconomic status,” said Burgess. “Even in the best of times these businesses struggle and often disappear, and without targeted help many may not recover from this devastating crisis. Since our mandated closures, we’ve been as creative as possible in finding ways for our community to stay connected and for our staff and performing artists to have income, but our opportunities are limited, and we’re reaching those limits now.”

He credits his team and landlords for helping keep his businesses afloat. “Thankfully, these relationships and partnerships are strong, and we have every intention of reopening.”

Charity efforts Terra Plata, owned by Chef Tamara Murphy and her wife Linda di Lello Morton, was the headquarters for a charity food program called the Food Is Love Project, which started in March to get restaurants back to work by making meals that are then delivered to food-insecure families and people living outside in encampments. Restaurants across Capitol Hill participated in droves, including Ian’s Pizza, Rancho Bravo, Marjorie, Olmstead, Star Fusion, Pagliacci, and of course Terra Plata. To date, restaurants participating in the Food Is Love Project have made over 30,000 meals.

“We started Terra Plata with the simple motto of ‘food is love,’” says Morton. “And during the pandemic, the need for food and love is needed more than ever. We’re happy

to COVID and the economic collapse also brought encampments to Capitol Hill, causing more tension around issues of safety between small businesses, residents, and activists.

Cal Anderson Park Cal Anderson Park had been a central organizing area since the days of the CHOP, and not long after being swept in July, activists and houseless residents began to set up camp in the park again. However, since the park was closed, the restrooms were shut down and garbage service curtailed or stopped by park staff, due to alleged access issues.

Over several months, fires, emergency access problems, rampant graffiti, and increases in human waste and needles in and around the park forced a difficult con-

Photo by Renee Raketty

to be cooking, and especially happy that some of the meals we cook go to people who need it.”

Rancho Bravo’s Freddy Rivas was also happy to make meals for the project. “The surrounding area really has an amazing and diverse community,” he said, “and we feel that it’s important to be a supportive part of that. Makes us happy to contribute in any way we can.”

Indeed, when it comes to both food and shear survival, the pandemic’s impact has been felt the hardest by those living outside.

The diminished capacity of shelters due

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versation between city leaders and many small businesses and residents in the area.

Many business owners around the perimeter of the park felt that it had become unsafe. One of the largest providers for the homeless community and food-vulnerable people on the Hill, Community Lunch, had to leave its home at Central Lutheran during the protests, returning for a short time in August before conflicts on the Hill drove it back to All Pilgrims Church on Broadway, since conditions weren’t safe for the community it served.

A petition was circulated to reopen the

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park and take down the barricade at the SPD’s East Precinct. Pressure mounted on the mayor and city council. Finally, on Monday, December 14, city workers distributed notices to the people living in Cal Anderson Park that they would have to leave by Wednesday, December 16 at 7:30am. Outreach workers had already been at the park for three weeks and by the time of the mandated vacate order, according to KUOW, of the 60 campers who had been at the park, 51 had gotten space in a hotel room or tiny house village. By Wednesday morning, activists outnumbered campers, but the city crew didn’t show up on Wednesday. This didn’t happen until just before dawn on Friday, December 18, when workers, with protection from the SPD, cleared the park, saved items for people to reclaim later, and proceeded to clean the park of all other debris, garbage, needles, and human waste.

Business owners who had asked the city to reopen the park for safety reasons (along with a demand to find housing for those living outside) felt like they were looking out for their community and their customers, but more extreme activists allegedly targeted those businesses. One was Café Argento at 12th & E Olive St., owned by Faizel Khan, a queer, POC business owner. On New Year’s Eve it had many of its windows smashed, allegedly in retaliation for signing the letter to the mayor about the park. “This right here is really hard to come back from,” Khan told KOMO following the vandalism. “Stuff like this isn’t helping anybody.”

In the same piece, black community activist Victoria Beach said she’d had enough: “We’re going to take a stand [against] these terrorists; they’re not protestors, and I’m going to stand up to big bullies.” Beach also said the focus on BLM has been lost.

“They’ve hijacked the Black Lives Matter movement. Now they jumped on the homeless; we don’t need their kind of help.”

Other businesses on Capitol Hill, including Bakery Nouveau, have landed in the crosshairs of activists. A call to boycott the bakery showed up on poles around the Hill in late December.

“It’s a bit like the mob,” said one Capitol Hill business owner who wanted to remain anonymous. “Either stay quiet or give into our demands or fear boycott or having your business vandalized. We are hanging on by a thread as it is, and now this?”

Looking ahead Despite the deep and ongoing challenges of 2020, there is hope ahead for small businesses on Capitol Hill in 2021.

Distribution of COVID vaccines has begun in Washington state, and that means, eventually, an easing of public health mandates and an end to the pandemic. But it will take some time and community support for businesses to return.

Whether it’s by ordering takeout, getting gift cards, shopping local online, or giving to the many GoFundMe campaigns that have been set up, there are myriad ways to ensure that cherished community businesses are still around when the pandemic ends.

Lobbying efforts like Seattle Restaurants United need support, too, as do groups like the Washington Nightlife Music Association, whose efforts were recently rewarded with a $15 billion nationwide investment in music venues and independent theaters through Congress’s latest COVID relief bill. In that same bill, there is additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program, which local businesses will be able to apply for in the coming weeks.

Even as boards covered with pandemic and racial justice art throughout the neighborhood begin to come down, permanent murals have begun to pop up. One, on Broadway’s Olmstead restaurant, features the word that Hallie Kuperman said got her through 2020, and the one that promises to guide Capitol Hill residents and business owners alike in the year ahead: COMMUNITY. Egan Orion is a Seattle writer and the executive director of the Broadway Business Improvement Area and PrideFest.

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Rep. Jayapal votes to impeach Trump for a second time WASHINGTON, DC (January 13, 2021) – US Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a member of the House Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement after voting to once again impeach President Donald J. Trump – this time for incitement of insurrection: “It is indisputable that Donald Trump incited insurrectionists to launch the most deadly and destructive assault on the United States Capitol since the War of 1812. He told these domestic terrorists – many associated with white nationalist groups – to ‘stand by.’

Then he urged them to ‘fight like hell.’ Next, he proclaimed, ‘We are going to the Capitol.’

The insurrectionists followed these orders from the President of the United States, and carried out a violent attack on our country with the intent of overtaking Congress, overturning this election, and undermining our democracy.

“We must urgently remove Donald Trump from office to protect our country, our Constitution, and our very democracy. We must send a clear message to the President that the United States Congress and the American people will not stand by and allow one man to turn our democracy into an autocracy, that we will not stand by while that man incites insurrectionists to

Image courtesy of HRC

launch a deadly assault on our country. We must hold him accountable.

“Just over a year ago, I voted to impeach this president. My vote was for the Consti-

tution and for ‘We, the People.’ The threat that Donald Trump posed to America then has only continued to escalate. The Senate must immediately vote to convict Donald J.

Trump for incitement of insurrection and remove him from office.”

Courtesy of Rep. Pramila Jayapal

U.S. Senator Patty Murray statement on House of Representatives vote to impeach Trump WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 13, 2021) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) issued the following statement on the U.S. House of Representatives vote to impeach President Trump:

“As I’ve said, there can be no looking away from what played out before our eyes last week. We owe it to our country today and for the future to make it unequivocally clear: any elected official who stands up for the power of force over the power of

democracy has broken their oath of office.

The President encouraged and incited insurrection, which was intended to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power.

Now that the House has rightly moved to impeach him, we should act quickly in the

Senate to convict President Trump, remove him from office, and bar him from holding office again.”

Courtesy of the Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray

NBJC responds to Trump’s second impeachment WASHINGTON, DC (January 13, 2021) – Today, David J. Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), released the following statement about the United States House of Representatives’ successful vote to impeach Donald Trump for his role in inciting the Capitol riots on January 6: “We celebrate the recent vote in the US House of Representatives to impeach Presi-

dent Trump, for the second time, and hope that the US Senate finds the courage to support a conviction, which will ensure he is never allowed to run for the presidency again,” said Johns.

“In the last four years, we have seen foundational elements of our democracy intentionally undermined under Trump’s leadership. From not releasing tax returns so the American people could see what

improper financial connections might exist, to using executive powers to gut civil rights protections and destroy long-standing programs for refugees seeking asylum, to trying to overturn the most recent election results, Trump has failed to honor the office that he has occupied. With this vote, we are hopeful that this threat to our democracy never occurs again.”

The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is America’s leading civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+, and same-gender-loving (LGBTQ+/SGL) people, including people living with HIV. Courtesy of the NBJC

Rep. Smith on passage of article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of Capitol insurrection WASHINGTON, DC (January 13, 2021) – Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) issued the following statement after the House of Representatives voted to pass the impeachment resolution charging the outgoing President with a count of “incitement of insurrection” for his actions on January 6, 2021: “The assault by pro-Trump extremists on January 6 was not just an attack on the United States Capitol but an attack on the United States and our democracy. After President Trump and his supporters spent

months spreading lies and propaganda about the election, President Trump’s supporters attempted to stage a coup and overturn the results of our free and fair presidential election and end our democracy as we know it.

“Everyone involved in this attack must be held accountable, including the President. There is no question that President Trump incited this violence starting with his perpetual lies about the presidential election, encouraging his supporters the

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morning of the attack, and utterly failing to quell violence and respond sufficiently after the attack had begun. From the beginning, the lies about the presidential election stoked by President Trump and his co-conspirators, including many Republicans in Congress, are not about election fraud but a brazen attempt to hold onto power by any means necessary, even at the cost of lives and our democracy.

“With only seven days left in office, Trump has demonstrated he is unfit to

remain in office a single day longer. Inciting an insurrection in an attempt to maintain power warrants the immediate impeachment of President Trump, also ensuring his disqualification from holding any public office in the future. All Americans who believe in the rule of law and our Constitution must hold President Trump accountable for his actions, and I urge my Senate colleagues to convict and remove him.”

Courtesy of Rep. Adam Smith

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Joined by mayors, labor leaders, and community leaders, Mayor Durkan to urge statewide changes to the police disciplinary process SEATTLE (January 13, 2020) – Tomorrow, January 14, at 8:00 a.m., Mayor Jenny A. Durkan will join mayors, labor leaders, and community leaders to testify in Olympia and urge statewide changes to the police disciplinary process, specifically arbitration. The Senate Labor, Commerce & Tribal Affairs will be holding a public hearing on SB 5055 and SB 5134, which both propose changes to the discipline appeals process for instances when an officer is disciplined for misconduct. In July 2020, Mayor Durkan wrote to state legislators asking for a series of key reforms, including eliminating arbitration, and in recent

months, Mayor Durkan has been working with legislators, community groups and labor to propose changes.

A Washington Post analysis [www. washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/investigations/police-fired-rehired/] of 1,881 officers fired by the nation’s largest police departments from 2006 to 2017 found that “departments have been forced to reinstate more than 450 officers after appeals required by police union contracts.” A recent analysis by Stephen Rushin found that arbitrators on appeal reduced or overturned police officer discipline in 52% of these cases. In 46% of these cases, arbitra-

tors ordered police departments to rehire previously terminated officers.

Seattle has made some changes to the arbitration process, including arbitrator selection, but under state law, the City of Seattle is legally required to negotiate nearly every aspect of police discipline and the appeals process with the [Seattle Police Officer Guild (SPOG)]. Any changes to the arbitration process must be negotiated then approved by union members. A change in state law would create a minimum and uniform standard for all law enforcement agencies.

Since 2015 in Seattle there have been a total of 533 discipline cases. Of those, 18

officers were terminated and 515 faced discipline such as suspension, demotion, reprimands, or training. The SPOG appealed 93 times.

This past year, Oregon and Minnesota passed statewide changes to arbitration. As noted by a leading expert of accountability, Stephen Rushin said that these two bills passed in Oregon and Minnesota represent “a substantial step toward better balancing officers’ interests in due process with the public’s important interest in accountability.”

Courtesy of Mayor Jenny Durkan

Biden choices for DOJ confront tall task to restore trust in the institution WASHINGTON, DC (January 7, 2021) – Today, President-elect Joseph Biden announced his nominees for key leadership positions in the US Department of Justice (DOJ): US Circuit Court Judge Merrick Garland for attorney general; former homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco as deputy

attorney teneral; former Justice Department civil rights chief Vanita Gupta as associate attorney general; and Kristen Clark, president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, as Assistant attorney general for civil rights. Lambda Legal Chief Strategy Officer and Legal Director Sha-

ron McGowan, who served as the principal deputy chief of the Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice during the Obama administration, issued the following statement: “Today, President-elect Joe Biden took the first step in righting the US Department of

NBJC on Biden nominations for Department of Justice “Last year, there were more violent hate crimes committed against Black transgender people than ever, with very few receiving justice. With increases in hate crimes committed against people on the basis of race as well as sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, we need people who are willing to ensure radically inclusive justice more than ever in these critical roles at the Department of Justice.

“Since the James Byrd–Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act was passed in 2009, only one person has been prosecuted under that law for murdering a transgender person,” continued Johns. “This absence of justice has happened under Democratic and Republican leadership. We will continue to push and fight for a government that sees all of us and includes all of us – in life and in death – as we celebrate the appointment of these leaders to assist in this critically important work.”

The NBJC estimates that nearly 50 transgender or gender-nonconforming people were killed in 2020 – a number that far surpassed previously recorded years. Most victims (60%) have been Black transgender women, all 40 years of age or younger. The average age at death across all those taken from us in 2020 is a mere 29 years.

Image courtesy of NBJC

WASHINGTON, DC (January 7, 2021) – Today, President-elect Joe Biden announced nominations for key positions in the Department of Justice: Judge Merrick Garland, nominee for attorney general; Lisa Monaco, nominee for deputy attorney general; Vanita Gupta, nominee for associate attorney general; and Kristen Clarke, nominee for assis-

tant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. In response to these nominations, the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) released the following statement: “We are excited that these tremendous advocates for civil and human rights will be leading the Department of Justice,” said David J. Johns, executive director.

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The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is America’s leading civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and same-gender-loving (LGBTQ/ SGL) people, including people living with HIV. Courtesy of the NBJC

January 15, 2021

Justice with his announcement that he intends to nominate a slate of candidates to lead the DOJ who have demonstrated a firm commitment to the rule of law in this country, to the independence of the agency, and to defending the civil rights of all who live here. We look forward to the end of an era where the DOJ was led by people like Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr, who weaponized the Department of Justice to target vulnerable communities and the President’s perceived political enemies.

“We are excited by the nomination of two nationally recognized civil rights champions, Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke, for the positions of associate attorney general and assistant attorney general for civil rights, where they will be able to exert their intellectual and moral leadership. Yet we must be clear that every position in the Justice Department, from the attorney general and solicitor general down to the rank-and-file career attorneys, should be treated as a “civil rights” position, and civil rights enforcement must be treated as one of the agency’s highest priorities. We look forward to a DOJ that will get back in the business of holding police departments accountable for violating civil rights, protecting the right of every citizen to vote, and ensuring that there is equal opportunity in employment, housing, education, credit and other important spheres of life for the LGBTQ community and other groups who have relied on the DOJ to move us closer to a time when there truly is equal justice under law.

“Now more than ever, the Department of Justice will need leaders with integrity, experience, and an unwavering commitment to civil rights in order to undo the damage of the past four years and restoring the Justice Department to its proper role as the country’s lawyer. The slate of nominees announced by President-elect Biden will have their hands full restoring the legal and moral authority of the Department of Justice, and we look forward to helping them in that effort.”

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

Courtesy of Lambda Legal

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Trump administration launches eleventh-hour attack on LGBTQ community with new HHS rule inviting grantees to discriminate WASHINGTON, DC, (January 8, 2021) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Thursday announced a rule that will permit social service agencies and providers that receive HHS grant funding to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, as well as religion and sex. The rule impacts HHS-supported social services ranging from foster care, adoption, HIV and STI prevention programs, and refugee assistance, to programs for seniors and adults and youth experiencing homelessness, and many other public health services.

It will be formally published on Monday, January 12 [sic], and is scheduled to take effect on February 11, 2021.

“With this rule, the Trump administration and HHS continue their no-holdsbarred and comprehensive assault on the health and well-being of LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV, as well as on women, religious minorities, and limited English speakers,” said Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Sasha Buchert. “Even as Trump administration officials abandon ship, HHS has announced yet another dangerous rule that invites discrimination against the very people federal grant programs are meant to help. We call on the

Biden-Harris administration to address discriminatory policies such as these immediately, and commit to eliminating them root and branch. But in the meantime, Lambda Legal is prepared to take whatever action is necessary to protect the LGBTQ community from harm.”

“HHS is charged with protecting the health and well-being of all people, but its actions today demonstrate once again its complete disregard for its mission,” added M. Currey Cook, director of Lambda Legal’s Youth in Out-of-Home Care Project. “This rule rolls back critical protections against discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion, and in doing so, puts at risk some of the most vulnerable members of our communities, including LGBT people who are poor or experiencing homelessness, LGBT seniors and LGBT youth in out-of-home care, including children in foster care, people living with HIV, and many others.”

Even before the release of this new rule’s final text, HHS had already announced it would stop enforcing anti-discrimination protections against federal grantees. In partnership with Democracy Forward, Lambda Legal in March sued HHS in the

TRUMP

tion – except in employment as a result of low all applicable Supreme Court decisions is that the Trump administration will only the US Supreme Court decision in Bostock in administering its award programs.” last till January 20, after which the newly v. Clayton County, which extends Title VII The new language was originally installed Biden administration can make protections to LGBTQ employees. floated in November, 2019, as part of a new rules.

In housing and healthcare law, however, Trump administration initiative to promote “At the eleventh hour, the lame-duck there is no controlling Supreme Court rul- “religious liberty.”

Trump-Pence administration has published ing. All protections in these areas have Among the services likely to be affected its parting assault on the LGBT+ commucome from rules enacted by federal depart- are HIV and STI prevention programs, opi- nity via a federal regulation that would perments. As a result, the new Trump rules oid programs, and youth homelessness ser- mit discrimination across the entire speceffectively give HHS grantees the green vices. Adoption and fostering services also trum of HHS programs receiving federal funding,” HRC President Alphonso David light to discriminate against people based come under the HSS department. on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Under the new rules, faith-based adop- said in a statement.

“The Biden-Harris administration and Explicit recognition of same-sex marriage tion and fostering services that are funded has also been written out of the new HHS by federal grants will be able to refuse to Secretary-designate Xavier Becerra must rules. Where the HHS regulations used to place children with families based on sexual urgently work to rescind this discriminarequire grantees to treat same-sex marriages orientation, gender identity, or marital status. tory regulation.” as valid, the rules now read: “HHS will folThe only bright side to this development

continued from cover The new rules put in place by the outgoing Trump administration abolish both protections. Instead of the broad protections adopted by the Obama administration, the regulations will now read: “It is a public policy requirement of HHS that no person otherwise eligible will be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination in the administration of HHS programs and services, to the extent doing so is prohibited by federal statute.”

The catch is that federal statute does not protect LGBTQ people from discrimina-

US District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of Family Equality, True Colors United, and SAGE, challenging its nonenforcement policy in order to protect those vulnerable community members served by federally funded programs ([www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/cases/ family-equality-v-azar]).

The rule announced Thursday is just the latest in a series of regulatory changes by HHS that target LGBTQ people and people living with HIV, as well as other vulnerable and marginalized communities. These include rules that significantly undermine the nondiscrimination protections in Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and that compel recipients of federal funding to accept their employees’ religiously motivated refusals to perform basic job duties, including discriminatory denials of care by health care workers at all levels of the medical system.

Lambda Legal, in partnership with others, is already challenging each of these previous rules. Its challenge, with Steptoe & Johnson LLP, of HHS’s effort to undermine the nondiscrimination protections in Section 1557 filed in June is currently before the US District Court for the District of Columbia ([www.lambdalegal.org/

HRC files amicus brief in support of Texas LGBTQ workers WASHINGTON, DC (January 14, 2021) – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, filed a brief as amicus curiae, or “friend of the court,” to the Texas 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The case, Tarrant County Community College v. Sims, addresses the scope of protections against discrimination for LGBTQ workers under Texas state law.

The HRC is represented on the brief and in oral argument by Winston & Strawn LLP. This is the first opportunity for a Texas state appeals court to interpret the Texas Commission on Human Relations Act (TCHRA) after the recent US Supreme Court decision Bostock v. Clayton County, which determined discrimination against employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is a form of sex discrimination prohibited by federal law.

“The Bostock decision was a landmark moment for equality and cemented nondis-

crimination protections for LGBTQ employees into federal law – that precedent must also be applied without delay at the state level,” said Alphonso David, HRC president. “At this critical time for our nation, it is vital for LGBTQ people, like their … colleagues, to enjoy state-level protections from discrimination in the workplace. Employers embracing diversity and inclusion will benefit their employees, stakeholders, consumers, and community.”

“We are honored to submit this amicus brief on behalf of the trailblazing activists of the Human Rights Campaign to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity through the legal process,” said Winston & Strawn partner Natalie Arbaugh. “The US Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock had enormous implications for expanding protections for LGBTQ people in the workplace and beyond. We are confident the 5th District Court of Appeals will agree with our interpretation that these protections

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should extend to LGBTQ Texans under state law as well.”

The brief argues that Texas state law is clear: the US Supreme Court’s interpretations of Title VII apply to analogous provisions in the TCHRA. Last June, the US Supreme Court ruled in Bostock that Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination includes discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The brief requests that the Court now recognize that Texas state law provides equivalent protections against discrimination in the workplace.

Currently, Texas is one of 27 states that do not have statewide employment, housing, or education nondiscrimination statutes that explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity. The Tarrant ruling could ensure state-level employment protections in Texas for the first time. State attorneys general and state civil rights commissions have also implemented the Bostock decision to state civil rights laws across the country, particu-

in-court/cases/whitman-walker-clinicv-hhs]). Last November, the US District Court for the Northern District of California struck down the Denial of Care rule in the challenge brought by Lambda Legal in partnership with Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the County of Santa Clara. That ruling is on appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ([www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/cases/ county-of-santa-clara-v-hhs]). Relatedly, Lambda Legal also is challenging discrimination by HHS-funded contract agencies that refuse to serve same-sex couples seeking to foster refugee children in Marouf v. Azar and children in state foster care in Rogers v. HHS. Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work.

More at www.lambdalegal.org.

Courtesy of Lambda Legal

larly in states that lack sexual orientation and gender identity laws, including in Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania.

For many years, the HRC has partnered with legal and civil rights groups to advocate for civil rights in the courts. Now, through the Impact Litigation Initiative, the HRC has expanded its legal footprint to include strategic impact litigation in domestic and international courts. Working with the world’s top law firms, the HRC is pursuing strategic cases and using the courts to hold accountable entities and governments who target the LGBTQ community with discriminatory laws and policies.

Watch a video of the oral argument [at www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq4_ciPlfhU].

Courtesy of the HRC

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MMAA condemns US Capitol attacks WASHINGTON, DC (January 13, 2021) – As the nation’s largest nonprofit dedicated to LGBTQ military servicemembers, veterans, and their families, the Modern Military Association of America (MMAA) condemns the acts of violence that occurred within the past week at the United States Capitol.

The MMAA is devastated by the actions and perpetual encouragement that led to an attack on our democracy through

the destruction of property and looting and the threats of harm against our members of Congress, their staffers, and Capitol employees.

We are incredibly saddened by the loss of life of the US Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who once again defended our democracy, as he had already done so before when he served honorably in our great military.

As a military and veteran-serving orga-

nization, we know firsthand the sacrifice and commitment each of us has made to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, and this horrific attack was an appalling and disgraceful attack on our democracy. We also want to expose the truth about the handling of the violence presented on that tragic day and how racism and social inequities are ever-present in our country.

We support the First Amendment rights

to peacefully protest in order to advocate for change and further enhance our ability to engage in a conversation, but violence is never the answer. On January 20, 2021, members of the National Guard will be activated to serve on the front lines of our own country. We stand in solidarity against any form of violence and support a peaceful transition of power.

Courtesy of the MMAA

Department of Education publishes memorandum misconstruing Supreme Court’s Bostock decision WASHINGTON, DC (January 8, 2021) – Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, responded to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights’ publication of a memorandum misconstruing the US Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ people, and its application to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

“In her final moments at the Department of Education, Secretary Betsy DeVos prioritized punishing LGBTQ students,” said Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David. “The memorandum refusing to apply Bostock to federal education law is unconscionable and legally flawed. Over

the last four years, Secretary DeVos has repeatedly attacked the LGBTQ community – especially transgender students – leaving an egregious record of recruiting antiLGBTQ extremists, making it difficult for survivors of sexual assault to receive justice, and rescinding guidance to schools on their obligations to transgender students. The Biden-Harris administration and Secretarydesignate Miguel Cardona must urgently rescind this discriminatory guidance.”

The new guidance categorically denies that Bostock applies to Title IX despite the clear words of the majority opinion that “it is impossible to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating against that individual based on sex.” Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded edu-

cational programs. In addition, numerous federal circuit courts – including the 6th, 7th, 4th, and 11th Circuits – have held that transgender students are protected from discrimination under Title IX. In October 2020, the Education Department named anti-LGBTQ extremist Sarah Perry as the co-chair of the new Diversity and Inclusion Council. Sarah Perry has a long history of statements and activism against transgender people as a former employee of the Family Research Council, a group that is outspoken in their opposition to LGBTQ rights and protections.

Under the direction of DeVos and thenAttorney General Jeff Sessions, within days of taking office, the US Departments of Education and Justice revoked the Obama administration’s guidance detailing

schools’ obligations to transgender students under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

In September 2017, DeVos withdrew vital Title IX guidance related to schools’ obligations to address sexual harassment, including sexual violence. LGBTQ people disproportionately experience sexual violence.

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

Courtesy of the HRC

HRC to host “The Power of Equality,” an online LGBTQ inaugural event

WASHINGTON, DC (January 14, 2021) – Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, announced it will be broadcasting an online premier inaugural event on January 20th to commemorate the historic election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Featured special guests and performances include Grammy-, Tony-, and Emmy Award–winning actor, singer, and activist Billy Porter; Tony Award nominees Lauren Patten and DeAnne Stewart (cast members from Broadway’s 15-time Tony Award–nominated Jagged Little Pill); actor Matt Bomer; actor and activist Alexandra Billings; actor and writer Jesse James Keitel; and singer and transgender activist Shea Diamond. The event will also feature Sens.

Tammy Baldwin, John Hickenlooper, and Jeff Merkley; Reps. Joyce Beatty, David Cicilline, Angie Craig, Sharice Davids, Raul Ruiz, Mark Takano, and Ritchie Torres; Secretary-designate of Transportation Pete Buttigieg; and Councilwoman Andrea Jenkins. Additional names will be announced in the coming days.

HRC President Alphonso David issued the following statement: “Today, after four years of fighting against government-sanctioned bias, discrimination, and the erosion of our democracy, the Human Rights Campaign is pleased to announce ‘The Power of Equality: the LGBTQ Inaugural Event,’ a premiere broadcast inaugural event to commemorate the historic election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

“The event will democratize the inauguration experience by inviting our more than three million members and supporters to take part in this historic moment and break the traditional bubble of a Washington insider experience.

“Our nation is navigating one of the most critical and defining moments in our

Image courtesy of HRC

history. We will join together to not only celebrate the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris but also to support one another as we continue to process last week’s violent insurrection, ongoing and systemic racial injustice, the COVID-19 pandemic, and economic insecurity. We cannot let the past four years of hate and division define us.

Rather, we must use this moment to define a new era of true inclusion for all.”

The online event is generously supported by Marriott and will be joined by our national LGBTQ political and policy community partners: the Center for Black Equity, the Equality Federation, Family Equality, Lambda Legal, the LGBTQ Vic-

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tory Fund, LPAC, the National Black Justice Coalition, the National Center for Transgender Equality, the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, the National LGBTQ Task Force, Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, PFLAG National, and SAGE. Since 1993, the LGBTQ community has commemorated the inauguration of the president and vice president of the United States four times: twice each for Clinton and Gore, [as well as] Obama and [now] Biden. In 1993, singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge came out as lesbian at the Triangle Ball, a LGBTQ celebration of thenPresident Clinton’s inauguration.

In January 2021, the LGBTQ community will continue the tradition with [this]

online event [that people can] watch in their homes across the country.

To register for the event, receive updates on specific timing, featured guests, and performers, please visit hrc.im/PowerOfEquality.

January 15, 2021

Seattle Gay News 17

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

Courtesy of the HRC

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NBJC mourns the deaths of Jaheim Barbie/Pugh and Courtney “Eshay” Key WASHINGTON, DC (December 29, 2020) – The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is profoundly saddened by the news of two murders during the holiday season. Jaheim Barbie, also known as Jaheim Pugh, a Black gender-nonconforming youth of 19 years, was shot to death as they exited a Christmas party in Prichard, Alabama, on December 13. Just twelve days later, Courtney “Eshay” Key, a 25-year-old Black transgender woman, was shot and killed in the East Chatham neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. These thefts of precious young lives, like so many others, were the product of ignorance and hate.

Jaheim Barbie/Pugh is said to have been figuring their identity out – something all adolescents have a right and mandate to do.

Their gender pronouns shifted between “he” and “she,” and Jaheim’s mother reported that they identified as both a man and woman.

Jaheim is remembered fondly by loved ones.

A suspect in the murder has been arrested, though Alabama does not protect transgender and gender-nonconforming people as protected groups, and the murder will not be investigated as a hate crime.

Image courtesy of NBJC

Courtney “Eshay” Key’s life was stolen on Christmas Day. Initial misgendering by police created a delay in the reporting of her death. Described as “hilarious and determined,” Courtney “Eshay” was deeply loved. Her family has begun making funeral arrangements under the shadow of a belief that she was targeted for being transgender.

Police continue to misgender her as they investigate her murder. To call this a tragedy is truly an understatement.

“Aggrieved. Nauseated. Enraged. Perplexed...are a few of the words that come to mind but each fail to adequately describe how difficult it is to write statements mourning the lives of members of our community who have been stolen from us,” said David J. Johns, executive director of the NBJC. “The year is not over, and we are still learning about senseless killings of members of our community who are still making sense of who they are and how God purposed for them to show up in the world, and news of members of our community being left to die while the event is streamed live on Facebook... Where’s the compassion? What happened to the community?

This year, the NBJC has tracked the deaths of 49 transgender and gender-nonconforming (GNC) people, the highest number of annual deaths recorded to date. Most (60%) have been Black trans women, all younger than 40 years of age. The average age at death across all those taken from us in 2020 is a mere 29 years. The long-standing, continued

epidemic of violence against trans and GNC communities must be addressed at all levels of government, in all of our communities. It is crucial that protective legislation be passed, that we ramp up educational efforts to eliminate stigma, and that we don’t wait until people are a news headline to care.

To learn more about changing your local laws, [go to https://prosperitynow.org/puttingprosperity-within-reach-how-do-i-advocatefor-policy-change]. To learn how to increase safety and inclusion, [go to http://nbjc.org/ words-matter-gender-justice-toolkit].

The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is America’s leading civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+, and same-gender-loving (LGBTQ+/ SGL) people, including people living with HIV. Courtesy of the NBJC

NBJC mourns the death of Kimberly Patricia Cope WASHINGTON, DC (January 6, 2021) – The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is devastated to learn that Kimberly Patricia Cope has been found dead.

Ms. Cope’s body was discovered by a passerby in an Athens, Georgia, restaurant parking lot around 6:00 a.m. on December 27, 2020. Friends had seen her just a few hours prior, talking to a person in a white SUV there.

Kimberly Patricia Cope was only 40 years old.

She has become the 30th Black transgender woman killed in 2020, as far as we know.

Kimberly’s family stated in her obituary that she had a love for music and animals: she took in rescue dogs and had dreams of working in a veterinary office or animal shelter.

She was also a talented make-up artist and self-trained beautician who had an extraordinary sense of style.

“As we enter the New Year, we should commit to concerted, communal efforts to ensure that Black trans and gender-nonconforming lives are valued, supported, and protected,” said David J. Johns, executive

Image courtesy of NBJC

director of the NBJC. “Kimberly Patricia Cope should be celebrating new opportunities presented by this new year with all of us.

Instead, her family and friends are planning her homegoing services while holding out hope for some sense of justice. Kimberly and

her family deserve better. Our community deserves better.”

Kimberly Patricia Cope is now the 50th known transgender or gender-nonconforming (GNC) person killed in 2020. She is also the third Black trans person to have been killed in the state of Georgia last year.

Nationwide, fatal violence against the community has far surpassed previously recorded years. Most victims (60%) have been Black trans women, all 40 years of age or younger.

The average age at death across all those taken from us in 2020 is a mere 29 years.

The continuous epidemic of violence against trans and GNC communities must be addressed at all levels of government, in all of our communities. It is crucial that protective legislation be passed, that we ramp up educational efforts to eliminate stigma, and that we don’t wait until people are a news headline to care. Each of us must fight transphobia where we are and protect our trans and gender nonconforming siblings now.

To learn more about changing your local

laws, [go to https://prosperitynow.org/puttingprosperity-within-reach-how-do-i-advocatefor-policy-change]. To learn how to increase safety and inclusion, [go to http://nbjc.org/ words-matter-gender-justice-toolkit]. The NBJC Stolen Lives list of trans and gendernonconforming siblings lost to violence and hate can be found [at https://bit.ly/38DbIv5].

Kimberly Cope’s cause of death is undetermined, though the circumstances appear suspicious. Anyone with information regarding her death is asked to contact Sgt. Gregory Dickson at 762-400-7070 or at gregory.dickson@accgov.com.

The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is America’s leading civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+, and same-gender-loving (LGBTQ+/ SGL) people, including people living with HIV. Courtesy of the NBJC

NBJC mourns the death of Tyianna Alexander WASHINGTON, DC (January 12, 2021) – The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is devastated to learn that Tyianna Alexander has been murdered.

Tyianna Alexander, a 28-year-old Black trans woman from Chicago, Ill., was shot and killed on January 6. Beverly Ross, a trans advocate and community sister who grew up with Tyianna, said that she was a loving person who everyone loved to be around. She loved to dance, had a great sense of humor, enjoyed life when she could, and just wanted to be able to “vibe and thrive.” Friends on Facebook say she was the life of the party, a sweetheart, and that they love and miss her.

“I am really tired of seeing us get killed,” Beverly Ross added, saying that too many trans women’s lives are cut short before they can really start to see what life can be. She noted that trans people need “ways to protect [themselves] and figure out a safety plan, across the United States but especially in Chicago, because this was the second trans person killed in the last two weeks.”

18 Seattle Gay News

Image courtesy of NBJC

David J. Johns, THE NBJC’s executive director, observed that “Beverly has planned homegoing services for two of her friends, members of our community, in the last week alone. The year has just begun and already the anger and pain that our country has recently experienced as a result

January 15, 2021

of white supremacy has been compounded by the transphobia that too often undergirds the violent ways members of our communities are stolen from us. Tyianna should be here. Courtney too. My only hope is that our community commits to ensuring that Black Lives Matter, including Black trans lives, soon.”

Tyianna’s appears to be the first reported violent death of 2021 in the [trans and gender-nonconforming (TGNC)] community.

The constant fear and trauma of knowing one’s community is targeted for violence is debilitating. That the average age of death among TGNC people was a mere 29 years old in 2020 is appalling. As a nation, we are all implicated. There must be immediate and direct action taken to protect those who are in danger every day just for living as their authentic selves. The Biden/Harris administration must prioritize putting legislation in place that will protect the trans community and end the violence that has continued for far too long.

To learn more about changing your

local laws, [go to https://prosperitynow. org/putting-prosperity-within-reach-howdo-i-advocate-for-policy-change]. To learn how to increase safety and inclusion, [go to http://nbjc.org/words-matter-gender-justice-toolkit]. The NBJC Stolen Lives list of trans and gender-nonconforming siblings lost to violence and hate can be found [at https://bit.ly/38DbIv5].

If you have information on the death of Tyianna Alexander please submit it [at https://new.tipsubmit.com/en/create-report/ anonymous/ChicagoPD].

The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is America’s leading civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+, and same-gender-loving (LGBTQ+/SGL) people, including people living with HIV. Courtesy of the NBJC

Celebrating 47 Years!

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NBJC mourns the death of Alexandria Winchester WASHINGTON, DC (January 13, 2021) – The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is devastated to learn about the death of Alexandria Winchester.

Alexandria Winchester, a 24-year-old transgender Latinx woman, was shot and killed in the Bronx, New York, on December 26, 2020. A suspect was arrested and charged with her death on December 29. It seems as if she knew her killer, but many details are still unfolding.

Alexandria was a client of the Ali Forney Center, which serves LGBTQ+ unhoused youth in New York. The center posted news of her death on Facebook, saying they were shattered.

“We cannot grow numb or unmoved by the news of trans women, members of our community, being stolen from us,” said David J. Johns, executive director of the NBJC. “It makes me angry and sick to learn about Alexandria’s murder. My hope is that a full and complete investigation into her death will provide some sense of justice and peace to Alexandria’s family and friends, who will live with the loss of their sister – our sister – forever. This must end.”

The NBJC tracked the deaths of 51 trans, gender-nonconforming, and nonbinary people in 2020 – the largest number recorded in one year in the United States. There are likely more that we will never know about because

these deaths go unreported or misreported, with victims misgendered by law enforcement and local media. We must demand better, from our communities and from local, state, and federal leaders.

Protecting our trans brothers and sisters and ending the constant violence and oppression they face is essential. It must be a priority for us all. Trans, gender-nonconforming, and nonbinary people are entitled to live as their authentic selves, free from the fear of devastating violence.

To learn more about changing your local laws, [go to https://prosperitynow.org/puttingprosperity-within-reach-how-do-i-advocatefor-policy-change]. To learn how to increase

safety and inclusion, [go to http://nbjc.org/ words-matter-gender-justice-toolkit]. The NBJC Stolen Lives list of trans and gendernonconforming siblings lost to violence and hate can be found [at https://bit.ly/38DbIv5].

The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is America’s leading civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+, and same-gender-loving (LGBTQ+/ SGL) people, including people living with HIV. Courtesy of the NBJC

Scholarship opportunity challenges students to discover local heroes

SEATTLE (January 11, 2021) – Ten thousand dollars will be split between three student essayists this spring for the Stim Bullitt Civic Courage Scholarship, sponsored by the Seattle Public Library Foundation.

Submissions are now being accepted for the contest until March 15. The scholarship is hosted by the Seattle Public Library Foundation and funded by the family of the late Stimson Bullitt, a Seattle attorney, civil rights activist, and environmentalist.

The contest challenges college-bound high school students and current college students to write about a Washington state figure or group of people who effected

change in their communities by demonstrating civic courage. The winner earns $5,000 for college tuition aid, while two runners-up win $2,500.

The top three essayists will also have their submissions catalogued in the Seattle Public Library’s Special Collections.

Library patrons can read all the available essays by visiting the Seattle Room at Central Library.

“This is a critical moment in our nation’s history to explore what civic courage means,” says Jonna Ward, CEO of the Seattle Public Library Foundation. “We challenge students to develop their writing

and research skills while learning about local heroes. And of course, participants can tap library resources to help them complete their work!”

A panel of distinguished local authors pick the winners. Past winning essays covered Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib, the Gang of Four, and Maru Mora-Villalpando.

More details, including the rules and eligibility requirements and resources for research, are available at the Foundation’s Stim Bullitt scholarship page [https://supportspl.org/what-we-do/scholarship/].

is a nonprofit partner of the Library, providing a way for people who value libraries to contribute financial support and advocate for the Seattle Public Library, enhancing its benefit to our community and ensuring its long-term vitality. The foundation has raised more than $200 million since 1980 to expand the Library’s collections, build new and revitalized libraries, support free educational and cultural programs for all audiences, and update the Library’s technology resources.

Courtesy of the Seattle Public Library

The Seattle Public Library Foundation

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

BBC promises full investigation into Persian Service’s homophobia

LONDON (January 11, 2021) – Following an expose by the Peter Tatchell Foundation into the BBC Persian Service’s alleged homophobia, the head of the BBC World Service, Jamie Angus, has promised a full investigation.

The news comes as it was revealed over the weekend that the BBC Persian Service has used several derogatory and homophobic slurs to describe members of the LGBT+ community, with posts calling them ‘f*****s’ and ‘an abomination’.

On a separate occasion, the site referred to ‘so-called’ LGBT+ Pride and apparently attempted to out an Iranian interviewee live on air.

Speaking to London-based Iran International TV about the accusations, Peter Tatchell said the following: “Well, the BBC has already admitted that errors were made, and they promised a full investigation. I got this assurance form Jamie Angus, head of the BBC World Service.

“Concerns are a number. It has been reported that on the BBC Persian website, in late December that they carried an article which referred to LGBT+ people in pejorative terms, and I understand that the rough equivalent in English of the Farsi language is the word faggot or poofter, so quite a negative, hostile, and hateful slur.

“Then they also compared LGBT+ people to opium addicts and to people who have sex with their siblings. Again very, very offensive, and it is also alleged that the word abomination was used; again it was the Farsi equivalent.

Peter Tatchell – Image courtesy of Iran International TV

“Now, I think it is quite extraordinary that the BBC does not have adequate monitoring controls in place to ensure that such language is not used, and that it took a public outcry by LGBT+ people in Iran to get the wording changed.

“There is also the question about the …

TV website news report in July 2019 about LGBT+ Pride, which many LGBT+ Iranian people found quite offensive and mocking.

“There is also an attempt by the interviewer to out someone as gay live on air, even though he wasn’t gay. Again these are serious issues about quite grave departures from the BBC’s normally high standards of ethics in journalism.”

Commenting on Tatchell’s interview,

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Iranian LGBT+ activist Shappi Khorsandi said: “Peter Tatchell is doing more against homophobia in Iranian community than we are ourselves. Or maybe I don’t know Iranian activists. Probably that. We Iranians don’t talk about homophobia. Please direct me to Iranian LGBTQ activists. Sorry this tweet is so serious.”

In Iran, the LGBT+ community face harassment, discrimination, and death if found guilty of same-sex sexual activities.

Peter Tatchell is calling for an independent inquiry into the “administration, staffing, monitoring, and content of the BBC Persian service,” querying whether “BBC Persian is infiltrated by staff who are apologists or possibly agents for the Iranian dictatorship.”

January 15, 2021

The interview with Peter Tatchell can be viewed at https://twitter.com/PeterTatchell/ status/1348624479342252034.

Iran International is an editorially independent Persian-language television channel broadcast by satellite to Iran and is licensed in the United Kingdom to Global Media Circulating Ltd as an editorial news service. It was launched on 18 May 2017 and is managed by Volant Media Ltd, which has bureaus in Paris, Istanbul, Kabul, and Washington. Iran International is available on every satellite broadcasting to Iran and is also the only Persian channel on Sky for UK viewers. Through their satellite broadcast, Iran International is available to Persian viewers in US, Canada, Africa, the UK, Ireland, Europe, and all around the Middle East. Iran International Radio is the only foreign Persian radio available to Iranians inside Iran on medium wave (MW) accessible in cars and portable radios. On the most recent statistics from Persian IP TV providers, Iran International had more viewers around the world than any other Persian channel. Iran International has estimated 20 to 25 million viewers in Iran and Afghanistan and 4–5 million viewers in the Iranian diaspora. Experts from Iran International have been featured on BBC News, Sky News, ABC Australia, and ITN, and are frequently contacted for their expertise and analysis of the latest developments in the region.

Courtesy of the Peter Tatchell Foundation

Seattle Gay News 19

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

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

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

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

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

Report domestic violence and sexual assault.

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

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

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

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

Sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

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

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

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

20 Seattle Gay News

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

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

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

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

January 15, 2021

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

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

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

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

(425) 339-5298.

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

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

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

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

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

Celebrating 47 Years!

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

FILM

Kirby dazzles in intimately shattering Pieces of a Woman

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer PIECES OF A WOMAN Netflix Martha (Vanessa Kirby) and Sean (Shia LaBeouf) are going to have a baby. The time between contractions is rapidly decreasing, and they are waiting for the midwife to arrive so they can really get things moving.

But she’s unexpectedly busy with another pregnancy and has sent a replacement, Eva (Molly Parker), to take her place. This new woman is pleasant and caring, and Martha does not see a reason for worry and decides to continue with the home birth.

What happens next is one of the most intensely excruciating 20 minutes of any motion picture I happened to see in all of 2020. Shot in one continuous take, this labor sequence in director Kornél Mundruczó’s and screenwriter Kata Wéber’s Pieces of a Woman is so quietly demolishing it almost mitigates and makes insignificant all that happens throughout the remainder of the film. It is an extraordinary display of acting, direction and cinematography, each element working in agonizing tandem to reveal layers of indescribable tragedy that held me spellbound as I choked back a tsunami of tears.

That the rest of this drama doesn’t live up to the magnificence of this opening sequence isn’t a total surprise. That it had moderate trouble maintaining my interest throughout all of its 126-minute running time somewhat did. Unlike Mundruczó and Wéber’s masterful 2014 Hungarian thriller White God, not all of the various human elements came together as richly as I kept hoping they would. Subplots involving Sean and his potential infidelity in the wake of this sudden tragedy particularly left me cold, and where LaBeouf is superb in the opening scene, his performance slowly started to grate on and annoy me as events progressed.

Shia LaBeouf and Vanessa Kirby in Pieces of a Woman – Photo courtesy of Netflix

Kirby’s performance is another matter entirely. The talented actress, so terrific as Princess Margaret in “The Crown,” takes things to a whole new level with what she does here. Kirby allows Martha to jump off the screen. This young woman’s emotional maelstrom is haunting in its authentic extremes, her body language speaking volumes even when words escape her entirely. There is a primal ferocity to how she is dealing with what happened that is heartbreaking and empowering in almost equal measure, Kirby ensuring that Martha remains relatable and worth empathizing with even when some of her actions might in some circles border on unconscionable.

There’s sterling support from legendary actress Ellen Burstyn portraying Martha’s mother Elizabeth. She has a third act monologue during a pivotal discussion with Kirby that’s magnificent; while another scene a little bit earlier with LaBeouf, where she coldly and calculatedly, yet also with a tinge of sympathetic understanding, puts the broken construction foreman in his place, is a thing of absolute beauty. But she sadly wasn’t around enough to make me feel as if Elizabeth was a vital part of this familial ordeal, making a climactic scene where she is supposed to embrace and understand an important decision made by her daughter fall somewhat flat.

Not that it entirely matters. Kirby’s magnificence alone makes Pieces of a Woman worthy of a look, as does that spellbinding single-shot opening. Benjamin Loeb’s (Mandy) cinematography dazzles but never in a way that overshadows the characters or their journey, while three-time Academy Award-winner Howard Shore (Spotlight) delivers one of the finest, most intimately cathartic scores of his career. Mundruczó and Wéber have crafted an unfathomably personal melodrama that’s nowhere near as bleak as it appears it is going to be going in, this quest ultimately one of forgiveness that shook me right to my core.

Delightfully silly Skyfire a volcanic gem of a disaster

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer SKYFIRE PVOD On a Tianhuo Island in the Pacific Rim, right in the middle of the “Ring of Fire,” volcanologist XiaoMeng Li (Hannah Quinlivan) is putting the finishing touches on an early warning eruption system nicknamed “Zhuque.” She is being financed by entrepreneur Jack Harris (Jason Isaacs) and his devoted wife JiaHui-Dong (An Bai). They’ve built a massive resort on this island, and the Zhuque system is the key to ensure they’ll be able to offer up a vacation destination unlike any other in the world.

Do I need to say anything more as it concerns the plot of special effects-filled Chinese disaster epic Skyfire? In perfect When Time Ran Out… meets Dante’s Peak fashion, the volcano on Tianhuo has no intention of remaining dormant. The sky will be filled with ash. Pristine blue lakes will become boiling death traps. Lava will smother everything unlucky enough to be in its destructive path. Fiery rocks will rain down from the smoky heavens like molten balls of hail.

In other words, director Simon West, best known for the trifecta of Con Air, The General’s Daughter and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, delivers exactly what is expected

Skyfire – Photo courtesy of Screen Media Films

for a motion picture of this type. It’s a fastpaced disaster yarn overflowing in narrow escapes, sudden deaths and an overabundance of visual pyrotechnics. What transpires is frequently illogical and almost always irredeemably silly, all of it centered on a father-daughter melodrama that goes nowhere surprising and is expressly designed to fill the viewer’s eyes with tears and almost nothing else.

All of that is only part of what makes Skyfire such dopey fun. The ensemble is strong (most notably Quinlivan and XueqiWang as XiaoMeng’s overprotective father who is also a volcanologist, WenTao-Li), the effects above average and West exu-

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berantly directs the heck out of it. It’s like the filmmaker is reinvigorated handling the duties on a Chinese language, Irwin Allenstyle disaster opus, and while it’s a low bar this is arguably his best film since his debut, the aforementioned Con Air. Isaacs is doing some sort of strange South African accent thing reportedly inspired by Elon Musk, but considering how goofy the movie is this bit of idiosyncratic strangeness fits right in. Heck, once you get passed that Jack Harris apparently never watched Jurassic Park (I mean, seriously, who builds a resort in the shadow of an active volcano and thinks that’s going to be a good idea?) he comes perilously close

to being a multidimensional character.

Harris doesn’t get there, of course, but that Isaacs gives it a fairly decent shot to try and make him one is moderately impressive in and of itself.

Skyfire is pretty much as advertised. A tropical resort in the middle of the Ring of Fire ends up being the site of a catastrophic volcanic eruption. Subsequently, all heck breaks loose and a small band of heroes attempt to save as many people as they can while trying to avoid becoming a lifeless part of the tragedy themselves. It’s all far more entertaining than it likely has any right to be, and I for one am positively delighted that ends up being the case.

January 15, 2021

Seattle Gay News 21

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22 Seattle Gay News

January 15, 2021

Celebrating 47 Years!

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January 15, 2021

Seattle Gay News 23

THIS AD SPACE HAS BEEN GENEROUSLY DONATED BY KRISTIN COSTELLO IN MEMORY OF SGN PUBLISHER GEORGE BAKAN