SGN March 1, 2019 - Section 1

Celebrating 45 Years!

Issue 9 Volume 47

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Seattle Gay News S E AT T L E ’ S L G B T Q N E W S & E N T E R TA I N M E N T W E E K LY

UMC chooses exclusion in vote over LGBTQ members

Photo by Sid Hastings / AP

NEW YORK ­– GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, stands with LGBTQ United Methodists. The denomination has adopted a plan in a special conference that will force and accelerate the expulsion of clergy who

U.S. Senator Kamala Harris reintroduces legislation to protect civil rights of all Americans

U.S. Senator Kamala Harris – Photo by Elijah Nouvelage / Reuters

identify as LGBTQ or who take actions supporting the LGBTQ community, like performing weddings for same-sex couples.

see UMC page 5

WASHINGTON, D.C. – [On Thursday, February 28], U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris reintroduced the Do No Harm Act, legislation to amend the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to ensure that the law can no longer be invoked to threaten fundamental

civil and legal rights. Since its 1993 inception, RFRA has been used to discriminate against and harm others, including LGBTQ individuals, women, and children.

see DO NO HARM ACT page 5

Kshama Sawant challenges Central District developers

GLAAD shares stories of Transgender service members

Displaced residents must have “affordable, accessible homes in their neighborhood”

Urges House members to learn their stories ahead of subcommittee hearing

Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant – Photo by Nate Gowdy

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Only a month after spearheading rezone legislation that saved the homes of some 80 retirees in Halcyon Mobile Home Park,

Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant is again challenging developers.

Sawant met with residents of the Chateau Apartments, a 1960s-era building

see CHATEAU APTS page 6

TransMilitary – Photo courtesy of Free Lion Productions

NEW YORK, NY – In advance of [the February 27] House Armed Services Subcommittee hearing on the Trump Administration’s ban on transgender service members, GLAAD – the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy orga-

nization – sent copies of the documentary TransMilitary to each subcommittee member urging them to listen and learn more about transgender service members,

see TRANS STORIES page 11

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Celebrating 44 Years!

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Look for Pete Buttigieg interview in SGN next week

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In Loving Memory Of Steve Foiles • Scott Roger Alpert Cookie Andrews-Hunt James Leland Moore Randy Peters • Lee Richeson Shaun Shelton • Jim Tully James Arnold

Pete Buttigieg, the 36-year-old openly Gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who is running for President, shared two personal success stories from his book Shortest Way Home, of being a veteran who came out and found acceptance while in office, and of revitalizing his struggling Rust Belt city, on Thursday, February 28, at the Seattle Public Library, Central Library. SGN will be publishing an interview with Pete Buttigieg next week.– Photo by Nate Gowdy

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March 1, 2019

Seattle Gay News 3

DNC on Marc Short’s anti-LGBTQ editorial

Marc Short – Photo by Alex Brandon / AP

WASHINGTON, DC (February 27, 2019) – Today, the Daily Beast published writings from Marc Short, Vice President Pence’s incoming chief of staff and a former top White House aide, that denigrate LGBTQ people for a “perverted lifestyle” and call the transmission of HIV/AIDS the result of “repugnant” acts. In response, DNC LGBTQ Media Director Lucas Acosta issued the following statement:

“This administration continues to promote people, like Marc Short, who hold dangerous, out-of-touch, and bigoted views about the LGBTQ community. Short’s column is disturbing and clearly attacks people living with HIV and AIDS, as well as all LGBTQ persons.

“Now, the second most powerful person in the country has elevated Marc Short to the most senior position in his office. The choice

to promote someone with such hostile views toward the LGBTQ community further confirms this White House’s goals of eliminating HIV/AIDS transmissions and decriminalizing homosexuality abroad are nothing more than empty rhetoric.

“Vice President Pence has never failed to find ways to discriminate against the LGBTQ community, from attacking our health care, to ending programs that

prevent the spread of HIV infections in his home state, to supporting a policy that bars us from serving our country.

“The anti-LGBTQ values that Trump, Pence, and Short share are abhorrent.

Democrats will continue to fight for equal rights and stand up against this administration’s attempts to roll back our progress.”

Courtesy of the DNC

Lambda Legal: Senate Republicans rubber-stamp Neomi Rao’s nomination WASHINGTON, DC (February 28, 2019) – Today, Sharon McGowan, Legal Director and Chief Strategy Officer of Lambda Legal, issued the following statement after the US Senate Judiciary Committee approved Neomi Rao, President Trump’s nominee to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, on a party-line vote: “It is incredibly frustrating to see Ms. Rao’s nomination move forward despite senators on both sides of the aisle raising serious concerns about her record. Regardless of one’s political affiliation, Ms. Rao’s offensive use of racial slurs and her disturbing writings on sexual assault, diversity, and marriage equality are offensive enough to disqualify her from consideration for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench.

Yet Senate Republicans continue to turn a blind eye and rubber-stamp every nominee put forth by the Trump administration. We hope that there are still Republicans capable of putting principle above politics, if and when Ms. Rao’s nomination goes to the full Senate. The American people deserve better than this.”

Ms. Rao has fervently argued that that same-sex couples are not “normal” and has disparaged the notion that the Constitution protects not only liberty and equality but also human dignity, a concept that was central to the marriage equality decisions.

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Neomi Rao – Photo by Zach Gibson / Getty Images

On February 4, 2019, Lambda Legal and 18 national state and local signatories wrote a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee explaining how Ms. Rao’s views are fundamentally at odds with the liberty and equality guaranteed to LGBT people by the Constitution. The letter also reviews Ms. Rao’s long history of aggressive attacks on LGBT people and minority groups, includ-

March 1, 2019

ing her flippant use of the slur “oreo,” a term that Republican and Democratic senators have found disqualifying for nominees in the past. Just last year, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) helped block the nomination of Ryan Bounds after it was discovered that he also used racial slurs like “oreos” and “twinkies” in his early writings.

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.

Courtesy of Lambda Legal

Celebrating 44 Years!

DO NO HARM ACT continued from cover

Companion legislation will also be reintroduced today in the House by Representatives Joe Kennedy (D-MA) and Bobby Scott (D-VA).

“The freedom to worship is one of our nation’s most fundamental rights. That First Amendment guarantee should never be used to undermine other Americans’ civil rights or subject them to discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity,” said Harris.

“I’m proud to reintroduce the Do No Harm Act to more comprehensively protect the basic rights of every American.”

In 1993, Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in response to a Supreme Court case undermining the rights of religious minorities. But since its passage, twenty-one states have passed state RFRAs, and the laws have been used to defend employment discrimination against LGBTQ individuals, deny health care coverage for employees, claim exemptions to civil rights law, and complicate justice in child labor and abuse cases.

The Do No Harm Act would prevent the RFRA law from being used to deny: • Protection against discrimination laws or the promotion of equal opportunity, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other laws; • Workplace protections or protections against child abuse; • Healthcare access, information, referrals, provisions, coverage or services to which persons are otherwise legally entitled; • Services that the government has contracted to be provided to beneficiaries through a government contract, grant, or cooperative agreement; and • Accommodations or other benefits and services provided by the government.

In addition to Harris, the bill is co-sponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tom Carper (D-DE),

U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott (l) and U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III – Photo courtesy of AU

Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV),

Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

The Do No Harm Act is supported by a broad coalition of LGBTQ, civil rights, women’s rights, and faith groups. For a full list of supportive organizations, visit: https:// www.harris.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/ Do%20No%20Harm%20Endorsing%20

Groups%20(116th%20Congress).pdf For full bill text, visit: https://www. h a r r i s. s e n a t e. g ov/ i m o / m e d i a /d o c / KIN19061.pdf Courtesy of the Office of U.S. Senator Kamala Harris

Photo by Sid Hastings / AP

UMC

continued from cover “Church is supposed to be a place of refuge and safety, but that’s not the case for our United Methodist friends right now,” said Deacon Ross Murray, GLAAD’s Senior Director of Training and Education.

“This decision is not only out of touch with where a majority of Methodist Americans are today, but defies true Christian values

of love and justice in favor of isolation, discrimination, and real harm for LGBTQ people and their loved ones.”

The denomination met in a special conference specifically to consider various “plans” to address the denomination’s stance on LGBTQ community.

Officially, United Methodist Church policies have excluded LGBTQ people, even while some strong advocates and allies come from within the denomina-

Visit us online www.sgn.org

tion. The Book of Discipline, the highest governing document for the denomination, states “homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” The denomination forbids ordaining LGBTQ people or performing weddings for same-sex couples. The adopted plan reinforces all those policies and adds further pressure on church leadership to enact them.

LGBTQ advocates have attempted to change the anti-LGBTQ policies since the

1970s, but to no avail. Despite the prohibition, many United Methodist Churches have performed weddings for same-sex couples and elevated LGBTQ people into leadership. The conference over the last three days was a special attempt to reach a compromise in a global church where the balance of power is shifting to countries that do not embrace LGBTQ people.

March 1, 2019

Seattle Gay News 5

Courtesy of GLAAD

HIV Cure: A Community Workshop at the Seattle Public Library, March 3

Join us for an afternoon with scientists, research and conversations around HIV/ AIDS from 2pm to 6pm Sunday, March 3 at the Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Level 1, Microsoft Auditorium.

Library events are free and everyone is welcome. Registration is not required.

Parking is available in the Central Library’s garage for $8.

The annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) brings together top basic, translational, and clinical researchers from around the world to share the latest studies, important developments, and best research methods in the ongoing battle against HIV/AIDS and related infectious diseases. defeatHIV brings some of the CROI scientists and their research to the community at this event.

• 2pm – Introduction. A. Toni Young, BELIEVE Collaboratory.

• 2:05pm – Cure Research Overview. Carl Dieffenbach, Ph.D, Director of the Division of AIDS, National Institute of Allergy and

Infectious Diseases.

• 2:45pm – Pediatric HIV Cure Research Update: Remission Cases and Clinical Trials. Deborah Persaud, MD, Associate Professor, Pediatrics, Infectious Disease Director, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

• 3:15pm to 3:30pm – Break • 3:30pm – Potential for HIV Cure by Stem Cell Transplantation: the IciStem Perspective. Monique Nijhuis. Associate Professor University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands.

• 4pm – African Myths and Misconceptions about the Cure of HIV. Moses Supercharger Nsubuga, Ugandan dancer, musician, DJ, radio reporter and HIV advocate.

• 4:15pm – Panel Discussion – Concepts and Perceptions of HIV Cure Research.

Moderator: A. Toni Young.

• 5pm – Recognition and Celebration of the 12th year of Timothy Ray Brown’s Cure. Michael Louella and Timothy Ray Brown.

• 5:15pm – Mingle and Meet the Researchers.

The Library brings people, information and ideas together to enrich lives and build community. We support universal access to information and ideas, and form strong partnerships with community organizations to offer presentations and workshops that are accessible to all.

For more information, call (206) 386-4636 or visit www.spl.org. For ADA accessibility, please contact: leap@spl.org.

the building is demolished.

“My husband, our daughter, and I lived in a shelter for 8 months before we found temporary housing,” one resident, identified only as Rohawa, said.

“We applied for the Section 8 housing here, and when we got it, we were told it would be permanent housing. When I moved in, I thought I wouldn’t have to worry anymore. We have only been living here for 5 months, and then they told us they plan to demolish it. There is nowhere else we can go.”

“I want Cadence to relocate all the tenants in Chateau Apartments,” another resident, Roselle Johnson, added.

“They cannot just move us out or give

us a voucher. Some of the tenants lived here for decade. Some, 30 years or more. There’s one tenant that doesn’t have limbs, and some tenants are seniors. There’s one who is 93 years old. Some in disability. That’s why we want Cadence to relocate us.

“We want to stay and live close by – especially, my parents need my help. We all love our parents. My dad was recently diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer…He undergoes chemotherapy every week. My mom just had knee surgery. They depend on me.

If Cadence is going to move us out, I don’t know where I’m going to live. Who’s going to help my parents?”

Chateau resident Jimmy King noted that the whole neighborhood around his build-

ing has changed under the impact of new development.

“I have lived at the Chateau Apartments for about 10 years,” he said, “but I have lived in this neighborhood my entire life.

“This neighborhood has been gentrified for years, the black community has been pushed out. I have dreams, sad dreams, about what this neighborhood used to be. I grew up on 24th and Spruce, just a few blocks away – I have been in every house on that block, I have been in every church in this neighborhood. Now they the nerve to paint the crosswalks red black and green after they have pushed everyone out – it’s a mockery.”

Courtesy of Seattle Public Library

CHATEAU APTS continued from cover

at 19th and Fir, on February 28. The building is scheduled to be demolished early next year by Bellevue-based Cadence Real Estate to make way for a new development.

Currently, two-thirds of the 21 units in the Chateau are occupied by “Section 8” tenants – low-income residents eligible for subsidized housing. Many are seniors, and some have lived in the same location for decades. Some of the Chateau residents care for disabled relatives who live in the building or nearby.

Few, if any, of the current residents will be able to rent the 75 efficiency units that will replace their building, because the new units are slated to be rented at market rate.

Sawant promised to convene an open hearing of her Housing, Health, Energy, and Human Rights Committee to take public testimony on gentrification in the Central District. The committee will convene on Saturday, March 16, at 1:00 p.m., at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 124 21st Avenue, just blocks from Chateau Apartments.

Sawant and the Chateau residents will call on Cadence to “ensure that every Chateau resident can continue to live in affordable and accessible homes in their neighborhood,” and urge Cadence executives to meet with the residents as part of Sawant’s committee meeting next month.

Meanwhile, her Council office provided stories from residents of the Chateau, detailing the hardship they will face when

“March is Cabaret Month”kicked off with a BANG!

by MK Scott SGN Contributing Writer Pacific Northwest Cabaret Association’s kicked off their “March is Cabaret Month” with an all-star opening night this past Wednesday, February 27 at The Triple Door. Hosted by festival director and drag chanteuse Arnaldo!, the evening featured acclaimed Weimar Berlin-inspired cabaret band The Love Markets, led by singer-songwriter Angie Louise; lush-voiced comedic vocal trio The Sirens Of Swing; and purveyors of infectious mid-century jazz and swing Sweet Spot Combo. “March Is Cabaret Month” is presented in association with The Cricket Foundation and Brian Silkworth & Bill Colter. The regular performances are scheduled every Friday and Saturday at 7pm and 9pm from March 1 through March 23 at Egan’s Ballard Jam House (1707 NW Market St). For a full schedule, visit http:// www.marchcabaret.com/ Photos by MK Scott

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Celebrating 44 Years!

Imperial Sovereign Court of Seattle Coronation 2019

Photo by John Wesley Fox

Photos by John Beursken Photography

Visit us online www.sgn.org

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Celebrating 44 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

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Seattle Gay News 9

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Celebrating 44 Years!

Trump on reports he’s not as anti-LGBTQ as thought: “I don’t know which reports you’re talking about”

by Jeremy Hooper GLAAD blog guest columnist Just days after the president half-heartedly teased a supposed plan to eradicate HIV over the next decade, this week came the news of a plan to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Once again, the words sounded good on the surface - especially on the global conversation. Criminal sanctions against homosexuality are still an all-too-present reality around the globe, and ending this nightmarish truth should be a decidedly nonpartisan effort.

But sadly, just as the HIV eradication plan seemed to put recruitment of applause at the State of the Union [Address] before a clear and workable roadmap, the Trump Administration’s reported plan to eliminate punishments against homosexuality seem to be another instance of a reasonable goal without a team capable of advancing it.

First came the news report: Richard Grenell, the out gay man who serves as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany (and who is a rumored candidate for open U.S. Ambassador for the United Nations role), is to work with European activists to coordinate a plan to decriminalize homosexuality across the globe. The narrowly focused campaign, reportedly sparked by the execution of a gay man in Iran, is to involve U.S. Embassies across Europe, as well as the State Department here at home. Again, all makes sense on the surface.

But let’s stop here and talk about the aforementioned State Department. Even though one would think that department would want to build on the goodwill news reports and provide more details, the department spokesperson met the news of the day by completely and utterly downplaying it as status quo. Check out this exchange that Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino had with a reporter on the very day the news broke: QUESTION: LGBT issues.

MR PALLADINO: LGBT issues.

QUESTION: Yeah. Apparently there’s this new push by the State Department to try to get other countries to decriminalize homosexuality. Can you talk about where that is right now and what exactly is this initiative?

MR PALLADINO: I believe you’re referring to a strategy meeting that MSNBC was reporting on out of Germany, and that was in advance of a strategy meeting that Ambassador Grenell and his staff at Embassy Berlin had today with 11 activists from different countries in Europe. It’s – this really is not a big policy departure.

This is longstanding and it’s bipartisan.

QUESTION: So this – would you characterize this as some new initiative or something, or is it just a continuation or an intensification of efforts that the State Department does?

MR PALLADINO: I would say that this is a good opportunity to listen and to discuss ideas about how the United States

TRANS STORIES continued from cover

their families, and the unique burden they face each day as they proudly serve their nation while being targeted back home because of who they are.

“Not only have [transgender service members] risked their lives to protect us, but they represent a community that’s one of the most marginalized and targeted every day in this country and around the world,” said Zeke Stokes, Chief Programs Officer at GLAAD, in a letter addressed

Photo by Drew Angerer / Getty Images

can advance decriminalization of homosexuality around the world, and that’s been our policy.

QUESTION: Okay, thanks.

[Source: State.Gov] Okay, so he’s right about this not really being news. Secretary Hillary Clinton famously used her time at the helm of the State Department to declare that “[LGBTQ] rights are human rights.” The Obama Administration was clear on these goals. And yes, there is a degree of bipartisan support for this common sense idea.

And Palladino is also right that the Trump State Department has done absolutely nothing to intensify this push. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has an intensely anti-LGBTQ record himself, has not made any priority toward furthering the welfare of LGBTQ people. Predecessor Rex Tillerson, despite being viewed as somewhat personally supportive of LGBTQ rights, also never made any waves in this regard. Instead, the administration has turned a blind eye to very real LGBTQ rights abuses in places like Chechnya, despite the outcry from activists.

But even stranger than the downplaying is how complacent the spokesperson seems when fielding the question. Considering this was big news of the day that had direct concerns and implications for his department, one would think this would have been front and center on his mind when heading into that day’s press briefing. Yet it doesn’t seem to have been on his mind at all. He seems caught off guard by the question. to Members of the Committee and delivered today [February 27]. “Once you hear the testimonies of these brave transgender service members, I am confident you will feel compelled to stand alongside them and demand that President Trump and his administration abandon attempts to ban their service to our great nation.”

Learn more about TransMilitary by visiting www.transmilitary.org.

TransMilitary, which received its world television premiere on Logo in November, is a groundbreaking documentary that won the Audience Award at South By Southwest in 2018 and has racked up a slew of awards

Visit us online www.sgn.org

Which brings us to the President himself. On Wednesday afternoon, just a day after this news broke and conservatives began trumpeting it as “proof” that this anti-LGBTQ administration isn’t really anti-LGBTQ, a reporter asked the Commander-in-Chief to speak to this supposed priority. This is how that exchange played out: QUESTION: Mr. President, on your push to decriminalize homosexuality, are you doing that? And why?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Say it?

QUESTION: Your push to decriminalize homosexuality around the world.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I don’t know which report you’re talking about. We have many reports.

Anybody else?

[Source: WhiteHouse.Gov.] “I don’t know which report you’re talking about.”

Honestly, do these folks talk to each other?

If the State Dept. spokesperson was dismissive, then the President is simply clueless. Stunningly, stupefyingly clueless.

Not only does he not have the capacity or desire to speak to the matter, but he doesn’t even know what the reporter is asking.

This is news that was reported in multiple mainstream outlets, yet the President of the United States doesn’t seem to have even the slightest knowledge of it.

If he himself isn’t intellectually curious enough to discover it on his own, you’d at least think his advisors would want the

President to be in front of it so that he could take a victory lap here. Since the high profile reports pointed to something with broad support, we’d expect the President to use this as an opportunity to appeal to more mainstream voters. His own son has been using it as “proof” that his father’s not anti-LGBTQ. It’s an easy lift, since there is nothing for anyone to really prove at this early point. The President could have just used this as a free pass to enjoy some of the most favorable press he has received in a long time.

But he doesn’t even know about it. Let me repeat that slowly: He. Doesn’t. Even.

Know. About. It. It’s offensive enough to be told that this administration, which continually caters to our most extreme opponents and that continues to fight against LGBTQ rights in all branches of government, is supposedly now concerned about LGBTQ welfare. But to have this unearned praise met with such stunning lack of concern by the administration? That is just beyond. It’s like he can’t even be bothered to care.

Which, of course, is just another reason why LGBTQ Americans must continue to care about this, an administration that is so aggressive in fights against us – yet so dismissive in fights to protect us.

Jeremy Hooper is a writer, activist, and father in New York, NY Courtesy of GLAAD

and accolades from critics and audiences alike and was nominated for the coveted Humanitas Prize earlier this month.

The film chronicles the lives of four individuals (Senior Airman Logan Ireland, Corporal Laila Villanueva, Captain Jennifer Peace and First Lieutenant El Cook) defending their country’s freedom while fighting for their own. They put their careers and their families’ livelihoods on the line by coming out as transgender to top brass officials in the Pentagon in hopes of attaining the equal right to serve. The ban was lifted in 2016, but with President Trump now trying to reinstate it, their

futures hang in the balance again. The film is now available on iTunes, Amazon, and other streaming services.

Since taking office, President Trump and his administration have unleashed more than 94 attacks against LGBTQ Americans in policy and rhetoric, which includes banning transgender service members from openly serving in the country’s armed forces. GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Project (TAP) has catalogued every antiLGBTQ action by this administration, available at www.glaad.org/trump.

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Courtesy of GLAAD

National Writers Union takes on OUT magazine “Pay your writers!” union demands

Photo by Mike Coppola / Getty Images

Photo by Luke Gilford / OUT

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The National Writers Union is now representing 25 freelance contributors to OUT magazine, who are owed more than $40,000 for work that was contracted, produced, and published but never paid for.

According to a February 26 press statement, some of the union’s members have been waiting more than a year to be paid

by OUT for already-published work, while rent, utility bills, and insurance premiums have accumulated.

While the complaints only apply to OUT, the magazine’s corporate owners, Pride Media, own a media empire, including OUT Traveler, The Advocate, Pride. com, Chill, and Plus.

On February 8, OUT freelancers posted an open letter on Medium that said in part, “Pride Media and its investors have plenty of money to pay the outstanding sum of invoices – a drop in the bucket compared to the projected $7.2 million in ad revenue Pride Media is projected to earn this year, according to a recent story in Women’s Wear Daily.”

OUT writers charge that the magazine was a nightmare employer.

“I took assignments on very short notice, with little lead time. I turned features around in a matter of days for OUT Magazine. In return, I have been waiting over nine months for payment,” said freelancer John Russell.

Freelancer Regan Hofmann added, “The money for the work I did for OUT Magazine was earmarked to pay for rent and health insurance for my daughter. It’s been almost a year, and we’re still waiting for Pride Media to pay me what I’m owed.”

The National Writers Union (UAW 1981) is a national labor union for freelance and contract writers in all genres, media, and formats. NWU’s members include journalists, book authors, business and technical writers, website and electronic

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Phillip Picardi, Editor-in-Chief of OUT – Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images

newsletter content providers, bloggers, academic writers, editors, poets, playwrights, and other writers.

“Not paying freelancers on time, or at all, has become the new business model,” said NWU President Larry Goldbetter.

“But more freelancers are fighting back, and NWU is their vehicle. Last year we collected more than $200,000 for freelancers from major publications. And in the process, we’ve built a stronger union that

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Nathan Coyle, CEO of Pride Media – Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images

can better represent freelancers.”

Pride at Work, and LGBTQ labor organization affiliated with the AFL-CIO, said it stood with OUT’s writers.

“OUT magazine owes more than $40,000 to freelance journalists it hasn’t paid. These folks hustle every day to make ends meet, and not getting paid can be devastating,” Pride at Work Executive Director Jerame Davis wrote on the group’s Facebook page.

“We are standing strong with the workers in demanding OUT pay for the work that was contracted and delivered.”

Both NWU and Pride at Work have local chapters affiliated with MLK Labor, the King County labor federation, and the Washington State Labor Council.

Celebrating 44 Years!

GLSEN to honor the cast of “Pose” at 2019 Respect Awards in New York

The cast and crew of “Pose” – Image courtesy of FX

NEW YORK (February 21, 2019) – GLSEN, the leading education organization working to create safe and inclusive K-12 schools for LGBTQ youth, will honor the cast and creative team of “Pose” with the Champion Award during the 2019 GLSEN Respect Awards – New York, on Monday, May 20, 2019, at Cipriani 42nd Street.

“It is rare that a television program changes society, but that is exactly what ‘Pose’ has done,” said Eliza Byard, executive director of GLSEN. “‘Pose’ rightly places transgender and LGBTQ people of color at the center of the story, providing younger generations with a corrective, compelling, and utterly enthralling narrative of both LGBTQ history and the history of the nation.”

Golden Globe-nominated “Pose” is a drama series that explores life and society in 1980s New York, and centers on the lives and stories of transgender […] and LGBTQ people of color within the ball culture world, the rise of the luxury Trumpera universe, and the downtown social and literary scenes.

Making television history, “Pose” features the largest cast of transgender actors in series regular roles, as well as the largest recurring cast of LGBTQ actors ever for a scripted series. “Pose” has been named on dozens of “best show” lists and was honored as one of the AFI TV Programs of the Year for 2018. In addition, the show has garnered nominations at the Golden Globe Awards, WGA Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards, and Gotham Awards.

“Pose” was co-created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Steven Canals, with Murphy directing the first two episodes of the first season. The series is executiveproduced by Murphy, Falchuk, Canals, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Alexis Martin Woodall, and Sherry Marsh.

Honorary co-chairs for the GLSEN Respect Awards – New York include Rosario Dawson, who previously received an Inspiration Award at the 2018 GLSEN Respect Awards – New York, and Carla Gugino, who received an Inspiration Award at the 2017 GLSEN Respect Awards – New York.

Max Mutchnick and David Kohan; Ellen Pompeo; Rosario Dawson; Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake; Julia Roberts and Danny Moder; Zendaya; Shonda Rhimes; and Carla Gugino.

The GLSEN Respect Awards – New York will welcome approximately 500 guests, including VIPs [and] outstanding youth leaders and educators from around the country, raising more than $1 million in support of GLSEN’s work.

For nearly three decades, GLSEN has led the way on LGBTQ issues in K-12 education through groundbreaking original research, innovative program development, educator training, student organizing, and targeted state and federal advocacy. With the development of educational resources, direct engagement of youth and educators, and national programs like GLSEN’s Day of Silence, No Name-Calling Week, and Ally Week, GLSEN has seen the impact of its work.

Tickets for the Respect Awards are available now. For additional information, please visit www.glsen.org/events.

Image courtesy of FX

The GLSEN Respect Awards, introduced in 2004 and held annually in Los Angeles and New York, showcase the work of students, educators, community leaders, and corporations who serve as

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exemplary role models and have made a significant impact on the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. Past honorees include Kerry Washington; Yara Shahidi;

March 1, 2019

GLSEN works to create safe and inclusive schools for all. It envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression. Each year, GLSEN programs and resources reach millions of students and educators in K-12 schools, via action at the national, state, and local level. Over nearly three decades of work, GLSEN has improved conditions for LGBTQ students across the United States and launched an international movement to address LGBTQ issues in education and promote respect for all in schools. Find more information on GLSEN’s policy advocacy, student leadership initiatives, schoolbased programs, research, and professional development for educators at www. glsen.org.

Courtesy of GLSEN

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