SGN June 5, 2020

Celebrating 46 Years!

Issue 23 Volume 48

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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

LGBT orgs open letter Jayapal: Call to action Congresswoman responds to ongoing use of condemns racist violence curfews, National Guard, and military tactics in Seattle and across the country

Photo by Alex Garland

(June 1, 2020) – Today, the Human Rights Campaign released a letter, joined by prominent LGBTQ and civil rights organizations, condemning racism, racial violence and police brutality while calling for action to combat these scourges. The letter is signed by 100+ leaders of the nation’s most prominent LGBTQ and civil rights

organizations. (The full list of signers can be found below.)

“The racial violence that has filled our television, computer and phone screens this spring is a stark reminder of how far we still

see LGBTQ ORGS page 20

Virtual Pride flag ceremony date change

UPDATE on City of Seattle’s 8th Annual Pride Flag Raising

Image courtesy of Seattle LGBTQ Commission

PLEASE NOTE: The City of Seattle’s 8th Annual Pride Flag Raising ceremony has been tentatively rescheduled to June 5 at 4pm. Check the Seattle LGBTQ Commission Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/seattlelgbtq/] for any updates.

Join virtually with the Seattle LGBTQ Commission and Mayor Jenny Durkan for the 8th Annual City of Seattle Pride Flag Raising ceremony. This will be utilizing a live stream platform broadcast

see PRIDE FLAG page 26

Photo by Alex Garland

SEATTLE (June 3, 2020) – US Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) issued the following statement regarding the ongoing use of the National Guard, curfews, and military tactics in response to peaceful protests: “I oppose the continued use of curfews, National Guard troops, and militarized law enforcement to respond to peaceful protests

here at home and across the country. The reality is that this kind of constant reliance on a militarized response – a response of domination over protestors – is, in part, why thousands are uniting to take to the streets in the first place. Rather than this

see JAYAPAL page 11

Larry Kramer – An appreciation

From Larry Kramer in Love and Anger – Photo courtesy of HBO

by Phil Bereano Special to the SGN Larry Kramer is dead. The news came not unexpectedly, given his ill-health, but still with shocking force. Who will hound the Establishment now when the need is

again great? Who will rally the people, even if he (or she) is so extreme that allies are alienated almost as frequently as enemies?

Do we appreciate what Kramer was able to do and what his legacy to us actually is?

see KRAMER page 5

2 Seattle Gay News

June 5, 2020

Celebrating 46 Years!

Still Here, Still Queer!

Still available in Seattle area, or online www.sgn.org

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June 5, 2020

Seattle Gay News 3

Seattle Gay News F O U N D E D 1974 MEMBER

2018

1707 23rd Avenue Seattle, WA 98122 (206) 324-4297 sgn2@sgn.org sgn.org

OBITUARY

Tribute to Avia Moliga

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Editor in Chief George Bakan Copy Editor Rick McKinnon (since Dec 2013) Advertising George Bakan • Maggie Bloodstone MK Scott National Advertising Rep. Rivendell Media (212) 242-6863 Staff Writers Mike Andrew • Sara Michelle Fetters Miryam Gordon • Albert Rodriguez Contributing Writers Rev. Barbara Allen • Ron Anders Madelyn Arnold • Alice Bloch Maggie Bloodstone • Beau Burriola Sharon Cumberland • Jessica Davis Tina Gianoulis • Anthony Greer Milton W. Hamlin • Nevin Jefferson Richard Kennedy • Shaun Knittel Liz Meyer • Jason A. Miller Jesse Monteagudo David Nguyen aka Teriyaki Temple Rod Parke • Don Paulson Jerry Peerson • Tim Peter • Jessica Price Scott Rice • Leslie Robinson MK Scott • Mark Segal • Gaysha Starr Sarah Toce • Paul Torres • Janice Van Cleve Ed Walsh • James Whitely Scott Wittet • Rex Wockner Cartoonist Ken Campbell Calendar Editor Rick McKinnon Classifieds Rick McKinnon Photographers Nate Gowdy • Joseph P. Herron MK Scott • James Whitely Production Mike Pham Website Designer Barry Thorsness / Digital Team Works Seattle Gay News is published by Frogs and Ink, Inc. © 2018. Frogs and Ink, Inc. 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.

Avia Moliga (center) – Photo by Mel Ponder Photography

by Valerie Devoux UTOPIA Seattle Avia Moliga is my best friend of 11 years.

We met by happenstance through a mutual friend named Illyana in the summer of 2009 in a time just before social media exploded into every facet of our everyday life. I was living in Arizona at the time and we became part of a group of transwomen that shared long hours of phone-call conversations over three-way, laughed and joked for hours on end, shared each other’s hopes and dreams, and found solace amongst each other with our shared identities. I did not know that these experiences would soon flourish into a friendship that I will forever cherish.

Shortly thereafter I moved to Washington and Avia became my family. I always felt like I was at home and safe by her side.

She had that effect on people. Avia rocked a style that was loud and unapologetic, with a mega-watt smile and the gracious personality to match. Very often you would spot Avia easily from a crowd. Whether it be her oversized bow, or ever-changing hair color, or the loud chain accessories that screamed “Bitch” or “Barbie” across her neck. It was almost like she was challenging you to live vivaciously and was demanding you to be yourself. Many people in the community felt safe coming out to Avia, and they did. She made it a priority to be there for others, especially those that were feeling unsafe coming out publicly, especially to their families.

They found family in Avia like I did.

Avia loved to be in community with others and was loved everywhere she went.

She was a volunteer with UTOPIA Seattle

Avia Moliga – Photo by Mel Ponder Photography

since it’s inception in 2009. She later served a 1-year term as Secretary of the Board of Directors from 2014-2015. Avia loved drag performance and displaying her talents. This love for drag art and performance led her to compete in several pageants on the scene. In 2011, Avia was crowned Miss API International. She became 2nd Runner up for Miss UTOPIA International also in 2011 and won

Opinions expressed in bylined articles, columns, and letters are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff or management of this paper.

Seattle Gay News welcomes unsolicited material, including letters to the editor, but reserves the right to edit or reject material. All rights revert to authors upon publication.

We assume no liability for loss or damage of materials, solicited or not. We invite feedback, please write.

And please play safe.

It is our policy that no money shall be refunded if you choose to cancel your ad. Credit will be given for the balance owed.

No exceptions.

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

Ms. Seattle Gay Pride 2013. I’ll never forget how proud I felt to celebrate her, but for Avia, whether she was crowned or not, she would always walk away a winner because she was doing what she loved.

My fondest memories with Avia will forever be when we lived together as roommates in Tacoma at the Heatherstone Apartments. We were a group of 6 transwomen and 1 crossdresser cramped up in a 3-bedroom apartment and Avia and I shared a bedroom. We were living in a carefree time, experiencing life outside of our families for the first time, growing together and finding ourselves together. We had fun holding impromptu pageants for Miss Heatherstone Apartments, where some of the girls could practice for their gigs. Whatever little we had at that time, we always shared and supported each other. And when times were bountiful, we celebrated together.

Avia was someone I poured my soul to. Whenever I was sad, she would lift my spirits and always had words to remedy any situation. She was there with me through the good times when the sun beamed and when the rain poured. Her love was made for all 4 seasons. You will always be the best friend, Sister, that anyone could ever ask for. Thank you for teaching me how to be a better friend, but most importantly, the value of sisterhood.

I will carry you in my heart always.

Valerie Devoux (l) and Avia Moliga – Photo courtesy of Valerie Devoux

4 Seattle Gay News

June 5, 2020

Celebrating 46 Years!

From Larry Kramer in Love and Anger – Photo courtesy of HBO

KRAMER

continued from cover AIDS was a terrifying epidemic, especially among gay men. In the early days when little was known about it, we were told that sexual activity spread the virus.

If you wanted to be safe, you would have to alter or forego expressing your sexuality.

Kramer’s position was that gay men should stop having sex. Period. For a group that was defined by having sex, its own special sex, that was not a popular point of view.

Kramer seemed willing, though, to operate on a two-track philosophy, because in 1982 he also organized a meeting that led to the formation of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. The outcasts would force their way into the public dialogue, take the lead in policy proposals, and even get knowledgeable about viral biology. Other cities organized similar advocacy groups as well, some with highly technical medical newsletters.

Although Kramer would be annoyed that some of these organizations were not more than hopeful pickup spots. The origination of these groups was something novel though – based on elements from the emerging calls for patients’ rights and the growing women’s healthcare movement (Our Bodies, Ourselves, gentlemen). The notions of “safe sex” evolved incorporating both Kramer’s reticence and the power of gay sexual liberation.

Eventually, for most gay men, condoms just became part of the action.

In the meantime, growing impatient with GMHC’s emphasis on providing social services and cozying up to politicians and drug company officials, Kramer wrote a widely read article, “1,112 and Counting,” where he railed against the willful ignorance of the immense toll the AIDS epidemic was taking. (Strangely similar to current calls for increased action as we mark 100,000 dead of COVID-19).

His most significant writing about AIDS is surely the drama The Normal Heart. Somewhat autobiographical, definitely shaped by politics around the disease, this play’s emotional impact clearly enlisted many allies and raised the level of the struggle against the governmental and

The Normal Heart – Photo courtesy of HBO

pharmaceutical bureaucracies.

Larry Kramer kept being his ornery self. Eventually GMHC maneuvered him out of power within the organization and finally out of the group all together. In 1987 he founded a new organization that would channel the rowdiness he and others were feeling – ACT/UP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. Polite political discourse was abandoned in favor of mass direct action – whether bodies in street “dieins,” art wheatpasted on walls or worn on t-shirts, and disruption of the norms officials expected at meetings.

Before Dr. Anthony Fauci was the current savvy voice of scientific reason in the government, he was a mere infectious disease bureaucrat, dragging his heels.

Among other actions designed to get him to treat the epidemic with more urgency, I organized an ACT/UP San Francisco protest at a professional meeting I attended there where Fauci was receiving a prestigious award. Screaming “Your red tape is killing us,” 4 or 5 guys wrapped the room

Visit us online www.sgn.org

and the participants in red ribbons. Chutzpah was the new normal and Fauci has often acknowledged his own evolution in this regard. Important changes occurred, as a result, also at the Food and Drug Administration where drugs were sometimes distributed before testing was completed under a concept of “compassionate release”. Kramer’s was one of the loudest voices calling for such reforms. (And they still exist, to the benefit of many people suffering from other diseases.)

Kramer’s ideas for ACT/UP formed a template which has influenced the tactics of many subsequent movements – of Occupy activists, of the struggle for social recognition of the high incidence of breast cancer, of #BlackLivesMatter, and of #MeToo, for example. AIDS Groups modeled on Kramer’s initiative were started around the world. ACT/UP Paris began in the summer of 1989 by some guys who had been to New York City. During a sabbatical in Paris that Fall, grieving from the death of my lover, I went to their weekly meetings. In fact,

action with the group led to my spending my only night ever in jail – for stenciling political slogans on the sidewalks of the Marais. On December 1st, World AIDS Day, we hung a giant banner between the two towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral: “Oui Aux Capotes,” “Yes to Condoms.” French TV loved it!

Larry Kramer ignited the indignation of thousands of People With AIDS and their lovers, friends, and relatives. Although Kramer was not religious, my thoughts go back to the passage in the Talmud that says “If you save a single life, it is as if you saved the universe entire.” It is not far-fetched to say that Kramer’s irascibility and activism has played a role in saving the lives of everyone today who lives with HIV. What a legacy!

June 5, 2020

Seattle Gay News 5

The author is a member of the Community Action Group of the AMP (AIDS Memorial Pathway) being constructed in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood and was one of the co-founders of ACT/UP Seattle.

JCPA response to the killing of George Floyd

Photo by Ringo H.W. Chiu / AP

(June 2, 2020) – The recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor are a grim reminder of the entrenched, systemic racism that exists in our society, policing, and criminal justice system. What’s more, they occurred against the backdrop of staggering racial disparities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) is committed to ending systemic racism in our country and to fighting discrimination. We are outraged by these recent acts and believe it is a pivotal moment to galvanize our field, take action, and work in solidarity with the black community for transformative change. To that end, the JCPA has undertaken the following: • Released a statement to express our solidarity [with] the black community signed by more than 130 organizations in the Jewish community relations network, shared with black organizations and civil rights leaders across the country. [https://bit.ly/3drdGyB, see below] • Published an op-ed, “My Fellow Jews: Get in the Fight,” by JCPA Senior Vice President Melanie Roth Gorelick, calling Jews to action with suggested steps to help end racism. [https://bit.ly/3cuysfv, see below] • Endorsed recommendations for meaningful police reform sent to congressional leaders and signed by 438 organizations [https:// bit.ly/3gQjtzR], as well as signed onto a letter urging the Justice Department to open a full and thorough hate crimes investigation into the murder of Ahmaud Arbery [https:// bit.ly/2zYvvqi]. Both letters were organized by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

Statement of Solidarity We, the undersigned, are outraged at the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.

We stand in solidarity with the black community that has for far too long been targeted by police and have suffered rampant racism and unfair and uneven applications of the law We call upon our government and law

6 Seattle Gay News

enforcement at the national, state, and local levels to fully investigate and hold accountable all the involved officers and to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.

We call upon our government and law enforcement agencies at every level to institute sweeping reforms in law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

We pledge to join forces with the black community and other Americans to see through these changes to law enforcement, end systemic racism, and work for a more just American society.

Op-Ed “My Fellow Jews: Get in the Fight”

by Melanie Roth Gorelick, senior vice president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs The Forward May 31, 2020 I am sure you are as outraged as I am over the murder of George Floyd during a violent arrest by police in Minneapolis. This brutality took place on the heels of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, who was chased and gunned down by armed white men while on a jog in Georgia, and the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, after police stormed her home and shot her while she was asleep in her bed.

These deaths did not take place in a vacuum. They bring into full view deeply entrenched systemic racism. What’s more, they took place amid staggering racial disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic and in our prison system. It is no wonder that the grief-stricken black community is raging in anger and pain.

This is a pivotal moment in our history. As we reboot the Jewish community in the post pandemic world, we must ask ourselves what kind of world we hope to live in and what can we do to safeguard a society that works for justice for all people. We cannot ignore what we witnessed in these videos and go on with business as usual.

The American Jewish community has a distinguished history of addressing the injustices in our nation. We are proud of our role

June 5, 2020

during the civil rights era and our legacy of social action. However, resources for Jewish advocacy on civil rights issues have diminished over the past two decades. I hope that these recent incidents will serve as a call to action.

How can we use our influence and support to further the cause of justice? To answer this question, we must first reckon with the plight of the black community in America and the scale of the injustice and the grim statistics.

Black Americans are three times more likely to be killed by police than White Americans.

Over the past few years, more than 12 cases have received national attention. The criminal justice system and the “war on drugs” has disproportionately harmed black communities and has brought four decades of mass incarceration upon the nation. Black Americans make up only 13% of the US population, yet they make up 33% of the nation’s prison population and are imprisoned five times the rate as white Americans.

In 2018, more black Americans were uninsured compared to white Americans, 9.7% compared to 5.4% among whites and reported higher [rates of discrimination] [https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletter-article/2018/sep/focusreducing-racial-disparities-health-care-confronting], when seeking medical care. Those same inequities and pre-existing conditions are also part of the reason the black community is disproportionately harmed by COVID19. In 2016, the average income of white American households was $171,000, which is 10 times more than black American household’s income of $17,100.

Here are some ideas for what the Jewish community can do to reduce racial inequality and systematic injustice: We can speak out against racism and killings of black citizens by police and others.

The Jewish community has an important role to play with law enforcement, as we have built relationships with them in securing our own community. We can heal the divide between law enforcement and the black community.

At the same time, we can hold law enforce-

ment accountable for the necessary cultural and systemic change.

We can recommit to building a just society by ending racism and racist policies and supporting equal opportunity for all people regardless of their race, religion, or color of their skin. We must recognize that these disparities exist along racial lines and not pretend to be colorblind.

We must build and strengthen trusted relationships. Jewish and black communities need to have a deeper understanding of each other’s histories, traumas, and hopes for the future. While the Jewish community is impacted by growing anti-Semitism, the black community is harmed by bigotry and racism. Our shared history in fighting in the civil rights era can inspire a new generation of joint activism against it. While this was more than 60 years ago, it can energize us and provide a blueprint on how we can collaborate on today’s challenges.

We must also advocate on issues of priority to the black community. We can play an important role in finding a solution to mass incarceration and several disparities in or criminal justice system. Philanthropies should invest in Jewish advocacy and antidiscrimination work.

We must nurture relationships with emerging leaders of both communities and prioritize the voices of Black Jewish leaders.

We must acknowledge that there are Jewish people of all races and make sure that Jews of color feel fully supported within the Jewish community. Black Jews may feel less welcome in spaces with increased police presence.

Finally, we must educate the Jewish community about the challenges faced by the black community, so we become motivated to act.

While the Jewish community contemplates our next steps of rebuilding what was lost in the pandemic, there is a tremendous opportunity to play a role in creating a better society for everyone.

Courtesy of the JCPA

Celebrating 46 Years!

“A knee on the neck of black America”

An open letter from Louise Chernin, GSBA President & CEO Dear GSBA members and community,

Minneapolis City Councilmember Andrea Jenkins – Photo by Elizabeth Flores / AP

WASHINGTON, DC (May 29, 2020) – America is grieving. Another Black American, George Floyd, was senselessly killed by a police officer, adding another name to an already too long list of those lost.

When asked in an interview with PBS Newshour, Minneapolis City Councilmember Andrea Jenkins, who represents the district where Floyd was killed, stated, “It was not only a crime against George Floyd, although he suffered the most deep injustice.

But in my mind, it felt like it was a symbol for a knee on the neck of Black America.”

In another interview with CNN, Councilmember Jenkins expanded her remarks, saying, “Not only do I see these images on social media of Black and Brown men and women being killed by state violence, but also have to see trans-identified – mostly Black women – who have been brutalized and murdered by the state, or, [if not by the state, it has been deemed] sanctioned by the state. So the trauma that is in our communities is devastating. And it’s brought on by this really horrible disease that is racism.”

We live in a world where generations of systemic oppression and targeted violence can be exemplified in one single, terrible moment. A knee placed on the neck of a man begging for relief. A young woman gunned down in her home while sleeping.

An innocent man out for a jog, who simply existed in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Too many names, lost too soon.

We are grateful, today and everyday, to Black LGBTQ leaders like Councilmember Jenkins, who use their platforms and presence to fight America’s most grievous disease. We know Councilmember Jenkins well through her time as a Victory Empowerment Fellow and a David Bohnett fellow, and our nation is fortunate to have her leading right now.

We are honored to stand in solidarity with our LGBTQ Black leaders and support them in times of trial, such as these, and times of triumph. Their leadership and contributions cannot be overstated.

Their lives – and all Black lives – matter.

The LGBTQ Victory Institute is the only national organization dedicated to elevating openly LGBTQ leaders who can further equality at all levels of government.

Through its training and professional development programs, each year the Victory Institute assists hundreds of individuals who go on to influential careers in politics, government, business, and advocacy. Many of its trainees join the more than 1,000 openly LGBTQ elected and appointed officials now serving around the world.

Courtesy of the LGBTQ Victory Institute

Letter from Rep. Pramila Jayapal To the Editor: I want to share something that’s been on my mind, and I’m sure it’s been on your mind too.

Four days ago, a white police officer put his knee on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man. That police officer pressed the life out of George Floyd for nine minutes as three other officers watched while George Floyd gasped, “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.”

George Floyd is dead. Murdered, an extrajudicial execution. But it’s not just George Floyd. It’s also Ahmaud Arbery.

Breonna Taylor. Tony McDade. And countless others.

We have to be real about what this means for Black people across the country. Betrayal upon betrayal, killing upon killing. White supremacy unleashed not only in these moments but in systems that disrespect Black lives and don’t just allow for but even condone the murders of Black people with impunity. This is our past, this is our present, but it cannot be our future. It isn’t enough to just say Black lives matter.

We have to fight for those lives, for justice.

We have to reject that white men can

freely carry lethal weapons of war to protest life-saving COVID-19 policies but Black people carrying posters in protest get tear-gassed and shot with rubber bullets and arrested. We have to reject the deep economic injustices that occur when Black people’s bodies and work and futures are devalued.

Supremacies last because they are given the power to do so. And so I want to ask you to join me in pledging that we will fight white supremacy, anti-Blackness, and racism, and we will hold accountable those who perpetrate the violence, the murders – no matter what badge they wear or how high an office they hold.

What that means is we must build our movements on the inside and outside to dismantle white supremacy. What that means is – for those of us who aren’t Black – being better allies in addressing anti-Blackness in our own communities. What that means is standing in solidarity to confront power with protest and action.

And we will do that because Black Lives Matter.

Visit us online www.sgn.org

In solidarity, Pramila Jayapal

[Thursday, May 28, 2020] It might be a beautiful sunny day, but there is a very dark cloud hanging over our country. Of course, there is the cloud of COVID-19, but we believe that crisis will go away with treatment and a vaccine.

Today, my heart goes out to the family of George Floyd, another black family burying a loved one who was senselessly murdered by those sworn to protect us. This year alone, we already grieve the senseless killings of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, and too many black and brown Americans whose lives have been cut short because of racist violence.

The outrage and anger intermingling with our grief can be paralyzing as we continue to dismantle, shatter, and wipe out ongoing individual, personal, structural, and institutional racism that permeates every aspect of our country.

As we all try and cope with the sick feeling and outrage I know you share with me, let’s find concrete ways to address this treacherous fear and hatred within our country. It must be battled on every front, every day, in every way.

I know that the LGBTQ community continues to suffer discrimination and violence, but we have plenty of work to do even

within our own community, whether in our organizations, our community spaces, or ourselves. We talk about allyship and how important it is to work for human rights for all, but it is essential that we understand true allyship must be loud and visible, even when it is uncomfortable. And above all else, it must be earned.

We can do this, but it must be a priority.

No one is better at movement growing than the LGBTQ community. Racism is deadly, discrimination crushes our souls, and at this very moment it is being fed by those in power. We must find ways to stop its growing boldness.

This includes accountable police forces which must continue to address acts of violence against the black community, all communities of color, and transgender and gender-diverse people. This includes intentional decisions to change economic systems that consistently oppress large segments of our populations. This includes recognizing that our desire to be comfortable is not greater than someone else’s right to live.

Wishing you courage and safety, Louise Chernin (She/her) GSBA President & CEO

Black Lives Matter

Support survivors by fighting anti-Blackness API Chaya is in solidarity with Black communities across the globe impacted by anti-Black violence. We join the voices of Black Lives Matter, Black Visions Collective, and many others to demand justice for Tony McDade, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop, Ahmaud Arbery, David McAtee, and Sean Reed, who were murdered by police last month; as well as those whose names we do not know. We share and want to lift up the pain, grief, and rage we are seeing from so many in our community.

API Chaya works towards dismantling structures that perpetuate intimate partner violence, sexual violence and human trafficking, and we recognize that anti-Black racism is part of the structural foundations for sexual violence and human trafficking in the United States. Prisons, police and militaries, which are legacies of enslavement of Black people, continue the violence of dehumanizing and perpetuating cycles of sexual violence, particularly against Black trans and queer communities. It is necessary to shift that narrative, ensuring that Black survivors of all genders have access to resources to keep them safe from interpersonal and state-sanctioned harm.

We believe that these structures normalize the exploitation of labor and the absence of bodily autonomy, and dismantling these structures is imperative to API Chaya’s mission of ending sexual violence, intimate partner violence and human trafficking.

We urge South Asian, Asian and Pacific Islander communities to engage in an ongoing process of love, support, and accountability towards Black communities for all of our liberation. It is more crucial than ever to show up for Black communities.

For those able, we can join and support our Black and Brown comrades protesting in the streets (make a protest plan) [https://www. amnestyusa.org/pdfs/ SafeyDuringProtest_F.pdf]. In lieu of joining the protests, we call on our communities to rise up by donating to bail funds [http://blacklivesseattle.org/bail-fund/], connect with protestors to offer remote support such as providing protest safety kits [https://www.facebook.com/covid19mutualaid/posts/142380147374341] and publicly condemning police brutal-

ity and all forms of anti-Blackness. You can sign on [https://docs.google.com/ fo r m s /d /e / 1 FA I p Q L S e L x 0 U B q _ FmE6YQPgG2aGSmNOI7_LCjpGiNGH4HSq2nWpGSA/viewform] to this call to defund the Seattle Police Department while protecting and expanding investments to make our communities safe, prioritizing community-led health and safety strategies. You can contact Governor Jay Inslee [https://www.governor.wa.gov/contact/ contact/contacting-governors-office] to demand the release of all detained protestors, to end deportations and to end sweeps of house-less people, and contact Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan [https://www.seattle. gov/mayor] to prioritize police accountability by retaining the Consent Decree on the Seattle Police Department.

We also urge our communities to challenge anti-Blackness as an everyday practice, educating ourselves [https://www. blackwomenradicals.com/blog-feed/ black-and-asian-feminist-solidarities-areading-list] on anti-Blackness and Black leadership, accepting the calls to action from Black Lives Matter and other Black-led organizing, and supporting Black artists and workers. We can unpack our own biases as we advocate for survivors of harm, dismantling racist conceptions about Black aggression that fail to take into account state violence. Join us in committing to communitybased measures to seek justice without being dependent on law enforcement, which has historically and disparately murdered and incarcerated Black people. You can support Black survivors of harm by investing in the wellbeing of Black communities, supporting a radical redistribution of resources, to ensure that Black survivors have access to safety and healing.

API Chaya’s vision of a world free from violence and exploitation is not possible without ending interpersonal and statesanctioned violence for Black communities. We were founded as an organization transforming traumatic grief into collective action for safety and healing. Take action in the ways that you can. #BlackLivesMatter

June 5, 2020

Seattle Gay News 7

Courtesy of API Chaya

NEW YORK

Photos by Victor Hawthorne

8 Seattle Gay News

June 5, 2020

Celebrating 46 Years!

SEATTLE

Photos by Alex Garland

Visit us online www.sgn.org

June 5, 2020

Seattle Gay News 9

Durkan Digest: The deep and systemic impacts of racism in our country SEATTLE (May 29, 2020) – While there are additional updates on the governor’s Safe Start plan to reopen King County below, I wanted to address the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

I cannot begin to imagine the deep grief and suffering that his family and loved ones are feeling, and I pray they get the support they need to make it through these dark days. The degrading and brutal way in which Mr. Floyd was treated reflects the deep and systemic impacts of racism in our country, particularly against Black Americans.

The video of his last words echoes through and is magnified by the dark history of our country – from slavery to today.

The most fundamental duty of our public safety officials is to protect the lives of our residents while upholding the law.

As a former federal prosecutor, I believe it is right that the officer was charged and will be prosecuted. Those standing by and failing to stop the actions should also bear responsibility. In addition, I believe this should lead to an investigation by the United States Department of Justice.

It’s on all of us to demand better of ourselves, our leaders, and those who are charged with protecting the public peace. I am thankful for the leadership of Chief of Police Carmen Best, and I know her deep commitment to true community policing and to a culture of continuous improvement. I also know the officers of SPD are speaking out against this injustice and want to be held to the highest possible standard by our community.

I understand the pain and frustration that the community is feeling. People will join in Seattle tomorrow to grieve, to protest, and to commit themselves to the cause of justice. We honor and cherish these rights.

They make us better as a city and as a nation.

I urge those of you who plan to take to the streets to exercise your democratically earned and hard-fought rights to speak out against injustice to do so peacefully.

We must remember that we are also in the midst of a pandemic that has been particularly harsh on our communities of color

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best – Photo by Elaine Thompson / AP

– we need people to be safe and healthy.

Please try to maintain six feet away from others. Please follow COVID-19 precautions like face coverings.

In this difficult time for our community and nation, know that as a city we are stronger when we come together to grieve, demand justice, and keep one another safe.

Thank you and stay safe.

City backtracks on ending police oversight Consent decree will remain in force

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The City of Seattle will no longer pursue efforts to lift the consent decree giving federal courts oversight over Seattle police, according to June 3 statements by the mayor and the city attorney.

The consent decree was agreed to by the City of Seattle in 2012, after the US Justice Department found a “pattern and practice” of excessive use of force by Seattle cops.

Before the outbreak of massive protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis, Mayor Jenny Durkan and Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes had indicated they wanted to get Seattle police out from under federal oversight.

The massive protests of the past nine days, and the over-the-top police reaction – featuring the usual array of rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray – made that task politically problematic.

In his statement, Holmes noted the huge number of police misconduct complaints flooding the Office of Police Accountability (OPA), the agency charged with monitoring police behavior.

10 Seattle Gay News

“Here in Seattle, I’ve been closely monitoring the response to demonstrations,” Holmes wrote, “and 14,000 complaints to our Office of Police Accountability (OPA) in recent days signal that we are about to witness the most vigorous testing ever of our city’s accountability systems.”

Holmes added that because OPA needs time to evaluate police use of force against demonstrators, “I intend to withdraw the City from the pending motion before the court,” to escape from the consent decree, “until we thoroughly review and assess SPD’s response to recent demonstrations.”

In a separate statement, also on June 3, Mayor Jenny Durkan backtracked on her prior support for lifting federal oversight.

“The City has not filed to end the Consent Decree, and I oppose being released from the Consent Decree at this time,” she wrote. “The City made clear to the Court that the City knows it still needed to address concerns on discipline and accountability, and even as we have met the required filings of the sustainment plan, I believe that we should pause as our community is rightfully calling for more police reforms.”

June 5, 2020

A gradual reopening of businesses and activities in King County Earlier today, Gov. Inslee announced that all counties in Washington state are eligible to apply to reopen additional businesses and activities on Monday. Shortly after, the King County executive, after close consultation with the mayor and local public health experts, announced that on Monday King County will apply for a modified Phase One stage, which could allow more businesses to reopen as early as next week, upon approval of an application to the Department of Health.

Over the last 12 weeks, Seattle has been a model for the rest of the country in how to flatten the curve, save lives, and protect our health care system from becoming overwhelmed. Our region has been the epicenter of the pandemic in Washington state, and because of the efforts of our residents and businesses, we have significantly reduced COVID-19. As we are nearing targets on testing and cases, we believe that Seattle and King County are ready to enter a modified Phase One approach to reopening additional businesses.

Applying for a modified Phase One does not mean we’re out of the woods. This virus knows no boundaries, and resurgence can happen quickly and exponentially if we don’t all do our part to practice health and safety measures every day. As we begin to reopen our economy, businesses, and cultural institutions, we cannot relax all restrictions simultaneously.

During this time, we need residents to continue wearing a face covering, practice good hygiene, and maintain six feet of physical distance. Our adherence to public health guidance will help ensure we continue to see measurable decreases in COVID-19 infections, transmissions, and deaths. Our choices not only help determine when and how we can continue to reopen – they save lives.

Many of our business owners and residents have questions about what the state’s

guidance means for them. We will continue to amplify information from the state as soon as we have it, and make sure materials are accessible and available in-language [sic]. We appreciate our residents’ patience, compassion, and collaboration as we navigate this unprecedented moment in real time, together.

Resources for small businesses: Commercial Lease Toolkit and Seattle Protects As many small businesses throughout Seattle prepare to gradually reopen under strict public health and safety guidance, the City of Seattle has launched two key resources to help small businesses prepare.

The City of Seattle created the Seattle Protects [http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/ covid-19/seattle-protects] online marketplace to help businesses, nonprofit organizations, and residents purchase face coverings from local manufacturers. Seattle Protects is a new economic development and public health effort by the City to encourage local organizations in search of face coverings to purchase from Seattle-region midsize manufacturers and businesses that have pivoted to creating face coverings and personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, the City’s Office of Economic Development (OED) partnered with Communities Rise and Perkins Coie to launch a new toolkit to help small businesses and nonprofit organizations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic explore options for their commercial leases with a goal of remaining in their spaces. Building on the eviction moratorium for small businesses and nonprofits signed by Mayor Durkan, the new COVID-19 Lease Amendment Toolkit [https://communitiesrise.org/covid-19-resources/lease-amendment] for small businesses and nonprofits provides a suite of tools – including template lease amendment language – to assist small businesses and nonprofits that are navigating the negotiation of their commercial leases with their landlords.

see DURKAN page 25

Celebrating 46 Years!

Gay City demands accountability from Mayor Durkan for her response and the actions of the Seattle Police Department

SEATTLE (June 3, 2020) – Gay City: Seattle’s LGBTQ Center stands in solidarity with the Defund the Police Rally and community partners.

Today, Gay City Executive Director Fred Swanson sent a letter to Mayor Jenny Durkan demanding accountability and action from her in response to police brutality that occurred at the #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd protest and requires reform: “We are filled with anger and grief at the actions of your office and Seattle Police Department (SPD) during the #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd protest in downtown Seattle on Saturday, May 30, 2020, and demand immediate accountability. With both protests and police violence continuing, we implore you to implement reforms today.

“As you know, Monday marked the beginning of Pride month. Even with the incredible gains made for LGBTQ rights over the decades since the Stonewall rebellion, the systemic violence against Black and Brown people, and lack of police accountability that sparked our movement, remains.

“Because of the fearless leadership of Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera at Stonewall, Gay City can exist to carry forward our mission: to cultivate access and connections to promote self-determination, liberation, and joy in LGBTQ communities. Because of them, you, an out lesbian, were elected mayor of a major city. And yet here we are, more than 50 years later, confronted by the same systems of racial violence and lack of police accountability as we begin Pride month.

“We cannot ensure self-determination, liberation, and joy for our communities without directly addressing manifestations of systemic oppressions, like the many injustices committed by members of the Seattle Police Department this past weekend and into this week. As such, we have questions for you, your administration, and those that you have given the authority to make decisions that impact our communities.

“Who approved tear-gassing and pepper-spraying protesters indiscriminately during a respiratory illness pandemic, including the pepper-spraying of an eightyear-old child? Who ordered the flash bombs on peaceful protesters? Who is responsible for instructing officers to turn off their body cameras? Whose decision was it to implement a curfew with less than 15 minutes’ notice, and no plan to allow the crowds to safely disperse? Who is responsible for shutting down public transportation so that people were trapped, including families and children? These actions served to instigate the violence and chaos, not to deescalate any tensions or provide safety.

“These questions are not rhetorical, [and] as such, we expect an answer to each. We want to know how you are identifying and screening out white supremacists when hiring Seattle Police Department officers. How are

JAYAPAL

continued from cover unnecessary show of force, we must insist that we respond differently, focusing instead on concrete policies that take on institutionalized racism, white supremacy, and anti-Blackness.

“I would urge our state and local leaders to listen to this call for multiple reasons.

“First, curfews are incursions on civil liberties and the constitutional rights of people to protest and assemble peaceably. They should never be used unnecessarily. I have not seen evidence that curfews continue to be necessary in the city of Seattle. We also know that curfews increase the chances of police interaction and the very police violence that people are urgently protesting.

“Second, I believe we have more than sufficient law enforcement without hun-

Photo by Alex Garland

you continuing these screenings in regularly occurring reviews? How are you onboarding new officers, ensuring that they understand how to avoid using excessive force? How are you holding officers who abuse their power accountable? What structures are in place to ensure that ongoing independent investigations of misconduct lead to actionable and tangible support for those harmed?

“We demand accountability. We demand a swift and thorough investigation into the conduct of the police and the decisions made by your office. We demand an independent investigation into the conduct of the Seattle Police Department during this protest and those following. Officers found to have participated in instigating violence or brutality should be fired. Those who covered their badge numbers or turned off their body cameras should be fired.

Based on the actions on Saturday alone, we demand that you withdraw your support for lifting the Consent Decree.

“It is inexcusable what transpired on

Saturday night, and every night since. Officers filled Capitol Hill on Monday night with tear gas in response to peaceful protest. You stand critical of the President’s threat to deploy the military to our region, yet you stand behind a heavily militarized and brutal police force. Communities should be allowed to mourn and protest acts resulting from police violence without being retraumatized by the police and met by even more brutality and violence.

“As a means of implementing accountability moving forward and to address the harm committed by your administration and police department, we ask you to: • Fund community-led solutions that center the health equity of Black, Indigenous, [and] people of Color (BIPOC) LGBTQ communities in violence prevention.

• Take leadership from community leaders most impacted by police violence (BIPOC/LGBTQ/youth communities).

• Implement self-accountability structures/policies/metrics that are designed,

dreds of National Guard troops. Even as we prioritize safety, we must be extremely careful about a response that puts enormous amounts of law enforcement [personnel] on the streets at a time when it is this kind of militarized response that protestors are rightfully protesting.

“Third, we must oppose the continued use of tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and flash bangs on our neighbors who are powerfully speaking out and standing up against police brutality, racism, white supremacy, and anti-Blackness. Nor should these be used to disperse peaceful protestors. That is as true in Washington, DC’s Lafayette Park as it is in Cal Anderson Park. Continued displays of force are part of the problem, not the solution. Efforts to suppress free speech and civil liberties as protesters raise legitimate, long-standing concerns take our march for justice backward, not forward.

“Ultimately, extending curfews day after day, arresting peaceful protestors night after night, and militarizing local police only reaffirms why we must protest against racism, anti-Blackness, and injustice in the first place: Black people in our communities can’t kneel, walk, speak, breathe, exist without being watched, feared, policed, targeted, attacked, or killed.

“This moment in history requires a transformative approach, not one that takes us backward to the exact tactics and culture that has led us to where we are today. Let’s end the curfews and the military tactics in our streets. Let’s be the community that shows how to respond in this moment by listening to our neighbors, taking meaningful action and making real, institutional reforms.”

Visit us online www.sgn.org

Courtesy of Rep. Pramila Jayapal

June 5, 2020

and regularly reviewed, by those most impacted by police violence (BIPOC/ LGBTQ/youth communities).

• Adopt more restrictive use-of-force policies and lift universal qualified immunity for police officers.

“When you were elected in 2017, you said, ‘It is a great opportunity to serve as your mayor, but with the honor comes to a deep responsibility. Our challenges are real, but people across our city are ready to work together to tackle our shared challenges and seize the opportunities that will continue to make Seattle the great city we love. We are the place that invents the future – and there is no doubt in my mind that working together, we will continue to look out to the horizon and create that better future for the next generation.’

“We, your citizens, have gathered peacefully in the streets as is our right, have been attacked by people that serve your administration, and now ask you to tackle these challenges. Now is the time to seize this opportunity, to make Seattle a great city today, and for the generations to come. We are showing up; we are ready to bring that vision to fruition. Now it is your turn to work with us to bring about that better future.

“Respectfully, Fred Swanson, Executive Director, on behalf of the Staff and Board of Gay City: Seattle’s LGBTQ Center” Gay City is the definitive hub for LGBTQ individuals seeking affirming and responsive resources, wellness, and community. For 25 years, the organization has supported the LGBTQ people in building resilience and joy in our community. Our mission is to cultivate access and connections to promote self-determination, liberation, and joy in our communities. For more information, visit www.gaycity.org or www.gaycity.org/press.

Courtesy of Gay City

Seattle Gay News 11

While protesters call for justice, Trump & WA GOP stoke division

Photo by Alex Garland

SEATTLE (June 2, 2020) – The Washington State Democratic Party stands with the protesters calling for justice for the murder of George Floyd and so many other Black Americans who have died as a result of police violence. We know that as Democrats, we can and must do better in lifting up the voices of those who feel they are not being heard until they force society to listen by marching in the streets. We have heard the pain in their calls for justice and equal treatment by those sworn to serve and protect us all, and echo Vice President Biden’s remarks from this morning: “We are a nation in pain, but we must not allow this pain to destroy us. We are a nation enraged, but we cannot allow

our rage to consume us. We are a nation exhausted, but we will not allow our exhaustion to defeat us.”

We will not be defeated in our fight for justice and equality for every person of color, and we will continue to stand with those who feel that peaceful protest is required to make their voices heard.

President Trump does not share that commitment. While the nation grieved the death of George Floyd and thousands of peaceful protesters took to the streets demanding justice for his murder, President Trump called for a domination of the American people with a deployment of active-duty troops to suppress the constitutional rights of those protesting. He then

ordered a crowd of peaceful protesters to be forcibly dispersed with tear gas and flashbang grenades, so he could create a photo op in front of a historic DC church.

How have Washington Republicans reacted to this unlawful threat against the safety and constitutional rights of Americans? With silence. Not a single self-styled “constitutionalist” in the Washington GOP has objected to Trump’s proposed actions.

Instead, they’ve taken to social media to spread disinformation about the peaceful nature of the vast majority of the protesters, mocked public health guidelines meant to protect Washingtonians, and engaged in conspiracy theories calling the peaceful protesters “Soros’ brownshirts.”

“President Trump’s threats and actions last night are nothing less than a complete betrayal of his office and the sacred obligation of the President to comfort the country in a time of crisis,” said Tina Podlodowski, chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. “Every elected official, regardless of party, should be unified in rejecting this wholesale abandonment of American values and come together to listen to the calls for justice ringing out in the streets of every city in America.”

Courtesy of the Washington State Democratic Party

Photos by Alex Garland

12 Seattle Gay News

June 5, 2020

Celebrating 46 Years!

43rd Executive Board statement on the recent protests for Black lives

Photo by Alex Garland

SEATTLE (June 3, 2020) – The Executive Board of the 43rd District Democrats has issued the statement [below] regarding the recent protests for Black lives across the nation and here in Seattle.

We extend our gratitude to those who have been calling for justice, including

many members of the 43rd Democrats, and encourage you to continue doing so and for those who have not spoken up yet to do so.

Options for making your voice heard include contacting the Mayor and City Council to demand reform (see this script [https://bit. ly/3cu8WH9] for contact info and ideas) or

MMAA expresses deep concern over Trump’s threat to use active duty troops against American citizens WASHINGTON, DC (June 2, 2020) – Today, the Modern Military Association of America (MMAA), the nation’s largest nonprofit organization for the LGBTQ military and veteran community, released the following statement expressing deep concern over Donald Trump’s threat to use active-duty military troops against American citizens: “Donald Trump’s use of tear gas and rubber bullets last night against peaceful protestors demonstrates an alarming use of violence against American citizens exercising their First Amendment rights,” said MMAA interim executive director and Air Force veteran Jennifer Dane. “It’s absolutely critical that Congress and senior mil-

itary leaders sworn to defend the Constitution ensure military troops are not used to violate the constitutionally protected rights of American citizens.”

The Modern Military Association of America (MMAA) is the nation’s largest non-profit organization for LGBTQ service members, military spouses, veterans, and allies. Formed through the merger of OutServe-SLDN and the American Military Partner Association, the MMAA is a united voice for the LGBTQ military and veteran community. Find out more at www.

ModernMilitary.org Courtesy of the MMAA

joining a community led protest or petition.

Statement from the 43rd District Democrats Executive Board: “The Executive Board of the 43rd District Democrats stands in solidarity with protesters against the systemic violence and excessive force continually demonstrated by police against Black people across the country. This violence has resulted in the murder of Black Americans nationwide and in Seattle, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, David McAtee, Charleena Lyles, and so many others. We call for justice for each of them and an immediate enactment of the reforms necessary to prevent future police violence against Black people.

“In addition to the public reports and videos of police targeting peaceful protesters across the nation, multiple members of the 43rd District Democrats attended the protests this weekend and Monday night and saw the Seattle Police Department target peaceful protesters and children with tear gas, pepper spray, flash bangs, and other ‘crowd control’ measures. Multiple videos show that on Monday evening, Seattle Police attacked a crowd of peaceful protestors with pepper spray and tear gas in the middle of a residential neighborhood, endangering not only the protesters and media present but those obeying the curfew and sheltering in their homes nearby. Additionally, these behaviors were supported and condoned through the implementation of overly restrictive curfews, which have gone into effect with little to no warning over the past several days. These actions are unacceptable, and officers who used force against peaceful protesters must be held accountable for their actions.

“We acknowledge that these tactics are nothing new, and have been utilized by the police against Black people and other

minority communities for decades.

“In a city, county, and state where Democrats hold large majorities, it is unacceptable that the police feel free to attack and arrest Black people and peaceful protesters with impunity. For too long our elected officials have given in to the demands of the Seattle Police Officers Guild and avoided real reform. Our Democratic mayor is currently working with the Trump Justice Department to lift the federal consent decree placed on the SPD due to their repeated use of unnecessary force before needed accountability measures are in place. In 2018, every Democrat on the Seattle City Council voted for the current police contract, which was opposed by the Seattle/King County NAACP, the ACLU, and the Seattle Community Police Commission because it lacks needed reforms and accountability measures.

“These actions do not reflect our values as Democrats and are not in line with the 2018 Washington State Democratic Party platform, which calls for ‘police forces to be demilitarized, be held accountable for abusive practices, [and] exercise restraint in their dealing with peaceful assemblies and protests,’ and we must do better moving forward. As Democrats, we call on our elected officials to heed the demands of community groups and protesters, demilitarize the Seattle Police Department, leave the consent decree in place, and insist on strong accountability measures during upcoming SPOG contract negotiations.

“Resolutions in support of these measures will be presented to the membership of the 43rd District Democrats at our June 16th meeting.

“In Solidarity, Scott Alspach, Chair, 43rd District Democrats” Courtesy of the 43rd District Democrats

Photos by Alex Garland

Visit us online www.sgn.org

June 5, 2020

Seattle Gay News 13

REGISTER TO VOTE

W W W.VOTE .GOV 14 Seattle Gay News

June 5, 2020

Celebrating 46 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

June 5, 2020

Seattle Gay News 15

with DESCOVY for PrEP® DESCOVY for PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is a once-daily prescription medicine for adults and adolescents at risk of HIV. It helps lower the chances of getting HIV through sex.

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DESCOVY FOR PrEP, the DESCOVY FOR PrEP Logo, the DESCOVY Blue Pill Design, DESCOVY, the DESCOVY Logo, STEP UP. PrEP UP., ADVANCING ACCESS, GILEAD, and the GILEAD Logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. ©2020 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. DVYC0244 02/20

18 Seattle Gay News

June 5, 2020

Celebrating 46 Years!

Happy Pride!

We’re with you!

We’re a welcoming church congregation that would love to see you on Sundays!

Bring your partner/spouse, friends, family, children; we have room for everybody!

Come join us for worship on Sundays at 10:30 am.

We look forward to meeting you!

7706 25th Ave NW in Ballard Call Ann at 206-784-0883 for more information

Visit us online www.sgn.org

June 5, 2020

Seattle Gay News 19

AHF unveils new national #StandAgainstHate campaign

WASHINGTON, DC (June 2, 2020) – The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and its Black Leadership AIDS Crisis Coalition (BLACC), an affinity group of the AHF, today announced the relaunching of the empowering #StandAgainstHate campaign, a national advocacy, awareness, and action campaign intended to take on and challenge the racism, hatred, police abuse targeting African-Americans, and a burgeoning white supremacy movement that continue to sweep our nation.

This new incarnation of #StandAgainstHate comes in direct response to the brutal murder last week of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer and an ongoing, tragic pattern of other high-profile deaths of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement officers or involving or connected to police departments – including the deaths earlier this year of jogger Ahmaud Aubrey in Georgia and EMT Breonna Taylor in Louisville, KY. The AHF launched its initial #StandAgainstHate campaign in August 2017 in response to the civil rights and social justice tragedy so brutally unmasked in Charlottesville, VA, and its aftermath.

Challenging all Americans to recognize that the critical work to address the systemic racism and injustices happening in this country is a movement and not a moment, the relaunched campaign poses the question to the American community “Will you care

LGBTQ ORGS continued from cover

must go to ensure that the promise of America is not dependent on the color of one’s skin,” said Alphonso David, President of the Human Rights Campaign. “When we see injustice, we must speak out as strongly as we can. Otherwise, we are complicit in oppression. And we have seen a lot of injustice lately.

From George Floyd, to Ahmaud Arbery, to Breonna Taylor, to Christian Cooper, to Nina Pop. The LGBTQ community is familiar with fighting against systems of power that are set up to serve the privileged few. And we are united to fight the systems that target our Black and brown siblings, today and always.”

The letter reads, in full: LGBTQ Organizations Unite to Combat Racial Violence “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Those words, written over 30 years ago

by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, remind us that indifference can never bridge the divide of hate. And, today, they should serve as a call to action to all of us, and to the Movement for LGBTQ equality.

This spring has been a stark and stinging reminder that racism, and its strategic objective, white supremacy, is as defining a characteristic of the American experience as those ideals upon which we claim to hold our democracy — justice, equality, liberty.

We listened to the haunting pleas of George Floyd for the most basic of human needs – simply, breath – as a Minneapolis police officer kneeled with cruel indifference on his neck.

20 Seattle Gay News

before I’m a hashtag?” which speaks to the number of black lives that have been senselessly lost to hate crimes.

“The AHF has always been committed to stand up against injustice, and we join together with the majority of Americans, especially the thousands of young people across this nation, in condemning the acts of hatred, violence, and murder, targeting African-Americans, that continue to plague our nation. This senseless violence has pulled back the curtain on a festering We felt the pain of Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend as he called 9-1-1 after plainclothes Louisville police kicked down the door of their home and shot her eight times as she slept in her bed.

We watched the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery by white vigilantes in Brunswick, GA, aware that they evaded the consequence of their actions until the video surfaced and sparked national outrage.

We saw the weaponizing of race by a white woman who pantomimed fear in calling the police on Christian Cooper, a Black gay man bird-watching in Central Park.

We have heard and read about the killings of transgender people – Black transgender women in particular – with such regularity, it is no exaggeration to describe it as an epidemic of violence. This year alone, we have lost at least 12 members of our community: Dustin Parker, Neulisa Luciano Ruiz, Yampi Méndez Arocho, Monika Diamond, Lexi, Johanna Metzger, Serena Angelique Velázquez Ramos, Layla Pelaez Sánchez, Penélope Díaz Ramírez, Nina Pop, Helle Jae O’Regan, and Tony McDade.

All of these incidents are stark reminders of why we must speak out when hate, violence, and systemic racism claim – too often with impunity – Black Lives.

The LGBTQ Movement’s work has earned significant victories in expanding the civil rights of LGBTQ people. But what good are civil rights without the freedom to enjoy them?

Many of our organizations have made progress in adopting intersectionality as a core value and have committed to be more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. But this moment requires that we go further – that we make explicit commitments to embrace

June 5, 2020

underbelly of racism, white supremacy, and hatred still present and sadly growing in our country,” said Michael Weinstein, president of the AHF. “These events have led us to a moral turning point for our nation, and we must all stand up against such hate.”

“As a mother of a black son, surrogate mother to numerous black youth, and a black senior manager for a global nonprofit organization where black people are a core community to whom we provide service, it was important for the AHF to focus our domestic advocacy and speak out on the injustices that are happening to black people across this country,” stated Anita Castille, the AHF’s vice president of human resources. “#StandAgainstHate is a call to action for all people to get access to actionoriented resources and tools to address these injustices that are being inflicted on black people across this nation.”

The new #StandAgainstHate campaign formally kicks off this week with striking full-page newspaper ads quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Los Angeles Times (Wed., June 3), the Atlanta JournalConstitution (Thurs., June 4), and Ft. Lauderdale’s Sun Sentinel (Wed., June 3). The campaign will also include ads in AfricanAmerican and LGBTQ+ newspapers across the country and extensive social media videos, an updated #StandAgainstHate website (www.standagainsth8.org) with calls to action for concerned Americans to participate in, and links to information on how to protest safely in the age of the pandemic.

The #StandAgainstHate campaign also features a national billboard campaign that will roll out in multiple cities over the next few weeks, a social media launch on media platforms of the AHF and many of its affiliate organizations, [and] the hosting of community forums, including listening and talkback sessions in select cities around the country where the AHF has a presence.

The Black Leadership AIDS Crisis Coalition (BLACC) is an affinity group of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. The group, which engages the AHF’s Black

American employees and community partners across the nation, was developed to create a coalition of Black American cultural influencers and health advocates, which, through the use of innovative, culturally relevant messaging and initiatives, are revolutionizing outreach to the Black American community and elevating the education and awareness of sexual health and wellness and bringing greater awareness to the social justice issues disproportionately impacting the health and wellness of Black Americans.

BLACC members and supporters speak directly to our community and work to address those advocacy issues that impact the rise of the epidemic, at the forefront of the national Black American agenda.

Black American families – and young people in particular – are the highest-risk demographic for new HIV cases and AIDSrelated deaths in the United States. BLACC is committed to increasing awareness and advocacy on behalf of Black American communities across our nation.

Racial and ethnic minorities – the primary targets of the recent police killings – are also among key populations that the AHF cares for and serves in 16 states across the country, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as 44 other countries around the globe.

anti-racism and end white supremacy, not as necessary corollaries to our mission, but as integral to the objective of full equality for LGBTQ people.

We, the undersigned, recognize we cannot remain neutral, nor will awareness substitute for action. The LGBTQ community knows about the work of resisting police brutality and violence. We celebrate June as Pride Month, because it commemorates, in part, our resisting police harassment and brutality at Stonewall in New York City, and earlier in California, when such violence was common and expected. We remember it as a breakthrough moment when we refused to accept humiliation and fear as the price of living fully, freely, and authentically.

We understand what it means to rise up and push back against a culture that tells us we are less than, that our lives don’t matter. Today, we join together again to say #BlackLivesMatter and commit ourselves to the action those words require.

Cathedral Of Hope UCC, Rev. Dr. Neil G Thomas, Senior Pastor Center on Halsted, Modesto Valle, CEO CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers, Denise Spivak, CEO Community Education Group, A. Toni Young, Executive Director Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, Sharon Kleinbaum, Senior Rabbi Curve Magazine, Merryn Johns, Editorin-Chief Equality Arizona, Michael Soto, Executive Director Equality California, Rick Chavez Zbur, Executive Director Equality Delaware, Mark Purpura and Lisa Goodman, Board Chairs Equality Federation, Rebecca Isaacs, Executive Director Equality Florida, Nadine Smith, Executive Director Equality Illinois, Brian Johnson, CEO Equality New Mexico, Adrian N. Carver, Executive Director Equality New York, Amanda Babine, Executive Director Equality North Carolina, Kendra R Johnson, Executive Director Equality Ohio, Alana Jochum, Executive Director Equality Texas, Ricardo Martinez, CEO Equality Virginia, Vee Lamneck, Executive Director Fair Wisconsin, Megin McDonell, Executive Director Fairness Campaign, Tamara Russell, Board Member Family Equality, Denise Brogan-Kator, Chief Policy Officer Freedom for All Americans, Kasey Suffredini, CEO & National Campaign Director

Affirmations, Dave Garcia, Executive Director AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Aisha N. Davis, Director of Policy American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director Arkansas Transgender Equity Collaborative, Tonya Estell, Board of Directors BAGLY, Inc. (Boston Alliance of LGBTQ Youth), Grace Sterling Stowell, Executive Director Basic Rights Oregon, Nancy Haque, Executive Director Bi Women Quarterly, Robyn Ochs, Editor Campaign for Southern Equality, Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Executive Director Campus Pride, Shane Windmeyer, Executive Director

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 1.4 million individuals in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/the Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific region, and Eastern Europe. To learn more about the AHF, visit www.aidshealth.org or www.facebook. com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter @ aidshealthcare.

Courtesy of the AHF

Celebrating 46 Years!

House Judiciary Committee Democrats demand DOJ open investigations of recent murders, pledge additional oversight and legislation WASHINGTON, DC (May 29, 2020) – Yesterday, in response to the recent murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, House Judiciary Committee Democrats sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) demanding prompt action, including the opening of pattern and practice investigations of police misconduct.

The letter calls for the DOJ to investigate the prosecutors involved in the case of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed African-American man who was shot in cold blood while running in his neighborhood. The letter also calls for DOJ to open pattern and practice investigations into the police departments in Louisville, Kentucky, where Breonna Taylor was gunned down in her own home by police, and in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where George Floyd was killed after a police officer kneeled on his neck and body.

The House Judiciary Committee will also be pursuing additional oversight and legislative action in June to address the series of racially motivated violence and unjust policing practices that have resulted in the deaths of African-Americans across the country.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) released the following statement: “America’s history of racism and racially motivated violence is a plague that continues to live on through generations.

It’s an ugly truth that can be seen today in disproportionate rates of COVID deaths, in discriminatory police enforcement of social-distancing rules, in racial profiling, and in the unconstitutional treatment of African-Americans by law enforcement, among other examples. The federal government has a critical role to play in promoting a culture of accountability for all law enforcement organizations, including at the state and local level. This is why House Judiciary Democrats have sent a letter today to the US Department of Justice to demand action. In addition, I expect, as the primary committee of jurisdiction over civil rights law and law enforcement, the Judiciary Committee will be engaging in Freedom Oklahoma, Allie Shinn, Executive Director FreeState Justice, Mark Procopio, Executive Director Garden State Equality, Christian Fuscarino, Executive Director Gay City: Seattle’s LGBTQ Center, Fred Swanson, Executive Director Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), Kelsey Louie, CEO Gender Rights Maryland, Sharon Brackett, Board Chair Gender Spectrum, Joel Baum, Senior Director Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network (GSA Network), Geoffrey Winder & Ginna Brelsford, Co-Executive Directors Georgia Equality, Jeff Graham, Executive Director GLAAD, Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO GLBT Alliance of Santa Cruz, Gloria Nieto, Board Member GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Janson Wu, Executive Director GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality, Hector Vargas, Executive Director GLSEN, Eliza Byard, Executive Director GSAFE, Brian Juchems, Co-Director Human Rights Campaign, Alphonso David, President Immigration Equality, Aaron C. Morris, Executive Director Ingersoll Gender Center, Karter Booher, Executive Director Lambda Legal, Kevin Jennings, CEO Lesbians of Color Symposium Collective, Inc., Shaunya Thomas, Co - Founder/President

Photo by Alex Garland

oversight and considering legislation in the coming weeks to address the crisis of racial profiling, excessive force by law enforcement and lost trust between police departments and the communities they serve.”

Federal law prohibits any governmental authority from engaging in a “pattern or practice” of conduct by law enforcement officers that deprives persons of their constitutional rights. This federal statute also authorizes the attorney general to initiate a civil action to obtain appropriate equitable or declaratory relief to eliminate such a pattern or practice.

In the wake of high-profile applications of fatal force by police against unarmed African American men in Ferguson, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Chicago, the Justice Department investigated policing practices in those cities and uncovered rampant abuses of constitutional rights and civil liberties. During the Obama administration, the Justice Department negotiated consent

decree agreements with the police departments in all four cities.

Following President Trump’s election and his appointment of Jefferson B. Sessions as attorney general, the Justice Department abruptly changed its interpretation of its statutory role to eliminate patterns and practices of unconstitutional conduct in local police departments.

In May 2019, Chairman Nadler, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Chairwoman and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-CA), and several House Judiciary Committee Democrats sent a letter to the DOJ seeking information about actions it was taking to reduce police-involved violence, including its use of consent decrees and pattern and practice investigations. To date, there has been no response. On September 19, 2019, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing to address unconstitutional conduct by state and local law enforcement officials.

In addition to Chairman Nadler, the letter was signed by Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (D-GA), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Karen Bass (D-CA), Cedric L. Richmond (D-LA), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), David N. Cicilline (D-RI), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Val B. Demings (D-FL), J. Luis Correa (D-CA), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Sylvia R. Garcia (D-TX), Joe Neguse (D-CO), Lucy McBath (D-GA), Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL), and Veronica Escobar (D-TX).

The full text of yesterday’s letter is available [at https://bit.ly/2BtrXgb].

LGBT Community Center of the Desert, Mike Thompson, CEO LGBT Life Center, Stacie Walls, CEO LGBTQ Center OC, Peg Corley, Executive Director LGBTQ Victory Fund & LGBTQ Victory Institute, Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO Louisiana Trans Advocates, Peyton Rose Michelle, Director of Operations Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, Tre’Andre Valentine, Executive Director MassEquality, Tanya V. Neslusan, Executive Director Matthew Shepard Foundation, Jason Marsden, Executive Vice President Movement Advancement Project, Ineke Mushovic, Executive Director National Black Justice Coalition, David Johns, Executive Director National Center for Lesbian Rights, Imani Rupert-Gordon, Executive Director National Center for Transgender Equality, Mara Keisling, Executive Director National Equality Action Team (NEAT), Brian Silva, Founder & Executive Director National LGBTQ Task Force, Rea Carey, Executive Director National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA), Glenn D. Magpantay, Executive Director New York City Anti-Violence Project, Beverly Tillery, Executive Director NMAC, Paul Kawata, Executive Director Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, Joe Hawkins, CEO Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, Erin Uritus, CEO

One Colorado, Daniel Ramos, Executive Director One Iowa, Courtney Reyes, Executive Director One Orlando Alliance, Jennifer Foster, Executive Director Our Family Coalition, Sam Ames, Interim Executive Director Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, Erin Uritus, CEO OutFront Minnesota, Monica Meyer, Executive Director OutNebraska, Abbi Swatsworth, Executive Director Pacific Center for Human Growth, Michelle Gonzalez, Executive Director PFLAG National, Brian K. Bond, Executive Director PRC, Brett Andrews, CEO Pride at Work, Jerame Davis, Executive Director PROMO, Stephen Eisele, Executive Director Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa County, Kiku Johnson, Executive Director Resource Center, Cece Cox, CEO Sacramento LGBT Community Center, David Heitstuman, CEO San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Joe Hollendoner, CEO San Francisco Community Health Center, Lance Toma, CEO SF LGBT Center, Rebecca Rolfe, Executive Director SAGE, Michael Adams, CEO San Diego LGBT Community Center, Cara Dessert, CEO Sero Project, Sean Strub, Executive Director

Silver State Equality, André C. Wade, State Director Tennessee Equality Project, Chris Sanders, Executive Director The Diversity Center, Sharon E Papo, Executive Director The Gala Pride and Diversity Center, Michelle Call, Executive Director The Lesbian, Gay Bisexual and Transgender Community Center, Glennda Testone, Executive Director The LGBTQ Center, Long Beach, Porter Gilberg, Executive Director The LGBTQ Center, NYC, Reg Calcagno, Senior Director of Government Affairs The Pride Center of Maryland, Mimi Demissew, Executive Director The Source LGBT+ Center, Brian Poth, Executive Director The Trevor Project, Amit Paley, CEO Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT), Emmett Schelling, Executive Director Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF), Andy Marra, Executive Director TransOhio, James Knapp, Chair & Executive Director Truth Wins Out, Wayne Besen, Executive Director Uptown Gay & Lesbian Alliance (UGLA), Carl Matthes, President Woodhull Freedom Foundation, Ricci Levy, President & CEO Wyoming Equality, Sara Burlingame, Executive Director

June 5, 2020

Seattle Gay News 21

Visit us online www.sgn.org

Courtesy of the House Judiciary Democratic Press

Courtesy of the Human Rights Campaign

NBJC statement mourning the tragic death of Tony McDade by police WASHINGTON, DC (May 28, 2020) – In response to news that Tony McDade, a Black transgender man, was murdered in Tallahassee, FL, yesterday by police, David J. Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, released the following statement: “Adequate words do not exist to describe the weight of the pain that accompanies drafting statements to honor Black people who have been murdered as a result of who they are and how they show up in the world. It especially pains me to acknowledge when police officers – who do not have a license to kill – are implicated in the murder. In the last 72 hours, there have been multiple hypervisible examples of the unbearable pain that Black people are too often forced to endure. We have also seen attempts to dismiss that pain and to rush past holding those responsible accountable. The accepted practices of hate crimes against Black LGBTQ and same-genderloving (SGL) people and state-sanctioned murders of Black people must come to an abrupt and complete end. And more must be done to call attention to the fact that hate crimes against Black LGBTQ/SGL people are not covered by the media.

“It pains me to have learned about Tony McDade, who we understand was killed by a member of the Tallahassee Police Department yesterday morning. Tony, a Black trans man, is our brother. Prior

Image courtesy of NBJC

to being shot and fatally wounded by a police officer, Tony posted a video to his Facebook page recounting a horrific beating he received from five men because he is a Black trans man. This tragic incident should be a reminder that hate crimes against Black LGBTQ/SGL people happen too frequently – often without the national public outcry that our cis and/or heteronormative brothers and sisters receive. In 2018 alone, over 1,500 hate crimes based on bias against someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity were reported. And the violence is escalating. There was a more than

18% increase in these hate crimes from 2016 to 2018, and the FBI reports an 11% increase in anti-Black hate crimes during the same period.

“We should all be clear about the fact that hate crimes against people of every racial and ethnic category increased across the board after the 2016 election. Trump has escalated the violence with racist rhetoric and destructive policies designed to divide and keep some of us locked out of access to opportunity. The clearest consequences of these deleterious actions are evident in these examples of vitriol, violence, and death.

“We don’t know a lot of the details around Tony’s death, or how police became involved. We do know that Tony should not have been killed. We must work together to raise awareness about the unique challenges that Black LGBTQ/SGL people face. It is important to highlight the toooften ignored violence that members of our community face in addition to the discrimaintion we may experience because we are Black.

“We must also work to ensure that police officers understand they do not have a license to kill Black people, period. Let us work together to ensure that the Tallahassee Police Department and Chief Lawrence Revell, Tallahassee Mayor John E. Dailey, and Tallahassee District Attorney Chasity H. O’Steen know that the world is watch-

ing and anticipating a full and complete investigation, which may include: firing the officer(s) involved in the killing, including any officers that stood by and did nothing to prevent the killing; decertifying the officer(s) so that they are unable to obtain employment with another department in another state; charging the officer(s) with murder or manslaughter; and investing in promising and proven practices to reduce the rate at which Black people are murdered by police officers. We encourage you to call the Tallahassee Police Department at 850-891-0000 to register concern and to demand a complete investigation and public accounting for what happened to Tony McDade.

“As we honor each of our siblings, including Nina Pop, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor, we must also say Tony McDade’s name.”

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

AHF slams Trump administration for abandoning World Health Organization during pandemic WASHINGTON, DC (May 29, 2020) – The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) sharply criticized the Trump administration for its announcement earlier today that it is withdrawing US membership in the World Health Organization (WHO) after cutting hundreds of millions in funding to the global organization in recent weeks.

Despite the fact that WHO badly bungled its global COVID-19 response and abetted China’s cover-up of its own

response, the AHF believes that US membership in and funding of the WHO should continue but must be conditioned on reform of the institution so that it can never again collude with a member state’s cover-up, as it appears to have done with China.

“The fact that the World Health Organization’s response to COVID-19 has fallen far short and that it aided China in covering up its own timeline and response to the pandemic does not justify pulling the

Rep. Smith condemns Trump’s destructive executive order distorting the First Amendment WASHINGTON, DC (May 29, 2020) – Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) released the following statement today after President Trump signed an executive order targeting legal protections for social media companies: “This executive order distorts the concept of free speech in a blatant attempt to coerce social media companies into moderating content in a way that benefits the President. This effort flies in the face of the principle of free speech upon which our nation was founded. The First Amendment is not, as the President would like to believe, a tool for the government to use to police speech and suppress opposition.

There are many legitimate arguments about how and whether to regulate social media companies and online platforms, but the

President cannot simply weaponize executive power because he is displeased by how a social media company responded to him spreading disinformation. This assault on freedom of expression is taken straight from the authoritarian playbook and only further proves this administration’s ceaseless corruption.

“As we mourn the loss of more than 100,000 Americans from COVID-19, this President is more focused on silencing his critics than guiding our country through one of the greatest challenges we have ever faced. Ultimately, this unlawful executive order is yet another attempt to distract the American people from President Trump’s failed leadership.”

22 Seattle Gay News

June 5, 2020

Courtesy of Rep. Adam Smith

United States out of the only international body working today to address global health issues like the deadly coronavirus,” said Michael Weinstein, president of the AHF. “We are in the middle of a worldwide pandemic that has already taken the lives of over 100,000 Americans and over 360,000 people worldwide. The Trump administration’s action today reflects very poorly on the US and will be catastrophic for global public health for years to come.”

While the AHF was one of the first nonprofit public health organizations to call for the declaration of COVID as a pandemic and one of the few organizations calling for the resignation of the director general of the World Health Organization for colluding with China in covering up the initial outbreak, the AHF also recognizes that the domestic US response to COVID-19 has been equally disappointing.

As a global leader, the US has dropped the ball. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shipped out contaminated COVID-19 tests, rendering the nation’s first test ineffective during the critical early stage of the outbreak. The US government also ignored its own pandemic plans, which sat on bureaucratic shelves collecting dust, according to Kaiser Family Foundation. Absent a national plan to control the pandemic, state and local governments were left to compete for medical supplies, such as masks, ventilators, and diagnostic and antibody tests.

More recently, the CDC and 11 states were found to be co-mingling and reporting data on RNA testing for COVID-19 – which shows an active coronavirus infection – together with antibody testing[, which] reveals [the] presence of [antibodies to] the virus in patients who have recovered from the infection. According to the New York Times, that convoluted system “… muddies the picture of the pandemic but raises the percentage of Americans tested

as President Trump boasts about testing.”

“Unfortunately, we at AIDS Healthcare Foundation have seen this before. In the early days of the HIV epidemic, many government and non-government institutions responsible for protecting public health failed to raise the necessary alarms while HIV spread needlessly throughout the world,” said Terri Ford, chief of global policy and advocacy for the AHF. The WHO’s similar dereliction of duty on the global front during the pandemic prompted this additional comment from the AHF: “If we can have an international system controlling air travel, we should also have an international convention on public health that demands at a minimum transparent, verifiable release of data. Clearly the World Health Organization has failed to lead, settling instead to ingratiate itself to a closed, authoritarian member state.

We call on the international community to wrest control of the WHO evaluation process and give that assignment to a trusted, neutral institution. The WHO should not be in a position to grade itself. Renewed membership and financial support for the WHO from the US government is warranted but should be conditioned on top-to-bottom reform of the institution so it can never again collude with a member state’s coverup,” added Weinstein.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 1.4 million individuals in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/the Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific region, and Eastern Europe. To learn more about the AHF, visit www.aidshealth.org or www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow it on Twitter @aidshealthcare.

Courtesy of the AHF

Celebrating 46 Years!

HRC makes endorsements to expand the pro-equality majority in Congress WASHINGTON, DC (June 3, 2020) – Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, announced the endorsement of several candidates seeking to expand the pro-equality majority in the US House of Representatives.

The full list of endorsements can be found below.

“The HRC is proud to endorse these pro-equality champions for the US House of Representatives,” said Alphonso David, president of the HRC. “In order to achieve real and lasting change, we must not only reelect a pro-equality majority but expand it build upon that majority and ensure that the People’s House reflects the diversity of our nation’s people. These candidates represent that opportunity, and we look forward to working with them to advance equality for LGBTQ people and other marginalized communities.”

In 2018, the HRC was proud to support dozens of pro-equality congressional challengers who explicitly laid out their proequality positions in detail and in public.

These candidates largely ran against antiequality incumbents in districts won by Donald Trump in 2016, but they understood the power of LGBTQ and Equality Voters and knew that support for LGBTQ equality is an asset as opposed to a wedge issue.

As a result of that election, not only do we have a pro-equality US House majority but we have younger, more racially diverse, more female House membership than ever before. And in 2019 the US House made history by passing the Equality Act – crucial federal legislation that would finally guarantee explicit protections for LGBTQ people under our nation’s existing civil rights laws – for the first time. Never before had a comprehensive LGBTQ nondiscrimination bill passed a chamber of the US Congress.

In 2020, the candidates the HRC is endorsing today will expand the pro-equality majority, pass the Equality Act, ensure that access to quality, affordable health care is protected and common sense gun safety legislation is considered, and advance voting rights.

Carolyn Long (WA-3) – Photo courtesy of Elect Carolyn Long

In the 2018 midterms, the HRC helped register more than 32,000 voters and recruited more than 4,200 volunteers, who worked over 8,500 shifts and clocked more than 30,000 volunteer hours. In the critical final four days of the campaign, HRC staff and volunteers in get-out-the-vote efforts alone knocked on more than 80,000 doors and held 36,400 conversations with voters at their doors and by phone on behalf of our endorsed candidates. The HRC’s unprecedented grassroots mobilization worked to recruit volunteers, mobilize constituents, register voters, and grow the organization’s grassroots army in an all-out effort to pull the emergency brake on the hateful anti-LGBTQ agenda of the Trump-Pence administration and elect a Congress that

would hold them accountable. In 2020, our engagement and mobilization efforts will only deepen. The HRC will have at least 45 full-time staff in seven priority states (AZ, MI, NV, OH, PA, TX, and WI) and an additional 20 staff focused on a second tier of states and districts.

[The endorsed candidates are]: • Joyce Elliott (AR-2) • Hiral Tipirneni (AZ-6) • Kai Kahele (HI-2) • Rita Hart (IA-2) • Marie Newman (IL-3) • Betsy Dirksen Londrigan (IL-13) • Christina Hale (IN-5) • Dan Feehan (MN-1) • Jill Schupp (MO-2) • Deborah Ross (NC-2)

• Kathy Manning (NC-6) • Jackie Gordon (NY-2) • Eugene DePasquale (PA-10) • Wendy Davis (TX-21) • Sri Preston Kulkarni (TX-22) • Carolyn Long (WA-3) “My campaign is supported by a broad coalition made up of people of all backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities,” said Joyce Elliott (AR-2).

“We’re working toward a common goal: cutting prescription drug costs, creating economic opportunity to recover from COVID-19, and ensuring dignified treatment for all under the law.”

“I’m honored to earn the endorsement

see ENDORSEMENTS page 24

Federal court warns Idaho against disobedience of injunction barring anti-Transgender discrimination BOISE, ID (June 1, 2020) – The federal district court in Idaho today warned Idaho state officials that its permanent injunction issued in 2018 continues to apply and bars them from categorically preventing transgender people born in Idaho from correcting the gender markers on their birth certificates to match their gender identity. While the court did not address whether House Bill 509 requires the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW) to reinstate such a ban, it made clear that, to the extent state officials took steps to reinstate such a ban, even if directed by state law, they would be in violation of the federal injunction.

“The court has confirmed that its injunction continues to apply, in full force and effect, and it has now expressly cautioned that HB 509 does not whatsoever absolve state officials from their obligation to comply with the federal injunction. Indeed, the court took pains to say that officials must not engage in ‘experimentation with disobedience of the law,’” said Lambda Legal Counsel Peter Renn. “Like obeying speed limits and paying your taxes, Idaho state officials are not exempt from the duty to follow a court order. Here, the court’s 2018 order plainly instructed state officials not to block transgender people from accessing accurate identity documents. The court has now confirmed that what was discriminatory in 2018

remains discriminatory today.”

The court order states: “The Injunction is not constrained to any particular policy, rule, or statute, as Defendants argue.

The plain terms and clear objective of the Injunction permanently prohibit IDHW from implementing or enforcing any policy, rule, or the like that automatically rejects applications from transgender people to change the sex listed on their birth certificates.” It thus warns: “HB 509 does not absolve IDHW from accepting, considering, and processing applications from individuals… seeking to change the sex listed on their birth certificate to match their gender identity. To conclude otherwise invites ‘experimentation with disobedience of the law.’” Although HB 509 takes effect on July 1, 2020, the court also clarified that “[t] he Injunction is permanent and applies now and on July 1, 2020.”

“It is remarkable that we were even back in court on this issue, as a direct result of efforts by the Idaho legislature and Gov. Little to turn back the clock on equality. To force this law through, even as the country grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, is even more inexcusable,” Lambda Legal staff attorney Kara Ingelhart added. “We will continue to protect against efforts to roll back the rights of transgender people born in Idaho. Accurate identity documents are

Visit us online www.sgn.org

not only necessary to navigate everyday life, they are also critical to protecting transgender people from harassment and even violence, which is why 47 states have rejected the archaic policy that some seek to restore.”

Background Lambda Legal filed the original lawsuit, F.V. v. Armstrong (now F.V. v. Jeppesen), in 2017. The lawsuit argued that denying transgender people born in Idaho the ability to obtain accurate birth certificates discriminates against them and invades their privacy, liberty, and freedom from compelled speech under US Constitution. For example, after one plaintiff, who is a transgender woman, displayed her birth certificate at a Social Security office, she was subjected to verbal harassment for being transgender. In March 2018, the US District Court for the District of Idaho ruled that the government unconstitutionally discriminated against transgender people, and it issued a permanent injunction against state officials.

According to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, almost one-third of transgender individuals who showed an identity document with a name or gender marker that conflicted with their perceived gender were harassed, denied benefits or services, discriminated against, or assaulted. Transgender individuals also are disproportionately

June 5, 2020

targeted for hate crimes. Forty-seven other states currently provide a process for transgender people to change the gender marker on their birth certificates.

Read the court’s decision [at https:// www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/legal-docs/ fv_id_2020060120_decision].

Transgender individuals seeking accurate birth certificates from Idaho can contact our Help Desk at www.lambdalegal. org/helpdesk.

Read about birth certificate policies across the United States at www.lambdalegal.org/know-your-rights/article/transchanging-birth-certificate-sex-designations.

Handling the case on behalf of Lambda Legal are Peter Renn, Kara Ingelhart, and Nora Huppert. They are joined by co-counsel Monica G. Cockerille of Cockerille Law Office in Boise, Idaho.

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

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National AIDS Memorial to award 10 scholarships to support students pursuing careers and community work in the fight against HIV/AIDS SAN FRANCISCO (May 28, 2020) – The National AIDS Memorial is now accepting applications for the Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarship, which will award 10 financial scholarships for the fall 2020/spring 2021 semesters to eligible students who complete the application requirements by July 20, 2020.

The scholarship is named in honor of AIDS educator, activist, and reality television pioneer Pedro Zamora, who passed away more than 25 years ago from an AIDS-related illness. The scholarship helps support the education of young people who are engaged in a variety of HIVrelated work in their schools, communities, and chosen academic fields.

“The Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarship is helping support the next generation of HIV/AIDS educators, researchers, health providers, and advocates who are committed to the fight against this disease, which is now in its fourth decade,” said National AIDS Memorial executive director John Cunningham. “Through our partnership with Gilead Sciences, we are able to provide financial support to students who want to make an impact today and in the future.”

Gilead Sciences is the major funder and partner for the scholarship, providing a $50,000 grant to the National AIDS Memorial to support the program. The scholarship is open to all current high school seniors and college freshman, sophomores, and juniors (ages 27 and younger) who meet the application requirements.

Applications must be received by July 20, 2020. Ten scholarships ranging between $2,500 and $5,000 will be announced in August 2020.

ENDORSEMENTS continued from page 23

of the Human Rights Campaign,” said Hiral Tipirneni (AZ-6). “It is the inherent right of every human being to be treated with respect, dignity, and fairness. I will be proud to work alongside the HRC to ensure equal treatment of our LGBTQ+ communities in the eyes of the law, in schools and the workplace, and in every other aspect of society. Today and every day, I stand with love.”

“Like my father, the late state Sen. Gil Kahele, who fought hard for legalizing same-sex marriage and saw the successful passage of the Hawai‘i Marriage Equality Act in 2013, I believe all people are created equal, and discrimination of any kind must not be tolerated,” said Kai Kahele (HI-2). “Equality is engrained in the Native Hawaiian culture. Our LGBTQIA+ ancestors were fully embraced as an integral part of our communities, and same-sex relationships were not only recognized but were part of the very fabric of Native Hawaiian society. While we have seen great strides toward equality for the LGBTQIA+ community in recent years, there is still much work to be done. I will strongly support the Equality Act as a member of the US Congress.”

“I am grateful for the support of the HRC,” said Rita Hart (IA-2). “Iowa has a proud history in the fight for equality, and I look forward to working together to pass the Equality Act and ensure equal rights for all Iowans.”

“I am proud to be endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign and to stand with them in the fight for equality, justice, and the freedom to live and love freely,” said

24 Seattle Gay News

Pedro’s torch forward and help inspire a new generation of leaders who will follow in his path.”

When Pedro Zamora began his journey on “The Real World: San Francisco” in 1994, he had already been an active HIV/ AIDS advocate and educator. At the age of 17, Pedro learned that he was a young man living with HIV and dedicated his life to raising awareness and educating his peers on what they needed to avoid infection.

The scholarship spotlights and supports young leaders who carry the torch of activists like Pedro and mitigate the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in its current form – in ways inspired by their own passions, insights, originality, and conviction.

This year, educational programs of the National AIDS Memorial will exceed $350,000 in support to nearly 100 emerging young leaders during the past decade.

To learn more about the application process and requirements for the scholarship visit AIDSMemorial.org.

Pedro Zamora – Photo courtesy of MTV

“This scholarship has been helping young people pursue their higher education goals and who commit themselves to community service that support people living

with HIV/AIDS,” said Korab Zuka, vice president of public affairs for Gilead Sciences. “Gilead is proud to partner with the National AIDS Memorial in helping carry

Marie Newman (IL-3). “In America, we value our freedom and the ability to pursue our dreams uninhibited. It’s time that we guarantee that same freedom to all LGBTQ+ Americans by passing the Equality Act and securing protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. I am running for Congress to build an economy that works for everyone, and that means ensuring that every single American has a fair chance to succeed without fear of harassment or discrimination.’

“I am so proud to once again receive the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign and to join them in the fight for essential legislation like the Equality Act to ensure equal protection under the law,” said Betsy Dirksen Londrigan (IL-13).

“I’m honored to be endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign,” said Christina Hale (IN-5). “In Congress, I’ll always stand as a fierce advocate for the LGBTQ community to ensure equality for all.”

“I am humbled to receive this endorsement, especially on this 50th anniversary of LGBTQIA+ Pride Month. The HRC’s commitment to, and advocacy for, civil rights is second to none,” said Dan Feehan (MN-1).

“Throughout my time serving our country as a soldier, as a teacher, and as a policymaker at the Pentagon, ensuring equal rights for all people, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity is something I have fought tirelessly for. I will continue to be a champion and strong voice for equal treatment under the law when I get to Congress.”

“I’ve fought hard for equal rights for all Missourians, and I am proud to have the support of the Human Rights Campaign,” said Jill Schupp (MO-2). “Missourians deserve a representative who will stand

up for them against discrimination wherever it arises. I will continue to protect the hard-fought gains we have made as a nation on LGBTQ equality, and will work toward those equality measures yet to be achieved.”

“I am honored to receive the Human Rights Campaign’s endorsement,” said Deborah Ross (NC-2). “As the nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization, the HRC strives to achieve fundamental fairness and end discrimination. Together, we must continue to promote equality by protecting people of all identities. As an attorney, civil rights advocate, and state legislator, I have spent my career fighting for equality, justice, and progress, and opposed laws that would take our state backward, including North Carolina’s Amendment 1 and HB 2. I look forward to advocating for these issues in Congress so our LGBTQ community can safely and proudly be themselves.”

“I’m proud to earn the endorsement of Human Rights Campaign and to stand for equality for all,” said Kathy Manning (NC6). “In Congress, I’ll support the Equality Act, fight for affordable health care, common-sense gun safety legislation, and voting rights. It’s long past time that federal nondiscrimination standards be enacted to guarantee permanent protections for LGBTQ people.”

“I am proud to have the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign, and I look forward to standing side by side with them as we fight to build a more inclusive Long Island,” said Jackie Gordon (NY-2). “I will always be a strong voice for the LGBTQ community in Congress as we continue to work toward a more equitable nation.”

“Throughout my career as a public servant, I have used my platform to speak

June 5, 2020

The National AIDS Memorial relies solely on funding from personal donors and corporate partners to support its mission and programs. Its work, through the AIDS Memorial Grove, AIDS Memorial Quilt, and inspiring programs, helps ensure that the story of AIDS and the AIDS movement is known in perpetuity so that never again will our national conscience allow a community to be devastated by an epidemic because of fear, silence, discrimination, or stigma. Learn more at AIDSMemorial.org.

Courtesy of Globe Newswire

up for and defend the rights of LGBTQ Pennsylvanians, because no one should be denied life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness because of who they are or who they love,” said Eugene DePasquale (PA10). “South Central Pennsylvanians value and celebrate the diversity of our region. I look forward to continuing the fight for full equality for the LGBTQ community, and I am proud to have the support of the Human Rights Campaign in this race.”

“I am thrilled to be endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign, TX chapter,” said Wendy Davis (TX-21). “The phrase ‘we the people’ in the constitution refers to ALL of us. That’s why in Congress I will be a champion for human and civil rights, using my voice to protect and empower the LGBTQIA community.”

“We’re honored to have the HRC endorse our campaign to bring true representation to TX-22 and look forward to working with them to ensure the issues of TX-22’s LGBTQ community are being heard and addressed,” said Sri Preston Kulkarni (TX-22). “Our LGBTQ community has suffered from blatant discrimination and deserves basic legal protections to protect them from blatant discrimination. In Congress, I won’t stand down until equality is guaranteed for all.”

“The focus of my campaign is about building a better, stronger, more inclusive future for everyone in our communities,” said Carolyn Long (WA-3). “I’m honored to be endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign in this run for Congress, and I look forward to working together to fight for the rights and equality of LGBTQ Americans.”

Courtesy of the HRC

Celebrating 46 Years!

Announcing the launch of Peer Washington!

roles, provide a site charter for Peer Seattle, and make every location a program of Peer Washington rather than Peer Seattle.

The staff that will be transitioning from Peer Seattle to Peer Washington will be the CEO, along with development, finance, membership, marketing, and outreach personnel. As a part of this expansion, we are taking over the entire building on Capitol Hill that currently houses Peer Seattle on August 1, 2020, and moving the Peer Washington staff upstairs following some minor construction. Our mailing address and main phone line will remain the same as Peer Seattle. We are creating a new Peer Washington website at peerwa.org that will highlight all our service locations. The new website is targeted to be live by July 1, 2020. The director at each site will be the primary contact for those locations. Please let them know if you are interested in joining their advisory committees.

LGBTQ+ candidate Colton Myers for WA State Legislature Good afternoon, I hope that you are staying safe, and healthy during this time. I was hoping to reach out to introduce myself, discuss my campaign for the [Washington] State Legislature in this cycle. My name is Colton Myers, and I am the sole Democratic candidate running in the 35th LD (my home district, which encompasses all of rural Mason County, as well as parts of Thurston & Kitsap Counties where I grew up/currently reside). I’m currently the youngest candidate running for the legislature (28), and proudly LGBTQ+, challenging a Republican incumbent with a decidedly anti-LGBTQ+ record (having voted against banning Conversion Therapy on youth in WA, against reducing the penalty for knowingly transmitting HIV infection, and against comprehensive sex education). Though a lot of my platform is based upon the critical local issues impacting our region, it is so important during a time of both unrest and deep division that we are elevating these races, and candidates in these communities. Queer voices, in particular, have little to no voice in rural areas like the 35th, and we need to be doing everything we can to champion and elevate diversity and inclusion in every part of our state at this time – not just the urbanized regions.

DURKAN

continued from page 10 The OED has a comprehensive resource page [http://www.seattle.gov/office-ofeconomic-development/covid-19] for small businesses, nonprofits, and workers impacted by COVID-19. This page will be updated as more information on the state’s guidance for reopening becomes available.

City of Seattle and Public Defender Association announce new partnership to operate Co-LEAD in Seattle during the COVID-19 crisis Earlier this week, the City and Public Defender Association brought Co-LEAD to Seattle during the COVID-19 crisis. CoLEAD is an interim program of LEAD designed to provide services and stabilization for individuals who might, for public safety reasons, otherwise be in the criminal justice system custody but are not being

I’d love to tell you more about this campaign! We’ve had a very exciting launch, and have earned local labor/union support, support from national organizations like Run For Something, and have political support across the local/state/national level!

Please feel free to reach out to me at info@ electcoltonmyers.com – and, additionally, feel free to visit my website: www.electcoltonmyers.com!

I additionally wanted to elevate our community at a time when we are both unable to gather physically, but need community and solidarity now more than ever. I attached a statement herein, regarding Pride Month, and our collective responsibility to build inclusive spaces across our state, and would love to have it shared with you.

I believe wholeheartedly that we are going to win this race, but garnering support across this region will be crucial!

Sincerely, Colton Myers He/Him/His Candidate for 35th LD, Position 1

SEATTLE (June 3, 2020) – [Peer Seattle is] excited to announce the launch of Peer Washington, effective July 1, 2020, as the umbrella organization for our growing number of peer services sites. Our rapid growth in recent years has brought forward new and exciting challenges for how we manage daily operations of each site as well as global operations across all sites.

What does that mean for our members?

The change should be seamless for our members. The names, logos, services, direct service staff, and volunteers for each location will remain unchanged. Peer Seattle will be gaining some much-needed space for staffing and service delivery as our new Peer Washington and Peer Kent sites open later this year. The most notable difference will be the visibility of our new overarching organizational name of Peer Washington moving forward.

What will change?

Currently, the global operation is housed together with the direct service operation of Peer Seattle. This expansion will allow us to separate the two distinct

Visit us online www.sgn.org

Courtesy of Mayor Jenny Durkan

What happens with Peer Seattle?

The board approved a site charter for Peer Seattle to provide peer emotional support and development services to the LGBTQA community in King County.

They also established an advisory committee that will work with Peer Seattle’s director, Cody West, to provide input and direction on policy and service development. If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, please contact Cody at cody@peerseattle.org.

Joshua A Wallace CEO & President Courtesy of Peer Seattle

Allied Arts Foundation announces 2020 Artist Award in Poetry Hello Seattle Gay News:

arrested, charged, or otherwise detained due to public health considerations regarding COVID-19.

“To stop people from just cycling through the criminal justice system, last summer our Low Barrier workgroup highlighted the need for programs that provided stabilizing services – including case management, behavioral health, and housing.

The pandemic has made that need is even greater today,” said Mayor Durkan. “For the last year, we have been working with LEAD to create such a model, and are enthusiastic that Co-LEAD provides the opportunity to provide these services for the benefit of the individuals and the community.”

Similar to LEAD, Co-LEAD is first and foremost a program to reduce criminal justice system recidivism but understands that individuals may need additional supports including temporary housing.

What will NOT change?

Peer Washington and all of our service sites will remain dedicated to providing a safe space for people with lived experience of mental health, addiction, and/or HIV/AIDS challenges to come together in nonjudgmental support of one another, because we know firsthand what it means to overcome these challenges. Together we embody HOPE for a better future when we learn that RECOVERY is a possibility for all and find PRIDE in the power of our lived experience to push back against the stigma that so often keeps us down.

Spread the word! Allied Arts Foundation announces our 2020 Artist Awards in Poetry, a new grant opportunity for writers in Washington state with 8 awards from $1,000 to $5,000. Open to submission now through June 15, 2020.

WHO: Allied Arts Foundation WHAT: $15,000 in grant awards for poets living in Washington State WHERE: Online application can be found here: https://www.alliedarts-foundation.org/grants/ WHEN: Now until the deadline of Monday, June 15, 2020 at 5:00PM PST MORE INFO: https://www.alliedartsfoundation.org/grants/ DETAILS: Allied Arts Foundation is proud to offer this opportunity for funding and recognition to the poets of Washington state.

This year’s AAF Artist Grant Awards are offered in the genre of Poetry. We will

June 5, 2020

award eight grants totaling $15,000 to established and emerging poets in 2020.

Awards range from $1,000 to $5,000 and are based on merit; no needs statement or project description is required. Poems will be judged anonymously by a panel of literary and publishing professionals.

Interested poets living in Washington should submit 10 pages of original poetry, an artist statement, and resume, along with a $20 application fee. Our deadline is 5pm, Monday, June 15, 2020. Complete info and application form at www.alliedarts-foundation.org/grants or bit.ly/aafgrants.

About Allied Arts Foundation Founded in 1967, the mission of Allied Arts Foundation [https://www.alliedartsfoundation.org/] is to support artists, art projects, and arts-related organizations by providing 501(c)(3) non-profit fiscal sponsorship, artist awards, and arts advocacy, as well as other support as determined by the Board of Trustees.

Courtesy of Allied Arts Foundation

Seattle Gay News 25

PRIDE

“Rock For Pride” unites the LGBTQIA+ community A virtual love letter to the community, from the community, June 7, 11am-1pm

by Jack Mozie Special to the SGN “Rock For Pride 2020 – At Home Edition,” will be a free broadcast dedicated to the LGBTQIA+ community bringing you messages of love from community leaders, non-profits, drag performers, musicians, and more.

The artists featured in the broadcast include: Jack Mozie, Sarah Toce, Aleksa Manila, Gaysha Starr, Atasha Manila, LatinRose, La Gorda, Queen Andrew, Garlic Man, Lorenzo, Fast Nasties, Jon Noble, The Duchess, Niyah Marie Gonzales and Amora Dior Black.

“Rock For Pride” is a collaborative effort by non-profits, community groups,

and artists in Washington and Oregon States, organized by Jack Mozie.

Supporting non-profits and community groups include: PFLAG Washington State Council, Seattle YMCA, The Seattle Lesbian, Seattle Women’s Pride, Entre Hermanos, Pride Asia, Somos Seattle, STIRY, and Northwest Queer Chorus.

As part of his commitment to the betterment of the LGBTQIA+ community, Jack Mozie is making “Rock For Pride” a free broadcast available on several platforms, including: YouTube, Mixer, Twitch, Facebook and Periscope.

Please go to www.jackmozie.com/rockforpride to set a reminder and watch. “Rock For Pride 2020 – At Home Edition” will broadcast on June 7th, 11am-1pm.

STATEMENT FROM PRIDE AT WORK:

We remember and continue to fight SEATTLE (June 1, 2020) – Today is the start of Pride month. Fifty-one years ago, the Stonewall Riots, also called the Stonewall Uprising, began in the early hours of June 28, 1969. When police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar located in Greenwich Village in New York City, it was the breaking point after years of raids, harassment, and violence by the police toward queer people. The raid sparked days of riots, led by trans women of color, after police violently hauled employees and patrons out of the bar. The Stonewall Riots

served as a catalyst for the LGBTQ rights movement in the United States and around the world. Today, we honor and remember what our predecessors fought for as we continue our fight for Black lives and queer rights. We are one.

We march to commemorate the STONEWALL RIOTS. We march for BLACK LIVES. We march for BLACK TRANS LIVES. We march for equality of QUEER PEOPLE IN THE WORKPLACE. We march for ECONOMIC JUSTICE.

We march for QUEER WOMEN. We march for QUEER IMMIGRANTS. We march for EQUALITY UNDER FEDERAL LAW. We march for HEALTH CARE FOR ALL. We march for WORKPLACE PROTECTIONS. We march for ALL QUEER PEOPLE. WE ARE ONE and BLACK LIVES MATTER. REGISTER TO VOTE!

In solidarity, Shellea Allen, Co-President, Pride At Work Gabe González, Co-President, Pride At Work

PRIDE FLAG

Hall as there will not be access to view or see this event at City Hall. We welcome you in community via the live stream or via The Seattle Channel to view.

Our guest speakers include: City of Seattle LGBTQ Commissioners; Mariko Lockhart, Director for Seattle Office for Civil Rights; newly appointed Washington State Justice Helen Whitener; City Councilmember Tammy Morales; Mayor Jenny Durkan. Our guest performers include:

Diverse Harmony; Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

The online stream opens starting at 4pm for the virtual waiting room via Microsoft Teams Broadcast. Online video stream will start at approximately 4:05pm and should conclude with the flag-raising between 5:00 and 5:10pm.

This event has been put together by volunteers from the City of Seattle LGBTQ Commission [https://www.facebook.com/seattlel-

gbtq/] in community with co-hosts the City of Seattle Mayor’s Office and The Seattle Office for Civil Rights. This will be the 8th time a Pride flag has been flown at City Hall.

This annual event is meant to build community and bring together LGBTQ+ people and allies of the LGBTQ+ community.

continued from cover

on the Seattle Channel [https://www. seattlechannel.org/] and virtually via Microsoft Live Team Events [https://bit. ly/8thAnnualPrideFlagRaising].

This event is not in person and not being held at City Hall. This event is a video stream online. Please do not go to City

Courtesy of Pride At Work

Courtesy of Seattle LGBTQ Commission

Tidal Artist Haven Pride Month spectacular kicks off June 13th!

Tidal Artist Haven (TAH), the artist cooperative in North Seattle, is adapting our programming to bring virtual events to celebrate 2SLGBTQIA+ Pride this June.

Everyone will be welcome to participate in these events, but part of TAH’s mission is to center the experiences of artists who

are people of color, disabled people, and/or members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

In addition to our remote events, we are creating an electronic zine for Pride month to show that the 2SLGBTQIA+ community can still celebrate our victories and fight for our rights even if without a parade.

26 Seattle Gay News

June 5, 2020

Featured works will celebrate diverse gender and sexuality; advocate for equality for marginalized groups at home and abroad and more! View the full call and submission criteria at http://tidalartisthaven.org/ pride2020/.

TAH kicks off our Pride events with a special open mic on Saturday, June 13th at 4pm Pacific Daylight Time that will include music, poetry, short stories, and comedy.

Each performer will get five minutes to share.

Saturday the 20th at 6:30pm we continue our monthly art hangout series with the Big Gay Remote Art Social. Come work on your current project, in the comfort of your own home, while connecting with other creatives! This event has a suggested donation of $10, but those who donate $25 or more will receive a swag bag including a rainbow crayon, stickers designed by TAH members, and other art supplies. Kits are available via contactless pickup at Tidal Artist Haven 1533 NE 145th St., Seattle, WA 98125 on Sunday, June 14, 11am-3pm or Monday, June 15, 6pm-9pm and are limited to a first-claimed-first-served basis.

On Saturday, June 27, 1pm-4pm, TAH

is having an Inner-Self Portrait workshop.

While all our events are open to everyone, this event is especially for 2SLGBTQ+ folks to explore their inner selves and use art to develop strategies to reimagine how to share that with the outside world. Those using their own materials may attend for a suggested donation of $10. A donation of $25 or more will include velvet paper, oil pastels, drawing paper, for this workshop, which students can claim via contactless pickup at our gallery on Thursday, June 18, 6pm-9pm and Friday, June 19, 11am-3pm.

To commemorate “The year there almost wasn’t a Pride” TAH will also be raising funds by the sale of our Pride 2020 T-shirts and merch. Items featuring artwork designed in collaboration by our resident artists will be available at www. redbubble.com/people/TidalArtist. A portion of the sales from this fundraiser will be set aside specifically for scholarships for low income students wishing to participate in the above events.

For more info and to register for any of Tidal Artist Haven’s Pride events and/or to respond to their call for zine submissions, go to http://tidalartisthaven.org/pride2020/

Celebrating 46 Years!

Northwest Film Forum BLACK LIVES MATTER

All June screening proceeds to support the cause

Activist Brittany Ferrell and crowd of protesters in Whose Streets? – Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Dear Northwest Film Forum Community, From the time they were forcibly brought to the Americas hundreds of years ago, Black Americans have expressed – using offerings of art, philosophy, story, song and dance – the struggles they have endured within a society which continues to strip them of their rights and systematically limits their access to resources. Yet not enough has changed.

Over the past week, as protests rose up all over the world in support of justice for Black lives, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie simultaneously hosted an incredible benefit show for NWFF. We are so grateful to our generous anonymous match and supporters, who recognize the need for equitable and empowering media. Now, it is with great conviction that NWFF does our part as a non-Black arts organization, to harness the privilege, which has been handed down to us over our past 25 years, and use it to make a difference in this critical moment in time.

ALL PROCEEDS from our June film screenings will benefit the Black Lives Matter Seattle Freedom Fund [https://blacklivesseattle.org/bail-fund/], Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network [https://m. facebook.com/TWOCSolidarityNW/], and other organizations to be announced. In partnership with Three Dollar Bill Cinema and Black Cinema Collective.

In honor of Pride Month, these films include Tangerine, Sean Baker’s groundbreaking comic drama starring Black Trans women, the ScumTrust Pr0n 4 Freakz series, and Thee Debauchery Ball, a docu-

mentary celebrating Black lives, sexuality, freedom, and house music. Other mustwatches include a Festival Flashback for Travessias: Brazilian Film Festival, and Whose Streets?, a contemporary document of the grassroots organizing efforts that followed the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

We stand in solidarity.

Vivian Hua Executive Director with support from NWFF Staff & Board FILM HIGHLIGHTS Screenings co-presented by Three Dollar Bill Cinema and Black Cinema Collective!

June 12-25 Thee Debauchery Ball [Online] (David Weatherly, US, 2020, 71 min) A documentary on Chicago’s Black BDSM-themed house party, freedom, and sexuality. Proceeds from ticket sales benefit Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County Freedom Fund Thee Debauchery Ball celebrates Chicago’s large and thriving Afrocentric house music scene. Awarded Best Film at the Southside Chicago Film Festival, Thee Debauchery Ball tells the story of a biannual event that pays reverence to roots of house music culture, while expanding the scope and appreciation with innovative fetish-and BDSM-themed, and bodypositive parties within private, protected,

Visit us online www.sgn.org

spaces in the Black community.

Featuring free livestream afterparties hosted by house DJs from across the globe, every night of the run from 6–8pm Pacific! [https://nwfilmforum.org/films/theedebauchery-ball-chicago-house-musicdocumentary/] June 2-30 Whose Streets? [Online] (Sabaah Folayan & Damon Davis, US, 2017, 90 min) Proceeds from ticket sales benefit Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County Freedom Fund Since Michael Brown was killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, we have continued to see minorities wrongfully arrested, misrepresented, and subjected to police brutality and murder. Whose Streets? Interprets the riots and demonstrations that spread from Ferguson across the nation, catalyzing the organization of the Black Lives Matter Movement, through a lens of community trauma. [https://nwfilmforum.org/films/whosestreets-online/] June 2-30 Tangerine [Online] (Sean Baker, US, 2015, 88 min) Proceeds from ticket sales benefit Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network A sex worker and her best friend embark on an odyssey to get to the bottom of a rumor that her boyfriend has been unfaithful while she was in jail. Sean Baker’s iPhone-shot, effervescently stylish and tex-

June 5, 2020

tured storytelling draws viewers through a Christmas Eve like no other. [https:// nwfilmforum.org/films/tangerine-online/] Travessias Festival Flashback Screenings Co-presented with the Center for Brazilian Studies at UW! Sliding scale admission; $0-$25; Proceeds from ticket sales benefit Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network June 3-14 The City of the Future (A Cidade do Futuro) [Online] (Marília Hughes & Cláudio Marques, Brazil, 2018, 76 min) A polyamorous family in Bahia, Brazil prepares for the arrival of their baby, while the surrounding community grapples with the damaging aftermath of the construction of a nearby dam. [https://nwfilmforum.org/ films/travessias-festival-the-city-of-thefuture-online/] June 17-28 Don’t call me son (Mãe só há uma) [Online] (Anna Muylaert, Brazil, 2018, 82 min) Pierre is a free-flowing teen whose life is disrupted when his biological ties to his family come into question. As he settles into a new rhythm with relatives who call him Felipe, he is soon forced to defend and embrace his true identity. [https://nwfilmforum.org/films/travessias-festival-flashbackdont-call-son-mae-ha-uma-online/]

see NWFF page 28

Seattle Gay News 27

Image courtesy of NWFF

NWFF

continued from page 27 June 13 at 7pm PDT Pr0n 4 Freakz 2020 [Online] Proceeds from ticket sales benefit Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network This Trans + Queer Smut Film Series features explicit sexual content and is intended for audiences 18+; NWFF’s portion of ticket sales benefit Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network ScumTrust Productions is a collective of genderqueer and trans creators building mythologies that celebrate queer desire.

They embrace the surreal sensuality in kink and BDSM while building collaborative structure to honor the multiply marginalized artists and workers at the center of this process. ScumTrust celebrates the campy, the ritualistic, the grimy, the indulgent, the gritty parts of sex, life and plea-

sure. [https://nwfilmforum.org/films/pr0n4-freakz-2020/] June 18 at 6pm PDT & June 19 at 11:59pm PDT Queerantine: A Throwback to Queer Arab Shorts [Online] Proceeds from ticket sales benefit Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network The Seattle Arab Film Festival (Aug. 29-30, 2020) invites you to a throwback screening of some of their favorite queer Arab shorts in honor of Pride! Join from your living room to celebrate stories that highlight the diversity, resilience, and talent of queer Arab communities around the world. [https://nwfilmforum.org/films/ queerantine-throwback-queer-arab-shortsonline/] About Northwest Film Forum Founded in Seattle in 1995 as an independent film and arts nonprofit, Northwest Film

Forum incites public dialogue and creative action through collective cinematic experiences. Each year the Forum presents hundreds of films, festivals, community events, multidisciplinary performances, and public discussions. As a comprehensive visual media organization, the Forum offers educational workshops and artist services for film and media makers at all stages of their development. nwfilmforum.org About Three Dollar Bill Cinema Three Dollar Bill Cinema strengthens, connects, and reflects diverse communities three queer film and media. They provide access to films by, for, and about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people and their families, and a forum for LGBTQ+ filmmakers to share and discuss their work with audiences. Programs include Translations: Seattle Transgender Film Festival, TDBC Outdoor Cinema, Reel Queer Youth, and Seattle Queer Film Festival. threedollarbillcinema.org

About Black Cinema Collective Black Cinema Collective is a Seattle based group of artists and scholars who examine and celebrate works of African and African diasporic filmmakers through programmed screenings and community discussions. With both a Black Feminist and Black Global lens, we hold space for the complex existence and storytelling inventions of Diasporans. We consider intersectional histories and topical stories by supporting multiple forms of filmmaking from local and global artists, activists, documentarians, and organizers.

Through our focused events on Black film and visual productions, we exercise agency and care as custodians and students of a broader spectrum of Afro-Diasporic cultures.

Supported by the Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities. On Facebook, Instagram, or support via Venmo to @B-S-M Courtesy of Northwest Film Forum

GAMES

Larry on Love Across 1 Mercury and Saturn but not Uranus 5 Branches of a family tree 10 Fey villain in The Lion King 14 Big-time defeat 15 Shakespearean title start 16 Q to a Scrabble player 17 Pay your share, with “up” 18 Bishop’s hat, in Bristol 19 Of a rear entrance 20 With 35- and 49-Across, a comment about love by Larry Kramer (1935-2020) 23 Talking bird 24 Committed to penetration?

27 All thumbs 29 Like some programs in gay studies 31 Make noise in bed 32 Go to the bottom 33 Physical opening?

34 Chemical suffix 35 See 20-Across 38 Contemporary of Bela 39 Gay Bob, for example 41 Scores for Patty Sheehan 42 Hold dear 44 Neck of the woods 46 Clean up Sarah Schulman’s Bohemia 47 Like a Mapplethorpe photo 48 Adriatic seaport 49 See 20-Across 55 Bizet opera title character 57 Cut of meat 58 Estimator’s phrase 59 Fashion designer Jacobs 60 Top 61 Backdrop for Aida 62 Blowjob filmer Warhol 63 Satisfied fully

28 Seattle Gay News

64 Perfect serves from Mauresmo Down 1 One place to stick it 2 Top drawer 3 Sex Dr. 4 Show boat, for example 5 Sing the blues 6 “___ boy or girl?”

7 Greek tale 8 Inside diameter 9 Former New York Liberty player 10 _American Idol_ contestant’s goal 11 Fairy tale with ugly stepsisters 12 Home st. of Harper Lee 13 Theology subj.

21 Laid-back sort 22 Xtra’s prov.

25 Have oral sex at a restaurant?

26 Woodworker’s tool 27 Protected from the elements 28 Blithe Spirit playwright 29 AnaÔs Nin account 30 Obligation, in court 31 Come slowly 32 “Beat it!”

36 Ted Allen and others 37 “If ___ Would Leave You” 40 Closet tendency 43 “Grey’s Anatomy” character named for a state 45 Tyler of Lord of the Rings 46 Went lickety-split 48 Keep moist in the kitchen 50 Marlene’s role in Blue Angel 51 The way you walk 52 McCormack in a reboot 53 Man, as a cruising goal

June 5, 2020

54 Ballet supporters 55 “Yankee Doodle Dandy” start 56 Word that connects Dick to Dyke (Answer Key on Page 30)

Celebrating 46 Years!

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/Another[https://nwfilmforum.org/films/ Gay-Social-Club/ pr0n-4-freakz-2020/] 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 Northwest Rainbow Alliance for the Deaf - www. as they nurture and empower each other to be skilled, nwrad.org self-confident, and just leaders in our collective comOlympia/Thurston County - www.RainbowCenterOly. munities - www.colage.org org DIFFA/Northwest (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS). (206) 763-8885; www.diffanorthwest. Out & Equal Workplace Advocates/Seattle Regional Affiliate supports the work of LGBT employees and the org growing number of ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT: Crisis making a difference within local companies, including Clinic, (206) 461-3222 (24 hour line); King County Alaska Airlines, Amazon.com, Amgen, AT&T, Bank of Sexual Assault Resource Center (KCSARC) - 24-hour America, Deloitte, Macy’s, Microsoft, Russell Investcrisis line for information, support, & medical & legal ments, Safeco Insurance, Starbucks Coffee, Xerox. assistance: 1-888-99-VOICE; Northwest Network - www.outandequal.org/affiliates/seattle support & advocacy for Bisexual, Trans, Lesbian & Gay Survivors of Abuse & Dating Violence, (206) 568-7777 Out & Proud Grays Harbor Coalition - http://outand(voice), 517-9670 (tty), www.nwnetwork.org; Pierce proudgh.org County Domestic Violence Helpline: Teresa, (253) PARENTHOOD: Families Like Ours provides a gate798-4166; Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual way for LGBT families interested in adoption & provides Minorities - offers on-going support groups for men: a network of safe placement agencies, training, support 323-1768; Seattle Police Dept Domestic Violence & resources: (206) 441-7602, www.familieslikeours. org; Unit, (206) 684-0330; State Wide Domestic Violence Family Works offers support, information & activities for Hot Line, 1-800-562-6025. In an emergency call 911. LGBT families: (206) 694-6727, www.familyworksseattle. org; Gay Fathers’ Association of Seattle offers supReport domestic violence and sexual assault.

Equal Rights Washington - (206) 324-2570; www. port groups & social activities: www.gfas. org; Proud & Loud Families - Northwest, www.meetup.com/proudequalrightswashington.org and-loud-families-northwest, plfnorthwest@aol.com; Everett/Snohomish Cty - www.gaysnohomish.org Queer Parent Networking Dinners: (206) 568-7777, Freely Speaking Toastmasters - www.freelyspeak- qpnd@nwnetwork.org, www.nwnetwork.org; Rainbow ing.org Families of Puget Sound: www.rainbowfamiliesps.org Gay City promotes wellness in LGBTQ communities PFLAG is the national organization for parents, by providing health services, connecting people to re- families, allies, and LGBTQ people united for equality sources, fostering arts, and building community. Gay City with chapters in Seattle, Bellevue/Eastside, the Puget Health Project’s Wellness Center provides anonymous Sound region and across Washington state. PFLAG & confidential HIV/STD testing. 517 E Pike St. More Seattle: (206) 325-7724, info@pflagseattle.org, and info or to schedule an appointment, (206) 860-6969. www.pflagseattle.org; PFLAG Bellevue/Eastside: (425) www.gaycity.org 483-6642, info@bellevue-pflag.org, http://community.

Gay & Lesbian National Hotline (GLNH): 1-888-THE- pflag.org/PFLAGBellevue; PFLAG Pacific Northwest: GLNH (1-888-843-4564). Non-profit, peer-counseling, www.pnwpflag.org; PFLAG Washington State Council: information & local resources telephone hotline for GLBT www.pflagwsc.org. people across the country.

Peer Seattle (formerly Seattle Area Support Groups) Generations Aging With Pride empowers elder LG- is a non-profit organization that builds community and BTQ adults to live with pride and dignity by promoting, cultivates powerful, healthy lives by providing emotional connecting, and developing innovative programs and support and personal development services to those afservices that enhance belonging and support, eliminate fected by HIV/AIDS, the Queer communities, and those discrimination, and honor the lives of older members of who love them. Our work is done in a spirit of safety, trust, our community - (206) 393-3400; info@gapseattle.org; inclusiveness, and celebration of individual differences.

(206) 322-2437; www.peerseattle.org gapseattle.org GLSEN/WA - Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Net- PEOPLE OF COLOR: AARTH (African American work - (206) 330-2099; www.glsenwa.org Reach & Teach Health Ministry), (206) 850-2070, Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) - (206) www.aarth.org; Asian/Pacific Islander Queer Network Program at API Chaya, (206) 467-9976; Center for 363-9188; www.thegsba.org HIV/AIDS Program, Seattle/King County Dept of Pub- MultiCultural Health, (206) 461-6910, www.multilic Health, provides confidential/anonymous information culturalhealth.org; Entre Hermanos, GLBT Latinos/as, about & testing for HIV/AIDS. (206) 205-7837. For a (206) 322-7700, www.entrehermanos.org; Ile LaiLai, comprehensive list of HIV/AIDS service organizations (206) 781-3565, iya@ilelailai.org; Men of All Colors see the GSBA Guide or visit www.thegsba.org or call & Cultures Together (MACCT), (206) 923-8313, macctseattle@yahoo.com, www.macctsea.org; NorthLifelong AIDS Alliance, (206) 328-8979. west Two Spirit Society, https://www.facebook.com/ Imperial Sovereign Court of Seattle & the Olympic & groups/nw2spiritsociety/, Nubian Pride Productions, Rainier Empire - www.facebook.com/ISCSORE; www. nubianpride@gmail.com; People of Color Against imperialcourtofseattle.com AIDS Network (POCAAN) offers rapid HIV testing, Lambert House - (206) 322-2515; www.lamberthouse. M-F, 10am-5pm, (206) 322-7061, www.pocaan.org and org on Facebook; QBASS - Queer Black Alliance of the LGBT Library - 517 E Pike St. Open Mon-Fri 2-8pm; South Sound, (253) 256-1846, weareqbass@gmail.

Sat 2-5pm. A wide range of fiction and non-fiction for com; Sistah 2 Sistah, LBT women of African descent, the LGBT community and allies can be borrowed free (206) 322-7061, (206) 255-8951; Somos Seattle, somosseattle.org; Trikone-Northwest, GLBT South of charge.

LGBT MS Connection - (425) 785-8593; lgbtmscon- Asians, (425) 985-4376, www.trikonenw.org; Two-Spirit nections@comcast.net. Support group for LGBT per- Honor Project, 1-866-685-0164; U.T.O.P.I.A. Seattle, sons with MS and their partners and their caregivers. www.utopiaseattlewa.org; VietQ Greater Seattle, vietSponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. qorganization@gmail.com Lifelong AIDS Alliance - (206) 328-8979, www.lifelon- Pierce County AIDS Foundation - (253) 383-2565; www.piercecountyaids.org gaids alliance.org Pride Foundation - (206) 323-3318; www.pridefoundaLion’s Main Art Collective - www.lionsmain.org tion. org MEN: Gay City: (206) 860-6969, www.gaycity.org; Knights of Mantra: (206) 329-0886, www.jetchapter- Pride Lives - www.facebook.com/PrideLives/ kofm.com; Mature Friends: Gay men & women 40 & Pride Radio 93.3 HD2 over, www.maturefriends.org; Northwest Bears: www. Project NEON is a program of Seattle Counseling nwbears.com; The Olympians: www.TheOlympians. Service providing FREE information & services to Gay net; POZSeattle: www.pozseattle.com; Q-Squared: & Bi men to reduce health risks associated with methamwww.qsquared.org; Rain City Jacks: www.raincityjacks. phetamine use. (206) 323-1768. www.crystalneon.org org; Seattle Gay Couples: www. seattlegaycouples.org; Public Health-Seattle & King County Online ComSeattle Men in Leather: www.seattlemeninleather. org; prehensive Health Information for Sexual Minorities: Seattle Prime Timers: Gay & Bi men 40 & over, www. www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/personal/ seattle primetimers.org; Tacoma Older LGBT: www. glbt.aspx tacomaolderlgbt.org. (See also listings under Bisexual, Q Law: The GLBT Bar Association of WA - (206) Parenthood, People of Color, Transgender.)

682-6711; www.q-law.org MUSIC: Diverse Harmony: www.diverseharmony. org; Rainbow City Band: 1-866-841-9139 ext 2126; Q Law GLBT Legal Clinic - (206) 235-7235. rainbowcityband@onebox.com; www.rainbowcity band. Queer Geek! - queergeekseattle.org com; Seattle Men’s Chorus and Seattle Women’s Rainbow Center - Resource Center for Tacoma/Pierce Chorus: (206) 388-1408, (206) 323-0750. www.seat- County LGBTIQA community. Through education, adtlechoruses.org. vocacy and celebration, the Rainbow Center expands Northwest Lesbian & Gay History Museum Project resources, and safe space for the LGBTQIA community.

- gayhistnw@aol.com

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

June 5, 2020

Seattle Gay News 29

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Seattle Gay News 31