SGN July 17, 2015 - Section 1

Celebrating 41 Years!

Issue 29 Volume 43

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Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

TRANSCRIPT: Caitlyn Jenner’s acceptance speech on receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at ESPN’s 2015 ESPY Awards Ceremony

Central District March Against Violence held on Thursday, July 16

Caitlyn Jenner – Chris Pizzella/Invision/AP Photo

“Thank you so much. It is so wonderful to be here tonight. Now the last few months have been a whirlwind of so many different experiences and emotions. But to tell you the truth, it seems like every time I turn around in life, I’m putting myself in these high-pressure situations. Competing in the Games, raising a family. But I’ve never felt more pressure than I ever have felt in my life, than over the last couple of months. Picking out this outfit – O.K., girls, I get it! You’ve got

to get the shoes, the hair, the make-up, the whole process it was exhausting. And next, the fashion police – please be kind on me, I’m new at this.”

“But anyway, and I just want to take a quick shout out to our soccer team that they have absolutely… Ladies, you clean up very well.”

“Well, the real truth is that, before just a few weeks ... a few months ago I had never

After a wave of shootings and street crime that brought city and police officials to the Central District’s Powell Barnett Park Thursday night for a community meeting and a march to “take back the neighborhood” and “stop the violence,” Central District residents show a renewed appreciation for SPD, its Chief and the Mayor. – photo courtesy of Shaun Knittel

see caitlyn page 7

Boy Scouts end ban on Trans homelessness Gay leaders event at City Hall a step Local option allows church-sponsored troops in the right direction to maintain ban

Trans homelessness event at City Hall – Karmezinan Lunon-Ardo/via Facebook

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Boys Scouts of America Executive Committee unanimously lifted the organization’s ban on Gay adult leaders on July 13.

The resolution also prohibits regional councils and Boy Scout camps from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, and allows previously removed leaders to reapply for their positions.

The change is expected to be ratified July 27, and will then be effective immediately.

While the national organization and its regional councils may no longer exclude Gay adults from leadership positions, the group will allow each troop to determine its own leadership policy. That compromise accommodates church-sponsored troops, which might have religious restrictions on the participation of Gay leaders.

The policy change comes less than two months after Boy Scouts President and former Defense Secretary Robert Gates called for an end to the ban on Gay adult scout see boy scouts page 8

On Wednesday, July 15, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray spoke at a Social Outreach Seattle (SOSea) sponsored, Equality Coalition for Housing and Opportunity (ECHO) organized, community forum at City Hall addressing Transgender homelessness.

Murray was particularly focused when he stated that, after his mentor, Washington state’s first openly Gay elected legislator Cal Anderson, passed away in 1995, and he was unsuccessful in winning an appointment to fill Cal’s seat in the legislature, he put a campaign together and it was Transgender people who volunteered.

“I haven’t forgotten who got me to the dance,” said the mayor. “I’m here with you. I will not leave the dance without you.”

Murray was also the first to say something that would become a theme for the evening: “We must move forward together.”

“Trans Homelessness: Stories & Statistics” brought together personal stories from diverse Seattle and South Sound homeless or formerly homeless Transgender individuals and concerned citizens to come up with action items to help address the problem.

Yani Robinson moderated the event, with special guest speakers Seattle Mayor Ed Murray; Homeless Youth Initiative lead with the King County Committee to End Homesee homelessness page 4

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July 17, 2015

Celebrating 41 Years!

Ali Forney Center to break ground on “Bea Arthur Residence” in Manhattan New York, NY – On Monday, July 20, 2015, there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for the Bea Arthur Residence, an 18bed residence for homeless LGBT youth operated by the Ali Forney Center. In 2012 the New York City Council and the Manhattan Borough President awarded $3,300,000 for the renovation of a long vacant building owned by the New York City Department of Housing and Preservation Development.

The building has now been turned over to the Ali Forney Center in partnership with Cooper Square Committee, and renovations are beginning this month. It is anticipated that the building will begin to provide housing by the end of 2016.

Bea Arthur gave one of her final public performances as a benefit for the Ali Forney Center in 2005. She was very upset to learn that hundreds of thousands of LGBT teens were rejected by their families, and driven to homelessness.

She said that she would do anything in her power to help these teens. When she died in 2009 the Ali Forney Center learned that she had bequeathed $300,000 to us in her will. At that time, Carl Siciliano, the Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center, pledged that the first building they owned would be named in her memory.

The groundbreaking ceremony will be held at the building site, located at 222 East 13th Street at 1 p.m. In attendance will be the staff and clients of the Ali Forney Center, as well as invited politicians who have supported this project and the work of the AFC, including Brad Hoylman, Democratic Senator for the New York State Senate in

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Manhattan’s 27th district, New York City Council Members Richie Torres, Danny Drum, Carlos Menchaca and Rosie Mendez, a representative from Mayor DiBlasio’s office and Steve Herrick, Executive Director of Cooper Square.

Said Carl Siciliano, Founder and Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center: “It meant the world to me that a star of the magnitude of Bea Arthur would do so

much to help the Ali Forney Center in our work of housing homeless LGBT youths. I am very grateful that we will now be able to honor Bea and continue to keep her compassion alive through the establishment of the Bea Arthur Residence for Homeless LGBT Youth.”

In an article prior to her passing, Bea Arthur said this: “I’m very, very involved in charities involving youth. These kids at the Ali Forney

July 17, 2015

Center are literally dumped by their families because of the fact that they are lesbian, gay or transgender – this organization really is saving lives.”

Steve Herrick, the Executive Director of Cooper Square said: “I’m proud that we are developing this urgently needed housing for homeless LGBT youth in partnership with the Ali Forney Center, and I’m looking forward to moving this project to a successful completion.”

The Cooper Square Committee is an affordable housing preservation and tenant rights organization that has sponsored over 550 lowincome apartments, including dozens of homeless housing units.

About the Ali Forney Center The Ali Forney Center (AFC) is the nation’s largest organization dedicated to homeless LGBT youths, AFC is committed to providing these young people with safe, dignified, nurturing environments where their needs for housing and support can be met, and where they can begin to put their lives back together.

AFC is also dedicated to promoting awareness of the plight of homeless LGBT youth in the United States with the goal of generating responses on local and national levels from government funders, foundations, and the LGBT community. For more information visit:www.aliforneycenter.org.

Courtesy of the Ali Forney Center

Seattle Gay News 3

homelessness continued from cover

lessness, Megan Gibbard; Seattle Office for Civil Rights Director, Patricia Lally; a representative for Seattle City Councilmember Bruce Harrell, Jennifer Samuels; ECHO Co-Founders, Zoe Euster Omega and Doug Hamilton; and Transgender Advocate/Activist, Lonness Valenna.

The panel of speakers for general thoughts and Q & A included Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets (PSKS) intern, Selam Abunu; Seattle LGBT Commissioner, Mitch Hunter; LGBTQ Allyship Director, Debbie Carlsen; Ingersoll Gender Center Director, Marsha Botzer; and Gender Justice League Director, Danni Askini.

The panelists were able to share what they’ve learned while working on this issue, and in addition, share Trans Community leader’s proposed ideas of how to move forward from here.

Robinson reminded attendees, “Seattle is an amazing place of opportunity and freedom, and the things that draw our staggeringly high level of homelessness are the same as draws everybody here.”

“We come for the beautiful climate, a culture affirming of diversity and creativity, jobs,” Robinson continued. “This is especially true for us in the LGBTQ community. Not so much affordable housing. Over the course of the year (October 2009-September 2010), the 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Report found that 1,593,150

individuals experienced homelessness in the United States. There are about 8 to 10 thousand homeless individuals in Seattle on an average day, nearly 3 thousand of whom have been counted sleeping outside in January.”

Zoe, who co-organized the event, said, “We’ve noted the homeless population growing in our urban core, and that a certain portion of that population defies gender norms. Our question is, how many?

And more specifically, how do we know that funds allocated to address the concerns of LGBT homeless people are spent for the purpose of addressing their unique challenges?”

“Without the data, the people we bring before you tonight are invisible and so are their stories,” said Zoe. Selam Abunu is a Queer community outreach worker from PSKS. Abunu, who has been a public speaker since 17 years old, was a part of the documentary Put This on the Map, and was part of the Reteaching Gender and Sexuality Tour.

Abunu’s story, although Abunu says it is not so different, seemed to stick out in my mind because of all the different ways the youth had reached out to different people, organizations and services, but to no avail, over the years. Abunu spoke of the struggle of having family threatened because of their Transgender status, being kicked out of the house when they were 17-years-old and of continued homelessness that has caused them to drop out of college.

When asked what could be done to help, Abunu said matter-of-factly rent control, Transgender specific housing options, and for other organizations that exist to respect Trans folks.

Debbie Carlsen, executive director of LGBTQ Allyship talked about the work that Allyship does; much like its name suggests, Carlsen and volunteers work on ways to support other communities of marginalized people; such as the Transgender community.

Danni Askini, Executive Director of Gender Justice League, talked about the need for action and the impact of Institutionalized Transphobia. Askini is a skilled public speaker and activist and cut straight to the point – there are certain actions that each of us can take – allies included – to begin to improve the lives of Transgender folks and it begins with economic justice.

Speaking on statistics solutions, Mitch Hunter, a Seattle LGBT Commissioner, talked about coalition building, respect, the need for space and more.

Transgender and homeless activist Lonness Valenna, well known as the Fairy Godmother of the Sound, and co-founder of two private Trans houses talked about an idea to retrofit buses that could be used as shelter for homeless folks at night.

(More on that idea can be found in the Seattle Gay News story “The solution to homelessness? One Transgender leader’s idea on how we can afford to help 4,000 people not to have to sleep on the streets of

King County” – http://www.sgn.org/sgnnews43_24/page6.cfm – published in the SGN on June 12, 2015.)

Marsha Botzer, founder of Ingersoll Gender Center and longtime Transgender activist, advocate, and organizer gave the speech of the evening. If anyone has ever heard Botzer speak they can tell you that it’s not surprising. However, there was something different about the way Botzer spoke on Wednesday night. Almost as though she can feel change is about to come; like redemption is around the corner. Or maybe that is just her way. But when Botzer spoke about coming together to truly give it an honest try, she said, “We can come up with the answer. I know we can. We’ve got enough amazing minds here to do it.”

While there were many opinions and many ideas, nothing concrete came out of the meeting per se, due to time constraints and the fact that there was so much to cover.

But what did make itself known was that people want this to continue and so ECHO has decided to host a once, per month, roundtable with the organizations that participated in the event to come up with tangible things to move on. You can keep up with ECHO and the many things they are working on – including their schedule of events – by liking them on Facebook. Their official page is: https://www.facebook.com/ echohousingopportunity?fref=ts.

Michigan Christian college OKs spousal benefits for same-sex couples

One of many Hope College campuses nationwide – www.ctcl.org

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The administration of Hope College, a Christian school affiliated with the Reformed Church in America, says it will grant same-sex married couples the same benefits that were previously reserved for opposite-sex spouses.

“In employment policy and practice,

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Hope College has always followed the state’s legal definition of marriage,” Hope College president John Knapp said.

“Spouses are eligible for benefits so long as their marriage is legally recognized by the state of Michigan.”

The decision came as a consequence of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that laws barring Gay and Lesbian marriages are unconstitutional.

July 17, 2015

The director of public affairs and marketing at the college, Jennifer Fellinger, said the college doesn’t have a different set of standards or policies for Gay couples, compared to heterosexual couples.

“As it has in the past, Hope College welcomes students, staff and faculty based on their ability to contribute to the life of the college, not on their sexual orientation or marital status,” she told the Holland Sentinel

newspaper.

Hope College is located in Holland, Michigan, a town founded in 1847 by Dutch Calvinist refugees. Their Dutch Reformed Church – since 1867 the Reformed Church in America – is theologically conservative.

In 2014 it adopted language defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman. Same-sex marriages will not be performed in the college chapel.

In 1978, in a doctrinal pronouncement on homosexuality, the church said that Gay people are “no more to be blamed” for their condition “than a retarded child,” but the church also supports civil rights protections for LGBT people.

Several other faith-based colleges also offer nondiscrimination protections and spousal benefits to LGBT employees.

The Notre Dame University said it would extend healthcare and other benefits to same-sex spouses when Indiana introduced same-sex marriage last year.

“Notre Dame is a Catholic university and endorses a Catholic view of marriage,” a spokesperson said. “However, it will follow the relevant civil law and begin to implement this change immediately.”

Belmont University, formerly affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention, was already offering legally married same-sex couples equal benefits before the Supreme Court’s decision.

Gordon College in Massachusetts also said in a statement that “We recognize that students at Gordon who identify as LGBTQ or experience same-sex attraction have often felt marginalized and alone, and recognize the pressing need for a safe campus environment for all students.”

Celebrating 41 Years!

Chick-fil-A is “the official chicken of Jesus”

Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy – www.thebraiser.com

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Fox News radio star Todd Starnes proclaimed Chick-fil-A “the official chicken of Jesus” in a July 12 sermon at Abilene Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia.

SGN readers will remember that in 2012 the fried chicken company donated millions of dollars to anti-Gay groups including the Family Research Council, Exodus

International, and Focus on the Family, in order to support what Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy calls “Biblical families.”

The company faced a number of boycotts since the anti-Gay donations came to light, and several of its locations have closed.

God apparently appreciates more than just fried chicken, according to Starnes.

“I believe that the reason that God blessed America is because we know how to smoke a pork butt,” he added.

While God likes American cuisine, he apparently hates the U.S. Supreme Court.

On June 28, Starnes told the First Baptist Church of Texarkana, Texas, that God caused rainstorms to flood Washington DC in protest of the high court’s decision for marriage equality.

In his July 12 sermon, Starnes expanded on the “war on religion” theme that has captured the imagination of anti-Gay evangelicals.

“There is a war on religious liberty!” he announced to the parishioners. “And this war is not targeting people of the Muslim faith or the Jewish faith or the Hindu faith.

This war on religious liberty is targeting people of the Christian faith.”

According to Starnes, the U.S. government will criminalize Christianity in “just a few short years.”

Starnes then went on to condemn gender identity protections in public schools.

“God hasn’t redefined anything!” he said. “That there’s no such thing as male or female. That you may wake up feeling like a boy, but by third period you might start feeling like a girl!”

Starnes then took aim at singer Miley Cyrus, saying she committed “an incident involving twerking… Miley Cyrus committing this act of public debauchery…

“And it was about that time Phil Robertson, one of my heroes of the faith from

“Duck Dynasty,” did an interview with GQ magazine, and in that interview, Phil Robertson defended traditional marriage,” Starnes said.

“Miley Cyrus, celebrated for her act of debauchery, but Phil Robertson castigated for standing up for the Bible.”

Finally, he called for Christians to “stand together with one voice!”

“They may demand to know the content of our prayers, they may try to shut down our bakeries, they may try to silence our voices, but we will not be silenced! We will not be intimidated!”

Starnes, a Fox radio host and frequent guest commentator on “Fox and Friends” and “Hannity,” has never shied away from hateful commentary.

On July 9, he came to the defense of huckster and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Noting that RNC chair Reince Priebus had asked Trump to “tone down” the anti-immigrant rhetoric, Starnes proclaimed “Tone it down? I say he needs to crank up the volume.”

Only a week before his Chick-fil-A sermon, Starnes accused the NAACP of “cultural cleansing” for advocating removal of Confederate symbols from public places in the South. In 2013, he sneeringly referred to Indian-American Miss America winner Nina Davuluri as “Miss Politically Correct America.”

Even Christian Republican business owners say it’s wrong to turn away LGBT customers

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

A large majority of small business owners – including those who identify as Christian and Republican – say businesses should not refuse service to LGBT customers, according to a new survey.

The poll, released July 13, was commissioned by Small Business Majority, an organization that advocates for small business owners, and carried out by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, who undertook an online survey of 500 small businesses.

Of the respondents, 47% identified themselves as Republican, 33% said they were Democrats, and 19% said they were independent.

Two-thirds (66%) of the small business owners said their counterparts should not be able to deny goods or services to LGBT customers, regardless of the owner’s religious beliefs. Forty-five per cent believe this “strongly.”

However, the remaining 33% believed that it was justified to deny services to LGBT people on the basis of religious beliefs.

Surprisingly, 55% of Republican small businesses and 62% of Christian small business owners oppose denying goods or services based on an owner’s religious beliefs.

Eight in 10 entrepreneurs support a federal law to protect LGBT individuals against discrimination in public accommodations, such as restaurants, hotels and other businesses that are open to the public.

Nearly half (47%) strongly favor a federal law banning this type of discrimination.

Twenty per cent were opposed to any such federal law.

Sixty percent believed it to be wrong for a business owner to fire someone for being LGBT, while 40% believed it was acceptable.

Majority of Christian Republican business say it’s wrong to turn away LGBT customers – myfabgaywedding.com

“These data show that small business owners don’t think it’s right for LGBT people to be turned away from a business for religious reasons, including wedding-related services,” the survey authors said.

“Additionally, small business owners in this poll recognize the importance of protecting their employees, and they know workplace nondiscrimination policies that protect LGBT employees make smart business sense, help attract and retain talent, and that they’re the right thing to do.”

The results were welcomed by Josh Driver, the founder of Open for Service – an organization that helps businesses to adver-

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tise the fact that they are open to all.

“Anytime we hear about LGBT rights in the U.S., Open For Service sees a surge in business registrations,” Driver said.

“Constantly, we get feedback from owners that identify as Christian and/or Republican who agree that turning people away is bad business. It’s understandable to see the news stories and assume that one group or another would gladly shut the door on someone, but in reality it’s just not the case.”

The survey was also welcomed by Deena Fidas, head of Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Workplace Equality Program.

“This study confirms that much of the

business community, including small and mid-size businesses, believe that discriminating against the LGBT community is both wrong and makes for bad business,” she said.

“But there remains a sub-group of business owners who, in the absence of consistent federal anti-discrimination protections for the LGBT people, will continue to act on their discriminatory beliefs.

“The study highlights the need for comprehensive legislation to ensure LGBT equality in employment, public services, housing, and more.”

July 17, 2015

Seattle Gay News 5

Sisters celebrate 19 years this weekend

by Sister Ophelia Onassis Special to the SGN On July 14, 1996, seven people, dressed in stylized nun’s habit, dunked themselves in the waters of Lake Washington – baptizing themselves The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Abbey of St. Joan! These six Sisters reaffirmed their vow to promulgate universal joy and to expiate stigmatic guilt throughout the Pacific Northwest.

From very humble beginnings, the Ab-

6 Seattle Gay News

bey of St. Joan has grown into a group of very diverse individuals bound together by our shared vows, and our deep commitment to our Mission Statement. Our vows bind us to Sisters throughout the country and the world.

On Saturday, July 18, 2015, from 6-8 p.m., at The Cuff Complex, 1533 13th Ave. at E. Pine St., the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Abbey of St. Joan will celebrate our 19th anniversary! Please join us as we renew our vow to our community and

July 17, 2015

distribute grants to community organizations who are in need. Our granting fund is funded by generous contributions from the community throughout the calendar year.

This year, we collected (and will disburse) over $7,200.00! We received 28 grant applications this year, and wish we could have funded all of them. Each of the groups do important work in our community. This year’s grant recipients include Navos/POW, AHAT – AIDS Housing Association of Tacoma, Q Card, BABES/YWCA, POZSeattle,

and People’s Harm Reduction Alliance.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Abbey of St. Joan are an order of 21st Century nuns, dedicated to the promulgation of universal joy and the expiation of stigmatic guilt. We work to raise money for AIDS charities, fight for Queer rights and visibility, do safer sex outreach and strive diligently to maintain our senses of humor, never taking ourselves so seriously we forget to have fun. We gladly welcome all races, creeds, genders and sexual orientations.

Celebrating 41 Years!

Equality in employment is next step, Joe Biden says

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Equality in employment is the next step for the LGBT community, Vice President Joe Biden said in a July 9 speech at a Freedom to Marry event in New York City.

“There are still 32 states where marriage can be recognized in the morning and you can be fired in the afternoon,” Biden said.

Biden was the guest of honor at the event. Freedom to Marry founder Evan Wolfson has had a long personal history with Biden, starting as his intern when Biden was a newly elected U.S. Senator.

“I’ve never been so happy to be with an outfit that’s going out of business,” the Vice President told the gathering.

He congratulated the group for their role in winning marriage equality, and said the fight for equal rights in the workplace would be easier.

“I want you to know that this next door will be a hell of a lot easier to open,” Biden said.

Biden famously “spilled the beans” in 2012, saying on Meet the Press that he supported marriage equality while President Obama’s people were still trying to figure out when and how to address the subject.

Later that year, he said that Trans rights were “the civil rights issue of our time.”

Biden said he credits his father with giving him an accepting attitude.

Recounting an incident when, as a teen-

caitlyn

continued from cover met anybody else who was trans, who was like me. I had never met a trans person, never. Now, as you just saw, I dealt with my situation on my own, in private, and that turned this journey into an already incredible education.”

“It’s been eye-opening, inspiring, but also frightening. All across this country, right now, all across the world, at this very moment, there are young people coming to terms with being transgender. They’re learning that they’re different and they are trying to figure out how to handle that, on top of every other problem that a teenager has.”

“They’re getting bullied, they’re getting beaten up, they’re getting murdered and they’re committing suicide. The numbers that you just heard before are staggering, but they are the reality of what it’s like to be trans today.”

“Just last month, the body of 17-yearold Mercedes Williamson, a transgender young woman of color was found in a field in Mississippi stabbed to death. I also want to tell you about Sam Taub, a 15-year-old transgender young man from Bloomfield, Michigan. In early April, Sam took his own life. Now, Sam’s story haunts me in particular because his death came just a few days before ABC aired my interview with Diane Sawyer. Every time something like this happens, people wonder, “Could it have been different, if spotlighting this issue with more attention could have changed the way things happen?” We’ll never know.”

“If there is one thing I do know about my life, it is the power of the spotlight.

Sometimes it gets overwhelming, but with

Vice President Joe Biden – freebeacon.com

ager, he and his father happened to see a same-sex couple kissing, he said he still remembered what his father told him.

“It’s been based on this very simple proposition best expressed to me by my dad as a 17-year-old kid,” Biden said.

“I turned and looked at my dad, and I’ll never forget what he said: ‘Joey, they love each other, it’s simple.’”

Biden’s own son, the late Beau Biden,

was also an outspoken ally of the LGBT community.

Some observers believe Biden’s speech to the Freedom to Marry gathering means he has not given up his presidential ambitions, and will enter the race to challenge Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, and Bernie Sanders.

Biden was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2008, but dropped out

after finishing fifth in the Iowa caucuses. On the campaign trail he became fast friends with then-Senator Obama, who later picked him as his running mate.

A Roman Catholic, Biden has been criticized by the Catholic bishop of Wilmington, Delaware, because of his pro-choice stand, and was once barred from communion by the Roman Catholic bishop of Scanton, Pennsylvania.

attention comes responsibility. As a group, as athletes, how you conduct your lives, what you say, what you do, is absorbed and observed by millions of people, especially young people. I know I’m clear with my responsibility going forward, to tell my story the right way – for me, to keep learning, to do whatever I can to reshape the landscape of how trans issues are viewed, how trans people are treated. And then more broadly to promote a very simple idea: accepting people for who they are. Accepting people’s differences.”

“My plea to you tonight is to join me in making this one of your issues as well. How do we start? We start with education. I was fortunate enough to meet Arthur Ashe a few times and I know how important education was to him. Learn as much as you can about another person to understand them better.”

“I know the people in this room have respect for hard work, for training, for going through something difficult to achieve the outcome that you desire. I trained hard, I competed hard, and for that, people respected me.”

“But this transition has been harder on me than anything I could imagine. And that’s the case for so many others besides me. For that reason alone, trans people deserve something vital. They deserve your respect. And from that, and from that respect comes a more compassionate community, a more empathetic society, and a better world for all of us.”

“There have been so many who have traveled this road before me. From, in sports, Renée Richards, to Chaz Bono, to Laverne Cox, and many others. Janet Mock is here with us tonight. And I want to thank them all publicly, as well as the ESPYs, and

the late Arthur Ashe and his family, for giving me this platform to start the next phase of my journey. I also want to acknowledge all the young trans athletes who are out there – given the chance to play sports as who they really are.”

“And now, and now as of this week, it appears trans people will soon be serving in the military. That’s a great idea. We have come a long way. But we have a lot of work to do.

“I’d like to thank personally, my buddy Diane Sawyer. You know, you can only tell your story the first time once and, Diane, you did it so authentically and so gracefully.

And me and the community is so thankful for that. And I thank you so much Diane; I’m so proud to have you as a friend.”

“Here comes the tough part. I’d like to thank my family. Now, the biggest fear in Caitlyn Jenner coming out was I never wanted to hurt anyone else. Most of all my family and my kids. I always wanted my children to be so proud of their dad because of what he was able to accomplish in his life. You guys have given so much back to me, you’ve given me so much support, I am so so grateful to have all of you in my life.

Thank you.”

“And certainly last, but not least, my mother. My mom who, just a little over a week ago, had to have surgery and I didn’t think she was going to make it, and but she is here with me tonight to share this night.

Now, you know I always thought that I got my courage and my determination from my dad who landed on Omaha beach and fought all the way through World War II. But you know what I’m realizing now, Mom, I think I got all those qualities from you. Love you very much. I’m so glad you’re here to share this with me.”

“You know, it is an honor to have the word courage associated with my life. But on this night another word comes to mind and that is fortunate. I owe a lot to sports. It showed me the world, it’s given me an identity. If someone wanted to bully me, well, you know what? I was the MVP of the football team and that just wasn’t going to be a problem. And the same thing goes tonight.

If you want to call me names, make jokes, doubt my intentions, go ahead, because the reality is I can take it. But for the thousands of kids out there coming to terms with being true to who they are, they shouldn’t have to take it.”

“So for the people out there wondering what this is all about – whether it’s about courage or controversy or publicity – well, I’ll tell you what it’s all about. It’s about what happens from here. It’s not just about one person, it’s about thousands of people.

It’s not just about me, it’s about all of us accepting one another. We’re all different.

That’s not a bad thing, that’s a good thing; and while it may not be easy to get past the things you always don’t understand, I want to prove that it is absolutely possible if we only do it together.”

“Thank you so much for this platform.

Thank you so much for this honor bestowed on myself and my family. Thank you.”

July 17, 2015

Seattle Gay News 7

Visit us online www.sgn.org

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Special thanks to the New York Daily News and Rolling Stone – http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/videos/watch-caitlyn-jenners-emotional-espysspeech-20150716]

boy scouts continued from cover

leaders. The Scouts removed their ban on Gay scouts in May 2013.

In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts were a private membership organization and therefore could, if they chose, exclude Gay members under the freedom of association clause of the First Amendment.

Zach Wahls, an Eagle Scout and the

Executive Director of Scouts for Equality, credited the activism of Gay scouts for the organization’s decision.

“Today’s announcement hopefully marks the beginning of the end of the Boy Scouts of America’s decades-old ban on gay leaders and parents like my two moms.

In two weeks, the BSA’s national executive board will vote to ratify a resolution that has already been unanimously adopted by their executive committee,” Wahls said in a statement.

“For decades, the Boy Scouts of America’s ban on gay adults has stood as a towering example of explicit, institutional homophobia in one of America’s most important and recognizable civic organizations.

While this policy change is not perfect – BSA’s religious chartering partners will be allowed to continue to discriminate against gay adults – it is difficult to overstate the importance of today’s announcement.

“The BSA has explicitly cited the work of Scouts for Equality members Pascal Tessier,

an openly gay Eagle Scout working at a Boy Scouts summer camp in New York state, Yasmin Cassini, a lesbian woman from Colorado who was denied employment on the basis of her sexual orientation, and Brian Peffly, an openly gay Eagle Scout who until recently served as an assistant Scoutmaster in central Ohio. I could not be more proud of, or grateful for, the courage, strength, and dedication to the values of Scouting as demonstrated by Pascal, Yasmin, and Brian.”

Utah must recognize parental rights of Lesbian couple, judge rules Arkansas couples also sue

Kami and Angie Roe – www.surrogacy-lawyer.com

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer In what is possibly the first legal fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, a federal judge ruled on July 15 that Utah must recognize the parental rights of a married Lesbian couple and list both of them as parents on their daughter’s birth certificate.

In a related case, three Lesbian couples filed suit against Arkansas health officials for refusing to name both spouses on their children’s birth certificates.

U.S. District Judge Dee Benson said that Utah must recognize both Angela and Kami Roe as legal parents of their child, Lucy.

“The state has failed to show any legitimate reason, actually any reason at all, for not treating a female spouse in a same-sex marriage the same as a male spouse in an opposite-sex marriage with regard to be recognized as the legal parent” when the child has been conceived with donated sperm, Benson wrote.

The Roes married on December 20,

8 Seattle Gay News

2013, the same day a different federal judge tossed out Utah’s law barring Gay unions, and welcomed baby Lucy into their family in February.

Lucy is the biological child of Kami and was conceived with the help of donated sperm, but the couple was denied a birth certificate that bore both of their names.

Under Utah laws governing assisted reproduction, however, a married husband whose wife conceives with donated sperm is automatically considered the child’s father.

The ACLU sued the Utah Department of Health and the state’s Office of Vital Records and Statistics on behalf of the Roes in April, charging that Utah state policy violates the equal-protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Benson agreed, saying that in light of the sweeping changes in marriage laws in both Utah and the nation, the discrimination was clear.

“I don’t think it’s a hard case,” Benson said. “The laws that now stand are not applicable to the marriage of Angela and Kami Roe.”

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Benson’s decision also prohibits Utah from requiring the spouse of any birth parent to have to take extra measures to be recognized as a legal parent, which means the Roes won’t have to go through what is essentially a stepparent or second-parent adoption.

Utah’s assisted-reproduction statute addresses only donated sperm, not a donated egg or surrogacy, so the decision does not affect married Gay men.

Benson’s decision was “not unexpected,” Utah Solicitor General Parker Douglas said after the hearing. It is likely there are other aspects of Utah marriage and family law that will have to be reviewed in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling, he added.

Arkansas suit In Arkansas, three Lesbian couples filed suit against state health officials for refusing to name both spouses on their children’s birth certificates.

Two of the couples were married in other states before the Supreme Court ruling, and the third was married in Arkansas just days after the decision. The couples’ chil-

dren were conceived through anonymous sperm donors.

According to documents filed July 13, the Arkansas Health Department would list only the biological mother on the child’s birth certificate, and said they would need a court order to name both parents.

The suit asks the court to prevent the state from refusing to issue birth certificates naming both parents to same-sex couples.

It also asks that the state laws regarding rights of parents in relation to their children be construed in a gender-neutral fashion.

The three married couples asked for the birth certificates after the Obergefell decision and say that in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling they are entitled to the same rights as any parents.

The lawsuit charges that not providing the birth certificates as requested “[deprives] these children of the dignity, legitimacy, security, support and protections provided to children of heterosexual couples, regardless of marital status.”

Cheryl Maples, the attorney representing the couples, said she hoped to get a hearing soon before a judge. Maples said she knows of several other same-sex couples who have faced the same problem.

“Some of them have gone ahead and gone through adoption procedures because of the problems they had. They shouldn’t have to,” Maples said. “They should be treated like heterosexual couples.”

Health Department spokesperson Kerry Krell said her department believed that formal court orders would be the best way for same-sex couples to get the names of both spouses onto birth certificates, because doing so would require changes to department regulations and state vital records laws.

Any changes in state regulations would have to go through the Arkansas Board of Health and be reviewed by the state legislature, Krell added.

Krell declined to comment on the lawsuit to The Associated Press. A spokesperson for Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said she would represent the department in the case, but also declined to comment on the lawsuit.

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Alcoholics Anonymous celebrates 80th birthday at recent International Convention in Atlanta

by Anonymous Special to the SGN It was estimated that 70,000 Alcoholics, Al-Anons and Alateens were in Atlanta, GA, July 2-5, representing 90 countries, to celebrate the 80th birthday of Alcoholics Anonymous. Convention events were held at the Georgia World Congress Center, the Georgia Dome, Centennial Olympic Park and local hotels.

Nearly 800 speakers participated in topic meetings, panels, and special interest and regional meetings. Although most meetings were held in English, there were also meetings in Spanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, Swedish and American Sign Language.

Convention highlights included an evening “Party in the Park” on Thursday and three “Big Meetings” Friday through Sunday. During the exciting Friday night flag ceremony at the Georgia Dome, members from each participating country carried their national flags past cheering crowds, Cuba receiving a rousing round of applause and “Hoorays.” The International Convention takes place every five years in a different host city, always in North America since it was founded here in 1935, in Akron, Ohio. It always takes place over the July 4th holiday and began in 1950 in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1990, Seattle was privileged to host the 55th Birthday Convention. In 2020, Detroit, Michigan will be the host city and Vancouver, BC, Canada will have that distinction in 2025.

Thus far, there have been 14 conventions and I have had the honor of being able to attend half of those. My first convention was in Montreal in 1985. It happened to take place on the anniversary of my first A.A. birthday and I vowed to be there to celebrate. Every five years, I know that I will be in whatever host city is having the convention.

I happened to move to Seattle in 1989, so I had the gift of being able to volunteer for that. I was assigned a job for which I needed absolutely no orientation whatsoever. I got to tell people where to go! I have become the Miss Julie, Cruise Director, of my friends, making all flight arrangements and room reservations.

In Minneapolis, we took over a B&B.

At the beginning of any meeting, it’s cusThe owner sounded quite the ditz on the phone and I was afraid she might forget tomary to ask if there are any out of town having made the deal with me. Also, I had visitors. Before an International, that cusnegotiated 1999s room rates for July 2000. tom is dispensed with since there wouldn’t Every month, I would send her a greet- be time left for the actual meeting. The next ing card for whatever occasion took place day, the Convention began with the first of in that month. If there was no occasion, the Gay meetings taking place: Gay AlcoI would send a “Thinking of You” card. holic or Alcoholic Who Happens to be Gay. When we arrived there, she had all the cards Unfortunately, a lot of us got there late and displayed on her piano. I start planning our got locked out. Those in the hall, some 200 strong, had an impromptu meeting right trip a year in advance.

For the past three conventions, I discov- there in the hallway and it turned out to be ered that the local colleges and universities one of the best ever. Drunks are so resilient.

That afternoon, we went to Fox Bros. rent their dorm rooms to tourists during the summer. They are clean, much cheaper Bar-B-Que and had the best brisket and than a hotel/motel and one can usually get ribs. The homemade banana pudding was meals in the dining hall at a reasonable rate no slouch either. The Opening Ceremony as well. This year, I got four rooms, each with private bath and had an all-youcan-eat breakfast. We were at Georgia State University in mid-town Atlanta, just one block from their free streetcar line.

We left here on the redeye on June 30, and arrived in Atlanta early July 1. I always like to go a couple of days before the convention starts and stay a few days after. That way, I can make a real vacation of it, get the lay of the land before and do some sightseeing after.

My friend from Kennesaw, GA, met my traveling companion and I at the AA Convention in Atlanta, GA – courtesy of Anonymous airport and we all three waited for the fourth in our party to arrive from in the Georgia Dome was that night. After South Portland, Maine. I had met those two all the flags had been marched in and set in online and found out they would be there their respective stands in front of the stage, and they became part of the group. Another it was time for the speakers. The highlight friend from Puerto Vallarta was to meet us, was the second speaker, Michael B. of California. He was a triple threat: a drunk, deaf too, but he made his own arrangement.

We checked into our rooms and went and Gay. On the way back to the dorm on the downtown to eat and check in for the convention. The next day, we had a free day, did streetcar, it got stuck in traffic and it was some sightseeing and went to Sober City, packed. Fortunately, there was a group of which is where you can buy drunk junk. In hunky Irishmen on the streetcar and they other words, souvenirs of the convention. I entertained everyone with “It’s A Long Way bought quite a bit because it’s the best place To Tipperary.”

The next day was filled with more meetto get sober gifts for birthdays and Christmas. That night, we went to a local Gay ings, running into friends from Seattle, meeting, which was packed with conven- meeting new friends from around the world and the Old-Timers Meeting in the Georgia tioneers.

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July 17, 2015

Dome that night. Anyone with 50 or more years of sobriety can put their name in a hat and 12 names are randomly drawn to speak for five minutes. They are dogged with that time, too, worse than the Oscars. One guy was just getting started good and was getting ready to sing a song when his mike went off and the applause sign came on. The audience tried to get the chair to let him finish, but she would have none of it.

The next morning was the final meeting in the Dome, the Spiritual Meeting. One of our group left the night before, the other had a plane to catch early that afternoon and the two Seattleites were just plain tired.

We opted to sleep in, have a late breakfast and see our Maine friend off. Afterwards, we went to Centennial Olympic Park and watched the children run through the Olympic Rings sprinkler, much like our own International Fountain.

Sober City was breaking down but still trying to get rid of leftovers. I was able to score some great deals and must remember that for the one in Detroit. We went to a Caribbean restaurant near the dorm and had a great, inexpensive meal.

Our final full day on July 6, was taken up with a leisurely breakfast and a tour of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial. We saw his birthplace home, Ebenezer Baptist Church where his Grandfather, Father and King himself all preached, the eternal flame, his tomb and Coretta Scott King’s tomb, walked through the Visitors Center and listened to recordings of his life. It was quite a spiritual and emotional experience. We had a wonderful meal at Pitty Pat’s Porch, named after the Mary Beth Hughes character, Aunt Pitty Pat, in Gone With the Wind.

The next day was our last day with breakfast and a nice light rail ride to the airport. Their light rail is like ours, if you aren’t going to the airport, it’s useless. At least theirs goes into the airport!

I enjoy traveling, meeting new people, learning about new cultures and sightseeing.

Before I leave on a trip, I always put on clean linen and lay out fresh towels. It’s always great to sleep in my own bed and dry off with my fresh towels.

Seattle Gay News 13

Civil unions being scheduled in Chile

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Gay and Lesbian couples are jamming civil registry offices in Chile, scheduling their civil union ceremonies.

July 9 was the first day Chilean same-sex couples could apply for a license to form a civil union. The first ceremonies will take place in October.

Many couples Tweeted selfies at the registry offices and took the opportunity to announce the date set for their ceremonies.

“We were the FIRST couple that signed up,” wrote Felipe Egido, who shared a picture of himself, his partner, and a Chilean official.

Gay author Pablo Simonetti and his partner, José Pedro Godoy, were also among the same-sex couples who applied for licenses in the Chilean capital of Santiago.

And out Councilmember Jaime Parada, and his fiancé, Victor Fuentes, wrote “The next party will be on the 24th October.

Thank you very much for all the support!”

Activists say that civil unions are just the first step in the country, which maintains its ban on same-sex marriage and adoption, and has an unequal age of consent.

Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet, who signed the civil unions law in April, campaigned on the promise of legalizing samesex marriage but to date only a small group

Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet speaks about civil unions – www.bbc.com

of Latin American nations – including Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay – currently allow same-sex marriage. Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled state bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, but the ruling does not automatically invalidate existing laws.

The new civil union law allows couples

to inherit each other’s property, join their partner’s health plan, and receive pension benefits.

“The civil union law is a vindication in the struggle for sexual diversity rights,” Bachelet said.

Bachelet, a Socialist and the daughter of an army general who was tortured to death

under the right-wing Pinochet dictatorship, was president in 2006-2010 and was elected to a second term in 2013. Chilean presidents may not serve consecutive terms.

Ironically, her opponent in the 2013 election was a childhood friend, Evelyn Matthei, whose father was a general who supported Pinochet.

Ireland OKs sweeping changes to gender identity laws

Demonstration for gender legal recognition outside Leinster House in Dublin October, 2012 – Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland!

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Ireland’s parliament adopted sweeping changes to the country’s gender identity laws on July 15. The legislation now heads to the Irish president, who is expected to sign it and it should go into effect by the end of the summer.

“Ireland will go from being one of the last countries in Europe to give trans people

14 Seattle Gay News

a way to change their legal gender to one of just five countries in the world where someone can make their change simply by filing a declaration,” BuzzFeed News reported.

Argentina, Denmark, Colombia, and Malta are the only other countries with gender identity laws that allow people to change their legal gender through simple self-declaration.

Ireland’s governing Fine Gael party unveiled a draft gender identity law in December, and in June revised it to remove

July 17, 2015

the requirement that people get a doctor’s OK before they could change their gender markers.

“At the core of it is self determination, not requiring a third party to tell you who you are,” said Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) Director Broden Giambrone.

Until the marriage referendum passed, Giambrone said, the Irish government had refused to remove the medical requirement.

But the international celebrity Ireland won

when it became the first country in the world to establish marriage equality by popular vote pushed the government into more action in support of LGBT rights.

“Ireland is being celebrated across the Western world for the marriage referendum,” Giambrone said. “I think there was some thinking, ‘Why shouldn’t we do the same for our trans community?’”

Although Fine Gael is a center-right party, it introduced Ireland’s successful marriage equality referendum and the new gender identity measure.

“What’s been really phenomenal in this whole process is that we have yet to run into any rejection of the bill going through and [have found broad support] towards making it more progressive,” Giambrone said.

There are downsides to the Irish bill, however. Most troubling to Irish Trans activists is that people under 18 would still have to go through a complicated process to change their legal gender.

Nevertheless, adopting a provision to allow adults to change their legal gender through self-declaration could send a very strong signal to the rest of Europe, said Richard Koehler of Transgender Europe.

“It shows countries like Germany their place,” Koehler said. “It says ‘You think you’re progressive, but actually you’re not.’”

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