SGN January 29, 2021

Celebrating 47 Years!

Issue 5 Volume 49

INAUGURATION DAY 2021 PHOTOS BY NATE GOWDY

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TRANS BAN GONE! Biden reverses Trump’s Trans military ban

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer President Joe Biden has reversed Donald Trump’s ban on Transgender people serving in the US military.

“Allowing all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform is

better for the military and better for the country because an inclusive force is a more effective force,” the White House said in a statement. “Simply put, it’s the right thing to do and is in our national interest.”

see TRANS BAN page 15

“What’s the motive?”

Eastern WA town grapples with potential hate crime following murder of Gay teen, victim’s mother seeks justice

Photo by Rodrigo Abd / AP

University sued for discrimination

Openly gay SPU nursing professor suing Seattle Pacific University for discrimination

Jason Fox – Photo courtesy of Pepper Fox

Jéaux Rinedahl – Photo by Tom Ellis

I was raised in Newport, Washington, a highway town that Seattleites might only pass through when venturing into “the Although I grew up around homopho- Inland Empire,” with its Idahoan lakes bia, I never quite understood the damage and rural charm. Newport is also a geoit could do. Like in Friday Night Lights, graphically and socially isolated town, queer stories remained on the periphery where I saw frequent discrimination in small towns like the one I grew up in – against the LGBTQ+ community during they were taboo, and best to be avoided my school days. entirely.

gram, and had applied for an open faculty role that was advertised within the department in May 2020. The next month, RineA nursing professor is suing Seattle dahl received a call from Antwinett Lee, Pacific University (SPU) for discrimina- the Assistant Dean of Nursing at the time, tion after being rejected for a full-time role informing him that he wouldn’t qualify for the role because his sexual orientation because he is gay.

Jéaux Rinedahl had been employed precluded him from signing a statement of at the University since Spring 2020 as an heterosexuality. adjunct professor in SPU’s Nursing Pro-

by Kylin Brown SGN Contributing Writer

see JASON FOX page 4

by Paige McGlauflin SGN Contributing Writer

see RINEDAHL page 5

2 Seattle Gay News

January 29, 2021

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KC Councilmember Dave Upthegrove announces re-election campaign for Position 5

King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove – Photo courtesy of Dave Upthegrove

DES MOINES (January 27, 2020) – King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove announced today he will seek reelection to the King County Council.

“Dave is an effective progressive champion for South King County. We need proven leadership to build on the progress we’ve made together,” said criminal justice reform advocate Tamika Moss of Renton.

Upthegrove noted that “in South King County, our diversity is our strength. My job on the council has been to lift up the voices in South King County that are not heard in Seattle. This pandemic continues

to highlight the need to fight economic and racial inequality, and I’m excited to continue that mission. My vision is a simple one: health, jobs, and justice.”

“This means continuing to focus on protecting the health and safety of seniors and other vulnerable community members while we safely reopen our economy.

County public health departments are the front line of defense. These are serious times that call for proven effective leaders.”

Specifically, Upthegrove wants to renew the Best Starts for Kids ballot measure and expand it to include childcare subsidies

for struggling families. He also wants to expand partnerships with school districts to support job skills training for students going into building trades and to strengthen civilian oversight of the King County Sheriff’s Office.

As he launched his campaign, Upthegrove announced the endorsements of over fifty leaders from communities of color in South King County, as well as Attorney General Bob Ferguson, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and Burien Mayor Jimmy Matta.

Among these supporters are Kendrick Glover of Kent, who noted that “Dave shows up, listens to young people, and responds with action. He has worked with the community to pass progressive criminal justice reforms and secure funding for youth programs in South King County, such as Glover Empower Mentoring. He is always attentive to community concerns and has earned my respect and support.”

Jenn Ramierez-Robson of Kent also noted that “Dave genuinely cares about issues impacting the communities he serves, particularly communities of color that have historically not always been served well by the government. Dave cares enough to go into those communities to hear directly from folks rather than assume he knows best what these communities want and need. Relationships take time to build and nurture; Dave has taken that time to earn the trust of the community and we need his continued leadership and experience in these challenging times.”

Upthegrove made history in 2001 as the first openly LGBT state representative outside the City of Seattle in the history of our state. He represented South King County for twelve years in the state legislature and is now completing his second term on the King County Council.

He grew up in Burien and currently lives in Des Moines with his husband Chad and their orange tabby cat, Dobby.

Courtesy of Councilmember Dave Upthegrove

KCLS surpasses 7 million digital downloads in 2020, a record-setting year ISSAQUAH, WA (January 22, 2021) – Rakuten OverDrive, a digital reading platform used by the King County Library System (KCLS), has released its 2020 digital circulation statistics. KCLS patrons checked out 7,408,428 digital titles in 2020 – up 30.5% from last year, making KCLS the No. 2 digital circulating library in the US and No. 3 in the world.

KCLS and the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) each surpassed seven million checkouts last year, a number previously unreached. KCLS’s per capita usage remains the highest of any library system in the US. A record number of readers turned to their public libraries’ digital collections in 2020 for content they could enjoy safely at home during the pandemic. In total, 430 million digital titles were borrowed globally across all OverDrive platforms.

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“We have witnessed a historical year for digital reading,” stated KCLS Executive Director Lisa Rosenblum. “It is wonderful to see that KCLS residents have stayed connected to their community libraries during this unprecedented time, and we hope they continue to find enrichment and entertainment in KCLS’s expansive digital collection.”

KCLS’s top five electronic titles in 2020 were: • So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

by J. K. Rowling • Becoming by Michelle Obama • Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens • Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell A valid KCLS library card or eCard

gives patrons access to the system’s online collection, which includes streaming films, e-books, audiobooks, online magazines, research databases, student resources, small business resources, and more.

January 29, 2021

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Founded in 1942, the King County Library System (KCLS) is one of the busiest public library systems in the country.

Serving the communities of King County (outside the city of Seattle), KCLS currently has 50 libraries and more than 740,000 cardholders. In 2020, residents checked out more than 7.4 million digital eBooks and audiobooks through Rakuten OverDrive, making KCLS the No. 3 digital circulating library system in the world. In 2011, KCLS was named Library of the Year

by Gale/Library Journal.

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JASON FOX

continued from cover By the time I graduated from high school in 2016, I knew only five openly queer people. Some of my best friends and closest family members grappled with their own homophobia as I began to confront it more readily within my circle, but our larger community never seemed welcoming of this sort of difference.

Such a homophobic culture can cause a cascade of consequences, but until recent months I did not know how severe they could be.

Jason Fox I knew Jason Fox as a shy freshman with an unmistakable laugh that bubbled amidst the sounds of our school hallways.

On the morning of September 16, 2020, he was reported missing.

The night before, Jason had been invited to hang out with Matthew Raddatz-Freeman, 28; Claude Merritt, 25; Riley Hillestad, 26; Kevin Belding, 24; and potentially others. He had reportedly hung out with the men before, but according to his texts, he was already having suspicions about what was ahead of him that night. He was feeling uneasy after having agreed to meet up with the group at Timber River Ranch, a riverfront wedding venue that is now for sale.

That night, Jason sent his last texts. He wrote to a cousin, “22 Yergens Rd. In case anything happens to me.”

His parents began to worry about the worst, and reportedly felt that his sexual orientation may have played a role in his disappearance. Jason had come out to his immediate family as bisexual, but his mother, Pepper Fox, claims that he identified this way because it would be more easily acceptable than being gay in Newport.

After coming out, he reportedly told her, “Mom, I just hate it. I hate that I’m gay.”

Photo courtesy of Pepper Fox

provided varying accounts of the night Murdered throughout the investigation and details Three long weeks passed before Jason’s that have been proven untrue. family got answers as to where their son was.

A fifth man, Sean Bellah, who had On October 4, his body was found in a shal- reportedly messaged Hillestad over Facelow grave at the address he had confided in book, stating, “You need to go explain what that fateful text. It was later revealed that he happened and be a better man, dude, you had been brutally beaten, then buried with can’t just hide what you did to a 19-year-old his hands tied behind his back, harrowing kid,” was booked for providing police with details that have shocked the community of misleading information.

Newport, reminding some of the murder of Arraignments were conducted in Matthew Shepard in 1998.

November, and the trial is set for February All four men face multiple charges, 1 at 9 a.m.; it will be available to the public including first-degree murder. They have via Zoom.

Photo courtesy of Pepper Fox

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January 29, 2021

In the meantime, Jason’s family and the community of Newport have been left with no substantial details on the case, including the motive.

comment as to whether or not Jason’s murder constitutes one.

“I have full, good reason to believe— and so do other people—that Jason was killed because he’s gay,” said his mother, Justice for Jason Pepper Fox, in an interview with Montana Speculation that Jason’s sexuality had a Right Now. Jason’s father reportedly also large role in his murder has spread through- believes that his bisexuality was one of sevout the community and beyond. In October, eral factors that could have played a role shortly after his body was found, a memo- in the crimes, but not that it was the most rial site set up by his mother was vandal- probable cause. ized with homophobic slurs, and while Pepper also believes that the case local law enforcement recognized the des- deserves more fast-paced and transparent ecration as a hate crime, they have yet to investigation, so that justice for her son can be served. She cites the police as unwilling to look further into things.

“They’d rather look away,” she told me.

“They don’t want a hate crime in Newport.”

The sheriff’s office has stated that it cannot provide further details on an ongoing case, however, pressure on local officials is mounting. In recent weeks, the case has been noticed by thousands of people on social media apps like TikTok and Instagram, with growing content collected under the hashtag #JusticeforJasonFox. The Spectrum Center in Spokane has also created an online campaign calling for action from local officials: www.spectrumcenterspokane.org/justice-for-jason-fox.

While a motive is being determined, Jason’s family remains in mourning for his sudden loss. “I don’t get to see him graduate or get married or adopt kids or become comfortable in his own skin,” his mother stated. “And I lost more than my son: I lost my family. I lost my friend.”

Kylin Brown, SGN contributing writer and coach at the College Success Foundation, hails from the small town of Newport, WA. She moved to Capitol Hill after graduating from Whitman College last May with a BA in sociology and environmental studies, and has spent her quarantine sharpening her writing skills, learning to sew, and eagerly taking in the sights and smells of Seattle.

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Photo courtesy of Seattle Pacific University

RINEDAHL

continued from cover “I had to sit down for a couple minutes because I was starting to get dizzy,” Rinedahl told SGN in a conversation with him and his lawyer, Daniel Kalish Tuesday night. “I was just so not expecting this information.”

Rinedahl, represented by HKM Employment Attorneys LLP, filed a suit on Monday Jan. 11 against SPU alleging discrimination on the basis of his sexual orientation. A copy of the case documents, as well as a petition requesting SPU hire Rinedahl in the nursing program full-time, can be found at hkm.com/rinedahl.

“This is what’s going on in Seattle in 2020, and now 2021, which is just unbelievable,” Rinedahl said.

Full-time faculty positions in nursing programs are rare, and Rinedahl became excited by the opportunity to have job security at an institution he enjoys teaching with. “It was just like a dream come true,” Rinedahl said. “Like, oh, my goodness, a full-time nursing instructor position. No one else has one.”

His qualifications, including practicing as a nurse for over 40 years, holding a Master’s of Science in Nursing degree, as well as teaching at other institutions, made him a qualified candidate for the role. When he notified his Dean and other faculty members at SPU of his application, there was excitement in his interest.

“And they were extremely excited,” Rinedahl said. “I mean, literally dancing in the room on a Zoom call when I told them I’d applied.”

Then, just weeks later, Lee told him he could not qualify for the position. “She clearly made the statement that I would have to sign a paper testifying that I’m heterosexual to be a full time instructor,” Rinedahl said. “However, that policy does not apply to a part-time instructor. That’s what I was told.”

The fact that he is gay wasn’t a secret to his superiors. Rinedahl is married and had even given a photo of his wedding to thenAssistant Dean Lee, when he was first hired as an adjunct professor. He’d even known Lee since before his employment with SPU,

Jéaux Rinedahl (l) with husband Jeff – Photo by Tom Ellis / Courtesy of Daniel Kalish of HKM Employment Attorneys

both serving on various committees in the Seattle area.

“Antwinett, I think, was supportive of the fact that she thought that this was wrong, but it’s the institutional decision by this group of privileged men who just want to have things the way that they see it,” Rinedahl said. Lee is currently the Interim Dean of the School of Health Sciences, per SPU’s website.

Any issue with faith was also out of the question, as Rinedahl is a Christian and filled out a statement of faith in both of his applications to SPU. Despite SPU’s refusal to consider him for the full-time faculty role, he’d been invited back to continue teaching as an adjunct professor.

“They knowingly hired me, as a gay man, to teach their nursing program ... and have continued to repeatedly asked me to teach

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classes part-time, even when I’ve told them I couldn’t because of other obligations,” Rinedahl said. “However, I’m not good enough to teach for them full-time. So there’s a huge discrepancy and discrimination there.”

Religious institutions can refuse to hire faculty on the basis of their sexual orientation for ministerial positions, per an amicus filed in the 2019 Bostock v. Clayton County U.S. Supreme Court ruling. However, Rinedahl doesn’t fall into this exception category because he’s been a professor in SPU’s nursing program.

“It’s our contention that Professor Rinedahl is not a minister in any sense of the word. And as a result, that ministerial exception does not apply here,” Daniel Kalish, Rinedahl’s attorney, told SGN. Kalish also noted that SPU has violated the Washington Law Against Discrimination.

“You know, clearly it’s against both state and municipal and federal law to discriminate against an individual based on sexual orientation,” Kalish said.

SPU’s refusal to hire LGBT individuals for professorial positions has been criticized in the past. The Falcon, SPU’s student newspaper, published an opinion piece in 2019 calling out the hiring policy for placing “a high emphasis on one’s sexuality as a hiring metric.”

When requested for comment, Tracy Norlen, SPU’s Director of Public Information provided the following statement: “We are currently reviewing the lawsuit and don’t have any comment at this time.” The petition on HKM’s website has over 1,900 signatures as of January 15th in support of Rinedahl being hired at SPU full-time.

January 29, 2021

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GSBA recognizes excellence in workplace diversity & inclusion SEATTLE (January 26, 2021) – The GSBA announces the recipients of its annual business and humanitarian awards. Each year, the GSBA honors businesses, nonprofit organizations, and community leaders who demonstrate leadership and success in their business or profession, promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace, visibly support the LGBTQ community, and invest time and resources into community-wide causes.

The 40th annual event will take place online Thursday, February 18, at 4:30 p.m.

For the first time, the Business & Humanitarian Awards celebration will directly benefit small business recovery through the GSBA Ready for Business Fund.

Created by GSBA and Comcast Washington in 2020 to strengthen the economic recovery of small and minority-owned businesses, the Ready for Business Fund awards cash grants and wrap-around support services. The next round of applications opens on Monday, March 15. All event registrations are taxdeductible donations to the Fund.

“We are thrilled to recognize individuals, businesses, and organizations who have persevered, despite the overwhelming challenges of the past year,” said Mark Rosén, acting president and CEO of the GSBA. “The innovation and resilience they have shown is one of the many reasons why our signature event, which previously has never been a fundraiser, will now support the Ready for Business Fund. Created with the help of founding partner, Comcast NBCUniversal, and many other businesses and individuals, this fund has already given grants to 65 BIPOC-, LGBTQ-, and women-owned small businesses.”

“My team and I are so honored and happily surprised to be named GSBA’s Business of the Year, and what a year it was,” said Dani Cone, founder and CEO of Cone & Steiner.

“However, it is these times that are true testament to the strength and importance of community. I couldn’t be more grateful to the Cone & Steiner team, our neighbors, and certainly GSBA to show up for what has felt like the building and rebuilding of our business every day. This is a group effort and one hell of a marathon, but we can do this, and we are doing this...together.”

“Throughout 2020, these businesses and leaders repeatedly changed and transformed to continue to serve our community during a global pandemic and financial crisis, stood up against systemic racial injustice, and served as an example to us all of what it looks like when businesses ‘walk the walk,’” said Rosén.

GSBA will recognize and celebrate the following recipients: • New Business of the Year: Veritas Electric; Deborah McGowan, owner Founded in 2019, Veritas Electric is a woman-owned residential and commercial electrical contractor. After being frustrated for many years with the construction industry’s culture, McGowan found a way to make a living in the field she is passionate about while creating a positive work environment centered on learning and collaboration. The name, Veritas – the Roman goddess of truth – fits the company’s values of honesty and integrity. Employees and customers know that Veritas is a safe place where all are welcome and celebrated.

• Business of the Year: Cone & Steiner, Dani Cone, founder & CEO Cone & Steiner (C&S) is a modern take on the classic general store and honors the belief that people come together over good food and drink. It features specialty, local,

6 Seattle Gay News

and basic goods at the two Seattle stores and online platform. C&S is based on founder Dani Cone’s great-grandfather Sam Cone’s original store of the same name, established in Seattle in 1915 shortly after arriving in the US. As a young man who didn’t know anyone or even know the language, he created a community for himself through his business, providing people with meats, groceries, provisions, and a space to gather. Cone & Steiner is where and how community happens.

• Business Leader of the Year: Laura Clise, Intentionalist, founder & CEO Intentionalist is a resource and online guide for local small businesses owned by women, people of color, veterans, LGBTQ, families, and differently-abled people.

Intentionalist helps consumers make everyday decisions to spend money with intention and contribute to the businesses that keep our communities vibrant and diverse.

Laura Clise founded Intentionalist to help close the gap between intention and action by connecting consumers with various local companies to make everyday spending more intentional. She is a corporate “intrapreneur” turned social entrepreneur with a passion for instigating impact at the intersection of business and society.

• Corporate Leader of the Year: Symetra Headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, with Pacific Northwest roots that go back 60 years, Symetra is a financial services company offering retirement, life insurance, and employee benefits products nationwide. Symetra’s vision – to create a world where more people have access to financial freedom – is grounded in its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Those values also drive the company’s Symetra Empowers Communities program, which combines community and civic partnerships, resources, and advocacy to build resilient and robust community support systems focusing on BIPOC communities, women, and at-risk youth.

• Nonprofit of the Year: U.T.O.P.I.A. WA (United Territories of Pacific Islanders’ Alliance - WA) UTOPIA was founded to create a safe, welcoming, supportive, and vibrant space to address basic needs, build pathways toward new opportunities, foster a sense of common purpose, and advocate for social justice, leadership, and wellness among members of the queer and trans Pacific Islander (QTPI, or “cutie-pie”) community. UTOPIA is a transgender- and Fa’afafine-led, member-based

January 29, 2021

organization driven by a deeply dedicated group of community volunteers. (Fa’afafine is a cultural gender identity native to Samoa translated as “in the manner of a woman.”)

Cultural alignment and cultural identity play significant roles in the organization’s decision-making and organizing. UTOPIA exists because of the fundamental necessity of the QTPI to create their own loving, accepting sisterhood and community.

• Community Leader of the Year: Monserrat Padilla Monserrat Padilla has been organizing LGBTQ, immigrant, and communities of color on the ground for over 12 years with a vision to build collective movement power.

She is currently the director of the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, a powerful immigrant-led network with over 250 organizations that protect and advance immigrant and refugee communities through a multiracial, multilingual, and multifaith coalition. Monserrat’s recent movement victory involved her leading to fruition a state policy win that brought $40 million in COVID-19 relief funding for undocumented Washington state residents.

• Champion for Small Business Recovery: COMCAST NBCUniversal and Diem Ly Comcast is deeply committed to Washington, where its more than 4,200 employees serve more than 1.6 million residential and business customers throughout the state. Realizing that Comcast could play a role in economic recovery for Washington’s minority-owned small businesses that had been disproportionately impacted

by COVID-19, Diem Ly, director of community investment and external affairs at Comcast NBCUniversal, approached the GSBA in the summer of 2020 to cofound the Ready for Business Fund. Diem worked closely with the GSBA team to establish the fund, fundraise throughout the community, and reach small businesses in need.

• Voice for Social Justice: Seattle Storm The four-time WNBA champions Seattle Storm represent the intersection of civic responsibility, social justice, and the powerful platform of professional sports. The team [brought] much-needed awareness and attention to racial equity issues. On July 25, New York Liberty guard Layshia Clarendon and Seattle Storm forward Breanna Stewart opened the 2020 WNBA season with a speech about the league’s season-long commitment to social justice. Besides dedicating

the season to Breonna Taylor, the 26-yearold emergency technician who was fatally shot in her home on March 13 by Louisville, Kentucky, police officers, the WNBA would be partnering with the “Say Her Name” campaign, an initiative Crenshaw founded in 2014 that is “committed to saying the names and fighting for justice for Black women.”

GSBA recognizes the Seattle Storm for their committment to action around the promotion of equity, inclusion and diversity.

• Board Chair’s Award: Mona Smith Mona Smith was selected to receive the Board Chair’s award for her ongoing support of GSBA and the GSBA Scholarship Fund, [having donated] countless hours of legal consulting and services to support the work of the organization. Mona is always ready to help out when the GSBA needs legal advice around a contract or negotiation. In numerous leadership positions with the GSBA, including two-term president and Public Policy Task Force chair, she oversaw key policy work that strengthened the sustainability of the GSBA and the GSBA Scholarship Fund, while expanding the role of the GSBA in advocating for both civil rights and business issues.

Tickets to Forward Vision: The 40th Annual Business & Humanitarian Awards range from the free Community Member level to the $1000 Small Business Champion. The $250 level and above include a virtual room for ten people. Registration and more information are available at www.gsbaevents.com.

Established in 1981, the GSBA is Washington State’s LGBTQ and allied chamber of commerce and is the largest of its kind in North America. The chamber represents over 1,400 small business, corporate, and nonprofit members who share the values of promoting diversity, equity, equality, and inclusion in the workplace. The GSBA proudly serves as a connector across the region, bringing communities together through business while advocating for civil rights and small business. The GSBA also promotes LGBTQ tourism through Travel Out Seattle, advocates for small businesses in Seattle’s Capitol Hill Neighborhood through the Capitol Hill Business Alliance (CHBA), and invests in the next generation of LGBTQ allied leaders through the GSBA Scholarship & Education Fund. For more information on GSBA, visit www.thegsba.org.

Courtesy of the GSBA

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Seattle Pride events to go virtual, again

Photo courtesy of Seattle Pride

SEATTLE (Jan. 27, 2021) – As the COVID-19 pandemic response continues to restrict large public gatherings, Seattle Pride – the organizer of Seattle Pride in the Park and Seattle Pride Parade – will shift its annual LGBTQIA+ celebratory events to a virtual weekend (June 26 & 27, 2021) of speakers, performances, and more.

“With the pandemic still spreading at a rapid pace, we could not in good conscience move forward with plans for our June events, which bring thousands of people together in close proximity,” said Seattle Pride Executive Director Krystal Marx. “Our efforts now shift to building on the success of last year’s virtual Pride, so we can continue to bring our community together to celebrate diversity.”

Details of Seattle Pride’s plans for June are in development but are expected to be announced within a couple months. In the meantime, per tradition, Seattle Pride is once again calling on the public to submit suggestions for this year’s Pride event theme. To submit a theme idea, visit the submission form at SeattlePride.org.

“We are grateful for the proactive, responsible actions of Seattle Pride in putting the community’s health as their top priority given the ongoing spread of COVID-19,” said Chris Swenson, City of Seattle Special Event Committee Chair.

“Under Gov. Inslee’s ‘Healthy Washington Roadmap to Recovery’ plan, we have no assurances on when the Special Events Committee can once again be able to consider major parades or festivals, or guidelines on how event organizers will be able to effectively manage crowd sizes according to evolving public health guidelines.”

Despite the lingering pandemicrelated challenges, Seattle Pride and other LGBTQIA+ groups – including PrideFest (organizers of PrideFest at Seattle Center) and Gender Justice League (organizers of TransPride) – look forward to the possibility of hosting smaller-scale, in-person events incorporating public health protocols as soon as possible, as the organizations closely monitor guideline updates and confer with local health officials in making that determination later this year.

“We’ve loved the opportunities for partnership and community that came with virtual Pride celebrations, but if it’s safe to do so, PrideFest is committed to doing inperson events in 2021. The power of solidarity and the energy of coming together as a community is more important than ever as we look forward to recovering from the pandemic,” said PrideFest Executive Director Egan Orion.

“Gender Justice League remains committed to celebrating the lives and accomplish-

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ments of our transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse communities through thoughtful events online and, when it is safe to do so, in person,” added Gender Justice League CoExecutive Director Elayne Wylie.

No matter the size or scale of any in-person events later in the year, Seattle Pride is optimistic about the return of its Seattle Pride in the Park and Seattle Pride Parade events next year, as it moves forward with planning this year’s virtual Pride celebration.

Given last year’s hugely successful virtual Pride weekend, which averaged more than 3,300 online participants each day, Seattle Pride is excited about the possibilities for this year, grateful for its promotional collaboration with PrideFest and Gender Justice League, and thankful for the hundreds of event sponsors, community partners, vendors, and event participants for the continued support as plans shift once again for a different kind of Pride celebration.

Seattle Pride’s events are made possible with generous support from presenting partners Alaska Airlines, Facebook, and T-Mobile, and from Seattle Pride’s Official TV Partner, KIRO 7, as well as many other community partners.

For information on how to help support this year’s events, contact sponsorship@ seattlepride.org.

Seattle Pride is the 501(c)(4) not-forprofit organization that produces the Seattle Pride Parade, Seattle Pride in the Park, and other pride-related events and promotions, as well as providing grants and sponsorship support to community-based LGBTQIA+ serving organizations statewide, and year-round advocacy in support of diversity, inclusivity, and equal human rights for all.

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Seattle Pride’s Seattle Out & Proud Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation that exists to educate the public about the LGBTQIA+ community and the rights of its members, and to eliminate discrimination against and to further the civil rights of members of the LGBTQIA+ community by promoting the arts and supporting leadership development.

To learn more about Seattle Pride and Pride-related events, grants, and advocacy, visit www.SeattlePride.org, subscribe to our e-newsletters and advocacy alerts, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn @SeattlePride, and on Pinterest and Twitter @OurSeattlePride.

Courtesy of Seattle Pride

INAUGURATION DAY Photos by Nate Gowdy

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Celebrating 47 Years!

Photos by Nate Gowdy

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“The Hill We Climb”

Amanda Gorman, the nation’s first-ever youth poet laureate, read the following poem during the inauguration of President Joe Biden on January 20

Amanda Gorman – Photo by Patrick Semansky / AP

When day comes we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this neverending shade?

The loss we carry, a sea we must wade We’ve braved the belly of the beast We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace And the norms and notions of what just is Isn’t always just-ice And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it Somehow we do it Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken but simply unfinished We the successors of a country and a time Where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president only to find herself reciting for one And yes we are far from polished far from pristine but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect We are striving to forge a union with purpose To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us

but what stands before us We close the divide because we know, to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another We seek harm to none and harmony for all Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true: That even as we grieved, we grew That even as we hurt, we hoped That even as we tired, we tried That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious Not because we will never again know defeat but because we will never again sow division Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree And no one shall make them afraid If we’re to live up to our own time Then victory won’t lie in the blade But in all the bridges we’ve made That is the promise to glade The hill we climb If only we dare It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit, it’s the past we step into and how we repair it We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation

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rather than share it Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy And this effort very nearly succeeded But while democracy can be periodically delayed it can never be permanently defeated In this truth in this faith we trust For while we have our eyes on the future history has its eyes on us This is the era of just redemption We feared at its inception We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour but within it we found the power to author a new chapter To offer hope and laughter to ourselves So while once we asked, how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?

Now we assert How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was but move to what shall be A country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation Our blunders become their burdens But one thing is certain:

If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children’s birthright So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left with Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west, we will rise from the windswept northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states, we will rise from the sunbaked south We will rebuild, reconcile and recover and every known nook of our nation and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful will emerge, battered and beautiful When day comes we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid The new dawn blooms as we free it For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it If only we’re brave enough to be it

Celebrating 47 Years!

Volunteers wanted to help save historic Seattle Gay Newspapers!

Volunteers are needed to sort through over 250 boxes of Seattle Gay News issues from the 1980s to the 20-teens.

Sorting involves identifying not more than 10 copies of each issue, putting the issues in chronological order and organizing by year. Non-SGN items will be separated out as well as copies that exceed ten per issue.

Boxes will be labelled and issue numbers will be identified per box. Once the boxes are arranged chronologically and we have a list of all the issues, the copies will be organized into complete runs with one copy of each issue in each set.

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Volunteers need to be able to lift boxes up to 40 pounds, stand on a cement floor, and be willing to follow COVID-19 protocols which involve having your temperature taken as you enter the building and wearing a mask at all times.

The work takes place at Seattle City Hall, 600 Fifth Avenue, in the vault that holds records for the Seattle Municipal Archives.

Please contact:

tom4seattle@msn.com to volunteer or to seek further information.

January 29, 2021

Seattle Gay News 11

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January 29, 2021

Celebrating 47 Years!

THIS AD SPACE HAS BEEN GENEROUSLY DONATED BY KRISTIN COSTELLO IN MEMORY OF SGN PUBLISHER GEORGE BAKAN Visit us online www.sgn.org

January 29, 2021

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Nine US Catholic bishops go rogue, sign pro-LGBTQ statement

Image courtesy of the Tyler Clementi Foundation

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Nine US Catholic bishops have signed a statement to LGBTQ youth, telling them the church supports them.

The bishops worked with the Tyler Clementi Foundation, named after a young Gay man who committed suicide after he was outed by a roommate. The foundation works to counter bullying in schools, workplaces, and faith communities.

The nine include one cardinal, the highest clerical rank in the Catholic Church: Cardinal Joseph Tobin, archbishop of Newark.

The next highest-ranking signer was Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe. The bishops’ statement acknowledges that LGBTQ youth face a greater risk of homelessness and suicide than their straight peers.

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“As Catholic bishops in the United States, we join with the Tyler Clementi Foundation in standing up for at-risk LGBT youth in our country,” the bishops wrote.

“As we see in the Gospels, Jesus Christ taught love, mercy and welcome for all people, especially for those who felt persecuted or marginalized in any way; and the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that LGBT people are to be treated with ‘respect, compassion, and sensitivity.’

“All people of goodwill should help, support, and defend LGBT youth; who attempt suicide at much higher rates than their straight counterparts; who are often homeless because of families who reject them; who are rejected, bullied and harassed; and who are the target of violent acts at alarming rates.

“The Catholic Church values the Godgiven dignity of all human life, and we take

January 29, 2021

this opportunity to say to our LGBT friends, especially young people, that we stand with you and oppose any form of violence, bullying, or harassment directed at you.

“Most of all, know that God created you, God loves you and God is on your side.”

Archbishop Wester told America Magazine, a Jesuit weekly, that he signed because he wanted young LGBTQ people to know “you have worth, you have value and you’re a child of God.” The statement from nine US bishops, including a cardinal, is noteworthy because the US hierarchy is reputedly very conservative on social issues. Some high-ranking US clerics – Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, for example – have been vocally antiLGBTQ. “We have our teachings, which we prize and cherish, but those teachings need to be

understood in the proper context of love and mercy,” Archbishop Wester said.

“Sometimes people can make equivocations, ‘Well if it’s a sin to engage in a homosexual act, then I must be a terrible person.’ The church doesn’t teach that, and it’s important [young people] don’t get that erroneous impression.”

Father James Martin, a Jesuit and a leading pro-LGBTQ voice in the Catholic church, worked with the Tyler Clementi Foundation to identify which bishops they could approach.

On his Facebook page, Martin called the bishops’ statement, “an historic document opposing violence, harassment, and bullying of LGBT people, especially youth.”

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President Joe Biden meets with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (r), Vice President Kamala Harris (l), in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, in Washington.

– Photo by Evan Vucci / AP

TRANS BAN continued from cover

Biden’s new executive order, signed on January 25, allows Trans people to serve openly in the US military, as they could under the Obama administration.

Biden also ordered military records to be corrected if service members were discharged or denied reenlistment or continued service due to their gender identity.

The Obama-era rules were cancelled

by Trump in a 2017 tweet forbidding Trans people “to serve in any capacity in the US Military.” As justification, Trump cited medical costs and potential “disruption.”

Lawsuits on behalf of Trans service

members promptly followed. Two federal judges stayed the ban, but the Supreme Court ultimately let the ban take effect in a 5-4 vote in January 2019.

The Trump ban affected up to 15,000 service members, according to tallies from the National Center for Transgender Equality and Transgender American Veterans Association.

A 2016 RAND Corporation study estimated that the number of active-duty Transgender troops could range from 2,000 to 11,000 but stressed that the true number could vary based on self-reporting.

“Repealing the military ban sends a powerful message that transgender people belong in our country,” ACLU senior legislative representative Ian Thompson said

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in an emailed statement. The ACLU represented a number of Trans plaintiffs suing to overturn Trump’s ban.

The ACLU added that it hoped Biden’s reversal would be “the first of many essential steps to not only roll back the many discriminatory policies from the Trump administration but go further than any previous administration in fully recognizing transgender and nonbinary people.”

Gillian Branstetter, a spokesperson for the National Women’s Law Center, said she is optimistic that the Biden administration will keep LGBTQ rights a priority while juggling the pandemic and other crises – partially due to key nominations like Vanita Gupta as associate attorney general and Xavier Becerra as Health and Human

Services secretary.

“This is a significant and hopeful moment for our country. Over the last three years, we’ve fought to prove that transgender people are not a burden, a hindrance, or a distraction – we are an equal and contributing part of this society just as much as any other group, and this development vindicates that basic principle” said Staff Sergeant Cathrine (Katie) Schmid, a 15-year active service member of the US Army.

“This isn’t simply about our place in the military, or my place in my unit. It’s about our right to be treated as co-equal members of society. This harmful and backwards policy will now be put where it belongs: in a very short, shameful chapter of US military history.”

January 29, 2021

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The Root: From the uninsured to the unhoused NEW YORK – Cori Bush is a renaissance woman. Not only is the Missouri congresswoman the first Black woman to represent the state’s First Congressional District, she’s also a registered nurse, ordained pastor for the people of St. Louis, community organizer, single mother, and the first activist from the Black Lives Matter movement ever elected to the United States Congress.

She also is currently uninsured.

That’s what led Rep. Bush to approach The Root about having a one-on-one conversation with epidemiologist and antiracism activist Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones to discuss the benefits and any potential risks of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Rep. Cori Bush and Dr. Jones have a frank discussion about how the medical establishment can address the concerns Black folks have about the vaccine given past abuses against the Black community, and where those from the hardest hit communities fit into the larger picture in the video.

“I [would] go to the ER for a sinus infection or a toothache,” said Bush. “And it was really difficult to pay those bills after receiving emergency room care.”

Rep. Cori Bush is among the approximately 30 million people who live without health insurance in this country (though she will be insured come February 1), with people of color making up about half of the uninsured. Black folks are also more than one and a half times more likely to be without coverage than white people. And in the midst of a global pandemic, Rep. Bush is paying special attention to public health concerns faced by vulnerable populations – like people who are unhoused, the uninsured, and those who are incarcerated – especially after her own two monthlong encounter with COVID-19.

To read the full article, [go to https://bit. ly/3ow4DkQ].

Courtesy of The Root U.S. Congresswoman Cori Bush – Photo by Josh Roberson / AP

Creating Change 2021 brings together Queer activists at critical time for LGBTQ community

Image courtesy of National LGBTQ Task Force

WASHINGTON, DC (January 22, 2021) – For the last 33 years, Creating Change has brought the queer community together to speak truth to power, address and discuss the diverse and intersectional challenges we face, and celebrate all of ourselves.

For a full schedule including all plenaries, panels and workshops go to: www. thetaskforce.org/creatingchange/scheduleat-a-glance.html.

The following can be attributed to Kierra Johnson, incoming executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force: “Next week, scores of LGBTQ people will gather at the end of a month that has seen an insurrection, an impeachment, and an inauguration. It is more important than ever for queer people to come together, and Creating Change could not be happening at a better time to gather, strategize, and plan. We must harness the energy from our pain, our loss, our outrage from these past few years and pour it into our communities. There is a lot of work ahead of us – to right the wrongs that have been done and disrupt the cycles that keep perpetuating them. Racial equity, economic justice, immigrant rights, disabil-

ity rights – these are all queer issues. Access to healthcare, community programming, accurate and inclusive education – these are queer issues. As Shirley Chisolm said, you don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas. This is our time. We will raise our voices, stand in our power, and create a world where equity, liberation and justice are not just ideas but our inevitable future.”

In a historic leadership transition, Kierra Johnson will take the helm as the first Black woman to hold the executive director position at the National LGBTQ Task Force.

Conference attendees will celebrate her achievements, successes, and deep care for and commitment to the movement. Rea Carey, the current executive director, will join Kierra Johnson to deliver the annual State of the Movement address, centering us amidst the crises we are living through.

Attendees will have an opportunity to thank Carey for her years of service and welcome Johnson in her new leadership role beginning February 1, 2021.

Creating Change 2021 will, as always,

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feature a wide array of plenaries, daylong institutes, workshops, caucus sessions, and keynotes, as well as game nights, an open mic, the Opening Cruise, and the Agents of Change Ball. But most of all, the conference will be a place for our collective community spirit to recharge, renew, and advance as we face an unprecedented time in our community and our country’s history.

Note: a keynote speaker has been added on Thursday, January 28, noon to 1:00 pm ET / 9:00 to 10:00 am PT. Natalie Diaz is Mojave and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Tribe. Her first poetry collection, When My Brother Was an Aztec, was published by Copper Canyon Press, and her second book, Postcolonial Love Poem, was published by Graywolf Press in March 2020. She is a MacArthur fellow, a Lannan Literary Fellow, a United States Artists Ford Fellow, and a Native Arts Council Foundation Artist Fellow. Diaz is director of the Center for Imagination in the Borderlands and is the Maxine and Jonathan Marshall Chair in Modern and Contemporary Poetry at Arizona State University. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

Accessibility The Creating Change Conference is committed to radical accessibility. Everyone benefits when everyone participates fully and equitably in every aspect of the conference. ASL and Spanish interpretation of individual workshop and caucus sessions will be provided if requested in advance. Further, no one will be turned away for financial reasons. Anyone may contact creatingchange@thetaskforce.org for additional information.

The National LGBTQ Task Force advances full freedom, justice, and equity for LGBTQ people. It isbuilding a future where everyone can be free to be their entire selves in every aspect of their lives. Today, despite all the progress we’ve made to end discrimination, millions of LGBTQ people face barriers in every aspect of their lives: in housing, employment, healthcare, retirement, and basic human rights. For more information go to www.thetaskforce.org.

Courtesy of the National LGBTQ Task Force

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Making dog dreams a reality

Photo courtesy of Ginger’s Pet Rescue

by Hannah Saunders SGN Contributing Writer It has been fifteen years since Ginger Luke founded Ginger’s Pet Rescue, one of the largest such 501(c)(3) nonprofits in Washington state. Since then, the organization has been able to save over 18,000 that were destined for death row.

It all started back in January of 2006 when Luke and her husband, Jakob Lueck, who co-own the Rickshaw Restaurant in North Seattle, were out making deliveries. The couple was dropping off food to a nearby apartment, and each time they did so, they heard nonstop barking.

When Luke made her next delivery, she spoke to the owner of the barking dog, who said that it was mean and kept in the bath-

room for a reason: it needed to be put down.

Moments later, Luke opened the bathroom door, and a dachshund came bouncing into her arms. She noticed the dog’s collar was so tight around its neck that the skin beneath it was covered in sores. Before leaving, Luke was able to convince the owner to hand over the dog, Barney, for fifty bucks.

Unlike other animal rescue facilities around the globe, Ginger’s does not have an actual physical location. Instead, it heavily relies on fosters in the Seattle area to house dogs as they adjust from being rescued to being adopted.

One of the organization’s goals in the upcoming year is to find about 5–8 acres of land where they can care for the dogs they rescue, with either a house with a barn, or outbuildings.

“2021 will be our new beginning, and we now have a dream and a goal after 15 years having Ginger’s Pet Rescue. We realize that we are better and stronger than ever, and we need to start looking for a SANCTUARY for all dogs from all over the world,” stated Luke in an email.

She continued, “Since March 2020 we have adopted over 700 dogs to date. We proudly save dogs worldwide from Korea slaughter farms, Iran, Mexico, Thailand, Taiwan, China, and the USA!” A large portion of the dogs Ginger’s Pet Rescue saves live in tightly cramped outdoor cages, are given hardly any food or water, and are otherwise completely neglected.

Some of those rescues were even awaiting human consumption in South Korea.

Even though a court there ruled in June of

Ginger’s Pet Rescue was featured on Animal Planet back in 2017, when a truck was given to the organization.

– Photo courtesy of Ginger’s Pet Rescue

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January 29, 2021

2018 that killing dogs for their meat was illegal [https://bit.ly/3t1mJP5], the consumption of dog meat is not illegal, and illegal dog meat farms still exist. According to Humane Society International, a US-based non-profit that rescues animals around the globe, approximately one million dogs are killed (primarily via electrocution) for meat annually in South Korea.

However, an opinion poll from the fall of 2020 shows that 84% of South Koreans do not, and refuse to eat dog meat [https://bit. ly/2NDE6Fo]. (Certain human health risks that are associated with eating dog meat include trichinellosis, cholera, and rabies.)

Ginger’s Pet Rescue has rescued 277 dogs from South Korea since January of 2020. And during her 15 years of rescuing dogs, Luke’s organization has partnered with other such organizations to sponsor and home thousands of dogs that would have otherwise been killed for human consumption.

Iran is another country of interest when it comes to rescuing canines, due to its high poverty rates. According to Luke, there is a huge lack of funding for food and medical care – to the point that the dogs only get fed once every three days.

According to Ginger’s Pet Rescue, the average cost of medical expenses and travel for one overseas pup is $2,000 to $5,000.

If the organization cannot afford to bring these canines stateside, they partner with rescue groups abroad to provide the dogs in need with food, vaccinations, microchips, and wheelchairs.

“There are hundreds of dogs waiting to come here to find their happy, forever family.

It’s unbelievable, but we are doing our best, and the ones we have saved are so happy in safe and loving homes,” said Luke.

Ginger’s Pet Rescue’s next steps are finding a physical location to house doggies in need of saving, and they are accepting tips on potential locations. They are also in search of animal-loving volunteers to take on roles such as grooming, fostering, and transporting.

If you would like to help out or learn more, visit www.gingerspetrescue.org.

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FILM

Noir thriller Little Things a vexing conundrum

Rami Malek, Jared Leto, and Denzel Washington in The Little Things – Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer THE LITTLE THINGS Theaters & HBO Max Kern County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe “Deke” Deacon (Denzel Washington) isn’t pleased about heading back to Los Angeles. Once he was a decorated L.A. homicide detective, but for a variety of tragic, deeply personal reasons, he left for a quieter life policing relatively minor crimes outside of the city. There are too many memories lurking in the underbelly of the City of Angels, and Deke isn’t excited about revisiting a single one of them.

Now, back for the first time in years to pick up some evidence and nothing more, Deke is needled by young, cocksure Detective Sergeant Jim Baxter (Rami Malek), a rising star in the L.A. County Sheriff’s homicide department. He convinces the former sleuth to join him in visiting a particularly heinous crime scene, one that has all the earmarks of a vicious killer who has been terrorizing the city for quite some time now.

Save what happens during its climactic act, most of what follows next in this 1990s-set mystery from writer-director John Lee Hancock (The Rookie, The Blind Side) won’t catch many viewers by surprise, owing a giant debt to David Fincher’s Se7en and a lesser one to any number of noir thrillers from the 1940s and ’50s.

Mutual respect grows between Deke and Baxter as they unofficially join forces to catch this killer. They encounter the sinister Albert Sparma (Jared Leto), a morbidly curious and creepily intelligent refrigerator repairman, who appears to enjoy being the pair’s chief suspect.

Using stunning shots by Oscar-winner John Schwartzman (Seabiscuit) and

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an unnerving score by Thomas Newman (1917), Hancock does a fine job crafting a malignantly gripping aura that permeates the proceedings start to finish. He also superbly sets up Deke, allowing Washington the freedom to bring the veteran law enforcement officer to life in a variety of subtly disquieting ways. The director also appears to be having a terrific time toying with the audience as it pertains to Sparma, rarely overplaying his hand as he attempts

detailing how dedication can morph into a form of psychologically crippling obsession – I can’t say Hancock digs as deeply as he could have. His observations are rather obvious, making it hard to care if Baxter will end up following Deke down a similar self-destructive rabbit hole, one that left him a shell of his former self and led the detective to exile himself to the isolation of small-town nowhere.

Even so, the final act is rather sublime.

Denzel Washington and Rami Malek in The Little Things – Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

to keep people guessing whether or not this maniacal manipulator is the killer Deke and Baxter are hunting.

All of which makes the overall lack of originality during the first two-thirds of the film noticeably frustrating. As a relationship tale between Deke and Baxter, one intent on showcasing their similarities and differences – but equally committed to

January 29, 2021

Taking a page from George Sluizer’s 1988 Dutch stunner The Vanishing, the story heads to an almost entirely unexpected location, making the ambiguity of Sparma’s malevolent intentions as they pertain to Deke and Baxter a catalyst for an even more insidiously cataclysmic, self-administered tragedy. Hancock twists the knife and takes the audience down a noir path,

where the line between hero and villain disappears, and doing so with an intensely focused flourish that’s wonderful.

Washington is outstanding, his initial insecurity gradually giving way to a ferocious sense of purpose that’s uncomfortably thrilling. Malek took some time for me to warm up to, but once I did, I found his performance cagily captivating, like when Baxter inadvertently digs a grave for the killer that he is more likely to fall into than his adversary is. Both actors achieve a lived-in, hardscrabble chemistry that’s forged in the fires of unimaginable bedlam and heartrending chaos, and Washington and Malek give everything they’ve got every step of the way.

As for Leto, this is as love-him-or-hatehim as the Dallas Buyers Club star gets.

His chillingly mannered work as Sparma is going to rub a lot of people the wrong way, and even though I found what the actor was doing to be rather excellent, I can’t hold it against anyone who ends up feeling the opposite. Everything Leto did worked for me, and it’s clear Hancock gave him the leeway to make all of the character’s peculiar, idiosyncratic vocal cadences and ungainly physical movements his own.

Is that enough for a recommendation?

I’m honestly having a fair bit of trouble coming up with an answer to that question.

There’s plenty to love about Hancock’s latest, including a bleakly nihilistic climax that legitimately caught me unawares. But the initial plot dynamics are hardly revelatory, much of the director’s script covering overfamiliar territory with little in the way of imagination or nuance.

For a film obsessed with nailing every minute detail, it’s those small missteps that make The Little Things a vexing conundrum, and for the life of me, I haven’t the first clue as to how big a thing that will be for viewers who decide to give this thriller a look.

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Affleck, Segel, and Johnson breathe genuine life into a melodramatic Friend

Casey Affleck and Jason Segal in Our Friend – Photo courtesy of Gravitas Ventures

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer OUR FRIEND Theaters & VOD Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s cancer melodrama Our Friend doesn’t waste any time letting viewers know what they are in for. The opening scene is an intense moment between Matt Teague (Casey Affleck) and his actress wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson) as they discuss having a serious talk with their daughters Molly (Isabella Kai) and Evie (Violet McGraw). It sets the stage for the tearful tragedy and heartbreak to come, pulling zero punches as it states in no uncertain terms: Nicole is going to die.

What follows is a nonlinear take on journalist Matthew Teague’s 2015 Esquire article “The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word,” adapted and augmented by screenwriter Brad Ingelsby (The Way Back). It not only follows the couple’s battle against Nicole’s ovarian cancer but also examines their deep friendship with college buddy Dane Faucheux (Jason Segel). He comes to live with the family as something of a live-in guest, nanny, and caretaker during the final year of Nicole’s life, becoming an emotional backstop for the entire Teague clan right when they need it the most.

I can’t say I feel like this approach always works particularly well. Even with little typed interstitials stating the time and place, I found it easy to lose track of where we were in the story at any given time. This also made it difficult to get a feel for the secondary supporting characters.

This was particularly frustrating when, at one crucial point, Matt lets a close friend of Nicole’s know clearly that everyone, save probably Dane (but even on that point he’s a little uncertain), will disappear from their lives one by one the closer they get to the end.

Because I hardly knew who this person was, this had the unfortunate side effect of making a follow-up sequence where this premonition

this three-dimensional puzzle that had to be removed if this collapsible pyramid of tragedy and grief was going to come to its inevitable conclusion later on, and because of that, its authenticity hit me as being more suspect than by all accounts it should have.

Cowperthwaite doesn’t always appear to have a firm grasp on the interlocking pieces of the intricate, time-bouncing narrative,

and I’m still not entirely sure why Ingelsby felt the need to structure things with such purposefully annoying convolution. There were moments where the inherently personal nature of the Teague family’s story is lost in all the discombobulating narrative nonsense, lessening the impact of the final scenes substantially.

That’s a shame, because the core trio

is wonderful. As noted, Affleck grounds his performance in ways that are haunting.

Johnson doesn’t have quite as much to work with but still makes the most of each second of screen time. She brings unexpected moments of giddy, self-effacing playfulness to her portrayal of Nicole that are sublime.

But the actress also has the ability to subtlely turn on a dime and showcase a myriad of interior emotional nuances that broke my heart, while also providing a salve to my wounded soul. Johnson stripped herself to the bone while bringing her character to life.

Then there is Segel. This is arguably his strongest work to date, the Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The End of the Tour actor stealing virtually every scene he is in.

Dane’s friendship with Matt and Nicole is heartbreakingly sincere. His love for them (and theirs for him) cascades off the screen like a pristine, humanistic waterfall. More than that, though, Segel taps into some dark, incredibly personal layers of longing and need that caught me by surprise, such as during a brief desert camping sojourn, where he encounters a magnetic fellow traveler (a divine Gwendoline Christie).

Simply marvelous.

Yet none of my issues with the film stopped the tears from freely flowing by the time it reached its preordained conclusion, and to say I wasn’t visibly moved would be a lie. Ultimately, the three performances from Affleck, Segel, and Johnson make Our Friend worthwhile. They all tap into something affectingly genuine: the poignant intimacy of their collective achievement, a lifeaffirming celebration of friendship, love, and family that I found difficult to resist.

January 29, 2021

Seattle Gay News 19

Dakota Johnson in Our Friend – Photo courtesy of Gravitas Ventures

comes sadly true fall moderately flat.

Even though Cowperthwaite (Blackfish, Morgan Leavey) stages the moment beautifully, and although Affleck’s silent, intuitively internal performance when Matt unexpectedly sees the offending party on an impromptu trip to the grocery store is nothing short of perfect, the scene itself still left me cold. It felt like an obvious piece of

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

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

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

Report domestic violence and sexual assault.

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

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

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

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

Sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

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

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

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

20 Seattle Gay News

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

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

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

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

January 29, 2021

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

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

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

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

(425) 339-5298.

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

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

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

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

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

Celebrating 47 Years!

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

FILM

Gruesomely bleak Wrong Turn reinvent a backwoods terror

Charlotte Vega in Wrong Turn – Photo courtesy of Sabin Films

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer WRONG TURN Theaters & VOD on Feb. 26 Scott Shaw (Matthew Modine) has come to a tiny Virginia town located just off of the Appalachian Trail in search of his daughter Jen (Charlotte Vega). Six weeks ago, she and a group of her friends, including her boyfriend Darius (Adain Bradley), set out on a hike and were never heard from again. Scott is certain something bad has happened. But he also knows his little girl: Jen would do whatever it takes to survive, and Scott is going to find her no matter what the odds of his doing so might be.

Don’t let the presence of screenwriter Alan McElroy fool you, though: the survivalist horror yarn Wrong Turn from director Mike P. Nelson (The Domestics) doesn’t have much in common with its same-titled 2003 predecessor or the five increasingly gory, direct-to-video sequels that followed it. This is more a top-to-bottom reinvention than it is a remake or a reboot. Yet this new version could easily exist in the same world as its counterpart, the only thing separating the older series from this film being the state line splitting Virginia from its West Virginian cousin.

That’s an important distinction, one that could rile up fans of the previous franchise, mainly because of the absence of hungry mutant-hillbilly cannibals. Instead of trotting down those same 2003 trails, McElroy instead crafts something far more grounded this time around. Like some sort of creepy, unsettlingly nasty combination of Deliverance, The Strangers, and The Village, this is a brutally uncompromising descent into unflinching terror that kept me on the edge of my seat. There were moments where my heart was beating so fast I worried it was going to burst, and everything built to a clever coda I didn’t see coming.

The story is essentially split into two

parts: one following Scott as he learns from townsfolk about the dangers hikers encounter if they are foolish enough to stray off of the Appalachian Trail, and the other taking place six weeks prior and showing what sort of trouble Jen and her friends encountered during their wilderness adventure. It’s a little pointlessly convoluted, but not distractingly so, and I never had much trouble keeping track of time and understanding what was happening when.

beyond anything they could have imagined.

Jen stands at the center of all the action right from the start. The young woman is kind, intelligent, and selfless. She’s also stronger than she realizes. When one of her friends does something beyond the pale – even when those actions on the surface seem understandable, maybe even warranted – she’s the only one who calls them out. Yet not long after, Jen also stands up for this person when rolling over and denounc-

Matthew Modine in Wrong Turn – Photo courtesy of Sabin Films

It helps that McElroy and Nelson know why potential viewers would be interested in giving this new Wrong Turn a look, and that has nothing to do with Modine playing amateur small-town sleuth. No, it is the section focused on Jen, Darius, and the rest of their group, and their travails once they foolishly leave the trail, whereupon all the nightmarish dramatics take place. What they encounter, the traps they unearth, and the harsh truths they are forced to learn are depicted with cutthroat ferocity, true terror hunting them

Visit us online www.sgn.org

ing them would be easier to do, essentially refusing to pronounce them guilty as charged, even though doing so might save her own life.

Vega makes all of this work with captivating magnetism, which is good, because the remainder of her fellow hikers don’t get much of a chance to do the same. Bradley has the biggest part, but even he disappears for long stretches of the tale, and his final appearance doesn’t have anywhere near the emotional resonance I can’t help but believe

January 29, 2021

was intended. As for the others, while their overall diversity is refreshing, that does not mean any of them are all that memorable, and the only one who does make a lasting impression I don’t want to mention, as this has more to do with the gorily crushing viciousness of their demise than it does with their actual character. Modine is also very good, and his character’s transformation grew on me as things went along.

There’s also a tremendous performance turned in by veteran character actor Bill Sage. Problem is, I can’t really talk about it, as that would ruin a whole cadre of surprises and closely guarded secrets McElroy and Nelson do a solid job of concealing for roughly half of the picture’s running time.

What I will say is that, once Sage arrives, my blood stopped cold in my veins. Much like his mesmerizing work in the outstanding We Are What We Are and the otherwise disappointing Welcome to Willits, the actor towers above the fray with regal malevolence, and even though it’s only January, I have a sneaking suspicion I’ll be thinking about him and his character for the remainder of 2021.

Nelson doesn’t pull a single punch, and a lot of this can get unrelentingly bleak. But he stages all the murderous bedlam with confident precision, with cinematographer Nick Junkersfeld shooting with such viscerally kinetic intensity I couldn’t have torn my eyes away from the screen even had I wanted to.

While I’m sure many will miss the mutant-hillbilly cannibals of the previous series, for my money, this Virginiaset Wrong Turn is the superior backwoods sojourn into mayhem and madness. This remake is a grisly smash, and McElroy deserves kudos for only using the basic template of his 2003 success to do something entirely different with the doomed protagonists who set out on their perilous hike this time around. I ate it all up, and its gruesome glory filled my horror-loving heart with glee.

Seattle Gay News 21

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January 29, 2021

Celebrating 47 Years!

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It’s time to start healing.

Sacred Rain Healing Center is open for therapeutic massage & acupuncture six days a week. Strict COVID precautions followed, with client arrivals staggered & deep sanitizing between every treatment. Masks required to enter the facility & during treatment.

Outdoor spa pool, sundeck and locker room are open by appointment for private rental with your household pod of one to five persons for 90-minute sessions. Sauna is closed until at least Phase 3.

Open Monday through Saturday 10am - 8pm Temporarily closed Sunday

Sacred Rain Healing Center

1100 NW 50th St. Seattle ~ 206.789.6288 ~ sacredrainhealing.com ~ info@sacredrainhealing.com

Visit us online www.sgn.org

January 29, 2021

Seattle Gay News 23