SGN October 2, 2020

Celebrating 46 Years!

Issue 40 Volume 48

FRIDAY October 2, 2020 FREE!

25¢ in bookstores & newsstands

VOTE WITH PRIDE

SEE PAGE 11

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

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

CAPITOL HILL UNREST BLM: Week of unrest on Capitol Hill as police and protesters clash

“It has been nothing short of astonishing to watch Seattle’s historic ‘Gayborhood’ mutate into an epicenter of police brutality” – Capitol Hill resident Serena Barr

by Renee Raketty SGN Staff Writer It has been a week of unrest on Capitol Hill in Seattle since the Louisville, Kentucky grand jury decision in the police-involved shooting death of Breonna Taylor.

see UNREST page 12 Photo by Renee Raketty

Proud Boys pledge allegiance to Trump after debate debacle Photo by Noah Berger / AP

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Proud Boys, a right-wing, all-male extremist group, pledged its loyalty to Donald Trump after the president’s off-the-wall debate performance on September 29.

When called on by Democratic candidate Joe Biden and debate moderator Chris Wallace to denounce white nationalist groups, Trump called on the Proud Boys by name, telling them to “stand back and stand by.”

see PROUD BOYS page 8

Peaceful protesters sue City of Seattle, State of Washington in civil rights case SGN staff writer Renee Raketty expected to join landmark suit Photo by Chris Rojas

The SKKM Firm filed a lawsuit against the City of Seattle and State of Washington on behalf of peaceful protesters in Seattle on Friday, September 25th. All of the plaintiffs are cloaked within the power of the Washington State Constitution to engage in Freedom of Speech and Assemblage on

behalf the Black Lives Matter movement and George Floyd.

This case alleges that in response to protests against police discrimination and brutality, the SPD has chosen to engage in discrimi-

see PROTESTERS page 10

2 Seattle Gay News

October 2, 2020

Celebrating 46 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

October 2, 2020

Seattle Gay News 3

Seattle Gay News

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

FOUNDED 1974 MEMBER

2020

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

Deadlines Classifieds | Thursday at Noon Calendar | Tuesday at 6pm Display Ads Space Reservation | Monday at 5pm Ad Copy (non-camera ready) | Tuesday at 5pm Ad Copy (camera-ready) | Wednesday at 5pm Letters to the Editor | Tuesday at 5pm Obituaries | Call the SGN office All others | Tuesday at 5pm

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

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

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

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

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

And please play safe.

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

No exceptions.

In Loving Memory Of George Bakan

Scott Roger Alpert Cookie Andrews-Hunt James Arnold Steve Foiles Shaun Knittel James Leland Moore Don Paulson Randy Peters Lee Richeson Shaun Shelton Jim Tully

Follow Seattle Gay News

4 Seattle Gay News

Thank you, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

by Louise Chernin GSBA President & CEO September 28, 2020 Thank you. To the very honorable Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I thank you for literally giving your last breath to your life’s commitment to achieve equality under the law. Thank you for making it possible for our daughters and all our children, to have access to equal opportunity. Thank you for understanding that this document, our US Constitution, that is supposed to be the underpinning of our Republic, was founded on the premise that equality was only guaranteed for some. Thank you for taking on the daunting task of chipping away at its inherent injustices, to remove barriers for those who were left out.

Thank you for giving us years of hope, that if we all kept eyes on one prize, the pursuit of justice for all, we will actually be able to change a union created to benefit a few, to one truly meant to be a perfect union for all. To you, during our Days of Awe, right before Yom Kippur, from one Jewish feminist sister from Brooklyn to another, I hope you can now rest in peace.

Your mighty battles against injustice are now ours to wage. In your honor, to

Ruth Bader Ginsburg – Photo by Patrick Semansky / AP

your memory, the greatest tribute we can give, is for us all to pledge to continue to work for that world in which we can all feel safe, respected for who we are and able to receive equal justice under the law.

In sadness and profound gratitude, Louise Chernin (She/her) GSBA President & CEO Courtesy of GSBA

Overeaters Anonymous now hosting virtual 12-step meetings Is compulsive eating a problem for you?

Has staying at home made it worse?

Overeaters Anonymous is a 12-step group patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous. And Overeaters Anonymous has now gone virtual.

Meetings are free and newcomers are welcome. To join, one only needs a desire to stop eating compulsively.

There are currently no face-to-face

meetings due to the coronavirus. In person meetings are either suspended or are virtual through Zoom. Once the state of WA is in a phase where OA can reopen, there are meetings in just about every neighborhood – mornings, afternoons, and evenings – every day of the week.

Through the meetings website, you will find a list of current meetings that are virtual at this time. They will all be in person

again when the time comes.

When folks go to www.seattleoa.org/ meetings, they will be directly linked to meetings along with the Zoom information.

Overeaters Anonymous is free to participants with no dues or fees. Donations are welcome.

Courtesy of Overeaters Anonymous

JESSE’S JOURNAL

Ghosts, space aliens and monsters

by Jesse Monteagudo SGN Contributing Writer Anyone familiar with cable television programs knows that Americans love the occult.

Series like “Ancient Aliens”, “Finding Bigfoot”, “Haunted History,” “MonsterQuest” and “Most Terrifying Places in America” are more popular than shows about Adolf Hitler, real housewives or tiger kings. The fact that the objects of the search are never found does not matter. Ghosts, space aliens and monsters continue to dominate our imagination, whether they are real or not.

As a lifelong student of the occult, I admit that shows about ghosts, space aliens and monster are a guilty pleasure of mine, along with DC Comics and chips ‘n’ salsa.

This does not mean that I believe in them.

Take ghosts for instance. Many people believe that death is not THE END, and that a person’s soul or spirit travels to another realm after their body’s demise. (Here I am an agnostic, though I hope the believers are right.) From that comes the belief that many souls, whose bodies died abruptly or violently, remain at or near the site of their deaths, seeking closure. Though I do

October 2, 2020

not believe in ghosts, I know some people who do. In fact, I once had a roommate who claimed that the ghost of my late partner, Michael Greenspan, haunted his bedroom.

I investigated the matter, found nothing amiss, and threw out my roommate. Still, I enjoy watching programs where ghost hunters investigate “haunted houses” in search of a “presence.”

Space aliens, or unidentified flying objects (UFOs), have stirred our imagination since the 1940s. They are not as farfetched as they seem. We could argue that, in a universe that is as vast as ours, intelligent life is not limited to our planet Earth. We could further argue that, if there is intelligent life elsewhere, those beings could have developed a form of space travel that is more advanced than ours. Furthermore, if their curiosity is as advanced as their technology, it is not inconceivable for them to have visited us, if only to see what is going on around here. This does not mean that space aliens came over in ancient times and helped us built the Pyramids in Egypt or Machu Picchu in Peru, no matter what Chariots of the Gods or its television offspring, “Ancient Aliens,” might say.

The dictionary defines cryptozoology as “the search for and study of animals whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated.” Today’s cryptozoology might be tomorrow’s hard science as new species are discovered every year. Still, some cryptids’ existence remains in doubt. If such creatures are large or deadly, we call them monsters, and here our fascination is tinged with fear. The most famous of these “monsters” are the Bigfoot or Sasquatch of North America, along with their Asian cousins, the Yeti. In this case I am a believer.

Though I have never seen a Sasquatch, I do not doubt that a population of giant apes, descended from Gigantopithecus, roams the forests of the Pacific Northwest and, perhaps, other places. On the other hand, no science is as fraught with hoax as the study of Sasquatch. Many so-called “Bigfoot” sightings turn out to be bears, men in ghillie suits or figments of someone’s imagination. Sadly, no photo or video of a Sasquatch is clear or conclusive, even the famous Patterson-Gimlin film (1967). Only the capture of a Sasquatch’s body, living or dead, will prove to the world, once and for all, that this creature is real.

Celebrating 46 Years!

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

Mayor Durkan delivers 2021 budget speech SEATTLE (September 29, 2020) – Earlier today, Mayor Jenny A. Durkan delivered her annual budget address and transmitted her 2021 proposed budget to the City Council.

The mayor outlined her priorities and investments in the 2021 proposed budget amidst a historic moment for the city. The mayor’s goal with the 2021 proposed budget is to preserve critical City services while doing four key things: continuing to invest in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic; making the City’s largest-ever investment in racial equity and justice; addressing our homelessness and housing crisis; and building true community safety while also reimagining policing.

You can view the Mayor’s 2021 Proposed Budget at: www.seattle.gov/budget.

A full video and transcript can be found [at https://durkan.seattle.gov/2020/09/budget-2021/].

The mayor’s budget address: “Rebuilding a More Just and Equitable City” Every September, I have the responsibility to propose a budget for Seattle for the upcoming year.

Every year I spend a lot of time outside City Hall, in the community to hear your priorities and what you want your City budget and investments to do.

And each year the budget is based in large part on what I hear from people outside City Hall, throughout Seattle Because I believe strongly that your mayor and elected representatives work for you, and we need to listen to you.

This time last year, our budget reflected our city: vibrant, rooted in equity, and focused on the future.

Everything seemed possible.

But 2020 had other plans.

This has been a brutal year for everyone in Seattle.

We are still in the grips of the COVID19 pandemic.

Our national public health crisis is fueling an economic downturn with historic unemployment.

And our president and the federal government continue to fail us with their lack of leadership.

Many of us have lost loved ones. Others have lost jobs, income, or businesses we put our hopes and dreams in.

We have been isolated from the people we love.

As parents, we’re managing kids at home from school.

It’s been the challenge of our lifetimes.

In just a few months, Seattle went from enjoying one of the strongest economies in our country to record numbers of Seattleites out of work, worried about paying rent, or putting food on the table.

This crisis and this summer have also magnified racial disparities that exist across our nation and here at home. Since George Floyd was murdered by police officers, we have seen protests that have challenged us to do better. That have challenged us to fix the disparities in health care, education, housing, policing, and the criminal legal system. That have demanded solutions to the systemic discrimination that undermines the safety, health, and economic strength of BIPOC communities.

We are living through one of the most consequential years of our lives.

It has impacted every one of us, and every American.

It has touched our city government, too. Many of our workers remained on the frontlines, providing the City services you needed.

Our work and community needs have grown. But our revenue is shrinking. This year, we saw hundreds of millions of dol-

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan – Photo courtesy of Seattle Channel

lars in lost revenues to the City.

And we face similar losses next year.

The revenue that funds things like shelters, transportation, and food banks was decimated. And we have no promise of additional federal support.

Early in this crisis, I knew it could be bad and took immediate steps to cut costs and protect vital city services. I froze hiring and cut tens of millions in spending across city departments.

With the pandemic and unexpected new emergencies, like the West Seattle Bridge, wildfire smoke and collapsing piers we can’t avoid hard choices in this budget.

But even in a time of tough decisions, history demands that we meet the challenges of this moment and strive for the kind of city we want to be when we come out of these crises: stronger, more just, and more equitable. Not just in policing and the criminal legal system, but in every institution.

So amid historic challenges, our task with this budget is to preserve critical City services while doing four key things: • Continuing to invest in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic; • Making the City’s largest-ever investment in racial equity and justice; • Addressing our homelessness and housing crisis; and • Building true community safety while also reimagining policing.

Together, we can face these challenges and show the nation what progressive leadership can accomplish.

The global pandemic is a once-in-a-lifetime challenge.

Seattle leads the nation in our COVID19 response and recovery strategy, and we cannot let up. We have one of the lowest number of cases and the highest levels of testing in any major American city. Our Seattle Fire Department pioneered nationally recognized testing programs. Our free, accessible, citywide testing has facilitated 200,000 tests at our city sites. We collected and distributed more than a million face masks and PPE to first responders and our community. We provided monthly grocery vouchers and food assistance to tens of thousands of families, so they can have healthy meals. I signed one of the nation’s first eviction moratoriums for residents, small businesses, and nonprofits.

But we know the rent is still due, so we are also helping struggling Seattle households with rent payments. We created a first-in-the-nation small business support program to provide $10,000 to hundreds of struggling small businesses including many right here at Pike Place Market. Emergency child care for frontline workers…. Discounts on households’ utility bills…. Immigrant and refugee cash assistance….

These programs were the right response

Visit us online www.sgn.org

to an emergency that is not over.

And this budget invests in continuing to lead the nation in a just and compassionate COVID response.

The communities hardest hit during this pandemic have been our BIPOC communities. For too long we have allowed our systems to perpetuate inequity – particularly against our Black neighbors. That is why this budget also begins to address the historic disparities brought forward by the COVID-19 pandemic and since the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

I signed my first executive order the day I was sworn into office, focusing our efforts around race and social justice. Since then, as a city we have made record investments to advance equity and justice. Things like $1.5 billion in new affordable housing to build thousands of new units. Nearly $100 million on quality preschool and child care.

More than $30 million in our Equitable Development Initiative to invest in community-based organizations that are working to combat displacement, like Africatown, Ethiopian village, the Filipino Community Center, Chief Seattle Club, and Byrd Barr.

We’ve spent $40 million for youth safety. And a seven-year commitment for free college and a program to get those students jobs so they could be part of our innovative economy.

Our budget makes a lot of hard decisions.

But if we want a more equitable City when we recover from this crisis, we must make real our promises to our BIPOC communities.

We need deep and lasting investments, and we must empower community to guide those investments.

That is why my budget commits an additional $100 million in new spending for Black communities, Indigenous communities, and communities of color. It will invest in building opportunity and an inclusive economy. Community wealth building and preserving cultural spaces. Community wellness and safety. Environmental justice and a Green New Deal.

Building on our current investments in equity, this $100 million investment allows us to invest in more young people, community safety programs, and next generation of affordable housing in our community.

We need to do more of what we have done in the past three years. But these decisions must be driven by community needs and priorities, and community voices – not

by City Hall.

It must be community itself that crafts an investment plan to build the health of community. Community members will guide us to direct these resources where they are needed the most.

Investing in community wealth, wellness and strength is also the path to true community safety. By investing in equitable, healthy,

and resilient communities, we reduce the need for emergency 911 responses.

Here in Seattle and in cities across the nation, people have spoken out and demanded that we reimagine policing. As US attorney, I led the investigation of the Seattle Police Department that resulted in the consent decree. That work created some of the nation’s leading policies on policing. It also allowed the Seattle Police Department to hire the best officers and train them in crisis intervention and de-escalation. And it created robust civilian-led accountability systems so we could hold officers accountable.

But reimagining policing is more than just training and policies. We need to rethink how the Seattle Police Department serves our city and address the continued racial disparities in policing. And we need to make further changes to our criminal legal system, like reforming probation and breaking the cycle of incarceration. We need more programs to prevent violence, alternatives to incarceration and a community court. We also need to shift many of the 800,000 calls for help from armed police officers to other communitybased programs. Too often, our officers are responding to other failures: the failures of our foster care system, our behavioral health system, our homelessness system, and our education system. Those aren’t problems officers should have to address Often 911 calls require a fast police response, and Seattle needs a strong, welltrained, and community-based department for those calls.

There is a need and strong support for our officers in this City. But nonviolent calls don’t always need an officer with a gun. Someone in crisis may need a social worker. A nurse. A crisis counselor. Or an unarmed community service officer.

So reimagining policing will mean fundamentally changing the role of traditional police in our community and their interactions with our community, especially communities of color. It will mean growing existing programs like nurses in our schools and in our homeless shelters. Mental health professionals at our police precincts. Trusted messengers for our youth in communities.

And our successful Health One program, where we respond to nonemergency calls for people in crisis with specially trained social workers and fire fighters.

We’re already doing it here downtown, and in this budget, we’ll expand it to both South Seattle and communities in North Seattle, including Ballard and the University District.

These programs ultimately must be part of a new model for community safety throughout Seattle.

October 2, 2020

Seattle Gay News 5

see DURKAN page 6

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

Durkan Digest: Investing $100 million in a community-led equitable initiative SEATTLE (September 26, 2020) – We are living in unprecedented times: a pandemic, an economic crisis, and a civil rights reckoning ignited by the murder of George Floyd. All have shown the undeniable and devastating impacts that systemic racial inequities have had on Black and Brown communities for generations. The disparities are reflected across all systems, including housing, access to wealth, education, policing, the criminal legal system, and health care.

Millions have taken to the streets across our country to demand change. We must heed their calls.

There should be no disagreement that we need, as a City, to commit to significant, new long-term investments in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities.

In June, I promised $100 million of new investments that would be centered around and guided by community.

In recent months, I have worked to make this promise real, and my proposed budget will create a new $100 million Equitable Communities Fund to address the systemic racial inequities in our city. This funding will be in addition to existing programs that are crucial to building opportunities and community health. I believe we must commit this level of resources each year over at least ten years in order to make the generational investments needed to build healthy, resilient, and safer communities.

Our City has been working to address systemic inequities and institutional racism through many proven programs. From the Seattle Preschool Program, to the Legal Defense Fund for immigrants and refugees, to laws protecting wages, we know what works.

But we must do more, and proven solutions come from community itself.

In the coming months, the City Council will consider my budget. There is no shortage of challenges, and to address our declining revenues, we have had to freeze hiring, use our emergency and rainy day funds, and delay some capital projects.

There is no shortage of good projects that our City could do with $100 million.

History is demanding that we fundamentally reshape our budget priorities to invest in communities of color in a new way. We haven’t looked holistically at solving the

DURKAN

continued from page 5 And if we get this right, we will not only reduce the 911 calls that require an armed Seattle Police officer, we can increase health and reduce harm.

But these decisions can’t be decided by bumper stickers and slogans or arbitrary numbers. They must be founded on facts and a real plan. They must parallel building better community wellness and health. They must parallel the investments we need to make in community.

We must continue to act urgently to address our homelessness and housing crisis.

This crisis is decades in the making, but we had begun to see progress on key fronts: housing, shelter, and services. We invested more than $1.5 billion to create nearly 4,500 units of affordable housing, including permanent supportive housing. Places like Mercy Housing Gardner House and Allen Family Center, which provides 95 units of affordable and supportive housing and resources for childcare, immigrant and refugee services, and homelessness prevention.

We nearly doubled 24/7 shelter – including tiny home villages – to move people out

6 Seattle Gay News

Image courtesy of City of Seattle

deep disparities that exist in our city, and we have never given this historic level of funding to begin to solve these disparities.

As the Council is considering my budget, I will launch a community-led task force comprised of individuals from BIPOC communities. For too long, City Hall has been the gatekeepers of dictated solutions. Together, the task force will engage communities in a collaborative process to prioritize how the funding can create opportunity and an inclusive economy, build community wealth and preserve cultural spaces, ensure community wellness, and achieve environmental and climate justice. Communities must be empowered and resourced to determine what solutions may best address deep, systemic issues.

Our community is hurting right now – from the pandemic to continued injustices.

None of the challenges that we’re trying to solve will be solved overnight. But we can start making progress. We can show the country what it means to invest in Black Lives Matter and embark on something big together.

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

to permanently transfer the Central Area Senior Center (CASC) to community ownership. Earlier this week, the City Council approved the transfer of ownership of the former Fire Station 23 to Byrd Barr Place, a Central Area community service organization that provides energy assistance, affordable housing, access to nutrition, and financial counseling.

Fire Station 6 will be the future home of the William Grose Center for Cultural Innovation, where the ACLT will provide small-business assistance [and] skills training and celebrate Black/African American culture and history in the Central Area.

The project is one of five original Equitable Development Initiative (EDI) demonstration projects identified in 2016 intended to reduce displacement of Seattle’s communities of color. The City has committed $1 million from the EDI fund for tenant improvements to Fire Station 6. The longterm lease allows the ACLT to take possession of the building and begin the remodel, while the established process for permanent transfer of the property ownership to the ACLT continues.

Read more at https://bit.ly/3n16Kxv.

In addition to $100 million investment in 2021 budget for BIPOC communities, Mayor Durkan transmits legislation to transfer Fire Station 6 and Central Area Senior Center to community Mayor Durkan transmitted legislation to the Seattle City Council to establish a 99-year lease with Africatown Community Land Trust (ACLT) for Fire Station 6 and

King County investing in final push of 2020 census in SeaTac, Tukwila, and South County King County Executive Dow Constantine and King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove today announced a strategic investment of $50,000 to communitybased organizations that will help boost participation of south King County residents in the 2020 census.

The funds are targeted to areas of the County where self-response rates are yet to reach their 2010 [levels]. The following organizations received $10,000 to conduct outreach and engagement efforts in order to increase the region’s participation rates: • Somali Health Board • Entre Hermanos • Refugee Women’s Alliance • Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle • Coalition of Immigrants, Refugees & Communities of Color (CIRCC) As of April of this year, Seattle had the highest census response rate of any major city, at 60.7% of households responding.

If you have not yet filled out your census

of homelessness and into permanent places.

We created a new Regional Homelessness Authority to break down siloes in our response.

But the pandemic has created new challenges for our homelessness response. There are more individuals without access to hygiene services with libraries and businesses closed. Many vulnerable individuals at the highest risk for COVID-19 live at our shelters [or] permanent supportive housing or are living unsheltered. There are more tents and encampments across our City. There are more people at risk of going hungry.

In the initial weeks of the pandemic, we worked quickly to bring new shelter capacity online. We created hygiene resources, converted crowded overnight shelters to 24/7 shelters with social distancing measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, and we expanded COVID-19 testing.

Our actions have limited outbreaks among individuals experiencing homelessness compared to other major cities.

My budget continues to increase our shelter capacity to bring more of our neighbors out of encampments and into permanent housing. It supports more than 2,300 shelter units and adds another 300 new units of

short-term shelter. In addition [to] more than a thousand permanent supportive housing units coming online and thousands of affordable homes, we are also increasing investments in strategies we know work: diversion and rapid rehousing.

Seattle cannot and will never solve our affordability, homelessness, and housing crisis if we continue to act alone. These challenges do not know any city boundaries. If we want to truly address housing and homelessness, we must act as a region.

So what’s next for Seattle and our budget?

As happens every year, the members of the City Council will consider this plan. In recent months, we have had policy disagreements about their pledge to cut the police by 50%, the best approach to address encampments, spending of the City’s emergency funds, and raising taxes only on Seattle businesses.

We may still have policy disagreements in the future – but you expect and deserve your government to work together on the toughest challenges. In this unprecedented moment, you deserve leaders that will work hard to bridge our divides.

Listen, there is no greater city.

Look around us. This is a time to come

October 2, 2020

form, it’s not too late!

A fair and complete census count will help ensure that Seattle receives its fair share of federal resources. Certain federal funds are dispersed by population. Examples of these critical federal investments include Safe Routes to School projects, hazardous material release training for Seattle firefighters, and our rapid rehousing programs that help move families and children out of homelessness and into permanent housing. Federal funds are also used to create affordable homes and provide housing stability for low-income households, including through affordable housing development, energy improvements, critical home repair, and home-buyer education.

Read more at https://bit.ly/36lWEBg. City of Seattle enrolls thousands in Utility Discount Program to reduce utility bill burden since beginning of COVID-19 pandemic As of the end of August, the City of Seattle has now enrolled 11,825 new households into the Utility Discount Program (UDP) in 2020, including 8,173 through the fast-track application process launched in March to more quickly support customers financially impacted by COVID-19. The UDP provides a 60% discount on Seattle City Light (SCL) electricity bills and a 50% discount on Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) water/sewer/garbage bills for income-eligible customers. Through August, there were 41,961 households enrolled in the assistance program.

In March 2020, as COVID-19 began to spread in our community, SCL and SPU created a UDP self-certification form for customers. This allows income-eligible residential customers to access heavily discounted utilities by simply signing a short form that attests to their household income, rather than having to provide income documentation. This will provide immediate utility bill relief for customers who are unemployed or underemployed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Read more at https://bit.ly/3ihYRQr. Courtesy of Mayor Jenny Durkan

together and ensure our city rebuilds from this pandemic a better and more equitable City. We can make big bold changes together and get through this moment.

Because over the last three years our City has led on progressive change: • A Domestic Workers Bill of Rights for 30,000 domestic workers.

• Vacating marijuana convictions.

• A minimum wage for rideshare drivers.

• Sending thousands of Seattle kids to free college.

• Eliminating late fines for libraries.

• A safe storage law to keep firearms off our streets.

• A new arena, the Seattle Kraken, and no public funds used.

Seattle should be proud of our accomplishments and our determination. We are compassionate. We are resilient.

And despite a year of challenges and setbacks, we will do big things and lead the nation.

We will get through this together.

And I have no doubt that we can meet this unprecedented moment for our city.

We will make generational change.

Courtesy of Mayor Jenny Durkan

Celebrating 46 Years!

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

KC Councilmember Upthegrove fights for immigrant businesses with motion to stop discrimination in banking

King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove – Photo courtesy of King County

SEATTLE (September 29, 2020) – The King County Council on Tuesday passed a motion reaffirming the council’s support of those small businesses that help immigrant communities send money to loved ones overseas.

The motion, sponsored by Councilmember Dave Upthegrove, calls on the Washington State Senate Financial Institutions, Economic Development, and Trade Committee and the Washington State House of Representatives Consumer Protection and Business Committee to study the issues these immigrant and refugee-run businesses face and to find a solution that promotes financial inclusion and public

safety for immigrant communities throughout the state.

“This motion will encourage the state legislature to address the issue of bank derisking, which often prevents immigrants and refugees from looking after family members abroad,” Upthegrove said. “The one thing that unites every human being is the love for family, and immigrants who work hard and save money should be able to use their earnings to support their loved ones – even when those loved ones are overseas.”

The motion also reaffirms the council’s support of the East African community in its desires to support loved ones and reaf-

firms the right of money transfer operators to engage in lawful commerce in a safe manner.

“It is a great day for African immigrant communities in King County,” said Roble Musse, with the Right to be Banked Campaign. “By passing this motion, the King County Council is sending a strong message that it is committed to breaking down the institutional barriers that cause economic inequalities.”

Courtesy of King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove

Seattle Center skate plaza set to break ground with selection of construction lead SEATTLE (September 25, 2020) – Seattle Center is moving forward on a new skate plaza, following the selection of Grindline Skateparks to undertake construction of the 18,000-square-foot facility. Construction prep began this month.

The skate plaza will occupy a span of public right-of-way, formerly Broad St., between 5th Ave. N. and Taylor Ave. along Thomas St. The Mercer Corridor improvements project closed the street area in 2014.

The new plaza replaces Seattle Center Skatepark, which closed in 2018.

Starting in 1990, Seattle-based Grindline Skateparks has specialized in the planning, design, construction, and programming of cast-in-place concrete skate parks, nationally and internationally. In fact, it played an integral role in the development of the skate park this replaces. [Its] skate parks are designed and built by lifelong skaters and former professionals who know how important access to a skate park is. Grindline’s mission is to provide everyone who loves skateboarding, regardless of their ability, a place to enjoy practicing their sport and [improve] their skills. A Grindline skate park is a familyfriendly space for all users to share today and for decades to come. From design through construction, to maintenance and programming, Grindline focuses on the big picture to create a skateboarding experience, for life.

The new skate plaza represents a multipronged, partnered effort to fulfill a commitment to the Seattle skateboarding community to continue to provide an outstanding and versatile skateboarding experience at Seattle Center, while allowing for the redevelopment of an aging, outmoded sports and events arena. With construction set to begin this fall, the new skate plaza is expected to open in mid-2021.

“Skate parks at Seattle Center, from SeaSkate to Seattle Center Skatepark, have provided an outlet for young people with an enthusiasm for boarding the opportunity to build and hone their skills, where they can enjoy healthy social engagement and enliven a portion of the streetscape,” said Seattle Center Director Robert Nellams. “I can’t think of a better use of this vacated street than filling it with this kind of creative, active life.”

The Seattle Center Skatepark Coalition, which included longtime skate community activists and the nonprofit Skate Like a Girl, worked closely with Seattle Center to realize an accommodating and inspiring plaza design. They collaborated with the project team to produce a robust public outreach process that included online and in-person forums and met skateboarders – especially youth – on their own terms. The result is a park plan that focuses on creating

Photo courtesy of Seattle Center

a safe space for beginners and skateboarders of all skill levels.

“Skate Like a Girl is super excited to see forward momentum on this Seattle Center Plaza project and wants to thank each person who provided input online, came to an event, or showed up at any other point to make this project reality,” said Kristin Ebeling, executive director of Skate Like a Girl. “Right now, young people have no skate spaces between the Central District and Green Lake, and many of our existing parks cater to more expert skaters. Providing a centralized and safe park for all skaters to progress and build community will fill a gap in our network of skate spaces in Seattle. We can’t wait to welcome our community back to our clinics and skate camps in summer 2021!”

Seattle Arena Co/Oak View Group contributed $500,000 to relocating the skate park as part of its agreement with the City of Seattle to redevelop and manage Climate Pledge Arena. The Seattle City Council supported relocation of the skate park as an important part of the arena project, and in July 2019, the Council approved transferal of the land from the Seattle Department of Transportation to Seattle Center for purposes of constructing, operating, and maintaining a public skate plaza. The Seattle Design Commission enthusiastically supported the project and reviewed the proposed design.

Visit us online www.sgn.org

A skate park has existed at Seattle Center since the 1990s. Initially, it resided on part of a parking lot, now the world headquarters of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It was reimagined and rebuilt on the arena property in 2009 and was demolished in 2019 [in order] to redevelop the site. The new skate plaza is designed for street-style skateboarding, with a focus on providing flexible space for beginner-level skateboarders to learn and practice skills. Local artist Perri Howard will reinstall the original artwork she created for the 2009 skate park, including a glass wall ride, in the new location. The site encompasses a public alleyway, with skating spaces on either side, connected by a sidewalk. If possible in the future, Seattle Center plans to connect the two sides into one continuous space.

“Since 1993, Seattle Center has supported a public skate park on its campus,” said Scott Shinn of the advocacy organization Parents for Skateparks and a member of the Seattle Center Skatepark Coalition. “Parents for Skateparks salutes the generations of skate park advocates who have helped to bring the skateboarding experience to thousands of participants, through five iterations of the skate park itself. Through her tireless work with the Skate Like a Girl organization, Kristin Ebeling keeps the stoke flowing to future generations of skaters who may enjoy the free, public benefit of a skate park on the

Seattle Center campus. Much thanks also to the staff of Seattle Center and their skillful guidance through the process of rebuilding this important public space.”

Seattle Center Skate Plaza plays an important part in the Center’s purpose, to inspire the spirit and build stronger communities. To learn more about activities at Seattle Center, and to connect to virtual Seattle Center experiences, visit www.seattlecenter.com or call 206 684-7200.

October 2, 2020

Seattle Gay News 7

Connect to the extraordinary at Seattle Center, an active civic, arts, and family gathering place in the core of our region and home to Climate Pledge Arena at Seattle Center. More than 30 cultural, educational, sports, and entertainment organizations that reside on the grounds, together with a broad range of public and community programs, create thousands of events on the 74-acre campus and attract over 12 million visitors each year. At Seattle Center, part of Uptown Arts & Cultural District, our purpose is to create exceptional events, experiences, and environments that delight and inspire the human spirit to build stronger communities. Activities at the Center generate $1.864 billion in business activity and $631 million in labor income.

Courtesy of Mayor Jenny Durkan

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

OBITUARY

Soraya Santiago, iconic Puerto Rican Trans activist, dies at 73

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Soraya Santiago, an icon in Puerto Rico’s Transgender community has died, according to reports from AP. She was 73.

The news agency was contacted by Puerto Rican LGBTQ activist Pedro Julio Serrano.

According to her autobiography, Made

by Hand: Gender Dysmorphia, Santiago identified as a woman at an early age.

She was a frequent visitor to New York’s Stonewall Inn and was in the city, but not at the bar, at the time of the historic 1969 rebellion. She later said the incident inspired her to become an activist.

With the support and financial backing of her family, Santiago traveled again to New York in 1975 to undergo genderaffirming surgery. Upon her return to Puerto Rico, she became the first Trans person in the island’s history to change their name and sex on a birth certificate.

In 2008, Santiago became the first openly Trans person to run for public office in Puerto Rico. Her bid for a city council seat was ultimately unsuccessful.

In her later years, Santiago was a student at the University of Puerto Rico, where she graduated in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Santiago was also a hair stylist and owner of a beauty salon in Carolina, Puerto Rico, for many years.

Santiago appeared in the award-winning 2014 documentary Mala Mala, which highlights several different narratives from Puerto Rico’s Transgender and gender-variant communities. The project also includes the community response to the passage of Law 238-2014 in Puerto Rico, which prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Soraya Santiago – Photo courtesy of Mala Mala

The team behind Mala Mala paid tribute to Santiago on Tuesday, praising her track record of activism.

“Her commitment to living fearlessly and authentically is only one of the many reasons Soraya became one of Puerto Rico’s modern national heroes,” the filmmakers wrote in a Facebook post.

“Soraya consistently raised the bar, redefining what it means to live a fulfilling and dignified life in Puerto Rico, the place she

always called home.”

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz mourned Santiago’s death, calling her a “heroine in the fight for the dignity of our compatriots in the trans community.”

“Rest my dear, but keep giving us strength from there,” the mayor tweeted. “I will miss you.”

Santiago about her life in a 2015 interview with Remezcla, saying that she believes femininity is all about what you project.

“[T]hat’s what you want to be, it’s what you manifest: That you are a woman and a woman that goes beyond genitalia, because there are women who have their proper genitalia, their vagina, and they don’t feel like women,” she said.

“In my essence, I felt and feel, and I continue to learn how to be a woman.”

PROUD BOYS continued from cover

Later in the debate, Trump asked supporters to go to polling stations and “observe” for supposed fraudulent voters.

Democrats charge that Trump wants white nationalist supporters to intimidate people of color and, if possible, prevent them from voting.

After the debate, Proud Boys organizer Joe Biggs posted a response on a social media account.

“Proud Boys Shout at the Presidential Debate!” Biggs wrote. In a subsequent post, he added: “President Trump told the proud boys to stand by because someone needs to deal with ANTIFA...well sir! we’re ready!!”

Biggs has shared dozens of messages, plus videos and memes related to the president’s Proud Boys mention over the past 12 hours. His posts appear on Biggs’ personal account on Parler, a conservative social media site.

In addition to statements pledging alliance to Trump, the high-profile Proud Boy posted an image to Parler that appeared to show a new group logo with “stand back” and “stand by” surrounding its initials.

Other Proud Boys shared similar posts on their favorite chat forums in the aftermath of the debate. Following Biggs, the Proud Boys are also reportedly incorporating Trump’s comment into their for-sale merchandise.

The Proud Boys refer to themselves as a “Western chauvinist” organization that supports European white identity and

8 Seattle Gay News

X

opposes immigration, multiculturalism, and, curiously enough, masturbation.

A report on the group by the Anti Defamation League (ADL) notes its “misogynistic, Islamophobic, transphobic, and antiimmigration” views.

“Some members espouse white supremacist and anti-Semitic ideologies and/or engage with white supremacist groups,” the ADL continues.

The Proud Boys have staged rallies in Seattle, where their members arrived

October 2, 2020

armed and deliberately tried to provoke fights with counterdemonstrators.

In Portland, where protests against racism and police violence have continued for more than 100 consecutive days following the murder of George Floyd, Proud Boys staged rallies in support of Trump and local police.

The group also clashed with protesters at other Black Lives Matter demonstrations, including those in Kenosha, Wisconsin, earlier in September.

The first presidential debate was widely considered a debacle, with Trump shouting over Biden and Wallace, and trying to bait his opponent into a verbal brawl.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper called the show “a hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck.”

Celebrating 46 Years!

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

HRC opposes Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court

Photo by Alex Brandon / AP

WASHINGTON, DC (September 25, 2020) – Today, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization in the nation, responded to reports that Amy Coney Barrett will be Trump’s nominee to the United States Supreme Court.

“The last four years have been an assault on the rights and dignity of LGBTQ people across the country, led by Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and Mitch McConnell’s prioritization of power over people,” said Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “While people are suffering across the country, instead of offering aid, Trump and McConnell are rushing through a Supreme Court justice – a justice who could deal a fatal blow to people maintaining their basic health care in the middle of a pandemic. The president has dramatically altered the judiciary to try to dismantle hard-fought rights and progress secured over decades – LGBTQ rights, voting rights, reproductive rights, and more. Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell has sycophantically installed Trump’s extreme judicial nominees and is now seeking to push the balance of the Supreme Court even further to the fringes. If she is nominated and confirmed, Coney Barrett would work to dismantle all that Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought for during her extraordinary career. An appointment of this magnitude must be made by the president inaugurated in January. The Human Rights Campaign fervently opposes Coney Barrett’s nomination, and this sham process.”

Coney Barrett currently serves as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, and earlier in her career was a law clerk and protégé to Antonin Scalia, one of the most steadfast opponents of LGBTQ rights.

Coney Barrett has demonstrated hostility toward LGBTQ rights in her words and rulings. She defended the Supreme Court’s dissenters on the landmark marriage equal-

ity case of Obergefell v. Hodges, questioning the role of the court in deciding the case. She said Title IX protections do not extend to transgender Americans, claiming it’s a “strain on the text” to reach that interpretation. She misgendered transgender people, referring to a transgender women as “physiological males,” while casting doubt on transgender rights. Coney Barrett has also consistently demonstrated opposition to reproductive rights, calling Roe v. Wade an “erroneous decision.” She also refused to rehear a racial segregation case, raising significant concerns about her approach to civil rights law.

She has criticized the ruling that upheld the Affordable Care Act – which has helped millions attain quality, affordable health care – and expressed opinions that suggest she would strike down the law. Days after the election, the Supreme Court is

scheduled to hear an argument in a case that could undermine this transformative piece of legislation, and with it the health care security of tens of millions of people, including a disproportionate number of LGBTQ people.

The day after Election Day, the court will hear Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, which considers whether governments must allow taxpayer-funded organizations to discriminate against LGBTQ people when providing critical services. A ruling hostile to equality in this case could have staggering consequences for American social safety net programs, including services for veterans, people experiencing homlessness, runaway youth, refugees, and those needing emergency shelters and services.

Her hostility to many of society’s most marginalized, victimized, and vulnerable groups raises serious concerns about

her ability to be impartial and fairly consider the rights of all who come before the court, including LGBTQ people; therefore, the Human Rights Campaign opposes her nomination in the strongest terms and will work steadfastly against it. Today, the HRC is launching a “We Dissent” campaign, with an ask to members and supporters to sign a pledge to “dissent” to this process and to Coney Barrett.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people.

The HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work, and in every community.

Courtesy of the HRC

Rep. Jayapal on the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the US Supreme Court

SEATTLE (September 26, 2020) – US Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and member of the House Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement on the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States: “Any individual nominated to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court must believe in equal justice under law and opportunity for all. That means being fully committed to protecting civil rights and voting rights, women’s rights and workers’ rights, reproductive rights and disability rights, LGBTQ+ rights and Indigenous rights. It also means standing on the side of people over profits and communities over corporations when it comes to health

Visit us online www.sgn.org

care, protections for those with preexisting conditions, immigration, the environment, consumer protections, ending gun violence, and getting money out of politics.

“Not only does Amy Coney Barrett fail to meet that standard but she has spent years consistently and dangerously arguing against it from the federal bench. It is no wonder that conservative, right-wing groups had her on their recommendation list as they continue their coordinated attacks on health care, abortion rights, voting rights, and the right of workers to organize. I strongly oppose this lifetime appointment to the highest court in our land, and I urge President Trump to withdraw his nomination as quickly as he made it.

“With less than 40 days until the elec-

tion, and as voters across America are already casting their ballots, we need to let their voices be heard. They know that everything is on the line. We must allow them to choose the next president and then allow that president to choose the next nominee for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court. This is the same standard that Republicans implemented at the end of President Obama’s term when Merrick Garland was nominated with more than seven months remaining before the election. This is how we must proceed with the future of the court, this country and our democracy hanging in the balance.”

October 2, 2020

Seattle Gay News 9

Courtesy of Rep. Pramila Jayapal

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

PROTESTERS continued from cover

nation and brutality. The SPD has defied conditions of a Federal Consent Decree, ignored local and state law, and violated its own policies, practices and procedures.

Merrick Bobb, the outgoing courtappointed monitor of the federal mandated police reforms, recently wrote: “SPD’s performance left many observers disappointed and crestfallen, if not disturbed profoundly by what looked like multiple instances of excessive force, as if lessons learned and techniques trained under the consent decree were lost, or, at least, set aside.”

This lawsuit alleges that in response to protests against systemic inequities in policing, SPD disregarded its own policies and federal oversight to treat protesters as opponents of war, rather than citizens with equal rights.

Dozens more protesters will be added to this complaint as the notice period to the government expires.

The Stritmatter Firm represents peaceful protesters of the George Floyd/BLM movement in claims against the City of Seattle and State of Washington for excessive force, violations of their rights to free speech, negligence, wrongful death and personal injuries. This impact litigation is joined by the Cedar Law Firm, PLLC, and their clients.

Courtesy of SKKM

Photos by Chris Rojas

10 Seattle Gay News

October 2, 2020

Celebrating 46 Years!

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

Seattle Pride aims to grow LGBTQIA+ voter participation with new “Vote with Pride” campaign Vote with Pride kicks off Sunday, Oct. 4 on Capitol Hill with free campaign sign giveaway Seattle Pride [https://www.seattlepride. org/] is launching a new month-long Vote with Pride campaign in an effort to grow LGBTQIA+ voter registration and participation in the upcoming general election.

On Sunday, Oct. 4, starting at noon, on Capitol Hill, at Seattle Central College’s south campus plaza (at the corner of Broadway & E Pine St), LGBTQIA+ advocacy group Seattle Pride (organizers of the annual Seattle Pride in the Park and Seattle Pride Parade) will host the first of five weekly pop-up events in which people can register to vote and receive free Vote with Pride yard signs, window signs and campaign stickers.

“The LGBTQIA+ community has made great strides in recent years, but now human rights in all forms are being challenged at every turn – so we need to come together with a powerful voice, and it comes in the form of a ballot,” said Seattle Pride Executive Director Krystal Marx.

The event will observe all COVID-19 safety protocols with volunteers provided with personal protective equipment. Signs will also direct people to a drive-up, contactfree option for those who wish to drive into a reserved section of the street and simply pop their trunk so volunteers can distribute the signs without people having to leave the comfort and safety of their vehicles.

Seattle Pride volunteers plan to be at the same site from noon to 4 p.m. each Sunday through Nov. 1 distributing the Vote with Pride campaign materials – along with “Pride Packs” provided in partnership with promotional partner MOViN 92.5 and morning personality Brooke Fox. Seattle Pride plans to distribute 1,000 signs throughout the five weeks of the campaign. “With these campaign signs we want our LGBTQIA+ citizens to be able to demonstrate their pride, and to have our neighbors take notice that collectively we are a sizable voting contingent,” added Marx.

“It’s an especially important time for the LGBTQIA+ community, BIPOC communities and others who have experienced a history of oppression and marginalization to mobilize and take action,” added Marx.

“It’s why we are launching Vote with Pride, because all too often we find that our basic human rights are under attack, and we can’t afford to sit back and let others decide our rights for us.”

According to the Human Rights Campaign, LGBTQIA+ registered voters vote at a higher rate than the general public, unfortunately one in five LGBTQIA+ adults is not currently registered to vote according to a

national Williams Institute and Ipsos/Reuters poll – which Seattle Pride is attempting to improve with its voter registration push as part of its Vote with Pride campaign.

“With more than five percent of adults in the state identifying as LGBTQIA+, our collective voice can be quite powerful so it’s important that we get as many within our community as possible to register,” added Marx.

Throughout the five weeks of the Vote with Pride campaign, the public is invited to submit their election-related efforts online at www.SeattlePride.org for a chance to win a pair of Alaska Airlines tickets to be awarded each week, plus a grand prize which also includes a Fjällräven Kånken Rainbow Pack, $100 Nordstrom gift card, and more. To enter, people simply complete actions within three categories – voter education, get out the vote, and advocacy. Each question, or task, will be worth points – the more points a participant accumulates during the week, the more times they are entered into the week’s prize drawing to be announced at the end of the five-week campaign.

About Seattle Pride/ Seattle Out & Proud Foundation Seattle Pride is a 501(c)(4) not-for-profit organization which produces the Seattle Pride Parade, Seattle Pride in the Park and other pride-related events and promotions, as well as, year-round statewide advocacy in support of diversity, inclusivity and equal human rights for all.

The Seattle Out & Proud Foundation is Seattle Pride’s 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation which provides grants and sponsorship support to community-based LGBTQIA+ organizations statewide, educates members of the public about the LGBTQIA+ community and the rights of its members, to eliminate discrimination against and further the civil rights of members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and to connect, inspire and strengthen the LGBTQIA+ community by promoting the arts and supporting leadership development.

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

Courtesy of Seattle Pride

Photo courtesy oif Seattle Pride

Visit us online www.sgn.org

October 2, 2020

Seattle Gay News 11

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

Photos by Renee Raketty

UNREST

continued from cover In all, at least 33 people have been arrested by the Seattle Police Department for a variety of charges from Wednesday, September 23rd until Wednesday afternoon during demonstrations largely centered around the neighborhood. Literature reviewed by the Seattle Gay News suggest that demonstrators plan to “keep up the pressure” until they get “justice” for Taylor.

The Kentucky grand jury indicted one Louisville Metro Police Department Officer, Brett Hankison, not for the shooting death of Breonna Taylor who was killed while police were serving a warrant but on three counts of wanton endangerment for endangering the lives of her neighbors. The other two other officers involved in the raid were not indicted. The events of that night are hotly disputed.

The largest of the local demonstrations, which was billed as a solidarity march with “comrades across the globe”, kicked-off at Cal Anderson Park on Saturday, September 26. The protest march proceeded through First Hill, Downtown and back up to Capitol Hill. A few individuals in the group

12 Seattle Gay News

left a trail of vandalism, including spray painting the King County Courthouse and breaking glass and spray painting Seattle’s City Hall. A sign outside City Hall had been vandalized to read “Amazon.”

Later, the protesters clashed with police outside the East Precinct. Police had issued a dispersal order to the crowd and used blast balls to move the protesters away from dumpster fires at the intersection of E Pine St and 11th Ave. The Seattle Fire Department extinguished the fire and, later, a second fire at the intersection of 11th Ave and E Olive St. Police made 10 arrests for failure to disperse, assault and property damage, according to the SPD Police Blotter.

Smaller clashes have been occurring each night and resulted in one arrest on Monday and one arrest on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, a group of protestors and their vehicles blocked the exit ramp and roadway in the 800 block of E Roanoke St where they attempted to hang a banner over I-5. According to a spokesperson for the SPD, multiple orders were issued to disperse because it was considered a “hazard having individuals and vehicles blocking the exit ramp at that location.” Individuals familiar with the situation say a protest medic was arrested before they left

October 2, 2020

the area. The SPD says that the medic was arrested for “obstructing” and had “nothing to do with his role as a medic.”

A few residents of Capitol Hill have contacted the SGN to express concern about the protests and stated that property damage, noise and a “war”-like atmosphere have made living in the neighborhood unpleasant.

However, all of the individuals declined to be interviewed. The SPD says that their concerns have not fallen on deaf ears.

“The Seattle Police Department will continue to support the peaceful exercise of First Amendment rights,” wrote the SPD in response to an SGN request for information. “We will not, however, tolerate violence and property destruction. Individuals engaging in this behavior will be arrested.”

Serena Barr, a Capitol Hill resident who identifies as Queer, says they agree that their “savehaven” has turned into a “battleground” but pointed the finger at the SPD and elected officials as the responsible parties for the unrest. “It has been nothing short of astonishing to watch Seattle’s historic ‘Gayborhood’ mutate into an epicenter of police brutality. As a resident, I feel less safe than ever – even in broad daylight,” Barr said. “I see an excessive amount of police vehicles roaming the streets daily

and, without fail, there are always excessive police involved when they stop someone.

My father disclosed that he is afraid to visit me here anymore because of how much of a police state it has started to feel like.

“Perhaps it should be noted that we are both Queer, and no longer feel safe in Capitol Hill. As Durkan and the City Council allow them to ramp up their tactics unchecked, one of Seattle’s most coveted monuments is dying… I don’t expect the soul of Capitol Hill to return until SPD is held accountable for their actions.”

Protests have been scheduled each night this past week and continue this weekend.

The largest protest is expected this Saturday, October 3, starting at 7 p.m., at Cal Anderson Park and Bobby Morris Playfield (11th Ave & E Pine St). The protest organizing flyer says a group calling itself “Autonomous Seattle” will seek to “end police violence” and states that the SPD has “for too long, been allowed to brutalize this community” and are calling for the “transfer of funding into community programs that help, not hurt, people.” It concluded by stating: “Brick by brick, wall by wall, we shall make their racist institutions fall.”

Celebrating 46 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

October 2, 2020

Seattle Gay News 13

14 Seattle Gay News

October 2, 2020

Celebrating 46 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

October 2, 2020

Seattle Gay News 15

LGBTQ BUSINESSES MATTER so... start one with

Back-to-Basics Business Ventures Now available on Amazon!

Amazon.com/Books

DONATE TO SGN TODAY! www.gofundme.com/f/ seattle-gay-news-needsyour-support-now THIS AD SPACE HAS BEEN GENEROUSLY DONATED BY KRISTIN COSTELLO IN MEMORY OF SGN PUBLISHER GEORGE BAKAN

16 Seattle Gay News

October 2, 2020

Celebrating 46 Years!

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

Rep. Smith joins Quiet Skies caucus leadership in demanding FAA go back to the drawing board on noise metrics report

U.S. Rep. Adam Smith – Photo courtesy of U.S. House of Representatives

WASHINGTON, DC (September 25, 2020) – Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) issued the following statement after joining congressional colleagues in pushing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to meaningfully reevaluate alternative metrics to the current 65 Day Night Level (DNL) standard: “For years, communities across the nation have continued to experience an increased and disproportionate share of noise and other environmental impacts stemming from commercial aviation, and concerns of residents in these areas are not being adequately addressed. The 2018 FAA reauthorization included several requests for reports on metrics for evaluating noise

impacts on airport communities. Unfortunately, the report released by the FAA this spring on alternative metrics to the 65 DNL standard was woefully inadequate.

“I was pleased to join my colleagues in requesting a revised report on alternative metrics from the FAA so that Congress can truly understand what alternative measurements may be more useful in developing policies to mitigate noise and to designate impacted communities. As the letter points out, the FAA’s recent report reveals that the agency is interested only in treating supplemental noise metrics as an asterisk to noise measurement rather than a comprehensive toolbox from which to address noise impacts.

“The FAA’s report failed to seriously analyze and consider widely used alternative metrics to the current 65 DNL standard to measure noise impact, to use in-flight procedure design, or to inform decisions to alleviate existing noise despite being directed by law. It is unacceptable that the agency dismissed and ignored alternative metrics to their current average, and they must get back to the drawing board to include the potential use of such metrics in the US.” Courtesy of Rep. Adam Smith

Rep. Jayapal’s South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act passes the House of Representatives

Photo courtesy of U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal

SEATTLE (September 29, 2020) – US Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) had her South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act pass the House of Representatives today. The bipartisan legislation will raise awareness about the alarming rate of heart disease in South Asian communities throughout the United States while investing in strategies to reverse this deadly trend.

“As the first South Asian American woman ever elected to the House of Representatives, I am fully committed to not only educating the South Asian community about the risk factors for heart disease but also ensuring that those living with heart disease receive the care, treatment, resources and support they need,” said Rep. Jayapal. “I am proud that the House passed my bipartisan legislation as a significant

Visit us online www.sgn.org

step in raising the alarm, reversing the trend of heart disease in our communities and saying to South Asian American communities across the country, we see you and we are ready to help.”

Studies have shown that South Asians in the United States – people who immigrated from or whose families immigrated from countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal – are experiencing a dramatic rise in heart disease.

South Asians make up 25% of the world’s population but 50% of global cardiovascular deaths. Additionally, South Asian Americans are four times more at risk of developing heart disease than the general population, have a much greater chance of having a heart attack before age 50 and have emerged as the ethnic group with the highest prevalence of Type 2 diabetes, which is a leading cause of heart disease.

The South Asian American community across the United States grew by nearly 40% between 2010 and 2017. Seattle has been among the top five metro areas in the country when it comes to the population of certain South Asian groups.

HR 3131 – originally introduced in 2017 with Republican Rep. Joe Wilson (SC-02) – is endorsed by the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the American Medical Association, the American Stroke Association, WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, the American Asso-

ciation of Physicians of Indian Origin, the South Asian Public Health Association, the Hindu American Foundation, Hindu American Physicians in Seva, South Asian Health Lifestyle Intervention, MASALA, AAPCHO, Mended Hearts, the Bangladesh Medical Association of North America, and the South Asian Heart Center.

Rep. Jayapal’s legislation would do the following: Direct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary to create grants, such as South Asian Heart Health Promotion Grants at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide funding for community groups involved in South Asian heart health promotion and to develop culturally appropriate materials to promote heart health in the South Asian community.

Direct the HHS Secretary to fund grants through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct research on cardiovascular disease and other heart ailments among communities disproportionately affected by heart disease, such as South Asian populations living in the United States, and develop a clearinghouse and web portal of information on heart health research, such as South Asian heart health.

October 2, 2020

Seattle Gay News 17

Courtesy of Rep. Pramila Jayapal

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

Crowley’s Boys in the Band still has plenty to say

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer BOYS IN THE BAND NOW PLAYING ON NETFLIX Do we need a 2020 version of Mart Crowley’s groundbreaking play The Boys in the Band? Does it still resonate, polarize, educate and shock a viewing audience the same way it did back in the late 1960s or like it did in William Friedkin’s still controversial 1970 film version? I don’t have those answers. This play, Friedkin’s motion picture, I’ve always been one of those who’ve been kept at arm’s length from the material, so it’s admittedly difficult for me to fully comprehend my feelings as it pertains to this latest adaptation.

Part of that likely has something to do with the fact I was still firmly trapped within the closet when I first watched the film back in the early ’90s while in high school. I knew I was transgender, and it was sheer torture keeping all of that inside.

As such, watching Friedkin’s film was an eye-opening chore. I didn’t see myself in any of these characters, yet on a deep level I could still relate to much of what they were going through. By the time it was over my stomach was in such knotty tumult I sort of wished I’d never put the tape in the VCR and pushed play roughly two hours prior.

I admit all of this is in the spirit of being honest as to how I felt walking into director Joe Mantello’s (Love! Valour! Compassion!) new take on Crowley’s play. After a successful 2018 Broadway revival, the filmmaker reunited the core cast members of that Tony-winning production for this Netflix film version, including Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto and Matt Bomer. Mantello’s adaptation, written by Crowley (who sadly passed from complications from heart surgery back in March) and Ned Martel, is exquisitely composed and perfectly performed, and for those reasons alone his version deserves top marks right across the board.

But I still can’t fully embrace the material. This is a very male look at gay life, and while much of Crowley’s scenario is sadly not nearly as dated after five-plus decades as I would like it to be, there is still a mod-

The cast of Boys in the Band – Photo courtesy of Netflix

erate distancing effect taking place as far as it pertains to broader LGBTQ experiences.

While aspects are undeniably universal, this still can feel like something of a onesided debate that forgets or discounts large swaths of the broader community.

That’s nitpicking, though. This is what pre-Stonewall life was like for many gay Americans, and watching these men deal with all their issues regarding sex, gender, race and identity during one tumultuous night is a continuous punch to the gut that’s heartbreaking in its emotional exactitude.

No one gets out of this New York apartment unscathed, each man forced to look in the mirror, maybe not in a new way, but at the very least a slightly different one, and while for some that can be seen as progress, for others it ends up being a tragedy from

which they might never recover.

The plot hasn’t changed. A group of close-knit friends meet at Michael’s (Parsons) West Village condo to celebrate the gloriously bitchy Harold’s (Quinto) birthday.

Unexpectedly crashing the evening is one of Michael’s old college chums Alan (Brian Hutchison). He’s hoping to find a sympathetic ear to vent some mysterious secret to, believing his Georgetown roommate will be able to help him out for reasons best left undisclosed. But his appearance has a catastrophic effect on the evening, and suddenly all of the party’s attendees are forced to come to grips with what it means to be a gay man in the 1960s in ways they’d rather not speak aloud if it were at all possible.

Several standout bits cannot be ignored, not the least of which is Bill Pope’s (The

Zachary Quinto in Boys in the Band – Photo courtesy of Netflix

18 Seattle Gay News

October 2, 2020

Matrix) marvelous cinematography. His camera navigates the numerous corners, side rooms and staircases of Michael’s home with cunning virtuosity. Pope’s visual ingenuity is never smothering and it refuses to call attention to itself. Yet there is still a kinetic grace to what he is doing that is frankly stunning, his deft use of production designer Judy Becker’s (American Hustle) immaculately constructed interiors beyond reproach.

Next is Quinto. He delivers a towering, unforgettable performance. It may take a bit of time for the chronically late Harold to arrive, but once he did I wouldn’t have been able to take my eyes off of him had I even wanted to try. Quinto provides an instant jolt of electricity I did not see coming. There is an effortlessness to his line delivery that held me spellbound, and whether blithely delivering a devastating putdown in Michael’s direction or lasciviously salivating over his himbo birthday present boy-toy (Charlie Carver), everything the actor does drips with passionately acidic complexity. This is one of 2020’s best performances.

The rest of the cast is equally up to the challenge, each finding ways to inhabit their respective roles with dexterous confidence. Parsons has the unenviable task of doing the majority of the expository heavy-lifting, Michael’s frequent monologues starting almost all of the primary discussions that end up happening throughout the story. While at first I found him to be slightly annoying, as events progressed what the actor was doing and how he was tackling his character began to win me over, so by the time he and Bomer passed quiet looks of despondent cathartic understanding I couldn’t help but shed a couple of lonely tears in hushed appreciation.

Crowley’s play was ahead of its time.

His look at gay life in the 1960s was unheard of then, and it still has plenty to say on the subject now. But as good as The Boys in the Band might be, I still find I appreciate what the author is saying more than I can personally relate to most of his words.

None of which minimizes the strength of Mantello’s adaptation, and even with these reservations I still hope audiences give the film a look as soon as it becomes available for them to do so.

Celebrating 46 Years!

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

Seattle’s MEN IN DANCE present Virtual Festival Celebration October 2-4 at 8pm

Men in Dance – Photo by Joseph Lambert

Seattle’s MEN IN DANCE 2020, would like to announce its featured choreographers for its first-ever Virtual Festival Celebration, live-streaming October 2, 3 and 4 at 8 pm PDT! This program can be viewed by going to watch.menindance.org on the days of the event. There is no admission/ ticket fee to participate in this live event, however donations are welcomed and appreciated!

These choreographers, chosen by the MEN IN DANCE organization, have created and filmed their submissions in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These original films will be presented on three evenings, as a program of dance that continues the organizations’ mission statement: to find and support the highest-quality male-identified concert dance, presenting it in all of its colors.

These artists hail from around the country and include: • Project 44/Gierre Godley, New York City, has created a timely and nuanced group piece that brings men of color together, to explore the present as it collides with the past of our country’s checkered history of diminishing, limiting and labeling our African-American ‘Brothers and Sons’.

PLEASE NOTE: Gierre will be interviewed via Zoom, by MID Producing President Richard Jessup. This interview will introduce Gierre’s piece, as the finale of this program.

• Daniel Ojeda, now living and working in Boise, ID is returning to MEN IN DANCE, after being voted ‘audience favorite’ by our 2019 Choreographers Showcase audiences. Daniel brings a theatrical solo piece that illuminates the struggles a live performer faces during Covid-19.

• Bruce McCormick, also a MEN IN DANCE alumni who now lives and works in Los Angeles, has set choreography to thoughtful text about our times and the

Gierre Godley – Photo courtesy of Men in Dance

Daniel Ojeda – Photo courtesy of Men in Dance

Alex Danna – Photo courtesy of Men in Dance

Tommy Lewey – Photo courtesy of Men in Dance

Brandon Lee Allen – Photo courtesy of Men in Dance

Richard Walters – Photo courtesy of Men in Dance

insights that artists can bring to our troubled world. His piece is danced and narrated by Alex Danna, of Fort Worth, TX • Tommy Lewey, who lives and works in Indianapolis, IN, makes his MEN IN DANCE premiere, with his touching and comical look at the intersection of Covid, boredom, and dance!

• Filling out the virtual program is Dance// Novella, which consists of Canadians Brandon Lee Alley and Rachael Prince, and NYC’s Richard Walters. They have created a fascinating, and frightening look at the control, influence and chaos that can come from the human experience! They are also making their premiere with MEN IN DANCE.

This visually stunning program of dance can be seen by going to watch. menindance.org on October 2, 3 or 4 at 8 p.m. PDT. There is no “admission fee” for this event, but MEN IN DANCE, as a 501(c) (3) non-profit arts organization, welcomes and appreciates your generous donations, which can be made at menindance.org.

October 2, 2020

Seattle Gay News 19

Visit us online www.sgn.org

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

BOOKS

From activism to joy, Lambda LitFest showcases the power of Black LGBTQ artistry October 5-9 A weeklong festival celebrating and defending Black LGBTQ Lives

New York, NY & Los Angeles, CA – 2020 has left us with the need to take action and bring joy into our lives, which is why the 4th annual Lambda Litfest has been transformed into a specially curated, virtual event celebrating Black LGBTQIA+ excellence and abundance. The week-long event, taking place virtually on Zoom from October 5-9 will feature Black, Indigenous, and POC LGBTQIA+ writers, artists, and activists engaged in dynamic, heartdriven conversations centering the Black LGBTQIA+ experience.

Each night of the festival is centered around timely topics vital to Queer Black art-making including, including Politics & Activism, Black Aesthetics, and Writing in Hollywood. The opening night will set the stage by bringing panelists Jordyn Jay, founder of Black Trans Femmes in the Arts Collective, novelist George M. Johnson, and others together for a discussion on Black Joy. The week will cap off with a discussion of Sex and the Body featuring Brontez Purnell, KOKUMO, Randa Jarrar, and others. Additional featured speakers include: Juliana Huxtable, Darnell Moore, Ianne Fields Stewart, t’ai freedom ford, and

Images courtesy of Lambda Literary

many more. All events are free and offer audiences the opportunity to listen and engage in discussion with some of the most crucial voices working today.

Lambda LitFest is a program of Lambda Literary, the nation’s leading LGBTQIA+ literary organization, whose mission is to nurture and advocate for LGBTQIA+ writers, elevating the impact of their words to create community, preserve their legacies, and affirm the value of their stories and lives. Lambda Litfest resists the oppressive nature of a white supremacist, ableist, cisgender, and heteronormative world by creating a space that uplifts and celebrates Black, Indigenous, and POC folks in the LGBTQIA+ community.

This presentation is supported in part by an Arts Grant from the City of West Hollywood, as well as support from the California Arts Council and the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

For more info about Lambda Litfest, including our full schedule of events, visit our website at https://www.lambdaliterary. org/litfest/ Courtesy of Lambda Literary

FILM

Virtual Friday Harbor Film Festival coming October 15-25

Image courtesy of Friday Harbor Film Festival

FRIDAY HARBOR, WA (September 24, 2020) – The Friday Harbor Film Festival is going virtual this year, featuring award-winning documentaries, short films, and student-made films, as well as daily livestreamed Q&As with filmmakers. All films will be available on demand for 10 days, October 15-25.

Q&As will be recorded for those who can’t participate via livestream. Read about this year’s lineup at www.fhff.org. Detailed information about how to participate virtually is available on the website.

Thanks to the generosity of part-time islanders and enthusiastic film festival supporters Suzy Mygatt Wakefield and Jay Wakefield, all films entered in the Student Film Competition will be available free for everyone to screen. The Wakefields want to introduce students to the art of filmmaking by viewing their peers’ work, while also encouraging family viewing of thoughtful documentary programming, and inspiring interest in the films FHFF offers. Viewing the student films begins early – on October 10 – at www.fhff.org.

20 Seattle Gay News

October 2, 2020

Audience members will vote for the Audience Choice Awards for Best Feature, Best Short, and the Laszlo Pal Emerging Filmmaker Award in two age categories (ages 11-17 and 18-26). This year’s Local Hero Award will be presented to documentary filmmaker James Longley. After growing up on San Juan Island, he has gone on to become an award-winning filmmaker and photographer. His recent film, Angels Are Made of Light, will be featured during the festival. The Audience Choice Awards livestreaming presentation is scheduled for Sunday, October 25.

Get ready for this amazing festival! Ten full days of FAMILY Films for one low package price of $75. Pre-purchase your All-Access Pass ($75) or 5-Film Pass ($35) now at www.fhff.org. Single-film tickets ($7.50) will be available beginning on October 15. Gather your family together, as all can watch on one pass!

Courtesy of the Friday Harbor Film Festival

Celebrating 46 Years!

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

ART

Washington State History Museum reopens TACOMA (September 24, 2020) – Your Washington State History Museum [reopened] on Tuesday, September 29, 2020, after having been closed since midMarch in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Inslee announced in August that museums in Phase 2 counties can reopen under specific guidelines.

“We are really looking forward to opening the doors to our community again.

Being able to visit the History Museum provides learning opportunities, inspiration, and a much-needed feeling of normal activity,” said Jennifer Kilmer, the Historical Society’s director. “It is also a space for kids to connect with artifacts and exhibits and learn history differently than they would at home in front of their computers. We’re excited to offer that to families.

And we’re thinking of older audiences too, offering new seniors-only hours for added safety for those who are 65 and older.”

The History Museum’s visitor hours will be Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with the first two hours on Tuesdays (10:00 a.m.–noon) reserved for ages 65+. The museum is closed to visitors on Mondays.

What to know about coming back to the museum: • Half-price admission through October 23. The Great Hall of Washington History (3rd floor) will be open along with a special pop-up exhibition – the Northwest Collage Society’s Suffrage Celebration Show. The 5th floor galleries will remain closed for installation of new exhibitions.

• On October 24, the museum’s 5th floor galleries will reopen with new exhibitions

and “Columbia and Cascade: A River and a Range,” followed in November by “Just the Ticket: Railroads in Washington.” This winter, the new Remembrance gallery will open.

The History Museum staff look forward to seeing you soon!

Address: 1911 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98402 Hours: 10:00 AM–5:00 PM Tues.-Sun. Seniors-only hours on Tuesdays, 10:0012:00.

Admission: Free for members; adults $14; seniors (age 65+), students (age 6-17) and military (with ID) $11; free for children 5 and under; family rate $40 (up to two adults and four children under age 18).

Patrons with a Washington Quest card and licensed Washington foster parents can attend for $1 per person or $2 per family.

Photo courtesy of Washington State History Museum

to enjoy along with the Great Hall of Washington History. Admission will return to regular price.

• Visitors will be required to wear face masks in the building and to observe social distancing. COVID self-screening will be posted at the entrances.

• The museum’s safety measures also include hand sanitizer stations throughout the building, one-way gallery paths, reduced building occupancy, and enhanced cleaning protocols.

• Visitors are encouraged to purchase

tickets in advance via the museum’s website. E-tickets support touchless entry. See the yellow “Buy tickets” button on the home page of the website www.WashingtonHistory.org. Visitors who would like to purchase admission at the museum can pay with credit or debit cards only; cash will not be accepted.

There’s a lot to see at the Washington State History Museum. Explore the Great Hall and see the pop-up Northwest Collage Society exhibition. Coming October 24: “Votes for Women: 100 Years and Counting”

The Washington State Historical Society partners with our communities to explore how history connects us all. The Society’s most visible activity, the Washington State History Museum is located in downtown Tacoma on Pacific Avenue. The museum features interactive permanent exhibitions about Washington’s past in the Great Hall, unique rotating exhibitions highlighting the Society’s collections, and dynamic traveling exhibitions. More at www.WashingtonHistory.org.

Courtesy of the Washington State Historical Society

Washington State Historical Society presents “Contested Spaces: Power and Resistance in the Pacific Northwest,” the 67th Pacific Northwest History Conference, October 20-23 TACOMA (September 25, 2020) – The Washington State Historical Society will convene the 67th Pacific Northwest History Conference virtually this year, taking place October 20-23, 2020. Historians, museum professionals, K-12 educators, archivists, historic preservationists, graduate students, and history enthusiasts will gather to explore the theme “Contested Spaces: Power and Resistance in the Pacific Northwest.”

The Pacific Northwest has long been a place of contested spaces. As we embark on a new decade and upcoming presidential election, profound demographic, economic, political, and cultural changes continue to shape struggles over power, rights, and freedoms in this region. These challenges have also produced different forms of resistance by diverse groups of people.

“Our program committee, which is made up of distinguished historians, public historians, tribal historians, and labor historians from across the Pacific Northwest, chose the theme of ‘Contested Spaces: Power and Resistance in the Pacific Northwest,’” Allison Campbell, heritage outreach manager for the Historical Society, said. “When we decided on this theme eight months ago, we knew that the conference would be scheduled on the eve of the 2020 election. We knew that it was during the year of the suffrage centennial. But in no way could we have predicted just how timely this theme would ultimately be.”

The virtual conference will feature sixteen panels on a wide range of topics

There are two levels of registration available for the online conference. The full-access option is $75 for Washington State Historical Society members, $100 for nonmembers, and $50 for students, K-12 teachers, and contingent faculty. Full access registration includes all of the sessions and recordings of sessions, a research roundtable, keynote panels, and evening programs. The limited access option is free and includes the three keynotes and evening programs.

To register, see the conference schedule, and find further information, visit WashingtonHistory.org (exhibitions and events tab), or contact Allison.Campbell@wshs. wa.gov. related to the theme of contested spaces.

In addition to these sessions, the Pacific Northwest Historian’s Guild will host a roundtable where historians can informally discuss their current research projects and receive feedback from peers. Three keynote panels will explore the topics of digital history, tribal history in K-12 curricula, and labor history in the Pacific Northwest. Evening programs will feature presentations on cocktail history in the West and a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of the upcoming Washington State History Museum exhibition, “Votes for Women: 100 Years and Counting” (opening October 24).

The 16 sessions cover a broad range of topics. A few examples: • Regional Resistance to National Isola-

Visit us online www.sgn.org

tionism • Past and Present: Tribal Responses to Disease in the PNW • Race, Sexuality, and Environmentalism: Creating Shared Identity Across Political and Regional Divides • Foodways: Historical Inquiries at the Intersection of Labor, Environment, and Colonialism This is the first time the regional conference has been held online. “We know it’s hard to replicate the energy and comradery of an in-person conference, but this virtual format will allow broader participation and greater access with a lower participation cost, while enabling Pacific Northwest historians to show off some of the best work being done today,” said Campbell.

The Washington State Historical Society partners with our communities to explore how history connects us all. The society’s most visible activity, the Washington State History Museum, is located in downtown Tacoma on Pacific Avenue. The museum features interactive permanent exhibitions about Washington’s past in the Great Hall, unique rotating exhibitions highlighting the Society’s collections, and dynamic traveling exhibitions. The museum will reopen on Tuesday, September 29, 2020.

October 2, 2020

Seattle Gay News 21

Courtesy of the Washington State Historical Society

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

MUSIC

Jack Mozie releases Spanish EP, Sin Poder Hacer Un Ruido on Oct. 9

Image courtesy of the artist

Local queer artist and activist Jack Mozie’s Sin Poder Hacer Un Ruido, a foursong EP about coming out, rejection, and self-acceptance, releases on October 9, 2020. Sin Poder Hacer Un Ruido (which translates into “Unable to Make a Noise”) tells the shared story of struggle faced by Latinx queer people upon coming out.

“This record shares some of my darkest, and most traumatic experiences, in hopes that others can relate and make peace with their own darkness,” Jack Mozie says of his newest EP. “This record helped me heal from my past.”

Mozie produced and recorded this album

during the COVID-19 pandemic entirely from his home studio. “I found myself in isolation after “Rock For Pride” ended. Music has always been a way for me to connect with people, so I began writing,” said Mozie.

Despite being unable to collaborate with other artists on this release, Mozie hopes his songs will help others relate to his situation and enjoy the camaraderie in shared challenges. “Coming out is different for everyone, but we all deal with the hardship of being accepted. I hope this music makes other journeys less lonely, and reminds people that loving and accepting yourself is worth it. ”

Jack Mozie organized last summer’s “Rock For Pride 2020 – At Home Edition” which can still be viewed online at https:// www.jackmozie.com/rockforpride. Visit www.jackmozie.com to listen to Mozie’s Sin Poder Hacer Un Ruido. www.jackmozie.com – www.facebook. com/jackmozie – www.twitter.com/jackmozie – www.instagram.com/jackmozie – jackmozie@gmail.com Courtesy of Jack Mozie

Seattle Public Library’s 2019 Impact Report highlights digital circulation, community impact • Volunteer power: 695 people volunteered almost 22,000 hours to Library programs such as Homework Help in 2019.

• “It is an honor and a joy to help residents from all ages and walks of life discover stories, learn skills, find opportunities, connect to services, and realize their dreams,” said Chief Librarian Turner in the report.

The complete Impact Report is distributed online at www.spl.org/impact, and in a limited number of print copies.

SEATTLE (September 28, 2020) – The Seattle Public Library has released its “2019 Impact Report” [www.spl.org/aboutus/library-impact/2019-impact-report], an annual accounting of the Library’s performance and impact on the community through statistics, program updates, and patron stories.

“The Library’s 2019 Impact Report is testament to how much we were able to accomplish with the support and guidance of our community,” said Executive Director and Chief Librarian Marcellus Turner. “From large-scale programs, such as our STEAMfocused Summer of Learning, to targeted efforts such as one-on-one help for entrepreneurs in underserved areas, we work closely with community partners to give everyone the opportunity to learn and excel.”

The report shared performance statistics as well as highlights in five areas: adult learning, cultural and civic engagement, local businesses, student success, and people in need. For the tenth consecutive year, the Library received the highest five-star rating [in] Library Journal’s Index of Public Library Service.

Highlights of the 2019 Impact Report • Increase in digital circulation. Digital library items circulated 4.8 million times in 2019, a 23% increase from 2018; this figure includes e-books, e-audiobooks, and digital and streaming and downloadable media.

The Library’s digital collection increased by 14%, from 463,000 to 530,000.

• 17.4 million visits. The Seattle Public Library received 17.4 million visits from patrons in 2019, counting both online sessions (12.5 million) and visits to physical locations (4.9 million). In addition, nearly 56,000 new library cards were issued in 2019, 5.2 million holds were placed on items in the collection, and the Library answered 695,000 questions.

• More than 9,000 programs. 9,200 Library programs and events had a total attendance of 275,000 in 2019, including author events, technology skills classes, English-language classes, citizenship

22 Seattle Gay News

More information The Seattle Public Library brings people, information, and ideas together to enrich lives and build community. Visit the Library’s Road to Reopening page for more information on book returns, Curbside Service, and other services being offered while library buildings are closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Seattle Public Library also has many free online programs, services, and resources while its physical buildings are closed. You can find out more on our website [www.spl.org] or by contacting the Library by phone at 206-386-4636. Staff are ready to answer questions and direct you to helpful resources and information during this challenging time.

Photo courtesy of SPL

classes, children’s programs, programs for seniors, and much more.

• Connecting people in need. The Library’s pioneering Wi-fi HotSpot program circulated 675 hot spots nearly 8,000 times in 2019; 250 additional hot spots were checked to people most impacted by the digital divide, including 36 that were installed long-term in tiny house villages.

Other digital equity-focused programs included computer classes for Somali women at the New Holly community.

• One-on-one help for entrepreneurs.

The Library to Business program reached 1,700 entrepreneurs with one-on-one help sessions, business workshops, and networking events in 2019. We expanded one-on-

October 2, 2020

one business meetings, already available at the Central Library and five branches, to Ballard, Green Lake and Lake City branches.

• Empowering youth to lead and learn.

The Library reached youth with flagship programs such as story times in multiple languages, the STEAM-focused Summer of Learning and after-school Homework Help, offered at 11 locations in 2019, while also working with community partners to offer small, targeted programs. Indigenous youth from the Clear Sky Native Youth Council, for example, worked with the Library on oral histories that supported efforts to make Licton Springs Seattle’s first-ever Native landmark.

Courtesy of the Seattle Public Library

Celebrating 46 Years!

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

Seattle Public Library offers virtual arts programs for older adults in October SEATTLE (September 29, 2020) – This fall, The Seattle Public Library and Silver Kite Community Arts have partnered to offering online intergenerational workshops, talks, social hours, and performances for the community. These opportunities provide stimulating and creative engagement opportunities, as well as social connection.

“Older adults are facing unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Nancy Slote. “We are working with community partners to offer virtual programs to help older adults navigate important decisions with physical and mental health, as well as fun programs that help them connect and learn.”

Arts schedule Visit the Library’s calendar at spl. org/fiftyplus to find and register for these upcoming events: • 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2 – Beginning Improvisation Theatre. Learn how to say “yes, and!” and develop skills to create and share ideas at the drop of a hat.

• 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3 – Introduction to Pastels. Learn how to use pastels to draw a simple still life.

• 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5 – Dance as a Performing Art. Dance with us

Image courtesy of SPL

and learn how recreational dances change when they are staged. This workshop will focus on the European folk dance roots of ballet, the creativity of modern dance, and the skill of articulation.

• 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 9 – Beginning Drawing. During this interactive workshop, learn basic drawing techniques as you draw objects in a still life.

• 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10 – Pop-Up Cards. Learn how to turn flat pieces of paper into three-dimensional shapes. Cut, bend, fold, and attach paper to create art from your recycling bin.

• 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12 – Writing Fiction. Join us for a fiction-writing workshop and learn how to bring your fic-

tional characters to life.

• 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 16 – The Power of Play. Play is an important part of learning at any age. During this interactive presentation, we’ll explore how play contributes to understanding, memory, and cognition and identify ways to bring play into our lives.

• 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17 – Making Puppets. Have fun designing and creating puppets with recycled materials.

• 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19 – Mindfulness. This workshop will introduce the art of mindfulness with suggestions for creating a simple, ongoing practice.

• 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 23 – Poetry Writing. Join us for a workshop on crafting poems reflective of life experiences. This workshop is designed for writers who have some prior experience with writing poetry.

• 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24 – Sip and Paint with Acrylics. Join us for a step-by-step acrylic painting workshop.

Grab a beverage and spend an hour with us talking and making art together.

• 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26 – Dances of the 20th Century. From the Lindy Hop and Charleston to Motown and Hip Hop, it’s been quite a century. Dance along with us by using simple moves led by

mirroring. Participants can stand or sit.

• 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 30 – Telling Scary Stories. Just in time for Halloween, join us for a storytelling workshop focused on the spooky side of life!

• 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31 – Mask Making. Celebrate Halloween by designing and creating masks that reflect a superhero, an animal, an inner quality, or a character.

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

All physical locations of the Seattle Public Library are closed in accordance with public health guidelines, though some locations are now open for curbside service, book returns, and restroom service.

Find out more at spl.org/roadtoreopening.

For more information, call 206-3864636 or [go to www.spl.org/using-thelibrary/ask-us]. For ADA accommodations, contact leap@spl.org.

Courtesy of the Seattle Public Library

Boo! Seattle Public Library’s “Thrilling Tales” podcast to post haunted new episodes each week in October

SEATTLE (September 28, 2020) – Ready for thrills and chills? The Seattle Public Library will get you in the haunted spirit this October with “Virtual Thrilling Tales: A Story Time for Grown-Ups.” Featuring vintage spooky stories expertly read

by David Wright, reader services librarian, this library podcast series will post a new classic tale every Thursday in October, starting on Thursday, Oct. 1.

“While movies and TV shows are filled with jump scares, I maintain that there’s nothing quite so authentically frightening as the realms chillingly evoked by the Victorian and Edwardian masters of horror,” said Wright, who had been hosting “Thrilling Tales” as a live storytime event at the Central Library for more than 15 years before creating a virtual version of the event in the spring of 2020.

Get a taste of what’s in store by listening to some of the spooky “Thrilling Tales” that have already posted, such as Edward Lucas White’s 1906 story “The House of the Nightmare,” which may have been the first scary story to begin with a car breaking down on a lonely highway, or Gertrude Atherton’s 1896 story “The Striding Place” in which a hapless ne’er-do-well has an unexpected encounter along the banks of the deadliest river in the world.

Episodes range from 30 minutes to an hour, and go live around noon on Thursdays, “though you may want to wait ‘til midnight to listen,” said Wright.

Other “Thrilling Tales” episodes especially fit for fall include a World War I espionage tale, a heart-stopping story of suspense on the railroad tracks, and a Twilight Zone tale revolving around the comforting pastime of jigsaw puzzles.

Based on the idea that we never grow out of stories, “Thrilling Tales” started as a live event at the Central Library in 2004.

Since then, the library has staged over 500 story times at the library, at senior living facilities and homeless shelters, and even to bars and pubs each fall under the banner

Image courtesy of SPL

“Ales from the Crypt.”

Find all “Thrilling Tales” episodes as well as recordings of live events, at spl.org/ podcasts or through your favorite podcast reader.

More information The Library believes that the power of knowledge improves people’s lives. We

Visit us online www.sgn.org

promote literacy and a love of reading as we bring people, information, and ideas together to enrich lives and build community.

All physical locations of the Seattle Public Library are closed in accordance with public health guidelines, though some locations are now open for curbside service, book returns, and restroom service.

Find out more at spl.org/roadtoreopening.

For more information, call 206-3864636 or [go to www.spl.org/using-thelibrary/ask-us]. For ADA accommodations, contact leap@spl.org.

October 2, 2020

Seattle Gay News 23

Courtesy of the Seattle Public Library

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

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

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

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

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

Report domestic violence and sexual assault.

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

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

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

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

Sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

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

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

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

24 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.

October 2, 2020

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 46 Years!

HOME SERVICES

HEALTH SERVICES U CALL WE HAUL Construction Sites, Basements, Garages, Dirt, Wood, Concrete, Junk Removals, Washing Machines, Dryers, Stoves, Etc. Tidy, (206) 354-8949

JOANN’S NEAT & SWEET CLEANING Our Crew Is Reliable & Trustworthy.

Remember, Neat Is The Way To Go. (206) 841-7339 (Office) (206) 399-3281 (Cellular) 34/6

HANDYMAN SERVICES Fences, Decks, Drywall, Painting & Repair, ETC. 25 Years Experience.

References Available.

206-935-6730.

37/6

Visit us online www.sgn.org

October 2, 2020

Seattle Gay News 25

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 sauna, spa pool, sundeck, lockers, indoor chill spaces are all dormant until King County hits Phase 3 reopening.

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

26 Seattle Gay News

October 2, 2020

Celebrating 46 Years!

DONATE TO SGN TODAY! www.gofundme.com/f/seattle-gay-news-needs-your-support-now

Visit us online www.sgn.org

October 2, 2020

Seattle Gay News 27