SGN October 26, 2018 - Section 1

Celebrating 44 Years!

Issue 43 Volume 46

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

Seattle prevails in sanctuary cities lawsuit, President Trump’s executive order ruled unconstitutional

Trump administration declares war on Trans Americans

Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes – Photo courtesy of Holmes for Seattle

SEATTLE (October 25, 2018) – Following legal victories by welcoming cities around the country, the City of Seattle has prevailed in its lawsuit against the Trump administration [whose] Department of Justice tried to withhold 2017

federal funds from Seattle in retaliation for policies that support and welcome immigrant and refugee communities.

The US District Court has issued an order finding that the section of President

see SANCTUARY page 4

Federal court OKs Houston libraries’ Drag Queen Story Hour

Photo courtesy of Drag Queen Story Hour

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A US district judge in Houston has tossed out a lawsuit challenging the city

libraries’ popular Drag Queen Story Hour.

The program features drag queens reading stories to local children.

see DRAG QUEEN page 17

Photo by Yana Paskova / Getty Images

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer In a series of actions, the Trump administration has declared war on Transgender Americans.

On October 24, Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a brief with the US Supreme Court claiming that it is legal for businesses to fire employees based on their gender identity.

see TRANS MEMO page 5

HRC: Trump solicitor general doubles down on bigotry at Supreme Court in attempt to erase Trans people

Noel Francisco – Photo by Mark Wilson / Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC – [On October 24], the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, responded to news that

Trump’s solicitor general, Noel Francisco, argued to the Supreme Court that civil rights protections banning sex discrimina-

see HRC page 4

2 Seattle Gay News

October 26, 2018

Celebrating 44 Years!

Seattle Gay News F O U N D ED 1974 MEMBER

2018

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

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We have been reaching out to our community partners and other nonprofits to ask for their assistance in promoting a photo for SCS. GSBA recommended that we send this information to SGN as one of our target populations is the aging LGBTQ community in Seattle. Here are the details: SCS is holding an open call photo shoot on Saturday, November 3rd from 10am to 8pm. SCS is the in process of updating its current look as we enter our 50th year of service on our website and marketing/outreach materials, and maybe you can relate, it is very difficult to find stock images that portray our LGBTQ

community. We are seeking your help in promoting this photo shoot so that we can capture audiences and individuals that best reflect the people we serve here at SCS. I have attached a graphic to this email; we are able to resize as needed. Please print, share on social media, etc. The graphic details the time, place, and contact information for people to reserve their spot.

All people attending will be emailed a digital copy of their headshot within 2 to 4 weeks after the shoot. Images captured will be used to help promote the work of SCS on our website, electronic correspondence, social media, and marketing/outreach materials.

If you should have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly. I do hope that we can count on you for some promotional help.

Thank you for your partnership and support!

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Donovan Willeto Development Manager He/Him Pronouns Seattle Counseling Service 1216 Pine Street, Suite 300 Seattle WA 98101 (206) 323-1768 donovanw@seattlecounseling.org www.seattlecounseling.org

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SANCTUARY continued from cover

Trump’s executive order that directed the Department of Justice to withheld congressionally appropriated funds from Seattle is unconstitutional.

Following a ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that found the executive order unconstitutional in a San Francisco case, Seattle joined with Portland to seek an order that would put an end to the ongoing lawsuit.

“Take a moment to celebrate a win against a president doing all he can to marginalize people and foster a climate of fear,” said Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes. “The ‘separation of powers’ still exists in this country, and I’m thankful to our judiciary for recognizing that. With our public safety grant dollars now

HRC

continued from cover tion in the workplace do not cover transgender employees, just days after the New York Times revealed that the Trump-Pence White House is attempting to redefine “sex” across the federal government in order to justify its decision to refuse to protect transgender people under federal civil rights law.

“Time and time again, federal circuit courts have ruled that discriminating against an individual based on their gender identity is form of sex discrimination – which is prohibited under a wide range of federal laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “The TrumpPence administration is continuing down

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in hand, we can move forward in supporting our neighbors and furthering community safety in Seattle.”

“We have the law – and justice – on our side. This ruling is a victory for welcoming cities everywhere; it confirms that the administration’s actions violate our Constitution,” said Mayor Jenny Durkan. “If it wasn’t clear already, this administration should know that Seattle won’t [be] bullied.

We will refuse to back down in the face of unjust attacks on our rights and the safety of our communities – and we will always stand up for our immigrant and refugee neighbors.”

“The City of Seattle saw the president’s threats to withhold federal funding from Seattle for what they were: politically motivated bullying. Threatening to pull public safety funding to satisfy his anti-immigrant policies is not only wrong but illegal,” said

Councilmember M. Lorena González.

“Our victory in this lawsuit affirms that Seattle is on the right side of history and the law. Seattle will always be a welcoming city to our undocumented immigrant and refugee neighbors, and standing with our undocumented community is imperative now more than ever. Cities must continue to use every tool at their disposal to meet the public safety needs of all our residents regardless of immigration status.”

The executive order directed the US Department of Justice to withhold grant money from cities that were not in compliance with 8 USC 1373 (“sanctuary jurisdictions”), but courts have consistently ruled that the executive branch did not have the authority to add new conditions to grants already appropriated by Congress. Seattle has held it is and has been in compliance with 8 USC 1373.

“My sincere thanks to Charles Rothfeld and Andrew Pincus from the Mayer Brown LLP law firm, who provided pro-bono legal counsel for the City in this case,” said Holmes.

As announced last week, Seattle received $252,157 in Byrne JAG Grant dollars, which will be used to fund three crime prevention coordinators in the Seattle Police Department.

a destructive path that will put transgender people at further risk of discrimination and violence. For the Department of Justice to conveniently ignore significant legal precedent is deeply disturbing.”

The case before the court involves a transgender woman who was fired by a funeral home when she informed her supervisor that she is transgender. Francisco’s filing with the Supreme Court is at odds with numerous circuit court decisions and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s interpretation of federal law.

On [October 21], the New York Times reported that the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is planning to release regulations narrowly defining “sex” in an anti-transgender way that guts enforcement of existing civil rights protections for LGBTQ people. The adminis-

tration’s plans are in direct conflict with a growing trend in federal court decisions affirming that sexual orientation and gender identity are covered under our nation’s civil rights laws, which prohibit discrimination based on “sex.” This is the latest effort in a consistent, multipronged campaign by the Trump-Pence White House over the past two years to undermine the rights and welfare of LGBTQ people.

The Human Rights Campaign is calling on the American people to send a clear message to the Trump-Pence White House in November by voting for candidates that fully support LGBTQ rights and will work to pass the Equality Act. The Equality Act would finally add clear, comprehensive nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people to our nation’s civil rights laws. In addition to

having bipartisan support in Congress with 246 cosponsors, 117 major corporations have also joined the HRC’s Business Coalition for the Equality Act. Discrimination is a real and persistent problem for far too many LGBTQ Americans. HRC polling has found that nearly two-thirds of selfidentified LGBTQ Americans report experiencing discrimination.

October 26, 2018

Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes has served the City of Seattle as its chief legal officer and prosecutor since 2010. Resources for crime victims, information on forthcoming trials, and recent City Attorney’s Office news and reports can be found on the City Attorney’s website. Follow the City Attorney on Twitter and on Facebook.

Courtesy of the City of Seattle

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

Celebrating 44 Years!

Photo by Carolyn Kaster / AP

TRANS MEMO continued from cover

The DOJ brief reverses the finding of President Obama’s DOJ – and several federal courts – that the prohibition against discrimination based on sex in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act also protects Trans people.

Trump’s DOJ filed the document in the case of Aimee Stephens, a Michigan funeral home employee who was fired when her employer found that she is Transgender. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued on Stephens’ behalf, basing its case on the Obama-era reading of Title VII. Stephens’ suit was upheld by the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals but is now pending with the Supreme Court.

However, the DOJ – now under the control of Trump appointees – has the authority to represent federal law before the high court, and the Trump DOJ informed the court that the 6th Circuit was wrong. The high court should make a determination whether the word “sex” in federal law covers gender identity, the DOJ filing said.

The HRC lost no time in condemning the Trump administration’s position.

“Time and time again, federal circuit courts have ruled that discriminating against an individual based on their gender identity is form of sex discrimination – which is prohibited under a wide range of federal laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow.

“The Trump-Pence administration is

continuing down a destructive path that will put transgender people at further risk of discrimination and violence. For the Department of Justice to conveniently ignore significant legal precedent is deeply disturbing.”

Defining Trans people out of existence While the Supreme Court considers the DOJ brief, the Trump administration is working on new administrative rules that would legally define Trans people out of existence.

On October 21 the New York Times published a leaked DOJ memo that could put an end to legal protections for Trans people, and would put an end to lawsuits like that of Aimee Stephens.

The memo seeks to define the word “sex” in federal law in such a way that gender identity is explicitly excluded.

“Sex means a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth,” the memo says.

“The sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence.”

The standard set by the Trump administration memo – basing gender on genetic evidence and/or genitalia identified at birth – represents the most extreme standard put forward by anti-LGBT forces. It would effectively define even post-op Trans people by the gender assigned them at brith.

“This is an attack on the very lives and existence of Transgender people,” James Esseks, director of the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project, said in a statement.

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“It is painful, it is hateful, and it will not go unchallenged,” he added. “Transgender people have the right to not only exist but to fully participate in public life. Transgender people are real and transgender lives have meaning.

“If the Trump administration moves forward with these hateful and hurtful policies, they will once again be met with opposition in courts and in communities. More and more courts are seeing that policies targeting transgender people have no place in our country. The ACLU will fight back against any efforts to use transgender people as political pawns and continue to seek full equality for transgender and nonbinary people.”

Anti-Trans head of DOJ Civil Rights Division On the same day that the Times published the anti-Trans memo, the US Senate – on a largely party-line 50-to-47 vote – confirmed Trump nominee Eric Dreiband to head the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.

Dreiband represented the University of North Carolina in a lawsuit over the school’s decision to enforce HB2, which restricted restroom access for Trans people and banned local governments from passing LGBTQ anti-discrimination ordinances.

He also defended RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company and Bloomberg in discrimination cases, and represented clients looking for religious exemptions to the law.

“Whoever leads the ‘crown jewel’ of the Justice Department must have deep relationships with stakeholders and marginalized communities, and have a deep, abiding

faith in our nation’s civil rights laws,” said Vanita Gupta, who headed the Civil Rights Division under Barack Obama.

“They must respect the laws that touch everyone, rights that people have literally died for. They must respect the role of what has been called the conscience of the federal government. In all those regards, Eric Dreiband is woefully unqualified to lead the Civil Rights Division.”

Lambda Legal pointed to the division’s role in defending civil rights as a reason to be concerned about Dreiband.

“Throughout its 60-year history, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has been a stalwart defender of civil rights in employment, education, housing, voting, and many other aspects of life,” said Lambda Legal’s Sharon McGowan, who added that Dreiband was not “a strong leader with a proven track record of defending civil rights.”

The NAACP said that Dreiband was “exactly the wrong choice” to lead the office.

“The evidence is clear,” NAACP board chair Leon W. Russell said in a statement.

“For the past 20 years, Dreiband has been on the wrong side of issues pertaining to housing, hate crimes, and the many other critical areas that the Civil Rights Division oversees as part of its core mission.”

Under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Justice Department has made protecting religious liberty a priority at the expense of LGBTQ equality.

Earlier this year, Sessions announced the creation of a Religious Liberty Task Force to help fight against anti-discrimination efforts.

October 26, 2018

Seattle Gay News 5

Transgender Law Center responds to horrific leaked draft memo by the Department of HHS denying humanity of Transgender and gender-nonconforming community

WASHINGTON, DC – On [October 21], the New York Times reported on a memo drafted by the Trump administration that could lead to regulatory attempts to define gender as “a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth.” The Times outlined how the memo, written by [the Department of Health and Human Services] (HHS), will pave the way for a violent attack on the rights of transgender and gender-nonconforming communities in accessing comprehensive health care or receiving an equal education. In response, Transgender Law Center Executive Director Kris Hayashi issued the following statement: “Because of brave people like Ash Whitaker and Gavin Grimm and so many others, transgender and gender-nonconforming communities have achieved wins in the courts. Through key victories like Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District and Macy v. Holder, courts and government agencies have made clear that transgender and gender-nonconforming people are protected from discrimination under federal civil rights laws and the US Constitution.

“The draft memo the NYT reported on this weekend, a document written by officials at HHS, is transparently a hatemotivated response to these victories.

It attempts to rewrite years of progress achieved by advocates under the Obama administration. Here, written out plain, is their attempt to erase our very existence as transgender people. This memo reveals that this administration intends nothing short of our destruction.

“To be clear: nothing this administra-

6 Seattle Gay News

tion can do will undermine the scores of federal courts that have recognized our humanity and hundreds of state and local legal protections we’ve already won.

“We know now that the administration intends to ignore the preponderance of law, science, and evidence on gender identity to empower hate and roll back access to health care and to make schools less safe for transgender and gender-nonconforming youth.

The Transgender Law Center will fight this as we’ve fought all of the attacks by this administration, and the many attacks that came before the current administration. In community, we will organize and protect each other through our joint campaign with the National Center for Transgender Equality, #ProtectTransHealth, as well as by working with local leaders in states that have faced or are facing anti-trans ballot measures and successfully defeated these attempts. Whether the fight takes us to the courts, to the ballot box, or to the streets, we will continue to fight for a country in which all of us enjoy dignity and respect.

“This summer, we marched in honor of Roxsana Hernandez, a transgender woman and asylum seeker from Honduras who died in ICE detention. In the past few weeks, we have mourned the deaths of Black trans women. We are a community under attack, but we are not silent and we won’t be erased.”

The Transgender Law Center (TLC) is the largest national trans-led organization advocating self-determination for all people. Grounded in legal expertise and committed to racial justice, the TLC employs a variety of community-driven strategies to keep transgender and gendernonconforming people alive, thriving, and fighting for liberation. http://transgenderlawcenter.org Courtesy of the TLC

October 26, 2018

Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

OutRight comments on rumored anti-Trans memo

done globally for the full recognition and enjoyment of human rights for trans people, there is no doubt that the trajectory is going in the right direction.

“Thankfully, the memo is only a confidential draft and has not impacted any laws or policies. However, even if it is eventually published, the Trump administration cannot undo all federal laws and court decisions that have repeatedly recognized the rights of transgender Americans to be free from discrimination. They may try, but they will not win.”

NEW YORK – The New York Times published an article on October 21st indicating that the Department of Health and Human Services intends to release a memo that would define sex according to biology, based on genitalia or genetic testing at birth.

Jessica Stern, executive director of OutRight Action International, commented, “OutRight Action International vehemently condemns all efforts by the Trump administration to define gender in biological or immutable terms.

Such efforts amount to an attack on transgender and intersex Americans and would contradict everything we have learned from decades of progress for women’s rights and gender justice.

“Much like climate change, the Trump administration and [its] supporters are on the wrong side of history when it comes to gender. Over the last few years, countries as diverse as Pakistan, Uruguay, and Botswana have advanced the recognition of trans rights. Although much remains to be

Every day around the world, LGBTIQ people’s human rights and dignity are abused in ways that shock the conscience.

The stories of their struggles and their resilience are astounding, yet remain unknown – or willfully ignored – by those with the power to make change. OutRight Action International, founded in 1990 as the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, works alongside LGBTIQ people in the Global South, with offices in six countries, to help identify communityfocused solutions to promote policy for lasting change. It vigilantly monitors and documents human rights abuses to spur action when they occur. It trains partners to expose abuses and advocate for themselves. Headquartered in New York City, OutRight is the only global LGBTIQ-specific organization with a permanent presence at the United Nations in New York that advocates for human rights progress for LGBTIQ people.

Courtesy of OutRight Action International

Celebrating 44 Years!

GLAD response to report of Trump administration’s latest considered move against Transgender people Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

NCLR responds to new Trump administration attack on Transgender people

WASHINGTON, DC – [On October 21,] The New York Times published an article reporting that the Trump administration plans to revise federal regulations to ensure that federal laws prohibiting sex discrimination will not be enforced by federal agencies to protect transgender people.

National Center for Lesbian Rights Legal Director Shannon Minter issued the following statement in response: “This proposed policy is a heavyhanded attempt to strip federal legal protections from transgender people. It is part and parcel of this administration’s ongoing attempts to scapegoat vulnerable groups and to promote extremist policies rooted in stigma and stereotypes.

“The federal courts have interpreted sex discrimination laws broadly for decades in order to ensure that all forms of sex-based discrimination are prohibited, including discrimination against transgender people. This proposal is out of step with long-standing legal precedent and would create havoc in federal agencies, which are charged with enforcing the law and cannot simply disregard binding legal decisions.

And no matter what this administration orders federal agencies to do, the courts

still have the authority to interpret these laws and will continue to protect transgender people.

“We know that many in our community today heard this news and are afraid.

We want to assure our transgender family members that the NCLR and many other civil and human rights organizations will fight this policy and, just as important, will continue to advocate for transgender students, employees, health care patients, and other transgender people. We have fought similar battles and won. We can and will defeat this together.”

The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) was the first national LGBTQ legal organization founded by women and brings a fierce, long-standing commitment to racial and economic justice and our community’s most vulnerable. Since 1977, we have been at the forefront of advancing the civil and human rights of LGBTQ people and their families through impact litigation, public policy, and public education. Decades ago, the NCLR launched the first LGBTQ Immigration Project, Transgender Rights Project, Youth Project, and Elder Law Project, and began working to end conversion therapy through what is now our Born Perfect campaign. www. nclrights.org

Visit us online www.sgn.org

Courtesy of the NCLR

Below is the statement of GLAD Transgender Rights Project Director Jennifer Levi: “The New York Times report that the Trump administration is considering a proposal to define the word ‘sex’ for legal purposes in a way that deliberately excludes transgender people is one more example of this administration’s disregard of human rights and its heartless political strategy of attacking the most vulnerable among us.

“This reported move is in conflict with the approach of both federal and state courts and government agencies in interpreting laws prohibiting sex discrimination.

Even though the administration is working hard to delegitimize the federal judiciary upon which so many civil rights advancements have depended, we know that justice means justice for all. GLAD will never back down from pursuing protections and challenging unconstitutional laws and policies in the courts.

“But just as importantly, the ideology being pushed by this administration is contrary to the beliefs and vision of countless leaders in education, business, medical, and scientific communities, and among political leaders who have been willing to work across the aisle when rights and safety have been at stake. It also stands in stark contrast with the lives and experience of transgender people, our families, friends, neighbors, and coworkers, all across this great nation.

“The bottom line is that this administration has a transparent, callous, political agenda – and it is willing to undermine our most fundamental institutions to pursue it. We have seen this at work everywhere, from the military – where Trump continues to pursue his ban on transgender troops despite its proven negative impact on military readiness and vocal opposition from military leaders – to the arenas of education, employment, and health care. It is a

October 26, 2018

toxic agenda, dangerous to us all.

“This administration continues to act rashly and in mean-spirited ways. But we have the power to counter it. We are strong and resilient. We will not back down and cannot be erased. We will continue telling the truth about our lives, treating one another with compassion, and fighting for justice. It is imperative that we act now, with our collective power, to stand up for what is right. We have an opportunity on November 6 to voice our values, to support candidates who believe in fairness, and reject those who use human beings as political pawns.

“In Massachusetts, we face a critical vote – one that offers the chance to affirm the dignity and humanity of transgender people and to uphold the value of treating one another with respect. How Massachusetts votes on Question 3 will impact the direction of our nation. I am hopeful that the people in my home state will vote Yes on 3 to preserve the transgender civil rights law that we fought so long and so hard to pass.

I am optimistic that we will demonstrate, once again, that the cruel agenda of a few does not reflect the will of We, the People.

“The reactionary policies of this administration have caused and will cause too many to suffer. But staying focused on the changes that our community, friends, and allies have so bravely brought about through our advocacy, our words, and our deeds, sustains me. It informs my firm belief that the callousness of this administration is an aberration. We will persist, justice will win out, and this challenging moment will not define our country’s future.”

Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) works in New England and nationally to create a just society free of discrimination based on gender identity and expression, HIV status, and sexual orientation.

Courtesy of GLAD

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TUE NOV 6 - ELECTION DAY BALLOT IN YOUR MAILBOX! NO STAMP NEEDED TO RETURN YOUR BALLOT MUST BE POSTMARKED BY ELECTION DAY

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Celebrating 44 Years!

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October 26, 2018

Celebrating 44 Years!

The Rent is too Damn High!

Rally for affordable housing Nov 7 @ 6 pm Yesler Community Center 917 E Yesler Way

Join the People’s Budget movement to fight against the corporate city hall and win millions for housing!

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October 26, 2018

Celebrating 44 Years!

Catholics rip off Pokémon Go “Follow JC Go” now available online

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A Roman Catholic missionary group has launched a new online mobile game – called Follow JC Go – in preparation for World Youth Day 2019.

The event for Catholic young people is scheduled to take place in Panama in January.

Like the original Pokémon Go, the Catholic game lets players catch animated figures, only in the knockoff version, players catch Catholic saints, not cute little monsters.

Pokémon Go has been downloaded around 800 million times and has brought in over $2 billion in revenue since 2016.

Follow JC Go is the brainchild of Fundación Ramón Pané, a group named for the Catalan monk who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage and became the first European who is known to have studied the native Taino language.

As with Pokémon Go, the game uses the player’s smartphone camera to take in their surroundings, then superimposes digital characters.

Players progress through the game by answering religious quiz questions when they “meet” a saint, like attributing a quote from the Bible.

For example, a player might “meet” Moses, who asks, “Was it me who said: ‘My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?’?”

If the player gets it right, the character will join their e-team (or Evangelization Team).

Image courtesy of Follow JC Go

Players can also collect virtual water, food, and “spirituality” to contribute to their in-game health.

The game also prompts players to stop and pray if they pass a church. Or, in a hospital, they might be urged to say a prayer for the sick. Players can also donate to Catholic charities through the app.

Follow JC Go launched in Spanish on October 19, with Italian, English, and Portuguese versions expected in the coming weeks.

Its creators say the goal is to teach players of

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all ages about the Catholic faith.

Though the app does not have the Vatican’s seal of approval, the Pope is said to be a fan.

“You know, Francis is not a very technological person, but he was in awe, he understood the idea, what we were trying to do: combine technology with evangelization,” Ricardo Grzona, executive director of Fundación Ramón Pané, told Catholic news site Crux Now. The site reports that 43 designers, theo-

logians, Bible experts, and church historians have poured 32,000 work hours into the app since August 2016. It was reportedly financed with $500,000 of sponsorship and private donations.

On the Google store, however, users have given the app only 3.2 stars out of five.

“I wanted to burn heretics,” one user complained, perhaps sarcastically, “but it wasn’t possible.”

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Celebrating 44 Years!

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ABA names recipients of 2019 Stonewall Award honoring LGBT advancements in the legal profession

CHICAGO (Oct. 19, 2018) – Three long-standing LGBT legal activists will be honored by the American Bar Association Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) with its seventh annual Stonewall Award during a ceremony on Jan. 26, 2019, at the ABA Midyear Meeting in Las Vegas.

Named after the New York City Stonewall Inn police raid and riot of June 28, 1969, which was a turning point in the gay rights movement, the award recognizes lawyers who have considerably advanced lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals in the legal profession and successfully championed LGBT legal causes.

These are the 2019 award recipients: Mark Agrast, executive vice president and executive director of the American Society of International Law, has a long history of working to advance the rights of LGBT persons. In the ABA, his efforts [include] helping to start the association’s Committee on the Rights of Gay People in 1983, spearheading a move to amend the ABA constitution in 1992 to provide that the LGBT bar is an affiliated organization, establishing the ABA Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in 2007, and leading the successful effort to pass a resolution supporting same-sex marriage in the House of Delegates in 2014. In addition, he cofounded the LGBT Bar Association of Washington, DC. Long a leader in the World Justice Project, Agrast played a key role in designing and implementing its Rule of Law Index. From 2009 to 2014, he was deputy assistant attorney general in the office of legislative affairs at the US Department of Justice. A native of Cleveland, Agrast graduated from Case Western Reserve University.

He pursued his postgraduate studies as a Rhodes scholar at the University of Oxford, and received his JD from Yale Law School.

Mary Eaton, a partner at Willkie, Farr & Gallagher LLP in New York, has combined her litigation practice with extensive pro bono work on behalf of LGBT clients. She led a team of lawyers who sued the New York State Department of Health on behalf of a class of transgender Medicaid recipients and successfully forced the department in 2016 to change a regulation that barred Medicaid coverage for transgender-related health care. In addition, Eaton drafted an amicus curiae brief on behalf of 92 plaintiffs represented by Willkie attorneys in the US Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges case.

In 2017, Willkie lawyers led by Eaton filed an amicus brief before the Supreme Court on behalf of various national education groups in Gloucester County School Board v. G.G., challenging a Virginia public school district’s policy prohibiting transgender students from using the restroom conforming to their gender identity. A graduate of Columbia Law School, she began her career as a litigator at Cravath, Swaine & Moore before joining Willkie in 2002.

Sharon McGowan is chief strategy officer and legal director at Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest LGBT legal group in the country, where she heads up a team of nearly three dozen lawyers. Before that, she served as deputy director of appellate litigation at the US Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, where she developed the arguments that led the United States to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act, as well as the arguments put forth on the merits in the Windsor and Obergefell cases. In addition, she served as counsel for the United States as amicus in G.G. v. Gloucester Co., where the 4th Circuit upheld the finding that requiring a transgender student to use a restroom that corresponds with their biological sex violates Title IX. McGowan has a BA from the University of Virginia and received her JD from Harvard Law School.

“Our three Stonewall honorees, Sharon, Mary, and Mark, share many attributes in common, including being fierce advocates and warriors, effective attorneys, and selfless in their fight for justice and equality for individuals and families of our LGBTQ [sic],” said Victor M. Marquez, chair of the ABA’s SOGI commission. “They continue to lead by example and do so with a kind, compassionate, calm, and ever-so-effective fashion through zealous advocacy.

Their leadership is exemplary, inspiring, and contagious. They are among the best amongst us. Individually and collectively, they have made our nation a more just and inclusive society, and for that we honor and salute them!”

The ABA Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity leads the ABA’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and full and equal participation by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the ABA, the legal profession, and society.

Created in 2007, the commission seeks to secure equal treatment in the ABA, the legal profession, and the justice system without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity.

16 Seattle Gay News

October 26, 2018

Mark Agrast – Photo courtesy of ABA

Mary Eaton – Photo courtesy of ABA

With more than 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is one of the largest voluntary professional membership organizations in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law. View its privacy statement online. Follow the latest ABA news at www.americanbar.org/news and on Twitter @ABANews.

Courtesy of the ABA Sharon McGowan – Photo courtesy of ABA

Celebrating 44 Years!

LGBT bar remembers Matthew Shepard and commits to continue fighting for full LGBTQ+ legal equality WASHINGTON, DC (October 25, 2018) – The National LGBT Bar Association celebrates the life of Matthew Shepard and offers his loved ones our continuing sympathies as his ashes are interred at the National Cathedral this Friday.

Burial at the National Cathedral is an honor reserved for a select few Americans.

This chosen place of honor speaks volumes of Matthew’s place in our nation’s history and the vast change our nation has undergone since 1998. We have seen exponential progress for LGBTQ+ equality in the courts, legislatures, and culture of our country. However, there is much more work to be done.

The LGBT Bar will continue to fight for full LGBTQ+ legal equality, in honor of Matthew Shepard and all other LGBTQ+ individuals who deserve the same dignity and respect as their straight and cisgender peers.

Full LGBTQ+ legal equality demands that use of the gay and trans “panic” defense in courtrooms across the nation must end.

One of the most recognized cases that employed the gay “panic” defense was that of Matthew Shepard. One of the men convicted of murdering Matthew initially defended his horrendously violent actions by claiming Matthew touched his knee, causing him to react violently to Matthew’s actions.

As was the case in the Matthew Shepard’s murder, a gay or trans “panic” defense is employed anytime a defendant argues the sexual orientation or gender identity of their victim not only explains – but excuses – the defendant’s loss of self-control and subsequent assault or murder. Even the attempted use of this courtroom tactic by a defense attorney implies that LGBTQ+ lives are worth less than others – whether or not such a defense is successful in court.

Currently, the Gay and Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2018 is pending in Congress. We urge Congress to act on this legislation so that LGBTQ+ victims will be better protected in federal courts. In addi-

DRAG QUEEN continued from cover

The suit was filed by four Houston residents who claimed that the program violated their First Amendment freedom of religion.

“That’s outrageous that we’ve come to a point where we’re saying it’s OK for our

Matthew Shepard (r) – Photo courtesy Michele Jouse

tion, only California, Illinois, and Rhode Island have passed similar legislation on the state level. Legislation is currently pending in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Washington, the District of Columbia, and elsewhere.

The LGBT Bar will continue to work hard at encouraging states across the nation [to] declare that LGBTQ+ lives are worthy of justice and dignity, in and out of the courtroom, through legislative bans of the gay and

trans “panic” defense.

As we remember Matthew Shepard and his family this week, we also remember the work that must be done to honor his memory and protect LGBTQ+ individuals in this nation.

taxpayer dollars to be used for a drag queen to come in and indoctrinate our young kids.

These are kids that are three to ten years of age,” James Woodfill, one of the plaintiffs, said.

“Hundreds of thousands of pieces of mail are going out all over Harris County letting people know exactly what is happening with a Democrat-controlled government.”

Woodfill claims to have a $500,000 budget to spend on mailers and television ads denouncing the program.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner pointed out that no tax dollars are being used on the program, however.

“It is being housed at one or two libraries, requested by the patrons of those libraries. There are no city tax dollars. It’s a voluntary program. It’s not costing people

The National LGBT Bar Association is a national association of lawyers, judges and other legal professionals, law students, activ-

ists, and affiliated lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender legal organizations. The LGBT Bar promotes justice in and through the legal profession for the LGBT community in all its diversity.

Courtesy of the National LGBT Bar Association

anything,” Turner said.

US District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal dismissed the suit less than four days after it was filed.

“There is no basis to support the requested relief,” she wrote in a foursentence ruling. “The application is denied.”

Lambda Legal Chief Strategy Officer Sharon McGowan to receive American Bar Association Stonewall Award

WASHINGTON, DC (October 17, 2018) – The American Bar Association (ABA) announced today that Lambda Legal Chief Strategy Officer Sharon McGowan will receive the 2019 Stonewall Award.

Named after the New York City Stonewall Inn rebellion of June 28, 1969, the award recognizes lawyers who have considerably advanced lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals in the legal profession and successfully championed LGBT legal causes. [At] a ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 26, 2019, McGowan will receive the award along with Mary Eaton and Mark Agrast.

“We are very proud of Sharon for this well-deserved honor. She has truly distinguished herself as an outstanding legal advocate for the LGBT community [and a] great leader not only on our Lambda Legal team but also in the LGBT movement[. We] are excited that American Bar Association is recognizing her many years of hard work and dedication,” said Richard Burns, Lambda Legal’s interim CEO. “Whether it was working inside the Justice Department

to ensure the rights of same-sex couples after the Windsor decision or overseeing Lambda Legal’s work to keep that same government from rolling back those protections, Sharon McGowan has been a fierce, unwavering champion of LGBT people.”

“I am very grateful to the American Bar Association for selecting me as one of this year’s Stonewall Award honorees, placing me in the company of so many mentors and friends in the LGBT movement,” said McGowan. “Throughout my career, I have had the great fortune of working with some of the most talented LGBT attorneys in the country, and have also had the honor of representing some of the bravest LGBT people I have ever known. Without them, so much of what we have accomplished as a community would not have been possible. While it has been difficult to watch the current administration attempt to undermine the progress that we have made, I feel extremely fortunate to be at Lambda Legal, where I can channel my energies and my passion for justice in service of the LGBT community.”

Sharon joined Lambda Legal in Febru-

Visit us online www.sgn.org

ary 2017 as its Director of Strategy, and established Lambda Legal’s Washington, DC office. Prior to joining Lambda, McGowan served as the Principal Deputy Chief of the Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division in Department of Justice.

In addition to supervising attorneys working on a broad range of civil rights appellate matters in the US Supreme Court and federal courts of appeals, McGowan advised department leadership on high-profile and sensitive litigation and policy matters relating to sexual orientation and gender identity, and served as co-chair of the Division’s Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Working Group.

Earlier in her career, McGowan was a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & AIDS Project.

While at the ACLU, McGowan was lead counsel in Schroer v. Billington (DDC), which resulted in a landmark ruling that Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination also protects individuals who are undertaking or have undertaken a gender transition. Prior to joining the ACLU,

McGowan was an associate in the Washington, DC, office of Jenner & Block, where she was part of the litigation team that worked with Lambda Legal on Lawrence v. Texas, which resulted in the US Supreme Court striking down all remaining sodomy laws as unconstitutional.

McGowan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Norman H. Stahl, US Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, and as a law clerk to the Honorable Helen G. Berrigan, US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. McGowan graduated with honors from Harvard Law School in 2000, and graduated with honors from the University of Virginia in 1995.

October 26, 2018

Seattle Gay News 17

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and those with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work.

Courtesy of Lambda Legal

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