SGN April 6, 2018 - Section 1

Celebrating 44 Years!

Issue 14 Volume 46

Macha Theater Works’ Smoke & Dust is a must-see

Sprint right over and see The Great Leap

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SEC 2 PG 1

Seattle Gay News

FRIDAY April 6, 2018 FREE!

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Victory in Alaska

LGBT rights hang in Anchorage voters defeat anti-Transgender Prop 1 the balance in two SCOTUS cases

Photo courtesy of Fair Anchorage

by Tim Peter SGN Contributing Writer On Tuesday, April 3, voters in Anchorage, Alaska strongly defeated a local initiative, Prop 1, that sought to discriminate

against Transgender citizens by forcing them to use the restrooms of their assigned sex at birth.

At press time, Fair Anchorage, the group opposing Prop 1, was leading with

see ANCHORAGE page 13

Real Change releases pocket guide to homeless resources

Illinois government employee Mark Janus (center) with supporters outside the Supreme Court. – Photo Jacquelyn Martin / AP

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission is not the only US

Supreme Court case that could have a catastrophic impact on LGBT equality. Janus v. AFSCME is another case that could set LGBT rights back decades.

see SCOTUS page 12

Transgender Economic Empowerment Coalition awarded $550,000 King County grant

GSBA contributions focus on entrepreneurship and model employment policies

Photo courtesy of Real Change

Real Change has released the Emerald City Resource Guide, a durable and comprehensive pocket-sized booklet that puts essential resources for homeless and

very low-income people at their fingertips.

New editions of the Emerald City Resource

see REAL CHANGE page 4

SEATTLE – Led by Ingersoll Gender Center, the Transgender Economic Empowerment Coalition has been awarded a twoyear grant of $550,000 by King County as part of the Communities of Opportunity

partnership. The coalition will address the economic barriers transgender and gendernonconforming communities and LGBTQ people of color experience as a result of

see TRANS COALITION page 4

2 Seattle Gay News

April 6, 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

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

Editor in Chief George Bakan Copy Editor Rick McKinnon (since Dec 2013) Advertising George Bakan • Maggie Bloodstone MK Scott National Advertising Rep. Rivendell Media (212) 242-6863 Staff Writers Mike Andrew • Sara Michelle Fetters Miryam Gordon • Albert Rodriguez Contributing Writers Rev. Barbara Allen • Ron Anders Madelyn Arnold • Alice Bloch Maggie Bloodstone • Beau Burriola Sharon Cumberland • Jessica Davis Tina Gianoulis • Anthony Greer Milton W. Hamlin • Nevin Jefferson Richard Kennedy • Shaun Knittel Liz Meyer • Jason A. Miller Jesse Monteagudo David Nguyen aka Teriyaki Temple Rod Parke • Don Paulson Jerry Peerson • Tim Peter • Jessica Price Scott Rice • Leslie Robinson MK Scott • Mark Segal • Gaysha Starr Sarah Toce • Paul Torres • Janice Van Cleve Ed Walsh • James Whitely Scott Wittet • Rex Wockner

POZSeattle and Living Positively to host 2018 Spring Fling Social & Potluck April 11

Cartoonist Ken Campbell Calendar Editor Rick McKinnon Classifieds Rick McKinnon Photographers Nate Gowdy • Joseph P. Herron Shaun Knittel • James Whitely Production Mike Pham Website Designer Barry Thorsness / Digital Team Works Seattle Gay News is published by Frogs and Ink, Inc. © 2018. Frogs and Ink, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reprints by permission.

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

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

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

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

And please play safe.

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

No exceptions.

In Loving Memory Of Steve Foiles • Scott Roger Alpert Cookie Andrews-Hunt James Leland Moore Randy Peters • Lee Richeson Shaun Shelton • Jim Tully James Arnold

POZSeattle and Living Positively: A Weekly Social Group sponsored by Lifelong, for individuals affected by and living with HIV & AIDS are please to present their combined 2018 Spring Fling Social & Potluck on Wednesday, April 11, from 6-8:15pm at The Cuff Complex, 1533 13th Avenue (13th & E. Pine St.) in the downstairs bar where tables will be set up to host a great potluck meal, for socializing, to catch-up with old friends, to make new ones, and a whole lot of fun.

This being a potluck, please bring an entrée/main dish, side dish, salad, or a dessert – enough for 8-10 folks. Suggestions include: Spiral Cut Ham, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Veggies, and Desserts. Non-alcoholic beverages will be provided by The Cuff.

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This event is FREE as always (except for the cost of adult beverages from the bar), but a suggested donation of $5 would be gladly accepted to offset the cost of organizing this event. This event is supported by your donations; however, no one is ever turned away due to lack of funds.

This event, and all others that we offer, is for all HIV-Positive men and our friends, family, and support networks, (HIV-Positive or not), regardless of age, shape, size, origin, citizenship, color, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity or any other protected characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local laws.

POZSeattle is a social organization run by and for Seattle-area HIV-Positive guys that is committed to planning and promot-

ing fun, social activities.

If you have questions or for more information about this event, to plan your own social event, to be added to our event promotions email list, or to be added to our Facebook private group, please visit our website at www.pozseattle.com or email contactpozseattle@gmail.com.

Living Positively is a weekly social group sponsored by Lifelong for individuals affected by and living with HIV & AIDS. The group meets Wednesdays from 5-7pm at Lifelong (1016 E. Pike St., 3rd Fl.). The group is open to all, offering a safe space for support, education and community.

April 6, 2018

Seattle Gay News 3

The Seattle Public Library presents “Legendary Children” at Seattle Art Museum April 14

The Seattle Public Library will host “Legendary Children,” an evening of representation, dance, empowerment, art and social justice that celebrates queer and transgender people of color on Saturday, April 14, from 8pm to 11pm at the Seattle Art Museum (1300 1st Avenue).

This event is FREE, although drinks

and food are not, and everyone is welcome.

You must have ID to drink. Facebook registration is encouraged.

“Legendary Children” will have live performances and DJs, alongside art by some of the Pacific Northwest’s most talented queer artists. Everyone is invited to join in the conversations sparked

by SAM’s special exhibition “Figuring History: Robert Colescott, Kerry James Marshall, Mickalene Thomas,” which will be open and free during this event. Curated highlights from the Library’s collection will also be available for check out.

This event is made possible by The Seattle Public Library Foundation. It is

presented in partnership with Seattle Art Museum, The University of Washington Q Center, Pride Asia and La Sala.

For more information, call the Library at 206-386-4636 or visit https://www.spl.org.

TRANS COALITION

nity’s first Transgender Economic Empowerment program,” said Louise Chernin, president and CEO of the GSBA. Coalition partners represent a broad swath of King County’s LGBT population, including Ingersoll Gender Center, the GSBA, UTOPIA Seattle, POCAAN, Gay City: Seattle’s LGBTQ Center, Seattle Counseling Service, the Pride Foundation, and Gender Odyssey.

Communities of Opportunity – a partnership between King County, Seattle Foundation, and community partners – is expanding efforts to help neighborhoods and cultural communities build partnerships that contribute to better health, safe and affordable housing, economic opportunity, and stronger community connections for residents.

Established in 1981, the Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) is the largest LGBT and allied chamber of commerce in North America. The GSBA represents over 1,300 small business, corporate, and nonprofit members who share the GSBA’s values of promoting equality and diversity in the workplace. The GSBA proudly serves as a connector across the region, bringing the community together through business while advocating for civil rights and small business, promoting LGBT tourism with its Travel Out Seattle initiative, and investing in the next generation of leaders through the GSBA Scholarship Fund. For more information, visit www.theGSBA.org.

continued from cover

Photos courtesy of Real Change

REAL CHANGE continued from cover

Guide will be published at least annually.

A release event [was held] at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, April 4, at the 86 S. Main Real Change Vendor Center in Pioneer Square.

With the assistance of a $20,000 Seattle Human Services Department Innovation Grant and support sponsorships from a wide variety of partners, Real Change is distributing 40,000 copies of the guide this week through human service agencies, first responders, and the Seattle Public Library.

The Emerald City Resource Guide complements online service listings that already exist by making the information

4 Seattle Gay News

immediately accessible to those who lack consistent access to electronic media, and includes resources for help with LGBTQ resources, culturally specific services, and assistance with immigration issues.

Real Change vendors will also distribute the guide on a peer-to- peer basis, and [received] copies on Wednesday morning.

“Getting on-line should not be a barrier to finding the help you need,” said Real Change Director Tim Harris. “We want a Resource Guide in the pocket of anyone who needs this, and are grateful to all the partners who made this work possible.”

Courtesy of Real Change

April 6, 2018

transphobia, homophobia and racism. The Coalition will build leadership development programs and engage area employers to develop model employment policies.

As the largest LGBT and allied chamber of commerce in North America, the GSBA will focus on entrepreneurship and fostering the creation of small businesses run by transgender and gender-nonconforming people. Additionally, the GSBA will work with Coalition partners to create a model employment policy, provide training, and produce a business toolkit to be used by businesses to ensure that they are treating their employees with the dignity and respect they deserve.

“As a coalition of community-led organizations, we have been working together for decades to support and advocate for our communities. We are excited to receive this funding because it will expand our capacity to think bigger and develop a bolder vision of policies and programs to interrupt the systemic poverty our communities face – making a profound impact on the lives of transgender and LGBTQ communities of color,” said Karter Booher, executive director of Ingersoll Gender Center.

“We applaud King County for making a significant investment in addressing the enormous disparities faced by our transgender community, which suffers significant underemployment and lack of access to economic opportunities. GSBA is thrilled to be one of the named partners included in the Communities of Opportunity grant awarded to launch our commu-

Courtesy of Seattle Public Library

Celebrating 44 Years!

OBITUARY

IN MEMORIAM: Mary Margaret “Peggy” Platt June 16, 1959 – April 2, 2018

Peggy Platt in Ham for the Holidays – Photo courtesy of Michael E. Oaks

Seattle icon and veteran comedian Peggy Platt died on Monday, April 2nd, 2018, at the age of 58. Best known as half of the comedy duo Dos Fallopia with Lisa Koch and their annual iteration of “Ham for the Holidays,” Platt’s comedic timing regularly slayed audiences with characters such as Mama Euomi Spudd, Toby from The Sequim Gay Men’s Chorus, and the slam poet, Vision.

Platt began entertaining local audiences as a teenager touring with One Reel Vaudeville, and over her 40+ year career, she graced numerous local stages, including ACT, Empty Space, SCT, TAG, and TheatreSports. She was also a long-time collaborator at the gay/lesbian Alice B. Theatre, co-scripting such hits as “The Holiday Survival Game Show” and “The Gay Deceivers.”

As a standup comic, she opened for Cyndi Lauper, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Kathy Griffin and the Puppetry of the Penis, dominating the local comedy scene throughout the ’80s. She was selected as

Peggy Platt in Ham for the Holidays – Photo by Chris Bennion

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Seattle Weekly’s Best Comic nine times and in 1985, she became the first and only woman to win the Seattle International Comedy Competition.

Often called a great collaborator, Peggy also wrote and performed numerous solo and personal performance pieces including “Fat-Girl Follies” at On The Boards, as a regular contributor to Sandbox Radio, and a personal memoir piece for the Solo Performances Festival at Theatre-Off-Jackson. It was in these more emotionally raw pieces where Peggy’s vulnerability and depth of character really showed through.

Besides her performing career, Peggy was an outspoken supporter of LGBTQ rights, Women’s Rights, and other civil liberties causes, lending her talents to emceeing for numerous benefits and fundraisers.

A memorial is planned for Monday, April 16th, 2018, at 7:30pm at ACT Theatre (700 Union St.) in the Falls Theatre. In lieu of flowers or gifts, please make donations to Planned Parenthood.

Peggy Platt in Ham for the Holidays – Photo courtesy of Michael E. Oaks

April 6, 2018

Seattle Gay News 5

Seattle Chapter Black Panther Party 50th Anniversary Seattle Conference to be held April 26-28 “Our goal is to cement the legacy, history and accomplishments of the Seattle Chapter in the hearts and minds of the people of Seattle as an example of effective struggle for future revolutionaries.”

The Seattle branch of the Black Panther Party was the first chapter formed outside of the state of California. A year and a half before the start of the Seattle chapter, the Black Panther Party was born in Oakland, California.

The Seattle Chapter of the Black Panther Party was founded by a collection of Seattle activists including brothers Aaron and Elmer Dixon in 1968, and at one point, the Chapter membership approached 300. The Chapter founding raised the level of struggle, resistance, and Black consciousness in the city.

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the

9 am FREE COMMUNITY BREAKFAST

10:00 – 10:45 am OPENING SPEAKER

Seattle Chapter founding, 3 days of events have been planned. The conference events will take place in Seattle’s Central Area at two historic locations: Washington Hall, and Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute (104 17th Ave. S.) and Washington Hall (1350 E. Fir St.) “Organizers in Seattle along with former comrades currently residing outside Seattle came together under a single vision to create this 50th Anniversary celebration,” stated Elmer Dixon. “That vision incorporates our dedication to remembering our history, connecting to current issues and efforts, and setting the stage for the future,” he continued.

In recognition of the early free breakfast programs offered by the Seattle Chapter Black Panther Party, the Chapter hosts this free community breakfast to kick off the conference celebration.

DANNY GLOVER Film actor, producer and activist, explores the significance of the Black Panther Party in the Pacific Northwest.

11:00 am – 12:15 pm Presentation led by KENT FORD, Organizer Portland Chapter – Serving the People Body and Captain of the Portland, OR Chapter, the and Soul in Portland only chapter in the country to organize a free dental clinic, still in operation.

Friday, April 27, 2018 – WASHINGTON HALL

11:45 am – 1:00 pm THE ANGOLA 3 & POLITICAL PRISONERS 1:30 – 2:45 pm AN ARTISTIC ENCOUNTER BETWEEN BLACK PANTHERS AND ZAPATISTAS

Moderated by NIKKITA OLIVER A conversation around current events, women’s issues and concerns.

Over 100 Years In Solitary Confinement!

Moderated by MARY FLOWERS w/ ALFRED WOODFOX, ROBERT KING, SEKOU ODINGA, AND MARK COOK

EMORY DOUGLAS AND CALEB DUARTE Emory Douglas, Former Minister of Culture, Black Panther Party, Caleb Duarte, Artist in Residence La PeNa Cultural Center & Founder EDELO

3:00 – 4:15 pm Presentation led by KENT FORD, Organizer SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE and Captain of the Portland, OR Chapter, the Moving Away From The School To Prison only chapter in the country to organize a free Pipeline Towards Freedom: Rethinking School dental clinic, still in operation.

Curriculum 3:00 – 4:15 pm HEARTS OF THE HOMIEZ, Project OPEN

7:00 – 7:45 pm Growing Up Panther 7:45 – 11 pm HIP HOP CONCERT featuring Fred Hampton, Jr.

6 Seattle Gay News

The celebration begins on Thursday, April 26, with a free community breakfast at Langton Hughes Performing Arts Institute, followed by a keynote speech by internationally acclaimed actor Danny Glover.

The day continues with noteable social, political, historical and cultural discussions and conversation followed by an evening

All 50th Anniversary events are FREE, thanks in part to generous sponsors and partners, including: LANGSTON, Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, Northwest African American Museum, Washington Hall, Carolyn Downs Medical Clinic, Swedish Medical Centers, CD Forum, Hidmo Cypher, Northwest Film Forum, 206 Zulu, King County Councilman Larry Gossett, 4US Collective, and a Neighborhood Matching Fund award from Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.

Thursday, April 26, 2018 – LANGSTON HUGHES PERFORMING ARTS INSTITUTE

11:00 am – 12:15 pm Presentation led by GARRY OWENS LELO-45 YEARS As a labor organizer, the impact of the late FIGHTING RACISM Tyree Scott’s efforts continue to resonate in From a Labor & Employment Law Offices to today’s labor movement. Hear his story and Legacy of Equality, Leadership & Organizing learn about the collaboration between Black construction workers and multiple other entities

10:15 – 11:30 am CONVERSATION WITH ERICKA HUGGINS

• Yesterday is meant to recognize, remember and celebrate our work and accomplishments.

• Today is meant to connect the influence of our programs with the current realities of racism and oppression while rising to challenge and resist it.

• Tomorrow is meant to inspire the youth to strategic action with a renewed vision created by them based on knowledge and history.

celebration. Events continue on Friday, April 27, at Washington Hall with more noteable social, political and historical presentations and discussions. Events continue on Saturday, April 28, at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, and culminate Saturday evening with a 50th Anniversary Celebration Dinner at Washington Hall. All events and presentations are FREE and all events are ticketed. For complete information, visit https://www.seattlebpp50.com

Presenters – JACK JACKSON, HANIF WYNN, NICHOLE WELCH, KIMYA JACKSON YOUNG. Formerly incarcerated people and former gang bangers in New Jersey have formed a group inspired by the Black Panther Party and its 10-Point Platform & Program.

Presented by FRED HAMPTON JR., POLICE MURDERS OF BLACK PANTHERS AND BLACK PEOPLE The son and only child of Black Panther Party Illinois Chapter Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton, who was assassinated by the FBI at the age of 21, will discuss growing up in the shadow of his father’s assassination and his own efforts to organize a new generation of combatants against police brutality.

April 6, 2018

1:00 – 2:15 pm Presentation by MICHAEL VENDIOLA, From AIM (American Indian Movement) To Prof. Western Washington State College will Standing Rock: Indigenous People’s Struggle lead a discussion on (AIM), from the Coalition for the Earth and All Humanity with the Black Panther Party, to Standing Rock.

2:30 – 3:45 pm Presentation by HY THURMAN The Young Patriot Party Co-Founder, Young Patriots, Chicago, Ill, Poor And Working Class Whites With Black CHUCK ARMSBURY, Eugene, Oregon, Panthers Young Patriot Party 4:00 – 5:15 pm Hip Hop Activism

KHAZM, 206 ZULU NATION, AND HIP HOP ARTISTS discuss various ways in which Hip Hop has been and is being used as a platform for civic service, education and activism.

7:00 pm PARTY PEOPLE Performance (excerpts from original production, 60 minutes) Universes, Steven Sapp, Mildred Ruiz Sapp & William Ruiz. Original direction by Tonyaward nominee, Leisl Tommy

UNIVERSES, the award-winning ensemble known for their fusion of theater, poetry, jazz, hip-hop, politics, down home blues and Spanish boleros, present an explosive work about the complicated legacies of the original Black Panther Party and the Young Lords Org/Party.

Saturday, April 28, 2018 – LANGSTON HUGHES PERFORMING ARTS INSTITUTE

Presented by T. RASHAD BIRDSONG 9:15 – 10:30 am Former member Black Panther Party, TacoCreating Spaces To Educate, Empower, Allow Fellowship, Generate Jobs and Economic ma Chapter and CEO of Community EmpowSustainability In African-American Communi- erment Association (CEA), a unique community-based organization. ties Nationwide http://ceapittsburgh.org

10:45 am – 12:00 pm Presented by SUNAINA MAIRA, Prof, UC The Palestinian Boycott, Divest, & Sanction Berkeley, Davis, on the Palenstine People’s Movement call for solidarity with the BDS Movement (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) as well as the academic and cultural boycottmovement, which is the focus of this workshop.

12:15 – 1:30 pm THE YOUNG LORDS & CHICAGO BPP

1:45 – 3:00 pm SEATTLE CHAPTER BLACK PANTHER PARTY

3:15 – 4:30 pm The Genius of Huey P. Newton

7:00 pm 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION DINNER

Presented by JOSÉ (Cha-Cha) JIMENEZ, Founder Puerto Rican Revolutionaries United with the Black Panther Party

AARON DIXON, ELMER DIXON AND FORMER MEMBERS OF THE SEATTLE CHAPTER A panel discussion on organizing this Chapter, FBI assaults and murders, internal strife, legal trials, battles with police, and what it was like being a member of the Seattle Chapter and serving in the Survival Programs of the BPP.

ELAINE BROWN, Former Minister of Information and Chair, Black Panther Party, putting theory to practice, Newton shaped the Party’s agenda. Brown will examine the thoughts of Huey P. Newton as they were applied to the Party’s work and agenda.

WASHINGTON HALL

THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION DINNER FEATURES: Tribute to fallen comrades, Journalist of the decade award, Keynote by Elaine Brown, Performances and Party entertainment.

Celebrating 44 Years!

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April 6, 2018

Seattle Gay News 7

8 Seattle Gay News

April 6, 2018

Celebrating 44 Years!

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April 6, 2018

Seattle Gay News 9

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April 6, 2018

Celebrating 44 Years!

How Martin Luther King‘s legacy continues to be relevant for social change

Martin Luther King and the March on Washington – Photo courtesy of BBC

by Peter Tatchell Peter Tatchell Foundation This article first appeared in The Independent – London, UK – 4 April 2019. Read and comment: https://ind.pn/2GyOTly In the decades since his assassination on 4 April 1968, the US black civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr, has been sanitised and sanctified; co-opted and embraced by the American establishment as a bland, unthreatening saint of racial equality.

In truth, he was a radical dissenter who challenged the political, economic and military status quo at least as much as African American militants like Huey Newton of the Black Panthers and Malcolm X of the Nation of Islam. Hence the FBI’s obsessive, relentless attempts to discredit King and those around him, including smears that he was a communist, traitor, adulterer and pervert.

Nowadays, many people think of King solely as a black rights champion. But he was much more than that. He opposed the US war in Vietnam, supported striking workers and demanded economic justice for poor Americans, black and white. No wonder Washington insiders saw him as a dangerous radical and a threat to the social order.

King’s civil rights campaign played a pivotal role in ending racial segregation and the denial of voting rights to African Americans in the southern states. It also created a cultural shift in attitudes on race issues in much, but not all, of the US. In the Deep South, long after race equality was secured in law, statues commemorating pro-slavery Confederate leaders remained on their plinths and new ones were added. The Confederate flag continued to be flown from many public and private buildings. This was proof that changing the law to end racist discrimination and voter suppression was not enough.

The focus of the black civil rights movement was legal equality. While this was understandable and the immediate priority, it also had a downside. Once official discrimination was ended and formal legal

equality won, the movement dissipated.

The direction, coherence, dynamism and coordination that were its great strengths, and powered its many successes, were lost.

Moreover, racism was not vanquished. It continued to plague the lives of African Americans. Civil rights was not the panacea that many had assumed.

This illustrates the danger inherent in any struggle that is pivoted on the sole and limited goal of equal rights. King understood this limitation. That’s why, post legal equality, he wanted to move the movement into a new phase focusing on economic injustice, which he saw as the other major factor holding back African Americans. He also saw this agenda as a means to transcend the racial divide by uniting disenfranchised black and white people in a common struggle for economic emancipation.

Half a century after the end of racially discriminatory statutes in the US, we see the stark limitations of mere equality. The informal segregation of black and white communities in some parts of the US is almost as great as it was back in Dr King’s day. While the black middle class has gained hugely since the 1960s, millions of poor black people are just as locked out of economic upliftment as they were prior to the start of the civil rights era.

Too many black districts of major cities and rural communities remain blighted by slum housing, unemployment and sub-standard education and health care. The racist bias in the criminal justice system means that black people continue to account for 40% of the prison population, despite being only 12% of the population overall. All this is further evidence that the legal equality striven for, and won, by the heroic civil rights activists was, by itself, insufficient.

Indeed, today, King’s legacy looks shaky and some fear it is being reversed.

In a throwback to Jim Crow discrimination, recent US elections have been marred by voter registration and ballot rules that are biased against African Americans.

Percentages of black people working in senior posts in federal agencies have

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recently declined. The repeated, ceaseless police killing of unarmed black people is, to some, another form of lynching. And, as in the pre-civil rights days, few officers have faced disciplinary action.

This has fueled the Black Lives Matter movement, which many see as the civil rights movement, Mark 2. They cite the need to continue what King began but, cut short by an assassin’s bullet, never finished – the dream of a non-racial America.

My personal memories of Martin Luther King Jr. stretch back to 1963, when I was 11 years old and at school in suburban Melbourne, Australia. I read a news report about the Ku Klux Klan bombing of a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, when four young girls about my own age were murdered. How could anyone kill another innocent human being, I thought, let alone four little girls in church on Sunday morning?

It prompted my interest in, and support for, the freedom struggle of African Americans and, in particular, the work of Dr. King. Given my then devout Christian upbringing, I readily related to him as a Baptist pastor. To me, he was fulfilling the love and compassion of the Gospels.

When I began my first campaign, aged 15 in 1967, I looked to Martin Luther King and the black civil rights movement as a model for how to do effective activism. They became my template. I adapted their ideals and methods to my early campaigns for Aboriginal rights, repeal of the death penalty and conscription, Australian withdrawal from the Vietnam war, LGBT liberation – and all my subsequent human rights work.

I was 17 when I realised I was gay in 1969. There were no LGBT organisations, not even any helplines, in Melbourne. So I took my inspiration from the black civil rights movement. I reasoned that just as black people were an oppressed minority, so were LGBT people and that we had a similar claim to human rights. If people in power ignored our just claim, it was, I argued, morally justified and politically necessary to resort to non-violent direct action and civil disobedience, in the footsteps of Dr. King.

I have applied this rationale in my 50-plus years of LGBT and human rights campaigning, involving over 3,000 protests and more than 100 arrests.

This I owe Martin Luther King. I learned from him how to make social change, as he learned from Mohandas Gandhi via his fellow civil rights activist, Bayard Rustin, who introduced King to Gandhi’s ideas and non-violent tactics of passive resistance. Indeed, Rustin was a key thinker, strategist and organiser of the black civil rights movement but selflessly chose to stay in the shadows because he feared that this homosexuality and left-wing views would be used by the media, politicians and the FBI to discredit the movement.

As we reflect on this fiftieth anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination, there is no doubt in my mind that his enduring legacy is the continued relevance of his ideals and methods to every movement for social change, worldwide. He fought a specific struggle with a universal applicability.

His model of non-violent resistance was echoed in the Greenham Common anti-nuclear protests, OutRage! direct action against anti-LGBT laws and, further afield, the Czech “velvet revolution” that ended communist tyranny and the “people power” demonstrations that brought down the Philippine’s dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Right now, King’s aspirations are being played out in the Black Lives Matter movement, which is a continuation of what he began. And all across every corner of the Earth – from Russia to Iran, Ethiopia, West Papua, Balochistan and China – people yearning for freedom are challenging despotism using similar non-violent methods.

Martin Luther King Jr. is 50 years dead.

But his vision lives on and will remain a potent inspiration for global social activism for decades to come. Bravo!

April 6, 2018

Seattle Gay News 11

Courtesy of the Peter Tatchell Foundation

Support for Trump is driven by white Christian nationalism, new study finds

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Support for Donald Trump is largely driven by “white Christian nationalism,” according to a new study by a team of sociologists published by the journal Sociology of Religion.

“The more someone believed the United States is – and should be – a Christian nation, the more likely they were to vote for Trump,” study authors Andrew L. Whitehead, Joseph O. Baker, and Samuel L. Perry write in a Washington Post article explaining their research.

The study used data from the prestigious Baylor Religion Survey taken in phone interviews from February 2 through March 24, 2017. Some 1,501 American adults were surveyed.

“This data set is unique in its size, time of collection, and the measures it contains,”

the authors maintain.

To measure Christian nationalism, they combined responses to six separate questions asking respondents to agree or disagree with these statements: “The federal government should declare the United States a Christian nation.”

“The federal government should advocate Christian values.”

“The federal government should enforce strict separation of church and state.” (This one is “reverse coded,” meaning agreement would be contraindicative of Christian nationalism.)

“The federal government should allow the display of religious symbols in public spaces.”

“The success of the United States is part of God’s plan.”

“The federal government should allow prayer in public schools.”

The researchers also examined many

other common explanations of support for Trump, including economic dissatisfaction, an index of attitudes on gender, an index of anti-black prejudice, a measure of respondents’ attitudes toward illegal immigrants, and an index of bias against Muslims.

Finally, the study’s statistical models also accounted for religious affiliation, religious beliefs, and a variety of religious behaviors; political measures, including party affiliation and political ideology; and sociodemographic predictors, including age, gender, race, education, income, marital status, and residential context.

Researchers found that in all cases, Americans who agreed with the various measures of Christian nationalism were much more likely to vote for Trump, even after controlling for other influences, such as political ideology, political party, and other cultural factors proposed as possible explanations.

Even when holding constant a host of other explanations, a Democrat at the higher end of the index was three times more likely to vote for Trump than a Democrat at the lower end of Christian nationalist ideology.

For independents, the probability of voting for Trump increased moving across the range of the Christian nationalism scale. Likewise, Republicans scoring low in Christian nationalism were significantly less likely to vote for Trump than those scoring high on the index.

The study also found that Americans’ religious beliefs, behaviors, and affiliation did not directly influence voting for Trump. In fact, once Christian nationalism was accounted for, other religious measures had no direct effect on how likely someone was to vote for Trump. These measures of religion mattered only if they made someone more likely to see the United States as a Christian nation.

SCOTUS

continued from cover Masterpiece Cakeshop is about the Christian Colorado baker suing to set aside penalties imposed by Colorado civil rights officials for refusing to serve a same-sex couple ordering a wedding cake. If the high court rules that the bakers have a First Amendment right to refuse LGBT customers, all businesses would have a constitutionally protected pretext for anti-LGBT discrimination.

Mark Janus is an Illinois social worker who is suing to avoid paying a fee to AFSCME (the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees) to cover the cost of representing him. The court is considered likely to rule that employees covered by a union contract can’t be forced to pay the union for the costs of negotiating their employment contract if they disagree with the union’s political agenda.

While it might seem like these two cases have little in common, the truth is that both cases revolve around the same flawed legal argument – the idea that money equals speech.

Both of these cases rest on the dangerous precedent set by the Supreme Court in 2010 in Citizens United. That case allowed corporations to bankroll political campaigns under the argument that campaign contributions equal free speech, and therefore corporations have an unlimited First Amendment right to “speak” with their money.

The plaintiff in Masterpiece is arguing that accepting payment for a wedding cake, or any public accommodation, is the same as endorsing the beliefs of the customer.

The plaintiff in Janus claims that payment for a service – the maintenance of his union contract – is an implicit endorsement of the political actions of his union.

While the impact of Masterpiece on the LGBT community is pretty obvious, the consequences of Janus will be no less severe.

In most states in the country, the only legal protection LGBT people have at the workplace is a union contract. There are thousands of LGBT teachers, custodians, office workers, and those in state and local government who will be directly impacted if their unions are weakened. Unions were the first national institutions to offer workplace protections to LGBT, people as well as the first to call for those protections to be enshrined in law.

Unions are also a major funding source for progressive causes – including, in this state, ballot measures that protected domestic partner benefits and established equal marriage rights. In the 2012 Referendum 74

12 Seattle Gay News

Mark Janus – Photo courtesy of Illinois Policy Institute

campaign for marriage, SEIU (the service employees union) and UFCW (the food and commercial workers union) alone contributed well over $200,000 to the campaign.

UFCW 21 also housed the campaign in its Georgetown headquarters.

In every election, working people in unions spend hundreds of millions of dollars to elect politicians who support their issues, but they also pour thousands of hours of volunteer time into those political campaigns. Weakening unions weakens the whole progressive movement.

Public sector jobs – government workers, teachers, social workers, and firefighters, for example – have the highest union density in the country, at about 35%, while only about 7% of private sector jobs are unionized. That’s why Republican Party operatives and their allies on the Supreme Court are targeting public sector unions with the Janus case.

The Supreme Court opened a huge can of worms when it ruled that money equals speech in Citizens United. Working people in unions and LGBT people are just the latest targets to be undermined by this decision.

Already, unions in Washington state are organizing to fight back against the expected decision in Janus. In Febru-

April 6, 2018

Janus (r), with his lawyer outside the Supreme Court. – Photo Jacquelyn Martin / AP

ary, the Washington State Labor Council convened a meeting of more than 500 union and community activists to share ideas about how to cope with court-mandated

“right to work” rules. It’s crucial for every LGBT union member – and all people in the broader community – to stand by their allies in organized labor at this time.

Celebrating 44 Years!

Four Trans people sue Ohio for right to change gender markers on their birth certificates

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Four Trans people filed suit against Ohio on March 29, claiming that the state unconstitutionally refused to change their birth certificates to match their gender identities.

Ohio is one of only three US states that will not change birth certificates. The named defendants are all Ohio state officials. Of the 47 states that allow changes to birth certificates, almost half require surgery before gender markers can be changed.

“Ohio’s practice, which each Defendant enforces, violates federal constitutional guarantees, including the rights to equal protection, due process, and freedom from compelled speech,” the suit says.

“There is no government justification to support Ohio’s refusal to provide transgender people with accurate birth certificates matching their gender identity.”

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and the ACLU filed in US District Court on behalf of the four plaintiffs, who say that state policy on birth certificates violates their constitutional rights.

People born in Ohio are able to correct the gender marker on other legal documents, such as their driver’s license, state identification, US passport, and social security information. But in refusing to allow transgender people to change their

Plaintiffs Stacie Ray (l) and Basil Argento – Photo courtesy of Lambda Legal

birth certificates, the state of Ohio is “forcing transgender people to ‘out’ themselves every time they need to present the document, which exposes them to a range of unfair and discriminatory treatment, from denial of employment, to verbal harassment, to physical violence,” noted Gabriel Arkles, senior staff attorney with the ACLU LGBT and HIV Project.

“Ohio’s policy deprives transgender people who were born in Ohio of a birth

Photo courtesy of Fair Anchorage

ANCHORAGE continued from cover

53 percent (36,983) of the “No” votes vs.

47 percent (32,950) for “Yes on 1 – Protect Our Privacy,” that was sponsored by Alaska Family Action.

This was the city’s first election using mail-in ballots similar to what Washington state has been doing for a number of years.

As a result, election turn out exceeded expectations, with nearly 80,000 ballots returned.

“The Anchorage Transgender commu-

nity has stepped up and led this campaign in such an amazing, powerful way,” Fair Anchorage campaign manager Kati Ward told the Anchorage Daily News. Commenting on the win, she continued, “While we know we don’t have all the results tonight [April 3], we’re cautiously optimistic.”

If Prop 1 had succeeded, it would have rolled back protections for Transgender people in Anchorage that were enacted in 2015. At that time, the city council voted 9-2 in favor of adding protections which banned discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Right wing opponents of the new ordinance were

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certificate that accurately reflects their gender identity,” said Susan Becker, general counsel for the ACLU of Ohio. “It’s past time Ohio complies with the Constitution’s promise that all people have a right to live freely and openly in society as who they are, without fear of discrimination.”

“This policy is not only archaic and outof-step with the rest of America but also dangerous. Forcing transgender Ohioans to go through life with inaccurate birth certifi-

cates, a basic form of identification, unnecessarily exposes them to discrimination, harassment, and violence. It also denies them their very identity,” Lambda Legal law fellow Kara Ingelhart said. “In fact, government officials in Ohio know this, given that they allow transgender people to change the gender on their driver’s licenses and state identification cards.”

Stacy Ray, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said she applied for a job with the Transportation Security Administration but was denied a background check because the gender on her birth certificate and driver’s license didn’t match.

“There are people who don’t want the surgery, can’t afford the surgery, so having that requirement sets an unreasonable bar,” Ray said.

“Only about half the states allow transgender individuals to change the birth marker with an administrative process, and that’s what we are pushing for.”

“Ohio’s policy causes me problems here in the US, as well as in Italy, my family’s homeland,” said Basil Argento, also a plaintiff. “Ohio’s refusal to correct my birth certificate made it enormously difficult to obtain dual citizenship, and I am still fighting to get my Italian passport issued for the same reason.”

Lillian is 19—and proud to be Transgender in Anchorage. She cast her first vote EVER— to vote NO on Prop 1 to uphold basic protections for Transgender people like her under municipal law. – Photo courtesy of Fair Anchorage

dissatisfied with the result and announced a ballot initiative hoping to overturn the law.

Opponents of the anti-Transgender repeal effort drew much of their support from outside Alaska, including big businesses such as BP and Wells Fargo as well as pro-LGBTQ advocacy organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign and the ACLU. Fair Anchorage’s winning defense campaign outspent defeated Prop 1 proponents $800,000 to $123,000, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

Other opponents of the repeal effort included local clergy leaders who wrote

a strong opinion piece in the Anchorage Daily News: “We think we know what love is, what it acts like, but do we? When we put up walls to protect what we consider to be some kind of religious purity, deeper love is not found but squandered. By creating boundaries to designate who is worthy or not of our full care and love we limit love’s ability to impact us as well. For Jesus, love is not protected, but risked bravely. So are we, as Christians, called to love bravely and recklessly, as if there is nothing that could ever separate us from the loving presence of God (Romans 8:38-39).”

April 6, 2018

Seattle Gay News 13

religion & spirituality

HOME SERVICES

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April 6, 2018

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Celebrating 44 Years!

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April 6, 2018

Seattle Gay News 15