Celebrating 43 Years! Issue 28 Volume 45
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Concert for America an important night of talent and causes SEC 2
Celebrating Compromise Nick Hamm on making The Journey SEC 2
Seattle Gay News
Anti-Transgender losers Chechnya executed 27 lose again – I-1552 fails people on January 26, to qualify for Nov. ballot Russian newspaper says
I-1552 fails – Photo courtesy of Washington Won’t Discriminate
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Once again, the campaign to deny basic rights for Transgender people has failed. The Washington Secretary of State’s office announced on July 7 that the I-1552 campaign cancelled its 3pm appointment to turn in the petitions that would have put the measure on the November ballot. July 7 was the last day to submit petitions to put the measure before voters. I-1552 would have repealed 10-year-old legal protections for Transgender people and denied them the right to use genderappropriate restroom facilities. HRC said the initiative’s failure was “a victory for equality and validation for Washington's non-discrimination laws that ensure fair and equal treatment for LGBTQ people in housing, employment and public accommodations.” According to the initiative’s backers, they fell 20,000 signatures short of the number required to qualify for the ballot, in spite of spending more than half of their campaign budget on paid signature gatherers. The group, ironically named Just Want Privacy, also fell short last year when they promoted a similar measure – I-1515. That also failed to gather the necessary signatures and did not appear on the ballot. The anti-Trans group was led by Joseph Backholm, boss of the Family Policy Institute, and included a coalition of far right ideologues and Christian fundamentalists. Even former state Republican chair Chris Vance refused to back them. In contrast, Washington Won’t Discriminate put together a coalition of more than 500 businesses, labor unions, faith, and community organizations against the measure. According to a July 7 press release, Washington Won’t discriminate had already “recruited more than 100,000 activists and volunteers ready to oppose I-1552 if it had made it to the ballot.” “Washington would have been the first state to put a repeal of transgender rights up for a public vote, and we’re proud of our state for saying no a second time,” Wash-
ington Won’t Discriminate chair Seth Kirby said in a statement. “As more people get to know transgender folks like myself, it’s clear the tide is starting to turn against discriminatory efforts like I-1552.” “I've devoted my career to preventing sexual violence in our community and there is nothing more important to me than ensuring our community is safe. I’m proud that voters declined to sign on I-1552, an initiative which would have done nothing to make us safer and instead would have caused serious unintended consequences for the privacy and safety of all of us by encouraging more discrimination and harassment,” added Andrea Piper-Wentland, Director of Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs. LGBT activists said they hoped that the second failure in as many years would convince rightwing forces to give up their campaign to reverse Transgender rights. “It’s time for the forces behind I-1552 to get the message – Washingtonians aren’t buying what they’re selling because in this state we value freedom and liberty, and we don’t want to go backwards from the progress we’ve made for LGBTQ people,” said State Representative and Judiciary Committee Chair Laurie Jinkins. “Transgender people like me deserve the same basic protections as everyone else – to use public facilities with safety, privacy and dignity,” added Kirby. Washington Won’t Discriminate raised $217,438.59 and spent $185,534.28, most of it on political consultants and media. In contrast, Just Want Privacy raised $348,907.11, spent $303,966.13, and still owes an additional $500. Most of their expenditures went to pay for signature gatherers. The mysterious $50,000 contribution that Backholm’s group announced in June came from retired Mariners player John Olerud and his wife Kelly. Another $50,000 came from John and Angela Connelly. John Connelly is the principal partner in the law firm employing Lincoln Beauregard, the attorney who filed a sex abuse lawsuit against Seattle Mayor Ed Murray.
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov
The Russian opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta has reported that Chechen security forces executed 27 people on the
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
see CHECHNYA page 4
Marriage equality moves forward in Germany
Marriage equality celebrated in Berlin
by Stephen Peters Human Rights Campaign On June 30 HRC celebrated a vote by the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany’s parliament, to make marriage equality the law of the land. Once the legislation is approved by Bundesrat, the upper house, which is expected to be a formality, and
signed into law by the president, Germany will become the 22nd country to secure full marriage equality for same-sex couples. “We welcome the German people into the growing family of nations that ensure loving and committed same-sex couples have the right to marry,” said Ty Cobb, Di-
see GERMANY page 4