Celebrating 43 Years! Issue 38 Volume 45
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Seattle Gay News
SPD hate crime unit Air Force Major reviewing Transgender Margaret Witt to speak attack at Rancho Bravo at Museum of Flight
Rancho Bravo Taco on Capitol Hill – Photo courtesy of theinfatuation.com
by Shaun Knittel SGN Staff Writer Seattle Police say a Transgender woman was beaten and bloodied inside the Rancho Bravo Capitol Hill restaurant over the weekend. The late night attack is being reviewed by the city’s hate crime officials.
Officers found the victim with blood on her face and chest, and a cut above her eye after the attack inside Rancho Bravo, according to the Seattle Police report. A close friend, Chris Ferrentino, was with the victim at the time of the assault. Ferrentino said the night started as cel-
see ATTACK page 4
Margaret Witt (right) with partner Laurie McChesney (left) – AP Photo / Ted S. Warren
After a highly decorated 18-year career in the Air Force, Major Margaret Witt was discharged based on an allegation that she had engaged in sexual conduct with another woman: a civilian with whom she was in a committed relationship, in their home, miles from any military base. The ACLU of Washington sued, claiming that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and its applica-
tion to Witt, violated her rights of liberty and equal protection. She won her case in 2010 and settled with the Air Force in 2011. The success of the Witt case at the Ninth Circuit and the district court contributed to Congress’s passage of legislation finally allowing the executive branch to end the
see MAJOR WITT page 5
Arizona Supreme Court Groundbreaking affirms equal rights for investigative effort same-sex parents identifies gonorrhea Obergefell supersedes state law, court says vaccine candidates
Phenotypic microarrays - Photo courtesy of Oregon State University Photo by Potra / Getty Images
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the US Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges – the ruling that
legalized same-sex marriage nationwide – supersedes state law and requires the state to recognize the rights of same-sex parents. The Arizona ruling came in the case
see ARIZONA page 6
by Steve Lundeberg Oregon State University CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have identified a pair of proteins that show promise as the basis for a gonorrhea vaccine.
The findings are an important step toward a potential new weapon in the fight against a sexually transmitted disease that affects millions of people around the globe, with nearly 80 million new cases estimated each year.
see VACCINE page 11