SGN July 22, 2022

ISSUE 29

C E L E B R AT I N G

VOLUME 50

48 YEARS

F R I D AY

IN

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

PRINT S E AT T L E ’ S L G B T Q I A + N E W S & E N T E R TA I N M E N T W E E K LY S I N C E 19 74

HOUSE VOTES TO CODIFY SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

by A.V. Eichenbaum SGN Managing Editor Fearing the Supreme Court may revisit the 2015 decision over Obergefell v. Hodges, the House of Representatives voted to codify same-sex marriage into federal law Tuesday, July 19. The decision comes in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the outrage and protests that followed.

see HOUSE page 17

Photo by Jose Luis Magana / AP

Sex store owner receives death threats after outraging right-wing media

Historic pirate bar rises from the depths

Jenn Mason – Photo courtesy of WinkWink Boutique

by Lindsey Anderson SGN Staff Writer For the last two weeks, Bellingham small business owner Jenn Mason has been deluged with hateful calls, emails, and even death threats. The harassment began when her store became the focus of a right-wing media frenzy about sex education.

Featured on Fox News On July 5, in a brief segment on Tucker Carlson Tonight, the conservative talkshow host welcomed his “Seattle correspondent,” Jason Rantz. Rantz’s rant centered on an article he had recently written about a sex education class Mason offers at her all-ages sex shop, WinkWink Boutique.

see SEX SHOP page 4

Photo courtesy of Benbow Room

by Daniel Lindsley SGN Staff Writer Like a ghost ship out of the cold depths, West Seattle’s historic pirate-themed bar, the Admiral Benbow Room, resurfaced last month — 20 years after its closure in 2002, and 72 years after its maiden voyage in 1950.

Having an appreciation for the pirate aesthetic, some friends and I weighed anchor and

set sail for the place to see what its full year of restoration efforts looked like.

My first impression came from the decor.

Some of the trappings of cartoon piracy were present, like pulleys, chains, a cannon, and a ship’s wheel. Barrels were ubiquitous as twoperson tables, and about a dozen hung from the ceiling as if in mid-tumble.

see BENBOW page 6

2

SGN

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

C E L E B R AT I N G 4 8 Y E A R S!

ORIGINALLY SEATTLE GAY NEWS FOUNDED 1974 MEMBER 509 10th Ave E Seattle, WA 98102 (206) 324-4297 info@sgn.org sgn.org

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM

DONATE TO SGN TODAY!

Publisher Angela Cragin Managing Editor / Acting Editor-in-Chief A.V. Eichenbaum Copy Editor SGN Staff • Richard Isaac Advertising Maggie Bloodstone, Advertising Manager National Advertising Rep. Rivendell Media (212) 242-6863 Staff Writers Lindsey Anderson • Mike Andrew Sara Michelle Fetters • Daniel Lindsley Contributing Writers Alice Bloch • Maggie Bloodstone Kylin Brown • Sharon Cumberland Carter Hemion • Eve Kucharski Benny Loy • Isabel Mata Paige McGlauflin • Gaysha Starr Social Media Manager SGN Staff Photographers Juliana Adams • Nate Gowdy • SGN Staff Production Mike Pham SGN is published by Angela Cragin. © 2022. 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.

SGN welcomes unsolicited material, including letters to the editor, but reserves the right to edit or reject material.

All rights revert to authors upon publication.

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

And please play safe.

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

No exceptions.

In Loving Memory Of George Bakan

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

Follow SGN

VISIT US ONLINE SGN.ORG

In this Issue

LOCAL NEWS 4 FILM 7 BOOKS 9 TRAVEL 13 OP-ED 14 NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS 16 J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

SGN

3

Local News

Views of the shop, (below r) Customers show their support after the media attention – Photos courtesy of WinkWink Boutique

Mason calls the class the “Un-Cringe Academy” and describes it as “an all-inclusive sex-ed class which offers empowerment and information rather than shame, fear, and judgment.” However, on the Tucker Carlson broadcast, Rantz described the curriculum as “what I think most people would consider ‘wildly inappropriate content for kids.”

Rantz emphasized that the class was open to children as young as nine years old, and he rattled off the “inappropriate” topics that would be discussed, including “gender and sexual identities,” “sexual anatomy for pleasure,” “what is sex: kinds of solo and partnered sexual activities,” and “safer-sex practices for all sexual activities.”

The main concern Carlson and Rantz expressed about the “Un-Cringe Academy” curriculum was that Mason not only includes but emphasizes Queer and Trans sex education in her classes, something still rare in public school sex education.

“How does she define sex to these kids?”

Rantz asked Carlson hypothetically. “She told me in part, ‘sex can be any activity that a person does with themselves and others to be aroused. There’s no such thing as ‘real sex,’ and it’s okay if your definition of sex is different from someone else’s... I mean, they’re very clearly leaning towards the sort of ‘woke curriculum,’ and if you say anything you’re in the wrong, they’re in the right.”

“Yeah, I hope parents won’t put up with it,” Carlson said into the camera as the segment ended.

In the bull’s eye While it has only been two weeks since the clip aired, conservatives have already taken Carlson’s command to heart.

“Tucker Carlson put us in the bull’s eye,” Mason said to the SGN. “We’ve had responses on both ends of the spectrum. We have a ton of support here locally, and we’ve also had people reaching out to us across the U.S. who said they wish they would have had this kind of education when they were young and that they appreciate what we’re doing.

But we’ve also been, unfortunately, overwhelmed with harassment, threats, really vulgar, violent messages, and emails sent to us. While we have a lot of support, unfortunately, there’s been a lot of fear that’s been built up by a lot of folks.”

While the shop is receiving negative backlash and there are safety concerns, Mason says the increased publicity has not hurt the store’s revenue.

“There was a protest planned last week and a counter-protest in response to it. The protesters didn’t end up showing up, but the counter-protesters did, so we’ve had a lot more people coming into the store to give their support. That’s been lovely, but at the end of the day, we would sacrifice any of the sales that we’ve made to not have experienced this at all,” she said.

The right-wingers’ threats have targeted not just the WinkWink store but Mason herself. As part of the hate campaign, Mason’s personal information was publicized, a doxxing that has left her scrambling to figure out just how to keep her family safe.

“We have a lot of safety concerns,” said Mason “We periodically are using security people, a security person in our shop, we’ve

4

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

SEX SHOP

continued from cover

SGN

done some safety planning, and my home address has been shared out on the internet, so I have safety concerns for my whole family. A lot of what we’ve received is just downright scary. So, we’ve been making police reports against what I feel like are credible threats, but we’re still just doing our thing.”

The police have yet to apprehend anybody, but Mason continues to make reports.

Most of the threats have come from people online. While it seems the backlash is coming from people across the country who were whipped by the Fox broadcast, Mason is concerned that some of her harassers are likely people in her community. “I know that we have people who don’t support what we do here locally. We’ve had protesters at the shop before, so I do know that some of the folks that are angry with us are here locally,” she said.

“I will say that, by and large, based on people’s phone numbers and where they say that they’re from, most of the threats that we’re getting are outside our region, but I’d be naïve to think that all of the threats are coming from outside of here.”

Regardless of where the hate is coming from, the messages continue to scare Mason, her employees, and her family members, who have also been mentioned in some of the comments.

“I’ve had a couple of threats that have mentioned my actual address to me and said they were going to come to kill me and hurt me,” she said. “I’ve had a couple of messages who have mentioned my daughter, who has significant disabilities, and people have mentioned her in emails, so those have been among the worst. I’ve also had many threats where people have men-

tioned that they have AK 47s, you know, where they own weapons, and they’re coming to get me, so yeah. And a lot more [threats] that are just name-calling.”

Senseless sensationalizing While the traction started after Carlson aired the segment about WinkWink on his show, Mason says the king of conservative media never reached out to her for comment.

Rantz, however, was in contact with Mason.

“So, Jason Rantz, a conservative Seattle journalist I guess you’d call him, he was the one who initially wrote the story about these classes, and he’s written other stories about us in the past. So, Jason’s story came out, and then it was picked up by several news outlets, including on Tucker Carlson’s show,” Mason explained. “Jason initially contacted us for comment on his story, which I provided. I emailed him back answers to all of his questions, and we went back and forth with some clarifications that he had, and so we have been in communication with him, but not since his article came out.”

Rantz has declined to comment or issue a statement about the violent threats Mason has received since the publication of his article.

“One of the frustrating things is [Rantz’s] actual article itself was relatively lowkey, I guess,” Mason said. “I know he doesn’t agree with what we’re doing, but he was fairly factual with how he presented our work. Unfortunately, a sensationalized headline was put on that article that easily led people to believe that we were teaching kids how to pleasure themselves and others.

That is how it got reported by all the other media that picked it up.”

C E L E B R AT I N G 4 8 Y E A R S!

“If you read his initial story, while it wasn’t supportive, it wasn’t nearly as sensationalized and inaccurate as all of the stories that followed it. That’s very frustrating to see the power of headlines and people not really doing research or being convinced of something so strongly that any more research after that doesn’t do anything to clear up misconceptions,” she continued.

Mason has not reached out to Carlson or Fox News to clear up the misconceptions but has instead spoken with several local news outlets in the meantime. Now she hopes the news will blow over soon and she can continue business as usual.

“This is not our first go-around with national media, and it’s always a tough decision between when do you stand up for yourself and say, ‘Hey, this is not accurate, and I want to clear that up,’ and when do you lie low and let the outrage machine move on. It’s hard sometimes to figure out how to not cause more danger and upset,” she said.

The recent attacks from the right-wing media are certainly not the first blows WinkWink has faced. A few months ago, in May, the store made Fox News headlines for their Queer Youth Open Mic night, which Rantz also interviewed Mason about.

The store has become so involved in the conservative news cycle that Mason has had to address the headlines on the store’s official website. “We put up a page on our website and social media that says, ‘Did you come here straight from the news headlines? Here are some facts about Un-Cringe Academy,’ so I worked to unspin some of the most common misconceptions people have had around the class. We’ve also been doing interviews on the radio with our local newspaper to try and get out some more accurate information about what it is that we’re doing.”

Mason’s attempts to rewrite the headlines have worked. “I guess one thing I would say is that during all this, I’ve had a lot of great conversations with people on all sides of the political spectrum. I’ve had some people who have reached out to me and said they are conservative and want to know more about the classes. After some genuine dialogue, we have found that our perspectives are not that far apart, that we all want what’s the best for kids, and while we might have different ideas of what’s best, those conversations have been productive and meaningful,” Mason said.

“So, while right-wing media has, I think, been incredibly irresponsible in their reporting, there are conservative folks and people across the political spectrum that do see what we’re doing. If they can get past the headlines, they are not opposed to the work we do.”

What does WinkWink really do?

WinkWink has been around since 2017 and describes itself as a “woman-owned, identity-inclusive sex shop” that strives to “help our customers better love themselves and others.” In its mission statement, WinkWink says it is “sex-positive and genderaffirming” and welcomes people of all genders, expressions, and sexual orientations.

Much of the inclusive language used by the store comes from Mason, who brings to the store a long history of advocating for sex positivity and safety. “I worked for a decade—before I opened WinkWink—with survivors of sexual violence. Working with young people around violence prevention, I felt like we needed more places where sexuality is presented positively. I think our culture is getting better about talking about what we don’t want around sex, but we have to do more work about talking about what we do want, so WinkWink is a place where we can help to eradicate violence and help build models of healthy sexuality,” she said.

“So, we are an inclusive, women-owned, all-ages, not-creepy sex shop. We are working to banish shame around sex and celebrate sexual expression and exploration. I consider us a mission-based retailer, so yes, we sell products, but we’re focused on our mission and education. In addition to our store, we also offer educational classes and coaching services. So, it’s more than just a place where people come in to buy things.”

Mason defends the store’s youth-focused sex education offerings. “The classes are

VISIT US ONLINE SGN.ORG

Jenn Mason (second from l) and staff – Photo courtesy of WinkWink Boutique

lecture- and discussion-based age-appropriate classes that help kids to learn about relationships, bodies, and sexuality. To help them feel safe and comfortable talking about and advocating for their bodies.

We’ve done sex education before, here in our shop, in private schools, and in community organizations, and had wonderful responses. They’re about creating a space where kids can learn and share their thoughts and ask questions they might not feel comfortable asking other places,” Mason said.

“We have two age groups; we do a 9-to12 class and a 13-to-18 class. The curriculum is different for both of those. The 9-to12 class is sold out already, and our older teen class is almost sold out, but yeah, those are the age groups,” she continued.

WinkWink is also very active in the Bellingham community. Aside from providing sex education classes, the store also partners with several LGBTQ+ organizations and charities. “We serve a whole lot of Queer folks at our shop, and we have worked hard to center Queer folks, Trans folks in our store, both in what we sell, how we operate, and the classes that we offer,” Mason said.

“We work with all kinds of organizations.

I most recently was doing sex education at a teen homeless shelter in the region, you know, volunteering my time to go out and do that. We’ve partnered with our local domestic violence and rape crisis center, we have partnered with our local drag community, and we are pretty much at or involved somehow with many of our local events. Community outreach and lending our support for organizations is a big part of what we do.”

While classes are quickly filling up for the next session, Mason says more will be available on the calendar soon. For those looking to plan a trip up to Bellingham, “The first Friday of every month we have live music, free, live all-ages music in our event space, and people are always welcome to come to that. We always have something fun coming up here!”

For those wanting to support WinkWink but unable to make the trip to Bellingham, the store also sells all its products online and will ship anywhere in the United States. “We are always happy to help people through the online chat or social media to help them find what they are looking for,” Mason added.

WinkWink is only the most recent victim of increasingly toxic right-wing media

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

attacks on educational institutions that focus on LGBTQ+ people With no sign of conservative news outlets lightening up anytime soon, Mason has some advice for the next group that finds itself the focus of Fox News. “Let yourself be as upset as you need to be. It’s really hard and isolating and frustrating to hear all these things that are said about you, and I don’t think anybody can understand just how intense it is to be targeted by the right-wing media unless you’ve been there. It is so overwhelming and scary,” she said.

“The other advice I have is that you have to trust that the outrage machine will move on.

This is my third go-around in the national media, and while it feels all-consuming while it’s happening, generally speaking, the news moves on after a week or two, and then it’s just radio silence afterward. You have to trust that the headlines will change and you will be forgotten about, and that will be your time to recuperate.”

WinkWink Boutique is located at 1302 Commercial St. in Bellingham, WA. To shop online or enroll in a class, you can visit https://winkwinkboutique.com/pages/ about.

SGN

5

Local News

Seattle Starbucks strike shuts down flagship roastery

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Photo by Mike Andrew

Seattle Starbucks workers went on strike July 17, shutting down the company’s flagship roastery at 1124 Pike Street.

Workers at the store voted to unionize on April 24, but they say the company has refused to negotiate a contract with them. Starbucks says that the election was improperly organized — although it was carried out under the supervision of the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency charged with enforcing labor laws.

“Our decision to join a union was because we have always known that partners deserve a seat at the table,” the Starbucks Reserve Roastery workers wrote in their notice of strike. “[It was] to be seen as equals, as business partners engaging in a mutually beneficial agreement of labor — not to have our record-profit be taken from us unfairly as we are worked harder than ever, and, with recent record inflation, paid even less.”

In addition to closing down the roastery, workers picketed at other Starbucks locations and hung up wanted posters featuring the face of Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.

“Wanted alive at the bargaining table,” the posters read. “You have to bargain at all to be bargaining in good faith.”

“Good faith bargaining,” defined as a sincere effort to reach agreement on a labor contract, is required by federal law. The point is to prevent employers from stalling negotiations till their employees become demoralized and quit their new union.

That’s exactly what Starbucks workers accuse the company of doing. Starbucks company spokespeople, however, say that bargaining a contract would be an admission that they accept the results of the union election — something they are unwilling to do.

The company objects to the fact that the NLRB allowed mail-in voting as a precaution during the height of the COVID pandemic. Only in-person votes should have been allowed, Starbucks executives claim.

In response to COVID concerns, the NLRB established alternative voting pro-

cedures for all union elections in the country. The Starbucks case is now making its way through the federal appeals process, but workers say the election outcome is not in doubt and the employer is obligated to bargain a contract with them.

The Seattle Starbucks Reserve Roastery was opened in 2014, and from the beginning was intended to be the company’s flagship location. Similar roastery stores have been opened in other cities.

According to Starbucks public relations, the roastery is “the fulfillment of a decades-long dream — an homage to our relentless pursuit of coffee innovation that will create for our customers the most immersive, sensory demonstration of how we source, roast and craft the finest coffee from around the world.”

The first Seattle location to unionize was a Starbucks on Broadway and Denny in late March of this year. So far, 11 Starbucks locations in Seattle have voted to unionize.

Since December 2021, when the first U.S. Starbucks location voted to unionize, more than 100 other locations have followed suit.

Photos courtesy of Benbow Room

The joint’s signature feature, a room off to the side styled like the interior of a wooden ship, was quieter than the main room, with better lighting. A doorway there led into a room with arcade games — Skee-Ball, pinball, and the like. Shelves of gold-painted skulls sat behind glass in the hallway outside the restrooms.

Portraits of people in Hawaiian dress hung high above the bar, likely as a tribute to owner Mark Fuller’s now-closed Hawaiian fried chicken restaurant, Ma’ono. My favorite bit by far was the towering wooden statue of a skeletal pirate, with a barrel of “RUM” and a cutlass at its feet.

A few things threw me off. There were portholes set in the wall, an anachronism in the Golden Age of Piracy. Although I appreciate alt-rock like Beck’s “E-Pro,” the music was modern, and the staff wore black T-shirts

rather than clothes with a more authentic pirate feel.

There was so much missing that could have completed the pirate experience. Where was the obligatory parrot? And where were the ropes, nets, moorings, and jolly rogers? The decorators hadn’t gone far enough with the pirate theme — or haven’t yet.

When I asked a waiter if pirate movies were ever played on the three big screens (which were showing a baseball game at the time), he said they’d only just gotten the cable box connected; that night, it seemed, was a kind of test, since up until then they had been broadcasting a 20-second loop of the Black Pearl, a ship from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Pirate-themed events were in the works, the waiter said, and I got the sense that the whole place, as a pirating experience, wasn’t static. It was a work in progress. And I realized that authenticity can’t be manufactured. It has to accrue over time, with the wear of boots and salt on the deck — even if that salt comes from a margarita.

6

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

BENBOW

continued from cover

SGN

The bar had cocktail staples and a few thematic additions. I tried the Pearl Diver, a mix of añejo rum, gold rum, falernum, gardenia, simple syrup, orange juice, and lime juice. (As one might expect, rum is a common ingredient on the menu.) It was easy drinking, with a smooth, lingering gradient of sweet and tart as it went down. As a bonus, it came with a slice of lime to help stave off scurvy.

Some cocktail staples took the form of slushies, like the Banana Daiquiri, which was quite tasty. Strange shots like the Bazooka Joe and the Chocolate Pretzel were also available.

As for drinks on tap, most were in the seaworthy category of the IPA, but a cider, a pilsner, and a decent porter were there for any landlubber who wanted them. My only complaint about their drink selection: no grog!

Food was limited to chili dogs, chips, nachos, and potato mac salad. I tried their B’s Coney Dog, expecting a large frank with bounteous chili and grilled onions for

my $7.25. Instead what I got was a cigarsized kosher dog with meager condiments.

I recommend choosing another snack.

At around 10 p.m., the music shifted from indie rock to club music so loud I had to shout to talk to the people at my table.

Two drinks in and thus unabashed about staring, I turned to get a good look at the bar’s patrons. It wasn’t an especially young crowd, ranging from people in their 30s up into their 50s. That makes sense, given that North Admiral is largely a neighborhood of single-family homes. At least two couples present were aging punks with the cleancut look of tech professionals.

To consistently bring in a younger crowd like mine, though, tiki room cocktails aren’t enough. My hope with the Benbow Room is that it will fully embrace the “pirate thing” and become the closest thing to a Tortuga of the Pacific Northwest, with pirate movie nights, live trad music and sea shanties, and the full range of pirate decor.

It’s not there yet, but it has potential.

C E L E B R AT I N G 4 8 Y E A R S!

Film

Manville’s magnificence makes Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris a fashionable success

Lambert Wilson and Lesley Manville in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris – Photo courtesy of Focus Features

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN Staff Writer MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS Theaters Few films of the past few years have given me as much continuous pleasure as Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. Due in large part to star Lesley Manville’s tremendous performance, this fanciful drama managed to plant an immediate smile on my face, brought heartfelt tears to my eyes, and filled me with so much joy I almost wanted to bottle it up and save some for later. To put it even more bluntly, I loved this one. A lot.

Mrs. Ada Harris (Manville) is a London housekeeper who works for a variety of

well-to-do clients. It is the early 1950s and England is still recovering from WWII. Mrs. Harris still holds out hope that her husband, an RAF pilot listed as missing since the early days of the war, will one day come home to her. But when his remains are finally found and his death is confirmed, she is understandably shaken, deciding in that moment she’ll stop going through life in neutral and instead live out her dreams, no matter how silly they may appear to be.

And what does Mrs. Harris want? An haute couture gown. Specifically, she would like one designed by Christian Dior (Philippe Bertin) himself, and with 500 pounds in her purse, Mrs. Harris intends to travel to Paris and buy one straight off of the runway if she has to.

Based on the novel by Paul Gallico and with a screenplay crafted by four writers including director Anthony Fabian (Skin), it’s not like Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris breaks the mold or goes anywhere that isn’t a forgone conclusion. But it’s the journey that proves to be wonderful. Mrs. Harris’ simple quest touches several lives, connecting people in ways they did not anticipate.

This mad idea of owning a Dior gown eases the housekeeper’s pain as well, giving her the freedom to grieve and the confidence to move on with her life. Mrs. Harris learns that it is okay to make new connections and to open her heart to the prospect of love. She discovers there is power in saying no and that selfless acts of kindness provoke unexpected repercussions.

The simplicity of the storytelling is impressive. The talented ensemble includes Isabelle Huppert, Jason Isaacs, Ellen Thomas, Alba Baptista, Lucas Bravo, Roxane Duran, Rose Williams, Anna Chancellor, and Lambert Wilson. Each has a specific part to play, and almost all are given at least one scene to make a lasting impression.

Huppert is the one who ends up making the absolute most out of the very least, playing Claudine Colbert, the exacting head of the House of Dior. Colbert initially sees Mrs. Harris as a threat, while her employees immediately warm to the newcomer. Colbert slowly comes to feel the same as her staff, but this evolution is never fully convincing, and it is only due to the international icon’s considerable star power that Huppert gives this onedimensional woman three-dimensional life.

As complaints go, this one, thankfully, is relatively minor. Manville’s scenes with Wilson, a smitten French marquis who makes Mrs. Harris his guest at an exclusive Dior showcase, are sensational, each moment they share revealing facets of the human condition that ring heartbreakingly true. Even better are her scenes with Baptista. She portrays the angelic face of Dior, Natasha Petitpierre, a runway model who’d rather be getting a master’s degree in philosophy. Her relationship with Mrs. Harris allows Natasha to find the strength to challenge societal expectations as she never has before.

The costuming is exquisite, three-time Academy Award winner Jenny Beavan (Mad Max: Fury Road, Cruella) once again delivering the goods. I was equally taken with cinematographer Felix Wiedemann’s deft camerawork, the subtle dexterity of his visual compositions striking in their captivating intimacy and alluring depth.

But the film belongs to Manville. Whether sharing pleasantries with Thomas or verbally dancing with Issacs, there was never a moment when the actor is less than enthralling. Manville disappears entirely into Mrs. Harris, her performance a thing of continual beauty. Her smile lights up a room. Her goodness is infectious. Manville elevates the material every step of the way, making Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris a fashionable showstopper that brings down the house.

Lesley Manville in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris – Photo courtesy of Focus Features

VISIT US ONLINE SGN.ORG

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

SGN

7

Film

Convoluted Gray Man a bloated waste of time

Ryan Gosling in The Gray Man – Photo courtesy of Netflix

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN Staff Writer THE GRAY MAN Theaters / Netflix The Gray Man would be the most insufferable big-budget release of 2022 if not for the charismatic star power of Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans. They elevate the material by their presence alone, both giving committed, exuberantly broad performances that are far more endearing than this convoluted spy-versus-spy actioner deserves. Gosling and Evans are great even if the film is anything but, and I’m tempted to recommend giving this obnoxious disaster a look solely because of them.

That’s not going to happen. Reportedly the most expensive motion picture Netflix has ever financed, this non-MCU effort from directors Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame) is a bloated mess. Other than one notable action set piece staged on the streets of Prague, this is a shockingly flat affair where little looks real and even less feels authentic. The visuals have no depth. The editing is chaotic. The pacing is slack. Long story short, this movie isn’t very good.

Adapted from the 2009 book by Mark Greaney, the plot follows a covert CIA assassin only known as Six (Gosling). When his latest assignment goes off the rails, he discovers that his new superiors at the agency, Denny Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page) and Suzanne Brewer (Jessica Henwick), weren’t on the level about the type of operation they had involved him in. Six absconds with an encrypted flash drive and disappears into the wind, inadvertently implicating another agent, Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas), in his theft while making his escape.

Much to Brewer’s horror, Carmichael contracts the recovery of the drive to unscrupulous mercenary Lloyd Hansen (Evans).

Knowing the only way to bring his prey out in the open is to make things personal, the psychotic killer kidnaps the teenage niece, Claire (Julia Butters), of Six’s previous boss, Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton). Not only will this force Fitzroy to betray his former protégé, but Six’s fondness for Claire will likely lead him to make dubious tactical decisions he would normally avoid.

As twisted as things get, the basic thrust of it all is pretty simplistic. Good killer Six must face off against bad killer Hansen to save the lives of the people dearest to his

heart, teaming up with an angry Miranda to accomplish his task and clear her good name in the process. Along the way, sacrifices will be made and other assassins will show up to try to steal the flash drive. There will be shootouts, car chases, explosions, and narrow escapes, everything building to a climactic showdown between Six and Hansen that only one will walk away from.

All of that is perfectly fine. Goodness knows James Bond installments have been successfully chugging along with similar scenarios since the release of Dr. No in 1962. But the script by Joe Russo, Christopher Markus, and Stephen McFeely (Captain America: The First Avenger) is going through the motions.

There is no momentum, no agency to anything that transpires. Characters shift from one side of the espionage chess board to the other because they have to, not because any apparent thought motivates their movements.

There is a digital sheen to everything, which is grotesquely off-putting. What’s the point of filming in so many exotic loca-

8

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

SGN

Chris Evans in The Gray Man – Photo courtesy of Netflix

tions if it still looks like all the environments were inserted digitally afterward?

Cinematographer Stephen F. Windon (Star Trek Beyond) does his best, and there are moments when things look moderately terrific. But more often than not his visual compositions lack any semblance of life, the drab emptiness of what’s been put up on the screen maddening Thankfully, there is one exception to this complaint and, even better, it’s a dandy. That aforementioned Prague sequence is undeniably impressive. The moment hits like a shot of unfiltered adrenaline, waking up the film from its stupor for a good 15 to 20 exhilarating minutes. It’s a bombastic monstrosity of a set piece, and that’s a compliment, the Russos staging a massive shootout in the city square followed by a chase on a motorized commuter tram I thoroughly enjoyed.

As already mentioned, there is one additional saving grace, and that’s the presence of Gosling and Evans. They are outstanding, giving themselves over to the material

in ways it frankly does not deserve. Evans appears to be having a blast gleefully playing against type, Hansen such a despicably cocksure and venal villain he’s like a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character made flesh. As for Gosling, his magnetic stoicism in the face of every conceivable obstacle is incandescent, and even at his bloodiest and most bruised, the actor oozes so much smoldering magnetism the heat he generates nearly melts the screen.

It’s a shame none of this good stuff matters. There is no balance between the humor and the drama, the goofy glibness of the dialogue frequently undercutting the inherent tension. Everything has to be a joke.

Sacrifices have no meaning. Heroism is reduced to going through the motions. By the time the Russos get around to setting up what they likely hope will be an inevitable sequel, I’d already stopped caring about who would still be alive to carry the story into the future. The Gray Man is a waste of time.

C E L E B R AT I N G 4 8 Y E A R S!

Books

Let Edge of the Circle be your gateway to the mystical

by Lindsey Anderson SGN Staff Writer For fans of magic, aspiring witches, and all intrigued by the rich and diverse history of minority religions, the gateway to mysticism may not be as far away as once thought. Edge of the Circle Books, Seattle’s premier stop for all things pagan and magical, is open seven days a week in the University District neighborhood. The store is full of all the literature and materials one might need to begin researching and practicing different forms of magic. Perhaps the most valuable resource in the store is the charming shopkeeper, who is more than willing to talk all kinds of magic with intrigued customers.

A shop rich with history Robert Anderson owns and operates Edge of the Circle Books through his corporation, Fun Time. “Many years ago, when I took over ownership of the store, I formed a corporation, so I am President of Fun Time Inc. Which owns and operates Edge of the Circle Books, so that’s my title,” Anderson said, laughing.

Edge of the Circle has a rich history in the Seattle community, and Anderson has been involved with the store since its earliest days. “Edge of the Circle, before I owned it, grew out of another store, so now we need to go back into the late 80s. A very idealistic man ran a store that moved from a hallway somewhere else to a little shack on 14th and Union, and the store was called Schmonic Convergence. It was pretty much the main pagan and magical store for the Seattle area,” Anderson explained.

“It was staffed with volunteers, and the guy who owned it was moving away, so he sold it to one of the volunteers. She remodeled and renamed Edge of the Circle, which was in 1992. I was a regular at this new Edge of the Circle, and eventually they needed to hire somebody. I was interested in working there, so I started working there,” he continued.

Anderson’s love affair with the store grew more passionate as he became more involved. “I loved it! They let me order books for the store, and I love books! I was able to find obscure books that other places didn’t have, and this was back before people had internet access. This was like 1993, ‘94, and there was a little internet, but it wasn’t like it is now. I even ended up calling England. I loved it, and I just loved being a shopkeeper.”

Eventually, Anderson was able to buy Edge of the Circle. “It’s been owned by Fun Time Inc. since 1995,” Anderson explained.

“I started working here in 1993. It moved from a shack on 14th and Union to 701 E. Pike Street, on the corner of Boylston Ave, two blocks west of Broadway on Capitol Hill in early 1994. I was made general man-

VISIT US ONLINE SGN.ORG

Photos by Lindsey Anderson

ager shortly after the move, and then I took over ownership in the middle of 1995, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Edge of the Circle leaves Capitol Hill In 2015, after over two decades on Capitol Hill, the store moved to the University District. “After we’d been there for 20 years, in 2014, new people bought the building.

They told us we would get to stay. Then a year later, they kicked us out after we had been there for 21 years, for no reason at all,” Anderson said. “The Stranger tracked them down and were like, ‘Why would you want them to leave a place when they’ve been here for 21 years? They were paying their rent, and they weren’t causing trouble.’ And the response was, ‘Well, that guy had kind of a niche market, it was a corner store, and we were looking for something that would

bring more foot traffic to the area.’ They wanted something more mainstream.”

Kicking Edge of the Circle out of Capitol Hill seemed to bring the building owners karma, as the “corner store” location has yet to find a permanent tenant. “I’ve heard the space is empty now,” Anderson added.

Under Anderson’s care, the store in its new U District location has blossomed into a welcoming space that houses magical items and information for a myriad of diverse practices. “One thing I would say about the store is we have a wide variety of things for a variety of different magical traditions and minority religions. I think of this place as a magical and pagan UN, where you can have stuff based on Norse paganism, stuff based on West African traditional religion, you can have Kabbalistic material, you can have Chaos magic,

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

you can have Wicca, you can have Druid reconstructionist, you can have Hellenic reconstructionist. I’m sure I’m leaving out so many important ones, but we can all be here, and we can all shop here, and we can all get along,” he said.

What’s popular in the store Because the store has so many different types of magical and spiritual books, Anderson is usually pretty good at noticing which practices are “trending” based on the titles that sell the most. “Hoodoo, a Black American folk magic tradition, has grown in popularity, both in books and supplies,” he noted. “Traditional witchcraft, witchcraft practices that predate Wicca, has been big for the last few years. Grimoire magic, see EDGE OF THE CIRCLE page 12

SGN

9

10

SGN

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

C E L E B R AT I N G 4 8 Y E A R S!

VISIT US ONLINE SGN.ORG

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

SGN

11

Books

Start the conversation with Equal Partners

by Terri Schlichenmeyer Special to the SGN EQUAL PARTNERS: IMPROVING GENDER EQUALITY AT HOME KATE MANGINO © 2022, St. Martin’s Press $29.99 344 pages

Image courtesy of St. Martin’s Press

Plates on one end, bowls on the other, glasses on top. It’s your turn to load the dishwasher tonight, but if you plead ignorance on how it’s done properly, maybe you can worm your way out of it. Somebody else’ll do it, so go sit down. Take a rest and read Equal Partners, and then ask yourself if you could have taken on another chore tonight.

Several years ago, the researchers reported on in this book finally acknowledged what generations of women in opposite-sex relationships already knew: that many working women are responsible for a “second shift” after 5 p.m. The first shift is the job, for which they receive a paycheck; the second, unpaid shift included making meals, straightening up, helping kids with schoolwork, and all the other things that need doing at home.

Researchers also noted that the “second shift” is detrimental to men and boys; Mangino says that such gender inequality happens around the world, restricting everyone, perpetuated by “all genders.”

Most often, Mangino says, even when we try our hardest to maintain equality in the home, women generally take responsibility for routine tasks and men take on the intermittent tasks.” It’s easy to slip into those roles; in fact, avoiding them takes real effort—although, interestingly enough, most same-sex couples do pretty well in “fiftyfifty equality.”

Still, no matter what your domestic situation, Mangino has advice that can make your household a more equitable one.

First, know that things won’t fix themselves. Do a “check-up” to determine where you stand on the equal-housework spectrum.

Before launching into a life-altering event such as getting married, having a baby, or starting a business, know what questions to discuss with your partner so you’re closest to an agreement. Mangino advises readers to remember that “women perpetuate sexism, too.” Pick some role models, says Mangino, and be one, too. And finally, watch your words; they might need to be tweaked to

reflect more mindfulness.

Flip through Equal Partners and if you’re a straight or bisexual man, you may feel a little defensive. Author Kate Mangino generally sides with women on issues of housework.

However, Mangino states that she’s not showing bias; statistics confirm her points. Still, some readers may have a lot to overcome while reading this book about overcoming inequality at home.

Fortunately, Mangino shows why this is absolutely worth doing.

Through pages and pages of stories—some that may have you thinking Mangino was peeking in your kitchen window—Mangino systematically lays out how things get to be how they are and what actions couples can take. There are quizzes to tackle and places for notes (another reason to buy this book outright), and if you’re still not quite convinced, there are interviews with dozens of happy people who have successfully changed their relationships into fairer ones.

Though it’s not without a little abrasiveness, Equal Partners is a good conversation starter for fixing the status quo in your relationship, regardless of what kind of relationship it is. Find this book, and add another thing to your plate.

Photo by Lindsey Anderson

when we say ceremonial magic, as it turns out, there are many different things that fall under that umbrella. One of them is going to be stuff like the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley, and another one is the magic of the Grimoires, which is different. There have been a lot of people writing about it, working with it, working with it, and writing about it, so that’s been a thing, too.”

Over the last few years, tarot decks have also soared in popularity at Edge of the Circle. “I carry most of the tarot card decks available in the United States, and I’m always looking for more,” Anderson said. Some of his best-selling tarot decks are LGBTQ+-based. “The Pride Tarot’s been out for a while. This one’s done by a lot of different artists. I have one left of the Divine Diversity Tarot deck, too. I got a bunch of these and they sold. Joe Philips, he’s the same artist who did Witch Boys, and in this deck, he wanted to include everybody. The artist himself is a chubby, Black Gay man. He included people of all body types, all ethnicities, Gay, straight, Lesbian, all together in this deck.”

A brief history of tarot Anderson has a vast knowledge of tarot and explained that the decks in the store vary on several different levels. “Some of it is going to be different artists’ interpretations of the cards. Tarot started as a deck of playing cards; it got brought into magical stuff. There were symbols in it that were mystical, magical already, kind of accidentally. Again, they were making it to play cards,” he explained.

“When it got brought into magical stuff, people started to change the decks to fit different magical systems. So, I’ve got a bunch of things based on the Golden Dawn system. Crowley was a member of this group; his deck was influenced by their teachings.

[Arthur Edward] Waite was another member of the Golden Dawn, and his deck does not include all of their teachings, but it’s probably the most influential tarot deck, and it started the explosion of 20th-century tarot decks, so a lot of the decks out there are based on Waite.”

While Edge of the Circle mostly sells literature and mystical items, the store has also recently begun marketing its merch.

“I have a bunch of T-shirts that I designed.

I kept wanting pagan and occult-related T-shirts, and I kept not finding them and I wanted to carry them, and now I’m in the habit of designing them,” Anderson said.

12

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

EDGE OF THE CIRCLE continued from page 9

SGN

Seattle’s main pagan/occult store Edge of the Circle has cemented itself in the history of Seattle’s pagan and occult culture. Not only does the store sell literature and items for those looking to get more into a practice, but they also host events, providing space for members of the community to meet.

“Sometimes I let activist groups use my classroom space to meet,” Anderson said.

“As far as events go, back to having a classroom space, different groups will sometimes meet in the basement, public classes, private ritual groups, things like that. Also, sometimes I’ll have book signings or other things; there’ll be an author event here.”

Since the pandemic, Edge of the Circle has been careful not to host too many public events, but the store is excited to announce it will be bringing in an author for a special meet and greet in September.

“An author by the name of Raven Digitalis will be here September 10th. He is known for having written books like Shadow Magick Compendium, Esoteric Empathy, and the new The Empaths’ Oracle, which is an oracle deck.

While Anderson is excited to start hosting in-person events at Edge of the Circle and loves the store’s new location in University

District, he admits he does miss being a part of the Capitol Hill community. “I miss all the people from Capitol Hill, but I still carry the SGN here,” he said. “Come visit me!”

One of Anderson’s favorite things about working at Edge of the Circle on Capitol Hill was seeing the connections between the pagan/occult community and the LGBTQ+ community. “There’s always been this overlap between these two communities,” he said with a smile as he pulled out an old copy of the SGN. “Here is a picture that I know, I recognized [Dr. Leo Louis Martello] because he’s a famous witch and pagan and part of the early pagan movement of the United States. And [the SGN] posted this and put this on the cover because it’s a famous picture of the early days of the Gay rights movement. These two communities have always been overlapping and helping one another, and I hope that continues.”

Edge of the Circle Books is located at 1307 NE 45th St. Seattle, WA 98105. The store is open from noon to 8 p.m. Monday through Sunday. The store will be hosting author Raven Digitalis on September 10, 2022.

C E L E B R AT I N G 4 8 Y E A R S!

Travel

Pride Journey: Provincetown

by Joey Amato Special to the SGN I think it’s safe to say that I found my new happy place. I had visited Provincetown, Massachusetts once before during the winter season and even then, I enjoyed my time there. Of course, P-Town is much slower during the colder months than it was during my most recent visit, but I still enjoyed the small-town charm of this iconic coastal destination.

Provincetown is one of the most LGBTQfriendly destinations in the country, if not the world. From the moment you arrive by ferry or by car, you are quickly transported into a rainbow oasis which makes it seems as if you are on an island where you are free to express yourself in any way you please.

As soon as I stepped foot off the Bay State Cruise Company ferry from Boston, I checked in to the Foxberry Inn, a beautiful property located less than a mile from the heart of P-Town. Most of the destination is walkable, but biking is also common if you prefer. The staff at Foxberry Inn was lovely and quite attractive, which is always an added bonus. My corner room came com-

plete with a water view as well as a separate seating area and balcony to enjoy some morning coffee.

Each morning the staff prepared a delicious hot breakfast, which is included in the price of the room. The breakfast burrito was definitely my favorite and possibly one of the best I’ve ever had in recent memory.

Every afternoon, guests are welcome to enjoy freshly baked cookies and a hot beverage if they desire in the common area.

One of Provincetown’s most famous attractions is not a physical attraction; it’s a dance. More specifically, a tea-dance. The concept of a tea-dance began in New York in the 1960s. Gay men would meet at offthe-beaten path locations around New York City on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy tea, as it was illegal to serve alcohol to people known to be gay. How times have changed!

These tea-dances quickly spread around the country and today, the weekly teadances held at Boatslip Resort have become legendary. The waterfront property features a large outdoor deck plus an indoor section with multiple bars and plenty of room for dancing. The drinks are a bit more expensive than I am used to coming from

the Midwest, but the pours were heavy, so it balanced out. My guest Michael and I sipped our cocktails while grooving to the sounds of Sylvester, Donna Summer, and Chic. The people watching alone was worth the visit.

After the dance, walk over to Liz’s, just a few blocks away. The quaint restaurant gives off an island resort vibe and the food didn’t disappoint either. We both began our meal with the ceviche containing a variety of fresh fish served with homemade tortilla chips and followed that up with the pan seared cod prepared in a mouthwatering broth.

If you are in the mood for some after dinner drinks and entertainment, head to Provincetown Brewery Co. or the Post Office Café & Cabaret for the Anita Cocktail Variety Hour. Hosted of course by nonother than Anita Cocktail, the hour-long show also features performances by cast members Jona Williams, Abby Cummings, and Raquel Blake. My favorite part of the show was when Anita Cocktail sang live, something I rarely see drag performers do.

Keep the party going at Atlantic House, or A-House as the locals call it. This is the only dance club which operates for the

entire year as some establishments shut down during the winter months. The complex consists of different rooms including Little Bar, The Macho Bar, Provincetown’s original leather bar as well as the Big Room where people go to dance.

Wake up early the next morning and head to Boy Beach, which is located close to the Foxberry Inn or jump on Art’s Dune Toursto explore the Cape Cod National Seashore. Access to this area is seasonal and only authorized vehicles are allowed to operate in the park. The company, now in its 76th year in business, brings guests through the rolling dunes to various picturesque vantage points.

Spend the afternoon strolling around the town and exploring the dozens of boutiques and art galleries along Commercial Street.

A bit further away is the Provincetown Art Association & Museum, a space housing a collection of works by artists from the Cape.

The organization was originally established in 1914 so it’s a great place to learn about the cultural history of this destination.

If you are in the mood for some exercise, journey to the top of The Pilgrim Monument, a 252-foot structure built to commemorate the Pilgrims’ first landing. Since many of the properties in the town don’t offer fitness centers on property, visitors can purchase a day pass and workout with the locals at Mussel Beach Health Club or Provincetown Gym. P-Town is home to under 4,000 full-time residents, however this number swells to over 60,000 during the peak summer months. If you aren’t a fan of huge crowds, I would recommend visiting during the shoulder season. This may also be a more budget-friendly time to travel as daily room prices tend to decrease.

For your final dinner in Provincetown, go to Café Heaven and begin your meal with their delicious Lobstertini made with lobster salad served atop an avocado and tomato salad tossed in a citrus vinaigrette.

This was one of my favorite culinary treats of this vacation as the vinaigrette complimented the sweetness of the lobster perfectly. Michael and I decided to share the Provincetown Bouillabaisse for our main entrée. It tasted similar to a classic bouillabaisse, with the exception of linguica which is a nod to P-Town’s Portuguese heritage.

Provincetown is an all-in-one destination, meaning there is something for everyone. Whether you choose to party or just relax on the beach, you will find your tribe in P-Town.

Enjoy the Journey!

Photos courtesy of Provincetown Tourism

VISIT US ONLINE SGN.ORG

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

SGN

13

Op-Ed

Failed advocacy: Amazon’s history of rainbow washing and empty promises

Photo by Rachael Jones / Amazon

by Georgia Skerritt SGN Intern

“Rainbow washing” happens when an Amazon celebrated Prime Day on July organization markets itself as a supporter of the 13, reminding residents across the Seattle area that our city truly has become “Ama- LGBTQIA+ community—usually by decorating zon town.” In recent years, the company itself or its products with the rainbow pride flag has been eager to brand itself as an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, but with its colors—without doing anything to actually help messy and lackluster execution, Amazon has completely missed the mark. Instead, the community, or perhaps even while harming it. it’s become a case study in rainbow washing and corporate greed.

In case any of us aren’t familiar with the term, “rainbow washing” happens when an organization markets itself as a supporter of the LGBTQIA+ community—usually by decorating itself or its products with the rainbow pride flag colors—without doing anything to actually help the community, or perhaps even while harming it.

Corporations across the globe have recently taken up the rainbow washing technique to garner credibility with Queer consumers because, from an economic standpoint, the community is incredibly powerful.

According to Forbes, the purchasing power of LGBTQIA+ consumers is near $3 trillion.

This is referred to as “pink money,” and it made up approximately 14 percent of all disposable income in the U.S. in 2016.

Considering the economic upper hand that Queer buyers have in the U.S., it comes as no surprise that Amazon jumped on this bandwagon when it did. The company’s history with rainbow washing is long, and further inspection reveals a trail of empty words and broken promises. As an ally, Amazon has yet to put words into action.

Sure, Prime Video highlights Queer TV, movies and artists, and the shopping website offers opportunities to buy from Queer authors and businesses. This is a good start, but what has Amazon done beyond

this? Not much. In fact, when looking back through Amazon’s previous business and financial decisions, a deeply anti-Queer sentiment comes to light.

According to a recent report by the New York Times, Amazon began blocking Queerrelated searches on its website inside the United Arab Emirates, where homosexuality is illegal. The UAE government had previously threatened Amazon with penalties if it did not comply with the request for censorship. In the face of financial penalty, Amazon completely overlooked an opportunity incite change via Queer advocacy and instead went actively against LGBTQIA+ rights in order to maintain profits.

The company has also seen backlash from its employees for what they describe as anti-Trans behavior on the part of management. According to a report from NBC News, workers led petitions calling for Amazon to stop selling a book called Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughter by Abigail Shrier, which frames Queer identity as mental illness and promotes transphobia. After Amazon decided to continue selling the book, two employees resigned. Even here, we see that Amazon chooses profit whenever possible, even if it means ignoring explicit requests from employees to not sell

14

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

SGN

transphobic and anti-Queer material.

Seattle itself has experienced the effects of Amazon’s profit greed during Pride month. In her article for Quartz at Work, Lila MacLellan explored the company’s recent attempt to sponsor the Seattle Pride Parade, which took place June 26. In return for a $100,000 sponsorship, however, Amazon requested that the event be renamed “Seattle Pride Parade presented by Amazon.” Seattle Pride rejected this offer, citing the company’s previous donations to antiLGBTQIA+ lawmakers in recent years and partnerships that AmazonSmile has with approximately 40 anti-LGBTQIA+ organizations and businesses.

Amazon also fails at translating its words into substantial action, a trend best seen in the company’s affinity (employee resource) group Glamazon, which centers on employees who are members of the Queer community. Glamazon’s 60 active chapters across the country work to “create inclusive workplaces and host hundreds of community events to raise LGBTQIA+ awareness.”

What does inclusion in the Amazon world actually look like? When Amazon discusses its open-armed approach to diversity and inclusion, the company, like many others, uses empty words and gives no substantial evidence of any efforts being

made. This is a story that the Queer community knows all too well.

Clearly Amazon is not as concerned with Queer advocacy and allyship as it markets itself to be. The company has had several opportunities to create real change with its social and economic status and had repeatedly decided not to for the sake of profit.

Considering the inherently anti-Queer values that Amazon has demonstrated to employees and buyers alike, one is left wondering why and how they continue to get away with these decisions. I believe the answer lies in Amazon’s employment rates.

According to a Business Insider report, about one in 150 American workers is employed by Amazon. That’s about 950,000 people in the U.S. alone; Amazon has about 1.3 million employees worldwide.

It makes sense, then, that Amazon has been able to linger in a place of hypocrisy for years with next to no accountability; many people simply cannot afford to boycott the company. Amazon has placed hundreds of thousands of its employees in a position where they have to choose between boycotting a morally corrupt business or keeping their job. Of course, they need to choose the latter. When an imbalance of power this extreme occurs, control shifts completely to one side, and accountability dwindles as common people lose their voice.

The next step in creating real accountability for Amazon is clear: spend elsewhere. For anyone who can afford to do so, consider buying locally and supporting small businesses (specifically those that are BIPOC-, LGBTQIA+- and/or womanowned)!

If the pink dollar has shown us anything, it’s that purchasing power is a genuine concern for large corporations. If we truly put our money where our mouths are, Amazon will notice, and change will follow.

C E L E B R AT I N G 4 8 Y E A R S!

Ask Izzy: Just who is Isabel Mata?

New SGN columnist ready to get messy and talk sex, love, and queer cringe

by Isabel Mata SGN Contributing Writer Ever since I was born on a warm summer day in 1996, I’ve known that I was different. To be honest, I was different in a lot of ways – I was a middle-child Gemini with a love of boobs, a flair for the dramatic, and a never-ending drive for greatness.

But something else made me feel out of place, a feeling deep in my belly. And no, it wasn’t the everything bagel with cream cheese that I ate despite being a lactose-intolerant Jew, although that probably didn’t help.

Staring down an escalator at five years old, terrified of taking that next step, I felt it. I thought that if I stepped forward, my shoelace would get caught and I would be dragged down the steps, my small body breaking as easily as a twig in winter.

Oh, and I was wearing slip-ons. Welcome to my brain.

My name is Isabel Mata and ever since I was a kid, I have been using my own experiences (and traumas) as a bisexual, neurodivergent chronic over-sharer to help my friends, family, and even random strangers on the internet have stronger relationships, better sex, and healthier mindsets. With over 500 bylines in publications like Cosmopolitan, Nylon, Elle, and now the Seattle Gay News, I find joy in writing about all the things no one else wants to talk about. The more cringe, the better.

Different but the same I grew up in the early 2000s, and boy oh boy was I immersed. I had my bat mitzvah in 2009 and by the time I was in high school, I was already addicted to social media. It was during this time that I began to notice how mental illness and Queerness were depicted all around me. In front of my very eyes, I watched my favorite stars (Miley, Demi, Selena, Amanda, Lindsey, etc. etc.) struggle with anxiety, depression, heterosexuality and get called drug addicts, lunatics, sluts, and so much worse. If Britney was being called crazy, then what was I? I may not have shaved my head, but I did chop off my hair and dye it a bunch of different colors. Same, same, ya know?

But just like in any good superhero origin story (yes, I am calling myself a superhero, just let me be), rather than letting injustice deter me, I was instead inspired to speak openly and freely about my struggles (including my internalized biphobia). My mother would say that I didn’t know how to

VISIT US ONLINE SGN.ORG

Photos by Alex Quetzali / @grainy.girl

keep things to myself, but regardless, I was ready to challenge the status quo and damn anyone who tried to stop me. I have never been afraid to be myself, at least when it came to how I presented myself online.

Between friendship breakups and abusive relationships, I let my mental illness rule my life invisibly for the first 23 years of my life.

From the outside, my life looked beautiful— living in Israel, London, then New York, with internships and jobs at Cosmopolitan, CNN, L’Oréal, and even a degree from NYU—but internally, I was falling apart, telling myself that I was the problem. But only those closest to me saw the truth, or rather, the terrible panic attacks that left me hunched over the toilet, drenched in sweat. But even when I was thinking about death and planning my funeral in my head, I continued to excel in my professional career as a writer. Upon reflection it seems like I was using the hustle in an attempt to validate my existence, but I am still digging into that. Between having a panic attack in the bathroom at a Maybelline photoshoot and navigating my extreme social anxiety at New York Fashion Week, my life appeared to be fun and games while underneath it all I was a mess. Just call me a walking tornado of chaos with a really polished internet presence.

The only way forward is up Eventually, all that changed. After hitting rock bottom thanks to a shitty bartender and a lack of boundaries, I finally realized that maybe I didn’t deserve to live in constant fear and dread. Even if I had trouble regulating my emotions and my reactivity was less than ideal. It was time to prioritize myself and address all the things keeping me from being my most authentic, bisexual self. Little did I know that this meant doing actual work and looking inward, something that seemed terrifying. But the only way forward was up.

With new medication, a proper diagnosis, mindfulness, and a mixture of dialectical and cognitive behavioral therapy, I learned how to love myself and to thrive, not just live, in a world that wasn’t made for people like me and you. Now, three years since beginning my “journey of authenticity,” as I sit in my Seattle apartment, newly married to the love of my life, with my three cats by my side and a Disney instrumental playing in my headphones, I am proud to say that I’ve accomplished all the things I wanted to (so far). And for the first time in my life, I am not leaning on other people for happiness and joy, all because of the skills, tools, and experiences that I have gone through to

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

rewire my brain and change the way I speak to myself. While I’m still very much a work in progress, instead of searching for the solution elsewhere, I know that it’s all within me. And I have a responsibility to share this knowledge with others.

This is where you come in.

Using my experience and my innate ability to connect with empathy, every other week I will respond to your questions about life, love, friendships, sexuality, mental health, and whatever else is on your mind.

Nothing is off limits.

So, send questions to info@sgn.org and allow me to help you help yourself. Don’t forget to include your name, age, and pronouns, or request to remain anonymous.

Your letters may be edited for clarity.

Are you ready to get messy? I know I am.

Isabel Mata (she/her) is a full-time lifestyle and wellness writer whose work has been published in more than 50 outlets across the world. She is also the host of “Being Yourself Loudly,” a Queer podcast destigmatizing mental illness. Connect with Isabel on Instagram at https://www. instagram.com/isabelcalkinsmata.

SGN

15

National & International News

Ted Cruz weighs in on marriage equality SCOTUS should have left it to the states, he says

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Texas Senator Ted Cruz says the U.S. Supreme Court should have left the issue of same-sex marriage up to individual states to decide, as it has done with abortion.

Cruz made the remarks in a July 16 interview with right-wing pundit Liz Wheeler.

He later shared clips from their talk on his YouTube channel.

Wheeler asked him if he felt the landmark Obergefell ruling of 2015, which legalized same-sex marriage across the U.S., was now vulnerable, following the high court’s reasoning in its decision striking down Roe v. Wade.

“Obergefell, like Roe v. Wade, ignored two centuries of our nation’s history,” Cruz answered. “Marriage was always an issue that was left to the states.

“If you succeeded in convincing your fellow citizens, then your state would change the laws,” he continued. “In Obergefell, the court said, ‘No, we know better than you.’

“And now every state must sanction and permit gay marriage. I think that decision was clearly wrong when it was decided. It was the court overreaching.”

Last month, Cruz welcomed the reversal of Roe v. Wade as a “massive victory for life.”

Cruz shares the view of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote in his concurring opinion in the abortion case that the court should look again “at Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell,” prior rulings that established rights to contraception, same-sex sexual relations, and marriage equality.

In a portion of his interview with Wheeler that he did not share on YouTube, Cruz went on to say he saw many practical obstacles to actually reversing Obergefell.

Photo by Elizabeth Frantz / Reuters

“You’ve got a ton of people who have entered into gay marriages, and it would be more than a little chaotic for the court to do something that somehow disrupted those marriages that have been entered into in accordance with the law,” he said.

“I think that would be a factor that would, would counsel restraint, that the court would be concerned about. But to be honest, I don’t think this court has any appetite for overturning any of these decisions.”

He added that Roe v. Wade was different

— and more significant — than the other court decisions cited by Thomas, in that it touched on “the creation of a human life.”

National news highlights

by Daniel Lindsley SGN Contributing Writer Tennessee Judge blocks federal Trans protections Reuters reported on July 16 that Judge Charles Atchley Jr. of the East District of Tennessee has temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s pro-Trans directives, which allow Trans workers and students to use bathrooms and locker rooms and join sports teams that correspond with their gender identity.

Atchley argued that the directives would make it impossible for some states to enforce their own laws on Trans athletes and access to bathrooms, or not without losing significant federal funding. The states, Atchley wrote, “cannot continue regulating pursuant to their state laws while simultaneously complying with Defendants’ guidance.”

Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor, a plaintiff in the case, called the development “a major victory in women’s sports and for the privacy and safety of girls and women in their school bathrooms and locker rooms.”

Listed as the defendants were the Justice Department, Department of Education, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. None replied immediately to Reuters’ requests for comment, but they had requested earlier that Atchley dismiss the states’ lawsuit.

16

SGN

Photo by Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

House Republicans prep for victory with anti-Trans bills Reuters reported on July 14 that Republican senators, preparing for a possible Republican majority in Congress after this fall’s midterm elections, have been preparing legislation that critics say would roll back protections for Trans people.

One bill would block federal funding to colleges where Trans women are allowed to participate in sports with cisgender women. Another would allow Trans people to sue any medical personnel who helped them transition as minors, and a third would block funding to schools

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

that disobey state censorship laws about “materials harmful to minors,” in the same vein as state laws used to remove LGBT-related books.

The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT advocacy group, has criticized the bills for restricting needed medical care for Trans youth, given that Trans people are significantly more likely to attempt or commit suicide when they lack access to gender-affirming medical care.

According to the ACLED, a nonpartisan organization that tracks violence globally, violence against LGBT people has increased fourfold between 2020 and 2021 in the United States. The increase

coincided with a dramatic increase in anti-LGBT state bills that began in 2018 and is ongoing “There has always been fringe voices who oppose LGBTQ equality,” said GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis, “but now, unfortunately, that fringe has grown loud and is being given national platforms.”

According to a June poll by the Pew Research Center, sixty-four percent of Americans support protecting Trans people from discrimination, while 10% oppose such protection.

C E L E B R AT I N G 4 8 Y E A R S!

HOUSE

continued from cover Called the “Respect for Marriage Act,” support for the bill came from both sides of the aisle, but 157 GOP representatives voted against upholding marriage equality.

All votes against the Respect for Marriage Act came from the Republican party.

Democrats proposed the bill to the House on Monday, July 18, amid right-wing criticism that they were pushing the bill through too quickly, having only received it an hour before the House Rules Committee’s hearing. Republican members of the committee argued that the bill needed to go through question and debate in the Judiciary Committee.

The next step for the Respect for Marriage Act is to go through the Senate. 60 votes are needed to pass the bill. Currently, the Senate consists of 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and two Independents.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas made headlines recently when he stated his opinion that the Supreme Court made a mistake with Obergefell. Meanwhile, “moderate Democratic” senators Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) and Joe Manchin (W.Va) have voted against much of their own party’s agenda, the most recent example being Manchin’s refusal to back the current climate bill in favor of the all-American traditions of climate change denial and corporate avarice.

At press time, the Respect for Marriage Act has not been introduced to the Senate, nor has any concurrent legislation.

Photo by Mariam Zuhaib / AP

Photo by Heo Ran / Reuters

International news highlights

by Daniel Lindsley SGN Contributing Writer Tension in Seoul: Queer festival celebrates, protestors rally Reuters reported on July 16 that an estimated 13,000 people attended that day’s Seoul Queer Culture Festival in the city’s Seoul Plaza area, as conservative groups held a protest rally across the road from the event.

VISIT US ONLINE SGN.ORG

Human rights groups, LGBT clubs, embassies, and other progressive organizations staffed the festival’s approximately 70 booths, which featured resources and fun activities like face painting.

Drag queen Hurricane Kimchi said of the event, “I’m glad we can have an offline festival after a long time. LGBT people are not hateful people who appear one day out of the year but people who live their daily lives just the same.

“The Queer festival has gotten bigger,” she went on, “and many LGBT people show up without hiding, because the perception in our society is getting better.”

The U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Philip Goldberg, gave a speech in support of the South Korean LGBT community.

“We’re going to fight with you for equality and human rights,” he said.

The protest rally across the road in

front of city hall had at least 15,000 participants, according to the Yonhap news agency. Lee Yong-hee, a university professor at the rally, said the protest was about “the healthy sexual ethics of our children,” and he implied that the Seoul Plaza was being misused because it was “run with citizens’ taxes. ”Hungary and EU clash again, lawsuits pending Reuters reported on July 15 that the European Commission has decided to level two lawsuits at Hungary: one over a recent anti-LGBT law and another over a refusal to renew the license of government-critical radio broadcaster Klubadio.

These lawsuits come as the latest clash in a long conflict between Prime Minister Viktor Orban and EU standards of human rights and democracy.

“The European Commission today

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

decided to refer Hungary to the Court of Justice of the EU over a Hungarian law which discriminates against people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity,” said an EU executive.

As for the radio license, “We address attacks to independent media via all the tools that we have,” said Vera Jourova, European Commissioner for Values and Transparency.

Klubradio was forced off the air more than a year ago, but Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga said that development didn’t harm media freedom or plurality, and that the commission’s lawsuit over the LGBT law was “baseless.”

“EU membership does not affect Hungary’s right in any way to make decisions about child protection and in accordance with its own national identity,” Varga said.

SGN

17

MEET GENO & TONY ROSSO THEY'D LIKE TO BURY SOME THINGS IN YOUR YARD. Geno and Tony are third generation in the family business.

And a dirty business it is, stocking a full 1.5 acres with gorgeous garden plants here at their E. Marginal Way South location. You’ll love the way these plants make your garden look. And there’s never a better time to visit Rosso’s than during a rare sale like this one. So stop in.

Just off 1-5, west of exit 158.

CALL US FOR YOUR LANDSCAPING NEEDS BRING THIS COUPON & MENTION SGN FOR

WHOLESALE PRICING!

PURCHASES 30% OFF ALL OVER $50

Exclusions apply, ask for details. With coupon, 1 coupon per customer.

No duplicates accepted. Cannot be combined with other offers. Expires 7/5/2022

ROSSO NURSERY & GARDEN

1525 E. Marginal Way So. · Tukwila, WA Mon-Fri 8am-5pm · Sat-Sun 10am-5pm rossogardens@gmail.com rossogardens.com · (206) 763-1888

Episode 29: Jack Hilovsky Lindsey and Ash talk summer fun, animal facts, labor rights, and wild nuns in this week's episode!

Our special guest is Jack Hilovsky, local writer and author of the new book RJ, Farrah, and Me on shelves now. Check out his blog at www. jackhilovsky.blogspot.com/

Episode 28: Rachel Silberman Happy (?) 4th of July! Lindsey & Ash talk about Pride, 4th of July memories, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Our special guest this week is Rachel Silberman of Luxjoy & Comfort!

Check out her stuff at www.luxjoyandcomfort.com

BI-WEEKLY! FIND US WHEREVER YOU LISTEN TO PODCASTS!

18

SGN

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

C E L E B R AT I N G 4 8 Y E A R S!

VISIT US ONLINE SGN.ORG

J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 2 2

SGN

19