SGN July 13, 2012 - Section 1

Issue 28 Volume 40

Celebrating 39 Years!

FRIDAY July 13, 2012 FREE! 25¢ in bookstores & newsstands

R-74 UPDATE p. 5

LESBIAN PAC p. 7

FRANK OCEAN p. 25

Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

NCLR launches historic ‘Familia es Familia’ campaign Local Latino filmmaker calls on straight allies to ‘come out’ for equality

The great social justice movements throughout history change the way we live. The group of people who “have” must now share with the group who previously “had not.” The spark that ignites from social injustice explodes into a movement, years pass as grassroots activism helps advance politicians sympathetic to the cause, and, with just the right amount of pressure and finesse, society is

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

changed forever.

The quest for social justice, including the civil rights and immigrants’ rights movement – and the modern LGBT equal rights movement – could be likened to the domino effect.

The domino effect is a chain reaction that occurs when a small change causes a similar change nearby, which then causes another change, and so on in linear sequence. The key to a success-

“Today, this city joins a number of other cities, counties, and employers in filing an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit challenging DOMA,” Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes announced at a July 10 press conference on the steps of City Hall.

The city of Seattle decided to intervene in Golinski v. OPM, now before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, because “DOMA is bad law,” Holmes added.

“We are required by federal law to tax employees in same-sex relationships for the value of the health insurance we provide, while opposite-sex couples do not pay tax on those benefits,” Holmes said, explaining the burden that the Defense of Marriage Act imposes on city employees.

“The city also has to pay payroll taxes on those benefits. DOMA

see NCLR page 20

see DOMA page 20

Biden and Cantwell rally local Democrats

CLAPPSTAR

by Dru Dinero Special to the SGN

City of Seattle files brief against DOMA

Seattle City Hall

New Pride Foundation initiative: ‘Why Marriage Matters Washington’

Candidates at all levels express support for LGBT issues AP PHOTO

by James Whitely SGN Staff Writer Hundreds of Democrats gathered July 9 in the Grand Ballroom of downtown Seattle’s Westin Hotel for a campaign rally and fundraiser for Sen. Maria Cantwell’s (D-Wash.) re-election. The event featured Vice President Joe Biden as keynote speaker.

Supporters of all ages were motivated and excited as candidates and other officials gave speeches about Cantwell and issues central to the party. LGBT issues were mentioned by every speaker.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee was on hand, saying of Cantwell, “I have seen a leader of vision and strength.”

Cantwell and Vice President Biden took the stage to a long, standing ovation, as attendees cheered and raised the senator’s campaign signs high above their heads.

“When Jay Inslee is your governor, he will always have your

Vice President Joe Biden

see BIDEN page 19

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor The Pride Foundation announced this week it is spearheading Why Marriage Matters Washington, a public education campaign about why marriage matters to the LGBT community.

Kris Hermanns, the Pride Foundation’s executive director, told SGN that Why Marriage Matters Washington is the “hearts and minds” work of the statewide campaign to Approve Referendum 74 in November.

It is important to note that Wash-

proud to Be Different

We are conveniently located on-site at Lifelong AIDS Alliance below the Thrift Store.

ington United for Marriage and Why Marriage Matters Washington are not the same campaign.

Instead they run parallel to one another, while working toward the same goal.

Hermanns says the goal is to help spread the word about the importance and positive impact of the universal freedom to marry here in Washington. “In collaboration with local, regional, and national partners, Pride Foundation’s comprehensive statewide public education project will focus on see FOUNDATION page 19

Call us at 206.568.2486

2

Seattle Gay News

July 13, 2012

Celebrating 39 Years!

In honor of winning the White House Champions of Change video contest Seattle Gay News would like to congratulate

Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

r e t r a C r e h t a He or m Coordinat

rogra P d u o L T U O

Dru Dinero Filmmaker

To view the video visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSV-UZJ1szA For more information on Champions of Change visit www.whitehouse.gov/champions

 Broadway 

Farmers Market Visit us online www.sgn.org

Broadway & E. Pine at Seattle Central Community College Sundays, 11am - 3pm, April 22 - Dec 23.

July 13, 2012

Seattle Gay News

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Seattle Gay News FOUNDED 1973

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Rev. Barbara Allen, Eric Andrews-Katz, Madelyn Arnold, Maggie Bloodstone, Beau Burriola, Jessica Davis, Ron Anders, Jessica Price, Milton W. Hamlin, Scott Wittet, Nevin Jefferson, Jason A. Miller, Liz Meyer, Rod Parke, Don Paulson, Scott Rice, Leslie Robinson, Richard Kennedy, Rex Wockner

Classifieds Mike Andrew and Rick McKinnon Photographers

Nate Gowdy, Joseph P. Herron, Shaun Knittel, James Whitely National Advertising Rep. Rivendell Media (212) 242-6863 Website Designer Barry Thorsness/Digital Team Works Seattle Gay News is published weekly by Frogs and Ink, Inc. © 2012, Frogs and Ink, Inc., all rights reserved. Reprints by permission.

Publication of names, photographs or likenesses 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.

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It is our policy that no money shall be refunded if you choose to cancel your subscription or ad. However, credit towards any size ad 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

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Seattle Gay News

Health care ‘socialism’ – worse than Gay marriage?

by Stephen J. Fallon, Ph.D. Special to the SGN Last week, when the Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), I found myself in the perfect laboratory of national opinion – Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. As CNN announced the breaking news, passengers waiting for flights started speaking out: “There goes the middle class,” groused a guy behind me.

“Now we know what we need to do – get that guy (President Obama) out of office,” snorted a woman sitting with her elderly mother.

“This is why our forefathers left England. It’s socialism!” insisted a history-challenged senior.

Right now, more Americans have accepted Gay marriage than the ACA. What’s behind this virulent hatred of national health care?

Ignorance.

Now, I’m not saying that there aren’t legitimate concerns about the ACA in its current form. We can have a good debate about the details of its roll-out. But first let’s put some oftheard arguments to rest.

“THE U.S. HAS THE BEST HEALTH CARE IN THE WORLD.” Not if you agree that health care should prevent untimely death. The U.S. is in eighth-to-last place in the industrialized world when it comes to life expectancy.

The only relatively developed nations we outlive are the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Mexico, Poland, Slovakia, and Turkey. We rank dead last among highly industrialized nations. Not exactly what you would expect for the country with the “best” health care.

“WE JUST CAN’T AFFORD UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE.” We’re already paying for universal health care – we’re just not getting its benefits.

The U.S. pays two-and-one-half times per person more for health care than the average for all other industrialized nations. Preexisting condition exclusions block many Americans from getting health insurance, and high premiums block others. So, many

July 13, 2012

of the 50 million uninsured Americans use the emergency room as their primary health care provider.

The average emergency room visit costs $1,318, or $1,565 for patients over age 45.

Worse, by the time uninsured people get to the ER, their conditions are often much

more costly to treat. For example, we spend more than any country in the world on hospital admissions for preventable diabetes.

When patients can’t pay, you and I are already picking up the tab through increased insurance premiums, and increased taxes as hospitals write off their losses.

“WELL, WE DON’T WANT TO BE LIKE CANADA, WITH ITS RATIONED HEALTH CARE, OR SOCIALIST LIKE FRANCE!” Agreed – we’re an innovative capitalist country. But since we’re paying more and getting less for our health care dollar, just saying no to “socialist Obamacare” isn’t good enough. Let’s borrow a better business model from one of the industrialized nations that has a successful health care system but stops short of universal coverage. Can you

think of one? If you can, you must have gone back in time, because ever since Israel adopted its system in 1995, we’re the only nation in the industrialized world that does not have universal health care.

That’s right, it’s not just Canada and France that have universal health care, but also Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brunei, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. And they all pay less per person and live longer on average than we do.

Not a single American I’ve spoken to who is opposed to the ACA knew this most basic fact. Too often, they’re getting their news from the same sort of polarizing instigators who also warn about the evil “homosexual agenda.”

The truth is, we can’t afford not to have universal health care. Among those employed, medical expenses are the number-one cause of household bankruptcies in the United States. You can sock away savings all your life, but when genetics, age, bad habits, or just plain bad luck brings a major medical issue to your home, all your financial reserves can vaporize in an instant.

So go ahead and call universal health care “socialism.” I believe government has two core functions: defend the nation’s people against enemy attack, and defend citizens from unnecessary death. No town buys its own tanks or jet fighters, and very few households can save up enough for a medical catastrophe.

This is why societies have governments in the first place, not just socialist governments.

Take it from Mitt Romney, who supported an individual mandate to establish universal health care in 2006, “Folks, if you can afford health care, then, gosh, you’d better go get it. Otherwise you’re just passing on your expenses to someone else. That’s not Republican, that’s not Democratic, that’s not Libertarian. That’s just wrong.”

Sticking stubbornly to our broken, privatized model is just wrong.

Stephen Fallon is president of Skills4, a health care consulting firm that provides services to CDC- and HRSA-funded providers, primarily Gay- or minority-based agencies and clinics. Find out more at www. skills4.org.

Celebrating 39 Years!

FILE PHOTO

Marriage equality supporters raise $952k in June Campaign seeks 1,000 people to raise $1,000 each

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Washington United for Marriage, the campaign working to Approve Referendum 74 in November, raised more than $950,000 in June.

On Monday, Zach Silk, Washington United for Marriage campaign manager, told supporters, “We’ve hit some huge numbers this past month, and I’m so grateful that you’ve been fighting this battle with us.”

Silk reported that supporters made 4,744 contributions and raised $952,267 for the campaign to defend marriage equality and Approve Referendum 74. Seventy-nine percent of those contributions were in amounts less than $100. Ninety percent of the June donations came from Washingtonians.

“I can’t tell you how important – and gratifying – it is to see so many people invest early in our campaign to defend the freedom to marry,” Silk said in a July 9 e-mail message to donors.

As of Monday, Washington United for Marriage, according to its most recent filing with the Public Disclosure Commission, has raised more than $2 million.

Preserve Marriage Washington, the group

opposing the same-sex marriage law, has raised about $135,000.

Still, Lennon Bronsema, finance director for Washington United for Marriage, warned that the money race will heat up significantly in the coming months.

“Never in the history of the United States has marriage equality won at the ballot box.

Not once,” Bronsema told supporters. “Our opponents know this too, and they are determined to do whatever it takes to stand in the way of change. We will not win this campaign without doing more than we’ve ever done before to defend marriage equality.”

Washington United for Marriage has launched a fundraising drive called Raising Millions for Marriage. They need 1,000 people to raise $1,000 each from friends and neighbors, to equal $1 million.

“If it were up to just one person, it would be tough, but with 1,000 people working together, we know we can reach our goal,” said Bronsema.

“This race will be close, and our opponents will have access to virtually unlimited funds from the radical right,” he said.

Bronsema brings up an important point.

Some members of the community have looked at the small amount of money raised

Approve R-74 campaign center up and running ‘Grand opening’ of Capitol Hill office scheduled for July 19

JAMES WHITELY

gie Thompson, the campaign’s regional field director for West King County.

The center has been conducting phone banks since the beginning of this week.

“It’s been really successful,” Thompson told SGN. “People have been committing to come next week.”

The campaign opened the center on July 3 in the new space of Gay City Health Project and Kaladi Brothers Coffee. The idea was that an office in a centralized location – particularly Capitol Hill, Seattle’s Gayborhood – would give the campaign high visibility in an area that’s very dense with its supporter base.

Approve R-74 Action Center “We’re excited to get a storefront

by James Whitely right in the heart of Seattle,” said Zach Silk, SGN Staff Writer Washington United for Marriage campaign manager, about the opening. “People have As Washington United for Marriage’s been clamoring for us to be on Capitol Hill Capitol Hill Action Center gears up for its where voters can get the facts, volunteers July 19 grand opening, the soft opening of can get to work, and those looking to wear the center has gone well, according to Mag- their support of marriage for every loving

Washington United For Marriage campaign manager Zach Silk

by the opponents of marriage equality as a sign that their campaign is in trouble. The reality of the situation is that we are the ones who stand to lose something in this fight.

Their campaign was to put Referendum 74 on the ballot – which they did. Now they only have to keep up the mantra of “One man and one woman,” and that certainly doesn’t cost a lot to do. When they need money they will simply go to their donors.

It would be a mistake, at this point in the

game, to think we’ve already won.

And here is something else to keep in mind: the vote to Approve Referendum 74 is less than four months away. That does not leave much time to fundraise. This is why you’ve heard Silk say over and over again, “Early money matters.”

To make a donation, or to sign up to be one of the 1,000-at-$1,000 folks, visit Washington United for Marriage online at www.washingtonunitedformarriage.org.

couple can buy a T-shirt or get a bumper sticker.”

Thompson said that the office has been getting heavy foot traffic, something they were hoping for, from passers-by as well as Kaladi patrons and people coming over from Gay City.

The center also serves as a phone-banking location for the campaign. UFCW 21 houses most local phone volunteers in SoDo, but the new center enables those on the Hill to stay on the Hill.

“For people who live and work in this area, it’s difficult to get to our SoDo phone banks by 5:30,” Thompson told SGN. “We’re hoping that [it’s] really going to get volunteers coming.”

On a typical night at the center, volunteers arrive by 5:30 p.m. and take part in some quick training. They then make calls, take a short break for refreshments, and then make a few more calls. At the end of the night, everyone gets together to reflect and talk about the conversations they’ve had, sharing both the positive and negative.

Thompson said that even when people get off the phone unconvinced, those conversations are still important.

“People [often] respond with ‘I’ll think about it,’” Thompson told SGN. “We’ve really planted a seed.”

After the first week of phone-banking, Thompson has noticed that people are leav-

ing emboldened and motivated, especially people who’ve never phone-banked before.

One common reservation new volunteers have is not knowing whom they might end up dealing with over the phone. According to Thompson, volunteers at the Capitol Hill center will be talking with neighbors. Volunteers in Spokane call Spokane residents; volunteers in East King County call East King County, and so on.

“We actually have community members talking to their neighbors about marriage equality,” Thompson told SGN. The Capitol Hill Action Center is located at 517 E. Pike St., alongside Gay City Health Project and Kaladi Brothers Coffee.

Phone Banks run Monday through Thursday from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Volunteers are still needed, and all are encouraged to sign up or just drop in.

The grand opening will take place on Thursday, July 19, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Representatives from the campaign will give an update and refreshments will be served. There is a suggested donation of $25 to attend. The center also plans to hold an open house during the Capitol Hill Block Party.

“If [people] care about marriage equality, this is the best thing they can do,” said Thompson. “We have so many volunteers who are doing this for their children or their partners, or for themselves.”

Correction

Due to an editing error, last week’s story on the Swedish man acquitted in the rape of a Transgender woman (p. 6) contained incorrect information about Swedish law pertaining to gender identity. The second-to-last paragraph should read: “Swedes can legally change their gender if they are citizens, 18 or older, and have been sterilized. They must also be either unmarried or divorced, and must have lived at least two years with the gender identity they wish to adopt.”

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Go 1605 12th Avenue at Pine, Seattle (In liquor store parking garage.) Seattle Storm!

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July 13, 2012

Seattle Gay News

5

JAIME E. CONNOLLY

Barney Frank ties the knot with partner of five years

by James Whitely SGN Staff Writer

Representative Barney Frank (l) and Jim Ready at their wedding reception on July 7.

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Millionaire technology mogul David Bohnett has donated $800,000 to the Victory Fund, the group announced July 10.

The donation will help the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Institute continue to train Gay and Lesbian public officials.

Institute CEO Chuck Wolfe said Bohnett’s money “will help us expand and deepen the Bohnett Leadership Fellows program, and that will pay huge dividends as these leaders go on to brilliant careers in public service.”

“So much is at stake for the next wave of LGBT leaders, and the Leadership Fellows program reflects this pivotal period,” Bohnett said in a statement released by the Victory Fund.

“It empowers LGBT leaders who are making a difference in the world – it hones their skills and furthers their leadership po-

6

Seattle Gay News

COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF MICHGAN

Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund gets $800k donation

On Saturday, July 7, longtime U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) married his partner, Jim Ready, in Newton, Massachusetts.

Frank, the first openly Gay congressman, is now also the first sitting congressman to enter a same-sex marriage.

“Barney was beaming,” said Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who attended the wedding, adding that Frank shed a tear during the short ceremony.

The gathering, whose guests also included former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), and Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.), was a lighthearted, private affair that sealed the deal on a true, feel-good love story.

Frank, 72, met Ready, 42, at a fundraiser in 2007 through a mutual friend.

“I told him I had had a crush on him for 20 years,” Ready told The New York Times, recalling the impact of Frank’s coming-out when he was a teenager.

Friends and colleagues say the relationship has given Frank a new outlook on life.

According to the Times, one House Republican said after seeing Ready in the hallway, “I should’ve known you were here. Barney was nice to me today.”

Frank came out of the closet in 1987 after a “call-boy” scandal, becoming the first congressman to do so. He was investigated by the House Ethics Committee and recommended for expulsion by then-Rep. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) – who, ironically, was later arrested for soliciting Gay sex in an airport bathroom. Frank was reprimanded but not removed, and won reelection in 1988 with

66% of the vote.

Years later, Frank said on The Bill Press Show that coming out as Gay and doing his part to “diminish that prejudice” was one of his proudest accomplishments as a public official.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick officiated at the ceremony, asking Frank and Ready to vow to love each other “under the Democrats or the Republicans, whether the slopes are powdery or icy, whether the book reviews are good or bad, for better or for worse, on MSNBC or on Fox.” “It was no different than any other wedding I’ve attended when you have two people who are in love with each other,” said Rep. Green.

Frank said that a couple of Republicans have congratulated him in private, and “there have been no negative comments …

I think a few years ago, there would have been.

“The climate is changing and opponents have realized that the country is moving beyond them.”

Frank was first elected to Congress in 1980. He is not seeking re-election this year.

In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the country where same-sex couples could legally marry. According to MassEquality, an LGBT advocacy group, more than 18,000 same-sex couples have wed in the state.

“I did want to get married while I was still in office,” said Frank. “I think it’s important that my colleagues interact with a married Gay man.”

Ready works as a carpenter, painter, and welder.

tential.”

The Victory Fund program named for Bohnett is an intensive three-week course at the John F. Kennedy School of Government (aka Harvard Kennedy School) designed for senior-level executives working with state and local governments – including appointed officials, nonprofit leaders, and elected officeholders.

Graduates of the program include some of the country’s top LGBT political leaders, including Houston Mayor Annise Parker, New York State Sen. Tom Duane, Dallas Sheriff Lupe Valdez, and San Francisco Treasurer Jose Cisneros.

“It is a unique, fantastic opportunity that the Bohnett Foundation is offering folks,” Cisneros told NPR. “To be able to be as successful as we can possible be, even makes each of us, individually, more successful and makes our community more successful.”

Among the 2011 graduates are four state legislators, three directors of nonprofit agencies, two city council members, a fire chief, an airport manager, and a civil rights attorney.

Bohnett is also a major donor to President Obama’s reelection campaign.

“People who may have sat on the sidelines are now coming out in full force as a result of the president’s and the administration’s support for marriage equality,” Bohnett told NPR reporter Ari Shapiro. “There’s no question about that.”

Bohnett was one of the founders of GeoCDavid Bohnett ities, a media and e-marketing company subsequently bought by Yahoo. He has also Bills, and PlanetOut. York with his partner, radio personality and been involved with NetZero, LowerMyHe currently lives in California and New Huffington Post blogger Tom Gregory.

July 13, 2012

Celebrating 39 Years!

COURTESY CALIFORNIA MUSEUM

Lesbian activists form ‘Super PAC’ New political action committee aims to raise $1M

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer LPAC, a new Lesbian “super PAC” announced on July 11, promises to raise $1 million to support equal rights for LGBT families, and sexual and reproductive rights for all women.

The new political action committee has already attracted several celebrity donors, including Glee co-star Jane Lynch and former tennis champion and equal rights activist Billie Jean King.

“This year we have seen politicians repeatedly support policies that harm women,” Lynch said in a statement. “It is important to me to elect leaders who care about issues that impact women and their families.

That’s why I support LPAC.” King said that forming LPAC would give Lesbians a powerful and highly visible political voice to be reckoned with.

“The formation of LPAC provides Lesbians and the entire LGBT community a new, stronger voice and a real and respected seat at the table when politicians make policy that impacts our lives,” she said.

Another major donor is Laura Ricketts, co-owner of the Chicago Cubs and also a leading donor to the Obama campaign.

“I support LPAC because courageous elected officials who support women’s rights, fairness, and equality for all of us deserve our unconditional support,” Ricketts said in the LPAC statement.

Ironically, her father, Joe Ricketts, bank-

rolls the right-wing Ending Spending Action Fund. He recently became notorious for a proposed $10 million ad campaign targeting President Obama’s association with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

LPAC is the first of its kind, said its chair and treasurer Sarah Schmidt. While other groups – EMILY’s List, HRC, and the Victory Fund, for example – work on women’s and LGBT issues, no other Lesbian-led PACs or super PACs exist.

Schmidt also noted that, unlike other PACs funded by the Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson, or Foster Friess, LPAC is not the creation of one or two super-rich individuals.

“If you look at the list of women who are engaged and the donors who have given, we’re all people of resources, obviously … but we’re also pretty normal,” she said.

“This isn’t a PAC started by one person with millions and millions of dollars.”

Schmidt said LPAC also differs from other PACs in deliberately not focusing on this year’s presidential race. The group will contribute only to down-ballot candidates, she said. LPAC will continue “aggressive” fundraising as it determines which candidates to back in the fall.

“We’ll be working really hard all summer and into fall, but our biggest goal is to be Billie Jean King fundraising and then working to build a netThe LPAC project began in the fall of ing with friends and networking with othwork among the women who get involved,” she said. “Our long-term vision is that this 2011, when Schmidt and several other ers in the Lesbian and LGBT community, PAC exists beyond the 2012 [election] cy- women met in New York to discuss the vi- Schmidt said, it was clear that there is a ability of a Lesbian super PAC. After talk- space for such a group. cle.”

Asteroid named in honor of Gay rights pioneer COURTESY GLAAD

being arrested by District of Columbia police in Lafayette Park, a traditional cruising area. In 1958 he was barred from future federal employment.

Kameny sued unsuccessfully to regain his job, taking his case as far as the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied his petition for a hearing. He also began a very public campaign for Gay rights, which occupied the rest of his long life. He died on October 11, 2011, at age 86.

Kameny co-founded the Mattachine Society in 1961, picketed the White House in 1965, and coined the slogan “Gay Is Good” – based on the Black Liberation slogan “Black Is Beautiful” – in 1968.

“His contributions included removing homosexuality from being termed a mental disorder in 1973 and shepherding passage of the District of Columbia marriage equality law in 2009,” the formal citation in the Minor Planet Circular says in part.

“I concluded he was a man I would have

admired,” Billings wrote to Kinne.

“Add that to the fact that I have many friends and acquaintances who are members of the LGBT community, and I felt it was something I wanted to do to honor Dr. Kameny – and my friends!”

Kinne, who knew Kameny personally, had been working to present him with a certificate of recognition from the American Astronomical Society and perhaps create and fund an award in his honor. Kameny also received an official apology from the Obama administration for his firing in 1958.

“He was an astronomer,” Kinne said.

“The culture of the time took that away from him, and now he’s getting it back. He would have liked that.”

Discoverers of asteroids have 10 years to suggest a name once their discovery is verified. The submission is subject to review by a 15-member international panel, and the names often acknowledge the honoree’s contributions to science or culture.

Frank Kameny

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer An amateur astronomer in Canada has named an asteroid he discovered after Gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny.

The Kameny asteroid, between Mars and Jupiter, was first spotted in 1999 using longexposure photography. It is visible from Earth using a telescope.

Until last year, the asteroid was known only as Minor Planet 40463, but when its discoverer, Gary Billings, read Kameny’s obituary, he decided it should be renamed to honor him.

Billings then wrote to Richard “Doc” Kinne, an astronomical technologist at the American Association of Variable Star Observers in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“I have a few asteroids I discovered that I haven’t named yet,” Billings said. “What do you say we name one after Frank?”

“I was utterly floored,” Kinne said. “To me, this is a big deal.”

Billings told Kinne he was moved by Kameny’s story.

Trained as an astronomer, Kameny was hired by the U.S. Army Map Service in 1957, but was fired a short time later after

Come meet Tim and Matt and join the family.

Go 1605 12th Avenue at Pine, Seattle (In liquor store parking garage.) Seattle Storm!

206-838-6027 or 206-898-4306

Visit us online www.sgn.org

July 13, 2012

Seattle Gay News

7

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Maine voters support marriage equality by 57% to 35%, according to a Portland Press Herald poll released July 11.

If accurate, the 22-point margin is a stunning reversal in public opinion since the November 2009 election, when voters repealed the state’s new marriage equality law by 53% to 47%.

The new numbers are in line with previous polling. A poll released in April by the Maine People’s Resource Center showed 57.5% strongly or somewhat in favor of marriage equality and 39.7% strongly or somewhat opposed.

A March poll by Public Policy Polling found that 54% of Maine voters favor marriage equality, while 41% said same-sex marriage should remain illegal.

James Melcher, associate professor of political science at the University of Maine sounded a note of caution when interviewed about the polling by Maine Today.

Voters may not always be honest when asked how they feel about Gay rights, Melcher warned. They also tend to be more supportive of change several months before an election than when they actually vote, he added.

Other polling also suggests that introducing options other than “marriage” to describe Gay and Lesbian relationships complicates the response.

A national CBS News/New York Times

AP PHOTO

Marriage equality has big advantage in new Maine poll

poll in February said that just 40% of Americans named marriage as their preferred option. Twenty-three percent favored civil unions and 31% said they support neither type of legal recognition.

Maine voters choose the “marriage” option more often than most Americans. Fifty percent of the Maine voters who were polled chose marriage. Twenty-eight percent chose civil unions and 17% said neither.

The bulk of Republicans – 44% – chose civil unions as an alternative to marriage.

In the latest poll, party affiliation was the single best indicator of support for equal marriage rights. Democrats support samesex marriage by a margin to 77% to 16%.

In contrast, 64% of Republicans oppose marriage equality and only 30% support it.

“Unenrolled” voters – those who have not specified a party affiliation – support equality 63% to 31%.

Maine women showed more support for equality than men, but both sexes favor same-sex marriage by significant margins.

Women said they would vote for marriage equality by a margin of 60% to 32%, and men by 54% to 40%.

As other polls have shown, younger voters are more likely to support marriage equality.

Among 18-to-34-year-olds, 67% support same-sex marriage and only 27% oppose it.

Supporters of same-sex marriage on the steps of City Hall, in Portland, Maine Voters aged 55 to 64 also support equality by a significant margin, 61% to 35%. OpinBetter-educated voters also tend to favor voters favor same-sex marriage and 30% ion is evenly split among voters over 65, marriage equality more than less-educated oppose it, while voters without college are with 44% in favor and 43% opposed. ones. Sixty-two percent of college-educated split, 49% for and 46% against.

Marriage officially on the ballot in Maryland

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Maryland Board of Elections certified a petition on July 10 that will put the state’s new marriage equality law up for a vote in November.

The Maryland Marriage Alliance – a coalition of anti-Gay and religious groups – submitted 162,224 signatures, reportedly the highest number turned in for any referendum. The Board of Elections stopped verifying signatures after approving 109,313 of them.

“We’ve determined that the petitions satisfied the legal requirements,” said Donna Duncan, director of the elections management section of the state Board of Elections.

Marylanders for Marriage Equality, a group defending the new law, would not say whether it will challenge the certification in court.

“We’re not taking any options off the table,” said Marriage Equality spokesperson Kevin Nix.

The group has always assumed that opponents would be able to get the question on the November ballot, Nix said, and is ready for the election campaign.

“Our base is fired up, momentum is with us,” he told The Baltimore Sun. Anti-equality forces also said they were ready for the campaign.

“We’re excited, we’re on the ballot,” said Derek McCoy, executive director of the Maryland Marriage Alliance. “We’re glad that we were able to have a loud say.”

Polling shows most Maryland voters plan to uphold the state’s marriage equality law.

A PPP poll released May 24 found that 57% of likely voters said they would vote to keep the law, compared to only 37% who would reject it.

African Americans make up about a third of the state’s registered voters. Recent polling suggests that support for equality from President Obama and the NAACP is shifting public opinion in the black community.

The May PPP poll shows that AfricanAmerican voters now support marriage

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equality by a 19-point margin, a shift of 29 points since the last poll of Maryland voters.

In past polls, some 56% of African Americans said they would vote against the new law, with only 39% supporting it. The May poll showed that those numbers have now almost completely flipped, with 55% of African Americans planning to vote for the law and only 36% opposed.

An ABC/Washington Post poll also re-

leased in May found 59% of African Americans across the country supporting marriage equality.

Marylanders for Marriage Equality released a new Web-only ad on July 10 featuring mostly African Americans explaining why they support same-sex marriage.

NAACP chair Julian Bond also issued a statement July 10 supporting same-sex marriage, saying that Marylanders will be “casting a vote on the law – not on their faith.”

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New marriage equality campaign aims to attract young conservatives

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor On July 10, Freedom to Marry, a broadbased coalition advocating marriage equality, launched Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry, a new campaign to highlight and build support for the freedom to marry among young people across the country who identify as conservative.

The new group was announced at a kickoff event in Washington, D.C. “Freedom and family are core conservative values,” said conservative commentator, political strategist, and media personality Margaret Hoover, a member of the Young Conservatives’ leadership committee. “We have a historic opportunity to reaffirm these important values by supporting the fundamental freedom to marry for all Americans.

Now is the time for a rising generation of voters and leaders to embrace these virtues and join Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry.”

Young Conservatives is part of Freedom to Marry’s campaign to demonstrate broad and growing support for marriage equality across the ideological spectrum. Members of the group will make the case that the freedom to marry should not be a partisan question, and that supporting the freedom to marry fulfills basic conservative values of responsibility and community as well as limited government and individual freedom.

Members of Young Conservatives will work to encourage more conservatives to stand up, speak out, and support marriage equality by joining and adding new perspectives and experiences to the national conversation about marriage. They will work to repeal state laws that bar same-sex couples from marriage as well as the federal Defense of Marriage Act. “As Republicans we believe in limited government and we believe that the best

way for the federal government to spur growth and jobs is to get out of the way and let small and medium businesses thrive,” said Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who is speaking at the launch event and is a Republican co-sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act. “We also believe in equality of opportunity rather than of outcome. Most importantly, we believe that the individual and the family are the central engines in our society. The right of individuals to lead their lives without government intrusion is a bedrock conservative principle, and it is much more than just about sexual orientation. It is about the fundamental rights we all share as Americans – it is about equality for all with no exceptions.”

“The center of political gravity has shifted for good,” said Marc Solomon, national campaign director of Freedom to Marry.

“The freedom to marry is fast becoming a bipartisan value embraced by all Americans who believe that love and commitment deserve support and protection. Freedom to law. A recent memo by Republican pollster Marry applauds this group of young conser- Jan van Lohuizen highlights that “opinion is shifting across the board, including among vatives for standing up to make the case.”

Support for the freedom to marry has Republicans.”

The kickoff event featured members of been accelerating at historically dramatic rates and has grown in every group, includ- the Young Conservatives for the Freedom ing right-of-center voters. A March poll by to Marry leadership committee discussing NBC and The Wall Street Journal found their support for the freedom to marry.

“As a conservative, I find efforts to exthat among Republicans, support for the freedom to marry has grown by 41%, and clude same-sex couples from marriage to be among moderates by 40%, since 2009. A both wrong and completely off-task,” said May poll by ABC News and The Washing- Craig Stowell, an Operation Iraqi Freedom ton Post showed that 46% of self-identified Marine Corps veteran and a member of the Republicans aged 18-44 are in favor of Young Conservatives for the Freedom to the freedom to marry. In March, the over- Marry leadership committee. “I take freewhelmingly Republican-controlled New dom seriously and want my best friend and Hampshire House voted down repeal of brother, who is Gay, to have the same freethe state’s popular marriage equality law, dom as everyone else to marry the person he with a majority of the GOP voting against loves. I hope Young Conservatives for the repeal. Last year, the GOP-led state Senate Freedom to Marry will inspire other conserin New York advanced a freedom-to-marry vatives to do what is right and support lovCOURTESY JCPENNEY

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ing and committed same-sex couples’ freedom to marry.”

“The more we think about and talk about this with other conservatives, the more we can understand why the denial of marriage to same-sex couples is wrong,” added Torrey Shearer, a government relations professional in Washington, D.C., and a member of the Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry leadership committee. “Marriage strengthens families, encourages shared responsibility, and promotes stability in our communities. There is really significant change taking place among conservatives – especially young conservatives – about the freedom to marry, and I hope my involvement in this campaign will accelerate our progress.”

For more information on the group, visit www.freedomtomarry.org/pages/youngconservatives-for-the-freedom-to-marry.

Pink marketing just got its biggest endorsement yet: The Wall Street Journal says we are entering a new age of “Gay consumerism.”

In an article published July 9, entitled “More Retailers Are Courting Gay Customers,” the Journal’s Karen Talley writes: “Many retailers are turning their attention to Gays and Lesbians, a group that wields substantial buying power but isn’t fully integrated into mainstream advertising. Similar to other moves to attract different minority groups, the push comes with risks, as it could threaten the retailers’ relationships with some of their longtime shoppers.

“Nonetheless, from J.C. Penney Co.’s high-profile hiring of openly Gay Ellen DeGeneres as its spokeswoman, to Target Corp. selling same-sex greeting cards, retailers are trying ways to cozy up to a community that by one estimate is as much as 16 million strong and has almost double the disposable income of the average American

July 13, 2012

– some $49,000 per capita, compared with the $26,000 average.”

One Million Moms, an anti-Gay group, refused to comment on the story, but Kate Coultas, a spokesperson for J.C. Penney, did tell the WSJ that the retailer is “committed to being a store for all Americans. Our marketing reflects the diversity of today’s families.”

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Episcopalians OK ‘blessing’ of same-sex unions Church approves new liturgy priests can use for Gay couples

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. has approved a “blessing” service for same-sex unions.

Church bishops approved the new service July 10 at the denomination’s annual convention, held in Indianapolis, by a vote of 111 to 41, with three abstentions. Lay delegates approved it later the same day.

Nearly 40 people testified on the proposed resolution during a committee hearing on July 7 and supporters outnumbered opponents, according to the Episcopal News Service, the church’s officially sponsored news source.

Before the final vote, the resolution was amended by the committee to specify that “no bishop, priest, deacon, or lay person should be coerced or penalized in any manner, nor suffer any canonical disabilities, as a result of his or her conscientious objection to or support for the 77th General Convention’s action with regard to the Blessing of Same-Sex Relationships.”

The policy also allows local bishops to decide whether to allow the service in their dioceses.

The service is not considered a marriage ceremony, media affairs representative Nancy Davidge said.

“We have authorized a blessing, and a blessing is different than a marriage,” she said. “A blessing is a theological response to a monogamous, committed relationship.”

Marriage requires the additional involvement of civil authorities, she added, and many states do not allow same-sex couples to marry.

In the proposed rite, each person would make a vow to the other, exchange rings, and be declared “bound to one another in a holy covenant, as long as they both shall live.”

Episcopal policy calls for a three-year trial run of the blessing service, which is called “The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant.”

It will be accompanied by a review process leading up to the church’s next annual convention in Salt Lake City. Church leaders will then decide whether to make the policy permanent, spokesperson Neva Rae Fox told CNN. With the vote, the Episcopal Church becomes the largest U.S. denomination to officially sanction same-sex relationships.

The Episcopal Church has about 1.95 million members in the United States, down 16% over the last decade, according to the church.

The relationship of LGBT people to the church has been controversial for Episcopa-

Church rejects new language in narrow vote at annual meeting

strenuously to plans by the British government to legalize same-sex civil marriage.

The Episcopal bishops also voted on July 7 to include “gender identity and expression” in its “nondiscrimination canons,” meaning that transitioning to another gender cannot be used to exclude candidates for ordination to the ministry.

COURTESY MORE LIGHT PRESBYTERIANS

Presbyterians say no to marriage equality

lians. In 2003, the U.S. church split over the election of Gene Robinson, who is openly Gay and noncelibate, as bishop of New Hampshire. In 2009, the church approved a policy allowing Gays and Lesbians to be ordained as priests.

By contrast, the Church of England, the Episcopalians’ parent church, has objected

By a narrow margin, the Presbyterian Church’s largest denominational body has rejected an amendment to its church constitution that would have changed the church’s description of marriage from a “civil contract between a man and a woman” to a “covenant between two people.”

Several delegates wept openly after the 338-308 vote, taken July 6 after more than three hours of debate by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), meeting in Pittsburgh.

Michael Adee, executive director of the LGBT advocacy group More Light Presbyterians, called the outcome “a heartbreaking moment, a disappointing moment.”

“It’s a moment to grieve and it’s also a moment when we pick up and keep doing the work,” Adee said. “The conversation isn’t over.”

In what might be considered a ray of hope for pro-equality Presbyterians, the assembly later voted to conduct a two-year study on the theology of marriage.

LGBT advocates had been hopeful they could pass the marriage equality amendment because last year’s convention authorized ordination of noncelibate Gay and Lesbian clergy. Marriage has proven to be more controversial than ordination, however.

In 2010, the highest Presbyterian court found the Rev. Jane Spahr of San Francisco guilty of misconduct for officiating at samesex weddings when they were legal in California. According to the court’s ruling, cler-

gy are allowed to bless same-sex couples but not to perform same-sex weddings.

On July 11, the vice-moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly resigned in the wake of controversy over her recent decision to sign a marriage license for a samesex couple.

Throughout debate on the measure, Presbyterian clergy from states where same-sex marriage is legal said they have been inundated with requests to officiate at samesex weddings and were upset that they had to risk prosecution in church courts if they wished to preside at the ceremonies.

Opponents of the proposal said it would violate the word of God, further divide Presbyterians, and alienate the denomination from its many partner churches overseas.

If the assembly had approved the redefinition, it would have required ratification from a majority of the church’s 173 presbyteries, or regional districts – a process that can drag on for months.

The marriage vote came after another contentious discussion that split the assembly.

Late on July 5, Presbyterians rejected a plan to divest from three companies whose products are used by the Israeli government to maintain its occupation of Palestinian territory. The vote on that proposal was 333331, with 2 abstentions.

Instead, Presbyterians adopted a measure calling for investment that contributes to peace in the Middle East. Delegates also Michael Adee speaks at the More Light Presbyterians celebration dinner. approved a boycott of goods produced by settlements in the occupied territories, in- Church (U.S.A.) claims a membership ing members steadily over the past several cluding Ahava skin care products. of 2.3 million. Like most if not all “main- decades. Almost 93% of Presbyterians are On its official website, the Presbyterian line” Protestant churches, it has been los- white.

16 Seattle Gay News

July 13, 2012

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Celebrating 39 Years!

Guiding the Lesbian ‘rookie’

by Leslie Robinson SGN Contributing Writer I met Elizabeth about five years ago at a mostly Gay party. She was a graduate nursing student who looked every inch the straight girl. It took hours along with alcohol for her to confess that she was involved with a woman for the first time in her life.

Over the next few years, Elizabeth and I walked regularly around Green Lake, parsing her Lesbian adolescence. That adolescence is over, but we still walk the lake. Last night she told me about her cousin who’s now coming out and filling Elizabeth in on her every wobbly step. The rookie Lesbian has become the coach.

Elizabeth couldn’t have imagined herself being able to advise anyone on dykedom during our early strolls. At that time her new experiences were thrilling, confusing, terrifying, exasperating, and liberating.

All before lunch.

Having been only with men, Elizabeth found herself going through a second adolescence 15 years after her first. So we had a lot of ground to cover, ranging from the evolving reactions of her family to her yearning for her girlfriend in California to the hot guest lecturer in class.

We peered backward at the hints sprinkled throughout Elizabeth’s life that she might be Gay; the hints now looked like neon billboards. We dealt with her coming

out to roommates and nursing professors and strangers. Her naiveté flared when she had trouble believing that Lesbians with partners and kids could behave as wolfishly as any guy – and she scared herself when she realized she enjoyed the attention of one particular big bad wolf.

Although she developed crushes as easily as she flossed her teeth, she never acted on them. Her heart lay with Ann in San Diego. One sure way to get a rise out of Elizabeth was to mention that first Lesbian relationships rarely last. “I know!” she’d bark.

“I wish people would stop telling me that!”

Maintaining a long-distance relationship is difficult at any time, let alone when you’re in your Lesbian adolescence and anyone with a Sapphic sensibility looks lipsmackin’ good. It’s a testament to Elizabeth and Ann that they both avoided distractions and honed in on what was most important to them, namely each other.

I must note that Elizabeth found a vicarious way of getting her ya-yas out: setting me up. When she would begin our walk by announcing, “I found your wife today!” I knew I was headed for another misadventure in Lesbian dating. Back then she hadn’t grasped that pairing two Lesbians on the basis that they’re both breathing does not a sizzling Sapphic romance make.

Now Elizabeth’s cousin Claire, at age 40, is being bombarded by emotions and dis-

NORTHWEST

NEWS

compiled by Rick McKinnon SGN Staff Writer

NATE GOWDY AROUND TOWN Celebrated SGN photographer Nate Gowdy is displaying and selling his photographs around town at four locations this summer! His work can be seen at Poco Wine Room (1408 E. Pine St.) thru mid-July, at Adobe’s Fremont Campus (801 N. 34th St., near the Fremont Bridge) thru July, The Grill on Broadway (314 Broadway E.) thru August, and Frame Central (901 E. Pike St.) in the storefront window during June and the upstairs gallery in August. His work “Elderly Drag Queen” was recently selected to be published in the leading juried photography annual in North America. For inquiries regarding his event and wedding photo services, Nate can be reached at nate.gowdy@ gmail.com or 206-992-5857.

SEATTLE GAY & LESBIAN BOOK CLUB – MARS VERSUS MAPLE SCHOOL The Seattle Gay & Lesbian Book Club meets every Wednesday, from 6-7:15 p.m., at Seattle Area Support Groups Community Center (303 17th Ave. E. at E. Thomas St.).

July selection is Mars Versus Maple School, by Nick DiMartino, SGL Book Club facilitator. The advance printing of his new autobiographical novel about a pudgy eleven-year-old bookworm who doesn’t know what the word “homosexual” means as he grows up in Seattle, 1957, will be available for $9.00 exclusively at the University Book Store. Contact Nick to reserve your copy. Your feedback from the July discussions will be taken into consideration and may be incorporated into the final work, before it’s published in September.

All GLBTQ folks are welcome to participate in this free book club. For more information email nickdimartin@earthlink.net,

visit http://faculty.washington.edu/swittet/ SGLBookClub/ or contact SASG at 206322-2437; www.sasgcc.org. For discount on cost of books, email Nick.

coveries, which she shares with Elizabeth via the phone. The other evening Elizabeth delayed a dinner meeting so Claire, who’s just gotten involved, could read a note from her new love aloud – six times.

Elizabeth pulled from her shelves books she’d bought in her early days, and sent a sort of Lesbian care package to Claire. The stories of first Lesbian loves particularly resonate with this family member who’s gleefully gathering material for her own story.

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PRIDE EVENTS

CALENDAR

SISTAH SINEMA – CELEBRATING AUDRE LORDE On Saturday, July 14, 8 p.m., at Chao Bistro (1200 E. Pike St.), Sistah Sinema presents “Audre Lorde: The Berlin Years, 1984 to 1992,” followed by a reading from TACOMA PRIDE FESTIVAL powerful poet, Imami Sims. Tickets: $10 From Friday, July 13, to Saturday, July advance; $15 at the door, if available. www. 21, celebrate nine whole days of Pride in Tasistahsinema.com. coma. The highlight is the annual Out in the Park event, Saturday, July 14, from noon BORDER RIDERS to 6 p.m. on Broadway (between 9th and MOTORCYCLE CLUB 11th) in the city’s historic downtown theater SUMMER CAMPING district.

The Border Riders Motorcycle Club is the Other events include three days of LGBT largest and one of the oldest Gay motorcycle films at the Grand Cinema and a staged clubs in North America. Founded in 1969, reading of Lanford Wilson’s Fifth of July BRMC currently has over 70 members pri- at the Broadway Center for the Performing marily from Washington, Oregon and Brit- Arts. www.tacomapride.org; www.rainish Columbia. The club provides social and bowcntr.org. educational opportunities for our members and guests interested in recreational moVANCOUVER (WA) PRIDE torcycle touring. Our diverse, international SATURDAY IN THE PARK membership is composed of both seasoned On Saturday, July 14, from 11 a.m.-5 riders and beginners, and we come from all p.m., Vancouver, WA hosts their 18th anwalks of life and professions. nual LGBT Pride event, “Saturday in the Border Riders hosts a short monthly Meet Park.” This year’s theme is “Gateway and Greet gathering on the Wednesday be- to Equality,” celebrating the passage of fore the third weekend of each month at Washington’s marriage equality law. This 7 p.m., at The Cuff Complex (1533 13th family-friendly event takes place at Esther Ave.). The next Meet and Greet will be held Short Park (610 Esther St.) downtown and on Wednesday, July 18. features music and cultural performances, From May through October, BRMC hosts community groups, games, and other acmonthly weekend camping trips – May 18- tivities for all ages. The day will begin with 21, June 15-17, July 20-22, August 24-26, “Lyle’s Miles,” a 5K run/walk fundraiser for September 21-23, and October 19-21. the Cascade AIDS Project. Details at www.

For more information, visit www.border- gayvancouverwa.org. riders.com.

Visit us online www.sgn.org

Elizabeth is elated that her cousin is so happy. But now that Elizabeth is the coach and not the rookie, she says to me, “I can’t believe how much crap you listened to!”

She didn’t want me to include those words here, fearing they could hurt Claire.

But I bet that soon enough Claire will get it, and say of her own Lesbian adolescence, “I was a mess. And it was wonderful.”

When she reaches that point, Claire will be in coaching shape. Then she, too, might Gay it forward.

July 13, 2012

BELLINGHAM PRIDE From Wednesday, July 11, to Sunday, July 15, B Proud hosts a series of Pride events in Bellingham, including film screenings, parties, dances, a drag show, and more. The parade begins at noon on Sunday, July 15, at noon at Bellingham High School (2020 Cornwall Ave.), ending at Depot Market Square (Railroad Ave. between E. Chestnut and E. Maple Sts.), followed by the Pride Festival at the Bellingham Farmers Market at Depot Market Square. www.bhampride. org.

KITSAP PRIDE IN BREMERTON On Sunday, July 22, Kitsap Pride holds their annual celebration at Evergreen Park (1400 Park Ave., Bremerton) beginning at noon. This year’s theme is “Pride Links Us Together.” www.kitsappride.org.

VANCOUVER (BC) PRIDE PARADE AND FESTIVAL On Sunday, August 5, the Vancouver Pride Society hosts Vancouver, BC’s annual Pride Parade and Festival. The Parade steps off on Robson St. at 11 a.m. and travels west to Denman St., follows Denman St. to Beach Ave., and continues on Beach Ave. to Sunset Beach for the Pride Festival which continues until 6 p.m. www.vancouverpride.ca.

Seattle Gay News 17

APA report calls for counseling guidelines for treating Transgender people

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Psychiatrists who see Transgender patients need specific guidelines to help determine the best course of treatment, according to a new report from the American Psychiatric Association.

The APA’s Task Force on Treatment of Gender Identity Disorder also calls for the group to clarify its position on the health care and civil rights of people who are Transgender or transitioning, meaning they are in the process of changing their gender through hormones and surgery.

The task force analyzed research and treatment information on gender identity disorder at different stages of people’s lives.

It also examined research on the treatment of gender dysphoria, or discomfort about one’s own gender, among people who had disorders of sex development, a condition in which the external genitals and the internal genitals (i.e., the testes or ovaries) don’t

match.

Although research on the treatment of gender identity disorder is limited, the task force concluded there was enough consensus to support the development of recommendations for the management of the condition in all age groups. The report said the APA should establish a separate method for evaluating the needs of people with sex development disorders.

“The American Medical Association has adopted a resolution supporting insurance coverage for medically necessary treatment for individuals diagnosed with gender identity disorder,” said task force chair Dr. William Byne in a news release. “The task force report recommends the American Psychiatric Association adopt a similar position, and issue other statements in support of the rights of gender variant persons.”

The APA introduced the diagnosis of gender identity disorder in 1980 but has never taken an official position on the treatment or other concerns of Transgender persons.

The report was published online July 2 in

JESSICA MILLER-POOLE

Kentucky couple charge anti-Gay discrimination in park exclusion

by James Whitely SGN Staff Writer A Lesbian couple who were ordered to leave a Kentucky park while taking maternity photos say their sexual orientation was the reason.

The two women, Cheri Chenault and Destiny Keith, were being photographed on July 7 in a privately owned section of E.C.

This photo was taken at a maternity photo shoot during which Destiny Keith and her partner Cheri Chenault say they were told to leave E.C. Million Memorial Park because they are Gay.

Archives of Sexual Behavior.

Million Memorial Park in Richmond, a city of just over 30,000. When the couple kissed for a photo, a park gatekeeper confronted the couple and the photographer, Jessica Miller-Poole, who was accompanied by her husband. They were told to leave the park grounds because they were acting inappropriately.

“They had such a small kiss, such a peck of a kiss, that I wasn’t even able to capture a picture of it,” said Miller-Poole.

“I called my mom crying and my girlfriend Destiny was upset too,” Chenault said. “She called her mom, too, and it was a big mess. It took all I had to keep my cool because I just thought it was messed up that [the official] could literally kick us out of the park.”

Chenault also said that she and Keith had been called “faggots” earlier that day, although not while at the park.

The photographer’s husband asked the park official why he had asked them to leave.

“He talked to the man and said that if it was because they were two women, that

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18 Seattle Gay News

July 13, 2012

Celebrating 39 Years!

he wanted to know,” Miller-Poole told the Richmond Register, the local paper. She quoted the official as saying “those type of people” were not welcome in the park.

“My husband ended up getting very angry and had to walk away,” added Miller-Poole.

“I never understood why people make such a big deal about being treated differently until I was actually in the middle of it and witnessed it firsthand,” Miller-Poole told the Register. “It really bothered me and upset me to witness someone be so cruel.”

Miller-Poole went on to tell the paper that because she conducts photo-shoots regularly at the park, she asked the man if she was banned from the park permanently or just with same-sex couples as clients.

“The man said, ‘If you come back and bring those type of people, you will be removed from the park,’” said Miller-Poole.

In recent years, some discriminatory incidents against LGBT people in Kentucky have attracted national attention. While LGBT people are protected under Kentucky hate-crime laws, they are not protected under the state’s non-discrimination laws.

“It is legal to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation here in Richmond,” said city Human Rights Commission chair Sandra Anez-Powell. “They can be kicked out of public places, fired from their jobs, and denied housing, a right that heterosexual people like me enjoy. The local Human Rights Commission has fought for the last four years to protect the rights of every human being, but the Richmond city commissioners have chosen to table this issue. The last administration did the same.”

“This young couple’s plight is a perfect elucidation of the need for a local fairness ordinance in Richmond,” said Chris Hartman, director of the Fairness Campaign, a Louisville, Kentucky-based organization dedicated to equal rights.

“In truth, we need an anti-discrimination [law] that will cover the whole Commonwealth, but until that law passes, local fairness ordinances in Richmond, Berea, and other cities around the state are necessary.”

Park management declined to comment on the incident when contacted by the Register.

Chenault and Keith are expecting a baby boy on September 29.

Foundation says Why Marriage Matters Washington will work on television advertising, featuring real people telling real stories with messages that highlight why marriage matters to them. The outreach component will engage local leaders in communities of color and faith communities, and within families with school-aged children, through telling their personal stories about why marriage equality is important and transformative for them.

Public support for allowing same-sex couples to marry has grown significantly over the last decade.

“Years of important and courageous public and private conversations have helped move individuals and the societal barometer toward being supportive of the freedom to marry for all,” said Hermanns.

“But we know that having conversations about marriage equality can sometimes be awkward or need delicate navigation,” she continued. “As part of Pride Foundation’s education campaign, we have created www.

WhyMarriageMattersWashington.org to provide you with helpful tools and tips to get the conversation started.”

According to Why Marriage Matters Washington, marriage is the ultimate expression of commitment and responsibility for the person you love. As more Americans consider what it means to allow same-sex couples to join in civil marriage, Hermanns says, many of them may have questions about what it means and how it works. Why Marriage Matters Washington hopes to arm people with the answers to those questions.

Like any campaign, Why Marriage Matters Washington is looking for donations.

Although Pride Foundation and Freedom to Marry received essential support from individual donors and national funders to start the campaign, they ask that people come forward and contribute.

Hermanns told SGN that this public education effort is time-limited. In other words, all funds raised for this effort will be spent by the conclusion of the project later this fall. That, she said, will assure donors that the money they give will go directly toward public outreach and media.

The case could be made that a donation now means saving money later. Ending discrimination against same-sex couples with regard to marriage will save taxpayers money while boosting the economy. Federal recognition of the freedom to marry would continued from cover result in nearly $1 billion of yearly savings for the federal government. Weddings for media and outreach components,” she said. same-sex couples will result in an estimatOn the media side of the fence, Pride ed $9.5 billion windfall for the American

FOUNDATION

economy. In the state of Washington, the Williams Institute estimates, marriage for same-sex couples could add $88 million to the economy over a three-year period.

Hermanns says she wants people to know that Pride Foundation is not a one-issue organization. “Every day, through Pride Foundation’s LGBTQ-focused grants and scholarship programs, we know that our community has concerns that go beyond marriage equality,” she said.

“Those most vulnerable in our community still need access to basic support and services in the areas of employment, education, housing, and health care,” said Hermanns. “We, as a community, cannot stop until everyone can live freely, safely, and with full dignity and protection.”

But for now, marriage equality is the one campaign we are all locked into – whether we like it or not.

“We are in this game-changing moment together,” concluded Hermanns. “We may never have the chance again in the Northwest to so directly define, lead, and spotlight the pathway to full equal rights.”

For more information about Why Marriage Matters Washington, visit www.

WhyMarriageMattersWashington.org.

BIDEN

continued from cover back,” said Cantwell.

Inslee, as a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, has worked closely with Cantwell on a number of issues.

Introducing the vice president, Cantwell called Biden a “progressive rock star,” referencing his sponsorship of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, his proactive response to the wars in Yugoslavia in the ’90s, and, of course, his recent expression of support for same-sex marriage.

“Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe!” chanted attendees as Biden began to speak.

“Be careful, or I won’t go home,” he responded with a smile.

Biden reminisced on when he first made Cantwell’s acquaintance many years ago and expressed his admiration for her.

“She’s smarter than me, she’s smarter than almost everyone I know, and don’t screw around with Maria!” said Biden.

First elected to the Senate in 1972, Biden noted that only 13 senators have served with more Senate colleagues than he. In his eyes, he said, Cantwell is one of the greatest sena-

tors ever.

“She gets it. The other guys don’t get it,” said Biden. “I’ve met few senators who have the power of their convictions as much as Maria Cantwell.”

Biden criticized Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and the Republican Party, calling Romney “George Bush on steroids.”

“I love Joe Biden,” said Ron Sims, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and former King County executive, “because his little slip changed the course of a huge debate in civil rights.”

Joe Fugere, the owner of Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria, spoke about the economic recovery over the last few years in relation to his small business.

Said Fugere of his most recent expansion, “Without the Democratic leaders fighting for Main Street and small business, those 50 jobs wouldn’t be there.” Tutta Bella has four locations in the Seattle area.

King County Councilmember Joe McDermott spoke on Cantwell’s history with regard to LGBT issues, citing her sponsorship of the Mathew Shepard Act, her support for repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and other progressive measures.

“Maria is a strong advocate of marriage equality,” said McDermott. “We have to approve Referendum 74, we have to re-elect President Obama, we have to re-elect Vice President Biden, we have to re-elect senator Maria Cantwell, and then, and only then, can my fiancé Michael and I pick a date and send out invitations.”

King County Executive Dow Constantine also expressed support for Cantwell, pointing to her efforts to repeal DADT. He recalled Biden once visited his class at the UW School of Law. Cantwell is seeking her third term in office and is generally favored to win re-election.

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Seattle Gay News 19

DOMA

continued from cover forces the city to investigate the sex of our employees’ partners.”

According to the city clerk’s office, some 150 Seattle city employees get health coverage for their same-sex partners, at an annual payroll cost to the city of about $83,000.

“We want to treat the health insurance we provide to same-sex domestic partners and families just like we do for opposite-sex married people, so that we can free up more money to put to other uses,” Holmes said.

“But we’ve also signed on to the brief for the simple reason that we believe government should treat everyone the same.”

Holmes was joined at the press conference

by Mayor Mike McGinn, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, and city employee and Gay activist Ken Molsberry.

In brief speeches, the mayor and Rasmussen expressed complete support for the brief challenging DOMA.

“No matter what it’s called, DOMA is an odious law,” Rasmussen said. “It is a stain on the history of the United States.”

“DOMA is an unconstitutional and discriminatory law,” McGinn said. “I’m pleased that the city is standing together against [it].”

McGinn also recalled a letter he received from Molsberry a year ago, detailing the harm done by DOMA to city employees with same-sex partners.

“Depending on where he is,” McGinn said of Molsberry, “he’s married. But here, he’s not.”

Molsberry spoke movingly about his two marriages to his partner, Ken Vincent. The couple was first married in 2004 in San Francisco after then-mayor Gavin Newsom began issuing marriage licenses to samesex couples.

“Then we were forcibly divorced by the California Supreme Court,” he said, his voice breaking with emotion. The court ruled that same-sex couples could not marry until it had ruled on the constitutional is-

sues involved.

Molsberry and Vincent were legally married in California in 2008, during the brief period after the California Supreme Court decided for marriage equality and before Prop 8 revoked equal marriage rights.

“I’m grateful my employer [the city] is adding its voice to the court challenge to DOMA,” Molsberry concluded.

After the press conference, Molsberry explained to SGN that he choked up during his speech “because my relationship with this guy is the most important thing in my life.”

“We sat overnight in a rainstorm to wait to get married [in 2004]. We were soaked to the skin,” Vincent interjected. “We didn’t care, we were just so happy to be married.

And then for someone to come and say, ‘That’s invalid, that means nothing, that’s nullified’ – I don’t know what I can compare that to …”

Holmes told SGN he had been working on the issue for almost two years, since the city had asked him for advice on how to handle a case involving retiree benefits.

“We had someone who was in SERS [the Seattle Employee Retirement System],” Holmes explained. “They’d been in a domestic partnership and now that was in dissolution. So the question was how do we untangle their retirement benefits. If they’d been married it would have been very straightforward, but as domestic partners it’s very complicated.”

Holmes turned to Lambda Legal for advice, and while working with them on the retirement benefits case, he became convinced that DOMA posed a major obstacle to fairness for both the city and its employees. Holmes then assigned Assistant City Attorney Fritz Wollett to work with Lambda attorneys on a challenge to DOMA. “Two or three months ago [Lambda] told us the Golinski case was the place to intervene, and we’ve been working on it ever since” Holmes said. “We were also in touch with the City Council and the mayor so everyone was on board.”

Wollett told SGN he had been “in touch with [Lambda] constantly” since getting the assignment from Holmes. He is optimistic that the Ninth Circuit will decide against DOMA, and that the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold the decision.

“All the cases decided so far have ruled DOMA unconstitutional,” Wollett noted.

“The First Circuit [in Gill v. OPM] and the Justice Department have asked the Supreme Court to review [DOMA]. I think it will be struck down.”

Equal Rights Washington board member Rod Hearne, who attended the press conference and spoke with SGN afterward, was also optimistic.

“It’s fantastic,” he told SGN. “I’m confident the courts will find DOMA unconstitutional. I’d like to see social justice for Gay and Lesbian couples carried forward by all levels of government.”

NCLR

continued from cover ful domino chain is not necessarily the lead domino, but the setup. If just one domino is placed too far to the left or right of the one before it, change will stop dead in its tracks and the once-linked sequence of events becomes stagnant. The same could be said for the civil and equal rights movements. If you don’t have the right allies placed in front of and behind you – just like dominos – the movement stops.

On July 8, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), along with a coalition of 20 prominent Latin-American civil rights organizations, publicly announced their support for a campaign called Familia es Familia (“Family is Family”). And this, my friends, is a domino placed in exactly the right spot.

The goal of Familia es Familia is to promote the acceptance of LGBT sons and daughters by their families across the Latin community. The significant change in the way some Latinos, elders in particular, view the LGBT community as a result of this campaign is a welcome, albeit surprising one.

When I first read the headline announcing this historic declaration, my instant reaction was to read it again because I thought I must have been misreading something. But when I reached the end of the article a second time a feeling of reverence swept over me because there it was, something I was beginning to think I might never see in my lifetime: a unified Latin-American community in support of LGBT equality.

The campaign focuses on the center of Latin culture – familia. The message it sends reminds those members of Latin families who are prejudiced that our Latino brothers and sons are still family, even if they are Gay, and our Latina sisters and daughters who are Lesbian are also family.

It is important to note that the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) had already begun to hold trainings on the subject in June, during a national conven-

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July 13, 2012

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tion in Orlando, Florida.

David M. Perez, director of development for LULAC, told me it is the goal of LULAC’s civil rights mission to “support all of our Latinos so they do not experience discrimination in employment, housing, or education, and have the right to marry, as all U.S. citizens should.”

At first glance, the “coming out” of these organizations in support of LGBT equal rights could be viewed as a bold step for the Latin community as a whole. After all, Latin culture is steeped in traditional family values, a conservative way of life with strong ties to Catholicism and Christianity, and the expectation to carry on the family legacy. That cultural pressure can be particularly strong where men are concerned.

That was not the case for me, however. At age 22 and as a Latin-American male with Guatemalan parents, I proudly identify as a straight ally to the LGBT community. I first came out in support of Gay rights at 18.

I am proud to be a good example that my friends can follow and I ask that all other straight allies, who vote in secret for proGay ballot initiatives and candidates, to

consider being a visible and vocal supporter because it’s the right thing to do. I will admit it takes some nerve to talk to friends and family about your support for the LGBT community – at first. But then you begin to realize most people are sympathetic to messages of nondiscrimination. As for the ones who aren’t – don’t verbally beat them up too badly the first time around. Give them some time and they’ll get there.

I can very clearly remember the first time I saw the transformation of a conservative Latin mother, after she learned that her oldest son was Gay. Maria attended the same traditional Christian church as my family. One Sunday she explained to a handful of fellow church members that she had woken up to both a dream come true and her worst nightmare.

She said her son graduated high school at the top of his class and had been awarded a college scholarship. This, Maria explained, was the dream come true.

But the nightmare, Maria said, began when her son called a family meeting to come out as Gay.

Needless to say, the somber mood that crept into Maria’s house that day stuck around as she agonized over questions like, What horrible hell would God condemn her son to? She also fretted over what her pastor and the rest of the congregation might say.

She wondered if his being Gay was because she had done something wrong.

After months of crying and praying, Maria accepted her son as Gay. Family, she said, is more important than anything else.

“God is love,” Maria said to my mother over coffee. “And I love my son exactly the way God sent him to me.”

Luis Hernando Ramirez of Entre Hermanos, a Seattle-based LGBT resource center for Latinos, told me, “In general terms, I believe we see more acceptance from family members of their LGBT sons and daughters these days, rather than families that exclude them due to religious viewpoints.”

But, Ramirez was quick to point out, that’s “not to say that it always happens that way.”

“Still,” he said, “I think it’s safe to say that the love of a family tends to trump religion

– no matter how Catholic or Christian that family might be.”

The launch of this campaign, and the way the Latin communities are embracing it, makes me proud of my Latin heritage.

By developing Familia es Familia, Latin American leaders in our country are showing us, the community they serve, that they are invested in the current state of affairs, and seek to influence a positive change for a better tomorrow.

Most importantly, this coalition can now stand side-by-side with the NAACP, organized labor, and President Obama as monuments of progress, acceptance, and understanding of LGBT issues. And this is a personal victory for me as well. For a long time I saw myself as somewhat of an outsider. I was made to feel like I was too liberal and just “not Latin enough” to fit in. With this announcement, the Latin-American organizations have not only opened their arms to their LGBT brothers and sisters, but also let the progressive thinkers of our country know they have a new ally – the young, proGay Latin American with the right to vote.

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22 Seattle Gay News

July 13, 2012

Celebrating 39 Years!

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July 13, 2012

Seattle Gay News 23