SGN June 24, 2016 - Pride - Section 4

Seattle Gay News

Issue 25, Volume 44, June 24, 2016

ORLANDO This is an especially heartbreaking day for all our friends

–President Barak Obama

OBAMA IN ORLANDO President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Orlando, Fla., June 16 to meet with survivors and families of victims of the horrific attack and to thank the law enforcement officials who bravely responded.

“As a nation, we’ve also been inspired by the courage of those who risked their lives and cared for others. Partners whose last moments were spent shielding each other. The mother who gave her life to save her son. The former Marine whose quick thinking saved dozens of lives,” Obama said.

The President and Vice President told the victims’ families – on behalf of the American people – that “our hearts are broken, too, but we stand with you and that we are here for you, and that we are remembering those who you loved so deeply.”

They then paid their respects by laying flowers at a memorial for victims of the attack. – Shaun Knittel

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Celebrating 41 Years!

The 49 beautiful lives taken from us in the worst hate crime against LGBTQ people and deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. May you rest in peace. We will never forget.

Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old Amanda Alvear, 25 years old Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26 years old Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33 years old Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28 years old Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25 years old Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old Cory James Connell, 21 years old Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old Frank Hernandez, 27 years old Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25 years old Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49 years old Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old Kimberly Morris, 37 years old Akyra Monet Murray, 18 years old Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25 years old Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, 27 years old Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24 years old Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24 years old Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24 years old Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37 years old Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old

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Statement from U.S. Sen. Patty Murray on the tragedy in Orlando

by Sen. Patty Murray Special to the SGN The June 12th attack in Orlando was a terrible act of violence and terror against LGBTQ and Latino Americans. The tragic loss of 49 lives, and the injuries so many others endured, are only made worse by the fact this shooting occurred in a space meant to provide community and acceptance to the LGBTQ community in Orlando.

But the strength of the LGBTQ community and its allies has never been more clear to me. In the hours following the attack, we saw lines wrapped around the block at blood banks, pride flags proudly waving from our state capitol, and thousands attending vigils in Washington state, Florida, and across the country.

I was proud to see so many communities react with love and not fear. Now Congress must do the same-and one important way we can do this is by taking action against gun violence.

That’s why last week, I stood with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and my fellow Democrats to make it crystal clear that we’ve had enough.

After more than 14 straight hours of stories about how gun violence has affected so many communities, I was encouraged Republicans agreed to at least hold

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a vote on common-sense fixes that would help keep guns out of the hands of terrorists and expand background checks.

But the reality is, we need more than votes. We need action on gun violence to finally address what is truly a critical issue for families in Washington state and across the country.

As we look forward, there is much more we need to do – not just to disarm the awful hate we saw in Orlando – but to come together to ensure LGBTQ Americans can live and love openly, without fear of discrimination or violence. While we have seen some incredible victories for love and equality in recent years, the horrific act that was committed in Orlando has cast the need for further progress in a new, urgent light – the struggle continues to fight intolerance, hate, and ignorance.

As far as we’ve come, there is so much work to be done.

I will keep working to promote LGBTQ rights, and continue to push for policies that help ensure all people, regardless of who they are or who they love, are treated equally and with respect, including passing the Equality Act. During this Pride week, I want all LGBTQ Washingtonians to know that I am with you – and I will never stop fighting for you in the U.S. Senate.

Celebrating 41 Years!

Sacrificial lambs A “two-spirit” perspective on living and dying for others

by Christopher Peguero Special to the SGN LGBTQ people have always benefited society by being sacrificial lambs.

Being two-spirit Menominee from Wisconsin on my mother’s side and Mexican American on my father’s side, I always knew that Queer and non-gender-conforming people from my cultures played a very critical role in society, often the most important and least recognized. We were medicine men and women and nomen, teachers, healers. In times of war, we were regarded by both sides as neutral and took wounded soldiers off of the battlefield to heal them. In marital disputes, we were the counselors who kept binary genders together to keep the tribe strong and regenerating. When there wasn’t an equal number of women and men in the tribe, we would change our genders if needed for the harmony and strength of the tribe.

In ancient Western cultures, we played the role of governors and policy makers, holding society up and maintaining order as the main workers of government.

We still play the role of holding society up, holding up our binary brothers and sisters, teachers of our children, comfort for our soldiers, and developers of the rules that govern.

Modern fundamental aspects of all reli-

gions in their wars against each other have one common agreement that has made us their prey. We and society as a whole cannot forget our traditional role as healers, teachers, and the holders of wisdom and religion. Central to healing from our collective trauma of Orlando must be inclusion of our Muslim LGBTQ family as well, and reconciliation to modern religion.

We still sacrifice our lives every day in modern society. There is a price to be openly out as our true selves in a society that is still coming to terms of our open existence. As we are reaching our adulthood and independence, we often sacrifice the connection to our birth families to be our true selves. We are limited in our ability to gain equal employment opportunities, rarely being able to openly be ourselves in leadership positions regardless of job sector, whether private, nonprofit, or government. We are often fired from our jobs if we reveal our true selves. We are limited in our ability to gain or can be denied housing for ourselves, partner, partners, husband or wife, and children. We are limited in our ability to care for children who have no mother or father when our desire is to make families to keep the tribe strong. When we age and become elders, regardless of how true and open we have been in our youth, often we have to put on our mask again to be taken care of as we prepare for our own death. As children, if we reveal our

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true selves, we are told there are only two genders and very specific rules for each.

If we don’t follow the rules we are bullied or beaten by our peers, and often we are also beaten by our birth families or kicked out to fend for ourselves on the street. If we are two-genders as adults taking in soldiers because there are not enough women in the tribe, we often sacrifice our lives through brutal rape and murder, especially if we are a two-spirit of color.

We have fought and won to be our true selves to sacrifice our own physical bodies to be soldiers. We fought and won to be our true selves to follow the dominant rules of our binary brothers and sisters of marriage. We sacrificed our blood to find the cure to a disease that doesn’t care about such things as gender or sexual orientation. We continue to fight to give that blood now when we have the science to detect those diseases so that in times of crisis we can continue to sacrifice our bodies and heal those in need.

Now, as we have given the sacrifice of our young lambs to limit our own tribe’s soldiers’ access to weapons and destruction on our own tribe – we cannot forget who those lambs were and the limits they faced. Many who were there at the sacrifice still remain and will heal, and we should make sure that they are rewarded with equality and opportunity so that their sacrifice was not in vain. Again, this sacri-

fice was for the strength of our society.

The lambs who were sacrificed were men and women of color, they were Latinx and afro-Latinx, they were immigrants, they were Trans* and non-gender-conforming, they were young. White mainstream LGBTQ organization need to make sure that in our collective grief, healing and re-centering our cause from our pain, that we not lose sight of our non-gender-conforming immigrants and communities of color. We need to center our work to elevate them into leadership roles in our organizations and fight for LGBTQ immigrant rights and Trans* and non-gender-conforming rights and equal visibility. This is the minimum that mainstream white LGBTQ organizations must do to find justice for our lambs’ sacrifice.

As I was coming into work today, there were Pride flags and American flags at half-staff. This is our month of celebration and recognition for the need to continue to fight for our ability to sacrifice and continue to uphold our tribe. I don’t remember a time before today that our sacrifice was honored in such a way by our dominant binary brothers and sisters. As we are celebrating our importance to uplift and hold society together, honoring our sacrifices, please honor them by recognizing their uniqueness and our responsibility to be inclusive. By all means, do not whitewash this sacrifice.

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LGBTQ community suffers worst mass shooting in U.S. history

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor In the early morning hours of Sunday, June 12, peace-loving people the world over learned that the unthinkable had happened inside an Orlando Gay nightclub. It was there, amongst an almost exclusively LGBTQ Latino crowd of more than 300 people, the worst mass shooting in recorded U.S. history took place around 2 a.m. just as the party was winding down. In all, 49 people were killed and 53 were transported to three area hospitals. The gunman, identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen, was also killed.

There wasn’t much to report at first. The police didn’t know who the shooter was, or how many of them there might have been.

As blogs and cable news networks started to crank out stories and try to beat each other to the next sensational headline, people inside the club were dead or dying. Eventually, hours into an intense shootout with police and a hostage situation, we learned that the mass shooting is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism. According to officials, 30 people were rescued during the police raid of the nightclub at around 5 a.m. that Sunday. And although that was good news, there really wasn’t much more good in the news that followed. Everything about the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting

is dark and ugly and horrific.

Police say that the attack was planned and that Mateen, a U.S. citizen born to Afghan immigrants, was prepared to engage them. He was found with a semi-automatic rifle and handgun. According to recently released transcripts of the conversation between 9-1-1 operators and Mateen during the attack, he claimed allegiance to the extremist group ISIS. The massacre has hit the LGBTQ community hard, as June is LGBTQ Pride Month. It is important to note that the vast majority of the people killed or shot are Latino, LGBTQ, or both – and disproportionately of Puerto Rican ethnicity. As Seattle Gay News goes to print, many details

in this case are still unreported and the world is left to wonder if this will happen again as our government continues to vote down common-sense gun safety laws and restrictions on the sale and possession of military-grade assault weapons.

If a silver lining is possible in the face of such violence, it would have to be the resiliency of the LGBTQ community, which is once again on display for the world to see.

We will not be beaten . We will not go away or return to the closet where we sit in quiescence and fear. Love always wins. And make no mistake, we will, some way, somehow, win this battle too.

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Celebrating 41 Years!

Orlando strong from all sides discussed ways and means of preventing future killings without accomplishing anything. Conservatives screamed about “radical Islam” and progressives pleaded for gun control while, in the real world, in Orlando and elsewhere, there are spouses, partners, children, parents, siblings, and friends left behind who will now have to learn to live without their loved ones, because they are no longer with them.

Conser vatives like Donald Trump Jesse Monteagudo ( Gay Today) condemned the Pulse

by Jesse Monteagudo massacre as the work of Special to the SGN radical Muslims. Though Mateen, who I keep mentioning even though I hate to It has now been a little over a week give him any more posthumous infamy since Omar Mateen went on a shoot- than he already has (we should remember ing spree that killed 49 men and wom- the victims instead), pledged allegiance to en, mostly LGBT Latinxs, and tragically ISIS between murders, there is no proof made the Pulse nightclub in Orlando the that he had any real connection to that most famous LGBT bar since the Stone- or any other terrorist group. ISIS or not, the Pulse massacre was basically one big wall Inn. In the days after June 12, millions of hate crime, the mass murder of innocent words were written and published that de- people at an LGBT club who were bruscribed or explained or condemned this tally killed just because they were LGBT event; grief-stricken families and friends or supportive allies. There was an online buried or cremated their loved ones; sur- discussion of whether or not Mateen was vivors recovered at home or in hospitals; himself a closeted Gay man, in turmoil communities held memorials; and pol- over his sexuality. Closet or no, the fact iticians acted like, well, politicians. As remains that Mateen hated us and killed with previous mass shootings, politicos as many of us as he could, before he him-

self was taken down by law enforcement.

Those politicians who describe the Orlando killing as a “terrorist” attack on an “Orlando club,” without mentioning the fact that Pulse is an LGBT club and the victims were LGBT or LGBT-friendly, do themselves and us a great disservice.

Texas Republican Congressman Pete Sessions described Pulse as a “Latin club,” ignoring the fact that many of us are both Latinx and LGBT. Politicians who deny the LGBT component of the Pulse massacre do so because of their own anti-LGBT records and opinions. Rick Scott and Pam Bondi and Marco Rubio are not our friends, no matter what they say.

Before the Pulse massacre, the largest killing of Gay people took place on June 24, 1973, at the Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans. There an arsonist started a fire that killed 32 people - mostly Gay men, many of them members of the local chapter of the Metropolitan Community Church. Though MCC founder Rev. Troy Perry and other Gay activists gave the victims their due, the largely homophobic world outside ignored them, except for a few jerks who made tasteless comments like “let the faggots burn.” This type of behavior would not be widely tolerated today, when many more LGBT people have come out of their closets and many more non-LGBT people have learned to know and love at least one LGBT family member, friend, or colleague. Of course there will always be assholes among us, like the members of the Westboro Baptist Church who, as expected, showed up to protest the funerals of the massacre victims. Radical right-wing Christians like Pastor Roger

Jimenez of Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento went so far as to praise the Orlando massacre, which reminds us, as if we needed a reminder, that homophobic bigotry and hatred is not exclusive to any one religion.

The Pulse massacre happened at the beginning of LGBT Pride Month, in the wake of a wave of Pride celebrations across the globe. Some of our people are now reluctant to attend Pride events, fearing that they and their communities might also be targeted by another mad murderer.

Though the possibility of a copycat killer is sadly always there, we must not let fear keep us from doing what we do so well: living and loving one another in a community with other LGBT people and our allies. If we surrender to fear we will be giving the murderer a posthumous victory and gladden the hearts of Muslim and Christian and Jewish zealots who want us to die or at least disappear. Like the LGBT community of Orlando, we must be strong and continue to love one another, for together we are greater than any of our enemies.

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kingmoncreative.com Courtesy of Shaun Knittel

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Photo by Caleb Tnner Stumbaugh

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Celebrating 41 Years!

Seattle Candlelight Vigil

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Upon hearing news of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub massacre, local leaders in the LGBTQ community immediately began to plan for a candlelight vigil for the evening of June 20, at Cal Anderson Park. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, undoubtedly also a leader in the LGBTQ community, and his administration worked to coordinate efforts that ultimately saw thousands of people attend the Seattle candlelight vigil to mourn the loss of life, to reaffirm our commitment to each other and the world that Seattle’s LGBTQ community will never accept the slaughter of our people and the stripping away of our rights, and to call for a renewed ban on assault weapons.

Seattle’s LGBTQ community has a way of coming together when it matters most and the June 20 vigil is a testament to that.

Organizations like Gender Justice League, Entre Hermanos, and Equal Rights Washington came together to provide speakers at the event, help with logistics and spread the word that our community – as far away as Orlando, Fla. – needed us. Social Outreach Seattle (SOSea) provided hundreds of candles and set up a work station where people could write messages of love, and

those messages were sent to Pulse nightclub so the survivors and their families, as well as the friends and family of the deceased, could read them. PrideFest set up the audio/ visual aspect of the event. There are many more who lent a hand, donated something, or helped in whatever way they could to pull off one of the most visually stunning and emotionally charged events we’ve seen in years.

Speakers included Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, joined by State Sen. Jamie Pedersen, community leader Sarah Davis, Luis Fernando Ramirez of Entre Hermanos, Monisha Harrell of Equal Rights Washington, Michael Ramos of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, Connie Burk of the NW Network, and more.

The Seattle Men’s Chorus and Seattle Women’s Chorus led the crowd in song, and at one point, a tear-filled count from 1 to 53, in honor of the people who were killed and injured during the Pulse attack, which is now being characterized as the worst attack on the LGBTQ community in American history, the second worst terrorist attack on American soil in history, and an anti-LGBTQ hate crime.

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Orlando Vigil in Seattle June 13, 2016 – Photos by Ernie Lou

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Celebrating 41 Years!

Orlando Vigil in Seattle June 13, 2016 – Photos by Ernie Lou

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Celebrating 41 Years!

Surviving the unthinkable

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

One can only imagine the horror felt by the patrons of Pulse Nightclub when they realized that the “popping” sound they heard was not part of the music, but was coming from bullets leaving a gun instead.

As survivors left the hospital this week many of them agreed to be interviewed by the media. The reports of what they saw and lived through are chilling to the bone. Some watched as people died right in front of them, having been shot multiple times by a man wielding a semi-automatic assault rifle and a handgun. Others claim he had a smile on his face and acted with a calmness that they can’t understand as he mowed down some 49 victims. They live with the guilt of surviving when so many of their friends or family did not. Partners were killed in front of each other, a bouncer and a bartender familiar to everyone didn’t make it out, and the smell of blood and the sound of people screaming out for help will never leave their minds for as long as the live.

This is not what the atmosphere inside of Gay nightclubs is supposed to be about.

This is the stuff that war is made of. Only, these people, so many of them young and LatinX, didn’t have a fighting chance because the man responsible for this tragedy was armed with weapons of war and they were not. The weapons they had were cellphones, and horrifying videos from Snapchat or taken inside of a bathroom stall where the gunman had trapped dozens of people have emerged as the public contin-

ues to learn what Hell the nightclub-goers endured at the whim of a man who is said to have internalized homophobia, pledged allegiance to ISIS, and had been investigated a shocking number of times by the FBI. Although he spent years on the federal government’s “no-fly” list he was able to, just days before the massacre, legally purchase deadly weapons that if turned on humans, can easily result in the death toll we saw come out of Orlando.

There is no doubt these brave young people will need counseling, support, and understanding as they work to rebuild their lives and bury lost friends and family. People from around the world have raised over $5 million for the victims but we all know that money alone is not enough. It is time for Congress to act and for the NRA and the moronic gun nuts in our country to understand that the blood of those victims is on their hands. Sure, Omar Mateen pulled the trigger. But the fact that these people refuse to take responsibility for being a part of the hate machine that helped to push people like Mateen, who obviously suffered from a number of anger and mental health problems, is shameful.

It is LGBTQ Pride Month and yet, for so many, it doesn’t feel like there is much to celebrate this year. But Seattle Gay News would argue that our visibility is our biggest defense. We would also say that you can live well to honor the victims of this tragedy, because they can’t. And finally, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. so eloquently said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

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We must never stop fighting for equality

by Thomas Pitchford Special to the SGN The events that transpired recently with the tragic loss of so many young lives in Orlando should cause us each to take pause. Pride this year, here and around the world, should be celebrated in their memory. But we cannot let the actions of one disturbed individual keep us from what we know is rightfully ours.

When I think back over the past 10 years, I recall some of the best days of my life. Having spent several of those years working to build Equal Rights Washington, a state organization dedicated to passing some of the most important legal rights our community has achieved, I know that work was and continues to be important – because our community is important. We form relationships, work, pay taxes, celebrate the births of our children and the children of our friends and family, and – as of 2012 – we legally marry. We make meaningful contributions that enrich our lives and the lives of those around us – and all throughout this important week, we celebrate Pride. We are proud of how far we have come and how far we will go on this journey toward social parity and, ultimately, equity.

Still, there are those who would seek to keep us from enjoying the dignity to which we are entitled. Lately, our Trans community has been the object of attacks from the far Right locally (please vote NO on I-1515, if it comes to that). Meanwhile, across the country, we have witnessed the unthinkable as both religious

and cultural influences fed the psychological turmoil of a mad gunman fighting his own internalized homophobia.

It makes us ask ourselves, How can we move forward? And what should we do in response?

At yesterday’s Pride Reception, Mayor Ed Murray put it best: We must show the world that nothing will stop us from celebrating who we are. And no one will ever stop us from fighting for what we know is right. I hope you are with me when I say this – I have fought for a long time, and I will keep fighting. We owe it to ourselves. We owe it to those who follow. And we owe it to the memories of those lost in Orlando. We will never forget you, and we will never stop fighting for you.

Thomas Pitchford is a former staff member and longtime stakeholder with Equal Rights Washington, and has served on the National Campaign Board of the Victory Fund. He is currently a candidate for state representative in Washington’s 43rd District (comprising Capitol Hill, the U-District, Montlake, Wallingford, Greenlake, and downtown).

He can be contacted at www.thomaspitchford.com.

Thomas Pitchford: “We all changed history and brought marriage equality, not only to our state, but to our entire nation. That’s the kind of leadership I am ready to take to Olympia.”

Thomas Pitchford (left) with his husband Andrew Kamins have worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for LGTBQ people. www.ThomasPitchford.com

Thomas Pitchford FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE 43RD DISTRICT DEMOCRAT Paid for by Friends of Thomas Pitchford, POB 51034, Seattle WA 98115

This year, Pride matters more than ever

by David Furnish Special to the SGN The unspeakable tragedy in Orlando, in the midst of Pride Month, has shaken the LGBT community to the core. Pride Month is a celebration of who we are and how far we’ve come. How can we celebrate after 49 of our brothers and sisters were murdered in cold blood? How can we march with tears in our eyes and pain in our hearts?

The attack at the Pulse nightclub is a tragic reminder of why Pride matters. It’s a reminder that the pink triangle was proudly reclaimed by our community from its origin in Hitler’s death camps. It’s a reminder that the Pride movement was founded in the wake of Stonewall. It’s a reminder that for the past half-century, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people have responded to violence and hate with unrelenting love.

Love is the bedrock of our community and the source of our strength and progress.

Pulse itself was founded as an act of love.

Barbara Poma opened Pulse 12 years ago to honor her brother, a Gay man who died of complications from AIDS. She wanted the club to embody the energy of his life and, more than anything, to serve as a place of love and acceptance for the LGBT community. It did that, and more. Pulse became a refuge, a place of community.

Growing up in Toronto, I found solace and safety in clubs like Pulse and in the people who gathered there. In certain parts of the United States, community gathering places like Pulse are the only safe spaces for LGBT people. For that reason, they often evolve to serve more than their original purpose. Nightclubs like Pulse become hubs for HIV prevention, breast cancer awareness, immigrant rights, and LGBT advocacy work.

Particularly in the fight against HIV and AIDS, which is inextricably tied to the Pride movement, the LGBT community’s

compassionate response has achieved extraordinary results. By loving people who use drugs, instead of denigrating and stigmatizing them, we are more likely to prevent HIV and help people build the lives they want. By embracing HIV-positive people, we short-circuit the stigma that fuels the epidemic. By loving and fighting for the rights of undocumented immigrants, or by shouting with pride that Black Lives Matter or that women’s rights are human rights, we are creating a world where an end to AIDS is possible.

If the success of the Pride movement has taught us anything, it’s that the only way to stop the hate, to stop the killing and the dying, is with love, compassion, and respect.

We’ve seen, time and again, how compassion makes our community stronger and healthier. That’s why today, in the wake of horrendous tragedy, and every day, we must press on with our work to show the world that we are as vibrant, united, and proud as

ever. We must continue to be agents of tolerance, compassion, and dignity, even — especially — in the face of evil.

It’s so easy to hate. It’s easy to hate people who you don’t really know. It’s easy to hate people who look different, who pray different, who love different. But we cannot give into the hate. Differences don’t matter.

We’re all human beings. We’re all Orlando.

That’s the truth we celebrate during Pride Month, and it’s why now, more than ever, Pride matters. Hate took the lives of our family and friends. Love is how we must honor their memory.

David Furnish is chairman of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Interfaith march to end gun violence

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

The bells of St. Mark’s Cathedral rang out on the night of June 15, as part of a call to peace and an end to gun violence. Following a prayer service at the Capitol Hill church, marchers headed down Broadway to St. James Cathedral on First Hill in response

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to the Orlando Pulse Nightclub killing of 49 people three days earlier by a man who used a semi-automatic assault rifle and handgun.

The "Interfaith Prayer Vigil in Solidarity and Hope" marks the second time that Seattle's faith community has marched the 1.4 miles after an American massacre. The first march between the Episcopal and Catholic cathedrals took place in late 2012 after the

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Sandy Hook Elementary School killings in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 21 first graders and five adults were shot to death.

"We refuse to let the epidemic of gun violence in the nation become 'business as usual' and the gathering is intended to invite the community into its work of mourning while also demanding that our nation do better," said the Very Rev. Steve Thomason,

dean of St. Mark's.

Speakers at St. James included Seattle Mayor Ed Murray; Rabbi Daniel Weiner of Temple de Hirsch Sinai; a representative from the Seattle Muslim community; the Very Rev. Michael Ryan, pastor of St. James Cathedral; and Thomason.

Celebrating 41 Years!

Love and Light from around the world

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

Candlelight vigils are a way that members of the LGBTQ community have come together for decades to honor the dead, condemn violence and hate, protest a spectrum of injustices suffered by our people, and to mourn. Vigils are an incredible display of support punctuated by a moment of silence, with anywhere from 10 to tens of thousands of attendees each holding his or her own glowing candle. It’s a beautiful thing to see, day or night.

An estimated 50,000 people gathered in Orlando for a candlelight vigil June 20 to remember the 49 people killed at a Gay nightclub, according to local LGBTQ organizers.

At one point, after the name of each victim was recited, the crowd chanted "We remember them!" This tragedy that happened to the LGBTQ community in Orlando, and in par-

ticular the LGBTQ LatinX community, has made an impact around the world. In less than 24 hours following the attack, dozens of candlelight vigils took place in cities like Seattle, Philadelphia, and New York, as well as in countries as far away as Singapore and Germany.

While it is true that candlelight vigils won’t bring the 49 victims back to life or ban assault weapons from reaching the hands of any American citizen ever again, it is also true that peaceful and respectful reactions to violent crime have more impact on the way people view our community, our struggle for freedom and safety, and the way we love even in the face of hate. The reason behind why these candlelight vigils took place is ugly, but the images and the love that is ever present at these events is beautiful. Nobody, not even a sick madman with an assault rifle and a handgun, can take that away from us.

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26 Seattle Gay News

June 24, 2016

Celebrating 41 Years!

Musicians, Gay choruses offer musical tributes to Orlando victims

by Albert Rodriguez SGN A&E Writer On June 12, the world woke up to one of the worst tragedies to ever happen on American soil, a killing spree that left 49 people dead and dozens more injured inside a Gay club in Orlando. It was a deliberate attack on the LGBT community that shocked and saddened all of us. But soon after, the hate was overshadowed by love from every corner of the globe. Among those who reacted to the news with tributes were some of the world’s top musicians.

Melissa Etheridge wrote a song called "Pulse," after the venue where the incident took place, and released it on June 15. She wrote the song while on tour, telling Rolling Stone that writing music is how she deals with things such as this. "I feel called to speak; to do what musicians do," Etheridge told the magazine. “We’ve been the town criers for hundreds of years. We’re mirrors of society. We want to try to make sense. We want to try to heal. We want to bring some meaning, some purpose. We also want to put it down forever in history. That’s how I’m coping." It wasn't immediately clear if "Pulse" would be available as a download, but Etheridge will likely introduce it to fans on her current tour, which lands at Snoqualmie Casino on August 28.

Singer-songwriter and longtime LGBT

ally Christina Aguilera penned the single "Change," along with co-writers Who is Fancy and Flo Reutter, and released it this week as a download with all proceeds going to the National Compassion Fund, benefitting the victims' families. "Though there is such heavy sadness, I believe that there is much more love in the world than we know," she stated in a press release. "We need to learn to love again, we need to learn that one person does make a difference; we need to keep love in our hearts." The emotional pop ballad sounds a bit like another one of The Voice coach's hits, "Beautiful," but the lyrics are specific to the Orlando tragedy.

"Change" is available now on iTunes and an accompanying video has been posted on YouTube.

Adam Lambert and Queen belted out "Who Wants to Live Forever" at a headlining set Sunday night in the U.K.. "This song is dedicated to those who lost their lives last night in Orlando, Florida, and anyone who has been a victim of senseless violence or hatred," Lambert said to a large audience at the Isle of Wight festival.

Adele appeared shaken up when she announced to concertgoers in Antwerp that the show was being dedicated to the Orlando victims. "The LGBTQ community, they’re like my soulmates since I was really young, so I’m very moved by it,” she told everyone at the start of her performance.

At her Tuesday performance in Detroit, Beyoncé dedicated the ballad "Halo" to the families of those killed. "This next song is a song about love," she said to the thousands of ticketholders at Ford Field. "And I'd like to dedicate it to all of the family members that had family that lost their lives in Florida."

That same evening, Selena Gomez dedicated a cover of Hillsong's "Transfiguration" while appearing in New Orleans. "The next song I'm going to sing is actually one of my favorite worship songs, and I think there's so much craziness that's going on and it's important to recognize how people should love people and it's actually O.K." Many Gay choruses on both sides of the pond gathered at community memorials and vigils to lend their voices for support, including the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus, which performed "Light" from the Broadway musical Next to Normal on ABCTV’s Good Morning America at Times Square on Monday. The London Gay Men's Chorus sang a stirring rendition of Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" to huge crowds packing Old Compton Street in the U.K. capital on Monday as well – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTHo6ZLshqM And the Orlando Gay Chorus delivered uplifting versions of "True Colors" and "You'll Never Walk Alone" Monday at the city's Joy Metropolitan Community

Church.

On Friday, June 24, due to the overwhelming response to their performance, the London Gay Men's Chorus (LGMC) will release a charity single, their cover version of Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water." This digital-only release will be available to purchase or stream on all major platforms including iTunes, Amazon Music, Google Play, Spotify, Deezer and Tidal. Proceeds from the sale of the charity single will be split between the Orlando Victims Fund, organized by Equality Florida, and Galop, the UK's leading LGBT anti-violence and abuse charity.

A multitude of musicians took to social media to offer their support, including rock legend Paul McCartney, who posted a selfie on Twitter with a rainbow flag draped around his shoulders and the words "We stand together with Orlando #OneOnOne," and Queen Latifah, who posted double Tweets to her followers. The first read "My [heart emoji] Breaks for the LGBTQ community in Orlando! We are 1! You Touch one of us you Touch All of us! Freedom ain’t Free! STAND UP AMERICA!" She then tweeted, "You don't have to Kill somebody to Be somebody! That just makes you no ‘Body’! I pray for all the people who feel that Alone!"

PRESS STATEMENT For immediate release: Thursday, June 16, 2016

Statement from LGBTQ Allyship on Orlando Mass Shooting The act of one human being must not fuel anti-Muslim sentiment in this country or around the world. It must not add fire to anti-immigrant rhetoric. Not in our name. We as LGBTQ individuals represent intersectional identities that include LGBTQ Muslim and Latino communities. We recognize that this act of homophobic violence has uniquely impacted our LGBTQ Muslim and Latino family and elicits unique sorrow and targeted hate.

Contact: Debbie Carlsen, debbie@allyship.org, cell: 206-930-6668 Muslims, Latinos, and LGBTQ communities must unite in tragedy Seattle, WA – LGBTQ Allyship wants to honor the 49 victims, mostly LGBTQ Latinos, who were taken away from us through a mass shooting on June 12, 2016, in Orlando, Florida, at a gay club called Pulse. We send our support to the survivors and their loved ones, and stand in solidarity with our LGBTQ family in Florida. This homophobic act of hate has affected all of us, and our whole community is deeply mourning.

“This tragedy highlights the fact that homophobia and transphobia [cross] race, religion, socioeconomic, and political backgrounds. As a Latino transman, I can't help but think that this could have been me, and in a way it was, as the safety of our dance clubs and public gatherings have become increasingly targeted for demonstrations of misguided and misinformed hate,” replies Shane Maldonado, LGBTQ Allyship board treasurer.

Allyship believes this is a time for the LGBTQ community to build community and connection with our Muslim and Latino allies in shared unity against Islamophobia, xenophobia/anti-immigrant [sentiment], homophobia, and transphobia.

Each of our communities is under attack through harmful policies, political rhet-

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oric, fear-mongering, scapegoating, and impact communities of color. violence.

Orlando has taught us how [such] detri“Many communities are mourning from mental national and local legislation fothis senseless act of hate. We as LGBTQ cused on hate can be a catalyst for trageindividuals, Muslims, and Latinos deserve dies such as this. In solidarity with both the to be safe in our neighborhoods and plac- Latino and Muslim communities, we hope es of worship, and experience fairness at that this tragedy will unite us in allowing work, at school, and in public. Our com- all people to live their truth openly and munities are interconnected, and we must safely regardless of race, religion, gender, unite in fighting for justice for all,” states or sexuality.

LGBTQ Allyship executive director Debbie Carlsen.

For more information, please visit our website at www.LGBTQAllyship.org, or Nationally there have been 200 an- contact Debbie Carlsen at 206-930-6668 ti-LGBTQ bills introduced in state legisla- or debbie@allyship.org. tures, and 50 of these bills target transgender and gender-nonconforming individu********* als. In Washington state, conservatives are attempting to get I-1515 on the November LGBTQ Allyship is a social and ecoballot, an initiative that would prohibit nomic justice organization representing transgender and gender-nonconforming over 2,500 LGBTQ individuals in the individuals from using the bathrooms at Puget Sound area. We work on access to work, at school, and in public that match affordable health care and housing, ecothe gender they live daily. Initiatives like nomic equity, and eliminating youth I-1515 breed hate and misunderstanding homelessness in the LGBTQ community toward the transgender community, which through education, advocacy, research, and already suffers from high rates of unem- community organizing. For more informaployment, homelessness, discrimination, tion, go to www.LGBTQAllyship.org. and violence. These harmful and misguided policies sanction violence against LGBTQ people and disproportionately

June 24, 2016

Seattle Gay News 27

Orlando through my eyes

A Gay SPD officer reflects on the Pulse massacre

by Jim Ritter special to the SGN Irony is a strange thing that often presents itself in unimaginable ways. I was in California last week preparing to speak to several San Francisco Police officials, their Police Commission, and various leaders of LGBTQ community groups in the Bay area about adopting the Seattle Police Department’s Safe Place concept when I received news of the Orlando tragedy. After shaking off the initial horror, I had to look at this massacre directed at LGBTQ victims from two different perspectives: as a Gay man and as a Seattle police officer.

As a Gay man I looked at this as an abominable act, carried out by an angry, selfish individual with a variety of motives that are still being revealed. This event instantly brought me back to the 1970s and ’80s, when killing Gay men for sport seemed to be a national pastime for those individuals and organizations that are filled with resentment and hatred toward a group of people they could not relate to and would not take the time to understand.

Now, as then, many of these hostilities were learned from childhood resulting in attitudes towards the Gay community that were based on perceptions through propaganda instead of facts and reality.

Thirty years ago I would have reacted to this event very differently. My response back then to Orlando and the foiled Los Angeles-area attack would have been fear, paranoia, grief, and depression. Back then I would have allowed these murders as further justification to stay silent and remain yet another closeted member of the Gay community whose voice would never be heard. These emotions are exactly what the people who commit these

crimes and the organizations that encourage there are still those who claim hate crimes skeptics I say there are 49 more bodies that and applaud their actions hope to accomplish. against LGBTQ citizens is a fantasy. To those prove you wrong.

In 2016 I am nearly 55 years old and a very different person who has replaced my pessimism with an optimistic vision that is far healthier for me. I see Orlando as an act that is propelling LGBTQ issues to the forefront on a global scale never before seen in history.

This tragedy has triggered worldwide conversations that are now compelling many Americans, who have previously remained politely silent on these issues, to really examine where they stand with the LGBTQ community, ConYour Seattle Police Department wants you to stitutional rights and fundamental fairness. be safe, be aware, and have fun during Pride. To The victims of Orlando were not just Gay or Lesbian, Transgender or Bisexual, they were ensure your own safety and those of your fellow someone’s parent, child, co-worker, employee, Pride attendees: fellow student, friend, or acquaintance who deserved the right to walk down the streets of this nation holding hands or kissing without • Report suspicious persons and/or activities to 911 the fear of ridicule, assault, death, or triggering (be able to clearly articulate your suspicions) a psychopath to exterminate 49 lives in retalia• Travel in groups of TWO or MORE tion.

• If you are the victim of a crime, As a police officer and the LGBTQ Liaicall 911 IMMEDIATELY. son for the Seattle Police Department I look at Orlando through a different set of eyes. I see this monstrous act as a galvanizing event that The Seattle Police Department’s LGBTQ Liaison (Officer Jim will make the LGBTQ community even stronRitter) will be available all weekend during Pride at (206) 437ger. This suspect underestimated our commu3860 or james.ritter@seattle.gov. nity. He did not stop to think that what he did was to instantly martyr 49 innocent LGBTQ victims, an act so abhorrent that even the most conservative of Americans are now having to take notice and potentially change their historic viewpoints. The Orlando killer did more to propel LGBTQ awareness in this nation that the past four generations of activism combined, and the progression has only begun.

Even though the Seattle Police Department’s Safe Place Initiative was born out of concern for the victims of these heinous acts,

Play safe!

Seattle Police urge Pride attendees to have fun but stay alert Courtesy of Seattle Police

Congress let it happen. Let’s change Congress.

Jim Moeller – Courtesy of Jim Moeller

by Rep. Jim Moeller WA Speaker Pro Tem The Orlando Massacre. I took it personally. Everyone in our community took it personally. Immediately, viscerally, physically, mentally, emotionally. The slaughter of 49 and the wounding of another 53 innocent people was a hate crime of massive proportions, affecting multiple cultures and defying rational explanation.

Except one: Congress allowed this to happen.

It didn’t have to happen. Neither did any

28 Seattle Gay News

of the other 136 mass shootings that have occurred in the first 172 days of 2016. If only Congress would do what Americans demand, it might not happen so often or so efficiently.

If only Congress would ban assault weapons.

If only Congress would prevent suspected terrorists from being able to buy guns. If only Congress would prevent people who can’t fly from being able to buy. If only Congress would prevent those convicted of domestic violence from buying guns. If only Congress would enact vigorous and thorough background checks. If only members of Congress wanted to stop the real weapons of mass de-

June 24, 2016

struction. If only we had a better Congress.

As a Gay man, I have been an activist all my adult life. I was the founder in the early ’90s of the Clark County Chapter of Hands Off Washington, the predecessor to Equal Rights Washington. I was Vancouver, Washington’s first openly Gay city councilmember, and I was the one of the earliest openly Gay state legislators. My peers elected me House speaker pro tem. I get things done.

Great things. Equality. Civil rights. Access to health care. Mental health. Long-term care for seniors. Transit, bicycle, and pedestrian improvements. Transportation. Early education.

Funding local projects. Working to ban assault weapons.

My district is represented by someone who doesn’t get things done. Unless you count depositing checks from gun advocates. Unless you count voting against reasonable gun legislation. Unless you count bragging about her 93% lifetime NRA voting record.

The incumbent, Republican Jaime Herrera Butler, voted against LGBT rights. She voted against domestic partnerships. She voted against marriage equality. She voted against affordable health care. She voted against children’s health programs. She voted against the Family and Medical Leave Act. She voted against mental health parity. She voted against sexual health parity. She voted against the Affordable Care Act. She voted against you. She voted against your children. She voted against your grandchildren. She voted against America.

That’s when she does vote. Because my opponent has the sixth worst attendance record in Congress. Sixth out of 435 Members of Congress. My opponent has missed 63 percent of all votes this year. Votes that would have

protected Americans from domestic terrorists.

Votes that would have protected Americans from domestic violence abusers. Votes that would have saved scores of children. Votes that would have saved hundreds of innocent lives. Votes that would have saved 100 victims, our family, in Orlando.

Earlier this year, I introduced a bill – HB 2354 – to ban assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. I will introduce a similar bill in Congress when you help me defeat the incumbent.

We can’t just look to the people running in our own districts to get Congress working again. YOU have to help get Congress working again. YOU have to help defeat people who are not doing good work in Congress.

YOU have to help elect people who will make Congress work again. YOU have to help elect ME to Congress, to defeat someone who is working against you. YOU have to make this happen. Or we will see another Seattle Pacific University. Another Marysville-Pilchuck High School. Another Virginia Tech. Another Sandy Hook. Another Orlando.

We are all suffering. And we will suffer again. Unless you act, we will see another Congress do nothing, again. And people will die, another place, another time. Again. Unless WE make a difference. Together. Today.

Washington State Rep. Jim Moeller has been a mental-health professional and chemical-dependency counselor for 30 years. He is running for Congress in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District. Jim is seeking endorsements and donations to defeat the anti-LGBT and pro-gun Republican incumbent.

Learn more and donate at www.jimmoeller. com.

Celebrating 41 Years!

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June 24, 2016

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June 24, 2016

Celebrating 41 Years!

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