SGN January 14, 2011 - Section 1

Issue 02 Volume 39

Celebrating 38 Years!

FRIDAY January 14, 2011 FREE! 25¢ in bookstores & news stands

MARK SEGAL p. 4

hitchens retires p. 8

TOMLIN TICKETS p. 21

Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Millionaire arrested Gay intern called “hero” for role

by FBI for threats to helping to save Rep. Giffords’ life Rep. Jim McDermott

In a bizarre sequel to the story of Gabrielle Giffords – the Congress

see mcdermott page 18

University of Arizona junior Daniel Hernandez, 20, is credited with helping to save Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ (D-Ariz.) life as she lay gravely wounded after being shot in the head on January 8 in Tucson.

Hernandez, a member of the City of Tucson Commission on LGBT Issues, is being hailed as a hero, and for good reason. When Jared Lee Loughner allegedly opened fire at Giffords’ “Congress On Your Corner” meet-and-greet at a Tucson Safeway, Hernandez ran toward the gunshots and toward his boss (Hernandez started working as an intern for Giffords just five days prior).

Hernandez joins 61-year-old Patricia Maisch (who grabbed the gunman’s second magazine), and two men, Roger Sulzgeber and Joseph Zimudie (who tackled Loughner after he opened fire), as the four heroes of the violent day see giffords page 17

Secretary of Defense Gates plans quick DADT repeal

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has called on the armed forces to accelerate the pace of the looming repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT).

On January 6, Secretary Gates outlined a multi-step plan, including regulatory and benefits reform, preparation of training materials, and then training itself.

According to Gates, the U.S. military is “trying to get the first two phases of that process done as quickly as possible.”

“The real challenge is providing training to 2.2 million people,” said Gates. “We will do that as expeditiously as we can.”

When President Obama signed legislation authorizing the repeal of DADT, he said that the transition would take place “swiftly and efficiently.”

Secretary Gates’ support for implementing repeal quickly is consistent with existing research, which finds that swift implementation is key to avoiding disruptions once a decision is made to repeal the Gay ban.

Seattle City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw stands alongside Ava Picasso, 6, and Livia Picasso, 4, before a vigil Thursday, January 13, at Westlake Plaza for the victims of the Tucson tragedy. The girls’ mother, Kelley Picasso, read a statement from the family of Dorwan Stoddard, her stepfather’s father and one of the six victims in Tucson.

GLAAD to CNN: Keep “anti-Gay industry” off the air Connor.carey

Cherie A. Thurlby

Defense Secretary Robert Gates

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

nate gowdy

official photograph

member shot in Tucson on January 8 – a California millionaire has been arrested for threatening the life of Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott (D-7).

The FBI arrested Charles Turner Habermann of Palm Springs, California, on January 10, about a month after he left threatening voicemails on McDermott’s phone.

He is charged with one count of threatening a federal official.

If convicted, he Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott could face up to

by Mike Andrew 10 years in a federal prison.

According to federal court docuSGN Staff Writer

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

Like most 24-hour cable news channels, CNN often books people from anti-Gay groups or hate The Gay & Lesbian Alliance groups when doing segments on Against Defamation (GLAAD) same-sex marriage or other LGBT is pushing a new petition against focused issues. GLAAD says these CNN, saying the news network is wrong to bring in guests from the see CNN page 17 see dadt page 17 “anti-Gay industry” for “balance.”

2

Seattle Gay News

January 14, 2011

Celebrating 37 Years!

GLSEN/WA to host Seattle/Puget Sound Regional GSA Summit

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) Washington will be hosting a regional leadership summit at University Prep (8000 25th Ave. NE) on MLK Day, January 17, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration is from 8-9 a.m.

“Educate yourself on new and interesting ideas that can help you work with your school, community, or those you come in contact with. GLSEN provides curriculum ideas, sensitivity trainings, and resources for all educators, students, advisors, and interested adults,” announced GLSEN Washington officials in a written statement.

Regional conferences serve to help GSA groups network with each other, gain information, plan group activities, set goals, and encourage participation in activities that further our goal of safer school environments for all students.

This year, the student program is as follows: • Introduction to PFLAG/Coming out to your friends/Family • Youth Suicide Prevention Program • GSA rights • Making your school a “Safe Place” • Trans 101 • Viewing of Bullied and discussion • GSA networking • Dating and relationships • Self-defense At this year’s educator session, “Social Justice Training: Our Association in Action:

Creating Change Through Social Justice,” educators will benefit from a hands-on, interactive workshop to empower members to apply the principles of social justice when confronted with injustice (social oppression) in the workplace, the association and society at large. The objectives of the workshop are to explore why social justice principles are relevant to National Education Association (NEA) members and their work, identify forms of injustice (social oppression) in the workplace, the association, and society at large and suggest ways members can help create a more “just” learning environment for students and educators. Participants will leave with ideas and resources for implementing the principles of social justice in their workplace and classroom.

This session will be held at the same time as the GSA Leadership Summit at the same location.

There will be advisor and student break out sessions. Clock hours will be available for teachers and provided by Puget Sound ESD. Cost will be $5 (suggested) or $15 if you need lunch, or pay what you can. GLSEN Washington officials say they won’t turn anyone away.

It is suggested that you bring lunch, if you choose not to buy, as there are no restaurants or dining establishments within walking distance. You can choose to pay online or pay at the door.

To register for the 8th Annual GSA Leadership Summit, go to www.brownpapertickby Shaun Knittel ets.com/event/137561.

SGN Associate Editor

Clinton re-revises State Department forms

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Less than a month after the U.S. State Department revised language on one of its standard forms, the form has been re-revised by order of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Last month, the wording of the State Department’s “Consular Report of Birth Abroad” was changed to adopt gender-neutral language.

The form is used to document the births of children to U.S. citizens living outside the country.

Where the form previously asked for the names of the child’s “Mother” and “Father,” the language was changed to “Parent 1” and “Parent 2.”

LGBT organizations applauded the change, which would more accurately describe the family relationships of same-sex couples, where there might be two “Mothers” or two “Fathers” rather than one of each.

Conservative groups criticized it as an attack on traditional one man-one woman marriage, however.

The changes to the form were made public on December 22, but were not widely noticed until the Family Equality Council, an advocacy group for LGBT families, publicly thanked Clinton for making them.

In a January 5 statement, the group said the revision “carries significant tangible and symbolic consequences for same-sex headed families, and increases governmental efficiency by alleviating the needless confusion, delays, and denials caused by outdated gender-specific forms.”

That drew the attention of conservative groups like the Family Research Council, which said the change catered to the “topsyturvy world of left-wing political correctness.”

“This is clearly designed to advance the

ECSA raises player fees for 2011 season

causes of same-sex ‘marriage’ and homosexual parenting without statutory authority, and violates the spirit if not the letter of the Defense of Marriage Act,” the FRC said in a statement on January 7.

According to State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, Clinton was unaware that the terms “Mother” and “Father” would be removed from the forms when she signed off on broader changes to the document last year.

“She has directed that the relevant forms retain the existing references to ‘Mother’ and ‘Father’ in addition to the designation ‘Parent,’” Crowley said on January 8.

He said Clinton’s decision would ensure that the documents are as inclusive and informative as possible.

State Department officials said the Secretary of State was concerned that eliminating “Mother” and “Father” from the forms would spark an unwanted fight with Republican members of Congress.

Parents will now be described on the rerevised forms as “Mother or Parent 1” and Father or Parent 2.”

Family Equality Council executive director Jennifer Chrisler said the latest language was “not an unreasonable place where the State Department has landed,” but added that it “would be a shame” if the department was “responding to pressure by the FRC.” The FRC has not yet commented on the latest revision.

As secretary of state, Clinton has been a forceful advocate for LGBT equality.

In 2009 she moved to give LGBT State Department employees, their partners, and families the same benefits that straight employees and their families receive.

In June 2010, she also authorized changes in rules governing passport applications to make it easier for Transgender people to get U.S. passports that accurately describe their gender.

Visit us online www.sgn.org

For the first time in about a decade, the Emerald City Softball Association (ECSA) Board voted to make changes in the fee structure for the 2011 season. The decision for the Board to increase the regular season player fee to $95 (up from $65) did not come easy, says ECSA Commissioner Jeff Card.

“For the past two years, the league has operated at a small but manageable deficit, but the Board has deferred any fee increases until now due to the economic downturn,” Card said in a statement to ECSA members. “With this change, we will not have to make additional increases in 2012 or the foreseeable future.”

I spoke with Card about the increase, which will impact over 500 softball players, and what the league plans to do for players who might not be able to afford an almost 50% jump in fees.

“The three largest expenses for a softball league are players’ accident insurance, umpires, and fields,” Card told Seattle Gay News. “Insurance and umpire costs grow slowly but surely every year.”

According to the ECSA Commissioner, the number-one factor driving the increase is field rentals. “As recently as 2008, we played all of our games on fields that cost us, on average, $20 per hour,” said Card. “Even at those rates, the annual increases in other expenses meant we were operating on a deficit for the past two years. In that time, we’ve grown so large that we need more than one venue each week.”

During the 2009-2010 season, when the league operated in the red, the Board did not raise fees because of the economy. Instead,

ECSA officials tapped into their rainy day fund to keep fees at the same level they had been for 10 years.

“But this year, the city’s Parks Department is raising their fees,” explained Card.

“Our least expensive fields now cost about 25% more, and others cost $50 per hour. The extra revenue this year will cover our cost increases and allow us to replenish our rainy day fund over the next couple of years.”

Card says that, in setting the increased rates, the ECSA Board relied on annual surveys “which overwhelmingly show that players want a firstrate league with the best available amenities.”

He said the Board also surveyed former players and “not a single person mentioned costs as a concern.”

Because the economy hasn’t fully recovered, ECSA officials say they understand that the player fee may create a hardship for some. “We’ll announce the specifics in February, but we’re also setting up a scholarship program to ensure that anybody who wants to play can do so,” said Card.

Player fees have historically accounted for about only 65% of the total revenue for the league, he said. The rest comes from corporate sponsorships and team fees, which are usually covered by sponsors.

To offset fees, at the ECSA’s request, Seattle ASA is providing player accident insurance this year under a program that will reduce costs for Fall Ball. “We’re passing those savings along in the form of a player fee that’s $20 less than last year’s,” said Card.

For more information about the ECSA, visit them online at www.emeraldcitysoftball.org.

“For the past two years, the league has operated at a small but manageable deficit, but the Board has deferred any fee increases until now due to the economic downturn.”

January 14, 2011

Seattle Gay News

3

Seattle Gay News FOUNDED 1973

1605 12th Ave., Ste. 31 Seattle, WA 98122

Phone: (206) 324-4297 Fax: (206) 322-7188

MEMBER

e-mail: sgn2@sgn.org internet: www.sgn.org

2011

Deadlines Classifieds - Thursday at noon Calendar - Tuesday 6pm Display Ads: Space Reservation - Monday 5pm Ad copy (non-camera ready) - Tues. 5pm Ad copy (camera ready) - Wed. 5pm Letters to the Editor - Tuesday 5pm Obituaries - Call the sGn office All others - Tuesday 5pm

Editor In Chief George Bakan Associate Editor Shaun Knittel Editorial Assistant Nick Ardizzone Production William Creswell Calender Editors Mike Andrew and Rick McKinnon Travel Editor George Bakan Advertising Manager Marty Weisbrod Advertising Department Maggie Bloodstone Executive Assistant Mike Andrew Staff Writers George Bakan, Albert S. Rodriguez, Nick Ardizzone, Shaun Knittel, Miryam Gordon, Tim Peter

Mr. President, Washington and Franklin thank you

Contributing Writers

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

Classifieds Mike Andrew and Rick McKinnon Photographers Nick Ardizzone, Nate Gowdy, Joseph P. Herron, Shaun Knittel 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. © 2011, 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.

Opinions expressed in bylined articles, columns, and letters are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff or management of this paper.

Seattle Gay News welcomes unsolicited material, including letters to the editor, but reserves the right to edit or reject material. All rights revert to authors upon publication.

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

And please play safe.

It is our policy that no money shall be refunded if you choose to cancel your subscription or ad. However, credit towards any size ad will be given for the balance owed. No exceptions.

Benjamin Franklin (l) and George Washington

by Mark Segal Courtesy of the Philadelphia Gay News When President Obama signed the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” he might have felt the ghosts of founding fathers George Washington and Benjamin Franklin smiling over his shoulder. They might have even whispered in his ear, “It’s about time.”

History clearly recalls that the Revolution-

ary Army was a rag-tag band of men with little to no military training. We fumbled through the beginning of the war of independence with lack of training, conduct and organization. Washington knew that, without help, the Colonies would lose. Since Washington himself was the best this nation had, he looked to Europe for someone who could bring order to the troops. To that end, Washington wrote the Colonies’ representative in Paris at the time, Franklin, to see

what he could find.

Franklin learned of a Prussian military genius, Lt. Gen. Friederich von Steuben, who’d had a string of successes with numerous armies across Europe. There was one problem: Various kingdoms of Europe had asked von Steuben to depart because of his “affections for members of his own sex.” And while Franklin was interviewing him, the situation became somewhat hectic as members of the French clergy decided to make a crusade and drum him out of France.

Franklin had a choice here, and he decided von Steuben’s expertise was more important than his sexual orientation. He and another colony representative, Silas Deane, acted quickly before the clergy could deport von Steuben and sent him to the Colonies to serve with Washington.

Once the lieutenant was here, Washington was concerned about von Steuben’s lack of English, so he appointed two of his officers who spoke French to work as translators.

One of those officers was Alexander Hamilton and the other was his close friend Henry Laurens. Some historians claim the two were lovers – but that’s another column.

Washington and Franklin’s trust in von Steuben was realized as he taught the troops the essentials of military drills, tactics, and disciplines, including how to effectively use a bayonet and organizing a military camp.

He authored the “Revolutionary War Drill Manual,” which became the standard drill manual until the War of 1812, and served as Washington’s chief of staff in the final years of the Revolutionary War. He was part of Washington ’s inner circle, and a major factor in the victory of the Colonies. And that, my friends, is why Gay history is important.

And a fun read.

Mark Segal is PGN publisher. He is the nation’s most-award-winning commentator in LGBT media, having recently received the 2010 Columnist of the Year Award from the 2,000-member Suburban Newspapers of America. He can be reached atmark@epgn. com.

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

4

Seattle Gay News

January 14, 2011

Celebrating 37 Years!

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

Internationally renowned as a center for GLBT culture, San Francisco will soon welcome yet another groundbreaking Queer institution: The GLBT History Museum.

A project of the GLBT Historical Society, an archival and research center established in 1985, the new museum will be the first of its kind in the United States, and only the second in the world.

The formal grand opening took place January 13, and included a preview for sponsors, donors and special guests, followed by a ribbon-cutting and reception open to the public.

“A quarter century after the founding of the GLBT Historical Society, we’re proud to open a museum to showcase our community’s history,” said Paul Boneberg, executive director of the Historical Society. “The GLBT History Museum is in the heart of the Castro, a neighborhood visited not only by locals, but also by tens of thousands of tourists every year who come in search of Queer culture. At our museum, they’ll discover treasures from our archives that reflect fascinating stories spanning nearly a century of GLBT life. We have gone all out to create a museum as rich, diverse, and surprising as the GLBT community itself. Whether they are Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, or straight, visitors are sure to be moved, en-

lightened and entertained.”

Located at 4127 18th St., the museum includes 1,600 square feet of gallery and program space built to the specifications of the Historical Society, with custom fixtures, lighting, and multimedia installations reflecting professional standards. Funding has come from Levi’s, the City of San Francisco, Castro district merchants, and numerous other sponsors and individual donors. Regular hours for The GLBT History Museum will be Wednesday through Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Sundays, noon to 5:00 p.m. Admission: $5.00; free for members.

For more information, call 415-621-1107 or visit www.glbthistory.org The GLBT History Museum joins the Schwules Museum, the Queer museum founded 25 years ago in Berlin, as one of only two stand-alone, full-scale museums devoted to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender history. A number of other LGBT archives and libraries also offer periodic exhibitions in the same location as their research collections or in space borrowed on an occasional basis from other organizations.

The museum will feature two debut exhibitions: In the main gallery, “Our Vast Queer Past: Celebrating GLBT History,” curated by historians Gerard Koskovich, Don Romesburg, and Amy Sueyoshi; and in the front gallery, “Great Collections of the GLBT Historical Society Archives.”

New HPV vaccine good news for African American men

GLBT Historical Society

San Francisco opens first LGBT history museum in the USA

Inside the GLBT History Museum in San Francisco

name Gardasil, was approved by the FDA for protection against anal cancer on December 22.

“The National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) applauds the FDA’s decision,” the group said in a statement issued January 6, “believing it will have a significant impact on the health of both HIV patients and HIVnegative men who have sex with men.”

Gardasil is now one of only two HPV vaccines on the market, the other one being Cervarix.

Both vaccines protect against the two HPV types (HPV-16 and HPV-18) that cause 70% of cervical cancers, and cause some other genital cancers.

Gardasil also protects against the two HPV types (HPV-6 and HPV-11) that cause 90% of genital warts, and it has also been shown to prevent potential precursors to anal, vulvar, vaginal, and penile cancers.

While anal cancer is relatively rare, it affects men who have sex with men and people living with HIV at a significantly higher rate than the general public.

According to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, Gay and Bisexual men are about 20 times more likely to be diagnosed with anal cancer than the general population.

That likelihood is almost 40 times higher for men living with HIV. Although anal cancer affects women at a higher rate than men, health outcomes are considerably poorer for men, especially African American men.

According to the National Cancer Institute, the five-year survival rate among white women is approximately 71%, compared to only about 62% for white men.

Among African American men, the sur-

vival rate drops significantly to roughly 51%.

Despite some initial safety concerns, the FDA found Gardasil relatively safe.

Gardasil is a three-dose (injection) vaccine.

As of September 1, 2009, there have been more than 26 million doses distributed in the United States, and there have been 15,037 Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports following the vaccination.

VAERS reports document what are usually called “side effects” of medications.

Ninety-three percent were reports of “non-serious” side effects – fainting, pain and swelling at the injection site (arm), headache, nausea, and fever.

Seven percent were considered to be serious – death, permanent disability, lifethreatening illness, and hospitalization.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention, there is no proven causal link between the vaccine and serious adverse effects. All reports are related by time only. In other words, they are only related because the effect happened some time after the vaccination.

“The FDA’s decision to approve Gardasil for the prevention of anal cancer is a promising step for public health, particularly for the HIV community,” said Paul Kawata, executive director of NMAC. “Anal cancer disproportionately affects men who have sex with men, and people living with HIV. The use of this vaccine could have a significant impact on both co-morbidities and potential treatment costs within these populations.”

The NMAC is a coalition of some 3,000 faith-based and community-based organizations as well as AIDS service organizations based in communities of color nationwide.

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

through for HIV-positive people, men who have sex with men, and especially African Americans, according the National MinorA newly approved vaccine for human ity AIDS Council (NMAC).

The new vaccine, which goes by the trade papillomavirus (HPV) may be a break-

Visit us online www.sgn.org

January 14, 2011

Seattle Gay News

5

INTERNATIONAL NATIONAL

British Lesbian activist, Lisa Power, receives award from Queen Elizabeth II

Gay sports figure, others honored by queen Aslie Pitter, a founder of Britain’s first Gay soccer team, Stonewall FC, was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire in Queen Elizabeth II’s New Year Honours, for his voluntary service.

Toni Montinaro received an MBE “for services to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People in Derbyshire.”

Veteran Lesbian activist Lisa Power was awarded an MBE “for services to sexual health and to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community.”

And social worker Barbara Ross received an MBE “for services to Gender Dysphoria.”

Married Mexican Gay couples granted spousal health coverage A Mexico City Lesbian, married under the city’s same-sex marriage law, has won

the right to insure her wife in the national health-care system.

In 2010, a judge had ordered that Lol Kin Castañeda could register Judith Vázquez as her wife with the Mexican Institute of Social Security, the national health-care system.

The Secretariat of Labor and Social Security appealed the order several weeks ago, then reversed course this month and dropped the appeal.

The agency said its final determination in the matter also applies to other same-sex couples married in Mexico City, the only place in the nation where same-sex marriage has been legalized.

Gay couples married in Mexico City also are supposed to be recognized as married by all of Mexico’s 31 states, in accord with a 2010 federal Supreme Court ruling, though the decision remains untested in most locations.

With assistance from Bill Kelley

NEWS

by Rex Wockner SGN Contributing Writer Jim Cole, Associated Press

courtesy WHEN

NEWS

by Rex Wockner SGN Contributing Writer

this ordinance,” Sullivan said.

Anchorage is home to 40 percent of Alaskan residents.

Same-sex marriage threatened in New Hampshire Even as Rhode Island legislators introduced a bill to legalize same-sex marriage on January 6, fears are mounting that New Hampshire may be preparing to repeal its same-sex marriage law.

In the November elections, Republicans took control of both houses of the New Hampshire Legislature and they have enough seats to override vetoes by Democratic Gov. John Lynch.

Bills have been filed to repeal the marriageequality law and to Republican William O’Brien starts the New Hampshire legislative amend the state constisession as Speaker of the House, Wednesday, December 1, 2010. tution to prohibit samesex couples from marrying.

“Republicans now have a veto-proof Activists to push majority in the Legislature, and the newly Anchorage LGBT elected House speaker, state Rep. Bill rights ordinance Alaska’s Equality Works coalition will at- O’Brien, is a staunch opponent of marriage tempt to pass a Gay and Transgender rights equality,” said Lee Swislow, executive diordinance through the Anchorage Munici- rector of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). pal Assembly this year.

Four Republican senators or 32 RepubliThe proposed law would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender can House members would need to join evidentity in housing, employment and public ery Democrat in one or the other chamber to uphold a gubernatorial veto of any bill endaccommodations.

Should the measure become law, anti-Gay ing same-sex marriage. The Senate has 24 forces have vowed to attempt to repeal it via members, of whom 19 now are Republican, and the House has 400 members, of whom a ballot initiative.

Should the ordinance fail to pass the As- 298 are Republican.

The previous Legislature legalized samesembly, LGBT activists will work to put it on the ballot in 2012 for approval by voters. sex marriage in June 2009 and the law took A version of the ordinance passed the effect Jan. 1, 2010.

Same-sex marriage also is legal in ConAssembly 7-4 in 2009 but was vetoed by Mayor Dan Sullivan, who said he wasn’t necticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont and Washington, D.C. convinced anti-Gay discrimination exists.

“My review shows that there is clearly a With assistance from Bill Kelley lack of quantifiable evidence necessitating

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Ugandan presidential candidate Kizza Besigye – long-time leader of the opposition to incumbent president Yoweri Museveni – said he would decriminalize same-sex relations if he is elected.

Besigye is challenging Museveni for the third time in a vote scheduled for February 18.

“This is something that is done in the privacy of people’s rooms, between consenting adults,” Besigye said in a town hall-style TV appearance on January 10.

The issue has “generated far too much excitement” among current government leaders, he said.

Resources the police devote to investigating Gay people “could be better spent elsewhere,” Besigye added.

Besigye is a retired colonel in the Ugandan army and the chairman of the Forum for Democratic Change.

He first ran against Museveni in 2001, and 6

Seattle Gay News

filed an unsuccessful suit to block Museveni’s election amidst charges of widespread fraud. The Ugandan Supreme Court ruled 5-0 that the election was fraudulent, but declined to overturn it by a vote of 3-2.

Later the same year, Museveni had him arrested, interrogated, and deported to the U.S. Besigye returned to Uganda in 2005 to run for the presidency again, and was arrested a second time.

In the 2006 elections, he lost to Museveni once more in another election marred by fraud and violence.

Uganda’s penal code bans sexual acts “against the order of nature,” an expression adopted from the country’s colonial-era laws, and held to cover same-sex relations among other acts.

In 2009, a lawmaker allied with Museveni introduced legislation to expand the list of Gay sex crimes and add the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” and “serial offenders.”

January 14, 2011

majimbokenya.com

Leave Gays alone, says Ugandan opposition presidential candidate

Ugandan opposition presidential candidate Kizza Besigye

The bill has not yet been debated in parliament, and Museveni last year urged ruling party lawmakers to “go slow” on the bill, following an international outcry against the measure.

David Bahati, the bill’s author, said recently that he would do “whatever it takes” to see the bill passed, however.

Both Museveni and Bahati are protégés of the secretive U.S. Christian-right group The

Family. Many observers believe that The Family engineered the “kill the Gays” bill.

In a speech last year, Besigye said that the measure was being used to divert attention away from “the real urgent issues – human rights abuses, rampant corruption.”

“The enthusiasm with which the anti-homosexuality bill has been introduced I find suspicious and dubious and ominous,” he said.

Celebrating 37 Years!

Seattle has one of the largest annual Martin Luther King Day Celebrations in the U.S. We honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for his work toward racial equality and economic justice for all people, for his comcompiled by Rick McKinnon mitment to nonviolence, and for his stand SGN Staff Writer against war and militarism.

For more information, visit www.mlkseDAVID WOJNAROWICZ’S This controversial speech, delivered at attle.org.

CONTROVERSIAL VIDEO, New York’s Riverside Church on April 4, A FIRE IN MY BELLY, GSBA BUSINESS LUNCHEON 1967, outlined King’s opposition to the VietSHOWING IN SEATTLE On Wednesday, January 19 from 11:30 nam War. During the speech, King called the David Wojnarowicz’s controversial video, United States government “the greatest pur- a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the Greater Seattle BusiA Fire in My Belly, that was part of a show of veyor of violence in the world today” and ness Association (GSBA) will hold their Gay and Lesbian related art at the Smithso- he offered a five-point plan for stopping the January Business Luncheon at the Seattle nian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery war urging “a radical revolution of values” Marriott Waterfront (2100 Alaskan Way). recently, until it was removed from the exhi- that emphasized social justice rather than New Seattle Police Chief John Diaz and bition in response to a deluge of unfavorable economic materialism.

Assistant Chief Dick Reed will attend and calls and emails from the Catholic League Response to the speech was largely nega- answer questions about public safety, hate and its partisans, is being shown with other tive, and the New York Times stated that it crimes, and budget cuts. Come prepared for less controversial works by Wojnarowicz “diminished [King’s] usefulness to his an interactive and lively discussion. Tickets at the Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave. cause, to his country, and to his people.” $39, $34 for members and students.

S. through February 13, Henry Art Gallery, Similarly, the NAACP accused King of linkFor more info, visit www.thegsba.org.

15th Ave. NE & NE 41st St. through Febru- ing two disparate issues – the Civil Rights ary 13. The Seattle Art Museum, First Ave. Movement and the Vietnam War. SEATTLE GAY & LESBIAN & Union St., presents other works by WojnBOOK CLUB AT DUNSHEE HOUSE Close to the end of the speech, King arowicz through January 30.

The Seattle Gay & Lesbian Book Club would add, “We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are meets every Wednesday at 6 p.m. at DunEARTHCORPS MLK confronted with the fierce urgency of now. shee House (303 17th Ave. E. at E. Thomas WEEKEND OF SERVICE In this unfolding conundrum of life and his- St.). All GLBTQ folks in the community are From Saturday, January 15 to Monday, tory, there is such a thing as being too late.” welcome to participate in this FREE book January 17, EarthCorps will celebrate the The Beyond Vietnam speech was made club.

MLK Weekend of Service and expects to exactly one year before King’s assassinaThe book for January is Hindoo Holiday, work with 500 volunteers over three days. tion. The reading will weave together ex- also by J.R. Ackerley – his true-life travel Expanding on the nationally celebrated cerpts of this timely speech with songs from adventure about the few months he was MLK Day of Service on Monday, Earth- the Civil Rights Movement. hired as the private secretary to an eccentric Corps aims to make MLK Weekend the first Maharajah in a little principality of India This event is free and open to the public. large volunteer event of 2011 in the Puget For more information, visit www.seattle- who has a penchant for beautiful boys. It’s Sound region. Join thousands of volunteers center.com. a novel by a Gay author with Gay content nationwide in making MLK Day “a day ON, – but not about Gay love or Gay sex. Think not a day OFF!” about your Gay friends – Gay people exist BAILEY-BOUSHAY HOUSE The volunteer work will be held at Jose most of the time OUTSIDE of the bedroom, CHEFS’ DINNER Rizal, Dearborn Park, Kiwanis Wildlife On Sunday, January 16, join support- and what happens otherwise is often just Corridor, and Cheasty Greenspace. ers of Bailey-Boushay House for an hors hinted at – well, that’s the kind of Gay writThe service project includes the removal d’oeuvres reception and silent wine auction ing this is. of English ivy, a non-native aggressive at 5 p.m. ($75) and private dinner ($300, It’s a Gay man’s perceptions of a Mahaplant species that threatens the diversity of which includes the reception and auction) rajah who obsesses over handsome lowerour urban forests. Volunteers will be creat- at the Bell Harbor International Conference caste youths. Ackerley’s acerbic wit demoling “survival rings” around trees that have Center, 2211 Alaskan Way. ishes several haughty British ladies also ivy climbing their trunks, which compete Dine to make a difference at the 19th visiting the Palace, and the bits of dialogue for light and nutrients, and eventually cause annual Chefs’ Dinner to benefit Bailey- scattered throughout are often hilarious. It’s them to die. Other work may include plant- Boushay House. Guests will enjoy the best travel writing at its best – an utterly personal ing native trees and shrubs, and restoration that area chefs have to offer. 206-583-6514; plunge into a colorful world very different maintenance such as weeding, wood chip www.virginiamason.org/chefs from our own. application and sheet mulching.

And now, a special message for Gay Community partners include the Green book lovers: GLSEN/WA HOSTS Seattle Partnership, Service for Peace, City “I’ve now read the first 150 pages of our GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE of Seattle, Seattle Parks and Recreation, February book, and I’m making myself stop REGIONAL CONFERENCE City Year, YMCA Earth Service Corps, On Monday, January 17, registration from long enough to send this e-mail. I’ve disUnited Way of King County, UW Carlson 8 a.m. to 9 a.m, conference from 9 a.m. to covered a new hero. He writes like a Gay Center, Seattle U Center for Service and 2 p.m., at University Prep (8000 25th Ave. Iris Murdoch, with gorgeous sentences, hiCommunity Engagement, Seattle Parks NE.), the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Educa- larious stinging satire, and flawed fascinatand Recreation, Heron Habitat Helpers and tion Network (GLSEN) Washington state ing characters. I’m talking about a big Gay YMCA Earth Service Corps – all serving to will hold its annual Gay-Straight Alliance novel with hot sex scenes, catty comments, restore urban parks. relentless realism and hilarious perceptions, (GSA) Regional Conference.

Volunteers may sign up by contacting Educate yourself on new and interest- the novel that surprised the English-speakChris LaPointe at chris@earthcorps.org or ing ideas that can help you work with your ing world by running away with one of the (206) 322-9296 ext. 217. school, community, or those you come in most honored annual literary prizes on this contact with. GLSEN provides curriculum planet, the 2004 Booker.

Q-SQUARED BOOK GROUP I’m talking about Alan Hollinghurst’s The ideas, sensitivity trainings, and resources SEX TOYS OF THE GODS for all educators, students, advisors and in- Line of Beauty. Originally I hesitated over On Saturday, January 15 at 1 p.m. at the terested adults. this book because (1) I thought it might be Capitol Hill Branch Library (425 Harvard Regional conferences serve to help GSA too literary and difficult, and (2) because it’s Ave. E.), the Q-Squared Book Group will groups network with each other, gain infor- long, 438 pages of small print. Well, (1) as discuss the book Sex Toys of the Gods by mation, plan group activities, set goals, and soon as you hit Chapter 2 and the elaborate, Christian McLaughlin. We’re taking a holi- encourage participation in activities that fur- delightful sex encounter, you’ll keep readday break with a more light-hearted book ther our goal of safer school environments ing effortlessly, and (2) at this point, 150 selection this month. “For nonstop chuck- for all students. pages into the story, the book can’t be long les, laughs, and outright guffaws, Sex Toys Student programs include introduction enough, I’m having so much fun reading it. of the Gods is a must. … Fast-paced and to PFLAG, coming out to your friends and I’ve noticed that the University Book twisting. A delightful page-turner.” – Pub- family, Youth Suicide Prevention Program, Store has a hefty pile of this book at a dislisher’s Weekly GSA rights, making your school a “safe counted price of $6.98. My advice to you Q-Squared Book Group is open to men place,” Trans 101, viewing of Bullied and is: snag one of them immediately, and since who are interested in Gay literature and al- discussion, GSA networking, dating and re- this book is a bit longer than our usual selecways welcomes new members. tion, get cracking on it. You won’t want to lationships, and self-defense.

For more information, visit www.

Cost is $5, $15 with lunch, or pay-what- rush such a delightful experience. Believe qsquared.org and click on “Ongoing Pro- you-can. For more information, e-mail me, my mouth muscles are tired from smilgrams.” mail@glsenwa.org or visit www.glsenwa. ing so much. Give yourself time to enjoy it.

And I hear there’s an excellent British org.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR’S three-hour miniseries adaptation of The BEYOND VIETNAM SPEECH Line of Beauty. I’ll bet they have it at ScareMARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. On Saturday, January 15 at 1 p.m. at the crow Video! We’d have to spread it over two WORKSHOPS, RALLY, Seattle Center’s Center House, the Central meetings, so February might not be quite AND MARCH District Forum for Arts & Ideas (CD Forum) On Monday, January 17, the Martin Lu- long enough for all this – our Hollinghurst and the Seattle Center present a staged read- ther King Celebration Committee presents festival may lap over into March, but who ing of Martin Luther King, Jr’s landmark the 29th annual region-wide Martin Lu- cares? I get the feeling there’s going to be speech, Beyond Vietnam. The reading will ther King, Jr., Celebration at Garfield High LOTS to discuss. feature actors Rachael Ferguson, Charles School (400 23rd Ave.). Workshops from Hope to see some of you this coming Norris, Paul Rosenthal and Adillia Scott. 9:30-11 a.m., rally at 11 a.m., and march Wednesday and the rest of this month in our Music by the Sound of the Northwest. Di- at noon. Make plans to join us at this com- ongoing discussion of J. R. Ackerley, this rected by Timeca Briggs. munity event honoring Dr. King’s life and time reading his very funny Hindoo Holiday. legacy! All are welcome.

NORTHWEST

NEWS

Visit us online www.sgn.org

January 14, 2011

But if you’ve fallen behind in our two Ackerley memoirs, if you’ve been absent from our club for a while, The Line of Beauty might be the perfect opportunity to dive into a big, entertaining, stimulating Gay novel and give yourself enough time to read it, so you can discuss it with us at Dunshee House, any and every Wednesday evening in February at 6 p.m.”

For more information, e-mail nickdimartin@earthlink.net or contact Dunshee House at 206-322-2437.

DHARMA BUDDIES BOOK CLUB On Wednesday, January 19 at 7 p.m., the Dharma Buddies book club will start up again. We will begin study of the book The End of Your World by Adyashanti. You do not have to be a member of the group to join.

For more information, call (206) 300-3321 or (206) 920-6117 or e-mail onlyonesf@yahoo.com.

SEATTLE LESBIAN AND GAY CHILD CARE TASK FORCE FAMILY CONNECTION NIGHT On Thursday, January 20 from 6-8 p.m. at the Shoreline Conference Center (18560 1st Ave. NE.), the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Child Care Task Force will host their Family Connection Night event. The film That’s a Family will screen, followed by group discussion. A community resource table will feature a variety of information. Pizza and limited childcare for children ages 3-6 is provided. Space is limited.

Attendees must RSVP to Sue Ferguson at (425) 891-3159 or suefmail@yahoo.com.

KNIGHTS OF MANTRA BEGGARS’ FEAST – SOMETHING MEDIEVAL On Saturday, January 22 at 6 p.m. at Russian Hall (704 19th Ave. E.), the Jet Chapter of the Knights of Mantra will hold their 2011 Beggars’ Feast – Something Medieval.

Price includes five-course meal and dessert.

Games, stocks, spanking stools, great food, entertainment, and special surprises. $30 in advance, $35 at the door.

For tickets, contact a Knights of Mantra member.

GAY CITY WRITING WORKSHOP On Mondays from January 24 through March 7 at Gay City Health Project (511 E. Pike), Gay City Arts presents Smudgy Notebook, the Gay City Writing Workshop Series. For this winter session, Gay City will focus on basic writing techniques such as point of view, setting, character development, allegory/ fable/ metaphor, poetry and short story form/structure, and others. The goal is to foster an understanding of writing on a literary level. Each week we will have an informal discussion concerning a specific writing technique or tool, and focus our attention on developing and/or honing our skills in that area. This Queer-friendly course is open to women, Trans-folk, and men, and is designed to accommodate beginners and more advanced writers.

Cost is $50; need-based scholarships available; January 24 session is FREE. For more info, please contact Kevin at (206) 850-1575 or Susan at (206) 388-1707 or susan@gaycity.org.

AN EVENING AT LE FAUX DUNSHEE HOUSE FUNDRAISING EVENT On Friday, January 28 at 10 p.m. at Julia’s on Broadway (300 Broadway E.), join the cast of Seattle’s longest-running celebrity impersonation show, Le Faux, in supporting the community through services provided at Dunshee House. Proceeds from ticket sales on Friday, January 28 will go directly to benefit Dunshee House. The show begins at 10 p.m., tickets are available at http://www. brownpapertickets.com/event/113129. Dinner is also available prior to the show.

For reservations call (206) 334.0513.

Seattle Gay News

7

NCLR founder Judge Donna Hitchens retires california bar journal

Lesbian Rights. And today, Judge Hitchens’ pioneering spirit and unwavering commitment to advancing LGBT justice and equality continues, with NCLR staff helping more than 5,000 LGBT people and their families each year through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education.

Hitchens won election to the San Francisco Superior Court in 1990, soon helping unify the court so that all cases involving divorce, adoption, abused children, child support, domestic violence, and other matters of family law were in one division.

Judge Hitchens has worked to improve the accessibility of the legal system for lowincome families and children by helping establish coordinated youth services as well as a mandatory training program and peer review procedures for juvenile court attorneys to ensure delivery of the best services. She has devoted much of her efforts at improving the social welfare and justice system for families and youth, and worked with the Bar Association of San Francisco to establish the court’s Family Law Self-Help Center, as well as with court staff, the Bar Association of San Francisco, San Francisco agencies, and various community organizations to improve services for the dependency court and

foster children. She has also chaired the San Francisco Safe Start Initiative, aimed at improving services to young children exposed to violence in the home and in the community.

Over the years, her efforts have been recognized by numerous organizations that have honored her with awards, including the 2001 Benjamin Aranda Access to Justice Award for her efforts to improve access to the courts for low- and moderate-income people. She also is the recipient of the 2002 Judicial Officer of the Year Award from the Family Law Section of the State Bar of California.

Since being elected to the Superior Court, Judge Hitchens has served as presiding judge, a trial judge in the Civil and Criminal Divisions, and as supervising judge of the Unified Family Court. She is a former member of the Judicial Council and the Advisory Committee on Access and Fairness in the Courts and recently chaired the Science & the Law Education Committee.

In addition to her Juris Doctorate, she earned a bachelor’s degree in community leadership and development from Springfield (Mass.) College, where she later earned a Master’s in counseling.

Palm Springs police chief resigns over Gay slurs KPSP

Donna Hitchens

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor The Honorable Donna Hitchens, founder of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), has retired from the San Francisco Superior Court after two decades on the bench, where she developed a reputation as a compassionate judge and an innovative leader.

“Donna’s vision and tenacity have transformed the legal landscape for Lesbians and all LGBT people,” said NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell. “As the founder of NCLR, she saw an enormous need for legal advocacy directed squarely at the issues confronting Lesbians in this country. The lives of thousands have been improved because Donna’s commitment was, and is, unparalleled.

Her unfailing commitment to justice and equality continued in her role as one of the nation’s most well-respected judges, whose innovative leadership has redefined how the family court system operates in San Francisco. Her legacy is expansive and extraordinary, and she’s truly a living icon.”

“As a legal scholar, she saw the courtroom as a way to change the world. As a Lesbian,

she had experienced frustrations and fears – both personal and professional – and didn’t want others to suffer the same. As a future parent, she knew she would face even more challenges ahead,” said NCLR officials in a statement.

Fresh out of the University of California, Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law in 1977 and eager to make a difference, she started the Lesbian Rights Project, one of the first legal organizations in the country to focus primarily on issues encountered by Lesbians, such as custody, adoption, access to public accommodations, and employment. Equal Rights Advocates, a leading national advocacy organization for women, sponsored the Lesbian Rights Project. Over time, the Project also began to represent Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender parents, and to expand its work into other areas such as immigration, youth, elder care, employment, and constitutional law.

“We congratulate Judge Donna Hitchens on her retirement from the San Francisco Superior Court and thank her for her years of service to our community,” said Equal Rights Advocates Executive Director Arcelia Hurtado. “She is a legendary figure in the civil rights community, having been involved in the founding of two of our country’s most impactful civil rights organizations, ERA and NCLR. On a personal note, when my partner, Nicole Solis, and I had our two sons, Judge Hitchens presided over both of their second-parent adoption hearings. She showed us such compassion and honored our humanity as parents in a way that will live forever in my memory. On behalf of the board and staff of ERA, we wish her the best in her retirement.”

In 1988, the Project became independent and was renamed the National Center for

“As a legal scholar, she saw the courtroom as a way to change the world.

As a Lesbian, she had experienced frustrations and fears – both personal and professional – and didn’t want others to suffer the same.”

8

Seattle Gay News

January 14, 2011

Former Palm Springs Police Chief David Dominquez

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

ficers in question have since been disciplined.

The Chief of Police of Palm Springs, Da- In addition, based on the results of the vid Dominquez, has stepped down after an report, city leaders promised that all city inquiry revealed that he and other officers workers would receive LGBT sensitivity made anti-Gay slurs while conducting an training. undercover sex-sting operation targeting Palm Spring’s openly Gay mayor, Steve Gays having sex in public in the city’s Warm Pougnet, said the chief’s decision to retire will allow the city to “begin the healing proSands neighborhood.

Dominquez’s January 5 decision to retire cess” over the controversy. came a week after he issued a public apol- “We must now redouble out efforts to proogy for his “inappropriate comment,” which mote and improve relations with the LGBT led to a city inquiry into the incident and the community and all of our diverse commucomplaints that the police were unfairly tar- nities,” Pougnet said in a statement. “Only genuine demonstrations of respect, opengeting Gays.

“After careful consideration of the events ness, and participation will build undersurrounding the Warm Sands undercover op- standing trust and acceptance over time.”

The news out of Palm Springs was pareration, I believe this decision is in the best interest of my family, the city, and the police ticularly shocking because the city is known department,” Dominquez, a 31-year law en- as a Gay mecca of sorts. Gay resorts, sunny weather, and a long history of being a Gay forcement veteran, said in a statement.

The inquiry’s report found that a number travel destination attract thousands of LGBT of officers made anti-Gay slurs during the tourists year-round. undercover operation in June 2009, in which Capt. Al Franz, a member of the Palm officers acted as decoys to crack down on Springs Police Department since 1987, will sexual activity in an area known for drug serve as interim police chief while the city sales and reports of lewd conduct. The of- searches for a replacement.

Celebrating 37 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

January 14, 2011

Seattle Gay News

9

10 Seattle Gay News

January 14, 2011

Celebrating 37 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

January 14, 2011

Seattle Gay News 11

12 Seattle Gay News

January 14, 2011

Celebrating 37 Years!

Controversial new book: Americans blame God, Sex Education for Muslims study says courtesy KUED

President Obama is not the only highprofile figure to see his job approval ratings slip.

God is in trouble too, according to an Ohio professor who has researched Americans’ attitudes towards the deity for the last decade.

“We find that anywhere between one third and two thirds of people we’ve surveyed in the United States admit they sometimes feel angry at God in response to some current thing they are suffering with, such as a cancer diagnosis,” psychologist Julie Exline of Case Western Reserve University told ABC News.

“It’s a very high number.”

After more than a decade spent studying American attitudes toward God, Exline has published her findings in the latest issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Exline readily acknowledges that her findings suggest some interesting theological problems.

“Some people feel God can make a mistake, and so for them it’s not an issue if they get angry at God,” she says. “But a lot of people see God as perfect and holy and not capable of making mistakes, and they still might get angry.”

In part, the public’s frustration with God might be explained by the extraordinary religiosity of Americans.

According to a survey conducted in the U.S. by Canadian sociologist Scott Schieman of the University of Toronto, an astonishing 82% of Americans say they depend on God for help in their decision-making.

Schieman found that 71% of Americans believe both good and bad things are part of God’s plan; 61% believe God has set the course for their lives; and 32% – almost one-third – believe “there is no sense in planning a lot because ultimately my fate is in God’s hands.”

An independent study by sociologists at Baylor University reached similar conclusions.

Taken together, the studies suggest that counting on divine assistance might lead to anger if God fails to perform.

Exline says this anger may lead to unexpected theological conclusions.

Getting mad at God “can be a turning point,” she suggests.

“You have a choice. Are you going to disengage from the relationship, deciding that a loving God couldn’t do this, and stop believing in Him? Others might suppress their anger and sweep it under the rug. And still others could work things out in their relationship, with another person or with God.”

January 14, 2011

Seattle Gay News 13

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

“We find that anywhere between one third and two thirds of people we’ve surveyed in the United States admit they sometimes feel angry at God in response to some current thing they are suffering with, such as a cancer diagnosis.”

Dr. Mobin Akhtar

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer “Ignorance about sexual matters is causing a lot of our young people unnecessary psychological distress,” says Dr. Mobin Akhtar, Pakistani psychiatrist and author of Sex Education for Muslims.

His efforts to correct that situation are meeting with resistance, however.

Dr. Akhtar, now 81, says that the subject of sex is difficult to bring up in the conservative culture of Pakistan, and that his countrymen believe that doing so will encourage young people to behave in an “un-Islamic” way.

He says that even now in Pakistan, many doctors do not discuss sexual issues openly, and that teachers and parents are embarrassed by the subject.

There is no sex education instruction in government schools.

“There’s a huge problem in our country,” he says.

“Adolescents, especially boys, when they get to puberty, and the changes that come with puberty, they think it’s due to some disease.

“They start masturbating, and they are told that is very dangerous to health, and that this is sinful, very sinful.”

Dr. Akhtar says he has seen cases where teenagers have become depressed and even committed suicide because they did not understand what is happening to their bodies.

“I myself passed through that stage with all these concerns, and there’s no one to tell you otherwise, and that these are wrong perceptions. It was only when I entered medical college that I found out that these were all misconceptions,” he told BBC News.

Dr. Akhtar believes that basic sex education should start as early as possible.

“They ask me when you should start sex education, and I say as soon as the child can talk. They should be told the names of the genitals just as they are told about hands and eyes and ears and nose,” he says.

“When they get a little bigger and they ask where a child comes from, you can say it. That doesn’t make the child sexually active or immoral.”

Dr. Akhtar says he felt that the best way to help Pakistanis understand sex was to write

a book which combined basic sex education with the Islamic perspective on the subject.

He says there is also nothing un-Islamic about discussing sex.

“When I started to study what the Koran, Islamic law, and religious scholars had to say about it, I realized there is so much discussion about sex in Islam. One would be surprised.

“There are sayings from the Prophet Muhammad about sexual matters, and historical sources tell us he answered detailed queries on the subject from both men and women.”

Very few Pakistanis agree with his views, however.

Although he tried to tone down the title – Sex Education for Muslims is the name of the English version of the book, while in Urdu the title is Special Problems for Young People – that has not been enough to appease some people.

“I have had threats.

Even other doctors have accused me of acting like a maverick, a quack,” he says.

“A provincial politician even hauled me into his office and said I was encouraging pornography. I explained I was doing nothing of the sort.”

Dr. Akhtar says he has found very few bookshops willing to stock his book, and no newspapers that will accept ads for it.

“It is a very sad reaction. Ignorance about sexual matters is causing a lot of our young people unnecessary psychological distress, and we have to change that.

“I am only talking about educating people gradually and sensitively, but at the moment we are not even doing that.”

“Ignorance about sexual matters is causing a lot of our young people unnecessary psychological distress.”

Visit us online www.sgn.org

Phyllis Graber Jensen.

Keelin Godsey has a hammer

by Dan Woog SGN Contributing Writer As a high school student in Palmer, Colo., Keelin Godsey dabbled in track’s throwing events. Shot put and discus were OK; soccer, basketball, and softball were much more interesting.

Heading east to college, Keelin planned to play basketball. But Maine’s Bates College offered a strong track and field program, and Keelin suddenly found enjoyment in throwing.

Bates helped Keelin discover something else: “My sexuality had always been undefined. I’d just felt wrong. I’d read about Lesbian history, but that was all I knew.” A freshman seminar introduced Keelin to the concept of “Transgender.” Books by Leslie Feinberg and Kate Bornstein helped Keelin figure out that a binary definition of sexuality does not work for everyone.

“I’d always been classified as a butch Lesbian,” says Keelin. “I hated that. I never thought of myself that way.” It was harder for Keelin to identify as Lesbian than as Transgender.

“I am who I am,” Keelin says.

It was, surprisingly, very easy to identify as an athlete. Erica Rand, who teaches courses on contemporary culture – with particular attention to sexuality, race and gender – helped Keelin talk to coaches and athletic administrators. Keelin calls Rand’s help “crucial to how smoothly everything went.”

Track and field coach Jennifer “Jay” Hartshorn was brand new to Bates, Keelin notes, and had “every right to worry” about a Transgender athlete.

But, Keelin says, “She was awesome. She asked all kinds of questions about how she could support me. She made sure I didn’t have to deal with any intrusions. She helped me talk to the team, and always stood up for

me.”

And, Keelin adds, “She never messed up my pronouns.”

Keelin began referring to himself as “he” in the summer of 2005, prior to his senior year at Bates. However, without going through hormone treatment or gender reassignment surgery, Keelin is still biologically female – and thus competes as a woman, not a man.

Keelin attributes Hartshorn’s instinctive, from-the-get-go support to the simple fact that “that’s who she is: an open, understanding person.” And, Keelin laughs, “she got her coaching degree at Smith.”

Opponents were not always so kind. Keelin was occasionally called “she-male” and “Tranny girl.” Keelin shrugged them off, saying, “People are afraid of what they don’t know.” Generally, though, Bates made sure “I didn’t hear about any drama.”

A track and field website posted something about the Trans athlete. “They said I was cheating and wanted to have everything. People are entitled to their opinions.

I just tried to prove I’m a good competitor.

Just had to keep doing what I was doing.”

Keelin found it harder to come out in the Trans community than in the athletic world.

“This is my experience – I can’t speak for anyone else – but because I didn’t plan on transitioning, Trans people didn’t understand my choices. I just wanted to concentrate on my sport. I focused my attention on athletics, and I still do.”

It was a difficult decision. “I can’t look the way I want to look,” Keelin says. “I can’t do what I want to do.”

The focus on training paid off. Keelin is a two-time NCAA national hammer champion, and placed seventh at the 2008 Olympic trials. Last year, at the USA Track & Field championship, Keelin took fifth.

Throwing the hammer takes tremendous patience (“like being Trans,” Keelin points

Two-time NCAA hammer champion Keelin Godsey

out). It’s an extremely technical event.

Strength is important – and Keelin spends hours in the weight room, working on speed and explosiveness – but so is technique.

In the post-college track and field world, Keelin’s sexuality is “rarely mentioned. I assume a lot of people know. People think I’m cheating and taking hormones, but I’m not.”

Keelin wants one more shot at the Olympics. The next Games are set for 2012. Before that, the world championships loom.

Keelin says, “I want to go as far as I can competitively. It’s a hard choice not to transition. Once I stop competing, we’ll see what happens.”

Training and competing is only part of Keelin’s day. The rest is spent as a physical therapist in the Berkshire Mountains of New England. Keelin also helps coach ham-

mer and discus throwers.

Yet thoughts of sexuality – even of physical therapy – are secondary. For now, Keelin concentrates on track and field. The structure of each day, the physical exertion and the mental preparation provide an important outlet.

But, sexuality aside, Keelin is no different from any elite-level athlete. Competition is key.

“When I have a bad day at practice, I do question why I’m doing this,” Keelin says.

“But after a good day, I know why.”

Dan Woog is a journalist, educator, soccer coach, Gay activist, and author of the “Jocks” series of books on Gay male athletes. Visit his website at www.danwoog. com. He can be reached care of this publication or at OutField@qsyndicate.com.

Specialized Services Kennedy Painting and Design interiors/exteriors/color consultations

Richard Kennedy

206-683-9666 rkennedypainting@yahoo.com licensed bonded insured lic #kennedpd924bw

www.sgn.org

14 Seattle Gay News

January 14, 2011

Major Credit Cards Accepted

(206) 784-0313 www.happyhauler.com

www.sgn.org

Celebrating 37 Years!

by Rex Wockner SGN Contributing Writer The federal case against California’s Proposition 8 took an odd turn January 4 when the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals punted the case to the California Supreme Court.

The federal court pronounced itself confused about whether the people who put Prop 8 on the ballot have legal “standing” to be at the federal appeals court defending Prop 8. The judges asked California’s top court to take a look at state law and opine on that question.

The actual defendants in the case – the governor, attorney general, two county clerks, and state health-department officials – have refused to defend the voter-passed constitutional amendment that re-banned samesex marriage in California in 2008.

If the people who put Prop 8 on the ballot do not have a legal right to defend it before the Ninth Circuit, then the federal District Court ruling that overturned Prop 8 last August likely would be allowed to take effect, bringing same-sex marriage back to California.

In its “Order Certifying a Question to the Supreme Court of California,” the Ninth Circuit judges explained: “Because we cannot consider this important constitutional

file photo

Analyzing the Ninth Circuit’s punt of Prop 8 to California Supreme Court question unless the appellants before us have standing to raise it ... it is critical that we be advised of the rights under California law of the official proponents of an initiative measure to defend the constitutionality of that measure upon its adoption by the people when the state officers charged with the laws’ enforcement, including the attorney general, refuse to provide such a defense or appeal a judgment declaring the measure unconstitutional. As we are aware of no controlling state precedent on this precise question, we respectfully ask the Supreme Court of California to exercise its discretion to accept and decide the … question.”

The California Supreme Court is not required to answer the question or otherwise help the Ninth Circuit judges be less confused, but may well opt to do so.

Also on January 4, the Ninth Circuit blocked Imperial County’s attempt to intervene in the federal Prop 8 case as a defendant. The judges said Imperial County might have had a better shot at being allowed to intervene if the county clerk, rather than the deputy county clerk, had pursued the action.

“While being bound by a judgment may be a ‘concrete and particularized injury’ sufficient to confer standing to appeal … the ‘injury,’ if any, would be to the clerk,

“We hope the California Supreme Court takes up this procedural question about initiatives and believe the federal court’s action was entirely reasonable.”

California Supreme Court

not a deputy,” the court said. “As we have explained, [Deputy Clerk Isabel] Vargas is neither the clerk nor her authorized representative. She therefore may not rely upon the clerk’s injury to assert her own interest in intervention or standing to appeal.”

Lambda Legal said the Ninth Circuit’s attempt to punt the case to the California Supreme Court made sense.

“We hope the California Supreme Court takes up this procedural question about initiatives and believe the federal court’s action was entirely reasonable,” said Lambda’s National Marriage Project director, Jennifer Pizer. “In California, so much lawmaking is done these days by popular vote at the ballot box. The public needs to know what processes exist for testing measures enacted by voters at the ballot box. The stakes are especially high for vulnerable minorities in

this state, including the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual people targeted and made unequal

by Proposition 8.”

Pizer said Lambda does not believe the people who put Prop 8 on the ballot should be allowed to appeal the District Court decision that struck it down.

“We do not believe California law does or should allow initiative proponents special power to drive litigation about measures they have supported,” she said. “Prop 8’s proponents are not personally affected by that initiative as none of them wants to marry a same-sex partner. And state law up to this point has never authorized political activists to usurp the role of the state’s chief executive and top lawyer if the activists disagree with those duly elected officials’ decision not to prolong litigation of a particular court case.”

Religion & Spirituality Rev. David Strong Pastor

SOJOURNER TRUTH MINISTRIES Sunday Worship 11:00am P.O. Box 19734 Seattle, WA 98109 Phone: 206.621.8960

Come worship with us!

2524 16th Ave. South A209 Seattle, Washington 98144 Phone 206-478-6718 www.sojournertruthministries.org

A Church for All God’s People – since 1972 www.mccseattle.org Sunday Worship 11:00 am 1415 NE 43rd St. on U-District (206) 325-2421

Visit us online www.sgn.org

January 14, 2011

Seattle Gay News 15

nate gowdy

Paul Anderson takes his jeans off and tries to keep a straight face as passengers react during Seattle’s second “No Pants! Light Rail Ride” on Sunday, January 9, 2011.

Hundreds boarded the Light Rail downtown, took their pants off and headed – in undies – to SeaTac Airport and back for the annual January spectacle hosted by Emerald City Improv.

Cities nationwide joined in on the fun, inspired by Improv Everywhere in New York’s annual “No Pants Subway Ride.”

Health and Counseling Services www.sgn.org

www.sgn.org

SPECIALTIES LGBT Issues Couples Counseling Depression Anger Management Domestic Violence Grief and Loss HIV/AIDS

Gary Sarozek, MA, LMHC

1370 Stewart Street 206-619-4187 (Across from REI)

Seattle WA, 98109

gsarozek@comcast.net www.garysarozek.com

Que Areste, N.D. Naturopathic Family Physician

206.328.2926 drque@speakeasy.net 1605 12th Avenue, Suite 16 • Seattle, WA 98122 16 Seattle Gay News

January 14, 2011

Celebrating 37 Years!

AP Photo/Matt York

Intern Daniel Hernandez speaks outside University Hospital on Sunday, January 9, 2011 in Tucson, Arizona.

giffords

continued from cover in which six people were killed and Rep. Giffords was left clinging to life. Their actions likely saved dozens of lives.

For Hernandez, a political science major, his job on Saturday morning was easy enough: sign people in and control traffic at the event.

When the shooting started, he was more than 30 feet away and around a corner.

“When I heard someone say ‘Gun!’ I knew there was likely a gunman and she was likely the target because of her position.

So I rushed to where I knew she would be,” Hernandez told the Associated Press.

After the suspect was restrained, Hernandez said he started checking the pulses of those hurt, including staffer Ron Barber.

Then, he noticed Giffords had been shot in the head, and he rushed to help the congresswoman.

“I’ve known them for a few years, and I consider them personal friends. So it wasn’t just the person I was working for. It was, ‘This is my friend Gabby, and this is my friend Ron.’ And I needed to make sure that they were OK,” he said.

According to witnesses, he hugged Giffords up against his chest and sat her upright. He tried to stop the blood loss with his hands and some frocks provided by butchers from the Safeway.

Giffords was conscious and alert, Hernandez said.

“She wasn’t speaking, however, she was letting me know that she understood what I was saying by grasping my hand and squeezing when I would ask her to,” he said.

He rode with Giffords in an ambulance to the hospital, where she is now in critical condition but expected to survive.

“I don’t consider myself a hero,” Hernandez said. “This is something that I’ve only

done once and I hope I never have to do it again.”

dadt

continued from cover In a 1993 RAND Corporation report on Gays in the military, the recommendation to leaders states, “Act quickly: Lessons from the implementation literature suggest that the new policy regarding homosexuals in the military should be decided upon and implemented as quickly as possible.”

A recent Palm Center study outlines tools such as on-demand, computer-based learning that the Pentagon uses to train troops – including those in deployed settings. The study found that in most cases, Pentagon leaders train servicemembers concurrently with the implementation of new policy, and do not wait until training is complete to institute a change in rules.

Approximately 10% of military personnel are currently deployed in Middle East combat zones.

“The existing research is clear and consistent about how to minimize any confusion resulting from the end of a Gay ban: implement the decision quickly and clearly,” said Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center.

“President Obama’s call for a swift repeal process and Secretary Gates’ vision of expeditious training are the signs of real leadership, and are important steps in the right direction.”

The Palm Center is a research institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara, committed to sponsoring state-of-the-art scholarship to enhance the quality of public dialogue about critical and controversial issues of the day. For the past decade, the Palm Center’s research on sexual minorities in the military has been published in leading social scientific journals. For more information, visit www.palmcenter.org.

CNN

continued from cover guests are not qualified, and that bringing them in is like bringing in the KKK to talk about African American issues.

“CNN has long been one of America’s most respected journalistic organizations on many issues, but for several years, it has had a giant blind spot when it comes to issues that impact the LGBT community,” GLAAD officials said in a statement. “On December 21, 2010, John King USA ran a segment featuring Peter Sprigg from Family Research Council, but there are countless other examples. Out of a desire for ‘balance’ on these issues, CNN turned – as they often do – to the anti-Gay industry to provide the counterpoint. Except all too frequently, the network doesn’t book these people because they provide any actual expertise or experience on issues that impact LGBT people; their only qualification is that they are antiGay.” During that John King segment on the pending repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and its implementation, King featured openly Gay former service member Alex Nicholson, alongside Sprigg, who is a “senior fellow for policy studies” at the Family Research Council.

“Nicholson’s qualifications were clear. As an openly Gay, former Army intelligence officer, he gave firsthand accounts of how the policy played out in the day-to-day lives

of Gay and Lesbian service members,” said GLAAD officials. “Sprigg’s qualifications, however, came exclusively from his job at the Family Research Council. There, Sprigg has worked to advance some of the most hurtful, dangerous, and demonstrably false notions about the lives of LGBT people that our country has seen in recent years. And yet, by pairing him with Nicholson in this segment, CNN told its millions of viewers that both of these men should be seen as equally valuable to this discussion.”

“Is it important for the media to take these groups on? Of course it is,” says GLAAD. “But that’s not what CNN and other media organizations are doing when it invites these groups to take part in otherwise reasonable discussions. The media is elevating their hurtful messages and attitudes to the level of rational discourse. The media is saying that people like Alexander Nicholson, who can speak to real-life experience and firsthand facts, needs to be ‘balanced’ by people like Peter Sprigg, whose claim to fame is arguing that being Gay should be outlawed. If CNN wants to interview a Gay person who believes being straight should be outlawed, then Peter Sprigg would be an acceptable ‘balance.’”

“CNN and the rest of the media are doing nothing but exposing their viewers to dangerous anti-Gay rhetoric when they invite members of these anti-Gay groups onto their programming,” say GLAAD officials.

“Starting in 2011, this needs to stop.”

To sign the GLAAD petition, go to www. glaad.org/tellcnn.

Legal Services www.sgn.org www.sgn.org Visit us online www.sgn.org

January 14, 2011

Seattle Gay News 17

mcdermott continued from cover

ments, Habermann left two rambling and “expletive-laden” voicemails on McDermott’s office phone, one at midnight on December 10, and the second only 10 minutes later.

Habermann left his name and phone number in the voicemails, so when McDermott’s staffers notified the FBI of the calls the next day, agents had no problem tracking him down.

According to Special Agent Frederick Gutt of the FBI’s Seattle office, Habermann was interviewed by FBI agents in California only four hours after the threats were reported.

Gutt told SGN that the arrest of Habermann was not connected to the Tucson shooting.

“It might look like that, like we said, ‘What cases are we working that are related?’” Gutt said, “but actually it just took a while to come up with the additional historical information.”

This is not Habermann’s first brush with the law.

Last March, he was investigated by the California Highway Patrol for voice messages threatening a California state legislator. At that time, he was reportedly upset with the federal health-care bill and with tax

money spent on immigrants and Latinos, according to the complaint.

Habermann was not charged at that time, but received a formal warning not to engage in threatening conduct.

Gutt told SGN that the FBI had made a decision to charge Habermann “about a week prior” to the arrest, but wanted to wait until they could document the March incident in court.

“We wanted to show this was not just a one-time incident,” he said.

Habermann made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Riverside, California, on the afternoon of January 12.

U.S. Magistrate Judge David Bristow set bond at $300,000 and placed him on home detention pending his next court date in Washington state on January 25.

McDermott’s office confirmed that the threats occurred but declined to elaborate.

“Per the FBI’s advice, we are referring all inquiries related to this matter to the FBI’s Seattle office,” the Congressman said in a statement issued on January 12. “I have full confidence in the law enforcement agencies handling the case and remain focused on serving my constituents.”

Habermann reportedly told the FBI that he did not actually intend to harm McDermott because he feared losing his $3 million trust fund.

“Habermann stated that he never had any intention of hurting anyone,” FBI Special

Agent Dean Giboney testified in federal court, “and that he had too much to lose – referring to his $3 million trust fund – to ever do anything which could get him sent to prison.”

Habermann also told FBI investigators that he was drunk at the time he made the calls.

“Although Habermann said he had been drinking alcohol before he made the calls, Habermann said he thought that he would have been able to drive his car when he made the calls,” the complaint says.

Habermann also admitted making calls to another member of Congress, identified in the complaint only by the initials “C.P.” It is apparent from the transcripts of Habermann’s calls that he was enraged by McDermott’s outspoken opposition to continuing Bush-era tax breaks for rich Americans.

“I was calling Jim McDermott because I saw him on television the other night and I realized what a disgusting, filthy, murderous cock-sucker he was,” Habermann said.

Habermann then referred directly to McDermott’s position on tax cuts.

“That, that, that, that reducing taxes on rich people is, is in effect a tax cut in effect, it affected the government spending program. Jim, Jim McDermott’s uh, theft of taxpayer dollars, the less he steals, means that the, that the less the government spends,” he said.

“He’s a piece of filth. He’s a criminal. He

advocates stealing people’s money to give it to losers,” Habermann says later in the voicemail.

Habermann expands on this theme is his second voicemail.

“You worthless stupid Democrat cocksucking fuckers,” he says. “You think you can steal my money and get away with it?

You think you’re gonna steal my fucking money and get away with it, you fuckers.

You people are criminal scumbags and I hate, I hate you. I hate Jim McDermott.”

Habermann explicitly threatens the Congressman several times, saying things like “I’ll fucking kill him, OK. I’ll round them up, I’ll kill them, I’ll kill his friends, I’ll kill his family, I will kill everybody he fucking knows. All right!”

Jenny Durkan, U.S. attorney for Western Washington, said in a statement that such threats “are intended to silence debate, not further it.”

“We are blessed to live in a country that guarantees and protects the freedom to disagree with our government and speak our minds,” Durkan said in her statement. “That protection, however, does not extend to threats or acts of violence.”

“They instill fear not just in the immediate victims, but in many who might hold the same views or take the same course,” she continued. “Such threats are crimes, and the individuals who make them must be held accountable.”

Real Estate & Home Services

Major Credit Cards Accepted

(206) 784-0313 www.happyhauler.com

Professional Customized Home Cleaning!

Choice is Good.

The Right Choice Is Important.

Call Diversity Cleaners.

Gary d. torGerson co.

Building Restoration Specialists expert residential painting and Carpentry

Diversity Cleaners Jonathan Bell-Owner Phone: 206-330-8528

www.diversitycleaners.com

Bonded

18 Seattle Gay News

D#602 244 664

Comprehensive professional services essential to long term home preservation and renovation.

Visit our web site for extensive displays of our services and expertise, including correction of peeling and blistering problems.

phone: 206-781-0999 / www.torgersoncompany.com #GARYDTC134CJ

January 14, 2011

Celebrating 37 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

January 14, 2011

Seattle Gay News 19