SGN January 25, 2013 - Section 1

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Celebrating 40 Years!

Issue 04 Volume 41

FRIDAY January 25, 2013 FREE! 25¢ in bookstores & newsstands

Miss Coco Peru returns to Seattle Page 25

Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Obama hails Stonewall at inauguration

Calls for equal treatment of ‘our Gay brothers and sisters’ Each time we gather to inaugurate a President, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea artic-

AP Photo / Scott Andrews

President Barack Obama did not neglect the LGBT community in his inaugural speech this week. Referring to the principle of inherent equality as “the star that guides us still,” Obama went on to say that it “guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall” – referring, respectively, to the women’s suffrage movement, the African-American

“[I]f we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.” civil rights movement, and the LGBT liberation movement. He expanded on this idea moments later, saying that “our journey is not complete until our Gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law” – an unmistakable reference to marriage equality and an end to all forms of official discrimination. Here is the text of President Obama’s second inaugural address, delivered January 21, 2013, at the U.S. Capitol:

ulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago: “We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Today we continue a never-ending journey to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of see speech page 9

DOMA’s last gasp?

President Obama delivered his second inaugural speech on January 21.

Going to the mat House GOP files brief in defense of discriminatory law for women

Sen. Patty Murray challenges House Republicans on VAWA ap photo

“The fate of the Violence Against Women Act still lays squarely on the shoulders of [Majority Leader] Eric Cantor and [House Speaker] John Boehner,” Murray said. “To date they have refused to listen to countless law enforcement and women’s groups as well as moderate voices in their own party in the House and Senate who’ve said we need to pass the Senate’s bipartisan bill that extends protections to millions of new women.” VAWA, drafted by then-Senator Joe Biden in 1994, sets aside fedSenator Patty Murray eral money to assist in by Mike Andrew the investigation and prosecution SGN Staff Writer of violent crimes against women, and provides for restitution and Washington Senator Patty Mur- civil redress for victims. Because ray issued a statement January 22 it provides federal funds, it must challenging the House Republican be reauthorized periodically. leadership to pass the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The so-called Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG), representing the House Republican leadership, filed its brief defending DOMA with the Supreme Court on January 22. Attorneys for Edie Windsor, the plaintiff challenging DOMA

in Windsor v. U.S.A., will reply to BLAG’s brief in February. Her lawyers will be joined by U.S. Department of Justice attorneys, who will also argue that DOMA is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court justices will hear oral arguments in the case on March 27 – the day after the court hears arguments in California’s Prop 8 case.

Weddings By the Sea

BLAG’s 76-page brief argues that historically, “every state and the federal government defined marriage as the legal union of a woman and a man.” A NOVEL ARGUMENT In a rather astonishing departure from typical anti-equality rhetoric, BLAG argues that the historical see DOMA page 7

www.oceanshoresweddings.com 206-403-8170 Let us make your wedding day as fun as a day at the beach.

see vawa page 7


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