Issue 09 Volume 38
Celebrating 37 Years!
FRIDAY February 28, 2010 FREE! 25¢ in bookstores & news stands
out to quit p. 4
legally blonde p. 25
shawn thomas p. 30
Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
ENDA vote in March, Navy lieutenant breaks says Barney Frank silence to fight DADT file photo
by Shaun Knittel SGN Staff Writer
Uganda activists stand up to hate
Two human rights gatherings in Kampala University of Buffalo
Human rights law expert and law professor Makau W. Mutua
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer In spite of a proposed law that would sentence them to death, Uganda’s LGBT community struck back at homophobia at a pair of conferences held this month. At a human rights forum held February 19 in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, Makau Mutua – chair
of the Human Rights Commission in neighboring Kenya – challenged Ugandan legislators over their proposed Anti-Homosexual Bill. The forum, entitled “Human Rights and Sexual Orientation,” was organized by students and staff from Kampala University in Uganda’s capital. It was sponsored by the Ford Foundation. The invitation-only audience of
80 was made up of students, academics, NGO officials, and politicians. Uganda parliament member Otto Odonga told the gathering that human rights are secondary to public order. “Human rights are not sacrosanct,” Odonga said. “Private parts do not belong in the anus. We will not accept this kind of deviant behavior in our society.” Mutua immediately challenged him. “I am baffled by the kind of hatred you spew against Gay people,” Mutua said, “including your desire to be a hangman. Would you apply to be a hangman if the person to be hanged were your son?” When Odonga nodded yes, Mutua said, “There is something deeply wrong with you.” Mutua, a Harvard-educated lawyer, went on to compare Odonga’s arguments against Gay rights to those made by racists in the American South. “The kind of speech you made against Gay people was the kind of speech that white segregationists were making all over America,” he said. “Those arguments are classic. They have been reproduced in every era by every segment of society. You didn’t invent them.” “It’s important that we all try to expose ourselves to knowledge, to keep on growing,” Mutua added. “People who express extremist views are, in my view, always the
courtesy of Michael Knipp
Everett Earl Morrow, a Gay former submariner who left the U.S. Navy in 2008 because of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy, has had enough. “The time has come to speak out against this immoral, outdated policy,” said Morrow, who recently participated in an off-camera interview for Out of Annapolis, a forthcoming documentary about LGBT alumni of the United States Naval Academy. “DADT is a policy of discrimination which Gay and Lesbian servicemembers must suffer through if they want to serve their country,” Morrow told SGN during a phone interview from New York City. “The premise of the policy is maintaining military readiness and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) unit cohesion, which couldn’t be by Mike Andrew The good news is that the mea- further from reality. As someone sure could pass the House of Rep- who has served on a submarine in SGN Staff Writer resentatives in March. an all-male environment, my sexuThe bad news is that it will then ality didn’t jeopardize our preRep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has good news and bad news for supporters of ENDA, the Employsee enda page 16 see dadt page 18 ment Non-Discrimination Act.
Michael Knipp (l) and Everett Earl Morrow
SOaP board changes 2010 Seattle Pride Parade theme Over the Rainbow Pride in Seattle 2010
Seattle’s LGBT News & Entertainment Weekly
www.sgn.org For the pink sheep in the family.
by Shaun Knittel SGN Staff Writer
On June 27, Seattle Out and Proud (SOaP) will present the 36th LGBT Seattle Pride Parade. With the second-largest number of LGBT residents by percentage of population in the country – an estimated 57,900 in Seattle and almost triple that metro-wide – Seattle is home to a wide variety of LGBT political points of view. So it should come as no surprise that the controversy surrounding the 2010 Seattle Pride theme was intense. Letting bygones be bygones, SOaP see uganda page 20 has announced the official theme
proud to Be Different
We are conveniently located on-site at Lifelong AIDS Alliance below the Thrift Store.
change from “We Are All American” to the national Pride theme “Over The Rainbow – be seen, be heard, be there.” Seattle Pride is a month-long celebration held in June. Seattle Pride is one of the largest Pride events in the country, has no paid staff, and an all-volunteer board of directors. Each year, record numbers turn out for the parade. As throngs of people line the 4th Avenue sidewalk in downtown Seattle, each contingent honors the theme in their own unique way. Recently, see soap page 20
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