SGN April 13, 2012 - Section 1

Issue 15 Volume 40

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Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

visitor7

Sen. Murray meets No R74 petitions in our vets, discusses postchurches, say priests DADT problems

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

St. James Cathedral

spective,” offers an in-depth look at how Latinos view Gays and Lesbians within their own community and their level of support for LGBT issues.

The report, funded by the Arcus Foundation, notes that Hispanics are actually slightly more inclined to support legal same-sex marriage and to be more accepting of Gays and Lesbians in society than most Americans. Also, Latinos are just as likely as any other group in the U.S. today to identify as LGBT. “There is a clear misperception among the general population about where Latinos stand on

April 2012 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, reveals the nuances of prejudices like homophobia.

“This study shows that if you are feeling that kind of visceral reaction to an outgroup, ask yourself, ‘Why?’” coauthor Richard Ryan, a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, said.

“Those intense emotions should serve as a call to self-reflection.”

by Shaun Knittel “Sometimes people are threatSGN Associate Editor ened by Gays and Lesbians because they are fearing their own A new study might help to prove impulses – in a sense they ‘doth what LGBTs have been saying for protest too much,’” said Ryan. “In years: Many homophobes are Gay themselves.

The research, published in the see homophobe page 21

nate gowdy / seattle gay news

As many as seven Roman Catholic priests are reportedly refusing to circulate petitions for Referendum 74 challenging the state’s new Marriage Equality Act. The most prominent of the priests, Fr. Michael Ryan of St. James Cathedral on Seattle’s First Hill, sent an email to parishioners explaining his position.

“Dear friends,” Ryan wrote.

“Archbishop Sartain has written a letter in which he has expressed his support for Referendum 74 and for the collecting of signatures in parishes. Media reports regarding this are somewhat misleading.

Senator Patty Murray (left, back to camera) meets with Gay and Lesbian While the archbishop has given his veterans to discuss problems remaining after the repeal of DADT. support to the effort, he has wisely

by Mike Andrew ter the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t left it up to each pastor to decide whether to allow the collection of Tell” (DADT).

SGN Staff Writer “We worked hard to repeal signatures in his own parish.

“After discussing the matter Washington Senator Patty Mur- DADT,” Murray said, “but that’s with the members of the Catheray, chair of the Senate Committee not the end of the story.” on Veterans Affairs, met with Gay and Lesbian veterans on April 11 see murray page 20 see petitions page 20 to discuss problems remaining af-

New report shows Hispanics Study suggests more likely to support LGBT homophobes may community be Gay

Countering what they call “popular assumptions that Hispanics are more anti-Gay than other segments of society,” a new report coreleased April 11 by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and Social Science Research Solutions (SSRS) finds that Latinos are, in fact, as open and tolerant – if not more so – than the general population in the U.S. toward Gays and Lesbians.

The report, “LGBT Acceptance and Support: The Hispanic Per-

LGBT issues, partly because the media pushes this narrative that the culture and values of Latinos and LGBT progress are simply incompatible,” said David Dutwin, vice president of SSRS and author of the report. “Such misperceptions manifest in story after story about a particular Hispanic group opposing a Gay rights bill, even though this anti-Gay sentiment is not reflective of all Latinos. In reality, as society is evolving on LGBT issues and becoming more accepting of this community, so see latinos page 20

rEUTERS / Ricardo Moraes

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

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Lambda Legal files federal suit for marriage equality in Nevada tionship, they were careful not to purchase matching rings for fear of having their relationship discovered,” the filing says.

In a reversal of its previous legal strategy, The couple went on to raise three children Lambda Legal has filed a federal lawsuit for and have four grandchildren, despite the equal marriage rights. constitutional amendment passed by NeSevcik v. Sandoval, filed on April 10, seeks equal marriage rights on behalf of eight same-sex couples in Nevada.

“This lawsuit seeks the freedom to marry for samesex couples in the state of Nevada and is tailored to be a responsible building block for future marriage equality work,” Lambda staff attorney Tara Borelli told Washington, D.C.’s Metro Weekly.

“We’ve always believed that it’s important to take strategic steps that build on each other, and that’s exactly what this case is designed to do.”

Borelli added that another suit filed by Lambda in a New Jersey state court also includes some federal claims.

According to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, the lead vada voters in 2000 and 2002 limiting marplaintiffs in the new lawsuit – Beverly riage in the state’s constitution to “a male Sevcik, 73, and Mary Baranovich, 76, of and a female person.”

Carson City, Nevada – have been together Same-sex couples have been able to refor more than 40 years. ceive many of the same benefits and privi“When Beverly and Mary commit- leges of marriage but not the status of marted their lives to each other on October 2, riage itself, since the legislature passed 1971 and bought rings to signify their rela- comprehensive domestic partnership benefits over the veto of then-governor Jim Gibbons in 2009.

According to Borelli, Lambda chose to represent plaintiffs in Nevada precisely because of the legal situation created when a state provides for domestic partnership rights, but does not recognize same-sex marriage.

“One of the reasons that we’re suing in the state of Nevada is that this is a particular equal protection problem that this case examines,” she said.

“It’s the kind of problem created where a state excludes same-sex couples from

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

April 13, 2012

marriage [but] deems them fit for all of the rights and responsibilities of marriage through a lesser, second-class status – in this case, domestic partnership. That shows just how irrational that state’s decision is to shut same-sex couples out of marriage.”

According to the complaint, there is no reasonable justification for denying samesex couples the same status as opposite-sex married couples.

“No legitimate, let alone important or compelling, interest exists to exclude samesex couples from the historic and highly venerated institution of marriage, especially where the State already grants Lesbians and Gay men access to almost all substantive spousal rights and responsibilities through registered domestic partnership,” Lambda’s filing says.

While this is the first time Lambda has filed a federal suit challenging unequal marriage rights, the group is still making a relatively narrow legal argument.

Their complaint only raises an equal protection claim based on the unequal treatment accorded to same-sex couples in Nevada, and not a due process claim relating to a “fundamental right” to marriage.

“We certainly believe that the fundamental right to marry includes samesex couples, but this court doesn’t need to answer that question to rule for the plaintiffs here,” Borelli said.

“And we’re convinced that our equal protection claim is so clearly correct that we want to keep the focus on that claim.”

In May 2009, Lambda was publicly skeptical when the American Foundation for Equal Rights filed Perry v. Schwarzenegger – now Perry v. Brown. That case, in which the Ninth Circuit Court upheld a ruling by federal judge Vaughn Walker that California’s Prop 8 was unconstitutional, included both equal protection and due process claims.

At that time, Lambda Legal and several other LGBT organizations released a statement warning that “ill-timed lawsuits could set the fight for marriage back.”

Specifically questioning lawsuits “based on the federal Constitution,” the groups were concerned that “without more groundwork, the U.S. Supreme Court likely is not yet ready to rule that same-sex couples cannot be barred from marriage.”

Celebrating 39 Years!

First indictment under federal hate crimes law courtesy harlan daily

David Jason Jenkins (l) and Anthony Ray Jenkins

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The U.S. Department of Justice has announced the first indictment in history brought under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. “A federal grand jury in London, Kentucky, returned a three-count indictment charging David Jason Jenkins, 37, and Anthony Ray Jenkins, 20, for kidnapping and assaulting Kevin Pennington, and for conspiring with each other and with other unnamed individuals to commit the kidnapping,” the U.S. Attorney’s office in Lexington, Kentucky, announced on April 12.

“The indictment charges the men with committing a hate crime in violation of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expanded

federal jurisdiction to include certain assaults motivated by someone’s sexual orientation.”

“The indictment marks the first federal case in the nation charging a violation of the sexual orientation section of the Federal Hate Crimes Law,” said a U.S. Department of Justice statement.

According to an FBI affidavit, Pennington went for a ride with the two men and two women, but asked to be taken home after a few minutes.

Pennington told investigators that David Jenkins demanded a sexual favor from Pennington, which he refused. Then, said Pennington in the affidavit, David Jenkins threatened to rape him.

The truck stopped in Kingdom Come State Park because a tree had fallen across

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the road. At that point, Anthony and David Jenkins pulled Pennington out of the truck and attacked him.

The two men beat and kicked Pennington while “making anti-homosexual statements,” the affidavit says.

“During the attack [the victim] was covering his face and they were all screaming, ‘How do you like this, faggot?’” the affidavit said.

Pennington suffered injuries to his back, face, neck, and ear.

U.S. Attorney Kerry Harvey said the two men faced possible life sentences if they are convicted on the hate crimes charge.

He said that because the men used a truck and traveled on a federal highway, the case falls under federal jurisdiction.

The women in the truck, Alexis Leann Combs Jenkins and Mable Ashley Jenkins, have been charged with kidnapping and aiding a kidnapping, authorities said.

David and Anthony Jenkins pleaded not guilty to the charges in federal court in Lon-

don on April 12, Andrew Stephens, the attorney for David Jenkins, said.

Jenkins admitted he knew Pennington but denied that he committed a hate crime.

“The hate crime component of this is just flat wrong,” Stephens said. “I think it’s very difficult to get into the mind of somebody and figure out what their intent is.”

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which lobbied to pass the federal hate crimes legislation, said it felt its efforts were justified.

“It’s vindicating to see that the years of hard work that went into making sure this law was on the books is now being put into place,” said HRC spokesperson Michael Cole-Schwartz.

“The law was really meant as a backstop so that the resources of the federal government could be brought to bear when necessary to deal with these kinds of crimes.”

The Kentucky Equality Federation, an LGBT rights group, pushed to have the four charged under the law passed in 2009.

CLEVE JONES’ CONCERNS NOT SUPPORTED BY FACTS

porate giving. One of the organizations to which Jones says corporations are “pouring” support is the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. In fact, the Task Force got just $50,000 from corporations in 2010, representing a whopping 0.6% of its budget. It’s fine to raise specific concerns about the specific organizations and their real or perceived responsiveness to corporate pressure. Smearing the entire movement, however, is patently wrong and damaging.

Cleve Jones’ “concerns” about the supposed influence of corporate money on the LGBT movement are not backed up by the facts. According to the Movement Advancement Project, in 2010 (the most recent year for which data are available) corporate dollars accounted for just 4% of all dollars going to the movement’s largest 39 organizations. Moreover, just three of those groups – HRC, GLSEN, and GLAAD – accounted for nearly half (46%) of all cor-

April 13, 2012

Matt Foreman San Francisco, CA

Seattle Gay News

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New Maine poll shows majority favor marriage equality

prove Washington’s Marriage Equality Act, will probably gather enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot. Opponents of equality in Maryland are also circulating petitions to challenge that state’s marriage law.

The Maine People’s Resource Center poll also showed Independent former governor Angus King leading all potential Republican and Democratic candidates for the US Senate seat being vacated by centrist Re-

publican Olympia Snowe.

King gets support from 56% of the respondents, compared to 22% for the nearest Republican and 12% for the nearest Democrat.

Broken down by party affiliation, poll respondents were 39% Democratic, 29% Republican, and 31% “unenrolled.” Maine voter registrations show that 32% of the total state voters are Democrats, 28% are Republicans, and 37% are unenrolled.

associated press

Montana Supreme Court will hear domestic partnership case courtesy ACLU

Supporters of same-sex marriage meet on the steps of City Hall in Portland, Maine.

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A poll released April 6 shows that a majority of Maine voters favor marriage equality. They will be asked to vote on the issue in November, when a referendum to restore same-sex marriage will be on the Maine ballot.

The poll of 993 registered voters was conducted between March 31 and April 2 by the Maine People’s Resource Center.

Although the marriage referendum has definitely qualified for the November ballot, the poll did not ask specifically how respondents intended to vote. The question posed to voters was: “Do you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose allowing same-sex couples to be legally married in Maine?”

Forty-three percent were strongly in favor, with 14.5% somewhat in favor. Twenty-eight percent were strongly opposed, with 11.7% saying they were somewhat opposed. Only 2% said they were unsure.

The latest numbers seem to confirm a poll release last month by the Public Polling Policy Institute, which found that 54% of Maine voters favor marriage equality, while 41% said same-sex marriage should remain

illegal.

According to PPPI, support for equality among Democrats has increased seven points since 2009, from 71% to 78%. Support has also grown among independents, from 52% to 57%. Republican support, however, remains where it was three years ago.

The Maine People’s Resource Center “was formed in 1984 with the goal of teaching everyday people the skills to participate in the decision-making processes that affect their daily lives,” its website says.

They say they are “widely recognized for our effectiveness in engaging Mainers in organizing for social change, many of whom have never been involved in community issues or the political process.”

Marriage equality was passed by the Maine legislature and signed into law by then-governor John Baldacci in 2009. It never went into effect because it was challenged in a referendum campaign and repealed by voters in November 2009.

Maine’s Question One, the measure repealing marriage equality, passed with some 53% of voters supporting repeal and 47% opposing it.

Maine is one of at least three states likely to be voting on marriage equality this fall.

Referendum 74, which will ask voters to ap-

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Jan Donalson (l) and Mary Anne Guggenheim

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Montana’s Supreme Court will hear the ACLU’s appeal in the case of six same-sex couples suing for recognition of domestic partnership rights.

Oral arguments in the case of Donaldson and Guggenheim v. the State of Montana will be heard April 13.

“This case is about treating people fairly and humanely,” said plaintiff Jan Donaldson, a Helena nurse who has been with her partner, pediatric neurologist Mary Anne Guggenheim, for 27 years.

“Mary Anne and I have appreciated the support we’ve received from fellow Montanans who understand that all families need to be able to take care of each other.

We just want the dignity of having our committed partnership recognized as worthy of those legal protections.”

The case was filed in July 2010 and seeks protection for same-sex Montana couples and their families under the Montana Constitution’s rights of privacy, dignity, and equal protection under the law. Plaintiffs cannot sue for equal marriage rights because same-sex marriage was barred in Montana by a constitutional amendment passed in 2004.

The goal of the lawsuit is to ensure that same-sex couples have access to the legal protections and obligations they need to take care of each other and their families.

“Anyone who works and pays taxes should be treated equally and fairly by our state. When two people are in a committed relationship, they should be eligible for benefits, like filing a joint tax return, regardless of whether they are a same-sex couple or a different-sex couple,” said Jennifer Giuttari, interim legal director for the ACLU of Montana.

On November 14, 2011, District Court Judge Jeffrey Sherlock dismissed the case, but the ACLU appealed to the state’s Supreme Court on November 21.

“The Montana Constitution guarantees that all people, including Gay and Lesbian couples, should be treated equally and fairly. Those are values that Montanans hold dear. People should be treated with dignity and allowed to live their lives freely,” the ACLU said in a statement.

The ACLU cites 2010 U.S. Census figures showing 2,295 same-sex households in Montana.

“Without recognition of domestic partnerships, these couples are vulnerable when they need bereavement leave, face the illness or death of their partner, or are presented with any other situation in which their lack of legally recognized status puts them in a position where a married husband or wife would be protected,” the ACLU said.

The plaintiffs in Donaldson argue that they have faced just this kind of discrimination.

When Guggenheim had a hip replacement, the doctor’s office staff would not speak to Donaldson without a release. Kellie Gibson, another plaintiff, was denied bereavement leave when her partner Denise’s father died. Mary Leslie, also a plaintiff, lost her home because she was ineligible for workers’ compensation death benefits when her partner was killed in an accident.

Sixty-six Montana religious leaders have filed an amicus curiae brief with the Supreme Court supporting the couples.

A poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for the ACLU found that 53% of Montana voters favor domestic partnership rights for Gay and Lesbian couples that equal those enjoyed by opposite-sex married couples. Only 40% oppose such rights.

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Celebrating 39 Years!

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer President Obama opposes Minnesota’s proposed constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage, his campaign said on April 9.

“While the president does not weigh in on every single ballot measure in every state, the record is clear that the president has long opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same-sex couples,” said Obama for America spokesperson Kristin Sosanie.

“That’s what the Minnesota ballot in=itiative would do – it would single out and discriminate against committed Gay and Lesbian couples – and that’s why the president does not support it.”

The measure was adopted by vote of the state legislature in May 2011, and will go on the November ballot for approval by voters.

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton – like Obama, a Democrat – vetoed the amendment even though his signature was not required to put it on the ballot.

Minnesota’s Democratic legislators, who voted against the measure last May, issued a statement welcoming the president’s opposition.

“We are very happy to see President Obama’s strong opposition to the antimarriage amendment that will be on the November ballot here in Minnesota and we echo his sentiment,” they said.

“The proposed amendment would rewrite our constitution for the sole purpose of denying freedoms to a certain group of Min-

courtesy star news

Obama speaks out against Minnesota marriage amendment nesotans. Marriage is about love and commitment, and our state constitution should never be used to make it illegal for some Minnesotans to marry the person they love.

Freedom means freedom for everybody – no exceptions, no exclusions.”

The LGBT rights group Minnesotans United for All Families also celebrated Obama’s statement.

“Minnesotans United for All Families is thrilled to see President Obama publicly opposing the proposed constitutional amendment to limit the freedom to marry,” they said in a statement.

“President Obama has spoken out time and again about his belief that Gays and Lesbians deserve the same legal rights as all Americans. This amendment would exclude Gays and Lesbians from the right to marry.

It would use the constitution to tell Gays and Lesbians it’s illegal to marry the person you love. The amendment does not represent the values Minnesotans hold dear – that marriage is about love and commitment, and that freedom means freedom for everyone.

“We’re happy that President Obama and Minnesotans from all walks of life see this amendment for what it is – a government exclusion to a group of people simply because of who they are.”

Gov. Dayton has continued to speak out against the proposed amendment.

“Any American should be able to love the person he or she loves. And that should be a right protected by the Minnesota Constitution and by the United States Constitution,” he said in a recent speech.

“But I had a dream over the weekend.

No executive order on contractor nondiscrimination, White House says Jamie McGonnigal / EqualityPhotography.com

HRC President Joe Solomonese

The announcement, however, came not from the White House, but from HRC president Joe Solmonese.

President Obama will not issue an execu“Earlier today, we were told that the adtive order requiring companies that do busi- ministration is not ready to move forward ness with the federal government to promise with a federal contractor nondiscrimination not to discriminate against LGBT workers. executive order at this time,” Solmonese

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton

And we’ll see how prophetic my dream is.

I dreamt that Minnesota would be the first state in the nation to reject this kind of measure. I think Minnesota’s better than that.”

A May 2011 poll by the Public Policy Polling Institute found that 72% of Minnesota voters favored some sort of legal recognition for same-sex relationships. Of those, 38% favored equal marriage rights, and

34% favored civil unions only.

On the specific issue of the amendment, however, voters were evenly split. Fortyseven percent opposed the amendment barring marriage equality, but 46% supported it, indicating that voters who support civil unions are tending to break against equal marriage rights if forced into an up-or-down vote on the issue.

said on April 11.

“We are extremely disappointed with this decision and will continue to advocate for an executive order from the president. The unfortunate truth is that hard-working Americans can be fired simply for being Gay or Transgender. Given the number of employees that would be covered by this executive order, it represents a critical step forward.”

According to HRC spokesperson Paul Guequierre, the idea for the executive order originated with HRC and was pushed by them and other activist groups, but the Obama administration had made no commitment one way or the other about signing the order.

The White House declined to comment publicly on the executive order proposal.

A senior administration official did tell Metro Weekly that the HRC report was true.

“While it is not our usual practice to discuss executive orders that may or may not be under consideration, we do not expect that an executive order on LGBT non-discrimination for federal contractors will be issued at this time,” the unidentified official said.

“We support legislation that has been introduced and we will continue to work with congressional sponsors to build support for it.”

Obama has endorsed ENDA (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act) and urged Congress to pass it. Because ENDA uses federal regulation of interstate commerce to ban all discrimination against LGBT workers, its scope is much broader than the executive order urged by HRC, and if it passes, an order from the president would be unnecessary.

According to Center for American Progress executive vice president Winnie Stachelberg, “The White House will instead launch a multipronged effort to better address workplace discrimination against Gay

and Transgender Americans.”

Stachelberg nevertheless called the president’s decision not to issue an executive order “disappointing.”

“Just as Congress should pass ENDA now, the president should now use his executive authority to extend existing nondiscrimination requirements of federal contractors to include sexual orientation and gender identity,” Stachelberg said.

Several activist organizations agreed that an executive order could be an important stopgap measure to deal with anti-LGBT discrimination until ENDA is passed.

“While we all continue to work towards federal employment protections through legislation, we know the need is immediate and the president can take action now to protect LGBT workers across the country,” National Gay and Lesbian Task Force executive director Rea Carey said.

“Federal contractors receive billions of dollars from federal taxpayers every year and an executive order would extend LGBTinclusive employment protections to millions of workers.”

“The unfortunate truth is that hard-working Americans can be fired simply for being Gay or Transgender. Given the number of employees that would be covered by this executive order, it represents a critical step forward,” the HRC said in a statement.

“Ten years of HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, as well as the research of our partner organizations to include the Center for American Progress and the Williams Institute, demonstrate that there is ample rationale for this kind of order.

“No similar executive order has ever had this kind of extensive research or factual basis established. While we believe that further study is unnecessary, we will continue to engage with the administration to ensure that the case is made even stronger for workplace protections.”

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OutServe announces Military Partners Group to co-sponsor D.C. summit

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor OutServe officials announced this week that the Military Partners and Families Coalition (MPFC) will join the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Courage Campaign, and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) in sponsoring the first OutServe Capital Summit, to be held May 14-15 in Washington, D.C. The two-day event will focus on the theme “Our Families Matter,” say officials.

“This two-day event will be the first of its kind, dedicated to advocating for LGBT military families,” OutServe said. “MPFC will be presenting at the Capital Summit, which will include panel discussions and workshops addressing resources and available support systems for LGBT servicemembers and their families.”

“OutServe and MPFC share the same goals, and with this Summit we will bring together the military community to address the issues that affect LGBT military families and how to solve them,” said Josh Seefried, co-director of OutServe. “Too many Americans don’t understand that Gay and Lesbian military families aren’t eligible for the support that straight families get. We need to educate decision-makers, as private citizens, about how our families are affected, and send a clear message that our families matter.”

“Partnering with OutServe on this summit is important to us as members of a community that for many years has been hidden, silenced, and completely unsupported,” said

MPFC President Ariana Bostian-Kentes. “It is time for our military families to step out from the shadows and proudly stand beside our servicemembers, accepting both the respect that is long overdue and bringing to light the fact that our families carry the same burden as any military family and deserve the same support and recognition. We intend to work closely with MPFC’s coalition members and other mainstream organizations that embrace the civic responsibility to support all families of those serving our country.”

The Summit will gather actively-serving military of all sexual orientations with experts from resource and advocacy groups to discuss the legal rights of Gay and Lesbian military partners, as well as resources for their support. Spouses and partners of Gay and Lesbian servicemembers are not currently provided all available resources to support their families during and after deployments, nor are they given access to base facilities or many educational, counseling, healthcare, and other privileges. For example, a Gay or Lesbian spouse cannot pick up a child from military day care, or purchase groceries for the family at the commissary.

The Summit will also include visits to elected and/or appointed officials to educate them on the challenges facing Gay and Lesbian military families.

OutServe is an association of actively serving LGBT military personnel. With more than 4,700 members and 42 chapters worldwide, it is one of the largest LGBT employee resource groups in the world.

OutServe works to support a professional

network of LGBT military personnel and create an environment of respect in the military with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity. For more information, go to www.outserve.org.

MPFC is a private non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington,

Log Cabin Republicans elect three new board members

mond, and New York City businessman Chris Taylor to the group’s national board of directors this week.

The Log Cabin Republicans elected “This is an incredibly important year Washington, D.C., activist Marc Morgan, for Log Cabin Republicans, as it is for our former senior congressional aide Matt Ray- party, and we are excited to have three new

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

members of our Board of Directors,” said R. Clarke Cooper, Log Cabin Republicans executive director. “Marc, Matt, and Chris bring energy, insight, and strong networks to further position Log Cabin efforts for an inclusive Republican Party while champi-

D.C. It was founded in 2011 by a group of partners of active-duty servicemembers stationed in the U.S. and overseas. MPFC provides support, resources, education, and advocacy for LGBT military partners and their families. For more information, go to www.milpfc.org. oning the fight for equality in Congress and across the country.”

Morgan is an active member of the D.C. Chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, and served as the Republican nominee against D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham. Currently, he is president of the LeDroit Park Civic Association and on the board of D.C. Black Pride. In 2011, Morgan was elected “Best Gay D.C. Politician” by the readers of the Washington Blade.

Raymond served in senior roles working for former U.S. Rep. Rick Hill (R-Mont.), former Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), and former Gov. George Allen (R-Va.), as well as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, UNICEF, and the Library of Congress. Currently Raymond runs his own communications consulting firm and serves as an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Washington, D.C. Taylor is a longtime member of the Republican Party in New York whose positions include a term as president of the Log Cabin Republicans of New York State, and he currently is vice chair of the New York Republican County Committee. To date, no other LCR state-level political action committee has met the fundraising records set during Taylor’s tenure. Taylor is also a private business owner.

Log Cabin Republicans is the only Republican organization dedicated to representing the interests of Gay and Lesbian Americans and their allies. The 30-year-old organization has state and local chapters nationwide, a full-time office in Washington, D.C., a federal political action committee, and state political action committees.

Come meet Tim and Matt and join the family.

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

206-838-6027 or 206-898-4306 8

Seattle Gay News

April 13, 2012

Celebrating 39 Years!

NORTHWEST

NEWS

compiled by Rick McKinnon SGN Staff Writer

SEATTLE CENTER FESTAL – SEATTLE CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL 2012 APRIL 13-15 The Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival, April 13-15, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., at Seattle Center’s Center House, Fisher Pavilion, and Seattle Center Pavilion, explores the cultural roots and contemporary influences of Japan through live performances and cultural displays.

This year’s festival will celebrate Japanese string traditions past and present with “Harps: East Meets West,” a concert by Tomoko Sugawara, April 14, 4-5 p.m., in Fisher Pavilion. FREE. “DINA MARTINA: AMPLE WATTAGE!” Now playing at Re-bar (1114 Howell St.) Fri/Sat at 8 p.m.: 4/13-4/14. 4/20-21; Bloody Mary/Mimosa Matinee Sundays at 2 p.m.: 4/15, 4/22. Tickets are $20 advance ($25 at the door) through www.brownpapertickets.com/event/218811.

EMERALD CITY HOEDOWN The weekend of April 13-15, at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel (515 Madison St.), Rain Country Dance Association will host their 5th annual Emerald City Hoedown.

The Hoedown will feature three days of dancing, workshops, and social events. The weekend is open to all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, body type, and skill level, and no partner is required. For complete details and to register, visit www.raincountrydance.org/hoedown.

NW ORCHID SOCIETY ANNUAL SHOW & SALE APRIL 14-15 On Saturday and Sunday, April 14 and 15, at Sky Nursery (18528 Aurora Ave. N.), the Northwest Orchid Society presents their annual judged show and sale featuring a stunning display of orchids, orchid vendors, and information about growing orchids. FREE admission. www.nwos.org.

LANGSTON HUGHES AFRICAN-AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL APRIL 14-22 www.langstonblackfilmfest.org DAIPAN BUTOH STUDENT SHOWCASE/ TEACHER TEASER On Saturday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m., at Velocity Dance Center (1621 12th Ave.), DAIPANbutoh presents a collaborative evening of movement and music, the culmination of the 2-month DAIPANbutoh workshop series, “Emergence of the Deeper Self.” Tickets: $10. www.daipanbutoh.com.

SISTAH SINEMA – “THE LIES WE TELL, THE SECRETS WE KEEP” On Saturday, April 14, door at 8 p.m., movie at 9 p.m., at Chao Bar & Bistro (1200 E. Pike St.), Sistah Sinema presents “The Lies We Tell, the Secrets We Keep.” $10 online; $15 at the door. www.sistahsinema. com.

“AUDRE LORDE: THE BERLIN YEARS 1984 TO 1992” On Sunday, April 15, at 2 p.m., at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center (104 17th Ave. S., at Yesler Way), the Langston Hughes African-American Film Festival presents “Audre Lorde: The Berlin Years 1984 to 1992,” a documentary about how noted theorist, essayist, poet, and Lesbian activist Audre Lorde’s ideas about human differences inspired the development of a Black German movement and the growth of consciousness around racism among white women – a subject few people outside of Germany are aware of. The project is a very timely one given the renewed U.S. and

E.U. struggles against racism and around race and ethnic integration. Audre Lorde’s work and legacy are central to U.S.-German cross-cultural exchanges and coalition building in the context of the Black diaspora.

The documentary will be preceded by two short films: “The Gift of Family,” and “T’aint Nobody’s Business: Queer Blues Divas of The 1920s.”

PRIDE IDOL 2012 On Sundays through June 10 (no Pride Idol May 20), doors at 6 p.m. (with open community karaoke), contest at 8 p.m., at Neighbours Nightclub (1509 Broadway), join Seattle Out & Proud and your hostess Gaysha Starr for Pride Idol 2012, Seattle’s annual LGBT Pride karaoke contest – weekly $100 cash prize; $1000 grand prize. For complete details and to register for the contest, visit www.seattlepride.org/pride-idol.

No cover charge to watch.

SEATTLE GAY & LESBIAN BOOK CLUB – WHY BE HAPPY WHEN YOU COULD BE NORMAL? The Seattle Gay & Lesbian Book Club meets every Wednesday, at 6 p.m., at Seattle Area Support Groups Community Center (303 17th Ave. E. at E. Thomas St.).

April selection is Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson (author of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit) and May selection will be Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel (author of Fun Home) – both new memoirs by two great women writers. For discount on cost of books, email Nick.

All GLBTQ folks are welcome to participate in this FREE book club. For more information, email nickdimartin@earthlink. net, visit http://faculty.washington.edu/ switter/SGLBookClub/ or contact SASG at 206-322-2437; www.sasgcc.org.

“DARD HUNTER: THE GRAPHIC WORK” On Wednesday, April 18, from 7-8 p.m., the Seattle Public Library (1000 4th Ave.), presents a FREE (donations accepted) public lecture on the graphic works of Dard Hunter. Lovers of Arts and Crafts have long been drawn to Roycroft books by the remarkable graphic imagery and experimental typefaces designed by Dard Hunter, who excelled as a designer, craftsman, printer, typographer, and papermaker. “Dard Hunter: The Graphic Works,” a new book by Historic Seattle Program Director Lawrence Kreisman, explains how a youth growing up in rural Ohio tapped into progressive European design ideas, made them his own, and succeeded in giving these designs national exposure. Dard Hunter sought to explore new and different ideas overseas rather than simply follow in the footsteps of the accepted theories at home. He adapted avant-garde German and Austrian Secession concepts into a graphic design vocabulary that was made available to the mainstream. This presentation showcases Hunter’s growth as a graphic artist and reveals the beauty, variety, and character-defining forms and typography that distinguish his work from others.

A book-signing follows the lecture, with a portion of proceeds from book sales to benefit Historic Seattle. www.pomegranate. com/a204.html; www.historicseattle.org.

Q-LAW ANNUAL BANQUET On Thursday, April 19, reception and no host bar at 6 p.m., dinner and program at 7 p.m., at the Hyatt at Olive 8 (8th Ave. and Olive St.), join Q-Law and keynote speaker Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry, to celebrate the work of Q-Law and Freedom to Marry and to discuss the impending referendum to approve marriage equality in Washington state. Tickets: $125-general admission; $95-Q-Law members. www.q-law.org.

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“DON’T LET ANYONE STEAL YOUR MAGIC” – CATS CAST BENEFIT FOR TREVOR PROJECT AT R PLACE On Thursday, April 19, R Place (619 E. Pine St.) hosts their weekly “Thirsty Thursdays” show at 11 p.m., followed by “Don’t Let Anyone Steal Your Magic,” at 12 midnight, featuring the cast of the National Touring Company’s production of Cats.

Cast members will be singing songs and dancing, with some cast members in drag (drag kings and queens), the women belting, and more! The cast will be selling raffle tickets for some great prizes and may even pass the hat at this fun event. The cast will also receive a percentage of the bar sales – $1 for each drink sold during their show to benefit their charity. Come mingle with cast members from Cats and meet your favorite feline friends. Proceeds from “Don’t Let Anyone Steal Your Magic” will benefit The Trevor Project, a national suicide prevention program for LGBT youth. www.wix. com/CATSbenefit/Seattle.

NORTHWEST BEARS – SPRING THAW XVIII APRIL 19-22 www.springthaw.org GLSEN’S ANNUAL DAY OF SILENCE APRIL 20, 2012 www.glsenwa.org “PRODIGAL SONS” On Friday, April 20, at 7 p.m., Magnolia United Church of Christ (3555 W. McGraw St.), presents a screening of “Prodigal Sons.” The story follows three siblings – a Transgender woman, a Gay man, and their adopted brother, who discovers he’s the grandson of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth – back to their Montana hometown, where a powerful story of an entire family’s transformation unfolds. After pulling for this family through trials and tribulations, we learn that a poignant sense of hope will carry them through. FREE admission.

Haas and Gideon Klein’s Fantasy and Fugue for String Quartet were both written in Terezin – inspiring evidence of the composers’ refusal to surrender their creative spirit. With guest vocalist baritone Erich Parce. FREE admission. www.musicofremembrance.org.

CAMP TEN TREES – “SHINE” DINNER & AUCTION On Saturday, April 21, at 6 p.m. (VIP guest reception at 5 p.m.), at Herban Feast, SODO Park (3200 1st Ave. S.), join Camp Ten Trees staff and supporters for “Shine,” Camp Ten Trees annual fundraising dinner and auction. Enjoy fine dining and festivities in support of children and youth in the LGBTQA community. Camp Ten Trees offers summer camp sessions in the Pacific Northwest, with a week for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, and allied (LGBTQA) youth, and a week for children and youth of LGBTQ and/or non-traditional families. Cost: $55-regular; $125-VIP. For more information and to register, visit www.camptentrees.org.

OASIS YOUTH CENTER & RAINBOW CENTER PRESENT QUEER YOUTH PROM On Saturday, April 21, from 6 p.m.-12 midnight, at Pacific Lutheran University, Chris Knutsen Hall (Park Ave. and 122nd St. S., Tacoma – 3 blocks from the Parkland Transit Center), the Oasis Youth Center and Tacoma’s Rainbow Center present “Queer Prom,” a drug and alcohol free event for LGBT and questioning youth ages 14-24. $2 suggested donation. For more information and to volunteer, contact Chris at 253-671-2838 or email oasisyouthcenter@ gmail.com. www.oasisyouthcenter.org.

FREEDOM SOCIALIST PARTY 2012 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN On Saturday, April 21, at 7 p.m., meet U.S. vice-presidential candidate Christina Lopez at a campaign kick-off open house and fundraiser at 1903 NE 82nd St. Ms. Lopez is running as a Freedom Socialist Party write-in candidate with Stephen Durham of New York. A dedicated, longtime fighter for immigrant rights, Ms. Lopez, as president of Q-SQUARED Q-SPRING Seattle Radical Women, has led community APRIL 20-22 Over the weekend celebration of Self and organizing to oppose wars abroad and social Spring for Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender service cuts to Washington state. Supporters will share stories from the campaign trail Men. www.qsquared.org. and appetizers and desserts will be served for an $8 donation. Sponsored by the FreeRE-ACT THEATRE dom Socialist 2012 Presidential Campaign.

PRESENTS CHAY YEW’S For more information, call 206-722-2453 or A LANGUAGE OF THEIR OWN On Fridays and Saturdays, April 20-May www.votesocialism.com.

12, at 8 p.m., at Richard Hugo House (1634 OUT FOR SUSTAINABILITY – 11th Ave.), ReAct Theatre, Seattle’s only EARTH GAY 2012 Multi-ethnic Philanthropic Theatre ComDAY OF SERVICE pany, proudly presents a new staging of APRIL 22 the newly revised edition of A Language of On Sunday, April 22, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Their Own, the award-winning 1995 play about the lives and relationships of four OUT for Sustainability sponsors a day of Gay men written by Chay Yew. In every environmental activism that will focus on relationship, a new language is forged and restoring the NW corner of Lake Union this early AIDS play explores the nature of along the Cheshiahud Trail that circles the desire, sexuality, race and self-definition. lake into a vibrant walking destination and Wonderfully simple yet beautifully com- biking trail. A range of tasks for a range of plex, A Language of Their Own, looks at interests will take place throughout the day, the universal aspects of love, particularly including removing invasive species like how the past can affect the present in mat- ivy, laying down mulch, planting wildflowters of the heart. Tickets: $15-general ad- er seeds and native plants, trash pick-up, mission; $12-students/seniors/military/ weeding, improving public access to water, disabled – with a $3 discount for advance painting signage for the trail, and assempurchase through www.brownpapertickets. bling plant starts. There will be three 2-hour com/event/239555, 800-836-3006 or Elliott work shifts throughout the day with halfBay Book Company (1521 10th Ave.), 206- hour transition breaks between each shift.

Food and refreshments will be served.

624-6600.

The day’s schedule is as follows: 9:3010 a.m., set-up, registration and coffee/pasMUSIC OF REMEMBRANCE – tries; 10 a.m.-noon, Work Group 1; noonSPARKS OF GLORY: 12:30 p.m., break, work group transition, “FAR FROM MY HOME” On Saturday, April 21, at 2 p.m., at Se- and food; 12:30-2:30 p.m., Work Group 2; attle Art Museum Plestcheeff Auditorium 2:30-3 p.m., break, work group transition, (1st Ave. and University St.), Music of Re- and food; 3-5 p.m., Work Group 3; 5-5:30 membrance presents a 90-minute program p.m., clean-up and food.

For more info2 and to pre-register for this of chamber music featuring works by three Czech composers imprisoned in Nazi con- year’s LGBTQ Earth Day day of service, centration camps. MOR Artistic Director visit www.out4s.org. Earth Day was foundMina Miller contrasts SAM’s “Gauguin & ed in 1970 to raise awareness about environPolynesia” exhibit, and the themes of primi- mental issues facing our shared planet. tivism in art, and non-European influences, LIFELONG AIDS ALLIANCE – with Pavel Haas’ Four Songs on Chinese DINING OUT FOR LIFE Poetry and Erwin Schulhoff’s Five Pieces APRIL 26 for String Quartet inflected with jazz, folk, www.diningoutforlife.com/seattle and dance influences. The work by Pavel

April 13, 2012

Seattle Gay News

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e t o v o t RegisteR

www.myvote.wa.gov

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Celebrating 39 Years!

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Seattle Gay News 11

12 Seattle Gay News

April 13, 2012

Celebrating 39 Years!

e t o v o t R e t s i g e R

www.myvote.wa.gov

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April 13, 2012

Celebrating 39 Years!

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April 13, 2012

Seattle Gay News 15

by Mark Segal Courtesy of the Philadelphia Gay News The last couple of years have seen progressive LGBT people taking on issues other than equality, as well as bringing the debate into the community. Israel and the Palestinian cause has been a flashpoint.

With Equality Forum in Philadelphia poised to honor Israel this May, several progressive blogs have denounced the organization and suggested the honor be withdrawn. Their argument is easy to appreciate: Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians and Palestinian state. Those progressives might have a point, but that point is misleading and downright anti-equality.

Full disclosure: I’m Jewish, but also have been a member of “Peace Now,” an organization that has often been at odds with the Israeli government. I’ve traveled throughout the Middle East, and was one of the first LGBT reporters to do a series on LGBT people living in Middle Eastern countries, including Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and Israel. For those national readers, those here in Philadelphia will tell you I have no appreciation of Equality Forum’s executive director. Several years ago, he mass-emailed an obscene, graphic depiction of me that crossed the line of decency. We will never have a relationship. In conclusion, I’m not a diehard who blindly supports Israel or

16 Seattle Gay News

Equality Forum. With that stated, I think I’m in a good place to examine this issue fairly.

Here’s the fine print. Progressives are right. Israel keeps the Palestinians under total control, using roadblocks, settlements and blockades. All true. But at the same time, the Palestinians refuse to recognize the state of Israel and house organizations in the “Palestinian state” that have an agenda to wipe Israel off the map. I believe it’s fair to say that Israel has the right to protect itself against people who are at war with it. But for the LGBT community, that should not be the issue. Here’s what it should be.

Israel has some legal recognition of the LGBT community. It accepts marriage equality from other nations, it was one of the first nations to accept Gays in the military, has a Gay tourism campaign, gives government funds to LGBT organizations and, when a hate crime happened at the Tel Aviv LGBT Community Center, the prime minister, a conservative hawkish member of parliament (the Knesset), visited to assure the LGBT community that the government would not tolerate hate crimes against them. In the Middle East, and a nation with a strong religious right-wing itself, this is very progressive.

Compare that with the Palestinian state and culture. The culture is so hateful to LGBT people that any LGBT activism is the Palestinian authority for any LGBT islimited due to the very possible chance of sues. Hate crimes against Gay people hapviolence. There is little if any support within pen regularly and, in fact, many LGBT Palestinians move to Israel for safety. Then there is the issue of honor killings. When a family believes it has been badly shamed, its members feel they have the right to kill.

This has happened with families with Gay children before. So by supporting the Palestinians, one is supporting an anti-equality cause, if not supporting hate crimes themselves.

April 13, 2012

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Israel, the Gays, and Equality Forum

Israel should indeed be applauded for being the one place in the Middle East that is a relative safe haven for LGBT people. Our community’s first priority is for the safety of our members. Can anyone state that being openly LGBT in the Palestinian territory is safe? No, you cannot.

Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nation’s most-award-winning commentator in LGBT media. He can be reached at mark@ epgn.com

Celebrating 39 Years!

Catholics and Gay marriage: Schisms-R-Us courtesy queering the church

by Leslie Robinson SGN Contributing Writer I’m not Catholic, which makes my fascination with the American arm of the Catholic Church a little strange, but it also means I can watch its contortions without fretting

over its future.

That’s good, because I think the church in this country, while not in its death throes, is suffering from a rupture and a nervous condition. The church’s hold on its members has ruptured, and that’s going to make any denomination nervous.

A couple of months ago came reports that 98% of Catholic women have used contraceptives. Although the statistic has been criticized, American women by any measure are as likely to stick with Catholicmandated natural family planning as the pope is to become a Zumba instructor.

Then there’s the homosexuality issue generally, and the Gay marriage issue specifically. When Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland signed marriage equality into law on March 1, he became the fifth Catholic governor to do so, in clear opposition to the will of Catholic bishops in those states.

As far as I know, none of these governors has been denied communion or excommunicated. But their trips to the confession booth must be deafening.

After grappling with her Catholic faith, Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington happily signed a marriage-equality bill in February.

Opponents are now gathering signatures for a referendum to axe the law. Seattlepi.com reported that the Archdiocese of Seattle sent a letter to the faithful, saying it plans to have parishes collect signatures.

I guess we can add a new Catholic sacrament to the current seven. Right up there with the “Anointing of the Sick” will be the “Employing of the Bic.” Seattlepi.com noted that the push to kill the Gay-marriage law might make layCatholics twitchy. For starters, the Archdiocese of Seattle has long championed civil rights. But this time the Catholic hierarchy is batting for the other side.

Plus there’s the fact that the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is backing the campaign. NOM’s internal memos, recently revealed in litigation in Maine, advocated a strategy of pitting African-Americans and Hispanics against Gay-rights groups.

Jesus would be nauseous. And a number of Washington Catholics don’t feel so well, either.

A recent event in Minnesota practically shrieked the disconnect between Catholic clergy and laity. At DeLaSalle, a Catholic high school in Minneapolis, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis held a required assembly, for seniors only, about marriage.

The kids suspected what was coming.

Catholic education doesn’t make dummies.

A priest and a volunteer couple spoke, and student Matt Bliss told the Star Tribune that all went swimmingly for the first three-quarters of the marriage presentation. Then the speakers implied that adopted children and children with one parent are of lesser worth.

Since at least four of the students present were adopted, this was not just baffling but dippy.

“When they finally got to Gay marriage, [students] were really upset,” said Bliss.

“You could look around the room and feel the anger. My friend who is a Lesbian started crying.”

The couple compared Gay love to bestiality. Several students argued with the speakers, and one girl held up a sign that said, “I love my moms.”

I’m betting the priest wished for a posse of nuns armed with two rulers apiece.

Student Lydia Hannah said the kids were suspicious when only seniors were required to attend. “We put two and two together,” she said, referring to Minnesota’s constitutional amendment limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples. “All of us will be able to vote next fall.”

Some clearly won’t vote the way the church wants them to. Even the students at a Catholic school aren’t buying what the church is selling. The clergy better pray to the patron saint of ruptured relationships – if not lost causes.

Leslie Robinson lives in Seattle. Email her at lesarobinson@gmail.com, and check out her blog at www.generalgayety.com.

by Jim Toevs Courtesy of The Bilerico Project Jim Toevs co-founded the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission.

In 1992, Jim was the Democratic nominee for Congress against then-closeted Arizona Congressman Jim Kolbe. He resides in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico.

As tragic as the death of Trayvon Martin is, it has within it the transformational power for justice that we all experienced following the death of Matthew Shepard.

In their deaths, both of these young men touched, and continue to touch, the hearts of millions.

In Matthew’s case, the results were quantum leaps forward toward achieving full legal LGBT equality. It appears that in Trayvon’s death, the results will be to tear back the scab of racism in these United States of America, and to expose this terrible wound on our national consciousness that refuses to heal.

Never has the saying “a picture is worth 1,000 words” been more true than in the case of Matthew and Trayvon; for it is in looking at their pictures that the hearts of untold numbers of people have been opened to experience the grief of losing someone precious. President Obama’s words – “If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon” – speaks not only for black people, but for all of us. While those words were never spoken about Matthew, I believe they help explain

the overwhelming grief the nation and the world experienced when Matthew died.

Although unspoken, the words were in our minds: “If I had a Gay son, he would look like Matthew.”

Another political truism is: “the action is in the reaction.” As it was in Matthew’s case, the haters have raised the “panic defense” on behalf of Trayvon’s killer, George Zimmerman, in an effort to make the perpetrator of the crime the victim. Thankfully, there are just too many millions of us who wear hoodies for Geraldo and others to make that charge stick.

As tragic as the deaths of these young men are, Shepard did not die in vain, and all of us – white and black – have the opportunity to make sure that Trayvon’s death exposes the cancer of racism in our nation, and leads to a quantum leap forward toward a cure. Failure to do so will allow the cancer of racism to eat us all alive.

Oppression stops when the oppressors stop oppressing. Matthew’s death caused millions of heterosexuals to examine their own homophobia, and many of them became staunch allies in the struggle for full legal LBGT equality. Trayvon’s death has the potential to prompt millions of white folks to examine our own subtle collaboration with institutional and cultural racism and to become more fervent advocates of true “liberty and justice for all.”

Martin Luther King said the thing that saddened him the most during the civil rights struggle was not the noise and clamor of the

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Transformational?

Trayvon Martin and Matthew Shepard

Trayvon Martin

haters, but the silence of the good people. It is long past time for whites in general, and those of us in the LGBT community in particular, to break our silence on the subject of racism, when and wherever it raises its ugly head. By not letting racist comments “pass,” by isolating the haters from the mainstream of the body politic, we can all play a part in making sure that Trayvon Martin did not die in vain.

It is also long past the time for those of

us in the LGBT and black communities to quibble over who suffers most from discrimination, or why “they” don’t participate. For as Martin Luther King also said, “We arrived in different ships, but we are all in the same boat now.”

May the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Matthew Shepard continue to inspire us all to do our part for justice and keep us pulling on the oars of our common boat every day of our lives.

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Seattle Gay News 17

by Dan Woog SGN Contributing Writer So much of life is about being in the right place at the right time.

For Lisa Howe, that meant that at the age of 25 being part of a group of young women who had grown up playing soccer. A Dallas native, she starred on a Barry College team that won the 1989 Division II national championship. She and many others were beginning their coaching careers at the exact moment a number of colleges – in response to Title IX – were introducing women’s soccer programs and hiring female coaches.

She started her new job as head coach of the Jacksonville (Alabama) State women’s team on April 1, 1995. By August she had to recruit an entire squad, hire a staff, market the program, develop a fan base – and, oh, yes, coach too. But the women quickly became one of the top teams in their conference.

Howe is very proud of her accomplishments. Yet in 2005 – lured by the chance to move to a big city – she applied for the head-coaching job at Belmont University.

The Nashville school was Baptist-affiliated, and had a conservative reputation.

“I was hesitant,” Howe admitted. “But when I dropped off my resume, and then returned for an interview, I found the student body and faculty were a lot more liberal than Jacksonville. There were theater and dance programs – it was like apples to or-

out and about

The OutField: Lisa Howe has hope

anges.”

Howe had another reason to be hesitant: She’s a Lesbian. But, she said, there was a reason her sexuality was not a deal-breaker: “It’s a Christian school, and I’m a Christian.”

But if much of life is about being in the right place at the right time, another part is about making the most of whatever situation one finds oneself in.

Six years later – after engineering a dramatic turnaround in Belmont’s program, and earning the respect of athletes and the rest of the community – Howe found herself in a difficult spot.

Her girlfriend was a few months away from delivering their baby. The partners had recently been at a wedding filled with other coaches and former Belmont players; her girlfriend was showing.

In November 2011 Howe came out to her players in a post-season meeting. She told them that she was in an eight-year relationship – and that soon she’d be a mom.

“I loved coaching,” she recalled earlier this month. “I’d prioritized team cohesion, and always tried to build team chemistry.

That requires trust, which we had a lot of, and honesty, which had not been full on my part.”

Many players probably suspected Howe was a Lesbian, she said, and knew her partLisa Howe ner. But, she added, “they needed to know I couldn’t have done that,” Howe noted. wasn’t ashamed – that I’m proud of who I coming from.”

The players seemed pleased. (“We always But as of February 1, she has a new job. am. I wanted to be the one to tell the team, wanted a team baby,” one told ESPN.) Howe is now executive director of the and let them know who I am and where I’m The administration – not so much.

Nashville GLBT Chamber of Commerce.

Howe felt “angry, sad, liberated – all Her goal is to raise membership from 70 its kinds of emotions.” After a battle of words current businesses to 150, and to add many in which Howe and administrators offered more benefits. different reasons that she was leaving (their Her soccer coaching background should final statement, bound by confidentiality, help, she said. mentions “mutual agreement”), Howe’s stoLeading the GLBT Chamber of Comry went public. merce “is all about relationships,” Howe Thanks to aggressive reporting by the explained. “Whether you’re building those Belmont student newspaper, Howe became through sports, or through businesses worka cause celebre. Team members, students, ing together, it’s not much different. And faculty members and people in Nashville whether I’m running events and meetings, who had never heard of Howe rushed to or setting a calendar and budget, it’s defisupport her. nitely similar to the administrative side of So did Mike Curb, a musician, record coaching.” company executive, NASCAR owner and However, you can’t keep an old (well, former Republican lieutenant governor of former) coach down. And – in a nod to both California, who was a major benefactor of being in the right place at the right time, and Belmont. making the most of the situation she finds “So many people stood up as active al- herself in – Lisa Howe concluded, “I may lies,” Howe said. “That really enlightened coach again one day too.” and empowered me.”

After all, there’s always Hope.

On April 27, 2011, her daughter – named, fittingly, Hope – was born. For the rest of Dan Woog is a journalist, educator, socthe year Howe was a stay-at-home mom cer coach, Gay activist, and author of the (with a few speaking engagements thrown “Jocks” series of books on Gay male athin). letes. Visit his website at www.danwoog.

“If I had still been coaching soccer, I com. He can be reached care of this publication or at OutField@qsyndicate.com.

Religion & Spirituality Sojourner Truth Ministries

www.sgn.org www.sgn.org 18 Seattle Gay News

April 13, 2012

Sunday Service 11:15 am Rainier City Bldg 1265 South Main St #106 (14th & Main) Seattle, WA 98144 Phone: Rev. Walden @ 206 380-1710

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

Celebrating 39 Years!

Felony charges in HIV drug scam

Spitzer retracts 2001 landmark ex-Gay study courtesy psychiatric news

trolled by Florida resident Stephen Manuel Costa, who is accused of disguising the sale of the black market medications for resale A MOMS Pharmacy employee and three to MOMS patients, many of whom were on other co-conspirators have been indicted in Medicaid, the government health insurance New York for an alleged scheme to defraud program for the needy.

HIV patients and the federal Medicaid proAnother pharmacist, Ira Gross, is accused gram. of brokering the sales of the diverted drugs Indictments were unsealed in the between Schabel and Costa.

New York State Supreme The fourth defendant, Court for Suffolk CounHarry Abolafia, alleg“The ringleaders ty on April 4. created false of this complex scheme ... edly The indictment invoices for Coscharges four defen- preyed on some of New York’s ta’s companies to dants with at least make the illegal eight counts that most vulnerable patients just to transactions appear include grand larlegitimate. make a quick buck.” ceny in the first degree, For their efforts, criminal diversion of preSchabel, Gross, and Abolascription drugs, money laundering, fia were paid millions of dollars by commercial bribery, offering a false instru- Costa for participating in the scam. ment for filing, and conspiracy – all felony Schneiderman’s office says Allion Healthoffenses. care is cooperating in the investigation.

The state is seeking $155 million in civil “MOMS Pharmacy was a victim of this penalties from the defendants, in addition to crime and will continue to cooperate fully prosecuting them on the criminal charges. with the New York state authorities to see According to the indictment, the four de- that those involved are brought to justice,” fendants conspired to obtain HIV meds on MOMS President Anthony Luna said in a the black market and then relabeled and re- statement. sold them to patients in New York.

“The health and safety of our patients is Prosecutors say the operation reportedly our first priority, and we are doing all we netted some $274 million, costing the Med- can to make sure nothing like this happens icaid program $155 million in payments for again. Over the past two months, we have prescriptions for low-income HIV patients. been working to strengthen our existing The alleged scam also is said to have en- quality control and compliance processes dangered the health of patients by exposing and ensure that we are better able to detect them to drugs of unknown origin and po- problems of this nature.” tency. In some cases, the drugs were mislaThe case was broken by New York’s Medbeled or may have expired, said New York icaid Fraud Control Unit, which learned of a Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. $1 million incoming drug shipment through “The ringleaders of this complex scheme a wiretap, and intercepted it at the Melville not only cheated the Medicaid program out distribution center of MOMS. of millions of dollars, but preyed on some The New York State Office of the Medicof New York’s most vulnerable patients just aid Inspector General also provided investo make a quick buck,” Scheiderman said. tigators to examine the illegally obtained The defendants include Glenn Scha- drugs. bel, the supervising pharmacist at MOMS Washington’s State Medicaid Fraud ConPharmacy and its parent company Allion trol Unit was established in 1978. Among Healthcare, who allegedly accepted more other duties, it investigates and prosecutes than $274 million worth of black-market fraud by health care providers, including HIV medications from a network of phony pharmacies. It is administered by the Crimicompanies. nal Justice Division of the Washington AtThose companies allegedly were con- torney General’s Office.

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Robert Spitzer

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor In 2001, psychiatrist Robert Spitzer did a really bad thing. He authored and published a study of flawed research that, for a decade, so-called ex-Gays have relied on to buttress their claim that “change is possible.”

Now, Spitzer has publicly disowned it.

In a recent article in The American Prospect magazine, Spitzer said he wants his retraction of the study on the record. “In retrospect, I have to admit I think the critiques are largely correct,” he said. “The findings can be considered evidence for what those who have undergone ex-Gay therapy say about it, but nothing more.”

According to the website Ex-Gay Watch (www.exgaywatch.com), “Spitzer, now 80, was a key figure in the American Psychiatric Association’s 1973 decision to declassify homosexuality as a mental illness. Despite his pro-Gay stance, he later published research claiming that some Gays and Les-

bians could, with effort, change.”

In 2001, his paper, “Can Some Gay Men and Lesbians Change Their Orientation?” was met with criticism from his APA colleagues. In 2003, it was published in the peerreviewed journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, thus gaining an academic status that ex-Gay groups such as NARTH and Exodus International could point to as evidence that the research was on their side.

“But the flaws were obvious,” said Ex-Gay Watch officials. “To arrive at his conclusion that ‘some highly motivated individuals’ could make ‘substantial change’ to their sexual orientation, Spitzer had interviewed, by phone, 200 ex-Gays – all referred to him by the very groups that had a vested interest in proving ex-Gay therapy

could work.”

According to news reports, Spitzer has disassociated himself from such groups, denouncing them because he believes they distorted his findings. He says he asked Archives of Sexual Behavior to publish a retraction, but its editor refused.

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Seattle Gay News 19

murray

continued from cover According to the panelists who spoke with Murray, the r=est of the story is that dealing with the U.S. Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA) can seem like a bureaucratic nightmare for LGBT veterans, especially for those who were discharged because of their sexual orientation before DADT was repealed.

The meeting with Murray was hosted by Louise Chernin of the Greater Seattle Business Association, in the GSBA’s Capitol Hill office, and included: • Admiral Allen Steinman, now retired, the highest-ranking out service member.

• Major Margaret Witt, who successfully sued the Defense Department to be reinstated to full rank and benefits, • Derek Sparks, US Navy veteran, one of the plaintiffs in Cook v. Rumsfeld, challenging DADT, and • Shaun Knittel, also a Navy veteran, and a board member of OutMilitary.com.

Equal Rights Washington executive director Rod Hearne also sat in on the discussion.

As a nurse, Major Witt was perhaps uniquely qualified to observe the impact of DADT repeal on veterans’ benefits.

“I was amazed,” she said, “to see so many Transgender patients at the V.A. One thing that disturbed me: when I came across the diagnosis ‘personality disorder’ in one [Transgender] patient’s file.”

Steinman added, “One senior project manager – I won’t say who – told me there

is a culture of homophobia in the VA. The VA won’t be a safe place to LGBT vets until it’s a safe place for LGBT employees.”

Knittel said he had put out a notice on OutMilitary.com – a networking site for LGBT service members and veterans – that he would be speaking with Murray, and asked for input from other veterans.

One problem, he said, was that “many people have no idea what their benefits should be. If you got discharged [under DADT] they handed you a paper and said ‘Sign this.’ They didn’t ask for questions.

And many vets don’t use their benefits because they feel uncomfortable going to the VA.” “I was one of those people,” Sparks agreed. “It was too painful to deal with the VA I knew I was entitled to the GI Bill and to medical benefits, but when I tried to get the benefits I always got the runaround.”

“I think that’s tragic,” Knittel said.

“I agree,” Murray replied.

Another problem, all agreed, was changing “general” discharges for people kicked out under DADT to “honorable” discharges.

Sparks said he had been turned down for employment because he had only a general discharge.

Witt added that after her discharge, the Air Force erased all her records. When she was reinstated and tried to get medical coverage, she was asked to prove that she had once served in the military.

“Finally I just told them “Google me!’” she grinned.

Another problem, Knittel said, was that same-sex couples cannot apply jointly for

VA home loans, because the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prohibits federal agencies from recognizing their relationship.

“I know you know all about DOMA,” Knittel told Murray, “so I won’t repeat it, but now that we can have Gay and Lesbian servicemembers with partners, they still don’t have all the benefits that other service members have, and for a state like this – where we guarantee rights for domestic partners – that puts the VA in conflict with state law.”

One of the challenges, Steinman said, was to find a way to deal with the remaining problems faced by LGBT veterans without having to go to a possibly reluctant Congress for legislative action.

“Any of the service secretaries could mandate a LGBT Special Emphasis Program,” he suggested. “They could issue a manual on LGBT issues and require that VA services be sexual orientation neutral.”

Knittel suggested that the VA establish an LGBT Liaison tasked with educating vets about their benefits and making sure they are able to access them without bureaucratic stumbling blocks being put in their way.

“It’s the same as if you were bullied in school,” Knittel continued. “If you’re a closeted Gay kid, you don’t want to talk to just any counselor. But if you see a counselor with a rainbow flag on her mug, you might talk to her.”

“It could be a duty added to an existing position,” Steinman said. “If it’s a new position it would need additional funding and that requires Congress.”

“No one was thinking VA when we went after DADT,” Murray concluded. “Now that we’ve repealed DADT, we have to administer the VA in a way that’s consistent. Anybody who serves their country deserves to get the benefits we promised them.”

petitions

continued from cover dral’s pastoral ministry team, I have decided that we will not participate in the collecting of signatures in our parish. Doing so would, I believe, prove hurtful and seriously divisive in our community.”

A spokesperson for St. James Parish confirmed to Seattle Gay News that Ryan had sent the email, and added “we, here, will not have petitions available to sign.”

The Archdiocese also confirmed Ryan’s email, but said that his decision was not, as it might appear, a challenge to instructions from Archbishop J. Peter Sartain to circulate the petitions.

“Archbishop Sartain has left the decision regarding collection of signatures for Referendum 74 to the discretion of each pastor,” archdiocese spokesperson Greg Magnoni told SGN in an email.

Other church sources, speaking not-forattribution, explained that Sartain had sent private instructions to parish priests, allowing them to opt out of the Referendum 74 petition drive. His public statement on the

issue seemed to be a wholehearted endorsement of the petitions.

At St. Joseph’s Parish on Capitol Hill, Fr. John Whitney posted a terse notice on the parish website.

“You may have heard about a petition drive concerning Referendum 74, which will be gathering signatures at a number of parishes in Seattle,” the notice said.

“Please be aware that Fr. Whitney has decided that no petitioning will be permitted anywhere on the campus of St. Joseph.

Please contact Fr. Whitney with any concerns.”

Dignity/Seattle board member Leo Egashira called the news “a surprise.”

Dignity is a national organization of LGBT Roman Catholics. Dignity/Seattle had monthly Mass at St. Joseph’s until the archdiocese forced them out. They now meet at Ravenna United Methodist Church.

“For once the pastors are heeding the needs of their own parishioners,” Egashira said. “For once they’re following the lead of the people.”

“I am in awe of the courage and guts of Fr. Ryan,” he continued. “St. James is the archbishop’s own church. That’s pretty major.”

Catholics for Marriage Equality Washington State urged Catholics to contact their priests and ask them to decline to circulate the Referendum 74 petition.

“We uphold the state of Washington’s right to grant equality to all committed couples living in our state with the opportunity for a civil marriage in the eyes of the law,” the group said in a statement.

“If you agree, we ask that you contact your pastor and parish leadership and ask them to refuse to circulate the petition as well.”

“I have a feeling that would have an impact on priests,” Egashira said. “I know some priests – especially priests who have presided at Dignity masses – I think it would have an impact if people spoke up. The majority of Catholics support marriage equality.”

Besides St. James and St. Joseph parishes, other churches that reportedly are not circulating Referendum 74 petitions include: • St. Therese in Madrona, • St. Mary’s near Judkins Park, • St. Patrick’s on north Capitol Hill, • Christ Our Hope in the Josephinum downtown, and • St Paul’s, in Rainier Beach.

None of these churches would publicly confirm that their priests had declined to circulate petitions.

latinos

continued from cover too are Hispanics.”

However, Dutwin points out that Latinos also mirror the general population in that there are groups within the Hispanic community that are more intolerant than others.

The highly religious and those less familiar with American cultural values in particular tend to hold less accepting views of LGBTs. Dutwin notes that religious communities

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April 13, 2012

Celebrating 39 Years!

that insulate themselves are particularly rigid in their attitudes concerning Gays and Lesbians.

“Still, across the board, we’re seeing that exposure to the LGBT community is really the key to acceptance and tolerance for Latinos,” added Dutwin. “Many Hispanics come from countries where Gays and Lesbians are less upfront about their sexuality, so that enables this discomfort toward LGBTs to persist. But the longer these Hispanics live in the U.S. and the more they come into contact with Gays and Lesbians, the more likely they are to accept them and support pro-LGBT policies such as same-sex marriage.”

Eric Rodriguez, vice president of the Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation at NCLR, said that the findings are important and should be discussed and shared widely.

“Latinos, like other Americans, have come a long way in acceptance of the LGBT community,” Rodriguez said. “Without a doubt there is work to be done within our own community to promote acceptance and tolerance, but this report is a strong indication that we are moving in the right direc-

tion.”

A copy of the report can be found on the NCLR website.

NCLR – the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States – works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, visit www.nclr.org.

homophobe continued from cover

addition, it appears that sometimes those who would oppress others have been oppressed themselves, and we can have some compassion for them too, as they may be unaccepting of others because they cannot be accepting of themselves.”

Ryan cautioned, however, that this link is only one source of anti-Gay sentiments.

In four separate experiments conducted with an average of 160 college students, researchers measured the discrepancies between what people say about their sexual orientation and how they react during a split-second timed task. Students were

shown words and pictures on a computer screen and asked to put them in “Gay” or “straight” categories. They were then shown the words “Gay,” “straight,” “homosexual,” and “heterosexual” as well as pictures of straight and Gay couples, and the computer tracked precisely their response times. A faster association of “me” with “Gay” and a slower association of “me” with “straight” indicated an implicit Gay orientation.

Researchers also measured participants’ implicit sexual attraction by allowing them to view opposite-sex and same-sex photos.

They also measured participants’ level of homophobia – both overt, as expressed in questionnaires on social policy and beliefs, and implicit, as revealed in word-completion tasks.

The study asked participants to detail the type of parenting they experienced growing up, from authoritarian to democratic.

Students were asked to agree or disagree with statements like: “I felt controlled and pressured in certain ways,” and “I felt free to be who I am.” For gauging the level of homophobia in a household, subjects responded to items like: “It would be upset-

ting for my mom to find out she was alone with a Lesbian,” or “My dad avoids Gay men whenever possible.”

The study concluded that participants with supportive and accepting parents were more in touch with their implicit sexual orientation, while participants from authoritarian homes revealed the most discrepancy between explicit and implicit attraction.

The study also found that participants who reported themselves to be more heterosexual than their performance on the reaction time task indicated were most likely to react with hostility to Gay others.

“Individuals who identify as straight but in psychological tests show a strong attraction to the same sex may be threatened by Gays and Lesbians because homosexuals remind them of similar tendencies within themselves,” said Netta Weinstein, one of the study’s lead authors.

“In a predominately heterosexual society, ‘know thyself’ can be a challenge for many Gay individuals,” Weinstein said. “But in controlling and homophobic homes, embracing a minority sexual orientation can be terrifying.”

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