SGN April 19, 2013 - Section 1

Page 1

Issue 16 Volume 41

Celebrating 40 Years!

Section 3

Seattle Gay News

FRIDAY April 19, 2013 FREE! 25¢ in bookstores & newsstands

SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Tragedy, up close and personal Seattle-area runners witnessed the Boston Marathon explosion John Tlumacki / Boston Globe / AP

played out in our cities. Monday’s senseless violence shows us that, sadly, “this sort of “This sort of thing doesn’t re- thing” really does happen here. ally happen here,” you tell your- And on Monday, “here” just hapself as the news comes across your pened to be downtown Boston. iPhone screen. by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

“All of the sudden there were just tons and tons of people running away from where we just were, so we joined in, and just started running.” Some mornings you wake up to a nightmare. A nightmare is exactly what Americans – Bostonians, in particular – woke up to on April 15. In just 15 seconds, two bombs placed near the finish line of the Boston Marathon exploded, killing three people including an eight-year-old boy and injuring more than 180 others. For those of us watching, it was a sickening reminder of past events that have

WON’T BE DETERRED Seattle boasts some of the healthiest and athletic residents in the nation. This is an outdoorsman’s kind of place. There’s hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, and, of course, running. The LGBTQ community in Seattle is no exception. In fact, when the bombs were detonated on see boston page 7

Bill Iffrig of Lake Stevens (bottom right) is knocked to the ground by the first explosion

The anti-Gay florist saga continues

Initiative will promote equality throughout the Western Hemisphere

ACLU files discrimination suit on behalf of Gay couple

Secretary of State John Kerry

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The U.S. State Department announced on April 12 that it is initiating a regional program to protect LGBT rights in the Western Hemisphere. “Secretary of State John Kerry has committed to advancing the human rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) individuals as a central part of our human rights engagement,” the State Department said in a statement posted on its website. “Taking into account the Secretary’s commitment as well as the Presidential Memorandum issued December 6, 2011, that directs all federal agencies engaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs has developed a regional strategy that strives to eliminate violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

aclu

paul j. richards / ap photo

State Dept. announces LGBT rights program

Robert Ingersoll (l) and Curt Freed

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

On April 18, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of a gay couple in Kennewick, Washington, against a florist they allege discriminated against them because of their sexual orientation. The suit says that the refusal of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland to sell flowers to the couple violates the Washington law against dissee state dept. page 6 crimination.

Curt Freed, a faculty member at Columbia Basin College, and Robert Ingersoll, a manager at Goodwill, have been a couple for almost nine years. They are engaged and are planning a wedding for September 2013. According to ACLU Washington, having purchased goods from Arlene’s Flowers on many occasions, Ingersoll approached the florist on March 1 to arrange for flowers for the see florist page 5

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