SGN August 16, 2013 - Section 1

Issue 33 Volume 41

Celebrating 40 Years!

FRIDAY August 16, 2013 FREE! 25¢ in bookstores & newsstands

Section 2 Page 1

Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

It’s official: Prop 8 is dead California Supreme Court drives stake through amendment’s heart

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The California Supreme Court killed Prop 8 once and for all on August 14, with a decision not to issue a writ of mandamus requested by opponents of marriage equality.

tiative to ban same-sex marriage in California, claimed that Federal District Judge Vaughn Walker lacked proper authority to overturn a state constitutional amendment, which was what Prop 8 had been.

Walker’s 2010 decision that Prop 8 denied Gay and Lesbian couples their federal equal pro-

“As we celebrate this great victory, we remember the 37 other states without marriage equality and the many other corners of our country where there is little to no protection for LGBT people on a range of issues.”

Deborah Svoboda / KQED

Crispin Hollings proposes marriage to Luis Casillas after the Supreme Court’s Prop. 8 ruling on June 26.

The trouble with Q

Had the state court issued the writ accepting review of the case, Gay and Lesbian marriages, which have resumed in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Prop 8 case in June, would have been put back on hold.

Protect Marriage, the group that originally sponsored the ballot ini-

tection and due process rights set off a chain of legal decisions, but the California court’s action now brings the Prop 8 saga to an end, with same-sex marriages legal in the state. see prop 8 page 21

Social Security announces new rules

Violence outside Capitol Hill nightclub Same-sex marrieds can now get spousal benefits – but there’s a catch has LGBT community concerned jessica hill

A fight broke out outside Q nightclub in Seattle on August 11.

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Video footage uploaded to YouTube by a witness to a fight that broke out on Broadway in front of Q Capitol Hill early Sunday morning shows a brawl that takes several minutes to contain. Coupled with the rise in anti-LGBT senti-

ment and other violent crimes in the neighborhood, the incident has many residents worried about their safety when partying on the Hill.

We’ve seen this sort of thing before. And the one constant is that whenever violence is associated with a new business that operates in the Pike/Pine corridor, or along Broadway or Olive Way, that busi-

ness doesn’t last much longer. The LGBT community is a peaceful one, and our Gayborhood intends to remain that way as well. Anyone is welcome on Capitol Hill – as long as they behave like adults.

A FAMILIAR REFRAIN The Social, the infamous nowdefunct nightclub with an attached tapas restaurant-turned-vodka bar, went down in history as a giant letdown to the LGBT clubbers who hoped that the venue would be everything it was over-promoted to be in 2012. After some ownership shakeups, hiring and firings, changes in programming from Gay to straight and shots fired, the crippled club shut its doors after the owners couldn’t get their liquor license renewed.

The Social was Gay, then it was straight, then it was hip-hop, and then it was closed.

What’s the moral of the story here? Pick one! I understand that bars and some lounges can get away with being “mixed.” But nightclubs located on the Hill that don’t draw a line in the sand and say which side of the fence

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced new rules that will entitle some – but not all – same-sex spouses to the same benefits available to opsee q page 5 posite-sex spouses.

An August 9 statement from acting Social Security Commissioner Carolyn W. Colvin said the new guidelines came as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in USA v. Windsor, striking down Section 3 of DOMA. see security page 7

2

Seattle Gay News

August 16, 2013

Celebrating 40 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

August 16, 2013

Seattle Gay News

3

Seattle Gay News FOUNDED 1973

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

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

MEMBER

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

2013

Deadlines

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

Editor In Chief George Bakan Associate Editor Shaun Knittel Production William Creswell Calendar Editors Mike Andrew and Rick McKinnon Travel Editor George Bakan Advertising Manager Marty Weisbrod Advertising Department Maggie Bloodstone, Tym Brown, Tim Moffett Executive Assistant Mike Andrew Staff Writers Mike Andrew, Miryam Gordon, Anthony Greer, Shaun Knittel, Albert Rodriguez, James Whitely Contributing Writers

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

Classifieds Mike Andrew and Rick McKinnon

Fashionistain’t

by Beau Burriola SGN Contributing Writer Nipples. I couldn’t see them, but I knew they were as visible to everyone in the room as a couple of craisins glued to my shirt. It was too late to change – the damage was done. There would be no living this down for ages to come.

I was standing in a room of executive managers, discussing cost overruns in the most serious tone I could muster. Never mind I could feel my face burning with the fire it does when my whole face turns bright red. Never mind the noticeable effort to

Photographers

Nate Gowdy, Joseph P. Herron, Shaun Knittel, James Whitely National Advertising Rep. Rivendell Media (212) 242-6863 Website Designer Barry Thorsness/Digital Team Works Seattle Gay News is published weekly by Frogs and Ink, Inc. © 2013, Frogs and Ink, Inc., all rights reserved. Reprints by permission.

Publication of names, photographs or likenesses of any person, organization, event or business in this publication cannot be taken as any indication of the sexual orientation of the person, organization, event or business.

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

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

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

And please play safe.

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

In Loving Memory Of

Steve Foiles, Scott Roger Alpert, Cookie Andrews-Hunt, James Leland Moore, Randy Peters, Lee Richeson, Shaun Shelton, Jim Tully, James Arnold

4

Seattle Gay News

make no eye contact. I could have dimmed the lights and done the Haka and my nips would still be the most noticeable part of my presentation.

One of the most difficult integration issues I’ve had since moving to Belgium is taking on much of the effortless European fashion most of these folks seem born with.

I’ve tried even enlisting the counsel of some extremely well-put-together folks, but there’s always something that doesn’t work – my wrong-colored shoes, my slightly bizarre choice of tie, or my far-too-literal interpretation of skinny pants.

In this case, when I bought the shirt I noticed the material was a little bit thin, but I thought I would just wear a shirt under it and everything would be fine. Nope. The same exact shirt that made the dummy look like a French soccer executive made me look like a dive bar waitress. Maybe dummies don’t have nipples?

Stateside, I could get away with my fash-

ion deficiency, because in Seattle most people are kind of weird and in Texas the bar for acceptable attire just ain’t that high. Here in Europe, I stick out obviously, sometimes literally.

“It’s not that visible,” Jamie lied over Skype when I complained.

“It’s because it’s on your iPhone – I bet you can even see it on that.”

“You’re being paranoid,” she said, “but if you want my opinion, that tie looks weird.”

Sigh.

This is only one of the Gay genes I wasn’t born with. I don’t know anything about flowers, I don’t know many showtunes, my hair is short because I am not sure how it is supposed to go, and my home is more bachelor cheap than bachelor-pad cheap. I’m a walking anti-stereotype, and never more than with my best friend, Jeff.

“Seriously? A scarf?” I asked. “It’s summer.”

“It’s to dress up my T-shirt and jacket for work,” he said, in all seriousness. Jeff Andrews is endlessly stylish – his home is all clean long angles, perfectly contrasting colors, and gadgets mixed with midcentury style, his hair is big and wavy, his glasses are a half-step from hipster, and the only person who can put his shoe choices to shame is his wife, the quintessential classy European lady who could simply throw a tea towel over her shoulder and instantly transform it as if it were a cashmere scarf with the wind blowing just so.

“You’re overreacting,” Nathalie told me.

Another effortless Frenchwoman at work.

I felt comfortable enough to ask her if she thought maybe the color of the brown in my shoes was unacceptable for this suit. I saw in a magazine a guy wearing a black suit and sort of wood-colored shoes. He clearly had more cred than I had to pull it off, but in the effort of integration I gave it a go. “It isn’t that bad, but maybe you should get a blue suit.”

Sigh.

Maybe my whole life, I will only look normal in a T-shirt and boots. Maybe this part of the Gay thing or Europe thing never sinks in. Maybe this is the limit of what I can do.

“EEEEEEIIIII!” My little tweenage sister, BB, screamed over Skype after I didn’t bother with a haircut for six weeks and just rolled out of bed. “I love your hair!”

“Yeah ... well ...” Sigh.

“You’d be surprised to know how much it costs to look this cheap!” - Dolly Parton Beau Burriola is a 34-year-old Brusselsbased writer happy enough to have the same color socks on each day. beaubrent@ gmail.com

August 16, 2013

Celebrating 40 Years!

Local news

q

continued from cover they are on (not in a separatist sort of way, but a marketing and programming way), don’t make it. Take a look at Purr Cocktail Lounge, open for nearly 10 years on the Hill. It’s open to everyone, but it is a Gay bar. Everyone knows it. Neighbours Seattle, celebrating a whopping 30 years this month, has been accused of being a straight club

PARTNERS SPLIT Openly Gay businessman C. Scott Smith opened the club with business partner Andy Rampl less than one year ago. He has since left the business, and due to a nondisclosure/non-disparagement agreement that keeps him from being able to say much, he wasn’t able to comment directly about the rise in violent crimes in parallel with Q’s marketing to communities outside Capitol Hill. Still, Smith would go on the record to say, “Obviously, I’ve been following events

“The club once had a fiercely supportive and loyal Gay customer base, and what was really fascinating to me, as a club owner, was to see the incredible desire of many of the Gay customers to see the club succeed – even though they had no vested interest in it, except as customers.”

– and it certainly has a following among straights – but if you take one look at their programming, DJ lineup, and the fact that they advertise themselves explicitly as a Gay nightclub, it’s easy to see that while anyone can go inside, those who enter do so knowing they will be dancing, drinking, and talking with Gays.

BECOMING BELLTOWN? Q opened its doors last year as a dance club for serious music heads, and catered to what the owners and management called a “Capitol Hill crowd.” Wouldn’t have just been easier to say, “It’s a Gay nightclub, but all are welcome”? Anyway, the point of this article is about how some people feel unsafe with the current programming that Q has introduced, after the one Gay owner of the two Q principals left, and the Gay DJs jumped ship too. The straight, drunk, angry, and downright obnoxious Belltown crowd is trying to find a new home and Q seems to have embraced them. Some are saying that, with that crowd, also come crime, anti-LGBT sentiment, and violence.

A concerned citizen who wished to remain anonymous wrote to the Capitol Hill Community Council (CHCC) earlier this week following the Q brawl: “With hate crimes on the rise all over the country, I’m very concerned for the people of Capitol Hill after a recent outbreak of violence outside a nightclub on Capitol Hill called Q. The club, which used to cater to Gays and Lesbians, now draws an aggressive, homophobic crowd (probably from outside of the city) who have been spilling out into the streets with their violence and hate speech, and the trend is very frightening. I’m planning to contact the Mayor as well as the neighborhood council on this issue and I hope that you will stand in solidarity with us in shutting down this hotbed of anti-Gay speech and violence.”

He then thanks the council for their time and “consideration on this very important issue” and shares a link to the video of the fight: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=jUlftU_atnw Well-known out Gay DJ and producer DJ Almond Brown, who worked with the club shortly after it opened until just after Pride month, told SGN that he shares some of the same concerns as the man who wrote the letter to CHCC. “In all my years as a DJ, I can honestly say, every truly violent incident I’ve witnessed has not included Gays,” he said.

“Now I’ve seen some queens read each other to filth, but never something where we have to call in police and an ‘all hands’ security situation erupts.”

“The level of female entitlement, straightboy testosterone, and crap EDM [electronic dance music], is a dangerous cocktail these days,” Almond Brown warns. Capitol Hill, he says, is “the new Belltown East.”

at the club since I left – and the reports of violence at Q that I’ve seen on Facebook and in the Capitol Hill press are very disturbing to me.”

Smith told SGN, “I told my former business partner two years before the club opened that I never want to own a club where my security people have to pat down customers and search purses prior to letting them in, and being located on The Hill and targeting the market that we originally saw as our core demographic should have guaranteed for the club a well-behaved clientele.

And it did.”

When I asked Smith, “So what happened?” he replied, “That’s a question you’ll have to ask my former business partner, Andy Rampl.”

Smith does admit that the change in behavior, as far as the heterosexual clientele is concerned, is perplexing. He says that when he was active at the club, “the straight folks we had coming to the club when we first opened – and even several months later when I was still active in the day-to-day management and musical programming of the club – were people who were comfortable around Gays and Lesbians and who acted like grownups when they went out. “ GAY PROGRAMMING VANISHES Recently, a vocal group of Capitol Hill residents from the LGBT community have all but declared Q dead. So were they ever supportive at all? “Oh my God, yes!” Smith said. “Yes, they were. “ “The club once had a fiercely supportive and loyal Gay customer base,” he continued. “And what was really fascinating to me, as a club owner, was to see the incredible desire of many of the Gay customers to see the club succeed – even though they had no vested interest in it, except as customers.”

“It was really quite wonderful,” said Smith, adding, “And with just one or two exceptions during the almost-year the club has been in business, the very biggest bookings as far as customer turnout is concerned have consistently been the events and bookings aimed at, but not necessarily exclusive to, Gays.”

Looking over the current programming Q has in place, you will quickly notice that the so-called loyal following isn’t following anymore.

“A club like Q can’t survive on the pink dollar alone – at least in Seattle,” said Smith. “But it’s important for a club owner like me to recognize that being located in a place like the Hill and having a core Gay customer base brings not just Gay dollars, but also behavior levels that tend to be more grown-up than clubs that target straights alone.”

In a particularly focused manner, Smith cuts through the bullshit, saying, “Let’s face facts – when there’s violence at clubs

Visit us online www.sgn.org

it’s rarely the Gays or Lesbians who have pulled a gun or knife. Additionally, in my humble opinion, clubs that have a solid core customer base comprised of Gays tend to be clubs that have much longer legs than their straight counterparts. Just look at Neighbours and The Cuff – clubs that have been in operation for 30 and 20 years, respectively.”

Smith said, “Operating a nightclub anywhere is a difficult proposition, but doing so on the Hill, while trying to thread the needle of inclusiveness, make enough money to pay the rent and, at the same time, not letting your business turn into a place filled with Belltown and Pioneer Square 20-something douchebags is extraordinarily hard, but not impossible.”

“I’m incredibly proud of the bookings that DJ Almond Brown and I put together – bookings like Derrick Carter, Chus and Ceballos, DJ Pierre, DJ Paolo, Honey Dijon, Ralphi Rosario and Abel Aguilera of Rosabel fame, along with Francois K among many, many others,” he continued. “ I think DJ sets like those and others that we booked helped to lay the foundation for what could be a serious musical reputation for the club while at the same time threading that needle

of inclusiveness that I mentioned above and that’s so critical to the success of a business like Q.” At the end of the day, Smith says, “It’s my sincerest hope that Q’s ownership and management don’t lose sight of where the club is located, both physically and metaphysically, and how in order to thrive the club needs to do all it can as a business to fit into the fabric of the community and the soul of Capitol Hill.”

GAY RUSSIAN THANKS WES I am a Russian Gay man, writing about the recent article by Wes Hurley about his Gay experience in post-Communist Russia (“Stranger in My Homeland,” Aug. 2).

It so happened that I moved to U.S. when he was still in school. I don’t know his exact age, but it seems to me I am older by about 20 or so years. My early Gay experiences in Russian life are going even further back, but I am not writing about that.

It is so comforting to know that it was not just my perception – we share the same feelings and attitudes despite far flung times and geography. I was born in 1960 and he apparently in the ’80s, while he is from Far East and I was born and raised in Ukraine. It takes a sensitive creative person to convey the maddening complexity and level of social oppression of the Gay situation in Russia then and now. It is wonderful to know that he is going to make a film about that part of the Russian Gay experience.

I am a cinephile and designer myself and in my opinion what is sorely missing in the Gay film world are the honest complex stories. The range seems to cover extremes like harrowing violence or romantic affairs. I think Gay experience is far more complex and we in the U.S. have random at best access to voices from Eastern Europe. To be fair, it is not exactly the fault of distributors or festival directors. Russia for one is habitually secretive about its problems and there is no support of any kind for production of whatever Gay-themed films. So for me a person like Wes may deliver a credible, real, personal story that can add a significant insight to a better understanding of the Russian Gay situation since it is historically, culturally, socially, and politically specific, and therefore hard to understand for a casual foreigner.

That is why I would like to ask you to pass on to Wes my enthusiastic encouragement to continue with that splendid idea of making a great film. The idea is inspiring so I would also like to offer volunteer support in the artistic department if needed. I do have film and animation experience in that respect.

Thank you for giving a voice to that subject. It is really a rarity to hear a fellow Russian speaking candidly and eloquently

about such unglamorous matters. I appreciate your editorial choices.

Gene Shen Seattle

August 16, 2013

COURSE CORRECTION AHEAD? Currently, Ryan Schmitt is the general manager at Q Nightclub and has been since its inception. He told SGN that while Q officials don’t deny that violence has been on the rise, they believe that Q has become “a focus for a disgruntled vocal minority.”

“We are in the process of an overhaul that will be bringing things back to the community and will support them,” he said.

SGN has an interview set up with Schmitt and Q Nightclub Creative Director Sean Majors on August 16. Look for it in the August 23 edition of the newspaper.

BOYCOTT STOLI, NOT GAMES Some may have already made arrangements to go [to Russia for the Olympics].

Athletes are, or will be, training hard. It would be a disservice to them to call for a boycott.

My suggestion, for one thing, is to boycott Stolichnaya Vodka. Of course this should happen nationwide. It is one of the most popular vodkas, but there really are many just as good. The bars won’t really lose any business if you order some other call vodka.

Where the well vodka comes from can be any cheap brand.

This will not bankrupt Russia, but it will be noticed.

It has been suggested that the president and secretary of state urge our embassy, and other countries’ as well, to fly the rainbow flag under our American flag. Maybe a pipe dream, but why not!

Lenny Green Seattle A MURRAY LANDSLIDE? Political Science 101: No first-term mayor seeking re-election who gets 28% of the votes cast in the primary election wins in the general election. Mayor McGinn is DOA – he just doesn’t know it yet. Four years ago McGinn was an unknown, but now he’s a known quantity. His numbers reflect the verdict of Seattle voters. Prediction: Murray 60%, McGinn 40%.

Steven Kendall Seattle

Seattle Gay News

5

national news

To honor those who served A call for a national LGBT veterans’ memorial

unteer.”

In September 2012 the board of HCC advised the board of NLGBTVM that the issues had finally been resolved and that the project to build the memorial could proceed.

Final negotiations with the Congressional Cemetery resulted in the signing of a contract in May 2012 between the Congressional Cemetery and NLGBTVM boards to proceed with this endeavor.

project (NLGBTVM), it is their mission to create a monument and memorial at the Historic Congressional Cemetery (HCC) in According to Nancy A. Russell, chair of Washington, D.C., to honor LGBT veterans the National LGBT Veterans Memorial who have served, are serving, or will serve

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

in our nation’s military services.

Russell, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, says it would be a place of honor and a testament to LGBT service throughout U.S. history and a place where loved ones and the public may go to learn and reflect on the role our service members play in defense of our country and our values.

The public’s help is needed for the memorial to become a reality.

The idea of creating a national memorial honoring LGBT veterans was conceived

WHAT IS BEING PLANNED As currently conceived, the Memorial Project will consist of four components: • Monument: The NLGBTVM will be designed to provide a place of honor and reflection for LGBT veterans and their families. Adequate room will allow for wreath laying and various other ceremonies honoring the service of LGBT Veterans, particularly ceremonies during national holidays such as Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and Independence Day. The monument design will not be completed until later this year.

• Internment of Cremains: The design will provide for internment of cremated ashes of eligible veterans, with a stone engraved with their name, rank, and service.

• Memorialization: For those not wishing to have all or part of their ashes buried at the memorial, there is the option of acquiring a brick or paver in one of three sizes, which will be engraved appropriately.

• Service Member’s Stories: as a part of our effort to educate the public and to preserve the history of LGBT service, we are planning to have a database located at the administrative offices of the cemetery where the information we are able to obtain on those interred or memorialized there will

The idea of creating a national memorial honoring LGBT veterans was conceived 14 years ago by Patrick Crowley, then a member of the Board of Directors of HCC, and Nancy Russell, then national president of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Veterans of America.

14 years ago by Patrick Crowley, then a member of the Board of Directors of HCC, and Nancy Russell, then national president of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Veterans of America (GLBVA). In a letter dated May 20, 2001, the HCC Board of Directors notified NLGBTVM of its approval to proceed with negotiations.

ISSUES CONFRONTED During the ensuing years between that approval and the contract between the boards of HCC and NLGBTVM, the Congressional Cemetery was plagued by a number of issues that needed to be resolved before the project could proceed.

The issues included: • Completion of the Cemetery Master Landscape Plan, • Resolution of flooding issues in the lower part of the Cemetery, and • Obtaining ownership of a road in the Cemetery legally owned by the D.C. Jail.

According to Russell, “Complicating the resolution of these issues was the lack of funding for the Cemetery to hire a full-time executive director to oversee these issues.

All the workers were either part time or vol-

6

Seattle Gay News

August 16, 2013

be available for the public, family, friends, and for future research.

WHAT IT WILL COST The board of NLGBTVM has contracted with Historic Congressional Cemetery for a minimum of 10 burial plots on which to build the memorial. Each plot costs $2,500.

That is an area of 240 square feet (15’ x 16’) at a total cost of $25,000. An additional five sites at $4,000 each for an additional 120 square feet have been reserved for possible future expansion.

The total cost of the monument is not yet known. That will depend on the design selected in October, when submissions will be judged and a winner selected. The cost of the monument could exceed $100,000 and there will be additional costs for landscaping the memorial garden.

NLGBTVM has recently announced a contest for design of the Monument. Anyone wishing to participate in the contest may do so by going to the NLGBTVM website (www.nlgbtvm.org) for instructions.

NLGBTVM also welcomes your constructive comments and ideas. Email Russell at chair@nlgbtvm.org.

Celebrating 40 Years!

Greg Kreller / IPT

IDAHO: City by city equality gains traction

Think our neighbor to the east is hopelessly anti-Gay? Think again.

by Steve Martin Pride Foundation

A SEA CHANGE IN CDA Jon Downing, a Pride Foundation volunteer who grew up and still lives and works in the Coeur d’Alene area, once home to the white supremacist group Aryan Nations, said the passage of all of the ordinances is a significant accomplishment in a state like Idaho.

“It has huge implications about our future. History shows us that it won’t be long before there are statewide protections,” Downing said. “And I believe having our own city of Coeur d’Alene recognize equality reinforces the idea that things are a lot better than they used to be in northern Idaho. I hope our youth of today are learning from positive examples, like our City Council persons, that hate won’t always be tolerated.”

Downing noted that in Coeur d’Alene, the strategy of proponents when discussing the ordinance was always to be kind and respectful, something he believes was influential in getting the council to listen, and ultimately do the right thing.

“We got commended by our councilpersons for always having well-thought-out arguments with never a hateful word,” he said. “A positive attitude opens doors.”

As the United States has moved closer to granting equal rights to LGBTQ people over the last few years, it’s easy to assume that a traditionally red state like Idaho hasn’t shared in that nationwide momentum. But look again – six Idaho cities have adopted nondiscrimination ordinances offering protections based upon sexual orientation and gender identity/expression in the past 18 months.

“It shows that Idaho isn’t as narrow-minded as people claim it is,” said Jess McCafferty, LGBT Equality Fellow for the ACLU of Idaho, a Pride Foundation grantee, noting that 21% of the state’s population now lives in cities where LGBTQ residents are legally protected from discrimination. “I think it says a lot for how involved people are in their communities on LGBTQ issues.”

The six municipalities with nondiscrimination ordinances started with Sandpoint, in northern Idaho, in December 2011, followed by Boise in December 2012, and then Ketchum, Moscow, Coeur d’Alene, and Pocatello in the first seven months of 2013.

All offer protections in housing, employment, and public accommodations. Idaho Falls, located in southeastern Idaho about PROGRESS IN POCATELLO 50 miles from Pocatello, held a first reading For Susie Matsuura, also a Pride Foundaof its own nondiscrimination ordinance on tion volunteer, keeping a positive attitude July 25, with a second reading scheduled was a difficult task in Pocatello, where she August 8. was a vocal and visible supporter of that city’s several-month process to first defeat‘RELATIONSHIPS MATTER’ ing and then later passing an ordinance. At “As elected officials, we have not only the one point, the ordinance included a requireopportunity, but the responsibility to give ment for people to use the bathroom correvoice to the need for these protections,” sponding with the gender marker on their said Boise City Council president Mary- driver’s license, but that was later removed. anne Jordan, an outspoken proponent of “That journey was one of the longest in Boise’s ordinance. “I think that because we my life,” said Matsuura, who has a Gay in these cities have been willing to stand up, son. “I think you could liken it to a carnithat momentum is growing. What that says val game. You can see the goal – the item of about Idaho is that we value our friends, desire – and you are trying ever so hard to family, co-workers, and neighbors.” toss the quarter in the dish so that the prize Jordan’s fellow Boise councilmember is yours. This issue is a matter of fairness Lauren McLean, also a strong advocate of and dignity, coupled with love and underthe city’s ordinance, said she’s been hum- standing. We all want the same things in life bled by the love and support she’s felt from – a fair and equal chance to succeed and be the Boise community since the ordinance’s happy.” passage.

In Moscow, the council passed the ordi“Through this process, I learned that re- nance after its first reading, both stunning lationships matter, tenacity is important, and delighting supporters and residents like empathy is key, and justice wins,” McLean Jim Huggins, also a Pride Foundation volsaid. “I believe deeply that it’s my job as a unteer. leader committed to a just community to “It said that the leaders of Moscow had be bold and take risks. I learned that in this heard what the people wanted, [and] they case, largely because the issue was one of were not going to make an issue by grandjustice and equality, taking what could be standing and prolonging the outcome, and perceived as a risky position yielded more it would be better to just get it done,” he results than I could have imagined. Our ac- said. “I think that the momentum that has tions empowered other leaders to take steps built up in Idaho will lead to several other necessary to protect all of their residents.”

Idaho cities passing or enhancing their nonFor Ketchum Mayor Randy Hall, the discrimination protections before there is journey to passing his city’s ordinance was enough support in the legislature to amend straightforward – he just knew it was the the Idaho Human Rights Act.” right thing to do.

“When this issue was first brought to my STATE-LEVEL SHIFT attention, I was very anxious to offer my Statewide grassroots organization Add the support,” he said. “We wanted to make sure Words Idaho has worked for several years we lead by example and make sure every- trying to convince the Idaho Legislature to body understands that there will be no dis- amend the Idaho Human Rights Act to incrimination in Ketchum when it comes to clude the words “sexual orientation” and employment, housing, or public accommo- “gender identity,” but to no avail. A glimdations. I feel we are at a watershed moment mer of hope surfaced, though, in March, with regard to LGBTQ support in Idaho, when the state’s Senate and House Affairs and I believe our community at large is now committees, for the first time, heard a public ready to address these issues and look more presentation from community proponents closely at respect and human kindness.” of the amendment.

McCafferty said she believes the legislature will eventually have to take action on

Taylor Thornton (l) and Jon Nicholes hold hands as they listen to testimonies at the public hearing for the City of Boise’s proposed nondiscrimination ordinance in November 2012.

the amendment as more Idaho cities move forward on their own ordinances, but she added that it likely won’t happen until after the 2014 election season. In the meantime, she and the ACLU plan to continue to work with municipalities around the state, encouraging and educating leaders to follow the example of their counterparts who have stepped up to protect their LGBTQ residents and neighbors.

“This is about people’s lives,” she said.

“It’s about letting all people participate fully in their communities.”

security

lowing them to receive a higher benefit later based on the effect of delayed retirement credits.

A spouse may also collect survivor benefits from their deceased partner beginning at age 60, and may collect either their own Social Security benefit or their spouse’s, whichever is larger.

continued from cover “I am pleased to announce that Social Security is now processing some retirement spouse claims for same-sex couples and paying benefits where they are due,” Colvin’s statement said.

“The recent Supreme Court decision on Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, made just over a month ago, helps to ensure that all Americans are treated fairly and equally, with the dignity and respect they deserve. We continue to work closely with the Department of Justice.”

FURTHER CHANGES COMING “In the coming weeks and months, we will develop and implement additional policy and processing instructions,” Colvin continued. “We appreciate the public’s patience as we work through the legal issues to ensure that our policy is legally sound and clear. I encourage individuals who believe they may be eligible for Social Security benefits to apply now, to protect against the loss of any potential benefits. We will process claims as soon as additional instructions become finalized.”

As of August 9, a new section for “Windsor Same-Sex Marriage Claims” was added to the SSA’s Program Operations Manual System (POMS), which the agency says is the guidebook used by Social Security employees to process claims for benefits.

On retirement, married spouses are allowed to claim Social Security benefits based on either their own income or 50% of their spouse’s benefit, whichever is more.

After reaching full retirement age, a spouse may choose to receive only their spouse’s benefit, and delay receiving their own retirement benefits until a later date, al-

Steve Martin is Pride Foundation’s Regional Development Organizer in Idaho.

Email Steve at steve@pridefoundation. org. This article originally appeared on the Pride Foundation website, www.pridefoundation.org.

HERE’S THE RUB However – and this is a big “however” – the SSA will limit payment of claims for same-sex married couples only to those couples who were legally married in a state that allows same-sex marriage and are “domiciled,” or live, in a state that recognizes same-sex marriages.

For example, a couple married in New York and domiciled in Washington gets benefits, because both states allow same-sex marriages. A couple married in New York but domiciled in Florida, which does not recognize same-sex marriage, does not get spousal benefits. Claims from legally married same-sex couples currently living in a state that does not recognize their marriages will be put on hold for the time being, the SSA said.

Steve Kofahl, president of AFGE 3937, the union that represents Social Security workers in the Pacific Northwest region, told SGN that “everyone who thinks they may have a claim should file for benefits as soon as possible, even if their claim is put on hold.

“If SSA finds that benefits are, in fact, payable, they will pay benefits retroactively from the date the claim is filed,” Kofahl explained, “so it’s an advantage to have as early a date as possible on the application.”

Applicants can apply online at https:// secure.ssa.gov/iCLM/rib, or in person at the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building in downtown Seattle (915 2nd Ave.).

Rich Full-Bodied Cafes Savory Homestyle Soups & Sandwiches Visit us online www.sgn.org

August 16, 2013

Seattle Gay News

7

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a new law on August 12 providing landmark protections for Transgender students. The bill had previously passed the state Senate 21 to 9 and the Assembly 46 to 25.

The new law gives students the right “to participate in sex-segregated programs, activities, and facilities” based on their self-

associated press

Landmark California law protects Trans students their high-school years.

“They’re not interested in going into bathrooms and flaunting their physiology,” Alcala said. “Clearly, there are some parents who are not going to like it. We are hopeful school districts will work with them so no students are put in an uncomfortable position.”

GLAAD spokesperson Wilson Cruz celebrated the enactment of the measure.

“Well done, California, for passing a law

“Throughout history whenever rights have been granted to a group that suffered discrimination, there have been groups that challenged it.” perception and regardless of their birth gender.

California thus became the first state in the country to require its public schools to allow Trans students access to whatever restroom, locker room, or sports team they identify as appropriate for them.

Prior to signing the measure, Brown received a petition from Transgender highschool student Ashton Leigh, who had gathered 6,000 signatures in support of the legislation.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY The bill, named the School Success and Opportunity Act, was introduced by openly Gay Assembly member Tom Ammiano and co-authored by Senators Mark Leno and Ricardo Lara. Ammiano spokesperson Carlos Alcala said the bill will help Transgendered students have a more normal life during

that protects Transgender students from discrimination in their own schools and affirms their identities,” he said. “This is another step to ensuring that Transgender students have the same opportunities at learning and school involvement as all other students.”

Oakland Unified School District spokesperson Troy Flint also said he was pleased with the legislation.

“Throughout history whenever rights have been granted to a group that suffered discrimination, there have been groups that challenged it,” he said. “Over time, people who fought for equality have always been vindicated by history.”

The San Francisco and Los Angeles school districts have long had policies guaranteeing Transgender students the same rights included in the new bill.

Oakland Unified adopted a similar policy in November.

California Governor Jerry Brown

FEDERAL PROTECTIONS In July, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education ruled that Transgender students are protected under Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Title IX states that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activ-

ity receiving federal financial assistance.”

Title VII establishes fair employment practices and forbids discrimination of the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”

The ruling settled a civil rights complaint against the Arcadia School District in Southern California, alleging the district improperly barred a middle-school student who identified as a boy from using a boys’ bathroom and a boys’ cabin on an overnight field trip.

Kathleen Galligan / Detroit Free Press

It’s Gay vs. Gay in Ferndale, MI

Race for mayor features two Gay men and a straight woman Gay mayor.

Last year Covey lost his bid for re-election to the County Commission and decided Seattle has only one openly Gay candi- to run for his old position as mayor of Ferndate for mayor – Ed Murray – but Ferndale, dale, even though Coulter was also running Michigan, has two, and both of them have for re-election to the post. served as mayor already.

Openly Gay Craig Covey was elected MOSTLY SIMILAR VIEWS mayor in 2007 – Michigan’s first Gay maySome members of the city’s LGBT comor. After serving two two-year terms, Covey munity have reportedly criticized Covey for ran for and won a position on the Oakland running against a Gay incumbent, but both County Commission. candidates are struggling to find issues that He was succeeded by his political ally, differentiate them. openly Gay County Commissioner David “Some people have said, you two are pretCoulter, who is now the incumbent mayor ty similar in a lot of ways,” Covey told the of Ferndale and Michigan’s second openly Detroit Free Press. We’re both Gay, we’ve

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Hot

Use this coupon for

MAMA’S 2.00 off any size pizza PIZZA $

700 East Pine St., Seattle

HOMEMADE The Best Piece In Town! HAND TOSSED Not valid for delivery.

8

Seattle Gay News

FREE DELIVERY • 206-322-6444

August 16, 2013

Former Ferndale, Michigan, mayor Craig Covey

both run AIDS organizations, we’re both liberal on social issues, we’re both white Anglo guys in our 50s. But on fiscal issues, I’m pretty conservative.”

More importantly, Covey says, he has been an advocate of legalizing marijuana in Ferndale, something that Coulter says should be left up to state lawmakers.

For his part, Coulter describes himself as the less flashy, “more nuts and bolts guy.”

There is a third candidate in the race, Sherry Wells, who is straight.

A largely residential suburb of Detroit, Ferndale is known as an LGBT center in the metropolitan area. Ferndale passed an anti-discrimination ordinance protecting its LGBT residents in 2006, the year before electing a Gay mayor. It has somewhat less than 20,000 people and is significantly wealthier than Detroit.

Celebrating 40 Years!

file photo

A question of privilege Could a Lesbian’s murder trial lead to marriage equality in Kentucky?

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The case of a Kentucky Lesbian on trial for murder may lead to a constitutional challenge to that state’s ban on same-sex marriages, attorneys for the accused say.

Bobbie Jo Clary is accused of beating George Murphy to death with a hammer, stealing his van, and then tampering with evidence to conceal her crime. She claims she acted in self-defense after Murphy tried to rape her with the hammer. If convicted, Clary could face the death penalty.

Prosecutors have insisted that Clary’s partner, Geneva Chase, testify in the trial.

Chase heard Clary admit to the killing and saw Murphy’s blood in the interior of his van after the incident, they allege.

Chase wishes to avoid testifying on the grounds that she is the legal spouse of the accused woman. Under Kentucky law, a person cannot be called to testify against his or her spouse.

MARITAL STATUS UNCLEAR Clary and Chase obtained a civil union in Vermont in 2004, before that state allowed Lesbian and Gay couples to marry.

The Kentucky state constitution prohibits same-sex marriages, however, and prosecutors say they can compel Chase to testify.

“Kentucky’s marital privilege law does not give Ms. Case the right not to testify in a murder trial,” said Stacy Greive, assistant commonwealth attorney for Jefferson County, where the trial is taking place.

“And the reason marital privilege does not apply to Ms. Case in her relationship with the defendant is because it is our opinion and our belief that they do not have a mar-

riage that is recognized under Kentucky law.”

Greive argues that not only is the union not recognized in Kentucky, but the couple has not presented proof they have a valid marriage under Vermont law, either.

“They have a civil union, if you look at Vermont’s statutes, they distinguish between civil unions and marriage,” Greive said.

HOPING TO SET PRECEDENT Both Clary’s attorney, Angela Elleman, and Case’s attorney, Bryan Gatewood, said the Kentucky marriage amendment is unconstitutional and the pair should be treated like any other married couple.

The attorneys also say they are cautiously optimistic that this case will lead to the state amendment being ruled unconstitutional, setting a precedent for change nationwide.

In light of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on Gay marriage, “the climate is right” for the Kentucky amendment to be thrown out, Elleman said. It makes no sense that Kentucky does not recognize legal unions of same-sex partners but does recognize common-law marriages from other states, she added.

The case is also causing stress on Clary and Chase’s relationship, Elleman said.

“The commonwealth [of Kentucky] is seeking to call her wife as a witness against her, which obviously would cause irreparable harm to their relationship.”

“I believe the handwriting is already on the wall,” Gatewood said. The Kentucky attorney general’s office, which says it is reviewing the case, will find that the state law is unconstitutional under the same reasoning, he added.

Bobbie Jo Clary

ANOTHER MARRIAGE BENEFIT Susan Sommer, an attorney for Lambda Legal, told Reuters she was not familiar with the details of the Kentucky case, but she said Lambda believes same-sex couples should have the same legal protections as other married people.

“Spousal privilege is one part of the tremendous bundle of protections for a committed couple that come automatically with marriage,” Sommer said.

The trial is set for August 30. Jefferson County Judge Susan Schultz Gibson is expected to rule on the spousal privilege issue later this month. file photos

Limit ‘Gay panic’ defense, ABA urges ual Rights and Responsibilities; the Young Lawyers Division; the Center for Human Rights; and the commissions on Sexual OriThe American Bar Association is urging entation and Gender Identity, Youth at Risk, federal, state, local, and territorial govern- Racial and Ethnic Diversity, and Domestic ments to limit the availability and effective- and Sexual Violence. ness of so-called “Gay panic” and “Trans panic” defenses by criminal defendants.

GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER “These defense strategies seek to excuse D’Arcy Kemnitz, executive director of the crimes by saying that the victim’s sexual the National LGBT Bar Association, was

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

“The ABA recommends that courts, when asked, instruct juries to ignore the victim’s gender or sexual orientation in its deliberations; it also Brandon McInerney (l) used the ‘Gay panic’ defense in the killing of Lawrence King (r) recommends that laws might ban any use of to justify the brutal murder of openly Gay tions. such defenses in noncapital cases.”

Clarksdale, Mississippi, mayoral candidate orientation caused their assailant’s violent reaction to them,” read the lawyers’ group’s resolution, passed by the House of Delegates August 12 and posted on the ABA’s website.

“The ABA recommends that courts, when asked, instruct juries to ignore the victim’s gender or sexual orientation in its deliberations; it also recommends that laws might ban any use of such defenses in noncapital cases,” the statement continues.

The resolution was sponsored by ABA sections of Criminal Justice and of Individ-

granted floor privilege to speak on the issue before the vote.

Kemnitz detailed several brutal assaults and murders of young people whose assailants used Gay panic defenses to claim their acts were reasonable.

Such defenses, she said, are “surprisingly long-lived historical artifacts” from a time when widespread antipathy was the norm.

Kemnitz added that these defenses represent “the notion that LGBT lives are worth less than other lives.”

For example, “Gay panic” is being used

Marco McMillian earlier this year.

The “Gay panic” defense was also used

by Brandon McInerney to justify shooting openly Gay 14-year-old student Lawrence King twice in the head with a .22-caliber handgun. McInerney was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the second-degree 2008 murder.

“Trans panic” was claimed by Juan José Martinez Matos, who was convicted of the murder of Gay Puerto Rican teen Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado in 2010. Lopez had been wearing drag, Martinez said, and when he discovered that his victim was a boy, he became angry and lost control of his ac-

EXPLOITING STEREOTYPES Legally, “Gay panic” falls under the category of “diminished capacity” or possibly “temporary insanity” defenses, according to an article by law professor Cynthia Lee in the 2008 UC Davis Law Review. But, Lee adds, the defense taps into pre-existing prejudice against LGBT persons.

“There is no question that when murder defendants argue Gay panic, they seek to tap into deep-seated biases against and stereotypes about Gay men as deviant sexual predators who pose a threat to innocent young heterosexual males,” Lee wrote.

Rich Full-Bodied Cafes Savory Homestyle Soups & Sandwiches Visit us online www.sgn.org

August 16, 2013

Seattle Gay News

9

ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION? Seattle • (206) 329-2000 • 1001 Broadway Suite 311 HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE? DIABETES? NITRATES?

$99 Guaranteed Visit!!

10 Seattle Gay News

August 16, 2013

Bellevue • (425) 455-1700 • 1940 116th Ave NE

www.InnovativeMen.com

Celebrating 40 Years!

MoSS Alley MotorS, Inc. SpecialiStS in VolVo, Honda, toyota and Subaru

932 12th ave.

Seattle, Wa 98122 (206).325--.3992 www.mossalley.com Seattle’s most progressive auto shop!

Noon - 2 am daily • 21 and over

Home of the Sam’s bloody masterpiece.

1024 E Pike st • 206.397.3344 • samstavernseattle.com Visit us online www.sgn.org

August 16, 2013

Seattle Gay News 11

associated press

Ed and Michael’s big day Mayoral candidate Murray ties the knot with his longtime companion

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Ed Murray, the state senator who authored Washington’s Marriage Equality Act, finally got to enjoy the fruits of years of political labor when he married his longtime partner, Michael Shiosaki, in an August 10 ceremony at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle. The wedding took place on the 22nd anniversary of their first meeting.

Ironically for a man who was accused of trying to destroy traditional marriage in Washington, the ceremony was remarkably traditional.

Murray and Shiosaki, dressed in black tuxedoes and white ties, entered the church to the strains of “The Prince of Denmark’s March,” by Jeremiah Clarke, a fanfare that was also used at Elizabeth II’s coronation.

Murray was accompanied by his sisters, Margaret Fox and Judy Murray. His nephew, Jon Noski, was his best man. Shiosaki was accompanied by his father, Fred, and his mother, Lily. His best man was the couple’s neighbor, Don Botts.

The ring bearer was the couple’s King Charles spaniel, Rory, escorted by Don Anderson. Last fall, Rory made a cameo appearance in the Murray campaign’s TV ad, playing himself.

TRADITIONAL VOWS When Murray and Shiosaki reached the altar, the Very Rev. Steven Thomason, dean of the cathedral and presiding priest at the wedding, asked each if they would take the other as his husband, “in accordance with the purposes instituted by God.” Each replied, “I will.”

After readings from scripture, the Rev. Barry Keating, a native of Northern Ireland, preached the sermon.

“For me this is a first,” Keating said, and then added with a sly smile, “No – not what you think. Here I have a sitting politician, unable to move. And right in front of a cleric!”

Although Murray and Shiosaki came from much different backgrounds, Keating said, both are of “immigrant stock” and have complementary talents.

Keating spoke of Shiosaki’s “love of beauty” exemplified by the garden he created around the couple’s Capitol Hill home. Then turning to Murray, he joked “And Ed, you’re a politician. And that should end it all there.”

THE PRONOUNCEMENT As Keating went on, Rory became restless and let out a single loud bark.

“And with the dog’s bark, the sermon now comes to an end,” Keating smiled.

Murray and Shiosaki then exchanged their wedding vows and rings, and Thomason pronounced the pair “married in the sight of God, and legally married in the state of Washington.”

The 250 guests gave the pronouncement a standing ovation.

After offering communion to Murray, Shiosaki, and their guests, Thomason gave a final blessing, and the guests filed out of the church to the tune of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” to enjoy champagne and other refreshments in a large white tent set up on the cathedral’s front lawn.

After 15 minutes, Murray and Shiosaki reappeared on the steps of the church and were surrounded by a throng of wellwishers. They shook hands, hugged their guests, and posed for countless photos.

The couple plans to reserve their honeymoon till after the mayoral election in November, when Murray may become Seattle’s first openly Gay mayor.

POLITICAL ALLIES ATTEND Although the guest list was not dominated by politicians, many public figures were there, including former Gov. Mike Lowry; former Sen. Lisa Brown, who preceded Murray as Senate Democratic leader; and former Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, who lost her bid for re-election in 2012 in part because of her vote for Murray’s marriage bill.

Also in attendance were House Speaker Frank Chopp; Sen. Steve Litzow, one of four Republicans who voted for marriage equality; Reps. Laurie Jinkins, Marko Liias, Jim Moeller, and Jamie Pedersen; and King County Executive Dow Constantine.

Although Murray is Roman Catholic, and he and Shiosaki frequently attend Mass at St. Joseph’s Church or St. Ignatius Chapel at Seattle University, the Catholic Church will not perform same-sex marriages.

St. Mark’s, as an Episcopal church, shares similar ritual and dogma, but performs same-sex marriages and welcomes people of other faiths to participate in its services, including communion. The service for Murray and Shiosaki’s wedding came right out of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, and is the same ceremony used for opposite-sex nuptials.

Ed Murray (l) and Michael Shiosaki rejoice after saying vows at St. Mark’s Cathedral

12 Seattle Gay News

August 16, 2013

Celebrating 40 Years!

Weddings By the Sea

Visit us online www.sgn.org

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

August 16, 2013

Seattle Gay News 13

14 Seattle Gay News

August 16, 2013

Celebrating 40 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

August 16, 2013

Seattle Gay News 15

northwest news

compiled by Rick McKinnon SGN Staff Writer

2013 INTERNATIONAL GAY & LESBIAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS AUGUST 13-18 Seattle’s Orca Swim Team is hosting the 2013 International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics Championships at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center (650 SW Campus Dr., Federal Way) through this weekend, featuring competition in swimming, diving, waterpolo and synchronized swimming.

The actual competition runs through Saturday, August 17, with warm-ups beginning at 7:30 p.m. and final competition run-

On Tuesday, August 20, from 7-9 p.m., at Neighbours Nightclub (1509 Broadway), 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE Social Outreach Seattle hosts “IntersecMARCH ON WASHINGTON (D.C.) tions: Sex Positive Culture” – a community FOR JOBS AND EQUALITY forum and discussion. www.socialoutreachOn Saturday, August 17, from 10 a.m.-6 seattle.com p.m., the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists host the 50th anniversary commemoCAPITOL HILL JOB FAIR ration and celebration of the historic and On Wednesday, August 21, from 9 a.m.pivotal 1963 March on Washington (D.C.) 3 p.m., All Pilgrims Christian Church (500 for jobs and equality. Gather at 23rd Ave. & Broadway E. at E. Republican St.) hosts the E. Union St. and march to MLK Memorial Capitol Hill Job Fair. Business attire and rePark (2300 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S.), sumes. Major industries.

The public is invited. Endorsed by the Martin Luther King County Labor Council.

SEATTLE GAY & LESBIAN BOOK CLUB – CENTRAL AREA THE STORY OF THE NIGHT COMMUNITY FESTIVAL The Seattle Gay & Lesbian Book Club On Saturday, August 17, from 11 a.m.-7 meets every Wednesday from 6-7:15 p.m., p.m., the Central Area Community Festi- at Seattle Area Support Groups Community val will be held at the Garfield Community Center (303 17th Ave. E. at E. Thomas St.) Playfield (2323 E. Cherry St.). www.cacf.

In August, the club will discuss The Story com of the Night by Colm Toibin. Twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize, this Irish Gay SEATTLE AREA author has written a man-to-man love story SUPPORT GROUPS – unfolding against the political turmoil of “BAT N’ ROUGE” Argentina in the time of the Generals. This On Saturday, August 17, from noon-4 novel is on most lists of the 100 best Gay p.m., at Bobby Morris Playfield / Cal An- novels ever written. Toibin currently has a derson Park (11th Ave. & E. Olive St.), Se- novel on the national bestseller list, Transattle Area Support Groups presents “Bat n’ atlantic, and also wrote the non-fiction book Rouge: Dykes vs. Drag Queens 2013.” Join about Gay authors, Love in a Dark Time. hosts Jesse Volt and Drew Paradisco for this All GLBTQ folks are welcome to parhilarious softball fundraising event to bene- ticipate in this FREE book club. For more fit Seattle Area Support Groups. Team Cap- information, visit http://faculty.washington. tains are Ceasar Hart and Jenuwine Beaute edu/swittet/SGLBookClub/. with a special performance by Jessica Paradisco.

“GOD LOVES UGANDA” On Wednesday, August 21, at 6:30 p.m., GREENSTAGE – at the Bellevue Public Library, Room 1 SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK (1111 110th Ave. NE, Bellevue), the Seattle AT VOLUNTEER PARK Chapter of Americans United for Separation On Friday, August 16, at 7 p.m., at Vol- of Church and State is screening a new docunteer Park, GreenStage presents King umentary, “God Loves Uganda,” about the Lear. On Saturday, August 17, GreenStage persecution of homosexuals in Uganda prepresents both King Lear at 3 p.m., and A cipitated by visits from religious right conMidsummer Night’s Dream at 7 p.m., at Vol- gressman and ministers from America. The unteer Park. FREE – donations appreciated. film maker calls the Uganda efforts a “proxy www.greenstage.org war” in the right’s fight against alleged “immorality” in America. What’s happening in IRRATIONAL ROBOT BUREAU – Uganda is similar to persecutions of Gays in “THE GAS HEART” Russia, Belize and other nations.

On Saturday, August 17, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday, SOCIAL OUTREACH SEATTLE – August 23 and 24, at 7:30 p.m., at St. “REAL TALK: SOSEA Paul’s Episcopal Church (15 Roy St.), the YOUTH MENTOR FORUM #1” Irrational Robot Bureau presents “The Gas On Thursday, August 22, from 6:30Heart.” Tristan Tzara’s 1921 DADA anti- 9 p.m., at Gay City Health Project (1517 masterpiece is rebooted for the 21st Century E. Pike St.), SOSea hosts their first Youth as the Irrational Robot Bureau’s latest per- Mentor Forum. www.socialoutreachseattle. formance project. Tickets: $10 at the door. com.

Saturday 8/17 matinee performance is paywhat-you-can. www.facebook.com/irratioSISTERS OF PERPETUAL nalrobotbureau.

INDULGENCE – “CRAPTACULAR” ANNUAL SEATTLE CENTER FESTAL – RUMMAGE SPECTACULAR BRASILFEST On Saturday, August 24, from 11 a.m.-6 On Sunday, August 18, from noon-8 p.m. p.m., and Sunday, August 25, from noonat Seattle Center Armory, Mural Amphithe- 6 p.m., at All Pilgrims Christian Church atre and Fisher Pavilion rooftop, BrasilFest (500 Broadway E. at E. Republican St.), celebrates the unique diversity of this South the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the AbAmerican cultural melting pot, exploring its bey of St. Joan, host their fabulous annual African, Portuguese and indigenous roots rummage sale with proceeds to benefit All through classical guitar, Brazilian dances, Pilgrims Christian Church and the Sisters’ samba rhythms and the percussive beats of annual granting fund. traditional folk music. FREE. www.brasilfest.org.

ALL THINGS JAPANESE SALE On Saturday, August 24, and Sunday, TULALIP CASINO – August 25, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., the JapaMELISSA ETHERIDGE nese Cultural and Community Center of IN CONCERT Washington (1414 S. Weller St., at Rainier AUGUST 18 Ave. S. just south of S. Jackson St.) in coTulalip Amphitheatre, 10400 Quil Ceda ordination with their Hosekibako: Japanese Blvd., Tulalip. Doors at 5 p.m., show at 7 Resale Shop host their annual All Things p.m. Tickets: $32.75-$87.00. Must be 21+. Japanese Sale, featuring an eclectic variety www.tulalipcasino.com of new and used quality Japanese antiques, collectibles and more – including kimono, SOCIAL OUTREACH SEATTLE – records/CDs/DVDs, kitchen and cooking “INTERSECTIONS: items, ornaments and giftware, ikebana SEX POSITIVE CULTURE” items, tea ceremony items, tableware and

16 Seattle Gay News

August 16, 2013

GAY CITY ARTS – “TO TAKE THIS RISK” THRU SEPTEMBER 9 From August 8-September 9, Gay City Arts (517 E. Pike St.) presents “To Take This Risk,” an exhibition of work by Grant Rehnberg.

Grant Rehnberg, a self-taught collage and mixed-media artist, draws inspiration from lost images (vintage Gay porn, old photos, archaic maps, discarded medical textbooks).

Through alteration and fresh juxtaposition, these transformed images make the invisible visible, the forgotten remembered. “To Take This Risk” is one Queer’s response to life’s “crippling hurt” and restorative love.

Grant strives to expose both the very real risks and infinitely more beautiful rewards of living (and loving) authentically.

“There is no intensity of love or feeling that does not involve the risk of crippling hurt. It is a duty to take this risk, to love and feel without defense or reserve.” (William S. Burroughs) “To Take This Risk” is presented in conjunction with Gay City Arts, through which Gay City collaborates with local LGBT artists to galvanize an audience for Queer arts, foster the development of LGBT artists, and facilitate excellence across a wide range of disciplines, including theater, music, dance, fim, spoken word, literary and visual arts.

For more information, visit www. grantrehnberg.com.

SEATTLE HEMPFEST AUGUST 16-18 MYRTLE EDWARDS PARK www.seattlehempfest.org BORDER RIDERS MOTORCYCLE CLUB WEEKEND RUN TO GOLDSTREAM PARK On Friday, August 16 to Sunday, August 18, Border Riders Motorcycle Club hosts their Goldstream Park Weekend Run near Victoria, BC. For more information about Border Riders Motorcycle Club and this weekend run, visit www.borderriders. com

GREENSTAGE – SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK AT VOLUNTEER PARK On Friday, August 16, at 7 p.m., at Volunteer Park, GreenStage presents King Lear. On Saturday, August 17, GreenStage presents both King Lear at 3 p.m., and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at 7 p.m., at Volunteer Park. FREE – donations appreciated. www.greenstage.org THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA – “I NEED A HERO” SUMMER MOVIE SERIES On Friday, August 16, at Cal Anderson Park (11th Ave. & E. Olive St.), join Three Dollar Bill Cinema for “Conan The Destroyer” (1984) the next movie in their outdoor summer movie series. On Friday, August 23, Three Dollar Bill will screen “Galaxy Quest” (1999). All screenings are FREE and start at dusk. www.threedollarbillcinema.org

ning through 6 p.m.

pottery, toys and dolls, tools – dogu, furnishings, art, textiles, books.

A “sneak peek” preview sale will be held on Friday, August 23, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Admission: $25 for JCCCW members, $50 for the general public. Registration for the preview sale will be accepted by mail, telephone and online until Thursday, August 22. Light appetizers and beverages will be served. www.jcccw.org Also, all Japanese art, antique, household and collectible items in good condition will be accepted 10 a.m.-5 p.m. until Thursday, August 22.

SEATTLE CENTER FESTAL – TIBET FEST On Saturday and Sunday, August 24 and 25, from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., at Seattle Center Armory, Tibet’s ancient and modern history are woven into Tibet Fest, which seeks to preserve Tibet’s centuries-old culture. Tibet Fest features live performances, visual arts and crafts, hands-on activities, traditional foods, games, and a lively marketplace to illuminate Tibet’s extraordinary past and present. www.washingtontibet.org.

AMDEF – ART, MUSIC, DANCE, ENTERTAINMENT & FASHION On Saturday, August 24, from 7 p.m.-2 a.m., at Neumos (925 E. Pike St.), enjoy the 6th annual AMDEF show, a collaboration of art, music, dance, entertainment and fashion. Tickets: $15 advance at www.neumos. com or $25 at the door. Proceeds benefit Social Outreach Seattle. www.socialoutreachseattle.com RADICAL WOMEN – “FARMWORKER WOMEN BATTLE FOR WORKERS’ RIGHTS & DIGNITY” On Saturday, August 24, at 7:30 p.m., at New Freeway Hall (5018 Rainier Ave. S.), celebrate Women’s Rights Day and hear from local fieldworkers standing up for humane working conditions and an end to sexual assault in the fields. Door donation: $1-$5. Northwest Harvest Buffet served at 6 p.m. for a $10 donation. Hosted by Radical Women. All welcome. Wheelchair accessible. 206-722-6057.

SEATTLE PEACE CONCERTS On Sunday, August 25, from noon-6 p.m., at Volunteer Park (14th Ave E. & E. Prospect St.) seattleteenmusic.com presents Eleven o7, Bleach Bear, Destination Unknown, Sophia Duccini, School of Rock, and StereoType Nation at this FREE outdoor concert.

Seattle Peace Concerts will be held from June through September at Woodland Park, Gas Works Park, Magnuson Park Beach Area and Volunteer Park. All ages welcome.

Cash and non-perishable food bank donations welcome. www.seapeace.org.

Q-SQUARED/ BOYZ IN THE WOODS – C.A.M.P. 2013 AUGUST 30-SEPTEMBER 2 Today, we live in a very connected world.

Our society has seen the deep entrenchment of technology in our lives. This year our theme is UNPLUG & CONNECT. Unplug from the daily grind. Connect with friends old and new. Join us this Labor Day Weekend and Come And Meet People – a place where you can relax, stay active, play games, relax, laugh, eat, sleep, hike, dance (or not), learn and, above all, relax!

Registration fee of $195 includes lodging, meals, workshops, activities, and personal growth. For more information and to register, visit www.qsquared.org or email camp@qsquared.org.

Celebrating 40 Years!

SPORTS

Ivan Sekretarev / AP

FIFA to Russia: WTF? Soccer body seeks ‘clarification’ of anti-Gay law prior to 2018 World Cup

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer FIFA, the international soccer federation, has asked the Russian government for “clarification and more details” about its socalled “homosexual propaganda” law. Russia is scheduled to host the 2018 World Cup soccer championship games.

“FIFA has asked the Russian authorities for clarification and more details on this new law,” the group said in a statement issued August 13.

“Russia has committed to provide all visitors and fans with a warm welcome and ensure their safety” during the month-long tournament, FIFA said, adding that “FIFA trusts that the 2018 FIFA World Cup hosts will deliver on this promise.”

‘ZERO TOLERANCE’ POLICY FIFA noted that its statutes “foresee zero tolerance against discrimination.”

Article 3 of FIFA’s charter states: “Discrimination of any kind against a country, private person or group of people on account of ethnic origin, gender, language, religion, politics, or any other reason is strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion.”

Russia was awarded the right to host the 2018 World Cup in December 2010, before the anti-Gay law was passed. FIFA’s board chose it ahead of England and joint bids from Spain-Portugal and The NetherlandsBelgium.

That same day, FIFA awarded hosting of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, where samesex relations are illegal.

QATAR: NO SEX ALLOWED? FIFA president Sepp Blatter suggested at the time that Gay soccer fans should “refrain from any sexual activities” while attending the Qatar games.

“It’s absurd,” openly Gay retired NBA star John Amaechi said about Blatter’s recommendation.

“It’s not about people having sex in public and being sanctioned for it, it’s the fact that Qatar was one of 79 countries to sanction executing Gays at the United Nations [where a majority vote removed sexual orientation from a U.N. resolution condemning extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions].

FIFA President Sepp Blatter In May, when FIFA member countries approved tougher sanctions for discrimina- and said that he could not offer “a definite who recently said Olympic athletes would tion, Blatter was asked by reporters what answer” at this stage. be expected to obey Russian law, is a memGay fans and players could expect in Qatar, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, ber of the FIFA executive board.

Olympic war of words heats up

Russian figure-skating style.

‘I’m ready to be arrested at Sochi,’ Johnny Weir says Antti Aimo-Koivisto / LEHTIKUVA

Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Openly Gay figure skater Johnny Weir said this week he is ready to be arrested at the Sochi Olympics, despite warnings by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that athletes who protest Russia’s anti-Gay laws risk disciplinary measures.

“You know, like anyone I’m afraid of being arrested but also I’m not afraid of being arrested,” Weir said in an interview with CBS News.

“If it takes me getting arrested for people to pay attention and for people to lobby against this law, then I’m willing to take it.”

Weir also said he would attend the Olympics regardless of the host country.

“Would the Olympics be in Saudi Arabia, in Palestine, in Pyongyang, North Korea, or on Mars, I would go because that’s what I’ve trained to do and that’s what I’ve devoted my life to,” he said.

Weir is married to Russian-American attorney Victor Voronov and is fluent in Russian. He is also an admirer of the theatrical

Visit us online www.sgn.org

IOC: DON’T SAY GAY The IOC, meanwhile, warned athletes that they should not use the games to protest Russian anti-Gay policies.

According to a report released by Gay Star News, the IOC says that any displays of LGBT rights advocacy or solidarity would be considered a “demonstration of political, religious, or racial propaganda,” which is prohibited by Rule 50 if the organization’s charter.

Athletes found in violation of Rule 50 can be subject to “disqualification or withdrawal of the accreditation of the person concerned,” without any sort of appeal.

For example, U.S. runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who gave a Black Power salute on the medal stand at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, were kicked off the team and unceremoniously sent home.

The IOC spokesperson who spoke to Gay Star News did not specify if those found “in violation of Rule 50” would also be subject to any punitive action by Russian authorities. She also declined to state definitively whether there would be a Sochi “Pride House” for LGBT athletes, as there has been at recent Olympics.

“Regarding your suggestions, the IOC has a clear rule laid out in the Olympic Charter (Rule 50) which states that the venues of the Olympic Games are not a place for proactive political or religious demonstration,” the IOC spokesperson said. “This rule has been in place for many years and applied when necessary. In any case, the IOC would treat each case individually and take a sensible approach depending on what was said or done.”

Jacques Rogge said hopefully.

Russian authorities have left no doubt that they are serious about enforcing the law, however. Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said on August 8 that Olympic athletes would “have to respect the laws of the country” during the games.

Athletes currently in Moscow for the World Track and Field Championships joined in protesting Russian anti-Gay policy, without any retaliation from the Russian government – at least so far.

On August 14, U.S. runner Nick Symmonds dedicated his silver medal to his Gay friends back in the United States. The next day, Swedish high jumper Emma Green Tregaro competed with rainbow nail polish.

Neither was harassed by authorities, although Tregaro was denounced by Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva.

“If we allow to promote and do all this stuff on the street, we are very afraid about our nation because we consider ourselves like normal, standard people,” Isinbayeva told reporters in English, which is not her primary language.

RUSSIANS HOLD FIRM The IOC had previously asked the Russian government to clarify how its anti-Gay law would impact Olympic athletes and whether it would, in fact, be enforced during the Olympics.

“We don’t think it is a fundamental issue – more a translation issue,” IOC President

‘MAYBE WE ARE DIFFERENT’ “We just live with boys with woman, woman with boys. Everything must be fine.

It comes from history. We never had any problems, these problems in Russia, and we don’t want to have any in the future,” Isinbayeva continued.

“It’s unrespectful to our country. It’s unrespectful to our citizens because we are Russians. Maybe we are different from European people and other people from different lands. We have our home and everyone has to respect [it]. When we arrive to different countries, we try to follow their rules.”

To which Symmonds replied, “I want to say to Yelena, ‘You understand a very large portion of your citizens here are Gay and Lesbian people. They are standard people, too. They were created this way. For you to tell them that they’re not normal and standard, that’s what we’re taking an issue with.’

That’s why we have to continue to demonstrate and to speak out against the ignorance that she’s showing.”

August 16, 2013

Seattle Gay News 17

international news

A world of hurt

Russia isn’t the only country Gays should think twice about visiting

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Russian President Vladimir Putin created the perfect hate-storm: just as he signed the (three) anti-Gay laws, Russian’s so-called “Gay Propaganda” measures, into policy, LGBT people around the world watched in horror as the hetero world community (you know, the people in power) did absolutely nothing to stop it. Normally – and God,

the bigoted laws which have spawned bully and death squads of neo-Nazis and thugs who target the country’s Gay teens. Some have already been killed. And we know the ones who have already perished are not likely to be the last.

It’s a damn shame. But what is worse is that, as so many have begun to point out, Russia is not alone in its hate for LGBT people. Gay media sources like SGN have routinely published stories about the atroci-

“The Gay community has in our history been attacked in every way you can attack a group.

There’s nothing that the human race has thought of to tear down other people that hasn’t been Polish anti-Gay propaganda Gay community has in our history been at- With Putin, it always does. I assume he’s used on us.”

I hate to admit this – something like this wouldn’t have gotten the slightest mention in mainstream media other than your standard 10-second, “Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin … blah, blah, blah.” But Putin’s hate machine, the current Russian government, did this terrible thing right before the nation is scheduled to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Thankfully for the LGBT community in Russia, all hell broke loose. Suddenly Gays were in the streets of major American cities dumping vodka down drains, people began to call on the Olympic bigwigs to move the games out of Russia, and countless organizations and governments from around the world are calling on Russia to rid itself of

ties that our people face around the world, many of them subjected to attacks, beatings, or imprisonment against the background of the sobering repetition of being ignored by the world’s community. It’s been that way for decades. As American writer, actor, and Gay rights activist Harvey Fierstein recently said, “Everybody loves to hate a homo.”

SCAPEGOATS NO MORE On Tuesday, Fierstein appeared on MSNBC’s All In, anchored by Chris Hayes. Fierstein appeared unwavering in his message that LGBT people will no longer “be the scapegoat of the world any longer.”

Fierstein told Hayes, “What’s going on in Russia is absolutely frightening. The

tacked in every way you can attack a group.

There’s nothing that the human race has thought of to tear down other people that hasn’t been used on us. Thankfully we have – over the centuries, over the decades, and over the last few years – made some great strides where people realize we’re just human beings, we are your family, we’re not a strange group from somewhere else. We belong in your family – we’re teachers, parents, and children. Those strides have been made.

“My feeling is, at this point it is time to stop being scapegoats for the rest of the world,” he continued. “Putin is not doing these laws because he believes this. I don’t know what his real agenda is, but I have to assume it has something to do with money.

trying to get his right-wing people behind him, and everyone loves to hate a homo.

He gets the church behind him; he has his wing behind him. And he can go out and do whatever it is he’s doing and no one’s looking that way.”

In a nod to history repeating itself, Fierstein pleaded with Hayes, “You cannot just ignore evil. When evil shows its face you have to answer. When you don’t answer, look what happened – you were talking about Hitler, so we went to the [1936] Olympics in Germany, right? Yes, they took down the anti-Jewish posters for two weeks, what happened? [Jesse] Owens won a gold medal and then six million Jews were killed.

What if the world had turned their back on Hitler – what if the world had left Germany

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

Gary Sarozek, MA, LMHC 1370 Stewart Street (Across from REI) Seattle WA, 98109

206-619-4187 gsarozek@comcast.net www.garysarozek.com

Que Areste, N.D. Naturopathic Family Physician

www.sgn.org

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

18 Seattle Gay News

August 16, 2013

Celebrating 40 Years!

empty for those Olympics?”

Fierstein makes a good point. I mean, no one can contest that the Holocaust didn’t happen unless you are as idiotic as Iran’s former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

And then the question was asked. “Why Russia? This type of thing happens all over the world, so why single out Russia?”

To be fair, many have asked others and more than likely, themselves, that same question. And, depending on whether or not you really can see more than five feet in front of your own face, you came to the same logical conclusion as Fierstein, who said, “You remember when the AIDS crisis first hit. I would have people say to me, ‘Why are we spending so much energy on AIDS? There’s cancer too.’ One doesn’t negate the other.”

IT’S NOT JUST RUSSIA While Fierstein is correct, it should not matter where the problem is, but rather when and how we respond to it; the truth is many Americans haven’t a clue where danger is eminent for LGBT travelers and immigrants, and those perceived to be LGBT. In his August 14 story published on the popular Gay news blog The Bilerico Project, writer Terrance Heath makes the point, “LGBT people across the globe are threatened with violence, rape, and murder.”

To make his case, Heath references two recent news stories, outside of Russia, where Gays face extreme hate and violence.

The first is the story of a British man and his Haitian partner who were attacked by dozens of locals who threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at the couple’s private engagement ceremony. Several people were injured, two cars were set ablaze, and windows were smashed at the residence where the ceremony took place in Port-au-Prince late Saturday.

Police arrived just in time to prevent people being killed, inspector Patrick Rosarion told AFP. The attack on the British man, identified only as a member of the Red Cross named Max, and his Haitian partner, was a clear example of homophobia, a rights advocate said.

TRANS MURDER IN JAMAICA The other incident Heath points to is from Jamaica, where a Transgender teenager was brutally murdered by an anti-Gay mob.

“Dwayne Jones was relentlessly teased in high school for being effeminate until he dropped out. His father not only kicked him out of the house at the age of 14 but also helped jeering neighbors push the youngster from the rough Jamaican slum where he grew up,” wrote Heath.

“By age 16, the teenager was dead – beat-

en, stabbed, shot, and run over by a car when he showed up at a street party dressed as a woman. His mistake: confiding to a friend that he was attending a ‘straight’ party as a girl for the first time in his life,” he said.

“When I saw Dwayne’s body, I started shaking and crying,” said Khloe, one of three Transgender friends who shared a derelict house with the teenager in the hills above the north coast city of Montego Bay. Like many Transgender and Gay people in Jamaica, Khloe wouldn’t give a full name out of fear.

“It was horrible,” she said. “It was so, so painful to see him like that.”

International advocacy groups often portray this Caribbean island as the most hostile country in the Western Hemisphere for Gay and Transgender people. After two prominent Gay rights activists were murdered, a researcher with the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch in 2006 called the environment in Jamaica for such groups “the worst any of us has ever seen.”

“Death came neither quickly nor easily for this young person,” said Heath.

Khloe told Heath she tried to steer him away from the crowd, whispering in Dwayne’s ear: “Walk with me, walk with me.” But Dwayne pulled away, loudly insisting to partygoers that he was a girl.

When someone behind him snapped his bra strap, the teen panicked and raced down the street.

But, according to Heath, Dwayne couldn’t run fast enough to escape the mob.

The teenager was viciously assaulted and apparently half-conscious for some two hours before another sustained attack finished him off, according to Khloe, who was also beaten and nearly raped. She hid in a nearby church and then the surrounding woods, unable to call for help because she didn’t have her cellphone.

Heath reports the family wouldn’t even claim the body, and refused to talk about their child’s life or death. “No surprise, since not only did the father kick his own child out of his home, but according to some reports even joined neighbors in running his own child out of the neighborhood,” he said.

Jamaica is no stranger, like Russia, to anti-Gay violence and bullying. On February 28, a man believed to be Gay was found raped and murdered, with his throat slashed, in downtown Kingston. Last December, a J-FLAG (Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, AllSexuals, and Gays) activist was stabbed to death. His name was never released to the public, but he was only 26 years old. Notably, in 2004, and this shit is really disturbing, a father encouraged a schoolyard mob to attack his son, whom he believed was Gay. The teen’s fellow students tore boards from benches and beat him until he was un-

conscious. He was in the 11th grade. Alleg• Wilfred de Bruijn was beaten unconedly, his father watched with a smile. scious near his home in Paris. De Bruijn’s boyfriend, who was also attacked, said he OTHER REPORTED VIOLENCE heard three or four men shouting “Hey look, • Lebanese Internal Security Forces they’re Gays,” just before the men were atthreaten, ill-treat, and torture drug users, sex tacked. De Bruijn’s battered face was beworkers, and LGBT people in their custody. came a symbol for what activists said was a • In Cameroon, journalist and LGTB rising tide of anti-Gay violence. rights activist Eric Ohena Lembembe was • Eighteen-year-old Briton Steven Simptortured and murdered. Friends found his son – who was Gay and autistic – was set body in his home. Burns from irons pressed on fire at his 18th birthday party and died into his legs suggested Lembembe was tor- as a result of his injuries. Simpson, who had tured. His death followed a month of anti- recently moved home to escape being bulGay violence and death threats against ac- lied for his autism, was bullied at his party tivists. and doused with tanning oil before he was • Also in Cameroon, John-Claude Roger set alight. Jordan Sheard, 20, was arrested Mbede was sentenced to three years in pris- for setting fire to Simpson’s groin after he on for texting to another man, “I am very was sprayed with tanning oil. much in love with you.”

• In Iraq, Gays have suffered atrocities at • In Myanmar, Gay men and Transgen- the hands of militias for years – including der women are falsely arrested, violently torture and death – since the U.S. invasion abused, and humiliated. They are dragged, and occupation of that country. A BBC inkicked, handcuffed, forced to strip naked, vestigation revealed that law enforcement photographed, and threatened with a barb- agencies in Iraq were involved in systematic wire stick or a gun. persecuting of Gay Iraqis, targeting and ex• In the Ukraine, weeks before Kiev’s first ecuting hundreds of Gay men and “emos.”

Pride march, various groups threatened vio• Sierra Leone Gay rights activist Fannylence against participants.

Ann Eddy was murdered on September 29, • In Tanzania, Gay men reported being 2004, by four men who broke into the office arrested, held for several days, beaten by of the Sierra Leone Lesbian and Gay Assopolice, raped by other detainees, and only ciation in central Freetown. The men gangreleased after bribing officers with a huge raped, stabbed, and eventually killed Eddy ransom. by breaking her neck.

• In Chile, a Gay teen was in danger of • Ugandan LGBT rights activist David losing his leg after a hate crime attack.

Kato was murdered in 2011, shortly after • In Zimbabwe, Lionel Girezha was at- winning a lawsuit against a magazine that tacked, arrested, and dragged into court for had published his name and photograph, having consensual sex with a man he met at identifying him as Gay and calling for him party. Girezha says he and his partner were to be executed. brought before a “kangaroo court” con• In 2009, two men were arrested in Mavened by his partner’s brothers, who inter- lawi and charged with “unnatural offenses” rogated them and the turned them over to and “indecent practices between males,” the police, who incarcerated them for sev- and potentially faced 14 to 15 years in priseral days. The men were released on bail on. The men were denied bail and were suband ordered to report to police once a week. jected against their will to medical examinaAs a result of the arrest, Girezha – a graphic tions to confirm “sodomy” charges. designer – was unable to get work and was In light of what’s happening in Russia, forced to move in with relatives in a neigh- many people have demanded that the Winter borhood where he was not recognized, and Olympics be moved elsewhere. Heath asks, to spend most of his time locked indoors for “But where?” his safety.

“That 76 countries have anti-Gay laws • In Peru, a father allegedly set fire to his on the books means that the same problem son after learning the 22-year-old was Gay could crop up in another country,” he points and HIV-positive. According to reports, the out. “That should at the very least remind us father doused his son with gasoline and set of the plight of LGBT people in those counhim on fire, after tiring of neighbors’ jokes tries as well.” about his son’s sexuality.

Religion & Spirituality Sojourner Truth Ministries 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

Visit us online www.sgn.org

August 16, 2013

Seattle Gay News 19

Dog days are here Heading to the beach with your pet?

Here are some tips

by Kim Salerno Special to the SGN Now that summer has arrived, it’s time to check out some dog-friendly beaches with your four-legged friend. For most dogs, getting to run around in the sand, dip into the waves, and fetch balls out of the water is the best day ever. Here are some tips to ensure that you and your dog have a fun and safe beach experience.

FIRST THINGS FIRST Check with your local beaches before you pack up your dog, since not all beaches allow them. Some allow dogs only during the off-season, but summer is a different story.

Call ahead or visit the beach’s website for information. It’s also important, if you can bring your dog, to find out whether or not

they need to be on leash or if they can roam free. Bring a long leash no matter what, but know ahead of time if there will be an area where a leash isn’t necessary. If a leash isn’t required, only let your dog be without it if you know for an absolute fact that she will respond to your voice commands. Other dogs, people, certain scents, birds, etc., may catch her attention and cause her to tune you out, which could be a recipe for disaster (no one wants a dogfight). Some people on the beach, such as easily frightened children, will be less dog-friendly than others, so be mindful of who your dog might approach to avoid any sort of snafu.

Never, ever, leave your dog unattended.

Even the best-trained dog can get distracted. Pay extra special attention to your surroundings and any potential situations that may cause your dog to wander or run off.

Follow all of the rules set by the beach. You the nearest vet. don’t want to be the reason that dogs aren’t As much as we wish, our dogs can’t tell us allowed at that particular beach anymore. when they’re in pain and not feeling good.

The above lists are certainly not all-incluIS YOUR DOG A SWIMMER? sive, so if you notice anything out of the orIf you’ve brought your dog to the beach dinary with your dog’s behavior, get her out before, you probably know if your furry of the elements immediately. friend loves to swim. But if this will be your A good way to prevent heat stroke is to first visit, you may want to read up on her bring lots of fresh, cool water that your dog breed just to be sure. For example, Shar- can drink. A spray bottle with cool water Peis tend to be afraid of water. Obviously that you can spray her down with will also there are exceptions to the rule, but find- help in temperature regulation. A bonus of ing out if swimming is characteristic of the having fresh water with you is that you can

For most dogs, getting to run around in the sand, dip into the waves, and fetch balls out of the water is the best day ever. breed will be a good indicator of how enthusiastic (or timid) yours might be. When you bring the pup to the water, if she isn’t diving right in, take it slow. Don’t force your dog to go in. She may feel more comfortable if you head in first and call her. If you’re nervous or unsure, purchasing a dog life vest to bring with you would be a safe bet.

DON’T GO TO EXTREMES Depending on where you are in the country, summer at the beach can bring about two extremes: heat from the sun and a cold, cold ocean. Pay attention to how your dog is acting and responding while she’s with you throughout the day, since there could be the potential of either heat stroke or hypothermia (if she’s been swimming her little heart out).

Some signs of heat stroke in a dog include rapid panting, a bright red tongue, thick and sticky saliva, weakness, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. If you think that your dog has heat stroke while you’re at the beach, take the following actions immediately: • Move the pet into the shade and apply cool (not cold) water all over their body to gradually lower their temperature.

• Apply ice packs or cool towels to the pet’s head, neck and chest only.

• Allow the pet to drink small amounts of cool water or lick ice cubes.

• Then take the pet to the nearest vet.

Some signs of hypothermia in a dog include lethargy, weakness, shivering, muscle stiffness, difficulty breathing, and/or fixed and dilated pupils. If you think that your dog has hypothermia while you’re at the beach, take the following actions immediately: • Wrap your dog in towels and blankets that have been warmed by the sun.

• Bring extra fresh water in bottles and leave them out in the sun as this warm water can be applied to your dog to bring his body temperature back up.

• If your dog has still not stopped shivering and has continued lethargy, bring her to

Legal Services

clean her paws of sand and salt water, which can cause irritation and dry out those sensitive pads. Also, since you can’t guarantee that you will have access to a shady area, bring an umbrella that she can hang out under.

To make sure that hypothermia doesn’t strike, bring lots of towels that you can snuggle your dog in and remove the excess cold salt water. Not only can this warm her up quicker, it also helps in removing the sand and salt water from her fur so she won’t be in danger of shaking off on someone else.

BEACH DO’S AND DON’TS There are hundreds of beaches in the U.S. and Canada that allow dogs, but compared to the number of beaches there are, this is a small percentage. Many beaches allowed dogs at one time, but had to put a stop to it due to careless owners. Follow these rules (in addition to the beach’s rules), and you’ll make sure that you can bring Fido back as many times as she likes.

• Don’t let your dogs go into areas on the beach where they’re not allowed. Dunes and grassy areas need to be protected from any sort of environmental damage that a dog might cause.

• Don’t let your dog out of your sight. Not even once. Paying attention and being proactive will go a long way in protecting you and your dog. The last thing you want is to be sued for a dogfight or by someone who had a run-in with your dog.

• Don’t forget to bring the leash, beach towels, umbrella, fresh water, and doggie sunscreen (yes, you can actually get sunscreen specifically made for dogs).

• Don’t leave a mess behind! Don’t count on the beach supplying waste bags, so bring your own and be diligent about cleaning up.

No one wants to find a surprise just laying on the beach or buried in the sand.

• Do make sure your dog’s vaccinations are current and that he’s wearing the proper

MARTIN SJOLIE

www.sgn.org

Over 20 Years Experience

Last Will, Power of Attorney & Health Care Directive (Living Will)

$500.00/Person or $750.00/Couple for complete, personalized services.

(206) 841–1373 www.sjolielaw.com

Auto accidents, DUI, Small business needs.

www.sgn.org

20 Seattle Gay News

August 16, 2013

Celebrating 40 Years!

ID. Keep your vet’s number on hand just in case something happens.

• Do check the ocean for jellyfish and continued from cover stingrays. A sting to your dog will be sure to ruin both his and your experience.

LAST-DITCH APPEAL • Do bring toys and balls to throw and find The anti-equality group’s appeal to the sticks to fetch. This is exactly why you are California Supreme Court was their lastboth there: to have fun! ditch effort to void Walker’s decision. The • Do set a time limit for your beach trip. A state high court previously upheld Prop 8’s couple hours might be just the right amount constitutionality, which led opponents to file of time at the beach, depending on your a federal appeal. dog’s activity level. At the first sign of your State officials argued that Protect Mardog tiring, pack it up and get back on the riage’s challenge was a veiled attempt to road. persuade a state court to interfere with a Whether you’re going on a trip or a stay- federal judge’s order, and that such a move cation, finding a beach where you can bring would be a violation of the U.S. Constituyour dog this summer will be a great bond- tion. ing experience for both your dog and your The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that family. Get out there and soak up that fresh Protect Marriage lacked standing to defend sea air – your pooch will be forever grateful the law in federal court, and therefore let for all the fun!

Walker’s ruling stand without reaching the merits of the case.

A HANDY ONLINE RESOURCE Gay and Lesbian couples resumed marryTripsWithPets.com is the #1 online re- ing in California shortly after that, when the source for pet travel, and was named best Ninth Circuit Court lifted a stay on Walker’s pet travel site by Consumer Reports. Trip- decision. Protect Marriage then went back sWithPets.com offers resources to ensure to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the pets are welcome, happy, and safe when Ninth Circuit had acted prematurely, but the traveling. The website features a directory Supreme Court refused to intervene. of pet-friendly hotels and accommodations Then the group went to the state Supreme across the U.S. and Canada, airline and car Court, asking the justices to halt the marrental pet policies, pet-friendly restaurants riages immediately while considering the and beaches searchable by route, pet travel legal arguments. The seven-member court tips, pet travel supplies, and many other pet unanimously rejected the request for a stay. travel resources.

A county clerk from San Diego also petitioned the state court to decide whether Kim Salerno is president and founder of Proposition 8 remained valid law, but he TripsWithPets.com. subsequently withdrew his request after failing to win support from other counties.

prop 8

ACTIVISTS HAIL RULING Pro-equality activists reacted with obvious pleasure to the California Supreme Court’s decision.

“Prop 8 is dead and never coming back,” HRC President Chad Griffin said.

“As we celebrate this great victory, we remember the 37 other states without marriage equality and the many other corners of our country where there is little to no protection for LGBT people on a range of issues, from workplace discrimination to bullying in schools to the ability to adopt children to access to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. All of our energy must be put toward achieving full equality for everyone, everywhere.”

“Today’s ruling means that two Supreme Courts, the United States Supreme Court and the California Supreme Court, agree that all loving, committed couples should have the freedom to marry in California,” said Jane Wishon, Marriage Equality USA board president. “The decision is right as a matter of law and as a matter of love.”

“Today’s decision finally marks the end of years of litigation by the Prop 8 proponents to deny the freedom to marry to Lesbian and Gay couples in California, said John Lewis, Marriage Equality USA legal and policy director. “Today’s decision reaffirms that all loving, committed couples, regardless of their sexual orientation, have the freedom to marry in every county across the state.”

August 16, 2013

Seattle Gay News 21

Home & Specialized Services Gary D. TorGerson Co. Expert Painting and Repairs Rot Repair: siding, doors, windows, porches and decks.

Lead-Safe Certified

See photographs of our work at www.TorgersonCompany.com Email: info@torgersoncompany.com Contractor Registration #: GARYDTC134CJ Phone: 206-781-0999

Visit us online www.sgn.org

Noon - 2 am daily • 21 and over

Home of the Sam’s bloody masterpiece.

1024 E Pike st • 206.397.3344 • samstavernseattle.com 22 Seattle Gay News

August 16, 2013

Celebrating 40 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

August 16, 2013

Seattle Gay News 23