SGN September 21, 2012 - Section 1

Issue 38 Volume 40

Celebrating 39 Years!

FRIDAY September 21, 2012 FREE! 25¢ in bookstores & newsstands

MONEY BATTLES p. 4 fall travel & arts SECTION ask michael p. 18

Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

A banner day for Renters’ rights and Ref 74 pro-LGBT fundraising Hang that Approve R-74 sign in your window, no matter what your landlord says

Supporters give more than $1m to Inslee and Approve R-74 campaigns nate gowdy / seattle gay news

Former President Bill Clinton (l) and Washington gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee

that day, between the Jay Inslee for Governor luncheon featuring former U.S. President Bill ClinSeptember 15 marked a mile- ton and the annual Human Rights stone for LGBTQ and allied Seattleites. Over $1 million was raised see fundraiser page 21

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

george bakan / seattle gay news

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Campaign season always brings up the question of whether tenants can legally hang political signs in their windows, especially in neighborhoods like Capitol Hill where so many of the residents are renters.

This is not just an abstract issue, as the recent controversy over an Approve Referendum 74 fundraiser at the Grenada Apartments on Belmont Avenue shows. Landlord Breier-Scheetz Properties attempted to prevent a couple from holding a fundraising party in their apartment, and backed off only when threatened with a lawsuit.

Breier-Scheetz – which contributed $20,000 to defeat marriage equality – is now attempting to prevent its tenants from displaying Approve R-74 window signs.

In spite of what landlords might say, such a prohibition is illegal under both the state constitution and ordinary state property law. see renters page 20

DADT repeal: one year later Cheryl Chow Repeal of ban on LGBT service has been an unmitigated success

associated press

honored by city Former Seattle councilmember recently came out as a Lesbian

by James Whitely SGN Staff Writer

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor On September 20, 2011, the U.S. military’s ban on open service by Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Americans officially ended. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” had finally died. On its way to the grave it took with it the careers of more than 14,000 brave

LGB men and women who had once served to protect and defend America’s freedoms at home and abroad.

I think we can all agree that DADT had overstayed its welcome. By the time President Barack Obama signed the legislative repeal of the 1993 policy, in December 2010, a number of

credible polls had found that overwhelming support existed for a repeal of the discriminatory policy. The application of repeal was dependent upon certification by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the secretary of defense, and the president.

Thankfully, Adm. Mike Mullen, see dadt page 8

proud to Be Different

We are conveniently located on-site at Lifelong AIDS Alliance below the Thrift Store.

file photo

Active-duty troops marched in uniform at San Diego’s 2012 Gay Pride parade.

This is the first time that U.S. service members participated in such an event while in full uniform.

Last Monday was “Cheryl Chow Day” in the city of Seattle. On September 17, the former Seattle City Councilmember was honored by the city for her decades of public service.

Chow came out as Lesbian last month, after being diagnosed with terminal central nervous system lymphoma.

“Being honored by the Seattle City Council was a wonderful experience and great walk down memory lane! It’s hard to believe it’s been so many years,” Chow told SGN. “I am humbled by the attention I’m receiving and thankful for the opportunities and forums to keep spreading the message of hope, acceptance, and understanding to parents and kids.”

“The intention [of the council proclamation] is to give honor and recognition to Cheryl Chow, not

Cheryl Chow

only for her years of service on the city council, but on the school board [as well],” said Sherry Harris, a fellow former Seattle City Councilmember and a friend of Chow.

It was initially unknown whether Chow, who has been somewhat see chow page 19

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Celebrating 39 Years!

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Seattle Gay News FOUNDED 1973

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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 Executive Assistant Mike Andrew Staff Writers Mike Andrew, Miryam Gordon, Anthony Greer, Shaun Knittel, Albert Rodriguez, James Whitely

The marriage equality money battle R-74 opponents have yet to spend big, but this could change very soon

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 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. © 2012, 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.

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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

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by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Opponents of marriage equality in this state should have much more money than they do. What conclusion you draw from that fact will color your view of how the campaign is going.

At the beginning of the R-74 campaign, NOM promised to flood the state with money, both to take out legislators who voted for the Marriage Equality Act and to defeat R-74 in November. At one point, NOM supporters were talking about spending $6 million.

Preserve Marriage Washington, the antiequality group, set its budget at $4 million, and Approve R-74 campaign manager Zach Silk told SGN that he expected equality opponents to spend even more than that.

And yet, the facts on the ground are much

September 21, 2012

different. The much-feared flood of outside money has not yet materialized. As SGN goes to press, Preserve Marriage Washington has reported raising only $582,000, of which it has already spent some $309,000.

Washington United for Marriage, the Approve R-74 campaign, has raised almost $7,554,000, and has more than $5 million still in the bank. Adding in money raised by other pro-equality PACs – Catholics for Marriage Equality, Freedom to Marry, and two HRC funds – marriage equality forces have raised over $8.7 million.

In a September 16 Everett Herald interview, NOM operative Chris Plante tried to roll back his organization’s claim that it would have a $4 million budget in Washington.

“We expected fundraising would be difficult,” Plante told Herald reporter Jerry Cornfield. “We don’t expect seven-figure

checks from national groups. If we get a couple hundred thousand in checks that would be great.”

“Would we like to have more? Absolutely,” Plante added. “We do need to get our message out and time is running out.”

OPPONENTS RESERVE TV TIME At the same time that Plante was crying to Cornfield about the difficulty of fundraising, opponents of marriage equality were quietly reserving $1.5 million worth of TV ad time. The TV spots were not reserved by Preserve Marriage, but by Mission Public Affairs, the consulting firm owned by NOM heavyweight Frank Schubert.

NOM’s $1.5 million in airtime is dwarfed

by Washington United’s $5 million ad buy, and it is only reserved, not yet paid for, but it may be the first installment of a much larger influx of money for the anti-equality side.

In response to questions from SGN, Zach Silk wrote in an e-mail that he still expects the other side to spend millions of dollars on media in the final weeks of the election season.

“We expect late money to come in,” Silk wrote.

“This television reservation is just the beginning of a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign. This fits the patterns we saw in Maine in 2009 and in North Carolina earlier this year. We can’t get complacent. They are coming and we must be ready.”

With only a month before ballots are mailed, and seven weeks before Election Day, the question remains whether a NOM media buy now, no matter how big, would be too late to reverse the trend in public opinion toward approving R-74.

MORE DONATIONS NEEDED The day after NOM’s media buy was reported, Washington United sent an urgent e-mail to supporters. Titled “Don’t Be Fooled,” the e-mail addressed new polling numbers that show Approve R-74 18 points ahead, and then mentioned NOM’s TV time reservation.

“No on Prop 8 in California and No on Question 1 in Maine were both ahead in public polls in September 2008 and 2009, respectively,” the e-mail noted. “In fact, No on Prop 8 was ahead by 17 percent in the California Field Poll, the most respected and trusted poll in California.

“What happened? Opponents of marriage equality went on the air with deceptive and misleading ads. Numbers supporting marriage for all loving couples cratered. And both states lost the freedom to marry.”

Washington United then calls for an additional $500,000 in new donations by the end of September to help counter the expected NOM media onslaught.

Celebrating 39 Years!

One soldier a day Lawmakers call for unspent military suicide prevention funds to be utilized

legislative calendar, we urge leaders to act on freeing up the existing funds for soldier suicide prevention and outreach.”

Last year, Congress increased program funding by more than $8 million for suicide prevention under the Defense Health Program. However, a hearing held by the Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense in June revealed that the additional funding remains largely unspent.

FY ’13 Defense Appropriations Bill that would allow for these dollars to be spent on pre-medical related prevention, education, and outreach programs.”

Several weeks ago, the Army released suicide data for the month of July indicating the highest one-month tally of suicides in recent Army history.

“At a time when the suicide rate for active duty service members and reservists is at an all-time high, it is unconscionable that we

“We lose a soldier to suicide every day, a record pace that is driving the number of military suicides to all-time highs.

This is a national epidemic that requires immediate congressional action.”

USE OF FUNDS RESTRICTED Testifying on behalf of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, witness Charles Curie explained that under existing rules, these funds “must be used for health care delivery programs and services, and not for education and training or research and development programs.” He went on to say: “Requiring additional funding to be spent on treatment is not going help the services get in front of this problem. The services should have the authority to spend it on program evaluation and prevention efforts and not just on health care delivery.

“Therefore, AFSP requests that this committee add clarifying language to the

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Democratic Congressmen Jim McDermott of Washington and Leonard Boswell of Iowa this week urged leaders of the U.S. House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee to work with them in getting the Pentagon to use all of its unspent suicide prevention funds to reach more service members as soon as possible, and to go even further with higher funding next year.

In July, the McDermott-Boswell amendment to the defense appropriations bill for fiscal 2013, which would increase critical funding for suicide prevention for active duty military by $10 million, passed with strong support in the House.

“The Pentagon hasn’t spent the money that it has for suicide prevention for this year – and that money wasn’t nearly enough

would allow a technicality to block funds that could be used to strengthen outreach and prevention,” Boswell and McDermott said in their September 13 letter to leaders of the U.S. House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

“With legislation stalled in the Senate and little time remaining on the legislative calendar, we ask for your immediate attention to this matter. If we can enable these funds to more quickly facilitate programs for prevention, education, and outreach, then we urge you to push to include clarifying language in the continuing resolution,” Boswell and McDermott concluded. “We cannot wait until after the election to help the heroes get the assistance they deserve.”

to reach all the soldiers who need help. Now we are hearing about bureaucratic technicalities at the Pentagon that are preventing them from acting. This is unconscionable,” said Rep. McDermott, who represents Washington’s 7th District. “The Pentagon is funded to help soldiers and needs to do much more on the epidemic of suicides. As we commemorate National Suicide Prevention Week, we are calling on the Pentagon to move much faster.”

Rep. Boswell added, “We lose a soldier to suicide every day, a record pace that is driving the number of military suicides to all-time highs. As I said on the House floor in July, this is a national epidemic that requires immediate congressional action to provide the necessary resources to prevent these tragedies from happening. With this year’s defense appropriations legislation at a standstill, and only days remaining in the

Michael Castorini

Lukas “Michael” Castorini (formerly Michael Lee Reinninger) passed away on August 14, 2012, in Federal Way, Washington, after a long illness. He was 49.

Originally from San Diego, Michael moved to Seattle in 1985. His friends say Michael was a handsome, friendly, outgoing, and vivacious person with soaring ideas, who loved to talk and was seldom shy about offering his opinions. “If he was in the room, you knew it,” said a friend, Devlin Callaway.

Michael volunteered his time with Seattle AIDS Support Group, Chicken Soup Brigade and other organizations in the Seattle area for many years. He is survived by his sister, Maria, of San Diego, whom he was very close to.

Come meet Tim and Matt and join the family.

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

206-838-6027 or 206-898-4306

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White House welcomes young Northwest activists

Other young leaders in the delegation included Josh Parrish of the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, Heather Purser of the Suquamish Tribe Washington, and Jamee Greer, a well-known LGBT rights activist from Montana.

The four, along with many others from across the country, were invited by the office of Vice President Joe Biden.

Four from region attend policy meeting with top administration officials courtesy Josh Parrish

Josh Parrish of the ACLU of Idaho, at the White House

by James Whitely SGN Staff Writer Earlier this week, the Pride Foundation sent four young Pacific Northwest LGBTQ leaders to the White House for a policy roundtable discussion and reception. Seattle was represented by Kyle Rapiñan of Queer

Youth Space, a local youth-led organization that promotes cultural arts and activism, health and wellness, and research, education, and employment for Queer youth.

“I am very privileged and lucky to represent the needs of Seattle residents,” Rapiñan told SGN. I will be meeting with cuttingedge legal organizations like the National

Center for Transgender Equality and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. I hope to discuss the state of the Queer movement and how we can all shift our movement towards a more just and equitable community.

I am very thankful for everyone who supports Pride Foundation and Queer youth vocational development.”

file photos

Neck-and-neck in the 1st District

INSPIRATIONAL LEADERSHIP “Each of these young leaders inspires change by working with their local communities – their dedication to and passion for full LGBTQ equality is inspiring,” said Kris Hermanns, executive director of Pride Foundation.

The Pride Foundation was asked by the White House to suggest people who were leading change in their LGBTQ communities to send to the event.

“It’s an incredible honor and very humbling to be chosen for something like this when there are so many qualified LGBTQ Montanans working every day for equal treatment under the law, and I couldn’t even think of this sort of opportunity happening without their help, including from the folks at Pride Foundation,” said Greer.

Greer was the lead organizer behind the passage of the 2010 Missoula, Montana, equality ordinance, which protects all Missoula residents from discrimination, including discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Jamee’s work on non-discrimination ordinances in Missoula, Helena, and Bozeman, and his steadfast advocacy for all the underdogs in our society made him a clear choice for this invitation,” said Hermanns.

“We look forward to hearing about the group’s adventure in the capital,” said Caitlin Copple, the Pride Foundation’s regional development organizer in Montana.

According to the Boise Weekly, the roundtable was expected to focus on community outreach, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal, and the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA.

Polls show homophobe John Koster in a virtual tie with Suzan DelBene

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Republican John Koster is in a statistical dead heat with Democrat Suzan DelBene in the race for an open seat in the First Congressional District, north of Seattle.

According to a KING-TV poll released September 18, Koster was favored by 46% of respondents and DelBene by 42%. The telephone survey of 593 likely voters was conducted between September 13 and 15, with a stated 4.1-point margin of error.

Koster’s campaign manager this year is none other than Larry Stickney, one-time president of the anti-Gay Washington Values Alliance (WAVA), the author of 2009’s Referendum 71, and campaign manager for Protect Marriage Washington, the group that tried to turn back Washington’s domestic partnership law that year.

Indeed, Stickney and Koster go a long way back.

Stickney managed Koster’s two unsuccessful congressional campaigns against Democrat Rick Larsen in 2000, and again in 2010. In 2001 he managed Koster’s winning Snohomish County Council campaign, after which he became Koster’s legislative aide.

In that post, Stickney drafted Council Resolution 03-026, which Koster sponsored, supporting the City of Everett’s controversial monument to the Ten Command-

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ments.

Stickney also helped draft a 2006 Koster amendment to the Snohomish County budget seeking to strike funding for a December holiday program because it included a performance by the Seattle Men’s Chorus.

As a state representative from 1995 through 2001, Koster’s claim to fame was his “Freedom County” resolution - seeking to allow his hometown of Arlington to secede from Snohomish County and set up its own county government.

While Koster pitched “Freedom County” as an anti-tax paradise, it is widely believed that he intended it as a haven for right-wing extremists.

PRAISES RUSH LIMBAUGH In 1995, Koster co-sponsored a resolution to honor talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh as “the epitome of morality and virtue.” The proposed text praised Limbaugh for “performing ‘libosuction’ on young skulls full of mush and firing lethal shots with devastating aim at the whole spectrum of liberal ideologies.”

DelBene has charged that Koster is too extreme for the suburban First District, pointing out that he is anti-choice as well as antiGay, but respondents to the KING poll were evenly divided on the question of who best represents voters’ social views. Forty-one percent said Koster and 40% said DelBene.

On the related question of who best rep-

September 21, 2012

Republican John Koster (l) and Democrat Suzan DelBene

resents “the concerns of ordinary people,” 40% said Koster and 39% said DelBene.

The economy was the top issue for respondents – 59% said it was the most important issue to them in this year’s election.

Unfortunately for DelBene, 43% of respondents said Koster represented their views on economic issues, compared with 37% who favored DelBene.

A former Microsoft executive, DelBene

was Washington Department of Revenue director in 2011. She ran unsuccessfully against Republican Dave Reichert for his Eighth District seat in 2010.

In both her 2010 run and her primary campaign this year, DelBene self-funded, spending a reported $4.5 million on her political aspirations. She is worth an estimated $50 million and therefore enjoys a considerable financial advantage over Koster.

Celebrating 39 Years!

file photo

Lesbian candidate leads in WI Senate race New poll gives Tammy Baldwin a nine-point edge over her Republican rival

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A new Marquette University Law School poll released September 19 shows openly Lesbian Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin with a nine-point lead over former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson in their race for an open U.S. Senate seat.

The poll interviewed 705 registered Wisconsin voters by both landline and cell phone between September 13 and 16, with a stated margin of error of 3.8 points.

Fifty percent of the respondents now favor Baldwin, and 41% prefer Thompson. In polling last month, Thompson held a ninepoint lead.

Baldwin has represented Wisconsin’s Second Congressional District, regarded as the state’s most liberal, since 1999.

Thompson was governor of Wisconsin from 1987 to 2001, and George W. Bush’s secretary of Health and Human Services from 2001 to 2005. He was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, but dropped out early after his embarrassingly poor showing in the Ames, Iowa, straw poll.

According to the latest numbers, Baldwin has accumulated significant support among self-identified independent voters. Independents now favor Baldwin by 12 points, 50% to 38%. In August, Thompson led by

10 points among independents, 47% to 37% for Baldwin.

Marquette’s September poll sample is two points more Democratic and three points less Republican than average for Wisconsin, but pollsters say that is still within the margin of error.

If the sample had been adjusted to match the yearlong average partisan makeup, they added, the margins would tighten, but Baldwin would still be in the lead. In the Senate race, Baldwin would be up five points, 48% to 43%.

OBAMA LEAD WIDENS President Barack Obama continues to lead his Republican challenger in Wisconsin, the poll shows. In fact, the president has seen a large, post-convention bump. Voters now prefer Obama to Romney by 14 points, 54% to 40%. In the August poll, the president led 49% to 46%.

As with Baldwin, Obama’s gains in Wisconsin appear to be among independents.

Non-affiliated voters now prefer the president to Republican Mitt Romney by 53% to 38%.

The latest poll also shows the president’s job approval rating to be significantly higher than in August. Fifty-four percent of respondents now approve of how Obama is handling his job, with 39% disapproving. In the August poll, the president’s approval rating

Tammy Baldwin

was 48% with 45% disapproving.

The poll shows 28% saying the economy has improved over the past year, 33% saying it has gotten worse, and 37% say it has stayed about the same.

When asked if they believe they are better off than four years ago, 47% of the respondents said yes, and 49% said no, a statistical tie. Asked if “the country as a whole” is better off than four years ago, 46% said things are better while 52% said the conditions are not better.

But when asked who is responsible for the current economic problems, 30% of poll respondents said President Obama, but 55% said former President George W. Bush is still to blame.

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

September 21, 2012

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dadt

continued from cover Donald Gates, and Barack Obama moved quickly on the issue, and less than one year after repeal legislation was signed, DADT ended.

This week, America observed the first anniversary of the repeal of DADT. By and large, DADT repeal was hailed as a victory for the nation, its military, and our president. Several studies have concluded

ted to ensuring the Department of Veterans Affairs is a welcoming environment for LGBT veterans and their families, and that all servicemembers – regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity – receive quality health care and services.”

Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA): “By relegating DADT to the history books, we paid tribute to principles of fairness and justice on which this nation was founded. True, there is much more that must be done to ensure that the rights of all Americans are recognized by our military associated press

in order to reach full LGBT equality in the military. Even now, families of Gay and Lesbian servicemembers, veterans, are treated as second-class citizens, unable to receive the same recognition, support, and benefits as the families of their straight, married counterparts. We must repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and all federal laws that prevent the military from providing the same support for all servicemembers and their families. We cannot have two classes of servicemembers.”

Josh Seefried, co-founder and co-director of OutServe, an organization of actively serving LGBT servicemembers: “What we have seen on the ground is exactly what we expected to see. As servicemembers, everyone always knew there were Gay and Lesbian Americans serving alongside them. The difference now is that we are able to be honest about who we are, and despite what opponents predicted, that has improved unit cohesion, not harmed it.

And now, we don’t have to look over our shoulders in fear that we will be discharged from the military we love for simply being Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual.”

study of the military’s post-DADT, openservice policy shows that there are no detrimental effects stemming from repeal. Published by the Palm Center, a research branch of the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School, the study comes almost exactly one year after DADT’s end.

Randy Phillips Comes Out on YouTube: Immediately after the repeal, then21-year-old Randy Phillips, who serves in the U.S. Air Force, captured everyone’s attention by taping his coming out to his father and posting it on YouTube. Phillips’s video went viral and has more than 6 million views to date. Later, the young soldier came out to his mother in a similar fashion.

Gay Military Organization Celebrates Repeal: OutServe, the association of actively serving LGBT military personnel, hosted its first Armed Services Leadership Summit one month after DADT’s repeal.

The keynote speaker, Douglas Wilson, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs and the highest-ranking openly Gay official in Pentagon history, summed up everyone’s thoughts by saying, “This is freaking amazing.” associated press

Sgt. Erwynn Umali (l) and Will Behrens were the first same-sex couple to have a civil union ceremony on an American military base

that DADT repeal had no negative impact on military readiness, unit cohesion, retention, or recruiting. And due to his leadership on the matter, DADT repeal is viewed as a crowning achievement of the Obama administration when it comes to championing Gay rights.

On Thursday, September 20, politicians, advocates, and military personnel released statements to commemorate the first anniversary of the end of DADT: President Barack Obama: “A year ago today, we upheld the fundamental American values of fairness and equality by finally and formally repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ Gay and Lesbian Americans now no longer need to hide who they love in order to serve the country they love. It is a testament to the professionalism of our men and women in uniform that this change was implemented in an orderly manner, preserving unit cohesion, recruitment, retention, and military effectiveness. As Commander in Chief, I’ve seen that our national security has been strengthened because we are no longer denied the skills and talents of those patriotic Americans who happen to be Gay or Lesbian. The ability of servicemembers to be open and honest about their families and the people they love honors the integrity of the individuals who serve, strengthens the institutions they serve, and is one of the many reasons why our military remains the finest in the world.”

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA): “I was proud to vote to repeal this law that did a tremendous disservice to so many men and women who wanted nothing more than to defend their country and the freedoms America stands for. While today is a day of celebration, as chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, I remain commit-

and by our government. But this historic achievement is paving the way for progress.

“It has fundamentally changed the political landscape as it relates to LGBT rights.

Openly Gay candidates like Sean Patrick Maloney, who is running for Congress in New York, are changing the conversation.

Sean and his husband have been together for 20 years and they have three wonderful children. His family is central to his campaign. Not just to promote LGBT equality – which he does – but to connect with average voters concerned about education and the economy.

“Thanks to President Obama’s leadership, marriage equality was included in the Democratic Party platform – the first time this has ever happened. Since DADT was repealed, four states have passed legislation supporting Gay marriage.

“Public opinion has shifted dramatically in our favor. National polls indicate that a majority of Americans support marriage equality – 54 percent, according to a June 2012 CNN poll.”

Aubrey Sarvis, Army veteran and executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network: “The one-year anniversary of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal is a significant milestone that should not be minimized. We know from our nation’s top military leaders, as well as our commanders and servicemembers, that the historic transition to open service that culminated with repeal a year ago today has been a successful one. Our men and women in uniform from the highest levels at the Pentagon to our servicemembers on the ground are to be commended for marching out smartly and getting the job done.

“We cannot forget – even as we celebrate this day – that there is still work to be done

Social networks went crazy over this image of Sgt. Brandon Morgan jumping into the arms of boyfriend Dalan Wells.

POST-DADT MILESTONES In cooperation with OutServe and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, the Huffington Post’s “Gay Voices” blog put together a list of 25 memorable events since the repeal of DADT. Some of the more prominent ones were: Marissa Gaeta and Citlalic Snell Claim a Navy Tradition: Dubbed “the kiss heard ’round the world,” two female sailors, Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta and Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell locked lips in Virginia Beach, Virginia, last December.

Gaeta won the coveted and traditional Navy “first kiss” after spending $50 on raffle tickets. Navy officials say it is the first time a Gay couple has won the “first kiss” raffle.

No Consequences: The first academic

First Gay Civil Union Ceremony on a Military Base: Tech. Sgt. Erwynn Umali and his partner, Airman Will Behrens, were the first same-sex couple to have a civil union ceremony on an American military base in New Jersey, where Gay marriage is not yet legal. The ceremony, which took place in front of 150 friends and family, was held on Umali’s home station, McGuireDix-Lakehurst.

Openly Gay Soldiers March at San Diego Gay Pride: This July was the first time Gay active servicemen and women marched in uniform in a Pride parade, after the Department of Defense allowed the city of San Diego the honor. The celebration drew in an estimated 200,000 attendees who cheered see dadt page 20

Come meet Tim and Matt and join the family.

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

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

Seattle Gay News

September 21, 2012

Celebrating 39 Years!

NORTHWEST

NEWS

compiled by Rick McKinnon SGN Staff Writer

REGISTER TO VOTE Register to vote at myvote.wa.gov.

Mail-in voter registration forms can also be obtained in person at city and county public libraries and county election offices around the state. The deadline for online and mail-in voter registration as well as CHANGES OF ADDRESS and other updates is Monday, October 8. The FINAL deadline for NEW (in person only) Washington State voter registration is Monday, October 29. For more information, contact the Washington State Elections Office, 360902-4180; 800-448-4881 (voter hotline); www.vote.wa.gov.

SEATTLE AIDS WALK & 5K RUN On Saturday, September 22, from 9 a.m.1 p.m., at Volunteer Park (1400 E. Prospect St.), Lifelong AIDS Alliance hosts the Seattle AIDS Walk. The park will open at 9 a.m. for donation drop-off and T-shirt pickup and the official stage program will begin at 9:30 a.m. The Walk & Run will step-off at 10 a.m. via E. Prospect St. to 12th Ave., 12th Ave. to E. Union St., E. Union St. to Broadway, Broadway to E. Prospect St., returning to Volunteer Park for an after party that includes music, snacks, and celebration.

The Seattle AIDS Walk is the Pacific Northwest’s largest annual HIV/AIDS funVOLUNTEERS NEEDED – draiser, with all funds supporting Lifelong GET INVOLVED WITH THE and partnering community service organizaWASHINGTON UNITED tions. Through the AIDS Walk, we are able FOR MARRIAGE CAMPAIGN to educate the community and raise awareTO APPROVE REFERENDUM 74 ness about the continued importance of Washington United for Marriage is seek- fighting HIV and AIDS. www.SeattleAIDing volunteers to help with a myriad of SWalk.org tasks to ensure passage of Referendum 74.

If approved, the referendum will uphold the SOUTH SOUND AIDS WALK decision made by the Washington state legOn Saturday, September 22, from 9 a.m.islature and signed by Governor Christine 1:30 p.m., at Cheney Stadium (2502 S. Tyler Gregoire to legalize Gay marriage, mar- St., Tacoma), the South Sound AIDS Walk riage equality, the freedom to marry for all will raise funds to support critical HIV care couples. and prevention services in Pierce, Thurston To get involved, email volunteer@wash- and Lewis Counties. For more informaingtonunited.org, phone 206-486-0359, or tion, call 253-383-2565, email events@ stop by the Capitol Hill Action Center at piercecountyaids.org or visit www.pierce517 E. Pike St., Seattle. countyaids.org There are volunteer opportunities around the state. To find out how you can “VOICES UNITED FOR get involved outside Seattle, email or phone MARRIAGE” ON TOUR – the campaign.

SEATTLE MEN’S CHORUS/ SEATTLE WOMEN’S CHORUS SEATTLE FRINGE FESTIVAL The SMC and SWC will showcase their SEPTEMBER 19-23 support for marriage equality with a series For five intense days, Seattle Fringe au- of free concert events (no tickets required) diences will enjoy an eclectic array of new in five cities throughout Western Washingwork by artists from Boulder, Chicago, ton. Each program will feature a 90-minute Dallas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New set of music, stories, and speakers devoted York, and, of course, Seattle. 21 perfor- to building awareness and engaging audimance groups will shine on Capitol Hill ence members to help Approve Referendum with shows at Annex Theatre, the NW Film 74. The concert schedule is: Forum, West Hall at Century Ballroom, and Edmonds: Saturday, September 22, 3 Odd Duck Studio. Ranging from serious p.m., Edmonds Center for the Arts, 410 4th drama to light, family-friendly fare, from Ave. N. existential Butoh to saucy cabaret, from Olympia: Saturday, September 29, 8 highbrow to lowbrow to no-brow – Seattle p.m., Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Fringe Festival has something for everyone. Washington St. SE. Single tickets: $10; all-festival passes $125.

Bellingham: Sunday, October 21, 3 p.m., www.click4tix.com. Tickets to non-sold-out Mount Baker Theatre, 104 N. Commercial shows will be available at the door.

St. www.seattlefringefestival.com.

Seattle: Friday, October 26, 8 p.m., Center for Spiritual Living, 5801 Sand Point SEATTLE DESIGN FESTIVAL Way N.E. SEPTEMBER 20-23 Meet at the “design block,” the hub of the SEATTLE BURLESQUE 2012 Seattle Design Festival, at Denny and OLYMPICS 2012 Westlake in South Lake Union.

On Saturday, September 22, at 8 p.m., at www.seattledesignfestival.com Re-bar (1114 Howell St.), Miss Kitty Baby presents Seattle Burlesque Olympics 2012 BORDER RIDERS – a Burlesque show fundraiser featuring a MOTORCYCLE CLUB variety of Seattle talent to benefit the BurSUMMER CAMPING lesque Hall of Fame. Join us for a night of From May through October, BRMC hosts campy competition as Seattle Burlesquers monthly weekend camping trips – Septem- twirl and tease to the finish line for the Ulber 21-23, and October 19-21. timate Grand Supreme Medals and Rhinewww.borderriders.com. stone Trophies. With Sports Announcer, Ernie Von Schmaltz, and Celebrity Judges, TWO-SPIRIT CIRCLE Miss Indigo Blue and Waxie Moon. Tickets: WITH JOHNNY MOSES $15. http://seattleburlesqueolympics2012.

On Friday, September 21, from 7:30-9:30 eventbrite.com. p.m., at the Mt. Baker Park Presbyterian Church (3201 Hunter Blvd. S.), the Seattle MEETING TO HEAR ABOUT Red Cedar Circle will be holding a TwoFUTURE PROPOSED Spirit Circle. Johnny Moses, a master stoDEVELOPMENT AT CAPITOL HILL ryteller, oral historian, traditional healer and LIGHT RAIL STATION respected spiritual leader of the Si.Si.Wiss On Monday, September 24, from 6-8 Medicine Teachings, will bring out gender p.m., at Lowell Elementary (Cafeteria) teachings of the Northwest Coast Salish (1058 E. Mercer St.), come learn about the tribes. The event is free, with donations ac- latest thinking on the future transit-oriented cepted for the teachings and building use. development: 1) Proposed urban design feaThe meeting will be held in the church base- tures, 2) Bicycle/pedestrian amenities; 3) ment, accessible through the back entrance Festival street/plaza; 4) Dedicated affordof the church. able housing. To request accomodations for persons with disabilities, call 1-800-2014900 / TTY Relay: 711 or email accessibility@soundtransit.org. www.soundtransit. org/CapitolHillTOD.

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nials, including many unusual species and varieties. www.arboretumfoundation.org.

SEATTLE VOLLEYBALL CLUB FALL 2012 LEAGUE NORTHWEST Seattle Volleyball Club sponsors volleyCHOCOLATE FESTIVAL ball activities for beginning/recreational SEPTEMBER 29-30 to advanced/competitive players. The fall Washington State Convention & Trade league runs through December 1.

Center. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tickets: $25-adwww.seattlevolleyballclub.com vance, $30 at the door. www.nwchocolate. com SMUDGY NOTEBOOK: “BETWEEN THE LINES” ENTRE HERMANOS QUEER WRITING WORKSHOP LATINO PAGEANT 2012 On Tuesdays, September 25-October 30, On Saturday, September 29, at 7 p.m., at from 7-9 p.m., Gay City Health Project (517 E. Pike St.) presents Smudgy Notebook: Seattle University, Campion Ballroom (12th “Between the Lines,” a Queer writing work- Ave. & E. Marion St.), Entre Hermanos presents Latino Pageant 2012, culminatshop.

Just like our personal experiences, ev- ing in the selection of Miss Gay Latina, Mr. erything that we read and write is based on Gay Latino and Ms. Latina Lesbian. Tickcontext. Many diverse factors, such as our ets: $35-general, $50-Friends of the Board. sexuality, gender expression, class, race/ For more information and tickets: 206-322ethnicity, even geography, can influence 7700, www.entrehermanos.org, or www. our point of view. After all, no two points brownpapertickets.com/event/272724. of view are exactly the same. During this IMPERIAL COURT OF SEATTLE – six-week course, participants will read “beEMPRESS EXPRESS SHOW tween the lines” to look at how these unspoOn Saturday, September 29, doors at 6 ken factors can influence our writing. Cost: $75 (scholarships may be available). For p.m., show at 7 p.m., at Neighbours Nightmore info and to sign-up, call Susan Rees at club (1509 Broadway, entrance in alley off 206-388-1707 or email susan@gaycity.org. E. Pike St.), join Olympia 41 Beverly Peters Lake and the Imperial Court of Seattle for an evening of fine drag entertainment. This OOBA TOOBA MEX GRILL GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION show is celebrating the life of Olympia 22 Morai St. Charles, who passed away in AuON CAPITOL HILL On Wednesday, September 26, from 5-9 gust. $10 donation at the door. www.imperip.m., join Ooba Tooba (209 Broadway E., alcourtofseattle.com. next to Rite Aid at corner of Broadway E. SWEAT & STRETCH & E. Olive Way), for great food, great drink FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY specials and lots of fun! 50% of sales from On Sunday, September 30, from 2-5 p.m., the ENTIRE DAY will support Lifelong at Knotty Yoga (2545 152nd Ave. NE, RedAIDS Alliance. www.oobatooba.com. mond), join Knotty Yoga friends, old and new, for a fundraiser in support of WashSEATTLE GAY & LESBIAN ington United for Marriage’s campaign BOOK CLUB – to Approve Referendum 74. Enjoy a fun CHRISTOPHER AND HIS KIND hour-long Knotty Yoga workout, aerial arts & UNCENSORED performances by some of Seattle’s top aeriPICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY The Seattle Gay & Lesbian Book Club alists, and a reception with snacks. Learn meets every Wednesday from 6-7:15 p.m., more about the fight for marriage equality at Seattle Area Support Groups Community in Washington state and show your support.

Center (303 17th Ave. E. at E. Thomas St.). Suggested minimum donation: $40. www.

Forty years after the events he novelized knottyyoga.com. in The Berlin Stories, Christopher IsherOUT FOR SUSTAINABILITY– wood wrote about the same incidents in “COMING OUT LOCAL” his memoir, Christopher and His Kind, the ANNUAL DINNER book club’s selection for September, and On Sunday, September 30, at 5 p.m., at this time told the truth. The BBC film adMelrose Market Studios (1532 Minor Ave.), aptation will be shown September 26.

In October, the book club will be reding join guest of honor State Senator Ed Murray the recently published Uncensored Picture (D-43), and keynote speaker Jill Bamburg, a of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. The homo- leader in the Local Living Economy movesexual passages, once chopped out, have ment, for Out for Sustainability’s annual dinner, discussion and auction that highbeen restored.

All GLBTQ folks are welcome to partici- lights how a thriving local economy fosters pate in this free book club. For more infor- a local community that celebrates diversity. mation email nickdimartin@earthlink.net, Coming Out Local is for all who care about visit http://faculty.washington.edu/swittet/ sustainability and want to have remarkSGLBookClub/ or contact SASG at 206- able local food while sampling local wine, 322-2437; www.sasgcc.org. For discount on bidding on wares and services from local businesses and learning from the evening’s cost of books, email Nick. guests. This year Skillet will prepare a four course main dinner, along with several local DECIBEL – LGBTQ chefs for additional pre-dinner apINTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF petizers and dessert. Tickets: $75 at www.

ELECTRONIC MUSIC, brownpapertickets.com/event/262113.

PERFORMANCE, www.out4s.org.

VISUAL ART & NEW MEDIA SEPTEMBER 26-30 SOCIAL OUTREACH SEATTLE – www.decibelfestival.com “UNDERGRAD ROCK THE VOTE” AT NEIGHBOURS UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, October 3, at 9 p.m., at Q CENTER & QUEER STUDENT Neighbours (1509 Broadway, entrance in COMMISSION’S alley off E. Pike St.), Seattle Outreach SeANNUAL WELCOME LUNCHEON On Friday, September 28, from 12 noon- attle in association with Neighbours pres1:30 p.m., at the UW’s HUB Lyceum, join ents “Undergrad Rock the Vote.” Enjoy live the Q Center and the Queer Student Com- music, cabaret show and voter awareness to mision for their Annual Welcome Luncheon Approve Referendum 74. for new and returning LGBT and allied students, faculty, staff and alumni. Enjoy free SEATTLE LESBIAN & GAY lunch and a warm welcoming gathering. For FILM FESTIVAL more information, contact the Q Center at OCTOBER 11-21 206-897-1430. www.threedollarbillcinema.org WASHINGTON PARK ARBORETUM’S FALL ABUNDANCE PLANT SALE On Saturday, September 29, from 10 a.m.2 p.m., the Washington Park Arboretum Foundation hosts their annual FallAbundance Plant Sale at the nurseries near the Graham Visitors Center (2300 Arboretum Drive E.). Shop for trees, shrubs, and peren-

September 21, 2012

“WICKED” FOR MARRIAGE On Thursday, October 18, at 7:30 p.m., join the Washington United for Marriage campaign to Approve Referendum 74 at the Paramount Theatre (911 Pine St.) for a special fundraising performance of the musical “Wicked.” For tickets, visit www.wickedformarriage.com.

Seattle Gay News

9

10 Seattle Gay News

September 21, 2012

Celebrating 39 Years!

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Seattle Gay News 15

INTERNATIONAL aap

NEWS

by Scott Wittet SGN Contributing Writer

Russians took to the streets of Moscow to protest against President Vladimir Putin.

young businessman whose life is ruined – and who ultimately is murdered by his colleagues – after he tells a friend he’s Gay. The character’s mother stages an epic but losing battle to “cure” him of his homosexuality, taking him to everyone from a Christian pastor to a stripper.

The play was praised by Gay rights activists, who said it was “revolutionary” in the way it provoked an examination of common thinking about Gay people. But officials at Uganda’s national theater rejected the script shortly before the play was scheduled to open.

Cecil’s lawyer, Francis Onyango, said his client had not been released on bail because his passport had been confiscated by the police.

Cecil, who faces two years in jail if convicted, said he was singled out for legal action because he had become the play’s public face – the man who printed posters and sent out invitations to performances. The play was written by a British poetry student named Beau Hopkins, who thus far has not been targeted by Ugandan officials.

RUGBY HUNK STRIPS FOR ANTI-BULLYING GROUP Giving the world a peek behind the scenes of his new calendar shoot, straight ally and rugby legend Ben Cohen modeled his new underwear line for Gay Star News.

Then the rugby hunk climbed ropes, lifted weights, and smiled for the camera while wearing as little as possible, all to raise money for his StandUp Foundation.

Cohen is one of the first straight professional athletes in Britain to focus philanthropic efforts for the benefit of the Gay community.

His foundation wants to raise awareness about the long-term, damaging effects of bullying, and to get kids to promise to stand up to bullies regardless of who is the victim.

On his website, Cohen says: “Every person on this planet has a right to be true to themselves, to love and be loved, and to be happy. I encourage others to stand up with me and make a difference.”

Every sale of StandUp branded merchandise, including the new calendar, benefits the foundation’s anti-bullying work.

SOUTH KOREAN TRANS TALK SHOW AXED A groundbreaking talk show featuring interviews with Transgender people has been pulled off a South Korean TV channel, just a week after it launched.

XY That Girl, broadcast at midnight on channel KBS Joy, prompted protests from conservative groups who rallied outside the station and took out newspaper ads denouncing the show. The ads attacked KBS Joy for “fanning” sexual diversity and warned that “children will blindly follow in the steps of Transgenders,” AFP reports.

identify schoolchildren who might be Gay or Lesbian.

On September 13, some sources claimed that the Teachers Foundation of Malaysia had been holding seminars at which they handed out pamphlets on “spotting” Gay people.

Local media reported that the alleged signs of homosexuality in boys listed in the pamphlet included a preference for tight, light-colored clothes and large handbags.

For girls, the pamphlet advises that if they have “no affection for men and enjoy the company of women, then they are most likely Lesbian.”

On an Amnesty International blog, a staff writer said: “It might sound like something from Victorian England, but this is modernday Malaysia.”

Amnesty added the pamphlet “reflects a worrying trend towards increased homophobia in the country.”

According to Gay Star News, after the story received international criticism, the ministry released a statement saying it had never endorsed such guidelines to be published and circulated in schools.

However the ministry said it was looking into “social ills,” and says it is constantly providing guidelines to prevent students from “engaging” in homosexuality.

A spokesperson said, “The ministry views cases of social ills in the community very seriously and will always give guidance dicalvin klein

AUSSIE FILM CENSORS: BESTIALITY OK, GAY SEX NOT OK Australian censors have allowed the screening of a documentary that contains footage of real sex between men and donkeys, just two years after they refused a permit to screen a movie that contained real sex between men.

Donkey Love, which explores a Colombian folk tradition of men having sex with donkeys, was approved by the Australian Classification Board for screening at this year’s Sydney Underground Film Festival and Melbourne Underground Film Festival.

According to the filmmakers, “Donkey Love is a documentary that introduces the unknown tradition of Colombians having sex and falling in love with donkeys.”

“It starts off as a rite of passage ritual that fathers initiate with their sons and is carried on into their adulthood where men often end up cheating on their wives with donkeys.

“Colombians believe that boys should practice having sex with donkeys to prepare themselves for women, that it makes their penises bigger, and also that it prevents them from becoming homosexuals.”

The Classification Board did not even ask to see the film before granting it an exemption to screen at the festivals, despite bestiality being a criminal offense in Australia.

However, in 2010 the same board found that the sexually explicit Gay film L.A. Zombie was “likely to cause offense to a reasonable adult.” The board’s decision to refuse a permit to screen L.A. Zombie, while it often permits films showing straight sex, led to accusations of homophobic bias.

The Melbourne Underground Film Festival screened L.A. Zombie anyway, resulting in a police raid on the festival director’s home and a fine of $750.

the capital’s boulevards, chanting “Russia without Putin!” and “We are the power here!”

The protesters remained peaceful as about 7,000 police officers stood guard along the route of the march, and a police helicopter hovered overhead.

Some demonstrators released balloons decorated with ski masks like the ones worn by the Pussy Riot punk band, three of whose members have been jailed for singing a proGay, anti-Putin protest song in a Moscow cathedral.

Others wore T-shirts demanding the release of 17 protesters facing trial over a rally in May that ended in clashes with police.

Putin largely dismissed the protest, saying that only a small minority of Russians opposes his presidency.

Rugby star Ben Cohen

South Korean society is socially conservative but recent successes of Trans celebrities suggest growing acceptance.

Transwoman Harisu has built a successful pop career, and a Trans contestant was recently successful in the country’s version of Next Top Model. Since 2006, Trans people in South Korea have been able to correct their gender on official documents.

One of XY That Girl’s three presenters was Korea’s only openly Gay celebrity, Hong Seok-cheon. He was blacklisted from the industry after he came out in 2000 but has recently made a comeback.

UGANDA JAILS PRODUCER OF PRO-GAY PLAY The U.K. Guardian newspaper reports that the British producer of a play about being Gay in Uganda now is in jail pending trial on charges that he staged the work without official authorization.

David Cecil appeared in court last week, charged with “disobeying lawful orders” from the Uganda Media Council, which says he staged The River and the Mountain in Uganda’s capital despite being ordered THOUSANDS PROTEST not to.

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Cecil told the Associated Press that the Russian Gay activists joined thousands of MALAYSIA DENIES TEACHING play was performed eight times at little- people to protest President Vladimir Putin HOW TO SPOT GAY CHILDREN known theaters in Kampala last month. in Moscow on September 15, as reported by Malaysia’s Education Ministry is denyThe play takes a tragicomic view of Gay Gay Star News. life in Uganda. The main character is a Gay activists met with other liberals on ing it endorsed a set of guidelines on how to

rectly and indirectly to all schoolchildren to ensure they stay away from unhealthy activities.”

Sodomy is illegal in Malaysia and has been described as against “the order of nature.”

Official intolerance of Gay people has lately been on the rise. Last year, human rights activist Clarence Sim said, “The government is trying to portray LGBTs as a threat to Malaysian society and culture/tradition. Since the ban of Seksualiti Merdeka, an annual LGBT awareness event, the Malaysian government has made anti-LGBT its agenda. As we are coming up to a general election soon, it is believed they are trying to win the majority vote by condemning LGBTs.”

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September 21, 2012

Celebrating 39 Years!

Marriage equality bill fails in Australia

than 64% of Australians favor equal marriage rights for Gay and Lesbian couples, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and several key members of her ruling Labor Party are against same-sex marriage.

In 2011, a Labor Party conference voted to adopt marriage equality as part of its platform, but when the bill came before the House, Prime Minister Gillard announced that Labor members could make a “conscience vote” on it. In other words, they could vote as they pleased without being subject to party discipline, including possible expulsion, if they voted against equality.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott did not give his Liberal Party members that option.

When the vote was taken, Gillard led a number of Labor members across the aisle to vote with a united opposition.

Gillard’s government holds a majority in the House only because it has the support of seven minor-party members, and controversial legislation is not likely to be passed during her term.

Finance Minister Penny Wong, an out Lesbian, told AP reporters before the vote that the legislation would not pass, but she still argued passionately for approval during the debate.

Wong, whose father is Malaysian Chinese and whose mother is of European descent, compared discrimination against same-sex couples to race discrimination.

“If you subscribe to the principal of equality, as I’m sure most in the chamber would, then substitute ‘same sex’ for ‘race’ in this debate and see if it changes your view,” Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard Wong said.

by Mike Andrew overwhelmingly rejected a marriage equal“Just imagine if we told Australians today SGN Staff Writer ity bill. The September 19 vote was 98-42. that they could not marry the person they Although a July opinion poll conducted love because of the color of their skin.”

Australia’s House of Representatives has by the Australian House showed that more Other Labor Party leaders said they hoped

Bill killed by opposition from prime minister, rival party

their party would heed public opinion.

“I think at some future time our Parliament will catch up with community opinion, just as it has on other issues,” Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Anthony Albanese told reporters after the vote.

“When marriage equality occurs, people will wonder what the fuss was about.”

directe

BEING GAY ‘WORSE THAN SMOKING’?

Both Gillard and opposition leader Abbott have taken pains not to appear anti-Gay. Gillard canceled a scheduled address to a Christian lobby group this month over what she called “heartless” comments made by the group’s managing director, who asserted that being Gay was a bigger health hazard than smoking.

After the House debate, Abbott fired parliamentary secretary Cory Bernardi after Bernardi suggested that legalizing same-sex marriage would lead to bills permitting bestiality and polygamy.

Abbott called Bernardi’s comments “illdisciplined.”

“They’re views that I don’t share,” Abbott told reporters. “They’re views that I think many people will find repugnant.”

Currently Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory permit same-sex civil partnerships with most rights of marriage. In New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania, same-sex couples may enter into so-called registered relationships. In South Australia they may make domestic partnership agreements.

In the rest of Australia, same-sex relationships are considered “de facto” relationships, where partners might share property and financial obligations, but have few other common rights or responsibilities.

‘In the Life’ calls it quits Broadcast TV’s first and only LGBT news program’s final episode to air in December

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor After 20 years in production, the end is near for In the Life, the venerable LGBT newsmagazine aired mainly on PBS stations. The show’s producer, In The Life Media (ITLM), announced this week that the final episode will air in December. Though legally dissolving the organization is a process that will continue into 2013, all regular ITLM operations will conclude with the last

rates of suicide among LGBT children who are bullied, and the widespread discrimination against Transgender individuals in the workplace.

In the Life, said ITLM Interim Executive Director Ellen Carton, “has had the extraordinary privilege and responsibility of being the only newsmagazine to reflect the diversity of the LGBT communities, daring to tell stories other media outlets – both mainstream and LGBT – did not touch.”

At a time when LGBT people were virtually invisible in media, In the Life brought the real stories, struggles, and issues of the community into living rooms across the country. broadcast.

At a time when LGBT people were virtually invisible in media, In the Life brought the real stories, struggles, and issues of the community into living rooms across the country.

Beginning as a variety show in 1992, In the Life evolved into its current newsmagazine format over the years, becoming one of the most honored and respected sources for LGBT journalism in any media.

In addressing difficult, critical issues, the show regularly gives voice to marginalized individuals, profiles unsung heroes of the LGBT movement, and documents the movement’s most historic moments. It was the first major national media outlet to expose the alarmingly high rates of homelessness among LGBT youth, the epidemic

Much has changed since In the Life first premiered. LGBT people now figure prominently in TV news and media. A majority of Americans, including the president, now support marriage equality. Studies show that visibility is the driving force behind this rapid shift in cultural attitudes toward the LGBT community.

“As the media organization that pioneered LGBT visibility on television,” said ITLM Board Co-Chair Jayne Sherman, “we believe ITLM played a significant role in this historic progress.”

VISION WILL ENDURE ITLM is coming to an end, but its vision is not. The organization will pass the baton to communities, networks, and individuals in the form of an online hub featuring

Visit us online www.sgn.org

thousands of hours of incomparable, never-before-seen video footage. Users will view, share, and build on the archive with their own stories, using the power of opensource, interactive technology to create a new wave of compelling LGBT media that will break down barriers to lasting social and political justice.

ITLM has entered into conversations with other organizations with the potential, passion, and infrastructure to create and lead this project.

“Creating high-quality, in-depth journalism is expensive, but digital technologies provide a new way forward,” said Henry van Ameringen, who co-chairs the ITLM board with Sherman. “I am immeasurably proud of our legacy and the critical role we’ve played in the movement. We are committed to preserving our invaluable archive chronicling the evolution of LGBT rights in America with an online product that will continue to advance equality in new and innovative ways.”

September 21, 2012

Seattle Gay News 17

Historically, I understand why it was backwards. The social constraints were so punitive in years past that, although many men and women longed for loving relationships with someone of the same gender, they absolutely couldn’t risk it. The most feasible option left, in those times, was to go and seek a quick sexual connection.

What does Gay really mean?

Going beyond ‘sexual orientation’ to embrace a deeper truth

behaviors. It is impossible for those two terms to capture the real nature and complexity of emotion and relationship dynamics that are a part of being Lesbian or Gay.

IT’S ABOUT LOVE Love is very complex. We know little about it. We know it is a very strong drive and we know there are different kinds of A NEW PARADIGM love. Familial love is different than the However, times are changing. Individu- love one has for, say, a favorite sports team. als, families, friends, and communities are There is love of country, food, and gardenrecognizing that being Lesbian or Gay is ing. Some love to paint or they love their

“Emotional orientation” more truthfully explains

by Michael Raitt the experience of being Lesbian or Gay. where parents are talking about loving their SGN Contributing Writer children and accepting their child’s partner This whole push for marriage equality is about – the person their child loves – into their Do you remember “Uncle Frank” and his family. People are talking about the right to good friend/roommate, “Uncle Bill”? Or marriage – not for monetary gain or to push the emotional relationship between two adults – “Aunt Sue” and her friend, “Aunt Barbara”? a political agenda for the sake of pushing an not who they have sex with!

They lived together for years and it was tac- agenda. Rather, because of love. itly understood that their relationship went beyond that of a simple friendship, but the precise nature of that partnership was never openly talked about and was only superficially acknowledged. Most of us can recall a situation in our family or neighborhood that resembled this.

Now these relationships are being talked about and they are being framed in the context of what they are really about – love! I hear politicians talking about “being accepted for whom you love” and I see TV ads

For years, the terms “Gay,” “Lesbian,” and “homosexual” have had double meanings. One meaning was that two women or two men were in a relationship together.

However, the more powerful meaning, and the bigger focus that was applied, was around the act of sex, and the popular terms used were (and still are, I might add) “sexuality” and “sexual orientation.” Being Gay was reduced to describing who we were having sex with. We’ve had it backwards this whole time!

about being in a romantic, loving relationship. People are seeing that their Lesbian and Gay sons, daughters, parents, friends, bosses, neighbors, politicians, and celebrities are pursuing loving relationships.

Being Gay or Lesbian is an emotional orientation! We should be stating that explicitly and correcting people by saying exactly that – “Gay is not a sexual orientation, it is an emotional orientation,” and “I am Lesbian/Gay because of who I love and not who I have sex with.” We should be making it clear that love is the emotion that drives relationships, and we do that by using accurate terminology. I am Gay because of my ability to have a romantic, emotional connection with another man. “Emotional orientation” more truthfully explains the experience of being Lesbian or Gay. This whole push for marriage equality is about the emotional relationship between two adults – not who they have sex with!

It is no longer acceptable, either for us or for the people who know us and love us, to allow the designation of Lesbian or Gay to reduce us to an act of sex. This is why I strongly disagree with the terminology of “sexual orientation.” Sexual orientation almost entirely negates what it really means to be Lesbian or Gay. Those of us who are Lesbian or Gay should no longer be referring to our “sexuality.” This minimizes who we are and perpetuates the focus on an act of sex rather than on the emotional bond that love brings. “Sexuality” and “sexual orientation” describe the simplest of observable human

job. People love their friends and their cars.

Yet there is another love that is quite different from all of these. It is romantic love!

The majority of us have experienced romantic love. It is a sensation unlike almost anything else. It is exciting and scary. It creates bonds that can transcend physical time and life. We build families around it. I don’t know of anyone who can tell us with certainty exactly how it happens but it does.

What I can tell you is that romantic love is the force that makes us Lesbian or Gay. Every single Lesbian woman and Gay man who reads this can relate. They know it is true to the core of their being.

We are talking about love. We are fighting for love. Acknowledging our capacity to love makes us feel good. Being in love makes us healthier and happier. Love forms bonds and families and families create strong communities and a thriving country.

Love is one of the most basic, yet extraordinarily powerful emotions that most humans seek to experience. We are hard-wired to love. Let us actively and accurately portray what being Lesbian or Gay really is – an emotional orientation!

Michael Raitt, M.A., L.M.H.C., is a therapist and a contributing writer to SGN, where his column appears bi-monthly. If you would like to comment on this column, ask a question you’d like him to write about, or suggest another topic of interest, please contact him at askingmichael@comcast. net.

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September 21, 2012

Celebrating 39 Years!

New amfAR grants announced

a functional cure that would achieve permanent viral suppression without therapy; and the characterization of viral reservoirs, the barrier that must be overcome to achieve a cure.”

In announcing the latest round of grants, amfAR also took credit for ARCHE’s success in stimulating research over the past two years.

“In just two years, ARCHE has not only shaken up the AIDS research world by contributing vital findings to the field, but it has given us a deeper understanding of how and why some interventions work effectively,” amfAR Vice President and Director of Research Dr. Rowena Johnston said in a statement.

“These three new projects follow up on recent findings, which will hopefully accelerate the search for a cure that can be applied widely and safely for the 34 million people who need one.”

Research consortium hopes to accelerate the search for an AIDS cure

chow

continued from cover

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) announced three new research grants on September 14. The grants are part of amfAR’s two-year-old Research Consortium on HIV Eradication (ARCHE).

Researchers at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, will receive

finding a cure.

“There was a lot of discussion at July’s International AIDS Conference about the importance of collaboration among researchers in the search for a cure for HIV/AIDS, and amfAR is proud to be one of the leading organizations funding this kind of important work,” Frost said.

“It’s gratifying to know that the work we’re funding through ARCHE is both

“It’s gratifying to know that the work we’re funding through ARCHE is both building on and contributing to our collective knowledge of how we might cure HIV.” $312,070 to study the ability of the alcoholism drug disulfiram to induce dormant HIV out of latency so that the virus is susceptible to anti-retroviral therapy.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston will get $105,160 to study the possible HIV cure suggested by the so-called “Berlin patient,” who apparently became HIV-negative after a stem cell transplant.

Johns Hopkins University researchers will get $383,155 to investigate the effects of anti-retroviral therapy on children born HIV-positive, and how their success rate might differ from that of HIV patients who become infected as adults.

Kevin Robert Frost, amfAR’s CEO, noted that the new round of grants came after the International AIDS Conference emphasized the importance of new research aimed at

building on and contributing to our collective knowledge of how we might cure HIV, and that scientists working in different fields are coming up with creative ways to work together and make real progress.”

AmfAR was founded in 1985 when the New York-based AIDS Medical Foundation merged with the National AIDS Research Foundation, based in Los Angeles. The ARCHE consortium was created in 2010 to help fund research into promising HIV-cure projects.

out of the limelight since her coming out, would be able to attend. But she showed up, in a wheelchair with partner Sarah Morningstar and their four-year-old daughter, Liliana.

PRAISES HER PARTNER Chow spoke after the proclamation was read, recalling her difficulty displaying affection due to a strict upbringing. She said Sarah had taught her how to love.

“I was afraid for over 60 years and those 60 years were wasted,” said Chow in an interview with KING-TV about being Gay and how important it is for Gay people to not fear being honest about who they are.

“Chow told the world she was Gay and terminally ill. She said she had wasted 60 years of her life in fear. I admire her courage at coming out, and I disagree her years were a waste. Chow will leave a long legacy of helping children in our community,” wrote Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen in an Op-Ed published in The Seattle Times on August 30. “Today, Chow is helping young people avoid the destructive fear that so haunted her. I am confident her dear mother Ruby would be very proud.”

Rasmussen and Chow have been friends for more than 20 years.

“I hope what she means is that she missed

the opportunity for the past 60 years to be openly Gay. Her values, passion and commitment to community leadership impacted the lives of so many in this region,” continued Rasmussen.

“Cheryl Chow was almost like a mentor to me. At the time [we met], I was a newbie and our offices were directly across from one another,” Harris told SGN. “I really appreciated the kind of person she was in terms of the kinds of insights she would offer, the wisdom she had and the kind of openness she displayed. … She was my closest friend and colleague during my tenure.”

“She used to organize basketball games, women’s informal games. She was very athletically inclined,” said Harris. “She probably did a lot more athletic activities and exercise than I was doing on a regular basis back then.”

‘PUTS YOUTH FIRST’ “Cheryl Chow has devoted her life to serving youth in our community. Even during her struggles with cancer she still puts youth first, letting LGBT youth know that it is okay to be who they are. I am honored to recognize her contributions,” Sally Clark, the council’s current president, told SGN. “I’ve said a couple times recently that I don’t want anyone to waste away years being not themselves like I did,” Chow told SGN. “I’ve also regretted being at many different parades, events, and policy meetings supporting LGBT youth and families and not being truthful with people, especially teenagers.”

“In general, she is grateful for the immense support and love she has received, and hopes that the intensive chemo works and she lives to be 90 as a member of Seattle’s strong LGBT community,” Morningstar told SGN.

THREE MAIN GOALS According to amfAR’s website, ARCHE focuses on “three areas that are widely considered central to HIV eradication: the search for a sterilizing cure that would eliminate all HIV from the body; the search for

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Seattle Gay News 19

renters

continued from cover There is, in fact, established case law on this very issue: Paulsen v. Seamark Properties, Inc. (1985). The law is explained in an enlightening 1986 article by attorneys James E. Lobsenz and Timothy M. Swanson, who represented the plaintiff, Virginia Paulsen, in the case. The article is available through Seattle University’s online law library at digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu.

In 1984, Virginia Paulsen was a tenant at the Westbridge Apartments in Bellevue, owned by Seamark. As a condition of moving in to the apartment complex, she signed a lease that stated, “No signs or placards shall be posted in or about the apartment building without written permission of the Landlord.”

When Paulsen subsequently put up a political campaign sign in her window, the building manager told her to take it down.

She then wrote to Seamark asking permission to display the sign. Seamark said no, writing back that “if we allowed one person to post a sign, we would have to allow everyone to do the same…”

Paulsen filed suit against Seamark in King County Superior Court, saying the landlord had violated her free speech rights under Article I, Section 5, of the Washington Constitution.

The court found in Paulsen’s favor, saying that the part of the lease forbidding signs was “an unlawful prior restraint on tenant freedom of speech.” The decision barred

Seamark from preventing tenants from disLobsenz and Swanson argue that “if restricts the tenant’s free speech use of playing political signs on the doors or win- courts uphold a landlord’s right to censor or premises within the tenant’s exclusive posdows of their apartments. flatly prohibit the political expression of his session – including the walls, windows, and tenants, then only the landlord would enjoy doors of the tenant’s unit – the tenant may 1ST AMENDMENT NOT AT ISSUE the freedom to publicly endorse the candi- sue the landlord for “breach of the covenant People might think they have a First date of their choice in their own residen- of quiet enjoyment, a covenant implicit Amendment right to hang a campaign post- tial neighborhood,” and this would violate within all residential lease agreements.” er in their window, but this is not the case. the state constitution because “an election Lobsenz and Swanson also argue that a The First Amendment to the U.S. Consti- where one class of citizens is inhibited from tenant even has the right to post signs in the tution limits what government entities can participating fully in the election debate common areas of the apartment building. do, but it does not limit what private par- could hardly be deemed a ‘free and equal’ While the landlord may regulate the use of ties such as landlords can do, so it does not election.” common areas, they say, the landlord may create rights that an individual can enforce In Alderwood, the state Supreme Court not completely deny the tenant the ability to against their landlord. also endorsed this view of free elections. put common areas of the building to “lawful The Washington Constitution, on the othuse,” which under Washington law would er hand, empowers individuals, rather than WHAT ABOUT include political speech, writing, and publimiting government.

LANDLORDS’ RIGHTS? lication.

Where the First Amendment says, “ConBut landlords might assert that they have gress shall make no law … ,” Article I, Sec- rights as well – ones that conflict with their THE BOTTOM LINE tion 5, of the state constitution says, “Every tenants’ rights.

Even when a tenant voluntarily and with person may freely speak, write and publish For example, landlords have property full knowledge signs a lease that contains on all subjects, being responsible for the rights that might conflict with the free restrictions on signage, courts need not upabuse of that right.” speech rights of their tenants, if they require hold those provisions if they contravene imIn other words, if “every person” in the tenants to sign leases that forbid signage in portant public policies. state “may freely speak, write and publish,” their windows.

One of those policies is the unrestricted then every person has rights that are enLandlords also have free speech rights use of one’s own property – in this case, the forceable against private parties like land- under the state constitution just like tenants tenant’s unrestricted use of his or her own lords if they attempt to abridge those rights. do, and that includes a “right to remain si- unit, in which his or her property rights are This view of the state constitution was lent” about political issues. Landlords and superior to those of the landlord. Another upheld by the Washington Supreme Court employers might object to being forced to policy that comes into play is the state’s in Alderwood Associates v. Washington En- participate “by implication” in speech they interest in free political expression and vironmental Council (1981), and State v. disagree with when, for example, a tenant maximum public participation in political Coe (1984). posts a sign on their property or an employ- discourse.

Article I, Section 19, of the state constitu- ee wears a button to work.

The conclusion is clear: Go ahead and tion says, “All Elections shall be free and However, Washington state courts have put up that Approve R-74 sign. It’s your equal, and no power, civil or military, shall held for many, many years that tenants also right. at any time interfere to prevent the free ex- have property rights over their homes, even ercise of the right of suffrage.” when they rent them from a landlord.

In fact, the state Supreme Court found in Noon v. Mironski (1910) that “during the continued from page 8 existence of a lease a lessee is for all general purposes the owner of the demised LGBT personnel from different military premises.” In other words, tenants have the branches. same property rights over their own units Stephen Hill Gets Booed: When Stethat their landlords have over the building in phen Hill, an American soldier in Iraq, which the unit is leased. asked Rick Santorum if he’d “circumvent In Aldrich v. Olson (1975), a Washington the progress that’s been made for Gay and appellate court found that when a landlord Lesbian soldiers in the military,” the crowd booed Hill. The incident occurred at the Republican presidential primaries in Florida soon after the repeal of DADT. President Obama chastised the GOP candidates for not saying anything to the crowd when he spoke at the HRC’s annual national dinner and proclaimed that a commander-in-chief must support all military personnel – Gay or straight.

Social Networks Go Crazy Over Gay Soldier Kiss: Perhaps the most memorable Gay military kiss, with a picture that garnered 37,000 Facebook “likes,” shared online and on news outlets everywhere, Marine Sgt. Brandon Morgan jumped into the arms of boyfriend Dalan Wells, wrapped his legs around Wells’s body, and kissed him.

Morgan, who had just returned from Afghanistan to Hawaii, said, “The world went away for a few minutes.”

Midnight Marriage: Right at the stroke of midnight on Sept. 20, 2011, Navy Lt. Gary Ross wed his partner, Dan Swezy, in Vermont just as the repeal of DADT became official. The couple had been together for

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September 21, 2012

Celebrating 39 Years!

11 years and traveled all the way from Arizona to get married in the first state to allow same-sex civil unions.

Tammy Smith Becomes First Openly Gay General: In August, Tammy Smith of the Army Reserve became the American military’s first openly Gay flag officer. Because of DADT’s repeal, Smith can serve without worrying about dismissal based on her sexual orientation.

Gay Pride at the Pentagon: LGBT troops gathered in June for a Pride celebration hosted by the Pentagon. This was the first time such an event occurred, where Gay soldiers (former and current) could be in uniform and openly talk about their preand post-DADT experiences with government officials.

Veterans Day 2011: Last year’s Veterans Day was the first since DADT’s repeal.

Cities across the nation honored those who have served with heartfelt tribute.

A Gay Soldier Reenlists: Lee Reinhart was dismissed from service under DADT but became Illinois’ first openly Gay man to re-enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces after repeal. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) administered the soldier’s oath in front of a crowd in Chicago’s Center on Halsted, a community resources center for LGBT people.

Marine Corps Leader Supports Gay Personnel: Late August saw the head of the U.S. Marine Corps, Gen. James Amos, who first opposed the repeal of DADT, say openly Gay servicemembers haven’t been an issue. Amos said, “I’m very pleased with how it’s turned out. I’m very proud of the Marines.”

Gay Military Couples Sue Federal Government: Although the repeal of DADT was a joyous occasion, Gay military couples still do not have benefits equal to

those of their straight colleagues because of the Defense of Marriage Act, which doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage at a federal level. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, along with several Gay military families, filed a lawsuit against the federal government just one month after DADT’s repeal to secure equal benefits for all.

fundraiser continued from cover

said.

Clinton spoke to more than 3,000 people at the Washington state convention center, telling them that Inslee is the candidate to vote for. Specifically, he praised Inslee’s 75-point plan for the economy.

“It makes an enormous amount of sense,” Clinton said. “If you make Jay Inslee your governor, he’ll try to do every single one of those 75 things on that list he gave you.”

Tickets started at $150, and attendees could get their picture taken with the former president for $5,000.

Other speakers included Democratic Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, who criticized Republican views on abortion, health care, and environmental protection. They portrayed McKenna as a polarizing figure who opposes same-sex marriage.

Campaign (HRC) Gala – which pulled in $300,000 for Washington United for Marriage, the campaign working to Approve Referendum 74 in November and ratify the state’s marriage equality law.

The connection between the two events is easy to make. Inslee supports the freedom to marry while his opponent, Republican Rob $300K TO APPROVE R-74 McKenna, does not, and Washington UnitHuman Rights Campaign Seattle, the loed for Marriage was the beneficiary of this cal arm of the national LGBTQ organizayear’s HRC Seattle gala. tion, asked people to join them September 15 for a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity $750K FOR JAY INSLEE to shape the course of history and to make Former President Bill Clinton arrived in equality count.”

Seattle on September 15 having just given a “These are important times,” HRC Seattle boost to President Barack Obama’s re-elec- says on its website, pointing out the many tion campaign, by lending his political back- battles the LGBT community is fighting ing and formidable speaking skills as one of around the country, including the federal the headliners at the Democratic National court cases pending in California and other Convention. On Saturday he did the same states regarding marriage equality; the antifor Washington’s Democratic candidate for equality constitutional amendments progovernor, Jay Inslee. posed in Minnesota and recently passed in Inslee, a seven-term congressman, is North Carolina; and the marriage-rights balfacing Republican Attorney General Rob lot measures in Maine, Maryland, and here McKenna in one of the closest gubernato- in Washington. rial races in the nation this year. Heading On September 15, the 2012 HRC Seattle into the weekend, each had raised about Gala, which featured a dinner and auction $8.6 million, but Clinton’s appearance add- at the Sheraton Hotel in Downtown Seattle, ed $750,000 to Inslee’s tally, his campaign raised $300,000 for Washington United for

Marriage and the Approve Referendum 74 campaign.

Chad Griffin, HRC’s newly elected president, attended the event along with local politicians, LGBTQ community leaders, and other supporters.

MILK DIRECTOR HONORED Screenwriter, producer and director Dustin Lance Black (Milk) was honored at the gala with the HRC Visibility Award.

Black is a founding board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), which is leading the federal case against Prop 8 in California with lawyers David Boise and Ted Olson. Black also serves on the board of the Trevor Project, an LGBTQ teen suicide hotline providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for LGBTQ youth.

Since winning an Oscar in 2009, Black has been on an equal-rights speaking tour across the country, and he also helped organize the LGBT March on Washington in October 2009, where he spoke to an audience of over 150,000 demonstrators. His Seattle speech was hailed as the highlight of the evening – overshadowed, of course, only by the fact that the event raised $300,000 for Approve R-74.

“Dustin Lance Black gave a stunning speech,” SGN Publisher George Bakan said.

“He was on fire – very, very personal and to the point. Impressive. He brought great focus as to the ‘why’ of our efforts in our movement, to change all the old injuries, to those stuck in the closet and living with fear.”

For more information about HRC Seattle, visit www.hrcseattle.org. For information about the Human Rights Campaign’s work nationwide, visit www.hrc.org.

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Seattle Gay News 21

22 Seattle Gay News

September 21, 2012

Celebrating 39 Years!

Visit us online www.sgn.org

September 21, 2012

Seattle Gay News 23