Issue 41 Volume 41
Celebrating 40 Years!
FRIDAY October 11, 2013 FREE! 25¢ in bookstores & newsstands
Sec 1 Page 6
Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
New poll gives Murray commanding lead
Challenger holds 24-point advantage with less than a month to go Robin Stein
david ryder
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A PPP poll released October 8 shows Ed Murray with a commanding 52%-to-28% lead over incumbent Mike McGinn in the race for Seattle Mayor. The latest numbers correspond closely to a SurveyUSA poll released September 16. That poll showed Murray ahead 52% to 30%. The PPP poll was an inhouse survey commissioned by Washington Conservation Voters, which has endorsed Murray. The SurveyUSA poll was commissioned by KING 5 News. According to PPP, McGinn enjoys a mere 30% job approval rating, down from the 37% that SurveyUSA found last month. The PPP poll shows Murray leading across all demographics, and seems to refute assumptions about who supports incumbent Mayor Mike McGinn. YOUTH APPEAL For example, McGinn is said to enjoy strong support from younger voters, but PPP’s crosstabs show
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn (l) and mayoral candidate Ed Murray
otherwise. According to PPP, 60% of likely voters in the 18-29 age group disapprove of McGinn’s performance in office – the highest disapproval rating among all age groups in the survey. Murray, on the other hand, has a 47% favorable rating among the youngest group of voters, as opposed to only 20% unfavorable. When asked who they plan to vote for, this age group breaks heavily for Murray, 53% to 20%. Because PPP’s sample of 18-to29-year-old voters was small – only 9% of the total sample of 570 likely voters – these numbers may be less accurate then those for other age groups, but there are good reasons for Murray to be more popular than McGinn among young voters. First, the campaign for marriage equality, with Murray at the center of it, certainly captured the imagination of young voters like no other issue in recent times. Second, McGinn’s clash with the federal Justice Department and City Attorney Pete Holmes over courtsee murray page 5
Christie loses appeal Matthew Shepard, 15 years later How his parents are keeping his memory alive – of equality ruling and creating a better world AP Photo / The Star-Ledger, Tony Kurdzuk
allow the state to continue to violate the equal protection rights of New Jersey same-sex couples, which can hardly be considered a public interest,” Judge Mary Jacobson wrote in a ruling issued October 10. According to Jacobson, offering Gay and Lesbian couples the opportunity to enter into a civil marriage would not “cause the State to suffer irreparable harm.” She added that Judge Mary Jacobson delaying the issuby Mike Andrew ance of marriage licenses would, SGN Staff Writer however, hurt same-sex couples by making them “suffer many The New Jersey judge who ruled hardships of constitutional magniin favor of marriage equality on tude.” September 28 has now denied a re“In making this argument [for quest from Gov. Chris Christie to a stay],” Jacobson wrote, “… the stay the ruling pending an appeals State ignores the largely abstract hearing. “Granting a stay would simply see new jersey page 21
file photo
NJ judge won’t delay same-sex marriages, set to begin Oct. 21
Flowers left at the site of Matthew Shepard’s murder
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Dennis Shepard. That’s not a name that is as common in households across the nation as Matthew Shepard. In fact, his wife, Judy Shepard, is better known for the couple’s advocacy work on hate
crimes legislation and for serving as executive director at the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Dennis, of course, is Matthew’s father. Recently, Dennis received an inquiry from a cast member of The Laramie Project (a well-known theater piece inspired by the murder and how it impacted Laramie,
Wyoming) in Amsterdam, who asked him about how speaking to the court before the sentencing of one of Matthew’s murderers made him feel. Dennis recalled he felt “anger because the murderers had the opinion that they would not be see shepard page 8