Issue 41 Volume 40
Celebrating 39 Years!
FRIDAY October 12, 2012 FREE! 25¢ in bookstores & newsstands
Page 25
Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
Marching for marriage Hundreds join to spread the message: Approve R-74 by James Whitely SGN Staff Writer
CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS Murray encouraged those in attendance to volunteer for Washington United for Marriage, the coalition working to Approve Referendum 74. The campaign is always in need of more people to phone-bank and ring doorbells. see march page 4
nate gowdy / seattle gay news
On Saturday, October 6, at least 250 people took to the streets of Seattle in an effort to raise awareness of Washington’s marriage equality battle and the campaign to Approve Referendum 74. The march, with rallies before and afterward, was sponsored by Social Outreach Seattle (SOSea), a new Seattle-based coalition of LGBTQ and allied persons working to identify and fix social inequities in Seattle and beyond. Participants marched down Pine Street from Capitol Hill to downtown Seattle, chanting “Gay, straight, black, white, we deserve equal rights!” “Visibility is always something that the LGBTQ community should be mindful of,” said Shaun Knittel, SOSea’s founder and director. “Especially now, more than ever, it is important that people see us coming together as a community with our allies to remind everyone that
we deserve the freedom to marry.” The march began at Cal Anderson Park, where State Sen. Ed Murray and State Rep. Jamie Pedersen lent their voices to the cause. The two have been at the political forefront of Washington’s marriage fight for years and are the primary elected officials responsible for making same-sex marriage a real possibility in Washington. Both officials have long-term partners whom they hope to marry after November’s election. “Today’s march is important,” said Murray, “because it comes at a historic time.”
The March for Marriage in downtown Seattle from Capitol Hill on Pine St.
63 former priests confront Reaching the unreached on marriage equality Catholic bishops over R-74 Many have still not heard the Approve Former priests say marriage rights do not infringe on church google maps
Press conference site, St. Clement of Rome Episcopal Church
R-74 message. This must change.
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer As SGN goes to press, 63 former Roman Catholic priests have endorsed Referendum 74, supporting equal marriage rights for Gay and Lesbian couples. The priests remain observant Catholics and all are reportedly married. The ex-priests delivered their statement at St. Clement of Rome Episcopal Church in Seattle’s Mount Baker neighborhood. “Nothing in this legislation infringes on religious rights or restricts the Catholic Church from maintaining its own standards for sacramental marriage. It simply provides the protection of civil law so that same-sex couples may enjoy a set of civil and human rights involving health, financial, and end-of-life decisions,” the former priests said. “We regret that our Washington State Catholic bishops have chosen to oppose Marriage Equality and attempt to impose what we feel is a very narrow point of view
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor
On October 10 I served as moderator for a panel on marriage equality in the Asian American community, held at North Seattle Community College. I was asked to be a part of the important discussion because of the work I see catholics page 9 have done as a leader in the local
LGBTQ community, and because my husband, Yee-Shin Huang, is Asian American, so I am able to speak on the intersection between communities. In fact, the class that was assigned to listen to the lecture was composed of students who are learning about the intersection see message page 6