SGN November 29, 2013 - Section 1

Issue 48 Volume 41

Celebrating 40 Years!

FRIDAY November 29, 2013 FREE! 25¢ in bookstores & newsstands

Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Another loss looms for NOM in California Initiative to repeal CA Transgender student protection appears dead

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer What a difference a week makes!

On November 11, Frank Schubert, master strategist for the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), announced he had

The new law gave students the right “to participate in sex-segregated programs, activities and facilities” based on their self-perception and regardless of their birth gender.

Schubert had until November 22 to submit some 505,000 valid signatures in order to qualify his ref-

“While we wait for the official results of the signature verification, we’re optimistic that, because of our friends in California, the ballot initiative will fail.” erendum for the November 2014 ballot. Schubert said he was turning in more than 613,000.

However, state election officials said on November 25 that it appears the measure will not qualify.

An unusually large number of invalid signatures will probably keep the referendum off the ballot.

As of November 22, the petition see NOM page 17

National Organization for Marriage

submitted more than enough signatures to qualify a referendum on California’s new law protecting Transgender students.

The law, named the School Success and Opportunity Act, made California the first state in the country to require its public schools to allow Trans students access to whatever restroom, locker room, or sports team they identify as appropriate for them.

National Organization for Marriage National Political Director Frank Schubert

Kingco health officials Meet GLAAD’s new leader honor Aleksa Manila Media advocacy group elects

Drag icon to receive award for Excellence in HIV Prevention Sarah Kate Ellis president and CEO

nate gowdy / seattle gay news

Aleksa Manila

Aleksa Manila is no stranger to Seattle Gay News. She is featured regularly because of all the work she does in the community, both as an entertainer and as an activist. Whether she is running Pride ASIA or headlining a party to benefit a local charity, she remains in the public eye constantly, literally defining what it means to be a local celebrity.

She makes no secret that, as a self-identified gender-queer person, during the day her “real job” is working at Seattle Counseling Service as a chemical dependency specialist and Program Coordinator of Project NEON, a leading harm-reduction model across the country. During the day Aleksa is actually Aleks Martin.

However, she doesn’t ever shy away from being called Aleksa and would be the first person to tell you that it doesn’t matter what you call her – after all, it is the same person doing the work.

ident following a nationwide search.

“GLAAD’s unparalleled history in shifting American beliefs on LGBT families paved the way for our recent legal victories and will be instrumental in inspiring more and more Americans to stand with LGBT people and our families,” said Steve Warren, national co-chair of GLAAD’s Board of Directors. “We are excited to welcome Sarah Kate at a time when our community needs more of GLAAD’s work in the media to share the stories that create real change.”

Ellis is an award-winning media executive, outspoken advocate for LGBT equality, and salient communications strategist who has led national media brands to their biggest successes, most notably growing Real Simple into one of Time Inc.’s most respected and successglaad

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

Sarah Kate Ellis

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

The National Board of Directors of GLAAD, the nation’s premier LGBT media advocacy organization, announced the election of Sarah Kate Ellis this week as the see aleksa page 17 organization’s new CEO and pres-

see glaad page 5

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Seattle Gay News

November 29, 2013

Celebrating 40 Years!

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op-ed

The dark days of AIDS Dallas Buyers Club recalls a time many of us wish we could forget

focus features

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

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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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Seattle Gay News

Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club

by Mark Segal Philadelphia Gay News Watching Dallas Buyers Club, the new film about the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, on the big screen last week had me recalling those dark days when we as a community were literally fighting for our very lives, and had me appreciating the real heroes of the era. Those of you with delicate sensibilities might not want to read the following memories of those days.

The “early days” of HIV/AIDS were approximately 1982–92. We were a community dying with little help from the government, or for the most part even the medical world, to save our lives. The government, whose first job is to protect its citizens, did

November 29, 2013

“Gay disease” and only Gays were dying.

I guess you can feel my resentment from what you’ve just read, but you also might note that I’ve very rarely touched on the subject before in this column. There’s a reason for that. Like many, I’d like to hide those feelings and I try and let them go, but how can you when you remember looking at your community as literally something out of The Walking Dead? If you were a Gay man in those days, you felt that there was a great possibility that you would get the disease – and if you survived, you felt, or even still feel, guilty. To this day, I often walk down the street wondering why I don’t see certain people anymore. I’m afraid to ask friends about people from that time, since I’ll so often hear, “Oh, he died.”

LIKE WAR – MAYBE WORSE The trauma for all of us is akin to posttraumatic stress disorder. We were in a war, and it was for our lives. Like war, we watched as our friends died. It may even have been more traumatizing than war, because at least in war you have the support of your government and the civilian populace; we did not. In war, you might see a couple of your fellow soldiers die; many of us saw scores, hundreds, multiple battalions’-worth perishing. And if that weren’t enough, if, by chance, you saw a bruise one day on your body, you’d begin to wonder, Do I have it?

And if I do, why even get diagnosed, since nothing could be done? And in the background were the preachers who yelled from the pulpit, “AIDS is God’s wrath on homosexuals!”

When the death toll finally became too high, when we saw our friends commit suicide rather than go through a horrible, stigmatizing death, this community learned how to react, organize, and fight back.

Groups such as ACT UP and those who preceded them are the real heroes – not a heterosexual cowboy out for profit. Personally, for me, those who publicly came out and put a face on the disease, they are the heroes.

Those real-life doctors who put their practices on the line, they are the heroes. Even those few elected officials who found dollars in their tight budgets to house, feed, and care for those who were tossed off by society, they are the heroes. And yes, buyers’ clubs were heroes. But not an opportunistic cowboy.

not. Those in medicine, who swear to do no harm, often ignored or refused to treat those infected with the virus. Funeral homes often refused to accept the bodies. To all of them, those with AIDS weren’t even considered citizens – they were deceased aliens. Not only those with AIDS but almost all Gay men were suspected of being “carriers.” We were all treated like lepers. If you visited an AIDS patient in the hospital, you prepared for something out of a science-fiction novel.

Warning signs and yellow and red tape were everywhere. You were asked to wear a hospital gown and face mask. Sometimes, hosMark Segal, PGN publisher, is the napitals emptied a complete floor for one patient. Even The New York Times didn’t take tion’s most-award-winning commentator in the matter seriously until more than 100 LGBT media. He can be reached at mark@ lives were lost – because, after all, it was a epgn.com.

Celebrating 40 Years!

Local news

Confused by Obamacare?

Here’s help Gay City to host community forum on the Affordable Care Act

by Tim Moffett SGN Staff Writer Do you want to sign up for health care under the Affordable Care Act, but have questions or need assistance? Gay City Health Project invites the community to learn about and sign up for ACA coverage on Saturday, December 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will be held in Gay City’s Calamus Auditorium (517 E. Pike St.).

“There is a lot of conflicting information out there about the Affordable Care Act,” said Gay City Executive Director Fred Swanson. “We want to be able to answer questions and assist the community to enroll using Washington State’s successful Health Plan Finder website.”

If you currently don’t have health insurance, or you aren’t satisfied with your current insurance, or your plan is changing, Washington’s Health Plan Finder (www. wahealthplanfinder.org) will help you find affordable options. For those who qualify, there are credits and subsidies available to

help with premiums.

“One in five LGBT adults under 65 in Washington state is without health insurance,” added Swanson. “LGBT people in Washington have rates of asthma, diabetes, and heart disease that are above the state average, and a third of women age 40 and over in our community have not been screened for breast cancer. The Affordable Care Act can help change that.”

NEW LGBT BENEFITS The Affordable Care Act includes several new benefits for the LGBT community.

These include: • Nondiscrimination protections: Public and private health insurers are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status.

• Insurance market reforms: The Patient’s Bill of Rights phases out annual and lifetime limits on coverage, ends pre-existing condition exclusions, and ends arbitrary rescission of insurance coverage. These protections are especially important for Trans-

Oregon bigots file counter-initiative

Group seeks to block any requirement to accommodate same-sex weddings

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Oregon Family Council, the rightwing fundamentalist group leading the campaign against that state’s marriage equality initiative, has filed its own counter-measure.

Called the “Protect Religious Freedom Initiative,” the proposed ballot measure would allow individuals and businesses to refuse their services for same-sex civil union, domestic partnership, or marriage celebrations, if those violate their religious beliefs.

The paperwork was filed on November 21, and the measure’s sponsors now have to collect some 165,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot in November 2014.

The Oregon Family Council has also formed a front group, called Protect Marriage Oregon, to fight the pro-equality Freedom to Marry Initiative that is also slated for the November 2014 ballot.

counter-measure, rather than defeating the Freedom to Marry Initiative.

“As the Oregon Family Council, our focus is going to be the Protect Religious Freedom Initiative,” their communications director, Teresa Harke, told The Oregonian.

“That’s kind of our primary concern now.”

ACTIVISTS VOW PUSHBACK Calling the new initiative a “serious threat,” the pro-marriage-equality Oregon United for Marriage charged that the measure was “pointed straight at defeating our freedom-to-marry measure.”

“Not only that,” Oregon United continued in an e-mail to supporters, “it would blast a hole in Oregon’s anti-discrimination laws – directly attacking LGBT Oregonians in their everyday lives.”

If it passed, the so-called “Religious Freedom” initiative would, in effect, allow people who provide services and public accommodations to discriminate against potential customers on the basis of their sex, and A CHANGING LANDSCAPE sexual orientation, in violation of Oregon’s Anti-equality forces are having a hard existing nondiscrimination laws. Sexual time getting political traction, however. orientation and gender identity have been A PPP poll taken in December 2012 protected in Oregon since 2008. showed that 54% of Oregon voters support same-sex marriage, with only 40% AIMING FOR CONFUSION opposed. NOM, once the storm troopers of According to Oregon United, the rightthe anti-equality movement, are now oper- wing strategy is to put competing measures ating in the red, with few recent victories on the ballot in 2014 in order to confuse votto their credit. And here in Washington, the ers. religious right was vastly outspent by pro“The opposition knows that having both equality forces in the R-74 campaign that measures on the same ballot will lead to legalized same-sex marriage. confusion, and confusion leads to people All these considerations may have led the voting No,” the group said. “It has worked Oregon Family Council to reconsider their with other issues in Oregon, and it could strategy. In any case, they now say that their work this time as well.” main emphasis will be on passing their own Oregon United warned that if the recent

Visit us online www.sgn.org

gender people and people living with HIV/ AIDS. • Prevention and wellness: Certain preventive services particularly important to LGBT people will soon be covered by insurance as “essential health benefits,” including HIV testing, depression screening, and tobacco use screening.

• New coverage options: Subsidies will allow many LGBT people to afford to buy health insurance for the first time.

• Data collection: The ACA authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to expand the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity data on national

health surveys that help us better understand LGBT health and prioritize spending and research priorities.

trend towards marriage equality is reversed by a defeat in Oregon, “it sets the stage for increased opposition fundraising capacity for the 2016 cycle across the country.”

Both camps have substantial experience working around the issue of same-sex marriage.

The Oregon Family Council ran the successful 2004 campaign for a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Basic Rights Oregon, the state’s largest LGBT rights group, has been laying the groundwork for a statewide vote on the issue since 2009. In 2011 the group decided not to go to the ballot in 2012, but after the landmark ballot victories last year in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington, they helped form Oregon United for Marriage to bring a measure to a vote in 2014.

“Would you expect a Jewish bakery to serve a neo-Nazi who wanted a cake with a swastika on it?” Harke said in an interview with The Oregonian.

That comment sparked a letter of protest from 13 Oregon rabbis, joined by the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland and the Oregon Area Jewish Committee.

The letter, written by Rabbi Michael Cahana of Congregation Beth Israel in Portland, said the comment was an “insult to the memory of those who perished” in the Holocaust “to use one of history’s greatest atrocities to forward your political agenda.”

“It really is using an illustration that is so offensive,” Cahana told Oregonian reporters. “Here you’re making a comparison between a hate group that supports the elimination of Jews in the world and a couple that wants to sanctify their marriage.”

Oregon Family Council President Jack Louman apologized in an e-mail, saying, “The example was not meant to offend you or anyone else and as such will not be used in the future,” but Louman also defended the analogy as “an example of rights of individual conscience.”

‘NAZI’ ANALOGY DRAWS FIRE While their campaign to qualify their antiGay initiative has barely started, the Oregon Family Council suffered a major self-inflicted wound when their spokesperson compared Gay and Lesbian couples to Nazis.

November 29, 2013

WHAT TO BRING There is no need to register for this event.

It will be important to know your Social Security number and income information, though, if you want to sign up for insurance at the event. There will be in-person assisters to help you navigate the process there.

For more information, contact Gay City’s LGBT Resource & Referrals volunteers at (206) 323-LGBT (5428), or e-mail resources@gaycity.org.

Seattle Gay News

5

cial/educational events, called Recess II. “It was then held at the historic Nippon continued from cover Kan Theatre in Seattle’s Chinatown/International District, where years later I was acAnd that is one of the many, many reasons tually crowned the 40th Miss Gay Seattle,” why we love her so much. Aleksa is com- said Aleksa. munity incarnate – she is as much a part of our local and regional identity as any past BATHHOUSE COUNSELING icon has been. She is now being honored for “With my nursing background, it didn’t her work in HIV prevention, and we can’t take long for me to also start working as a think of a more deserving person to receive disease intervention specialist with PHSthe prestigious Dr. Bob Wood Award from KC,” she continued. “It was a way for me Public Health–Seattle & King County. The to keep abreast with testing information. I award will be given at a public ceremony tested and counseled at the three bathhouses December 10 (details below). on the weekends and sometimes weeknights for seven years.”

SURPRISED BY NEWS “Looking back, I don’t know how I “I am still in shock, actually,” Aleksa Ma- managed that while still keeping my job nila told SGN on Wednesday, referring to at YAMS and eventually at SCS, but I did when she first heard she had won the award. enjoy learning and educating others about “I didn’t even hear about the nomination HIV/AIDS and other STDs,” she said. “Aluntil I was notified via phone of the actual though it was very sad when I had to tell cliaward. It was last Monday when I returned ents they were HIV-positive. There are just PHSKC Director Frank Chaffee’s call in the no words to express the extreme shock one late afternoon. I had a busy work day at Se- goes through in that moment.” attle Counseling Service so I wasn’t able to Aleksa Manila says she was “very lucky call back right away.” to work in the Rapid HIV Test Pilot.”

“Plus, when one gets a call from Public “Seattle is often at the forefront of inHealth, it can be a bit scary, like, “Uh-oh, novative breakthroughs,” she said. “It was what did I do now?” she joked. great to be able to teach future HIV Rapid “Frankly, it’s overwhelming,” admits Testers/Counselors at the various area agenAleksa. “People like Tony Radovich, recipi- cies, primarily Gay City, POCAAN, and

“I’m certainly not unique in the fight against this epidemic. I’m only able to do this because of my pioneers who paved the way for the rest of us, who we have actually lost because of the disease.

And that saddens me.” ent of the first award, is a community hero and role model. How does one follow that?”

There’s a real feeling of pressure, she said. “It’s a good pressure. But I ask myself, ‘What else can I do? What more can I do?’ because the work doesn’t stop with the acknowledgment.”

Aleksa told SGN she sincerely shares this recognition with so many others who do similar work. if not “I’m certainly not unique in the fight against this epidemic,” she said. “I’m only able to do this because of my pioneers who paved the way for the rest of us, who we have actually lost because of the disease.

And that saddens me.”

others. Many of these then-trainees are still in the field, have furthered their careers, and are respected colleagues.”

Now, as the Program Coordinator at Project NEON, a program of SCS, proudly serving the LGBTQ communities since 1969, she is content. “I started as database manager of the Addiction Services program at SCS, then becoming health educator, [and then] program supervisor,” said Aleksa.

“Being at SCS for 10 years has prepared me to be a compassionate provider especially recognizing the unique issues the LGBTQ communities are faced with. I’m truly humbled by the stories my clients share with me as their addiction counselor. Sadly, addiction intersects often with other unhealthy A RECORD TO BE PROUD OF choices and circumstances like HIV infecDon’t believe her modesty for a second, tion. I find this type of social service work however. Aleksa Manila has done a heck of as essential and inspirational.” a lot and earned this award tenfold. She’s been in the field of HIV/AIDS education, ‘TELLING HIV TO LEAVE’ prevention, and intervention for over a deAleksa tells SGN that she is hopeful HIV/ cade.

AIDS will leave us in this lifetime. “There “After working in the Surgery Center at is so much progress we have been witnessSeattle Children’s Hospital [then Children’s ing, like marriage equality, and although Hospital and Regional Medical Center] those two are distinct, I am optimistic,” while in nursing school, I switched careers she said. “Recently, I met Timothy Brown, into research,” she told SGN. “I was offered the Berlin Patient. Although there are still and accepted the position of community so many questions left unanswered, seeing facilitator for a local research study called him in person and shaking his hand gives the Young Asian Men’s Study (YAMS), me hope.” through the University of California–San Seattle is a hotbed of HIV vaccine reFrancisco (UCSF) Center for AIDS Preven- search, being home to the internationtion Studies (CAPS).” ally recognized HIV Vaccine Trials Unit In addition, Aleksa was part of a national through the UW’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer 13-city study with Centers for Disease Con- Research Center. “Knowing that exists in trol and Prevention (CDC) that looked at our backyard gives me hope,” she said, addyoung Gay men and Queer youth using the ing, “We have some of the nicest medical MPowerment model HIV prevention pro- providers, like Drs. Shalit and Smith, and so gram. Its purpose was to identify how build- on. Knowing they walk around our neighing self-esteem and addressing issues like borhoods gives me hope.” immigration, racism, etc., can impact one’s “But hope does take action,” said Aleksa. safe-sex choices.

“And we are on it! Between front-line and “I was responsible for recruiting, training, executive positions, we are aggressively and maintaining young queer Asian/Pacific telling HIV to leave.”

Islander men to become community health As it stands though, simply, there is still advocates,” she said. “I organized social no cure for HIV/AIDS. “We are now into a events that were fun but filled with safer-sex generation when ’90s music is considered education and the like. Many of them were classic and people don’t know who Keith still in high school or newly immigrated Haring is, let alone George Hamilton. We to the U.S. I am happy to say that many of need to review, remind, and revitalize ourthem have become lifelong friends to this selves and our families and our communiday.” ties that although there are advances in HIV Interestingly, the drag persona, “Aleksa care, we are still going to hospitals and fuManila,” was born out of one of these so- nerals to say goodbye to loved ones dying,” 6

Seattle Gay News

November 29, 2013

nate gowdy / seattle gay news

aleksa

Aleksa Manila

she said. “We must recognize that with the stigma of HIV comes homophobia, transphobia, hate crimes, and bullying. We must educate one another. Every day is a new day for learning and thriving. As they say, ‘until there’s a cure.’”

“The [Queer] youth of today are the products of LGBTQ activism of the past and present,” Aleksa reminds us. ”The youth of today are the new champions who will continue to carry the torch of equality and acceptance. The youth of today may have redefined HIV but please do not forget its original definition, its history. Continue to make healthier and safer life choices that enhance quality of life beyond sexuality and intimacy.”

ABOUT THE AWARD The Excellence in HIV Prevention Award was established in 2011 to honor Dr. Wood’s 24 years of distinguished service as the founding director of the HIV/AIDS Program at Public Health–Seattle & King County. In addition to his work at Public Health, Dr. Wood demonstrated an early and sustained commitment to HIV prevention and the communities that are most affected by HIV infection. In 1982 he was among the first physicians in the Northwest to care for patients with AIDS, and in 1983 he was among the founding board members of the Northwest AIDS Foundation, which later merged into today’s Lifelong AIDS Alliance. Dr. Wood was also one of the founders of the Madison Clinic, now the largest clinic for people with HIV in the Northwest.

During his career Dr. Wood directed federally funded HIV prevention research projects, authored dozens of scholarly articles related to HIV and prevention, and contributed to numerous policy and advisory bodies at the local, state, national, and international levels. From assessment to planning to service delivery, Dr. Wood has been and remains a vigorous advocate for community involvement. He had, and continues to have, a passion for his work, including serving sexual minorities and other disenfranchised populations.

In 2011 the first annual Dr. Robert Wood Award was presented to Tony Radovich, a long-time community activist. The 2012 Award was presented to Dr. Connie Celum, for her many contributions to HIV prevention research. Aleksa Manila is the third annual recipient.

JOIN THE CELEBRATION Here is the official announcement: “For many years, Aleks (Martin) has been a highly visible leader of HIV prevention efforts in our community. In his work with Project NEON, Aleks has been an ally to people who are facing difficult challenges.

In his work life, he is widely known for his kindness, support, and professionalism.

Aleks has been a caring mentor to many students who are working toward chemical dependency counseling certification. His professional example teaches students not only about addiction treatment but, just as importantly, about cultural competency and kindness. Many of his community contributions are accomplished via the highly visible drag queen, Aleksa Manila, who continues the drag traditions of political activism, civil rights advocacy, and HIV/AIDS service.

For these reasons, and many more, please join us for a special reception in Aleks’ honor: Tuesday, December 10, 2013, 3 to 4:30 p.m., HIV/STD Resource Room, 11th Floor, Chinook Building, 401 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104.

Please contact Diane Ferrero at diane.ferrero@kingcounty.gov or (206) 263-2000, if you have questions about the reception.

Some free parking is available on Yesler Way between 8th and 6th; the U-Park Lot on 6th and Yesler is $5 for two hours.

Aleks Martin, BAS CDP Program Coordinator, Project NEON Addiction Services Program Supervisor, Seattle Counseling Service, is drag icon Aleksa Manila, Founder, Casa de Manila; Founder/Director, Pride ASIA; Miss Gay Filipino 2001; Miss Gay Seattle 2004; Olympia XXXV, Empress of Seattle. For more information visit www.seattlecounseling.org and www.aleksamanila. com.

HELP FOR THE PHILIPPINES On Saturday, November 30, Aleksa Manila will host “COAST 2 COAST,” a variety fundraiser show benefitting typhoon and earthquake relief efforts in the Philippines.

Proceeds go directly to the Red Cross.

Miss U.T.O.P.I.A. 2013 Atasha Manila will co-host the event with Aleksa. $10$20 suggested donation at the door, 6 p.m. door, 7 p.m. show, at Neighbours Seattle (1509 Broadway). The show will feature La Saveona Hunt, Versatina Vogue, Tanya Rachinee, Kalika Manila, Miss Eve, Jessica Paradisco, Celys St. James Black, Amora Dior Black, James Majesty St. James, Angel Snow Bunny, Chase Silva, Kitty Kitty Bang Bang, Diamond St. James, Anastasia Beaverhausen, Vivienne Lecher, Shanghai Pearl, Nickolai Pirak, Kitty Baby Burlesque, Lady Sahara, Ladie Chablis, and more. COAST2COAST is sponsored by Atasha Manila, www.aleksamanila.com; United Territories of Pacific Islanders Alliance, www.prideasia.org; Social Outreach Seattle, www.socialoutreachseattle.com; Leo Foundation, www.neighboursnightclub.com; and Seattle Gay News. The Facebook event page is https://www.facebook. com/events/607755235950912/.

Celebrating 40 Years!

national news

RICK HARTFORD

Trans cop in Connecticut alleges workplace harassment Officer Francesca Quaranta says her transition led to discrimination

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A Transgender police officer in Middletown, Connecticut, has filed a complaint against her department, alleging that she has had to contend with a hostile work environment since transitioning to female.

Officer Francesca Quaranta’s complaint was filed this week with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.

In anti-discrimination law, a “hostile work environment” is one where the employee experiences harassment and fears going to work because of an offensive, intimidating, or oppressive atmosphere – not merely because of teasing or isolated incidents.

Quaranta, who transitioned two years ago, has been on a leave of absence from her job since August.

A SECRET REVEALED She was hired by Middletown in 2004 after spending eight years as a police officer in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. Until last year she had told only a few close friends – including a few in the Middletown Police Department – that she identifies as a woman instead of a man.

“For seven and a half years, they knew nothing,” she said, but once she started to transition openly, things changed quickly.

“That’s pretty much when everything started.”

Quaranta got married at 25, and though the marriage did not last, she said she and her former wife remain “best friends but

separated.” She has a son, and only after coming out to him when he was 16 did she feel as if she could reveal her gender identity to everyone else, she said.

“That put it all together,” she said. “If he knew and he didn’t care and was actually encouraging and excited about it, then I knew it would all just work.”

Until that time, Quaranta said, her life was stressful and complicated.

“You’re just not the person you want to be,” she said. “You’re stuck. You’re stuck in a world that only knows you that one way.”

UNEQUAL TREATMENT According to Quaranta, the Middletown police department seemed initially supportive of her transition, but her work environment gradually deteriorated until it reached a point where she felt she was a target of discrimination and harassment.

Since she began living as a woman, Quaranta says she has been regularly reprimanded and written up by her superiors over her appearance – including her wig, nail polish color, and earrings.

Despite her being told she was violating department regulations, her female co-workers were not subjected to the same standards, she said in her complaint. She also said she felt threatened simply being in the department offices.

“I was not safe in their building emotionally, professionally, or physically until they resolve the issue,” Quaranta said. “I’m asking them professionally to leave me alone unless I do something wrong.”

City officials have denied discriminating

Francesca Quaranta

against Quaranta and have initiated an internal investigation, but have not yet formally responded to her complaint.

Josephine Miller, an attorney who is representing Quaranta, said, “The prudent thing for them to do would be to complete the [internal] investigation. We would like to have her back at work as soon as possible.”

tivity training and sexual harassment training.

“The standards Officer Quaranta was held to were the standards every officer is held to,” Drew said. “We’ve made it clear to Officer Quaranta on multiple occasions we believe in her and would like her to continue with the department.”

Quaranta disagrees with the mayor’s characterization. City officials have lied to MAYOR: WE’RE SENSITIVE her, she said.

Middletown Mayor Daniel Drew said that “Everything they said, they’ve never held since Quaranta came out as Transgender, to,” she said. “I have no faith in their word. I the police department has undergone sensi- don’t trust them with anything.”

Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images

PA judge sets date for marriage trial

Eleven couples seek to overturn state ban on same-sex marriage

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

OFFICIALS DIVIDED Pennsylvania’s elected attorney general, Kathleen Kane, a Democrat, has refused to defend her state’s marriage law, saying it violates equal protection clauses in both the state and federal constitutions.

The state’s Republican governor, Tom Corbett, said last month that he is immune from being named in the lawsuit. In August he filed a successful suit to prevent Bruce Hanes, the Montgomery County registrar, from issuing marriage licenses to Gay and Lesbian couples.

Corbett has hired former state Supreme Court Justice William Lamb to defend state law, since the Attorney General refuses to do so. Lamb said he plans to appeal Jones’s ruling denying a delay to the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Pennsylvania is the last remaining state in the Northeast that does not offer some form of legal recognition to same-sex relationships. A civil unions bill is pending in the legislature, although a similar bill died in committee in 2011. A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage is also pending, but has failed to advance in committee.

Federal District Judge John E. Jones III this week rejected a motion to delay a lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage. He set June 9, 2014, as the date for trial to begin.

Jones also said he would allow two weeks for the trial, and would set a timetable for pre-trial motions and other filings soon.

The defendants’ motion for delay cited a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision stating that federal courts lack jurisdiction over state marriage laws. But Jones said that decision has been eroded by the court’s subsequent rulings on constitutional challenges based on sex or sexual identity.

“The jurisprudence of equal protection and substantive due process has undergone what can only be characterized as a sea change since 1972,” Jones wrote in his opinion.

Plaintiffs in the case include 11 couples, the teenage daughters of one of the couples, and a widow.

Defendants in the case are the appointed heads of the state’s health and revenue departments. The suit is only the first one of MAJORITY SUPPORT six state and federal suits challenging PennIn May, a Franklin and Marshall College sylvania’s 1996 law limiting marriage to poll found that 54% of Pennsylvanians supopposite-sex couples.

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Pennsylvania State Capitol building

port marriage equality and 41% oppose the idea.

A March PPP survey found that when given a choice between supporting or opposing same-sex marriage, 45% of Pennsylvanians supported it and 47% opposed it. But when given a choice between marriage or civil

November 29, 2013

unions for Gay and Lesbian couples, over 74% of respondents indicated support for either, with 38% supporting marriage rights and 36% supporting civil unions but not marriage.

Only 24% of respondents opposed any legal recognition of same-sex relationships.

Seattle Gay News

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Grindr founder: Fewer Gay bars not our fault

The bar business is changing, but hookup apps aren’t to blame This scene could be played out in any number of Gay bars and clubs across the country.

It is 10 p.m., on a weekday (maybe even a weekend for some) and nestled up to the bar is a guy whose barstool is his home, i.e., “Joe.” Serving him and the other (maybe) 10 people in the venue is a bartender who is no stranger to the business, who starts off every bitter story with, “In the ’90s …”

“Joe” and bartender are discussing, as they usually do, how slow business has been lately.

“I just don’t understand it. The Gay bar used to mean something. We were full all the time,” says the bartender. “I mean, what

impact on the community’s bars and clubs.

They are closing them down, say detractors.

“From my perspective, before we came onboard in the day of the Internet, of the pure Internet – computers and laptops – you essentially had to stay home to use an online service,” Simkhai said in a recent Sirius XM interview. “So you had a binary choice.

You either would go out or you would use your computer. Grindr now gives you another choice, where you can be online and offline. You can be at the bar on Grindr. So you don’t have to choose between going to the Gay bar and going online.”

No truer words have ever been spoken on the subject. No Gay bar/club owner can claim that what Grindr’s creator is saying isn’t the truth. Perhaps one problem is that many detractors have never actually used

new york observer

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor

“Grindr now gives you another choice, where you can be online and offline. You can be at the bar on Grindr. So you don’t have to choose between going to the Gay bar and going online.” do we have to do to get people in here?”

“There’s nothing you can do,” argues “Joe.” “They’re all on Grindr.”

Grindr founder Joel Simkhai

tential hookup to ask to meet you IS GRINDR THE PROBLEM? at a bar. Gay bars are closing for The world’s most successful Gay GPS reasons that are far more complex mobile dating app, reporting more than than whether or not its patrons are seven million users in 192 countries, Grindr logging on in hopes of getting at has been blamed for a lot since it burst onto date? the dating scene in 2009. Let’s see: Grindr has been accused of sending the rate of new SAUDI ARABIA HIV/AIDS infections sky-high, allowing In parts of the U.S. where there racism to persist, making Gay men question aren’t any Gay bars (or even a their body image, and many more charges. town for many miles), Simkhai But the one criticism that Grindr founder says Grindr has become vital for and CEO Joel Simkhai hears more than any Gay men looking to meet. Also, other is the assertion that his hookup app – Simkhai noted, that’s the case and other online sex sites – are hurting Gay in many other parts of the world bars across the nation. where Grindr users are chatting According to those who agree with the and exchanging photos too. critics, giving men the option of meeting Grindr or, at the very least, have never met “Let’s take it to Saudi Arabia and Afghanother Gay men online, instead of physically someone through the app to know how it istan, and all these other countries where going to a bar to cruise is having a disastrous really works. It is not uncommon for a po- it’s literally illegal to be Gay, where there are no Gay bars,” he said. “Where you are not protected. Where you can literally go to jail for being who you are. Where you don’t even know what ‘Gay’ is. You know you have these feelings but there’s no one else around you who can explain those to you.

Fortunately for those guys, Grindr is Gay for them. That is all they understand. There is no place for them to go to other than Grindr. That’s something that we’re proud of and something that’s unfortunate. It’s unfortunate that that’s the situation, that we’re the only option for them. And something that we’re working toward changing. There’s a lot we can do.”

“Michael in Baltimore (USA)” is a Grindr user featured on grindr.com/stories/P72 saying, “I’m currently deployed to Iraq & travel between Iraq & Kuwait often with possibility of travel to Afghanistan. Grindr has helped me stay in touch with friends and family back home & meet new friends deployed over here also. Without Grindr I wouldn’t have the opportunities to stay connected that Grindr has given me.”

Another Grindr fan, “Travis in Charlotte

(USA),” is featured on the site saying, “I came across Grindr a few months ago trying to find an app that would fit me being Bi and not really being into the whole Gay scene. I don’t have many friends due to when most found out I was Bi they cut ties with me and never heard from them again. But thanks to Grindr I’ve been able to chat with guys that are near me thanks to the location feature and I’ve made all kinds of new friends that I can talk to and be myself for a change. Several of whom I have chatted with I now talk to outside of Grindr and have a possible date or two with as well. If it wasn’t for Grindr I’d still be alone and not know anyone.”

MAKING CHANGE HAPPEN While Grindr is designed for Gay men worldwide to quickly track the locations of potential sex partners a few feet away, Simkhai believes that it also has the “opportunity to make a difference.”

The ability to connect Gay men makes Grindr a powerful organizing tool. To the point, Gay bars have historically been meeting places where political action was spurred even if the main purpose for many was to find dates or hook up. In that regard, Grindr serves that purpose for Gay men living countries governed by oppressive leaders.

“We were just recently banned in Turkey,” Simkhai said. “No real explanation as to why. From my perspective, 60 years ago they would burn books. What you see governments do today is cutting off access to communication. I’m worried for Turkish Gay men. I’m concerned about Gay men and women in Russia.”

According to Grindr, 100,000 of its users have signed a petition against Russia’s “Gay propaganda” law.

But the good that can come out of Grindr, through its users, doesn’t stop there. Ussee grindr page 17

Rich Full-Bodied Cafes Savory Homestyle Soups & Sandwiches 8

Seattle Gay News

November 29, 2013

Celebrating 40 Years!

starbelly studios

Compassion from the bench

Federal judge allows early marriage for woman with terminal cancer

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

Vernita Gray (l) and Patricia Ewert

Vernita Gray will get to marry her partner, Patricia Ewert, seven months early.

The couple lives in Illinois, where the newly signed marriage equality law does not go into effect until June 1 next year. That will likely be far too late for Gray, who is terminally ill with cancer.

Fortunately for her, U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin ordered Cook County to expedite the process, so the couple can marry before Gray dies. The two women say they plan to wed within a week.

Cook County Clerk David Orr said he would comply with Durkin’s order, adding that expedited licenses are already available to opposite-sex couples in similar circumstances.

Gray was first diagnosed with cancer in 1996, but she is now in imminent danger, according to a statement issued by Lambda Legal, which assisted in the couple’s court case.

GRAY: ‘I’M EXCITED’ “I have two cancers, bone and brain, and I just had chemo today,” Gray said. “I am so happy to get this news. I’m excited to be able to marry and take care of Pat, my partner and my family, should I pass.”

The couple’s suit, filed by Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Illinois, sought immediate relief.

“These two women, who have loved and cared for each other in good times and bad, through sickness and through health, will get to know what it means to be married,” said Lambda Legal’s Camilla Taylor.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed the new marriage law on November 20.

The measure’s legislative sponsors agreed to delay the date it goes into effect to June 2014 in order to reduce the number of votes needed for passage from 72 to 60. The bill passed with only one vote to spare, 61-54, in the House. The Illinois Senate passed the bill on Valentine’s Day.

file photo

Supreme Court rejoins Obamacare debate Justices will decide if private businesses can deny contraceptive coverage

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted review of a key part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the section mandating that employers provide coverage for contraceptives in the insurance plans they offer to employees.

The U.S. Department of Justice, representing the Obama administration in the case, asked the court to review a challenge by the retail chain Hobby Lobby to the president’s signature Affordable Care Act. Hobby Lobby, a closely held corporation owned by the Green family of Oklahoma City, alleges that the requirement to provide the so-called “morning-after pill” oral contraceptive violates its religious scruples.

The company prides itself on its strong conservative Christian beliefs. Hobby Lobby does not sell collectible shot glasses, for example, because its owners do not approve of drinking alcohol. They also refuse to stock Hanukkah supplies.

Hobby Lobby attorneys claim a 1993 law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, protects the company from the ACA mandate to provide contraceptives.

The Tenth U.S. Circuit Court agreed with Hobby Lobby, saying that corporations enjoy First Amendment protections just as much as individuals do. The Circuit Court cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision to support its ruling.

In Citizens United, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations enjoy First Amendment free speech rights, and therefore cannot be bound by most campaign financing restrictions.

THIRD CIRCUIT DISAGREES In another case, which will also be reviewed by the Supreme Court, a furniture company owned by Mennonites refused to

provide contraceptive coverage to its employees. In this case, however, the Third Circuit Court ruled that the company did not have a right to ignore the ACA. The fact that two different appeals courts reached two different conclusions made Supreme Court review of the cases almost certain, legal observers said.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, there are more than 40 active cases “in which a for-profit business argues that it should not have to comply with the federal rule on the grounds that it violates the religious beliefs of the business and its owners.

There are additional cases brought by nonprofit organizations challenging the rule as well.”

“Everyone has a right to their religious beliefs, but religious freedom does not include the right to impose your beliefs on others,” said Louise Melling, deputy legal director of the ACLU. “It does not mean that businesses can refuse to comply with the law based on their religious beliefs, particularly where that means discriminating against their employees.”

White House spokesperson Jay Carney defended the ACA in a press briefing after the Supreme Court announced its decision to hear the Hobby Lobby case.

“The President believes that no one, including the government or for-profit corporations, should be able to dictate those decisions to women,” Carney said.

“The Administration has already acted to ensure no church or similar religious institution will be forced to provide contraception coverage and has made a commonsense accommodation for nonprofit religious organizations that object to contraception on religious grounds. These steps protect both women’s health and religious beliefs, and seek to ensure that women and families – not their bosses or corporate CEOs – can make personal health decisions based on

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their needs and their budgets.”

RELIGIOUS RIGHT BACKING Hobby Lobby is represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit with a long history of defending religious clients against regulations enacted by all levels of government.

“This [Supreme Court review] is a major step for the Greens and their family businesses in an important fight for Americans’ religious liberty,” said Kyle Duncan, general counsel of the Becket Fund and lead attorney for Hobby Lobby. “We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will clarify once and for all that religious freedom in our country should be protected for family business owners like the Greens.”

David Green, the founder and CEO of

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Hobby Lobby, said that his “legal challenge has always remained about one thing and one thing only – the right of our family businesses to live out our sincere and deeply held religious convictions as guaranteed by the law and the Constitution. Business owners should not have to choose between violating their faith and violating the law.”

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt says he agrees with Green.

“The State of Oklahoma has supported Hobby Lobby and the Green family by filing an amicus brief in support of their lawsuit, and we will continue to support them as the Supreme Court reviews this case,” he said.

The Supreme Court will probably rule in the case before the end of its current term in the summer of 2014.

Seattle Gay News

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10 Seattle Gay News

November 29, 2013

Celebrating 40 Years!

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Seattle Gay News 11

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www.downtownhd.com 12 Seattle Gay News

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Celebrating 40 Years!

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14 Seattle Gay News

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Celebrating 40 Years!

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northwest news

NOTE: PLEASE SEE THIS WEEK’S HOLIDAY EVENTS CALENDAR FOR DETAILS ON SEVERAL UPCOMING LGBTQ HOLIDAY RELATED EVENTS.

“This is a chance for communities to help showcase the impressive and passionate work created by local filmmakers.”

Voting for the 2013 International Documentary Challenge Audience Awards Competition ends November 30. Audience members can vote daily throughout the GAY CITY ARTS – competition for their favorite film.

“GATHER AND GLEAN” To watch the film “Mark Mitchell” and Gay City Arts presents “Gather and Glean,” a solo exhibition of works by other finalists in the competition, visit www.

Therese Buchmiller from Thursday, No- theaudienceawards.com. Then vote. vember 14 through Monday, December 9, SEATTLE JAZZ VESPERS at Gay City Arts (517 E. Pike St.). For this On Sunday, December 2, doors at 5:30 exhibition, Buchmiller has created new mixed media installations, arrangements p.m., concert at 6 p.m., Seattle First Baptist of repurposed household objects, as well as Church (1111 Harvard Ave., at E. Seneca small-scale paper collage. Together these St.AC) hosts the monthly (October through works explore personal identity through the June) Seattle Jazz Vespers concert, a secular metaphoric potential of color, language, and concert of professional jazz music, for those who love jazz, with an inspirational mesimage.

“Gather and Glean” is presented in con- sage. These concerts are an opportunity for junction with Gay City Arts, through which jazz lovers throughout the city to hear SeGay City collaborates with local LGBT art- attle’s best groups in a concert setting. The ists to galvanize an audience for Queer arts, artists will perform one set and during their foster the development of LGBT artists, and break a “free-will” offering will be taken to facilitate artistic excellence across a wide support the musicians, followed by a short range of disciplines, including theatre, mu- non-sectarian inspirational message. The sic, dance, film, spoken word, literary and performers second set will conclude the visual arts. A portion of any sales will be do- two-hour vespers concert. SJV is a familyfriendly event. The dress is casual and innated to Gay City. www.gaycity.org.

For more information about the artist, vis- formal. Plenty of free parking is available at the rear of the church, if you come early. it tbuchmiller.com.

Light food and refreshments will be served in the church’s Fellowship Hall after the SEATTLE MEN IN LEATHER – concert so that those attending can meet and 25TH ANNUAL get to know the artists.

SEATTLE LEATHER DADDY & DADDYS BOY CONTEST THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA – On Friday, November 29, from 7-9 p.m., CINEOKE! join Seattle Men in Leather for a Meet & On Tuesday, December 3, doors at 6:30 Greet at Doghouse Leathers (1312 E. Pike St.). Meet the Seattle Leather Daddy and p.m., showtime at 7 p.m., join Three DolDaddy’s boy Contest contestants and judg- lar Bill Cinema (first Tuesday each month) at the Rendezvous Jewelbox Theater (2322 es. Enjoy camaraderie and refreshments.

On Saturday, November 30, from 6-9 Second Ave.) for Cineoke! Sing along to p.m., The Cuff Complex (1533 13th Ave.) your favorite numbers from American muhosts the Seattle Men in Leather’s 25th An- sicals, cult classics and foreign hits. It’s like nual Seattle Leather Daddy & Daddy’s boy karaoke, only better! You’re the star of your favorite movie musical. Pick any scene to Contest.

On Sunday, December 1, from 11 a.m.-2 sing along to while the film and lyrics are p.m., at C.C. Attle’s (1701 E. Olive Way), projected onto the screen. There are hunjoin Seattle Men in Leather for the Seattle dreds of songs to choose from, or you can Leather Daddy & Daddy’s boy Contest Vic- bring in your own special request on DVD. tory Brunch to congratulate their newest Se- $8 cover. www.threedollarbillcinema.org. attle Leather Daddy & Daddy’s boy.

10TH ANNUAL www.seattlemeninleather.org “STRONGER TOGETHER” WORLD AIDS DAY BREAKFAST ”MARK MITCHELL” On Wednesday, December 4, from 7:30 DOCUMENTARY a.m.-9 a.m., at the Washington State ConSEEKS LOCAL SUPPORT IN vention & Trade Center (8th Ave. & Pike INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION The Audience Awards online film com- St.), join Gay City Health Project, Inspire petition is hosting the 2013 International Youth Project, Lifelong AIDS Alliance, Documentary Challenge Audience Awards Rosehedge/Multifaith, and Seattle CounselCompetition. As a finalist in the 2013 Doc ing Service for the 10th annual “Stronger Challenge, the film “Mark Mitchell” re- Together” World AIDS Day Breakfast. Help ceived international exposure and recogni- support their work to provide crucial HIV tion. The film also premiered at Hot Docs, prevention, education, support, and care in the largest documentary film festival in the Seattle area. Featuring keynote speaker, North America. Now “Mark Mitchell” is Dr. Joanne Stekler, Associate Professor, Alcompeting to be crowned the audience’s fa- lergy & Infectious Diseases, University of Washington. Hosted by Peggy Platt. For vorite from the 2013 Doc Challenge.

“Mark Mitchell,” directed by Seattle more information, visit www.strongertofilmmaker Marcy Stone-Francois, profiles getherseattle.com. the life and work of Seattle designer Mark SEATTLE GAY & LESBIAN Mitchell. In the film Mitchell speaks openly BOOK CLUB – about his life as an HIV positive Gay man, THE DEVIL IN LOVE and how his experiences have inspired his The Seattle Gay & Lesbian Book Club work. The film also explores Mitchell’s recent “Burial Project,” which was a featured meets every Wednesday from 6-7:15 p.m., exhibit at the Frye Art Museum from Sep- at Seattle Area Support Groups Community Center (303 17th Ave. E. at E. Thomas St.). tember 21-October 20, 2013.

In December, the club will discuss The Now, Mitchell and Stone-Francois are looking for local support to help push them Devil in Love, a new three-volume Gay fanto victory. Winning the 2013 Doc Challenge tasy like no other by Nick diMartino.

All GLBTQ folks are welcome to parAudience Award would mean amazing exticipate in this FREE book club. For more posure as well as a $500 cash prize.

Like “American Idol” for filmmakers, information, visit http://faculty.washington. films vie for the most votes at The Audi- edu/swittet/SGLBookClub/. ence Awards. It’s a new kind of online film PRIDE SKATE competition that offers a one-of-a-kind opOn Wednesday, December 4, from 9-11 portunity to indie filmmakers by providing a digital platform to reach a diverse online p.m., Southgate Roller Rink (9646 17th Ave SW) presents their monthly Pride Skate audience.

“The Audience Awards helps filmmakers (first Wednesday each month) for the LGBT get noticed,” said Paige Williams, award- community. This month, wear your ugly winning filmmaker and founder of The sweaters! $7 admission includes skate rentAudience Awards host company, FilmSpur. al (or bring your own). This is an age 18 and 16 Seattle Gay News

November 29, 2013

compiled by Rick McKinnon SGN Staff Writer

older event. www.southgaterollerrink.com.

MICHAEL C. WIEDEMANN LGBT LIBRARY AT GAY CITY – MEET THE AUTHOR: TIM TEEMAN “IN BED WITH GORE VIDAL” On Friday, December 6, at 7 p.m., at Calamus Auditorium at Gay City (517 E. Pike St.), meet author and journalist Tim Teeman. Tim will read from his recently published book “In Bed With Gore Vidal: Hustlers, Hollywood and the Private World of an American Master,” a biography of Vidal’s sexual and private life and how both intersected with his work and his public life.

FREE. www.gaycity.org GAGE ACADEMY OF ART – 2013 DRAWING JAM On Saturday, December 7, from 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Gage Academy of Art hosts their annual community celebration of music, art and creativity at the Gage building (1501 10th Ave. E.) next to St. Mark’s Cathedral.

Spend an hour – or the entire day – but don’t miss one of the most unique art events in the Northwest. Live models, live music (see website for schedule), open studios and art activities for the whole family – plus, a great assortment of some of Seattle’s finest food trucks!

Tickets at the door – just $10 for adults, $5 with a student ID, and kids get in FREE! www.gageacademy.org.

GAY CITY HEALTH PROJECT – AFFORDABLE CARE ACT/ OBAMACARE FORUM On Saturday, December 7, from 10 a.m.2 p.m., at the Calamus Auditorium at Gay City (517 E. Pike St.), Gay City Health Project invites you to learn about and sign up for Affordable Care Act health insurance coverage at this event. (See related article in this week’s SGN for complete details.)

There is no need to pre-register for this event. It will be important to know your Social Security number and income information, though, if you want to sign up for insurance at this event. There will be inperson assisters to help you navigate the process there. This event is FREE. www. gaycity.org.

POCO – 6TH ANNUAL HOLIGAYS! (WITH DJ SKIDDLE) + WINE TASTING! On Sunday, December 8, from 4-8 p.m., POCO (1408 E. Pine St.) hosts their annual holiday party.

Ho ho ho boy, deck your halls! Drink wine (or cocktails), be merry, and rock out with some untz untz beats. Seattle native DJ Skiddle will be setting up and spinning for your drunken amusement, while various holiday treats are served up alongside POCO’s usual tapas tasty bites.

But wait, there’s more! Join in on the $20 tasting and get: Eight (EIGHT!) tastes of local greats and Spanish stars. Highly competitive prices on wines tasted for gift-giving pleasure. Re-tastes on demand. The tasting line-up includes several custom blends, as well as tempranillo, cava, prosecco, and more. Please note, tasting goes until 7 p.m.

After that, it’s just cookies and camaraderie!

Q-LAW HOLIDAY SOCIAL – “BE MERRY. BE BRIGHT. HAVE A COCKTAIL.” On Tuesday, December 10, at 6:30 p.m., Q-Law (The GLBT Bar Association of Washington) hosts a holiday social gathering at the Lobby Bar (916 E. Pike St.). Join Q-Law in the upstairs lounge for beverages, light hors d’oeuvres and socializing. Happy hour prices until 8 p.m. RSVP requested at www.q-law.org.

GSBA HOLIDAY LUNCHEON & ANNUAL MEETING WITH SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER CHRIS GREGOIRE On Wednesday, December 11, from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., at the Four Seasons Hotel

(99 Union St.), raise a glass and take a midday break with your GSBA (Greater Seattle Business Association) colleagues and friends at the Annual GSBA Holiday Luncheon and Annual Meeting.

It’s the time of year when long-term colleagues and friends catch-up and new business connections get started. It is also the time of year to thank GSBA’s outgoing Board members for their leadership and meet the new 2014 GSBA Board members.

Former Governor Chris Gregoire will share her reflections on this past year and what is in store for our region in 2014.

Cost: $35 members, $40 non members, $35 students. Walk-ins $5 more at the door.

RSVP: 206-363-9188; www.thegsba.org.

PRIDE FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION WORKSHOP (WEBINAR) On Wednesday, December 11, at 3 p.m., Pride Foundation’s Educational Programs Director, Craig Williams, will be leading an online workshop to expound on the Pride Foundation’s scholarship application process and answer questions. All students are encouraged to participate. Details are available when you RSVP to scholarships@ pridefoundation.org. www.pridefoundation. org.

JOHN PAUL SHARP’S “TOTAL FAMILY MASSAGE: THE MUSICAL” DECEMBER 12-29 Queer confessional artist John Paul Sharp writes and stars in an over-the-top, hilarious musical loosely based on his real life! Enjoy a full evening of laughs and live singing with your friends this month at The Eclectic Theater (1214 10th Ave.).

The musical runs Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets: Thursdays are pay-what-you-can; FridaySunday $12 & $15. www.brownpapertickets.com/event/469108. Use promo code: GAYCITY and $5 of your ticket price will be donated to Gay City Health Project. Presented by Copious Love Productions.

RAT CITY ROLLERGIRLS – “BLACK EYED BALL” On Friday, December 13, starting at 7 p.m., at 1927 Events (1927 3rd Ave.), dive into the holidays by bringing back the past at the 2013 Black Eyed Ball. Rat City Roller Girls will be in full-swing with their prohibition-themed fundraiser. Featuring live music, burlesque, and many wonderful items up for auction! Tickets: $50. Proceeds from this annual fundraiser support the Rat City Rollergirls training facility, travel, and uniforms. www.ratcityrollergirls.com.

SOCIAL OUTREACH SEATTLE – “HOLIDAY + CHEER VOL. 1” CD RELEASE PARTY/SHOW On Sunday, December 15, doors 6 p.m., show 7-9 p.m., at Neighbours Nightclub (1501 Broadway, entrance in alley between Broadway and Harvard Ave., off E. Pike St.) join Social Outreach Seattle (SOSea) for their first annual holiday party and show fundraiser. $20 suggested donation. www. socialoutreachseattle.com PRIDE FOUNDATION – YEAR END CELEBRATION On Monday, December 16, at 5:30 p.m., the Pride Foundation (2014 E. Madison St. Suite 300) invites you to attend their year-end event to celebrate what we have achieved as a community in 2013. This casual community gathering is FREE and open to the public. The Pride Foundation would like to share their gratitude for your commitment to equality and the Pride Foundation. Please RSVP to Christina Rocks – christina@pridefoundation.org.

(NOTE: Pride Foundation year-end celebrations will also be held in Mt. Vernon, WA on 12/3; Boise, ID 12/4; Missoula, MT 12/5; Spokane Valley, WA 12/7; Olympia, WA 12/10; Anchorage, AK 12/12; and Portland, OR 12/12.) www.pridefoundation.org

Celebrating 40 Years!

grindr

continued from page 8 ers helped to raise $107,000 to stop antiGay legislation in Singapore and the app was used to create awareness around campaigns such as International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, and to bring attention to anti-Gay violence in South Africa.

“If I can make a difference, I’m going to try,” Simkhai said, discussing Grindr4Equality, an effort he launched in 2011 to use the app to help create awareness and organize. “Grindr is here to help you meet someone. We’re not here to change the world. So if it can help you meet someone but make a difference, that’s very exciting to me.”

In the U.S., Grindr users have been urged to call legislators and politicians to push for marriage equality in New Jersey, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Minnesota, Delaware, and Illinois.

“Our premise is that if we can get a lot of people to do something small, we can make a difference,” Simkhai explained.

Grindr has a lot of users and Simkhai has the ability to message more than seven million of them at any given time.

RAISING STANDARDS Despite Grindr being advertised as a Gay sex hookup app that dips its toes into the political pool every now and then, Simkhai says he doesn’t get too much pushback from Grindr users who may not want the politics.

“We don’t get too many complaints at all,” he said. “But it’s a balancing act.

You’re not going to Grindr – it’s not a political app, that’s not what it’s for. I don’t pretend to say that’s my mission here in life.

That’s not what drives this. What drives this is helping you meet, helping you find other Gay men, so that you’re not spending lot of time on your phone or computer.”

In a particularly controversial statement, Simkhai responded to those critics who say Grindr is superficial and reduces Gay men to physical ideals by saying, “I love it. Absolutely. Look good. I’m very proud if Grindr has forced us to up our game. To brush our teeth. Comb our hair. Eat right. Go to the gym. Be a healthy person. Cut back on the smoking. Cut back on the bad things and look your best.”

“We’re men. We visualize. We see before we hear, before we think, before we do anything else. That’s how we are,” he continued. “I haven’t changed that. That’s what our evolution has taught us to do. I certainly go to the gym more because of Grindr. I’m competing with the guy a space away from me on that grid.”

GRINDR FOLLIES Obviously not everyone would agree with Simkhai’s words. Critics of the Gay hookup app are everywhere, so if you are looking for examples of men who think differently than Simkhai, you won’t have to look far.

On nogrindrfail.tumblr.com, for instance, you are sure to have a laugh checking out all of the Grindr fails. And to be honest, most of them do not support Simkhai’s vision of the need to be perfect in order to get a date.

One particular published Grindr conversa-

glaad

continued from cover ful magazines. Her vision has transformed and energized leading media outlets including Vogue, InStyle, New York, and House & Garden. Most recently, she served as senior vice president of global marketing at Martini Media, a digital firm specializing in online branding, public relations, and marketing. She has earned seven MIN Awards for marketing innovation, two President’s Awards, and MIN’s Sales Executive Team of the Year Award in 2012.

IMPECCABLE CREDENTIALS

tion, notably brief, goes as follows: User 1: What’s going on? Masculine and chill here.

User 2: Not much. I’m fem and high strung.

(The conversation ended there.)

Here’s another gem in which someone clingy and (probably) desperate annoys someone who answered their advances in a grownup way: User 1: Heya User 2: Hello.

User 1: lol. The hello with a period is a strong indication you’re not interested.

Have a good day!

User 2: It’s more like I put 50% more effort than you did, but your quick dismissal of further conversation probably made it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ahh Grindr!

As the publishing of information on nogrindrfail.tumblr.com shows, there is a risk you run when you upload your picture to a public profile on an app like Grindr. A website has emerged called “Douchebags of Grindr” where people upload photos of “douchebag” profiles they’ve encountered.

Their tagline: “All your douchebag needs from the profiles of Grindr. Tumblr censors.

Long live the public web.”

The “douchebag” profiles range from racist taglines to totally self-contradictory pictures and headlines. Others include weird taglines from people with no clue how to promote themselves online. And adding insult to injury, underneath each profile, the site has taken the authority to write commentary to poke fun at each profile.

INDUSTRY ACCLAIM Still, Grindr is used every day by millions of men, especially millennials. The app is available for people who use iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android, and BlackBerry.

Grindr has been recognized by the mainstream tech community, receiving honors for Best Mobile Dating Site at the third Annual iDate Awards announced at the 2012 Internet Dating Conference Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas earlier this year. More than one million Grindr users log on to the app every day and transmit more than seven million chat messages and two million photos to one another. Grindr users spend about an hour and a half using the app daily, and they log in an average of eight times per day. Up to 190,000 users are logged onto Grindr at any given moment, and nearly 10,000 new users around the world join the app every day. Grindr also offers a premium service, Grindr Xtra, which strips away all of the banner advertising and gives users increased functionality and enhanced features such as push notifications, unlimited blocks, and the ability to see roughly 200 more local guys in the cascade.

In a survey conducted in March of this year including more than 5,000 U.S.-based respondents, 92% said they are comfortable being tracked by enabling their locationbased service. Respondents said they share their location mostly to find dates, followed by searching for nearby places. The apps that Grindr millennials are most addicted to are Facebook (30%), Grindr (28%), Instagram (7%), and Twitter (6%).

Schuster). The autobiography chronicled their simultaneous pregnancies and road to motherhood. The two are outspoken advocates for LGBT equality and were featured on the groundbreaking “Gay Marriage Already Won” cover of Time Magazine (April 8, 2013). They were also profiled in a special New York Times Style section devoted to marriage equality on the day it became legal in New York and were the subjects of the Huffington Post’s three-part documentary web series titled “Here Come the Brides.” They were named one of GO Magazine’s Most Captivating Couples of 2012 and are the proud mothers of two children.

The couple held the first marriage ceremony performed for a same-sex couple in the Episcopal Church of New York.

“Sarah Kate is a new kind of leader, one who will take the LGBT movement into the next decade and beyond,” said Jennifer Boylan, national co-chair of GLAAD’s Board of Directors and chair of the search committee. “Her history as a brilliant, articulate, and proudly out media executive makes her an ideal fit to lead GLAAD. When she and her wife appeared on the cover of Time, she became a living symbol of the fight for marriage equality, and her selection as GLAAD’s new leader is a clear sign of where the LGBT movement is going next – toward equality for all LGBT Americans in the workplace, in the family, and in local communities.”

“While our community has made great strides in recent years, our movement has an important and critical journey ahead,” said Ellis. “Together with our dedicated staff, I will push for a culture where everyone in the LGBT community is fully welcomed and respected by our neighbors. I look forward to leading GLAAD and creating a

world where LGBT people and our families have the freedom to joyously – and openly – live a life they love.”

Ellis will begin work in her new position in January 2014. She will be based in GLAAD’s New York City office.

Boylan and Warren were announced as co-chairs of GLAAD’s national Board of Directors earlier this month. A professor at Colby College, Boylan is the first Transgender woman to serve as a GLAAD board cochair.

NOM

“The Transgender Law Center, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Equality California, among others, moved quickly to counter the repeal effort. And what we’ve shown is that campaigning against Transgender kids won’t win in California or anywhere else.”

While a referendum on the law is probably now off the table, Schubert could still present an initiative repealing it, or a state constitutional amendment barring laws protecting gender identity.

O’Connor said he doesn’t know if opponents of the law will pursue this course, but noted it’ll be more difficult as time goes by.

“The fact that the clock has been ticking and they’re losing time right now, it’s curious to me, it makes me wonder what they’re up to,” O’Connor said. “It makes me uncertain whether they will or they won’t.”

A ballot initiative would also require about 505,000 signatures to get on next November’s ballot, and a constitutional amendment would require more than 807,000.

continued from cover signatures showed only 75% authenticity in the random samples used by election officials to gauge whether the referendum can qualify. That is significantly below the authenticity rate that would allow the measure to go on the ballot for a vote.

COUNTERING HATE John O’Connor, executive director of Equality California, said he believes “it’s unlikely [but] not impossible” that the measure will come to a vote, given the signature validation rate at this point.

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, also said she was optimistic that the effort to repeal California’s Trans student protections will fall short.

“While we wait for the official results of the signature verification, we’re optimistic that, because of our friends in California, the ballot initiative will fail,” Keisling said.

ABOUT GLAAD The nation’s only organization working to move LGBT equality forward through the power of the media, GLAAD proactively shares stories of LGBT people and allies through news, entertainment, Spanish-language, digital and new media to increase understanding and build support for LGBT people. GLAAD also challenges anti-LGBT rhetoric that appears in mainstream media, ensuring fairness and accuracy. Earlier this year, the organization formally dropped the name “Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation” to more accurately reflect its longstanding commitment to issues impacting all members of the LGBT community, including Bisexual and Transgender people.

GLAAD amplifies the voice of the LGBT community by empowering real people to share their stories, holding the media accountable for the words and images they present, and helping grassroots organizations communicate effectively. By ensuring that the stories of LGBT people are heard through the media, GLAAD promotes understanding, increases acceptance, and advances equality. For more information, visit www.glaad.org.

As co-chair of OUT at Time Inc., she led programming to spotlight the diversity of the LGBT community and educated the organization’s straight allies on a wide range of LGBT issues. She is a member of Advertising Women of New York, Cosmetic Executive Women, and the Magazine Publishers of America. Ellis is also a Vestry member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

She earned her B.A. from Russell Sage College and also attended the Tuck Executive Education program at Dartmouth College.

In 2011, Ellis co-authored a memoir with her wife, Kristen Ellis-Henderson, titled Times Two: Two Women in Love and the Happy Family They Made (Simon &

Visit us online www.sgn.org

November 29, 2013

Seattle Gay News 17

health and medicine

Kiki with D When Johnny comes marching home

by D Smith SGN Contributing Writer Dear D, My husband of many years is nearing the end of two years of military deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s due to come back for good in a few months.

Everyone around me has been very sympathetic and supportive of my family during his deployment. He himself has let it be known over and over again how anxious he is to get back home and resume his life here.

I get comments all the time about how difficult this must be for me, and how glad I must be to know he’ll be home this year.

Well, actually, I am wracked with dread.

While I am anxious for him to be out of harm’s way, I am not looking forward to him resuming his place at home. Our kids (teenagers) and I have created lives without him – we have our work, school, and social schedules the way we like them. Things are

different than they were when he left. My husband is a bit rigid about how he wants things done at home. The kids and I have found that we like a more relaxed approach to life. For example, we’ve taken a couple of vacations that he would never have agreed to because it’s not what he’d want to do. I have been able to cook whatever I want because he’s not here to weigh in. I go to bed when I want, watch what I want on TV, or don’t watch it at all.

I love him – and like him – but when I look at my life and what my stress level is now (low) compared with what I anticipate it being when he returns, I wonder if I’m going to make it through this homecoming and reentry into family life. And just in case anyone wonders, no, nobody else has entered the picture. The thought that “there’s somebody better out there’’ has not entered my mind. That’s the thing – I think I just want to be by myself (with the kids).

I’m wondering if this means that I am self-

ish. Not a good partner. If I am a control freak.

Or is this a common feeling among military wives and husbands who get used to life for long periods without their soldier?

Have any of your readers experienced anything similar? I can’t talk about this with the military families we know – word would go straight back to my husband, and I don’t want to hurt him needlessly if it’s just cold feet.

I should say that my husband is not career military. He’s a reservist who volunteered to go active duty, so his deployments have not been against his will. I admire him tremendously for wanting to serve, and the example it’s given our kids has been a very positive one. – Looking at Life Outside Military

Luckily, the military has support for spouses dealing with these situations. If you reach out, there should be a person to talk to about adjusting to real life.

Being away changes both people in a long-distance relationship. Your husband might come home wanting to take different types of vacations. He might be excited to try the recipes that you’ve concocted while he was away. He’s certainly going to be curious about the routine you’ve established with the kids.

Yes, he will annoy you, and no, you won’t have queen-like rule over the television anymore, but there will be benefits to having him home that you can’t even imagine right now.

My advice is to (a) seek out those military helpers and (b) give your husband the benefit of the doubt. You respect all that he’s done over the past two years. He also respects what you’ve accomplished while he’s been away. Start thinking of his homecoming as another chapter in a marriage that will continue to require adjustments, new routines, and getting to know each other all over again. It’ll be awkward but you’ll figure it out together. That is the beauty of being married.

Hope this helps. Remember be true to you, love yourself, and encourage yourself and others. – D

Dear Looking, Thanks so much for sending this letter, because there are probably a lot of people out there – military spouses and other people in long-distance relationships – who have had similar thoughts but have been afraid to admit them. You’re not a jerk. And your feelings are normal.

I remember a friend of mine coming to me for advice years ago when she was coping with her military husband’s return from a year-long deployment. Sure, she was psyched that he was finally by her side, but she wanted to claw his eyes out for loading the dishwasher all wrong. Her husband Life problems bringing you down? Have wasn’t just her husband. He was an annoy- a burning question? Can’t tell your girling roommate who was messing up her friend? Hit me up! E-mail KikiWithD@ house. hush.com.

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November 29, 2013

Celebrating 40 Years!

international news Madrid Pride faces heavy fines City officials want to ‘strangle’ event, organizers charge

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Madrid Pride Week organizers are accusing the city’s mayor of trying to “strangle” the event after she fined the organizing committee 160,000 euros (about $216,000) for noise violations.

The LGBT festival, one of Europe’s largest, has had to contend with fines before. In fact, this will be the fourth year in a row that city officials have fined the event for “excessive noise.”

In the past, however, fines were smaller, in the range of 35,000 to 50,000 euros ($47,500–$67,900), and Pride Week organizers successfully appealed the decision, getting the charges waived. This year, activists have also appealed the fines, but they

say the legal process could take up to a year.

“You can’t levy such barbaric fines on an event that’s so important to the city,” said Boti Rodrigo, president of the Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gays, Transexuales y Bisexuales. “These fines put the survival of Madrid Pride in serious jeopardy.”

RIGHT-WING MAYOR Madrid’s mayor, Ana Botella, is a member of the right-wing People’s Party, which won a landslide electoral victory over the rival Socialists in 2011, taking over the national government and a number of key municipal posts.

“We’ve never seen City Hall so shortsighted, with such little political will towards us,” said Rodrigo. The Pride celebration, started in 1979, attracts an estimated

1.5 million people each year and offers the city a chance to “show that Madrid is an open, multicultural, and tolerant city,” she said.

“They need to stop trying put obstacles in the way of the event,” Rodrigo added.

“The city of Madrid, under Ana Botella, is a city that’s losing visitors, losing liberties, and becoming more closed-minded … It’s becoming the kind of city that Madrileños don’t deserve.”

People’s Party leader and current Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy opposed the country’s marriage equality law, passed in 2005 when the Socialist Party controlled the government. In 2012, Spain’s Constitutional Court rejected Rajoy’s appeal of the law.

‘SILENT CONCERTS’ Mayor Botella has not always been an enemy of Pride Week.

When the organizers of Madrid Pride decided to nominate the city to host World Pride, the mayor wrote a letter of support backing the campaign. Now, with the city gearing up to host the global event in 2017, Rodrigo said the mayor’s attitude had changed.

“She’s putting up permanent barriers to our success,” Rodrigo said. “What’s clear is that the ideology of a person, when that person is the mayor of Madrid, shouldn’t inter-

fere at all in her political responsibilities.”

In 2011, when Botella was a City Council member, she introduced stringent noise limits in residential areas. The restrictions forced Madrid Pride to invent so-called “silent concerts,” where participants danced to music streaming through their headphones.

Residents of Chueca, the neighborhood where the Pride festivities are held, has been actively lobbying the city for years to crack down on the event.

“It’s a massive concentration of people drinking in the street with indiscriminate musical acts,” Esteban Benito, spokesperson for the Asociación de Vecinos de Chueca, told El País. “They’re not looking to integrate into the neighborhood, they just want a five-day drinking party because their main business is in selling alcohol.”

Juan Carlos Alonso, the coordinator of Madrid Pride, said the event was more than just a party and brought 300,000 tourists to the city from as far afield as the Americas and Asia, who spend an estimated 110 million euros ($150 million) during the event.

Alonso added that other events are also struggling to find a compromise with the city over noise restrictions. But, he said, “not all of them have fines this big, or problems this big. From our point of view, this reflects a change of policy from the city’s administration.”

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November 29, 2013

Seattle Gay News 19

Lost and found

by Beau Burriola SGN Contributing Writer

I stood outside a building, unsure if it was the dentist’s office or not. In Brussels, they don’t always feel the need to put a street number on the buildings you are looking for. Very often, they don’t bother with street names either. In this case, the street address went from 31 to 45 and there was nothing in between. I was looking for 128 in any case, so this just added to the confusion.

The only thing that has saved me these years from getting lost in Brussels has been technology – a blue dot on a yellow map and a voice telling me to turn here or there. Now, since my smartphone was stolen on the

train, I’ve spent a good deal of time being lost. Navigating printed maps seems like an unnecessarily cruel exercise.

Brussels has made manual navigation nearly impossible. Every street has two names, one Dutch and one French (we are a linguistically divided country, so the genius solution was simply to use both, while most maps will only use one). Street name signs are only sometimes at intersections and sometimes a street name will simply turn into another street name without warning. You’ve got streets that are only a few meters long and many just curve and wrap around until another street randomly starts at a reverse diagonal angle. They continue in this fashion, like broken shards of glass,

all over the city in every direction, making every visit to an unfamiliar place equal parts luck and skill. With no navigational skill anymore without my phone, I depend on the luck.

“Rue du Aveguels,” I read aloud on a rare blue sign, a little confused. I think it means a street of blind people and for a moment I wonder how much harder it would be to find my way if I couldn’t see, but then I see this street isn’t on my map! Exhausted and well late for my appointment, I look over at a pastry shop, the fourth I’ve seen in the last 10 minutes, and pause to walk over and look at the display window.

When I first moved here, I wanted to go to pastry school. I have a deep appreciation for the science, art, and skill that goes into traditional French pastry. The pleasure is in the seeing as much as in the eating and when all put together in a store window, it’s always like the perfect, cozy painting. But after two meetings with Madame Liegeios at the school, I found out that to do it I would have to get up at 3 a.m. every day for a year for an unpaid apprenticeship while still attending school. I decided that was a sacrifice I couldn’t make. Not at 34, not with a standard of living and vacations, not with a closet full of suits ... and yet here I am, standing in front of another window.

er said when I told her about pastry school, “but that right there is bullshit. If you had to do it for work you would hate it. You listen to me and you keep that good job of yours.”

On my kitchen wall, I have an illustration of 20 types of traditional French pastry.

I have unsuccessfully made two of them, and the rest I wouldn’t even know how to begin. I always imagined I would learn how to make it all – in French – and then one day, I would float through my day making pastries, all the while singing in a French accent, finishing off this or that tart with flair and pirouette, before heading back to the kitchen to knock out a few éclairs.

If I were another person, a person with more confidence who didn’t mind being dirt-poor for three years while undergoing a drastic life change, and then still pretty poor while I worked my way up the lowpaying echelons of bakeries other people own, this recurring daydream wouldn’t be a daydream. Perhaps, if I were younger and didn’t mind the idea of competing for apprenticeships with people who have a perfect command of the language and whose faces have never seen a razor. If ... if ... if ...

On the other hand, if you think I have a good 50 years in me yet, three years doesn’t seem like so long. Also, I get up at 5 every day, so why worry about getting up at 3?

And there’s the fact that every time I feel a GRANDMA’S ADVICE little lost in my life, I keep ending up back “They always say you are very lucky to do in front of a window like this. what you love for a living,” my grandmothStanding there lost on the Rue du/something Straat, staring into that window of mystery and love, of science and art and beauty and structure and history, I found myself pulled in again by the gravity of an old dream. In a year when my relationship, job, apartment, and whole lifestyle changed, suddenly this dream didn’t seem as drastic as it is has before. In the prism of a year of change, this seemed pretty small.

Maybe now is the perfect time to pick up and call Madame Liegeios. I’ve missed the dentist appointment, so what the hell.

Beau Burriola is a 34-year-old amateur baker looking to get rid of the “amateur.” beaubrent@gmail.com

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20 Seattle Gay News

November 29, 2013

Celebrating 40 Years!

Come to Lavender Country The first Gay C&W band was formed right here in Seattle

by Jesse Monteagudo SGN Contributing Writer Much has been written lately about Steve Grand, the 23-year old who is often described as “the first openly Gay country singer.” Grand is cute, a good vocalist, and the first openly Gay artist in his genre to achieve mainstream recognition – but the title of “first” almost certainly belongs to Patrick Haggerty, who co-created the country group Lavender Country, and an album of the same name, four decades ago.

Haggerty was born in 1944 and raised on a dairy farm on the Washington peninsula.

After college he joined the Peace Corps but was soon discharged for being Gay. He then moved to Seattle, where he became active in the city’s Gay Liberation Front. In 1972 he formed Lavender Country, consisting of himself as singer and guitarist, Michael Carr on keyboards, Eve Morris on fiddle and vocals, and Robert Hammerstrom on guitar. The group’s self-titled album was funded and released in 1973 by Gay Community Social Services of Seattle with as-

sistance from local activist Faygele BenMiriam. Lavender Country performed at Seattle’s first Pride event, held in 1974, and at other LGBT events around Washington before dissolving in 1976.

Listening to Lavender Country again, which I am doing while writing this article, reminds me of how much the LGBT community owes groundbreaking artists who, like Haggerty and his group, paved the way for many to follow. Out country singersongwriter Doug Stevens, who produced his first album, Out In the Country, in 1993, described the group Lavender Country as “a Gay country band playing out, political, and sexual-liberation songs written in an oldfashioned, Hank Williams-like style … The songs are cleverly written and speak of the oppressive situations that Gay people often found themselves in at the time. Some of the songs are funny, some are sexual, and others are downright tragic.”

“Back in the Closet Again” (a Gay take on Gene Autry’s “Back in the Saddle”) told it like it was, with an honesty that most artists wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole. Indeed, a female DJ in Seattle lost her FCC license when she dared to play “Cocksucking Tears” on her radio show. Haggerty wrote and sang all the songs on the album except “To a Woman,” a Lesbian tune written and sung by Eve Morris.

As was the fate of too many LGBT works of art from the early 1970s, Lavender Country went out of print and was forgotten by most music lovers. When Stevens created his country group The Outband in 1992, he mistakenly thought that his was “the first Gay country band ever to exist.” In 1999 ‘COCKSUCKING TEARS’ Cheeky songs like “Come Out Singin’,” Chris Dickinson, editor of the Journal of “Cryin’ These Cocksucking Tears,” and Country Music, revived interest in Laven-

der Country with her article “Country Undetectable: Gay Artists in Country Music.”

Because of Dickinson’s article, the album Lavender Country was soon entered into the archives of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Gay Community Social Services of Seattle put out a new CD edition of Lavender Country and the band reunited in 2000 to perform at Seattle’s Broadway Performance Hall and Seattle Pride. Haggerty himself returned to his country roots, performing across the country as a member of Outband. Meanwhile, a new crop of openly Gay country singers emerged – artists like Stevens, Sid Spencer, Mark Weigle, Jeff Miller, and David Alan Mors. They all combined the traditions of country and western music with a Queer sensitivity, long before Steve Grand’s “All American Boy.”

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Seattle Gay News 21

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November 29, 2013

Celebrating 40 Years!

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Seattle Gay News 23