Issue 52 Volume 41
Celebrating 40 Years!
Seattle Gay News Hundreds marry in Utah
FRIDAY December 27, 2013 FREE! 25¢ in bookstores & newsstands
SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
Tenth Circuit panel refuses third appeal to halt marriages On Christmas Eve, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals refused for the third time to stop Gay and Lesbian couples from marrying in Utah after a federal judge struck
the headquarters of the Mormon Church, Democratic Mayor Ralph Becker personally presided over some of the first weddings in the state. Scouts from Salt Lake City’s Troop 351, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Utah, delivered
talking points memo
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
“Having considered the district court’s decision and the parties’ arguments concerning the stay factors, we conclude that a stay is not warranted.”
down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Some 700 licenses have been issued to same-sex couples since U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled on December 20 that Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Although Salt Lake City is
pizza to county clerks and couples waiting in line for marriage licenses, leading online religion reporter Joanna Brooks to Tweet “Utah. Boy scouts. Delivering pizzas. To support. Gay marriage. The. End.” Scoutmaster Peter Brownstein, who replaced his standard-issue see UTAH page 7
expression,’” Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas B. Leonardi wrote. “The Department [of Insurance] finds the legislative intent to prohibit discriminatory practices based on gender identity and expression to extend to health insurance practices. Accordingly, medically necessary services related to gender dysphoria should not be handled differently from medically necessary services for other see insurance page 9
see church page 9
galen frysinger
Connecticut health insurance providers must cover medically necessary procedures for Transgender patients, including sex reassignment surgery, the state’s Insurance Commissioner said in a bulletin issued December 19. “The Connecticut legislature effective October 1, 2011 amended state antidiscrimination laws to specifically prohibit discrimination based on ‘gender identity or
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Last week, the students at Eastside Catholic High School staged a successful sit-in to educate, spread awareness, and take a stand on the Catholic Church’s samesex marriage policy. The protest garnered the support of nearly all of the other Catholic schools in the Seattle area as students at those schools held similar protests. According to one of the Eastside Catholic High School student leaders, Bradley Strode, the protest would not be a one-day event. In fact, Strode says the students will come up with a plan to present their complaints as a Catholic community to the Catholic Church. “The beauty of being a Catholic is that we are allowed to disagree and engage in discussion with our Church,” he said. “This is our right. We are taking it.” What started out as a simple petition on Change.org, has turned into a spark that is poised to transport the fight to every single Catholic high school in America. As of Thursday, December 26, at 4:30 p.m., the students are roughly two thousand signatures short of their 30,000 goal.
Connecticut State Capitol
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer
Change the Church REUTERS / David Ryder
Connecticut mandates insurance providers must cover Trans health care
Chris Serrano(l) and Clifton Webb embrace after being married, as people wait in line to get licenses outside of the marriage division of the Salt Lake County Clerk’s Office.
An Eastside Catholic School student holds up a sign during a rally in support of the school’s former Vice Principal Mark Zmuda at the Archdiocese of Seattle chancery building.