SGN January 22, 2016 - Section 1

Celebrating 42 Years!

Issue 4 Volume 44

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Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Tina Podlodowski to run Appreciating Tom Rasmussen for Secretary of State

by Victor Hawthorne SGN Contributing Writer

Tina Podlodowski – www.votersfortina.com

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

state this year, she announced on January 13.

If elected, she would be the first open Former Seattle City Councilmember Lesbian elected to a statewide office and the Tina Podlodowski will run for secretary of see podlodowski page 5

It has been a year since Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen announced that he would not be running for re-election to a fourth term. After 12 years serving the City of Seattle and with the new City Council sworn in, Tom is looking forward to starting a new chapter in his life that he describes as being more balanced, focusing on his family and working more directly on issues that are closest to his heart.

A lot has happened in Seattle over the course of Tom’s service on the City Council, which translates into a lot of critical decisions made by him and his colleagues at a time when the city is changing dramatically before our very eyes. I sat down with Tom to reflect on his time serving the city, discussing the highlights, accomplishments, and challenges of the past 12 years, as well as the future issues the city is destined to encounter in the years to come.

Tom’s interest in public service began long before running for City Council in 2003. He recalls first becoming interested in government as a teenager in Eastern Washington and volunteering in presidential election campaigns well into his college

Tom Rasmussen – Courtesy of Tom Rasmussen

years. It was during this time and through his involvement in politics that Tom met his husband, Steve, in Yakima shortly before moving to Bellevue where Tom’s public service career really took off.

After graduating from law school, Tom served as an assistant to a progressive City see rasmussen page 11

Joe McDermott will run Labor Council urges state unions to for Congress oppose the anti-Trans “Bathroom Bill”

Joe McDermott – www.westseattleherald.com

The MLKCLC unanimously passed a resolution urging unions to oppose the “Bathroom Bill” – Associated Press via www.deseretnews.com

by Mike Andrew run for the Seventh District congressional SGN Staff Writer seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Jim McDermott (no relation to Joe).

The Martin Luther King County Labor King County Council chair Joe McDerThe Seventh Congressional District in- Council (MLKCLC) unanimously passed a mott announced on January 20 that he will resolution at its January 20 delegates meet-

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer

see mcdermott page 4

ing urging state unions to oppose HB 2589, also known as the “Bathroom Bill.”

The measure would allow anyone who provides public “gender-segregated facilities” like restrooms or locker rooms to make see bathroom bill page 3

2 Seattle Gay News

January 22, 2016

Celebrating 41 Years!

Councilmember Herbold’s Statement on Homelessness Emergency Order Ratification

On Thursday, January 21, Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold issued the following statement following Council’s amending and ratification of Mayor Ed Murray’s Order of Civil Emergency relating to creating safe parking lots for people using vehicles as residences:

“Last year in the One Night Count, volunteers found approximately 760 vehicles with people living inside them. I thank the Mayor for acting on the clear need to assist these people and, in doing so, addressing the impacts on people living without access to water, garbage, and bathroom facilities.

“Today, Council amended the Order before it took practical effect. If we hadn’t acted within 48 hours, it would have gone into effect without our changes. Firstly, it was important to explicitly ensure we are collecting demographics on the people served in the safe parking lots. As outreach workers attempt to find solutions to find permanent housing, it’s essential we track the barriers they face. We must also track

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genitalia – rather than gender identity – the criterion for allowing people to enter.

In other words, it would allow schools, public offices, and businesses to prevent many Transgender people from using appropriate restrooms.

The bill is sponsored by Republican Rep. Graham Hunt of Orting, with 36 Republican co-sponsors.

Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) President Jeff Johnson was in Olympia lobbying on other legislation when SGN called for comment, but his office said the MLKCLC resolution would be forwarded to him and other union lobbyists.

The WSLC, like MLKCLC locally, was one of the leading champions of the state’s law against discrimination (RCW 49.60), which guarantees Trans residents “the right

Visit us online www.sgn.org

perceived and actual impacts on communities and the City’s response to those impacts. Looking forward, we also need to hear from Executive departments how the City intends to address vehicle camping after the terms for these particular safe lots end. This was all addressed in the amendments adopted today.

“Secondly, we memorialized operational commitments that were not included in the original Order relating to site management, sanitation, electricity, and potable water, and defining a length of term for the individual lots (six months, with the option for a one-time six month renewal). In addition there is an expectation that these lots will not be reserved for vehicle residents from one particular set of neighborhoods, rather the City will do outreach to all neighborhoods where people are living in their vehicles. The amendments also require the Executive to justify site suitability and name the factors used to justify that selection.

“Moving forward, it’s important that the Seattle community serves their unhoused

neighbors in a way that best meets their needs. Choosing a remote location with little access to grocery stores, transportation, social services, showers and laundry facilities simply because it’s the easiest choice helps no one.

“Further, these lots cannot be opened to simply serve people living in RVs in Magnolia. There are vehicle campers all over the city, including Delridge and South Park. If we are to continue this model I want to see the City use a race and social justice lens to fully analyze the properties available citywide and identify choices that are best for those whom we wish to serve, as well as the surrounding community.

“Lastly, I’d like to thank my fellow Councilmembers Sally Bagshaw, Debora Juarez, and Lorena González for working with me to develop amending language to the Mayor’s Order of Civil Emergency. I’m pleased with our vote today, and we intend to continue our efforts to find housing for people who need it most.”

to the full enjoyment of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, or privileges of any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage, or amusement.”

Federal laws – Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – are now also held to protect Trans people, under the prohibition against discrimination on account of sex.

The Labor Council resolution was written by Pride At Work, an LGBT labor organization affiliated with the AFL-CIO. HB 2589 is also opposed by the Washington SAFE (Safety and Access For Everyone) Alliance, a coalition of LGBT, civil rights, and labor groups.

Washington SAFE includes SEIU 775, UAW 4121, the Gender Justice League, the Pride Foundation, Legal Voice, Gay City, GSBA, the LGBTQ Allyship, the Northwest Network, PFLAG Washington, the Pierce

County AIDS Foundation, Lambda Legal, the EWU Pride Center, Gender Diversity, Spokane TALL, Tacoma Tmen, Oasis Youth Center, the Queer Black Alliance of the South Sound, Social Outreach Seattle, the Spokane Human Rights Commission, the Tacoma Rainbow Center, Immanuel Presbyterian Church, the ACLU, the Capitol Hill Community Council, and the Washington State Community Action Partnership (WSCAP).

Unfortunately, HB 2589 is not unique.

The Equality Federation, an alliance of some 40 state-based LGBT rights groups, including Equal Rights Washington (ERW), says it is “already tracking dozens of terrible, anti-LGBTQ pieces of legislation, with more added daily.”

“Few states will be spared,” the Federation warns.

January 22, 2016

Seattle Gay News 3

New tiny house community for homeless opens; also a possible RV park with Sawhorse Revolution, a youth carpentry education non-profit, the tiny house village is a step in the right direction, but the reality of how bad the homeless situation in Seattle is is daunting. She says it would take 4,000 houses now to get everybody off the streets.

Organizers said that their immediate goal is to get people off the streets now; then they can continue to talk about a long-term solution.

The new Union Street tiny house village will officially open on Saturday. Organizers say it’ll have 24-7 security and a set of rules for the people who choose to live there.

can be found in a new tiny house village for the homeless which is set to open January 23 in Seattle’s Central District.

Volunteers organizing the tiny house project on E. Union Street in the Central District say it’s needed to help reduce the number of tents and illegal campsites all over the city.

“We know that we can’t solve all of this with 14 tiny houses, but we feel like it’s a start,” Melinda Nichols, a volunteer, who is also board president of the Low Income Housing Institute, one of the non-profits helping build the village, told KING 5.

The homes are far better than some of the tiny homes found at the Nicholsville homeless camp near the International District, which has been plagued with problems that include everything from criminal activity to leadership issues. The 22nd and E. Union tiny homes are insulated and have electric lighting. And a nearby structure with plumbing has toilets. A shower is next, say organizers.

Volunteers say they were motivated, in part, by the multiplying of tents on Seattle streets this winter.

“They’re all over our town and that’s really painful to see,” said Nichols.

According to Sarah Smith, who works

Safe lots for people in RVs and cars In a move showing leadership on the issue, Mayor Ed Murray issued an emergency order Tuesday to expedite the creation of two safe lots for homeless people who live in RVs or cars.

The lots will be located at Ballard’s old Yankee Diner and in Delridge at West Marginal Way and Highland Park Way SW. The two lots are expected to open in 30 days and will each have an estimate 50-vehicle capacity. In addition, both sites will have sanitation and garbage service, and residents will be expected to follow a code of conduct that prohibits violence and the use of drugs.

Murray said that while the permanent locations are set up, three temporary street parking locations will be set up in Ballard, Interbay and SoDo. Seattle Public Utilities owns the Ballard location at Shilshole Avenue NW and 24th Avenue NW. Seattle Department of Transportation is negotiating with the state DOT to buy the Delridge location.

Councilmember Sally Bagshaw said talks were underway with landowners to host a possible site as well.

In a letter to community leaders in the Magnolia neighborhood, Bagshaw told residents meetings are underway with Mayor Murray to determine how to address the RV issue which has prompted several complaints about trash and drug use.

“I still think they are going to keep coming in droves; we’re not going to have a big enough park,” Doug Kruger, owner of Kruger & Sons Marine Propeller in the Interbay neighborhood, told KING 5.

Congress on January 4.

“As the son of schoolteachers, I am running for Congress to ensure that middleclass Washingtonians continue to have a strong voice in Washington, D.C., and that’s why overturning Citizens United and preventing dark money from destroying our politics will be my priority from my first day in office – so we can finally achieve the progressive results our families need,” Joe McDermott said in a statement.

McDermott’s only declared opponent to date, 43rd District Rep. Brady Walkinshaw, has also mentioned the corrosive effect of money on politics and has promised not to take any PAC contributions for his cam-

paign.

In spite of ruling out PAC money, Walkinshaw has turned out to be a fundraising wonder, bringing in $300,000 since declaring his candidacy on December 3.

As chair of the King County Board of Health, Joe McDermott has advocated classifying gun violence as a public health issue and was instrumental in designing an antigun program that has become a model for both state and federal governments.

“For too long, politicians in Washington, D.C., have kowtowed to the National Rifle Association,” he said in his announcement.

“It is past time that we pass tough back-

A new tiny house community is set to open January 23 in Seattle’s Central District – Photo by Josh Green/King 5

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor It’s been months since Seattle Mayor Ed Murray declared Seattle’s homeless situation a crisis. Murray, along with City Councilmembers and some area nonprofits that work with the homeless population weren’t just giving lip-service, however; several projects are in the works that show action instead of more talk. The city is set to spend $50 million this year on the problem.

And it’s not just the City government stepping up to help; King County is taking action as well. In December, when temperatures began to plummet and also citing the declared state of emergency around homelessness, King County added 100 temporary shelter beds in Seattle for men. And for the first time the county allowed some people to bring pets. The county opened its new, pet-friendly shelter at 420 Fourth Avenue in late December, a building bought by the county after a video-game company moved out.

Tiny House Village The newest evidence of action-based advocacy for Seattle’s homeless population

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cludes most of Seattle, Vashon Island, Burien, Normandy Park, Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Mountlake Terrace, Woodway, and Edmonds.

McDermott the candidate has served on the County Council since 2010, replacing Dow Constantine, who was elected County Executive. Previously, McDermott represented the West Seattle 34th Legislative District in the state Senate (2007–2010) and House (2001–2007).

McDermott the non-candidate announced his retirement after 14 terms in

4 Seattle Gay News

January 22, 2016

Kruger says he’s had issues with theft, and heroin needles left in the street.

The mayor will send the emergency order to the city council for approval.

At a recent community meeting Seattle police estimated there are 175-200 vehicles in the city that have someone living inside of them. Homeless advocates believe that these are people, many of them families, that if given the resources and help they need, are easier to help get set up for low income or transitional housing. The idea is, if they are left with their needs unmet, they will eventually become homeless altogether, if they lose the vehicle they are currently living in.

Homeless LGBTQ youth Homelessness disproportionately affects the LGBTQ community, especially our youth. On any given night in King County, up to 1,600 youth and young adults can be found on the streets, according to Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets (PSKS).

Many have been kicked out of their homes or forced to leave out of fear.

Last year, PSKS and city officials reported that more than 50% of the youth crowding homeless shelters identified as LGBTQ. The actual number of homeless LGBTQ youth and adults is unknown as many of them do not openly identify because they fear violence if they were found out. Any effort to help Seattle’s LGBTQ homeless population is an effort to help homeless LGBTQ youth and adults when taking into account those numbers. Still, advocates warn that more needs to be done to directly impact the lives of LGBTQ homeless folks because many report that they feel safer on the streets than inside the few shelters that are in place to help them. Some even report violence or the threat of violence when they tried to access shelters.

For now, some hope can be found in the leadership that Mayor Murray and the City Council, along with King County, are displaying. The issue of the number of homeless people in Seattle is daunting for sure, however, with actions like the new tiny house village and proposed RV parks happening, it is plain to see that advocates haven’t given up and it doesn’t look like they will any time soon.

ground checks, ban military-style assault weapons plaguing our communities, and once and for all hold gun manufacturers liable for the over thirty thousand deaths they cause in our country every year.”

Like Walkinshaw, McDermott is openly Gay, and also like Walkinshaw, he made his mark as a state legislator, having been chosen Assistant Majority Floor Leader by his Democratic colleagues in Olympia.

Others mentioned as possible candidates for the Seventh District Congressional seat are state Sens. Pramila Jayapal (D37) and David Frockt (D-46).

Celebrating 41 Years!

Imperial Sovereign Court of Seattle and the Olympic and Rainier Empire Monarch Candidacy Announcement

To whom it may concern,

I, DonnaTella Howe, hereby respectfully submit this letter of intent to run for the position of Empress of the Imperial Sovereign Court of Seattle – Olympia XLV. I have been a resident of Seattle since 2005 beginning my community involvement at a small scale and became a member of the Court of Seattle since 2011 where I ran for and was voted Miss Gay Seattle XLVIII. Having completed my year as Miss Gay Seattle, I stepped into the role of Imperial Princess XXXVI to help complete its reign with the Imperial Prince and later fulfilling a full year as Imperial Princess XXXVII and as of late have been the first Czarina of Capitol Hill in our new family line.

During my years in the Court I have produced events and fundraisers myself and have helped produce others, such as Coronation and last year’s “Gay Day at Wild Waves to learn more about the organization and to ensure that we will be able to continue successfully for many years to come. Amongst my time in the Court and as a Seattle entertainer I’ve worked with Quake Rugby, Lifelong AIDS Alliance, PSKS [Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets], Gay City, the HIV Vaccine Trials Unit, Pride Asia, Seattle PRIDE, and the Senior Center of West Seattle, supporting their causes may it be fundraising, outreach or hosting/entertaining for their own causes. I continue to support my alma mater, the University of Washington, taking part in campus LGBT events at both their Seattle and Bothell locations, and while living on Capitol Hill I am readily out in the community and involved thru my day job with Team Diva Real Estate and as an entertainer always willing to lend my support as needed.

As Empress I would like to continue our support of the ORION Center with hygiene supplies and work to expand that help to PSKS with the potential of helping them further as they may need. Our increasing visibility the last few years has been wonderful to see and I would like to continue that as well with events or attendance to events farther outside of our normal boundaries here in Seattle. Having worked closely with Team Diva Real Estate and Retail Therapy, I’ve come to learn more about the homeless youth population that Capitol Hill has. Specifically Lowell Elementary, I believe that these formative years are a time for our youth to have fun, imagine and learn. Not to worry or have need of necessities that should so easily be attained. I would like to work with the people/businesses that are helping do their part and add to it as we can during the school year. I would like diversify the types of events we do, moving from the stage and stepping out of our “comfort zones.” My hope is to also see “Gay Day” at least twice as large in attendance bringing more of our communities together.

It would be my hope that we are able to find ways to fundraise successfully that will allow us to complete that task while also not making it the constant focus and giving us more time to work in the community that we helped build and continue to support. I believe in the Court and its purpose and know that that is evolving system-wide. We have helped accomplish many feats and have seen the LGBT community gain a better place in the world, yet we still have work to do for ourselves and others. I would like to see more of the past court membership return to be involved and strengthen our Seattle court community overall as well as work to connect with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Leather community, the Knights of Mantra and others. I have had the pleasure of knowing many of the past monarchs and community members prior to my joining the court and have learned from them well before I was an entertainer. I feel that there is much more we can do and learn from one another to garner success that will carry us forward for many more years to come.

Please vote DonnaTella Howe for Empress of Seattle on Sunday, February 7th at Unicorn, 1118 E Pike St. during our in-town show and awards. Door is at 6 p.m. and show is 7 p.m. I hope that you will also consider joining us for our coronation week events starting on Thursday, February 11th with “Coronation 2016: A Return to the Paramount, A President’s Ball in Black and White Deco” at the Seattle Renaissance hotel on Saturday, February 13th. Door is 5 p.m. and Coronation is 6 p.m. Our full schedule of events and information can be found at the Imperial Sovereign Court of Seattle Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ISCSORE/events).

Respectfully, DonnaTella Howe Candidate for Empress – Olympia XLV

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first Democrat elected secretary of state since 1961.

In a video campaign announcement, Podlodowski challenged Republican incumbent Secretary of State Kim Wyman over voter turnout. Turnout was down to a record-low 38% last November, and only 75% of eligible voters in the state registered, Podlodowski said.

Podlodowski said Wyman should be held accountable for low turnout figures, because she opposed reforms such as sameday voter registration and preregistration of

16- and 17-year-olds.

“I think there is one place where the buck needs to stop, and that is the secretary of state,” Podlodowski said.

“Everyone’s vote is their voice in democracy and in our government statewide, so we need to make sure that everyone is participating and that every vote is getting counted…

“The timing was right for me [to run] because the problem has become too acute, that we really need a change in leadership at the secretary of state’s office in fixing this,” she added.

A former Microsoft manager, Pod-

Visit us online www.sgn.org

lodowski served on the Seattle City Council for one term, from 1995 until 1999. On the council, Podlodowski became known as a consumer advocate, creating the Cable Customer Bill of Rights.

She later became executive director of Lifelong AIDS Alliance and was a senior vice president at the public affairs firm Porter Novelli from 2009 to 2013. In 2014, she advised Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on police reform in the Office of Policy and Innovation.

She has also taken leadership roles in Washington Citizens for Fairness, the Pride Foundation, and HRC.

Former Secretary of State Sam Reed, a member of fellow Republican Wyman’s campaign steering committee, said it was “ridiculous” for Podlodowski to blame Wyman for poor voter turnout in off-year elections. Turnout in any given year is driven largely by the candidates and measures on the ballot, he said.

Wyman was Thurston County’s elections director for a decade before being elected county auditor in 2001. Elected secretary of state in 2012, Wyman is seeking a second term this fall.

January 22, 2016

Seattle Gay News 5

Reflections on the recent gathering of the Anglican Communion Rev. Jeff Gill Trinity Parish, Seattle Epiphany II (Year C) Trinity Parish, Seattle January 17, 2016 Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 36:5-10; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11 On this Second Sunday after the Epiphany it is appropriate that we see Jesus at a wedding in Cana of Galilee, where he performs his first miracle.

Marriage has been in the news this week.

For much of the past week [January 10-16] the 38 Presiding or Archbishops of the Anglican Communion (Primates in Anglicanspeak) were gathered in Canterbury, England, for conversation and consultation on, yes, marriage – more specifically, same-sex marriage.

Issues around homosexuality have been hotly debated in church circles for many years. It was in 2003 that the consecration of Gene Robinson as the first openly gay Bishop in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion took place. I was there for the occasion. There were many throughout the Anglican Communion who reacted to this consecration in an angry and hostile manner. Just six months later I was at a clergy conference in Menlo Park, California, when on our final day together the news came that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court had issued a ruling making it illegal to discriminate against same sex couples in granting marriage licenses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As a priest in Massachusetts at the time, I returned home and within days was asked by our bishop to be part of a small task force of clergy, theologians, and lawyers to look at formulating our diocesan response to the issue of whether the clergy could now officiate at the marriage of same sex couples. Based on our recommendations, the bishop decided that clergy could conduct blessings of same sex marriages that had been civilly constituted, even though our marriage rite in the Book of Common Prayer still defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

Marriage equality progressively gained traction in church and society. Parishes like this one publically identified themselves as Open and Affirming of LGBT persons. By 2012, just days after I began my ministry here at Trinity, the Washington state ballot initiative calling for the rights of gays and lesbians to marry was certified (remember Prop. 74?). Since that time marriage equality has spread across the country, and last summer the Supreme Court of the United States struck down all obstacles to same sex marriage throughout the entire United States of America.

Attitudes have changed substantially and a majority of Americans now believe in the right of all people to marry the person they love. And churches are gradually changing too. Studies show that even a majority of younger evangelical Christians also support marriage equality.

Just this past summer, the General Convention of The Episcopal Church approved new rites for the blessing of same sex marriages allowing clergy throughout the Episcopal Church to perform marriages of same sex couples. We’ve had the privilege of sharing in many beautiful marriages of same-gender couples right here at Trinity.

Marriage is now open to all people in all fifty states, and throughout the Episcopal Church. The barriers seem to be going down

6 Seattle Gay News

Trinity Parish in downtown Seattle – www.wgclark.com

everywhere…

Oh, that it were so!

The past twelve years have seen increasing division in our worldwide Anglican Communion, particularly on the part of bishops in the global south, encouraged by breakaway bishops and clergy from the Episcopal Church here in the U.S. Last summer’s decision by our General Convention was not received happily in many parts of the Communion. This week’s gathering of the heads of the 38 Provinces of the Communion was an opportunity to test whether the Anglican Communion would continue to exist as we have known it, or change in some substantial way, or perhaps even cease to exist.

What happened there this week [the week of January 10-16] came as a great disappointment to all of us who have worked and prayed and longed for the day when all God’s children could count on the church to be a place of welcome and inclusion and affirmation, and where the sacraments – all of them – would be open to all without respect to their sexual orientation or identity.

We learned on Friday that The Episcopal Church has been sanctioned by the Primates of the Anglican Communion.

Press reports of our being “suspended” or “excommunicated” (both of which I have seen) are not only sensationalist, they’re inaccurate. The sanctions on our branch of the church are that we may not play a role on any of the ecumenical or interfaith bodies of the Anglican Communion for the next three years, nor be appointed to any of the internal committees on doctrine or polity (a sanction that many, I’m sure, have received with great joy!). We will be at the table, but with no vote on decisions. We, for the sake of unity, will play a second-class role.

Susan Russell of All Saints’ Church in Pasadena, speaking of the sanctions, says, “I’m proud and grateful that being considered second class Anglicans is a price we are willing to pay to treat God’s beloved LGBT people as first class Christians.”

Our own Presiding Bishop who represented The Episcopal Church at the meeting in Canterbury gave a statement at the close of the gathering in which he expressed his sadness and disappointment at the way things had turned out. But he did not capitulate.

He spoke to his fellow Primates just before their final vote on the sanctions and said: “Our commitment [in The Episcopal Church] to be an inclusive church is not based on a social theory or capitulation

January 22, 2016

to the ways of the culture, but on our belief that the outstretched arms of Jesus on the cross are a sign of the very love of God reaching out to us all. While I understand that many disagree with us, our decision regarding marriage is based on the belief that the words of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians are true for the church today: All who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, for all are one in Christ.”

“For so many who are committed to following Jesus in the way of love and being a church that lives that love, this decision will bring real pain,” he said. “For fellow disciples of Jesus in our church who are gay or lesbian, this will bring more pain. For many who have felt and been rejected by the church because of who they are, for many who have felt and been rejected by families and communities, our church opening itself in love was a sign of hope. And this will add pain on top of pain.”

Bishop Curry addressed those who were about to vote on the sanctions, many of whom were from the African Provinces of the Communion. He said, “I stand before you as your brother. I stand before you as a descendant of African slaves, stolen from their native land, enslaved in a bitter bondage, and then even after emancipation, segregated and excluded in church and society.

And this conjures that up again, and brings pain.

“The pain for many will be real,” he said.

“But God is greater than anything. I love Jesus and I love the church. I am a Christian in the Anglican way. And like you, as we have said in this meeting, I am committed to ‘walking together’ with you as fellow primates in the Anglican family.”

Some in our church might say, O why bother with the Anglican Communion anyway if they’re going to be this way and if they’re not going to affirm our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters? After all, this is a big step backwards, and it sends a terrible message to the world that the church would further marginalize people who already suffer not only discrimination but the threat of imprisonment in many countries, and even death.

And that, I would suggest, might be precisely the reason for us to stay in this Communion – yes, even as second-class citizens – to continue to bear witness to the truth of God’s all-embracing love, to stand alongside gay, lesbian, transgender, queer folk in places like Uganda and Kenya and Nigeria

and other parts of the world where just being who they are is dangerous, and where the church is often behind the laws that persecute them and cast them to the margins.

We have a role to play, to be a voice speaking on their behalf, and to be Christ’s arms stretched wide to embrace them in sacrificial love.

There is work for us to do. We may take pride in our Open and Affirming stance here at Trinity, but we cannot sit back and say we have done our part. There is still much work to do, yes, even here in our own city where violence against LGBTQ people has been on the rise in recent times.

As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday we celebrate this weekend said, “no one is free until all of us are free.”

He also famously said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

It may not always feel that way, and our faith may have been put to the test in the events of this week, but remember that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) Bishop Curry said this week, “It’s important to remember that the Anglican Communion is not a matter of structure and organization. The Anglican Communion is a network of relationships that have been built on mission partnerships, relationships that are grounded in a common faith [relationships we have been privileged to take part in with the church in places like Rwanda, South Sudan, and Kenya right here at Trinity]… relationships that are profoundly committed to following the way of Jesus of Nazareth by helping the poorest of the poor, and helping this world to be a place where no child goes to bed hungry ever. That’s what the Anglican Communion is, and that Communion continues and moves forward.”

My brothers and sisters, all of us, straight and gay, black, brown, white, pink, or green – whoever you are – it’s time for us to be strong, to stand firm, and to keep doing the work that God calls us to do. The Episcopal Church will not be going back on its commitment, and neither will this parish.

At the wedding in Cana, it came to Mary’s attention that they had run out of wine, and so she said to Jesus, “They have no wine!” The implication was, “do something!” Jesus’ first response was a kind of shy one. I always imagine him saying under his breath to her, “Mother! It’s none of our business! Let them take care of it.” And then (shyly), “And besides, my time has not yet come.” Mary went to the helpers anyway and said to them, pointing to Jesus, “Do whatever he tells you.” He told them to fill the jars with water, then take them to the wine steward. And when the steward tasted it, it was wine, and it was better than the first wine they had served.

I think the message in this story for us today is for us to get over the shyness and do something! Jesus made something good out of a bad situation. We can do the same. I’m thinking about getting some badges printed up that say, “Proud to be a second-class Anglican.” Now that’ll be a conversation starter!

So, pray for our Anglican Communion.

Pray for all those who have not heard just how much God loves them, whoever they are. Pray for all of us that we may not rest until ALL have known the surpassing love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Courtesy of Rev. Jeff Gill and Trinity Parish, Seattle.

Celebrating 41 Years!

Montana governor to protect LGBT state employees

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer To celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock signed an executive order prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity for state employees, as well employees of the state’s contractors and subcontractors.

The new order expands on protections instituted by then-Gov. Brian Schweitzer in 2008, protecting state employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation only.

Bullock’s order will go into effect immediately and will direct Montana’s Department of Administration to ensure that state agencies, as well as state contractors and subcontractors, do not discriminate in employment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The order also bans discrimination in the provision of government services and calls for inclusive non-discrimination and harassment prevention programs with an emphasis on cultural diversity.

Like 30 other states, Montana lacks civil rights laws protecting its LGBT residents, something Gov. Bullock noted in his speech at the signing. Four Montana cities – Bozeman, Butte, Helena, and Missoula – have nondiscrimination ordinances that protect LGBT residents from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. “[W]hile an executive order applies to state government only, I encourage private businesses to examine their policies as well,” the governor said.

Like Schweitzer, Bullock is a Democrat

Montana Governor Steve Bullock – trib.com

governing a predominantly Republican state with a Republican-controlled legislature. He was elected in 2012 after serving as Montana attorney general.

In a press statement, HRC hailed the governor’s action.

“Discrimination in any form is wrong, and through his actions today, Gov. Bullock has taken a bold step to expand equality and fairness for all,” said HRC President Chad Griffin.

“We commend him for doing every-

thing in his administrative power to fight for the rights of LGBT Montanans, and hope his actions encourage other government officials to make safeguarding protections for all residents and visitors a priority.”

Tennessee marriage nullification bill falls flat

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer A bill that would have nullified the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on samesex marriage in Tennessee was killed in committee on January 20.

Republican Rep. Mark Pody said God told him to file the bill, titled “Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act,” because same-sex marriage is “wicked.”

Evangelicals gathered outside the Tennessee capitol building to pray for the success of the measure.

“We have to do something quickly, because there’s a cliff ahead of us, a civilization, and it’s within sight,” said Lydon Allen, a pastor at the Woodmont Bible Church in Nashville.

Chet Gallagher of a group called Courts Cannot Make Laws urged the Tennessee House civil justice subcommittee to send the bill to the House floor for a vote.

“Do not let this die here,” Gallagher said.

“Let it go to your peers and be voted on the way that it’s supposed to be voted on.”

“In the name of Jesus, I’m begging you to do that,” he said.

The prayers did not influence the subcommittee, however, because that body voted the measure down 4-1.

“Nullification scares the daylights out of me,” Republican Rep. Mike Carter said.

“Because no one will answer me who has

Tennessee – www.cftech.com

the authority to nullify, and nobody will answer me where that authority is derived.”

Carter was among two Republicans and two Democrats who voted against the bill. Republican Rep. Jim Coley, the panel’s chairman, was the lone vote in favor of the bill.

The bill would have stipulated that “natural marriage between one (1) man and one (1) woman as recognized by the people of Tennessee” would “remain the law in Tennessee, regardless of any court decision to the contrary. Any court decision purporting to strike down natural marriage, including Obergefell v. Hodges, is unauthoritative, void, and of no effect.”

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Six Tennessee counties passed resolutions in support of the measure, but had it passed, there would have been severe repercussions for the state treasury. According to the Tennessee General Assembly’s fiscal review committee, the bill could have cost the state $8.5 billion in federal funding for Medicaid and services for low-income families if it had passed.

The state would also have had to cover all fees for the countless legal battles the bill would guarantee, but “the Attorney General cannot reasonably estimate the impact that would result.” Recent legal bills for states that fought same-sex marriage include $2 million in Kentucky, $1.9 million in Michi-

gan, $1.1 million in Ohio, and $500,000 in Arizona. Tennessee already faces a bill of $2.3 million for its own marriage fight.

HRC condemned the measure as “outrageous.”

“As the first vote this year on the nearly 100 anti-LGBT bills being considered across 24 states, this is certainly encouraging news from Tennessee,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow.

“We will remain vigilant in case this legislation should resurface in any other form, and continue to work with our local partners to fight other anti-LGBT legislation in the Tennessee legislature.”

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Anglicans apologize to Gays, then punish Episcopalians for blessing same-sex marriage

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer In a desperate bid to keep their church from splitting over LGBT rights, the world conference of Anglican bishops adopted a schizophrenic policy – apologizing to its LGBT members, but also punishing the U.S. Episcopalian Church for blessing same-sex marriages.

The Anglican Communion includes the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in the United States, but more than half of its 86 million members are in African dioceses, where bishops are committed to maintaining old colonial-era laws against Gay sex.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby – the head of the worldwide Anglican Church – warned at the outset of the annual conference that the church was in danger of breaking apart over LGBT issues.

As the conference closed, Welby said that he had battled to keep the warring liberal North American and conservative African wings of the church together in the face of threats of a permanent schism.

“I don’t agree with everyone around the communion, and they certainly don’t agree with me,” he said in an indication of the fractious debate within the church.

In a major speech, Welby made an apparently heartfelt apology to LGBT Angli-

cans.

“It’s a constant source of deep sadness that people are persecuted for their sexuality,” he said.

“I want to take this opportunity personally to say how sorry I am for the hurt and pain, in the past and present, that the church has caused and the love that we at times completely failed to show, and still do, in many parts of the world, including in this country.”

Nevertheless, Welby went along with a move to discipline the U.S. church because it permits same-sex marriage.

“We are very careful not to use the word sanctions,” he warned, “[but] if any province is out of line, there will be consequences.”

For the Episcopal Church – the American branch of the Anglican Communion – the consequence of supporting marriage equality was a three-year suspension from official meetings of church policy-making bodies.

Episcopal leaders said they would remain within the Communion, but would also continue to bless same-sex marriages.

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry told the conference that he remained “committed to ‘walking together’ with you as fellow primates in the Anglican family,” but lamented their decision.

“For fellow disciples of Jesus in our

church who are gay and lesbian, this will bring more pain,” he said.

Outside Canterbury Cathedral, the mother church of Anglicans, where the conference took place, some 40 angry LGBT Anglicans from African countries protested the sanctions on the U.S. church.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the groups held signs with slogans like “Anglican Archbigots, shame on you” and “Homosexuality is African, homophobia is not.”

A Gay Nigerian Anglican who identified himself only as “Chijioke” said African bishops should worry about bad governments and poverty rather than obsessing about issues of sexual orientation.

“We have been made to feel that we are nobody. That is not what the church should do. God created all of us,” he said.

Meanwhile, a member of Britain’s House of Lords has asked the British government to consider disestablishing the Church of

England in retaliation for its continuing discrimination against the LGBT community.

Lord Scriven submitted a written question to the Ministry of Justice asking “whether they plan to set up a commission to look at the question of the disestablishment of the Church of England, in the light of the communiqué from Anglican Primates about homosexuality and same-sex marriage.”

As the established state church, the Church of England enjoys a number of special legal rights, as well as getting 26 seats in the House of Lords reserved for bishops.

Scriven told PinkNews that the Church’s actions are “institutionally homophobic” and that he “hopes the [government’s] answer [on disestablishment] is yes.”

I not only spoke at Liberty University but Tony Perkins wrote my speech, Trump admits

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer In an interview with CNN news anchor Don Lemon, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump admitted that Family Research Council CEO Tony Perkins wrote the speech he gave at Liberty University.

Liberty University was founded by antiGay pastor Jerry Falwell and is now run by Falwell’s son, Jerry Jr. Perkins, whose organization has been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has a long anti-Gay record as well as an association with racist groups.

In 2001, while running for the U.S. Senate from his native Louisiana, he spoke to a meeting of the white-supremacist Conservative Citizens Council. Reports later surfaced that in a 1996 campaign, he paid Ku Klux Klan Wizard David Duke more than $82,000 for Duke’s mailing list.

While attempting to explain to Lemon

10 Seattle Gay News

why he cited a Bible verse from what he called “Two Corinthians” instead of the commonly accepted “Second Corinthians” during his remarks at the school, Trump revealed that Perkins had written the speech.

“Frankly,” Trump told Lemon, “Tony Perkins wrote that out for me. Tony thought it would be great. He knew I was going to Liberty; he has a great respect for Liberty.”

Trump went on to describe Perkins as “a very, very good guy.”

Perkins reciprocated the praise, saying Trump would stand up to Democrats, unlike establishment Republicans.

“Donald Trump is the result of a Republican leadership here in Washington, D.C., that has been playing political footsies with Barack Obama rather than fisticuffs,” Perkins said. “People are tired of it, and that includes evangelicals.”

Perkins, who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1996 to 2004 and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2002, is reported to be interested in reviving his political career.

January 22, 2016

Celebrating 41 Years!

rasmussen continued from cover

Councilmember named Jeanette Williams.

He then spent 8 years working for the nonprofit, Senior Services, fighting for seniors on various projects.

Ethics issues and overall public dissatisfaction with the City Council encouraged Tom to run for office in 2003. His opponent, incumbent Margaret Pageler was increasingly seen as disinterested and disengaged, creating a dramatic contrast between her and Tom, a fresh voice who was eager to serve. Tom ended up winning the election with 53 percent of the vote to Pageler’s 47 percent.

Tom Rasmussen has since gained a reputation for being a soft spoken and devoted civic servant. Working to solve a myriad of complex issues, he chaired three committees while on the City Council: Housing and Human Health for four years, Parks and Seattle Center for two years, and Transportation for six years.

“It’s an incredibly powerful and challenging position, serving on the Council.

As long as you have clear goals, you are focused, and you work hard to accomplish your goals, it can be very rewarding.”

As we sat drinking coffee at Kaladi Brothers on Capitol Hill, I asked Tom to reflect on some of his greatest accomplishments while serving on the council. Tom pointed across the street at a newly constructed building in what was part of a sixyear neighborhood wide project attempting to preserve the city’s character while allowing much needed development as the city expands vertically. Examples of this project can be seen throughout Capitol Hill.

Tom explained that this now trendy neighborhood experiencing enormous growth was once a fearful part of town

where few wanted to move and special land use codes prevented buildings from exceeding 65 feet, so the neighborhood developed a special character that many of us began to cherish. But with the new growth Seattle is experiencing, many of the shorter buildings began to be bulldozed, changing the landscape of the neighborhood into something unrecognizable.

Both conservationists and developers had plans for the neighborhood’s future, one advocated creating a conservation district to preserve the remaining buildings while the other valued development over preserving the unique character of Capitol Hill. Neither plan had the neighborhood’s best long-term interest in mind until a compromise was reached known as façadism.

Working with businesses, developers, and the community, the City Council drafted new regulations that would allow developers to build 10 feet higher if they preserved a building’s façade and back dropped the building behind this façade in order to preserve some of Capitol Hill’s unique character. Though not perfect, it was an extraordinary accomplishment in that it exemplified a resolution where both opposing camps compromised and the neighborhood preserved some of its character while maintaining inevitable growth.

As expected with politics, not everyone agrees on everything and Tom recalls this as the most difficult part of his job. In particular, occasionally disagreeing with the people he normally agreed with and vowed to represent – labor organizations and his constituents. “Having to disagree with these groups, that was most difficult.”

When asked about the most challenging issue he worked on, Tom recalls his time spent chairing the Parks and Seattle Center committee, when in the midst of a recession, funding for Seattle’s parks was soon to

expire without any plans to renew the levee.

“This was particularly challenging because few people wanted to deal with the issue in a recession and the mayor was against it,” he recalled. Luckily Tom found enough support on the City Council to fund a campaign putting the issue on a ballot measure which ended up passing, ensuring the continued funding and maintenance of Seattle’s many parks.

With the economic growth the city is experiencing, Seattle is bound to run into many problems along the way. Chief among them are transportation and housing.

Despite the fact that Seattle spends 45 million dollars on dealing with homelessness, more than most major U.S. cities, Tom explained that it continues to be a huge problem in the city partly because it’s a multifaceted issue but also because it’s simply becoming less and less affordable to live here. According to Tom, “figuring out a way to make it affordable for all incomes will be crucial in dealing with the issue – one of the many important issues the new city council will have to undertake.”

Living in West Seattle, Tom knows a thing or two about the hassle of commuting from one part of town to another. “We’re a peninsula over here,” he says about his neighborhood where it was once quite a journey just getting downtown. “This is a major issue that will have to be dealt with as the city grows” at a rate that is difficult to keep up with. With experience on his side working on past transportation issues, Tom is confident Seattle will make the smart decisions as it has done in the past, to continue to fund infrastructure projects that will make Seattle a more livable place to live in the future.

After his success with façadism on Capitol Hill, Tom envisions putting a lid over I-5 in what could potentially be a new com-

munity linking downtown to Capitol Hill, making use of valuable space while cutting out the noise and unsightly views of the freeway for the entire surrounding community.

“A community with housing, shops, landscaping, that’s the vision I have for capping I-5.”

When Tom announced that he was stepping down last January, he did so with the intention of focusing more on the issues in his final year instead of on campaigning.

Most admirably, he decided against running for a fourth term to give someone else a chance to govern, understanding that service in government is not a lifelong career but an opportunity to serve the people as well as a great responsibility.

As my time with Tom wound down, I asked about his plans for the future and he replied with, “Oh gosh, I still have boxes from the Council to unpack.” To be fair, it has only been a few weeks but Tom doesn’t envision himself retiring from public service any time soon. “Human services and human rights are a part of my DNA,” he explained, “and I plan to continue to serve my community in any way that I can be useful.”

These days Tom is busy volunteering and raising money for different causes and organizations while adjusting to life away from the Council. He is also recovering from a recent trip to Mexico where he and his husband Steve explored the local community, snorkeled, and hiked along rivers and jumped into them in what is called “canyoning.”

While he’s certainly not planning on taking it easy in this next chapter of his life, I think it’s safe to say that Seattle approves of him taking some Tom time off.

You deserve it – thank you for your service, Councilmember Tom Rasmussen!

I took on four heads of state on LGBT rights, Joe Biden says

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Outspoken Vice President Joe Biden says he has taken on at least four foreign heads of state over LGBT rights.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Biden recounted his adventures challenging the heads of homophobic countries.

“I have had some run-ins with at least four heads of state already on this,” he said.

In his talk, Biden dismissed arguments that outsiders should respect local “culture.”

“LGBT people face violence, harassment, unequal treatment, mistreatment by cops, denial of health care, isolation…always in the name of ‘culture’.

“I’ve had it up to here with ‘culture’. I really mean it.

“Culture never justifies rank, raw, discrimination or violation of human rights.

There is no cultural justification. None.

None. None.

“How can countries still be hiding behind ‘This is our culture’? People used to be cannibals; that was part of the ‘culture’.

People used to do terrible things as part of the ‘culture’.

“The progress of humankind has been a steady progress toward acknowledging the basic fundamental rights of other people.”

Biden went on to tell international busi-

ness leaders that it was up to them to secure real progress toward LGBT equality.

“When it comes to LGBT rights in workplace, the world is looking to you,” he said. “I know that sounds like hyperbole, sounds like an exaggeration. But they look to you.

“You have more impact than anything the federal government has done, or the Supreme Court of the United States has done, or that Barack Obama or Joe Biden have done lighting up the White House.

“You have more impact. You have more impact in countries around the world than we do on those social issues.”

A longtime supporter of LGBT rights, Biden famously forced President Obama’s hand on same-sex marriage in May 2012, publicly backing equality while the president was still officially “evolving” on the issue.

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Vice President Joe Biden – Yuri Gripas/Reuters via www.csmonitor.com

Reportedly “chaos erupted inside the West Wing” after news of Biden’s comments, but within days Obama had also come out in favor of same-sex marriage.

Again in 2014, Biden advocated an executive order banning anti-LGBT discrimination in the workplace even though the president had already rejected calls for

executive action. Biden got his way on that occasion as well, with Obama reversing his position again and signing an order just two months later.

Speaking out about the incidents last summer, Biden said he “didn’t have a problem” getting in front of Obama.

January 22, 2016

Seattle Gay News 11

Sports Equality Foundation launches to form Gay athlete support network

by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Gay athletes got a new support network on Wednesday with the launch of the Sports Equality Foundation.

The organization boasts the NBA’s first openly Gay player Jason Collins and Gay ex-MLB player Billy Bean on its advisory board. Sports Equality Foundation says it will focus on empowering LGBT athletes

and coaches to come out. According to the new advocacy foundation, this will spark change in locker rooms across the country that are perceived as unwelcoming to athletes who don’t identify as straight.

“Since I came out a couple years ago, I’ve found that the most important tool we have to ending homophobia and transphobia in sports is people in sports coming out,” Anthony Nicodemo, a New York high school boys’ basketball coach, wrote on Wednes-

day in the Huffington Post. Nicodemo is on the foundation’s board of directors and is the chair of its advisory committee.

“More than bringing in campus speakers or conducting sensitivity trainings, it’s the people coming out who have truly changed sports culture and shined a light on change that has already occurred,” he said.

The foundation, which already has a $100,000 commitment from the board, according to USA Today, will work on several

different levels. Nicodemo says those levels include providing resources to those who seek to come out and a platform on which those who come out can share their stories.

The foundation’s founders say they know change may not happen instantly.

Discrimination in locker rooms has ranged from cases of homophobia to sexual hazing.

Both of those subjects appeared in the ABC drama “American Crime.”

“There’s super homophobia [in locker rooms], yet [some athletes] use homosexual acts as ways to dominate each other,” the show’s executive producer Michael McDonald told The Washington Post last week.

“It’s a very strange, strange environment.”

But Nicodemo says the current cultural makeup of the nation offers hope.

“We’re at a time when people in sports are ready to embrace their teammates and colleagues who are LGBT,” he wrote. “[T]he vast majority of athletes in high school, college and the pros, the sports world around them is ready to embrace them: They just need to share their truth.”

Wade Davis, an openly Gay ex-NFL player who heads up the advocacy group the You Can Play Project, which has worked with Gay athletes seeking to come out since 2011, says the more younger athletes feel comfortable coming out, the better.

“I really, truly envy any person who is out at a young age,” he said. “I look at them with such admiration, and try to tell them how courageous they are, because they don’t see what they’re doing as something that’s so great.”

Sarah Palin endorses Trump, Phyllis Schlafly endorses Cruz

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer Two icons of the far right have weighed in on the Republican presidential race, with Sarah Palin endorsing Donald Trump and Phyllis Schlafly backing Ted Cruz.

“I’m proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for president,” Palin said in a sedate January 18 statement provided by the Trump campaign.

The next day she appeared in person at a Trump rally in Ames, Iowa, and delivered an enthusiastic but nearly incoherent speech on Trump’s behalf.

Palin denounced the so-called Republican establishment for “attacking their own front-runner” and challenged Republicans who have suggested that Trump had flipflopped on issues like gun control and abortion rights.

“Oh my goodness gracious,” Palin exclaimed. “What the heck would the establishment know about conservativism? Who are they to tell us that we’re not conservative enough? Give me a break!”

Trump, meanwhile, stood to one side, beaming.

“I am greatly honored to receive Sarah’s endorsement,” Trump said in a subsequent statement. “She is a friend and a high-quality person whom I have great respect for. I am proud to have her support.”

The Palin endorsement is expected to help Trump among Iowa’s evangelical voters, who are said to admire the former vice

12 Seattle Gay News

presidential candidate.

“Palin’s brand among evangelicals is as gold as the faucets in Trump Tower,” said Ralph Reed, the chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition.

Trump’s rival Ted Cruz, who has tried to cultivate an alliance with Palin, reaffirmed his affection for her.

“I love Sarah Palin,” Cruz told reporters in New Hampshire. “Sarah Palin is fantastic. Without her friendship and support, I wouldn’t be in the Senate today. So regardless of what Sarah decides to do in 2016, I will always remain a big, big fan of Sarah Palin.”

Cruz also trotted out his own endorsement from the 91-year-old Phyllis Schlafly and her Eagle Forum.

Yes, Phyllis Schlafly is still alive. In fact, the veteran anti-Gay and anti-choice crusader still retains considerable political influence, maintaining the Republican Party’s anti-abortion platform plank largely on her

January 22, 2016

Sarah Palin – Jeff Malet/maletphoto.com via www.salon.com

own say-so.

“While establishment Republicans led the charge for amnesty and betrayed the trust of those who elected them, Ted Cruz fought to uphold the law and defend our borders,” her Eagle Forum said in a statement.

In return, Cruz showered praise Schlafly.

“Phyllis Schlafly has given me so much good advice over the years, and I admire the courage of grassroots activists carrying on

her great work,” he said in a statement.

While Schlafly may have given Cruz good advice, her judgment about presidential politics has never really panned out. In 1964 she coined the slogan “A Choice, Not an Echo” for Republican presidential failure Barry Goldwater. She later endorsed Pat Buchannan, Michelle Bachman, and Rick Santorum.

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