Issue 43 Volume 38
Celebrating 37 Years!
FRIDAY October 22, 2010 FREE! 25¢ in bookstores & news stands
SEAMEC RATINGS p. 8
RED DRESS p. 17
DR. J – ru2hot? p. 19
Seattle Gay News SEATTLE’S LGBT NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
Transgender issues – new NGLTF study just released file photo
by Shaun Knittel SGN Associate Editor Does anyone else want off of this ride? The legal and social battle over the U.S. military’s outdated and just plain discriminatory policy “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), which bars Gays and Lesbians from serving openly, has taken on a whole new life during the past two weeks. The words “bizarre” and “limbo” immediately come to mind. The week started off promisingly enough, as those on both sides of the DADT repeal expected U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips to reject the government’s effort to halt her order, telling the military to stop enforcing the 17-year policy. On October 18, Phillips did just that, and 24 hours later, headlines across the nation shouted, “U.S Military Accepting Openly Gay Recruits!” … or so we thought. The Justice Department immediately asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to issue a temporary stay on Phillip’s rul-
Lakewood, WA Gay teen latest suicide victim
associated press
and the National Center for Transgender Equality. “From our experience working with Transgender people, we had prepared ourselves for high rates of suicide attempts, but we didn’t expect anything like this,” said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. “Our study participants reported attempting suicide at a rate more than 25 Founder of the Ingersoll Gender Center times the national avMarsha Botzer erage.” by Shaun Knittel In truth, 41% of all respondents reported that they had attempted SGN Associate Editor suicide, compared with national More than half of Transgender estimates of 1.6%. “These shocking and disheartenand gender non-conforming people who were bullied, harassed, or ing numbers speak to the urgency assaulted in school because of their of ending bullying in our nation’s gender identity have attempted schools and ending discriminasuicide, according to just-released tion in our nation’s workplaces. findings from the National Trans- We know from the recent rash of gender Discrimination Survey, suicides among young people conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) see transgender page 18
DADT in flux, Gay troops left in limbo
DADT protester outside the United States Capitol building
ing. No big surprise there; from the obligation to defend any law curbeginning, President Obama and rently in place. the Justice Department have said As soon as I heard that former that, regardless of public opinion Army Lieutenant and DADT re(over half of all Americans are pro-repeal), they have the legal see dadt page 20
Uganda tabloid outs 100 Gay Ugandans
School in Lakewood. Terrel’s mother, Cheryl Williams, found her son in his bedroom closet. “My son meant the world to me, and high school bullies pushed him over the edge. I hope and pray that no other child ever has to go through what he did. Bullying isn’t worth it. Why can’t people just be nice?” Cheryl wrote in a statement she posted on Terrel’s Twitter page. Terrel’s suicide note read:
news photo
“I’m sorry to my immediate loved ones, but I feel suicide is the only way out. I felt coming out, and being happy with Daric, was the best thing I could’ve ever done. But I didn’t think it would lead to my death at an early age. “Today, was the record worst day of my life, some kids at school stole some of my stuff that I got from people I really cared about, Terrel Williams and that really pushed me over the by Shaun Knittel The latest teen to fall victim to top, next to being shoved into a SGN Associate Editor anti-LGBTQ bullying, Terrel Wil- wall, and my ribs being broken.” liams, 17, took his life on October Despite recent media attention 13 in Lakewood, Washington. TerTerrel’s boyfriend, Daric Rawr, and a number of video projects rel penned a suicide note and then told the online Gay new source encouraging LGBTQ teens to stay hung himself in the family’s home LGBTQ Nation that following the resilient in the face of opposition, just hours after being attacked by October 13 incident, Terrel had to teen suicides within the Gay com- five other high school students munity continue at an alarming who pushed and threw him into rate. a brick wall at Clover Park High see teen page 18
The cover of the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone
by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone – not related to the U.S. publication of the same name – has published a front-page story outing what it claims are 100 Gay Ugandans. Titled “100 Pictures of Uganda’s Top Homos Leak – Hang Them,” the story was published October 9, just five days before the one-year anniversary of Uganda’s notorious “Kill the Gays” legislation.
The tabloid not only published the names and photos of the men, but also what it said were their home addresses. Since the story was published, at least four Gay Ugandans on the list have been attacked and many others are in hiding, according to human rights activist Julian Onziema. One person named in the story had his home stoned by neighbors. More than 20 LGBT Ugandans see uganda page 21