SEATTLE (AP)

The volunteer group that has organized an annual Seattle gay pride celebration since 1975 says it is disbanding while another group says it hopes to continue the June parade and festival.

Seattle Out and Proud said its debt of $102,000 to the city for the 2006 event at Seattle Center, combined with volunteer fatigue, prompted the decision to cancel its 2007 plans.

“People can still be proud … it just means we’re tired,” Weston Sprigg, vice president of Seattle Out and Proud, told The Seattle Times. He said the group is meeting with bankruptcy attorneys.

“It’s unfortunate but we are a supportive group of people that want the best for our community and hope now that someone will step up and take the events to the next level,” Sprigg said.

Each June, in cities across the country, gay communities honor the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York that marked the start of the modern gay rights movement.

Seattle’s Pride celebration, which has become one of the largest in the country, traditionally included a festival at Volunteer Park and a parade along Broadway, both on Capitol Hill, in the heart of Seattle’s gay community.

Organizers moved the festival to Seattle Center and the parade to downtown Seattle last year in an attempt to attract more widespread exposure and spread out a little, but they also gained $102,000 in debt and protests by some members of the gay community.

More than 200,000 people participated in the festivities last year, but the organization did not collect enough money from sponsorships and donations to cover its expenses, which were much greater at Seattle Center than on Capitol Hill.

“It’s successful with attendees, it’s successful visually and it’s successful politically,” Sprigg said. “It’s just not successful financially.”

Other organizations have expressed interest in saving gay pride festivities in Seattle in 2007. Stepping up to take the lead is Capitol Hill-based LGBT Community Center, which last year organized a march and music festival called Queerfest as a way to accommodate supporters who wanted to keep Pride weekend festivities on Capitol Hill.

Queerfest drew between 20,000 and 30,000 people, said Shannon Thomas, executive director of the community center.

This year, even before it learned Seattle Out and Proud might cancel Seattle Pride, the LGBT Community Center obtained a license to hold festivities June 23.

“We’re sad to see their announcement but excited by what the results could be. We’re figuring out a strategy for how we will become involved,” Thomas said.

She expressed confidence her group could pull off an event on the scale of previous pride celebrations.

“We’re committed to making sure a Pride celebration occurs,” she said. “If we step up, we want to have a very viable plan in place.”

Those involved in organizing Pride events in the past said a successful event costs $50,000 or so.

George Bakan, editor of the Seattle Gay News, said, “there’s probably $20,000 to $30,000 that can flow from businesses in a matter of days if the community center decides to take the lead and organize a major Capitol Hill Pride day.”

—

Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com

2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

WASHINGTON (AP)

Rep. Barney Frank and other supporters of a federal ban on workplace discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender workers are reviving their push for the legislation in the Democratic-run Congress.

“This is about really protecting people,” said Frank, D-Mass., a leading proponent of the measure, at a Tuesday news conference. “It is seeking people’s right to be able to get a job, to get promoted, to be treated on the job based solely on job performance.”

The measure, known as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, would make it illegal for employers to make decisions about hiring, firing, promoting or paying an employee based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Churches and the military would be exempt.

It is legal for employers in 33 states to fire someone for being gay, supporters of the measure said.

The bill’s supporters faced an uphill climb on Capitol Hill before Democrats took control of Congress in last fall’s elections. Republicans had not permitted votes on similar measures while they controlled the House in past years. One version was defeated by a single vote in the Senate in 1996.

Some Republicans feared a federal ban on workplace discrimination could undermine the rights of people who oppose homosexuality for religious reasons. Others charged that gay rights advocates were exaggerating the extent of anti-gay discrimination to boost their political agenda.

Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition, a conservative group that opposes the measure, said he’s bothered by comparisons between the bill and the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act that helped oppressed minorities.

“This is crazy,” Sheldon said. “What are they trying to prove? There’s no level of discrimination.”

Many leading corporations have already adopted policies to protect their gay, lesbian and transgender employees, Frank said. More than 85 percent of the Fortune 500 companies include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policies, as do 17 states and many local governments.

“I want a gentler world,” said Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., a longtime backer of the bill. “I want a world where people are nicer to each other and more respectful. I want a more moral world and this legislation meets all those needs.”

Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont are among states that have laws banning sexual orientation discrimination. Wisconsin passed the first such legislation in 1982, noted Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. She urged the nation to follow her home state’s lead.

“It is high time that we as a nation declare employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity to be unlawful, too,” she said.

Supporters hope their bill will get a boost from another gay-rights measure that supporters have high hopes for this year in Congress — a hate crimes bill targeting offenses motivated by anti-gay bias.

The House Democratic leadership has promised that the workplace discrimination bill will come to a floor vote this year, Frank said.

Frank said he was optimistic the measure would pass Congress this year, but he doubted there would be enough votes to override a presidential veto. President Bush has opposed similar bills in the past, Sheldon said.

Frank and Sheldon agreed that debate over the bill is likely to become part of the 2008 presidential campaign as candidates are asked to take sides.

“All of the candidates will have to address this issue of homosexuality,” said Sheldon.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 

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Today’s Headlines
Duct Tape Hides Objectional T-Shirt Slogan
Lawmakers Renew Push for Ban on Job Discrimination Against Gays
Organizers of Seattle Gay Pride to Disband

SACRAMENTO, April 24 (UPI)

Conservative high school students suspended for wearing offensive t-shirts in Sacramento, Calif., can wear them if the word “sodomy’ is covered by duct tape. The uproar began last week on the national Day of Silence, when supporters of gays and lesbians gave up small talk as a show of solidarity. Several conservative students responded by wearing t-shirts with religious quotations, including the phrase Sodomy is sin, the Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday. The students were suspended for what school officials said was offensive wording, and several protests were staged. On Monday, Phillip Goudeaux, a minister, offered the compromise of covering the offending word with duct tape. He said he understood school officials’ unease. We didn’t have to use such strong language to get our point across, Goudeaux said. School officials agreed, but Jade Baranski, a Sacramento activist who works with gay youth, told the Bee it was a shallow settlement. All the kids know what the shirt says, Baranski said.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

TRENTON, N.J. (AP)

The estranged wife of former New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey knew he was gay before they married, he claimed in court papers filed Monday.

McGreevey wrote that Dina Matos McGreevy “knew of my sexual orientation before our marriage, she chose to either ignore it or block it out of her mind, even when questioned by her friends.”

The former governor doesn’t detail how she knew he was gay, but objects to his wife’s contention in recent court papers that he is bisexual.

“On the offhand chance she wasn’t paying attention, I AM A GAY AMERICAN,” he wrote, referencing the term he used to describe himself when he announced his resignation in August 2004. “She is in deep denial.”

An after-hours telephone message left at Matos McGreevey’s workplace was not immediately returned Monday. Her lawyer, John Post, did not immediately respond to an e-mail message seeking comment.

McGreevey resigned after saying he was gay and had an affair.

The former governor also defended his parenting skills in the filing. He said despite the demands of being governor he was never “indifferent” to their 5-year-old daughter, as his estranged wife claims.

Last week, Matos McGreevey claimed in court papers that he exposed their young daughter to erotic artwork at the home he now shares with partner Mark O’Donnell, an Australian money manager. She is seeking primary custody.

McGreevey, 49, countered in Monday’s filing that his wife “HAS NEVER SEEN THE PHOTOGRAPH” of the nude male model.

Matos McGreevey’s memoir is scheduled to reach bookstores May 1.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

By GARANCE BURKE Associated Press Writer

FRESNO, Calif. (AP)

A transgender candidate for prom king made an elegant appearance to the Fresno High School dance in a tuxedo Saturday night, but missed winning the title, school officials said.

Cinthia Covarrubias, 17, identifies as transgender, an umbrella term that covers all people whose outward appearance and internal sense of being male or female doesn’t match their gender at birth. Gay youth advocates believe it was the first time in the U.S. that an openly transgender student had run for prom royalty.

School officials added the teen’s name to the ballot for prom king Thursday although she is biologically female, reversing a previous district protocol allowing only males to run for king and only females to run for prom queen. The district’s lawyers had recommended the change to comply with a state law protecting students’ ability to express their gender identity on campus.

Covarrubias’ peers, however, elected one of her six male competitors, Dan Abril, as prom king at an outdoor reception hall festooned with Chinese lanterns Saturday night, Fresno Unified School District spokeswoman Susan Bedi said. School officials did not announce runners up, or the number of votes received by any candidate.

Supporters still hailed Covarrubias’ campaign as a major victory for gender expression on campus.

“I hope this opens up something new,” Covarrubias said before Saturday’s crowning. “I’ve been really excited about it and feeling a lot of hope.”

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

HAIFA, Israel, April 23 (UPI)

An Israeli woman qualifies as the wife of her late partner, another woman, and will receive 40 percent of her pension fund, a court ruled. The woman, who was not identified, had a child with Or Lephler, and they lived as life partners, reported the Israeli news agency Ynet News. Mivtachim insurance company, which control’s Lephler’s pension, claimed that Lephler’s partner should be considered a widower whose wife died, which would have qualified the partner for 20 percent in pension pay, Ynet News reported Monday. But, in an unprecedented ruling, Haifa’s Labor court Sunday recognized Lephler’s life partner as her widow, awarding her monthly benefits of 40 percent from Lephler’s pension fund, the news agency said. Lephler died from complications from a bone-marrow transplant, Ynet News said.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

 

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Today’s Headlines
Woman’s Life Partner Qualifies as ‘Widow’
Fresno Transgender Student Misses Title as Prom King
McGreevey Says Wife Knew He Was Gay

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP)

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire signed into law Saturday a measure to create domestic partnerships, giving gay and lesbian couples some of the same rights that come with marriage.

The law creates a domestic partnership registry and provides enhanced rights for same-sex couples, including hospital visitation rights, the ability to authorize autopsies and organ donations and inheritance rights when there is no will.

“It offers the hope that one day, all lesbian and gay families will be treated truly equal under the law,” said state Sen. Ed Murray, who is one of five openly gay lawmakers in the Legislature.

To be registered, couples have to share a home, not be married or in a domestic relationship with someone else and be at least 18.

Unmarried, heterosexual senior couples will also be eligible to register if one partner is at least 62. Lawmakers said that provision, similar to one in California law, was included to help seniors who are at risk of losing pension rights and Social Security benefits if they remarry.

Gregoire received a standing ovation from about 200 people in the ornate reception room at the state Capitol.

“This is a very proud moment for me as governor, to make sure the rights of all of our citizens are equal,” Gregoire said.

People in the crowd cried as Gregoire relayed stories of couples who testified before lawmakers this year about how they have been denied hospital access to dying partners, or were not allowed to plan their funerals.

“It is time we put an end to these stories,” she said. “This simply allows our seniors and our same sex partners to rely on each other and to care for each other when they are faced with life and death situations. These are the rights of all Washingtonians.”

The new law will take effect in July. It comes nearly a year after the state Supreme Court upheld Washington’s ban on same-sex marriage in a 5-4 decision, ruling that state lawmakers were justified in passing the 1998 Defense of Marriage Act, which restricts marriage to unions between a man and woman.

Couples can register in person with the secretary of state’s office in Olympia, or by mail.

Opponents argued the new law will dilute traditional marriage.

“I think it’s an unfortunate step backward, not knowing where it will lead us culturally,” said Joseph Fuiten, a Bothell pastor who is the leader of Positive Christian Agenda, a state group of Christian organizations opposed to gay marriage. “Giving marriage-lite benefits without the benefit of marriage strikes me as not a good idea.”

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

LONDON, April 22 (UPI)

The British military’s first transsexual officer is suing for sexual discrimination after having her army position withdrawn this month. Former Parachute Regiment officer Jan Hamilton, who was born a man but now lives as a woman, has accused the military of rescinding her post as the British army’s head of media operations in Gibraltar due to her sexual identity, The (London)Daily Mail said Saturday. They have fired me simply because of my gender and sexuality, Hamilton said of her former employer. “I have to pursue legal action because I have no choice. This is my career, it’s what I do for a living and I’m pretty good at it. My reputation as an officer and a human being is on the line. The Ministry of Defense maintains that since the 42-year-old officer refused to undergo a required medical exam, she was denied the position. Hamilton told newspaper she only refused to engage in the examination in her male uniform because she recently underwent a sex-change surgery to begin living as a woman.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

NEW YORK, April 22 (UPI)

Gov. Eliot Spitzer plans to introduce a bill in the New York Legislature to legalize same-sex marriage in the state, his spokeswoman told The New York Times. Spitzer has supported same-sex marriage in the past and promised during his 2006 campaign to introduce legislation to legalize it in New York. However, he did not mention the issue in his State of the State speech in January or in a briefing this month during which he discussed his priorities for the balance of the legislative session scheduled to end June 21, the newspaper said. Spokeswoman Christine Anderson told the Times Spitzer would keep his campaign promise. The governor made a commitment to advance a program bill, and he will fulfill that commitment during this legislative session, she Anderson. Some form of civil union for same-sex couples is in effect in several states. Same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts, and Connecticut lawmakers are debating whether to legalize same-sex marriage. Speaking with reporters recently, Spitzer acknowledged that same-sex marriage would face tough opposition in the Legislature. I think most who are close to the issue would agree with me that it’s not likely to be passed in the next nine and a half weeks, he said.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

 

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Today’s Headlines
Spitzer Plans Same-Sex Marriage Bill
Transsexual Officer Suing British Military
WA Gov. Signs Domestic Partner Bill