Olympian: Ruling on marriage ban wins acclaim
June 30, 2005
After Thurston County Judge Richard Hicks ruled last fall that Washington's ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional, his name appeared in the New York Times and other major newspapers across the country and world.
His daughter, at a job interview in Paris, caught his name in a newspaper in a cafe, he said. Friends from Florida e-mailed him.
"This was very odd, like the Andy Warhol 15 minutes of fame," said Hicks, one of the county's seven Superior Court judges.
His daughter, at a job interview in Paris, caught his name in a newspaper in a cafe, he said. Friends from Florida e-mailed him.
"This was very odd, like the Andy Warhol 15 minutes of fame," said Hicks, one of the county's seven Superior Court judges.
Stranger: Jesus Hates You
The FIrst thing that shocks me about "Love Won Out"—the "dynamic, one-day conference addressing, understanding, and preventing homosexuality," organized by It-bigot James Dobson's Focus on the Family and housed by Bothell's Northshore Baptist Church—is its evergreen power to infuriate. After submerging myself in the conversion-therapy world in the late '90s—when the Religious Right bankrolled a "gays can change!" media blitz, and I wrote and started touring my conversion-obsessed show Straight—I imagined myself to have achieved a degree of emotional equilibrium regarding the topic.
Seattle P-I: Transgender worker loses sex bias lawsuit
June 28, 2005
SPOKANE -- A federal judge has ruled against a U.S. Customs and Border Protection employee who claimed discrimination by co-workers after undergoing a sex change.
Tracy Nichole Sturchio, formerly known as Ronald Sturchio, sued the Department of Homeland Security, alleging a hostile workplace, retaliation and sexual discrimination.
After a six-day bench trial, U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley said in a ruling made public yesterday that Sturchio failed to prove discrimination under federal law.
Tracy Nichole Sturchio, formerly known as Ronald Sturchio, sued the Department of Homeland Security, alleging a hostile workplace, retaliation and sexual discrimination.
After a six-day bench trial, U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley said in a ruling made public yesterday that Sturchio failed to prove discrimination under federal law.
Seattle Times: Conference stresses love, help
June 26, 2005
The talks included presentations on the causes of homosexuality; personal testimonials from those who say they've left their homosexual lifestyles; and public-policy-oriented lectures on issues such as gay marriage and "addressing the pro-gay agenda in your school."
Joseph Nicolosi, an Encino, Calif., clinical psychologist who focuses on treating unwanted homosexuality, contended that homosexual behavior is "an attempt to repair childhood hurts" such as those caused by sexual abuse, peer rejection or a distant father.
Joseph Nicolosi, an Encino, Calif., clinical psychologist who focuses on treating unwanted homosexuality, contended that homosexual behavior is "an attempt to repair childhood hurts" such as those caused by sexual abuse, peer rejection or a distant father.
Seattle P-I: Gay pride parade is brought to you by ...
June 25, 2005
If Microsoft Corp. was skittish about supporting gay rights legislation in Olympia, it doesn't seem to have reservations about being a sponsor in tomorrow's gay pride parade in Seattle.
More than 100 Microsoft employees, including members of the Gay and Lesbian Employees at Microsoft, are expected to march in the parade. The Redmond software company also will have a booth in Volunteer Park as part of the festivities.
And Microsoft isn't alone.
More than 100 Microsoft employees, including members of the Gay and Lesbian Employees at Microsoft, are expected to march in the parade. The Redmond software company also will have a booth in Volunteer Park as part of the festivities.
And Microsoft isn't alone.
The Stranger: Gay Rights Groups
June 23, 2005
Stay informed, act when needed, and tell your friends. How? Join our e-mail list. We'll tell you the best possible moment to contact your state legislators on issues of importance like marriage equality and antidiscrimination laws. Act when we need you to—legislators respond to numbers of constituent calls, believe us!—and forward our messages out to friends and family throughout Washington, asking them to act as well. Getting others to act may be the most powerful tool our community has at our disposal (other than your cash—which we will also gladly accept!).
—Equal Rights Washington, www.equalrightswashington.org
—Equal Rights Washington, www.equalrightswashington.org
Stranger: County Labor Council Assails Anti-Gay Tenant
Taking a page from San Francisco—where a landmark 1997 law requires companies that do business with the city to follow the city's lead and offer domestic partner benefits—the King County Labor Council AFL-CIO (KCLC) unanimously passed a resolution last week calling for the Lake Washington School District to set standards for its own business relationships. The council's resolution calls on the district to revise its facilities rental policy to require groups renting school facilities to abide by the district's own liberal anti-discrimination policy. The policy prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, in addition to things such as race, age, and disability.
Seattle Weekly: The Longest Yard
June 22, 2005
In past years, Murray explains, the bill suffered from a lack of grassroots support. Last year, the founding of Equal Rights Washington (ERW) filled that void (says Murray, "It was the most significant event in recent [LGBT] state history"). ERW Executive Director George Cheung says the group organized nightly phone banks in the last two months of the session that generated thousands of calls to legislators; it put TV ads on the airwaves targeting key legislators; and it made a point of having constituents meet with their legislators face-to-face in their Olympia offices. The group also enlisted the services of two lobbyists who usually worked for business groups. "That was a radical move," Murray notes. "They hired people who talk to both sides of the aisle."
Seattle Weekly: One Family's new focus
In the eight years since her daughter Anna's suicide, Mary Lou Wallner has traveled across the country to stand before audiences in churches and living rooms and recount the most painful years of her life. But the people Wallner would most like to address will not have her. "We would like to be able to tell our story in a more conservative, evangelical setting, but we've never been invited to a church like that," she says.
"I was raised in a strong, conservative, Christian home and church, and so was Anna," Wallner continues. "She came out to us when she was 21, and having been taught the way I'd been taught, it was very, very difficult. I never doubted that [Anna] was a Christ follower, but I had been firmly taught by [Dr.] James Dobson and others that passages in the Bible say homosexuality is an abomination. And I thought it was a choice and that she had chosen to be gay.
"I was raised in a strong, conservative, Christian home and church, and so was Anna," Wallner continues. "She came out to us when she was 21, and having been taught the way I'd been taught, it was very, very difficult. I never doubted that [Anna] was a Christ follower, but I had been firmly taught by [Dr.] James Dobson and others that passages in the Bible say homosexuality is an abomination. And I thought it was a choice and that she had chosen to be gay.
Spokesman Review: Gay marriage may block other freedoms
June 16, 2005
If "gay marriage" is upheld by the state Supreme Court, the following is very possible:
•Catholic clergy who circulate a Vatican statement opposing gay marriage could face indictment under incitement-to-hatred legislation.
•A preacher could be convicted of a criminal offense for holding up a sign in a town square opposing homosexuality.
•Preachers giving sermons, quoting the Bible, opposed to homosexuality and same-sex marriage could be prosecuted for a criminal offense.
•School teachers who make the mistake of writing a politically incorrect letter to the editor of their local newspaper concerning homosexuality could be suspended without pay.
•Advocates of traditional morality, and the newspaper that ran an advertisement paid for by those advocates, could be ordered to pay $1,500 to anyone who objected to the advertisement.
•Catholic clergy who circulate a Vatican statement opposing gay marriage could face indictment under incitement-to-hatred legislation.
•A preacher could be convicted of a criminal offense for holding up a sign in a town square opposing homosexuality.
•Preachers giving sermons, quoting the Bible, opposed to homosexuality and same-sex marriage could be prosecuted for a criminal offense.
•School teachers who make the mistake of writing a politically incorrect letter to the editor of their local newspaper concerning homosexuality could be suspended without pay.
•Advocates of traditional morality, and the newspaper that ran an advertisement paid for by those advocates, could be ordered to pay $1,500 to anyone who objected to the advertisement.
Stranger: Are Church and State Getting Too Close at Kirkland’s Lake Washington High School?
First, Teeley, in a May 18 newsletter, questioned Antioch Bible Church's weekly rental of the public school's gym and many of its classrooms. The union president also referred to Hutcherson as a "bigoted pastor," a comment that resulted in a heated face-off between Hutcherson and Teeley on AM 820 Christian talk radio. "[Hutcherson's] actions and words only serve to promote a climate of hate and intolerance in our community," Teeley wrote. "We hope that widespread public pressure will result in him taking his hate speech out of our public schools."
Then recent news reports indicated that Mark Robertson, principal of the high school, attends Hutcherson's church. While a principal's private religious life shouldn't matter, in Lake Washington High's case, it means many teachers feel like they can't bring forth their concerns about Antioch's relationship with the school. (One concern: Students, especially Lake Washington High School's gay students, "should be able to come to this school seven days a week and feel safe," one teacher said, worried that Antioch and Hutcherson's presence in the building on Sundays precluded that. "I'd go to [the principal] in a minute," to bring that up, the teacher said, if he didn't attend Antioch.) Antioch also sponsors an annual luncheon for teachers at the school, with Hutcherson often presiding, Teeley says. "It's one of those things where they're not required to go, but if your boss says come to this luncheon and he's a member of that church," it's hard to turn down, Teeley says.
Then recent news reports indicated that Mark Robertson, principal of the high school, attends Hutcherson's church. While a principal's private religious life shouldn't matter, in Lake Washington High's case, it means many teachers feel like they can't bring forth their concerns about Antioch's relationship with the school. (One concern: Students, especially Lake Washington High School's gay students, "should be able to come to this school seven days a week and feel safe," one teacher said, worried that Antioch and Hutcherson's presence in the building on Sundays precluded that. "I'd go to [the principal] in a minute," to bring that up, the teacher said, if he didn't attend Antioch.) Antioch also sponsors an annual luncheon for teachers at the school, with Hutcherson often presiding, Teeley says. "It's one of those things where they're not required to go, but if your boss says come to this luncheon and he's a member of that church," it's hard to turn down, Teeley says.
Seattle Times: For better or worse
June 12, 2005
The origins of modern marital instability lie largely in the triumph of what many people believe to be marriage's traditional role: providing love, intimacy, fidelity and mutual fulfillment. The truth is that for centuries, marriage was stable precisely because it was not expected to provide such benefits. As soon as love became the driving force behind marriage, people began to demand the right to remain single if they had not found love or to divorce if they fell out of love.
Such demands were raised as early as the 1790s, which prompted conservatives to predict that love would be the death of marriage. For the next 150 years, the inherently destabilizing effects of the love revolution were checked by women's economic dependence on men, unreliable birth control, harsh legal treatment of illicit children and their mothers' social ostracism.
These restraints collapsed between 1960 and 1980. Divorce rates had long been rising in Western Europe and the United States, and although they leveled off following World War II, they climbed at an unprecedented rate in the 1970s. This led some to believe the introduction of no-fault divorce laws, which meant married couples could divorce if they simply fell out of love, had caused the erosion of marriage.
Such demands were raised as early as the 1790s, which prompted conservatives to predict that love would be the death of marriage. For the next 150 years, the inherently destabilizing effects of the love revolution were checked by women's economic dependence on men, unreliable birth control, harsh legal treatment of illicit children and their mothers' social ostracism.
These restraints collapsed between 1960 and 1980. Divorce rates had long been rising in Western Europe and the United States, and although they leveled off following World War II, they climbed at an unprecedented rate in the 1970s. This led some to believe the introduction of no-fault divorce laws, which meant married couples could divorce if they simply fell out of love, had caused the erosion of marriage.
Seattle P-I: Teachers union objects to Hutcherson's church on school grounds
June 7, 2005
About 3,500 people regularly attend Sunday services at Antioch Bible Church, making it one of the larger congregations in the Seattle area, but the church doesn't have a permanent home.
For the past six years, Antioch has met at Lake Washington High School in Kirkland, an arrangement that keeps the church out of mortgage debt and provides the Lake Washington School District with about $140,000 in annual rental income.
But the teachers union wants to end that relationship, saying the district shouldn't associate with the Rev. Ken Hutcherson, Antioch's outspoken pastor, who claimed credit for Microsoft's former opposition to a gay rights bill in the state Legislature.
For the past six years, Antioch has met at Lake Washington High School in Kirkland, an arrangement that keeps the church out of mortgage debt and provides the Lake Washington School District with about $140,000 in annual rental income.
But the teachers union wants to end that relationship, saying the district shouldn't associate with the Rev. Ken Hutcherson, Antioch's outspoken pastor, who claimed credit for Microsoft's former opposition to a gay rights bill in the state Legislature.
