Seattle gay newS pride '07

June 22, 2007 - Issue 25, Volume 35 

Seattle gay newS pride ‘07 

‘07 Pride Celebrations

2 Seattle Gay News PRIDE ‘07 Celebrations 

June 22, 2007

photos by Marcel Ray and SGN staff 

June 22, 2007 PRIDE ‘07 Celebrations 

Seattle Gay News 

3

NEXT WEEKEND - North Olympic 

Peninsula Pride Celebration 

Port Townsend, June 29-30 

Peninsula Pride Alliance is expecting a 

fabulously fantastic Family and Friends 

turn-out for the North Olympic Peninsula 

LGBT 2007 Pride Celebration. Surrounded 

by beach and mountains, fine food and 

quaint shops, with eagle always overhead, 

Port Townsend and Jefferson County are 

amazing places to tour. For overnight 

accommodations, we recommend The 

Jameshouse (http://www.jameshouse.com). 

Friday, June 29 at 6:30 pm, Peninsula 

Pride Alliance hosts a welcoming reception 

at 2333 San Juan Avenue (Quimper 

Universalist Unitarian Fellowship). 

Sensible Shoes launches into evening of 

entertainment at 7:30. Back for their 3rd 

Pride performance in Port Townsend, 

Sensible Shoes, an ensemble of the Seattle 

Women’s Chorus, bring dynamic vocal 

energy and innovative staging to their 

performances. Proceeds from this event 

will fund LGBT anti-harassment training for 

school personnel in East Jefferson County. 

Interpretation services will be provided 

for deaf and hard of hearing. Tickets are 

$10 in advance and $12 day of show 

Saturday June 30, the North Olympic 

Peninsula Pride Celebration continues in 

downtown Port Townsend starting at 10:00 

am with our Peninsula Pride Business & 

Health Fair in the Pope Marine Building at 

100 Madison. Admission is free. 

Festie-goers can catch the 1:00 p.m. 

showing of Inlaws & Outlaws, the new film 

by Drew Emery that takes a humorous and 

wide-angled look at real relationships of all 

shapes and sizes. Whether straight or Gay, 

young or old, coupled or single, by the end, 

you’ll be rooting for them all ... and falling 

in love with love. Director/Producer Drew 

Emery will introduce the film and entertain 

questions following the showing. Proceeds 

for this event will benefit the Hearts + 

Minds Campaign. Inlaws and Outlaws will 

be shown at the Rose Theatre, 235 Taylor. 

Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 day of 

show. 

At 4:00 p.m. be sure to catch the Peninsula 

Pride Rally at Pope Marine Building 100 

Madison, featuring Senator Ed Murray & 

Marsha Botzer, Charming Entertainment, 

and Special Awards. Senator Ed Murray 

this year introduced and successfully led 

the effort to pass the historic Washington 

State Domestic Partnership law that will 

extend rights and protections to same sex 

couples. The Domestic partnership law 

will take effect in July. Marsha Botzer 

currently serves on the board of the Pride 

Foundation, is a founding member of The 

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender 

Community Center, and is a co-chair of 

the Seattle chapter of the Safe Schools 

Coalition. Admission to the rally is free. 

Peter Gritt, Port Townsend artist, will 

display his forever fabulous banners at the 

North Olympic Peninsula Pride Events and 

at the Port Townsend Food coop during the 

months of June and July. 

The North Olympic Peninsula Pride 

Celebration is made possible by generous 

funding from the Pride Foundation, a cast of 

hearty volunteers and local businesses, and 

is sponsored by Peninsula Pride Alliance. 

For more information, contact: info@ 

peninsulapride.org or visit our website: 

www.peninsulapride.org 

A North Olympic Peninsula Pride 

Celebration press release 


June 22, 2007

Remembering the party has a purpose 

The world’s largest ever Gay Pride parade was marred by murder 

only hours afterward. For some, the day’s lesson wasn’t learned. 

by Chris Crain 

SGN Contributing Writer 

More than three million people gathered 

last weekend in São Paulo, Brazil, for the 

world’s largest ever Gay Pride parade. The 

sheer size and spectacle weren’t the only 

reasons the event was one I will never 

forget. 

Anyone who has been to Carnaval in 

Rio De Janeiro knows that Brazilians 

know how to throw a party. Gay Pride 

in São Paulo, a city of 20 million, is no 

exception. The parade down Avenida 

Paulista was a gigantic street party, with 23 

massive trailers, each sponsored by a Gay 

organization, nightclub or business, and 

souped up with a powerful sound system, 

decorations and spotlights — since the 

parade starts in the early afternoon and lasts 

for eight hours well into the night. 

This was not a parade like we are used 

to in the U.S., with floats and marchers 

in the street, cheered on by spectators on 

the sidewalks. This was a celebration for 

everyone, with no distinction between 

those of us on the trailers and the people 

dancing alongside in the streets and spilling 

over onto the sidewalks. 

Strangers danced — and occasionally 

locked lips — with strangers, Gay men 

partied alongside Lesbians, with the 

expected contingent of dolled-up drag 

queens and a healthy contingent of straight 

couples, with smiles on their faces as broad 

as the Gay participants. 

I wish the energy and the spirit of Sunday 

could be bottled and delivered back home 

to the U.S., where so many Gay Pride 

parades have begun to feel a bit stale, a 

bit stereotyped, and a bit adrift from their 

original purpose. 

Latin America in general, and Brazil in 

particular, still trails Europe in the U.S. in 

cultural acceptance of homosexuality, even 

if they’ve managed to achieve more rights 

than many of their American counterparts. 

Brazil is home to conservative Latin 

machismo and the largest Roman Catholic 

population in the world, so Gay Pride in 

São Paulo is still a vital opportunity for 

Lesbians and Gay men from smaller cities 

across the country — and elsewhere in Latin 

America — to feel free to be themselves. 

Of course, any event with more than three 

million participants will have its hiccups. 

Watching safely from the float for The 

Week, São Paulo’s legendary nightclub, my 

partner and I were at times worried for the 

surging mass of people below, where happy 

partiers could be caught up in a crush of 

humanity in the blink of an eye. 

Police presence was minimal — too 

minimal — so pick-pockets had themselves 

a field day. Pride organizers complained 

afterward that special observation towers 

and tents set up for the police were left 

empty, overcome by street revelers. The 

few police I saw simply stood and watched, 

and played no active role in controlling the 

A face in the crowd accidentally captured when I zoomed in 

on the crowd packed below from the float for The Week 

massive crowd. 

But the biggest problem is one familiar 

to those of us who have watched Gay Pride 

events in the U.S. change their focus over 

the years. This is supposed to be a parade 

with a purpose; the theme in São Paulo was 

ending racism, sexism and homophobia. 

But it appeared a bit lost amidst the 

bacchanalia. 

I have seen the same thing in Washington, 

D.C., where the political focus fell by the 

wayside in the 1990s as a (supposedly) Gayfriendly 

president took the White House 

and the worst of the AIDS crisis subsided. 

I knew an unfortunate corner had been 

turned the year Capital Pride organizers 

actually chose as keynote speaker Tammy 

Faye Bakker, who preached from the Gay 

Pride stage that homosexuality was a sin 

but we were all sinners. 

In São Paulo last weekend, too many 

missd the message. As the parade drew 

down, a Gay tourist from France was 

stabbed to death outside a Gay restaurant 

and bar only blocks from the parade 

route. He had just left a well-known Gay 

restaurant with some Gay Brazilians he had 

met earlier, when they were approached by 

three youths dressed as “skaters,” typical 

of local skinheads. Without a word or a 

demand for wallets, the Frechman was 

stabbed repeatedly in the abdomen. 

The next day, the Gay Brazilian who blogs 

in English under the name Made in Brazil 

wrote about the incident, and a number of 

other Gay Brazilians responded angrily that 

he shouldn’t cast Gay Pride in a negative 

light. Even as the mainstream media here 

picked up on the murder as a possible 

hate crime, local Gay websites — the only 

form of Gay press here — downplayed the 

tragedy or ignored it entirely. 

Ending homophobia had been the theme 

of the Gay Pride parade, but how quickly 

some of its participants forgot. Brazil’s Gay 

and Lesbian leaders haven’t managed yet to 

harness the energy of São Paulo’s massive 

Pride celebration — or at least make the 

message last once the music has stopped. 

Chris Crain is former editor of the 

Washington Blade, Southern Voice, and 

Gay publications in three other cities. 

He can be reached via his blog at www. 


chris crain 

citizencrain.com 

Avenida Paulista, a huge avenue that runs through the heart of Sao Paulo’s business district, 

is the primary location for the annual Gay Pride Parade 


5 

chris crain

Annual 

Run/Walk with 

Pride returns 

for 24 th year 

The Seattle Frontrunner will once again 

sponsor the 24 th annual Run/Walk with 

Pride event on Saturday, June 23 rd at Seward 

Park. The 4K Run/Walk participants will 

be on the paved path along the park, while 

the 10K Run participants weave up through 

the hilly park interior 

The Lesbian Resource Center organized 

the very first Run with Pride back in 1984. 

Like this year’s event, it was held at Seward 

Park during Pride Week and offered a 10 

kilometer race and a fun run. Over a hundred 

athletes participated including two in the 

wheelchair division. The beneficiary of the 

money raised by the event was the newly 

created Seattle AIDS Action Committee. 

The Seattle Gay News reported that the race 

was very successful “both for the socially 

challenged as well as the physically 

challenged participants.” 

Seattle Frontrunners began sponsoring the 

event in 1987. That year it was held on the 

4 th of July to coincide with a Lesbian/Gay 

Sports Festival also taking place. The fun 

run was standardized at 4 kilometers and 

walkers were added as an official category. 

In 2005 the event was renamed Run/Walk 

with Pride to celebrate the participation of 

all who wish to join in. Families and pets 

are more than welcome. 

Each year, the proceeds from the event 

have been awarded to a local non-profit 

LGBT organization. Last year the LGBT 

Health Center received over $5000. 

Other organizations that have received 

contributions in the past are Esoterics, 

the Seattle Gay Lesbian Chorus, Pride the 

Foundation Scholarship Fund, Rise and 

Shine, Bailey Boushay House, the Rainbow 

City Band, the Washington State Safe 

School Coalition and PLFAG. 

This year recipients will be Lambert 

House, a center for LGBT youth and their 

allies, and Team Seattle, which facilitates, 

provides and promotes opportunities for 

the LGBT community and their friends 

in all sports, at all levels of ability and to 

foster their physical and emotional health 

and well-being. 

Everyone is welcome; participants may 

pre register at www.seattlefrontrunners.org 

or register for an increased fee the day of 

the race. 

Registration opens at 7:30 a.m. The Race/ 

Walk will begin at 9 a.m. Ribbons will be 

given to the top finishers in every five year 

age category in both the 10k/4K run and 4K 

walk. 

Courtesy of the Seattle Frontrunners 


June 22, 2007

Bend-It Festival at the Vera Project 

Gay Pride Weekend, Sunday, June 24th, 

w/Tender Forever, Your Heart Breaks, Chris Riffle, Lucy Bland 

Bend-It, the Vera Project, 

& Antarctic Records present: 

“The Bend-It Festival” 

w/Tender Forever, 

Your Heart Breaks, 

Chris Riffle, Lucy Bland! 

June 24th, 2007 

@ The Vera Project, 

Warren Ave N & Republican St 

Seattle Center (Northwest Rooms) 

Doors @ 12PM 

Programming begins at 1PM 

and ends at 7PM 

Bend-It Festival is All-Ages 

Bend-It is FREE to All 

Donations are welcome 

www.theveraproject.org 

www.myspace.com/bend_it 

www.antarcticrecords.com 

www.myspace.com/antarcticrecords 

Workshops include: 

Punk Rock Silk Screening 

Poetry 

Break dancing 

Zine Archive and Publishing Project 

Vegan Cooking 

Stitch and Bitch 

THE HEADLINERS 

Tender Forever: 

Melanie Valera is the throbbing heart 

and head philosopher of the solo band, 

Tender Forever. She cut her performance 

teeth on the street of her hometown of 

Bordeaux, France, covering sixties girl 

bands standards for money for a whole 

year as part of the Bonnies. Along with this 

enriching, character-building experience, 

this hyperactive lady started a long-distance 

electro-pop project with an American 

friend she had met on the very last day 

of her trip to S.F., CA. Garrison Rocks, 

a spontaneous love-at-first-sight band, 

endured and evolved, up until becoming 

a Franco-American orchestra including 3 

new members. The team performed about 

40 shows in 7 months, notably with Little 

Wings (K recs.) and Ted Leo (Lookout). 

Melanie keeps the world updated on 

all Tender Forever activities here: www. 

takemybreathaway.net 

Your Heart Breaks: 

The short bio: 

A bunch of dolphins playing instruments. 

The longer story: 

Your Heart Breaks began in Bellingham, 

Washington in 1999. The project has spread 

throughout the country, but resides in Seattle 

when not on tour. At this point we have 

over 50 members and seven albums. We 

are on five record labels: Plan-it-x, MASA, 

KELP!, and Don’t Stop Believing, and Do 

It for the Girls Productions. It’s getting a 

little excessive, but the band is super tight 

right now. Steady members include Clyde 

Petersen, Karl Blau, and Steve Moore. 

The music is guitars and drums and 

werlitzer piano and bass. Lots of singing, 

a lot of stories to be told. That’s the main 

point, I think. To tell stories. 

Other [current and past] projects of YHB 

members include: 

The Milkcrate Rustlers 

The Pipe Makes a Tight Bong 

This Dyke is a Pipebomb 

Do it for the girls productions 

In Your Room (zine) 

Plan-it-x anniversary documentary 

Chris Riffle: 

Evidently, I wasn’t the only one enamored 

of Chris. Through my incessant phone calls 

to KUGS to demand they play one or the 

other of the two songs they had in their 

rotation, I found out that his songs were 

among the most requested.” 

Carey Ross – What’s Up Magazine. . . . 

Starting out opening for high profile acts 

like Death Cab for Cutie, Mary Lou Lord 

and Dub Narcotic Sound System Chris 

Riffle made a splash on the Bellingham 

music scene. A favorite of Bellingham 

radio stations, he got signed and recorded 

his first album but the record label went 

under before they ever released it. He has 

now released his own album independently 

and been resurfacing around local Seattle 

clubs. . . . 

Acoustic folk pop with nods to Ben Lee 

and Elliott Smith with catchy vocals that 

carry the listener through all the ups and 

downs of life. 

www.myspace.com/chrisriffle 

Lucy Bland: 

The band’s name might be Lucy Bland, 

but their music is anything but. Hailing 

from the rain capital of the country, Seattle, 


Washington, they let the rain inspire their 

music rather than drown them out. Seattle 

is so intimately connected to water, its 

influence seeps into every aspect of life. 

We channel those long winters, the rainy 

days, and the ocean into our music. The 

band describes their self sound as indie 

with a splash of folktronic. Never heard of 

folktronic; never believed it could ever be 

combined with indie? All you have to do is 

give Lucy Bland a listen and all the burning 

questions in your heart will be answered. In 

songs like Brown Sky the band combines 

the lyrical qualities of indie with the beats of 

electronic. The result is a lush combination 

of genres that creates a world and keeps the 

listener hooked. 

www.lucybland.com 

www.myspace.com/lucybland 

BEND-IT! 

Bend-It is a Seattle festival celebrating 

our queer youth community. We stand 

for social justice, and liberal values that 

celebrate the diversity of life. We are about 

the deconstruction of social norms, and we 

live to further our progressive and loud 

culture. The Bend-It Festival highlights the 

artistic endeavors of local queer youth and 

hosts workshops to teach people more ways 

to express themselves. This yearly event 

has consistently created a hip, healthy, and 

productive options for people of any age 

around pride. www.myspace.com/bend_it 

ANTARCTIC RECoRDS 

Antarctic Records initially formed in 

2002 as an offshoot to a publishing project 

of a young Michael Yuasa who had spent the 

summer hitchhiking around the rural south 

and residing in Texas. Initially naming the 

project Antarctic Records to keep entries 

of lonely travelers’ highway shanties and 

three-day Greyhound journeys the project 

began to include music when a love for 

basement shows and pop culture was found 

in the many cites he traveled thru. 

Based in Seattle Antarctic Records also 

includes a promotional arm and runs Rock- 

Hustle.com, a music site that includes 

commentary, news, and artist interviews. 

Current Antarctic projects include Club 

Pop Seattle’s now long running indie smash 

and roll dance night, Bang Bang Seattle’s 

only go-go boy rock and roll night, tour 

managing in the UK and vinyl releases by 

the “Holy Ghost Revival,” “(1965/SONY 

UK) 

www.myspace.com/antarcticrecords 

www.antarcticrecords.com 


7

Letter from Rome, Pride Day vs. Vatican 

by Judy Harris 

DIRELAND’s Rome correspondent 

ROME, June 16, 2007 – Arriving by 

plane, train and 200 special buses, over 

100,000 men and women converged today 

on the Eternal City for Gay Pride Day, 

with some optimists predicting twice that 

number. The anti-homophobia event, in 

open defiance of the Catholic Church, is 

being celebrated today, one week later than 

in other countries, to avoid its coinciding 

with President George W. Bush’s visit to 

Rome June 9. 

As Transgendered member of Parliament 

and LGBT rights activist Vladimir Luxuria 

of Rifondazione Comunista led the parade, 

slogans were chanted, among them: “Prodi, 

Prodi dove sei? Oggi Roma e’ tutta Gay” 

(“Prodi, Prodi, where do you stay? Today 

all of Rome is Gay.” ) Banners proclaimed, 

“For a more European Italy,” “Rights for 

All,” “More Freedom, Less Vatican,” and 

“Equality, Dignity and Secularism,” the 

official Rome Pride slogan. (In addition to 

Luxuria, there are two out Gay men and one 

out Lesbian in the Italian parliament, plus 

one openly bi-sexual MP: Alfonso Pecoraio 

Scario, president of the Italian Green Party, 

who marched today.) 

Today’s two-mile-long parade route 

studiously avoided all monuments of 

historic Rome save for the Coliseum, 

and never approached St. Peter’s Square. 

Beginning at 4 pm on this sultry Saturday, 

the paraders, with 40 floats and hundreds of 

colorful balloons, were snaking their way 

from Piazzale Ostiense toward the Aventine 

Hill and onward to the huge square in front 

of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, a 

major Roman Catholic landmark. This vast 

piazza traditionally hosts mass events, and 

indeed a rival rally, organized to promote 

the traditional family, attracted hundreds of 

thousands there on May 12. 

In a coup for the organizers, for the 

first time in Italian history the national 

government figures among Gay Pride’s 

institutional sponsors, who already included 

the governments of the Lazio region and of 

the province and city of Rome. This week, 

the government’s council of ministers 

formally voted to support Rome Pride. But 

a nervous Prime Minister Prodi ordered that 

no minister could march in the parade or 

ride on one of its colorful floats, but several 

cabinet ministers, including Paolo Ferrero, 

Minister for Social Solidarty, participated 

anyway. Addressing the crowd at its 

departure, Minister Ferrero said that, “The 

DiCo [civil unions] were in the coalition’s 

program, and the Union [the government 

political parties’ umbrella organization] 

took votes on this.” 

The delicate and controversial 

negotiations for government co-sponsorship 

of Rome Pride were negotiated by Equal 

Opportunity Minister Barbara Pollastrini 

of the DS party (Democratici di Sinistra), 

who began her political career in the local 

Communist party organization in Milan. 

However, watering down the significance 

of cabinet sponsorship, she explained that, 

“Sponsorship is limited to the cultural 

aspects related to the event, not to the event 

itself.” 

Many Pride marchers weren’t buying the 

government’s tepidity and its distancing 

itself from the demonstration. “”We are 

heteros, Gays, Lesbians and Bisexual and 

we want Romano Prodi to give the same 

rights to all. Where are all the promises 

the government made? Evaporated into 

nothingness?” one cross-dresser on a float 

told AFP. 

Many expected that the walkup to Gay 

Pride Day would turn into a frontal clash 

with the Church, but the Italian bishops 

were told in no uncertain terms that they 

are to keep a low profile and avoid conflict 

today. But others spoke for them, with 

government semi-sponsorship of Rome 

Pride the pretext which irritated the more 

rigidly Roman Catholic Church politicians, 

collectively known as “i teodem” (the theodemocrats). 

“This government discriminates against 

the family,” charged Isabella Bertolini, MP 

with Berlusconi’s Forza Italia conservative 

coalition. “The government sponsors Gay 

Pride but would not sponsor Family Day. 

What a terrible disgrace for the State.” She 

dubbed the trio of government ministers 

who openly support Gay Pride day 

“nothing but hypocrites -- they save face by 

supporting the event which they choose not 

to attend.” Echoing her words was Lorenzo 

Cesa, secretary of Casini’s UDC, who 

declared that “the support the government 

is giving to Gay Pride through its ministers, 

and which was not given to Family Day, is 

an insult to the Italian family.” 

Silvio Berlusconi excepted, the most 

prominent conservative leader in Italy 

today is Pier Ferdinando Casini, 52, of the 

Unione Democratici Cristiani (UDC). The 

Hon. Casini is a former president of the 

Chamber of Deputies and a front-running 

candidate to succeed Berlusconi as leader 

of Italian conservatives in the (at present 

still unlikely) case that Berlusconi bows 

out. Like most conservatives in Italy, 

Casini opposes legislation that would allow 

civil partnerships, even though he is on his 

own second family. His partner is Azzurra 

Caltagirone, the daughter of the powerful 

businessman cum publisher Francesco 

Gaetano Caltagirone. From his earlier 

marriage Casini has two children; with 

Azzurra he has one. 

Among today’s Gay Pride goals is the 

promised law on civil partnerships, but 

Prodi’s government itself is divided on the 

issue. Little progress has been made, and, 

as center-left cohesion dwindles, passage 

of civil unions seems more unlikely than 

ever. 

If security becomes an issue, clashes 

may erupt tonight in the Villaggio Italia 

park on the Via Tiburtina outskirts, where 

a benefit party to finance today’s event is 

organized. According to Rossana Praitano, 

spokesperson for Gay Pride Roma 2007, 

organizers arrived this morning to find 

walls of the park scribbled with swastikas 

and slogans like “La Roma fascista non vi 

vuole” (Fascist Rome does not want you). 

The Mario Mieli Club of homosexual 

culture and today’s event have been the butt 

of daily harassment by anonymous small 

bands of fascists,” Praitano said. (The late 

Mario Mieli, 1952-1983, was a brilliant 

young radical poet and the founding theorist 

of Italian Gay liberation in the early ‘70s. 

In 1971 Mieli launched Italy’s first Gay 

liberation group, FUORI! -- the Fronte 

Unitario Omosessuale Rivoluzionario 

Italiano. “FUORI!,” which also means 

“Come Out!” in Italian, was also the title 

of Mieli’s pioneering 1971 book of Gay 

liberation theory.) 

Pride spokesperson Praitano added, 

“Evidently the fascists feel protected 

because of the incautious statements made 

by some politicians. We are appealing to 

the Interior Minister Giuliano Amato and to 

the Rome Prefect Achille Serra to guarantee 

the personal safety and security of the 

participants.” 

Legal recognition of Gay and other civil 

partnerships in Italy, known here as Dico (de 

facto partnerships), was one of the unkept 

promises made by the faltering Center-Left 

government headed by Romano Prodi. In a 

draft bill presented to parliament on May 17 

and signed by over a dozen MPs from four 

progressive parties, the 22-year-old national 

Italian LGBT organization ArciGay wrote 

that, whereas progress on that front has 

been made elsewhere, “The reality in our 

country is different,” and went on to say 

that Italy lacks, among other things, antidiscriminatory 

legislation. 

True--and the stony silence being 

observed by the Church in Italy ignores 

the bullying and violence which continues 

against Gays, particularly young boys. Last 

April a 16-year-old, Matteo, tormented 

by his schoolmates in Turin for allegedly 

being too girlish, committed suicide. 

(Matteo’s needless death was cited in the 

European Parliament’s sweeping resolution 

on homophobia passed in April.) Last 

week the Italian press reported that another 

adolescent was beaten to a pulp by his father 

for being Gay--family values, as it were, in 

action. 

It is all the more sadly ironic, then, that 

the Church in Italy is not winning its battle 

in favor of its restrictive version of family 

values. The numbers of first communions 

and confirmations are in slight but constant 

decline, with the former shrinking from 

9.9 to 8.4 per thousand Catholics and 

the latter, from 22.2 to 8.6 per thousand, 

during the five years 1991-2004. The aging 

population is one reason, but so is “an 

increasing alienation from the Catholic 

religion, as numerous research shows,” 

according to researcher Silva Sansonetti. 

And the percentange of Catholic marriage 

is similarly shrinking, from 87.7% to 

79.5% for the same period (the most recent 

statistics available). 

Curiously, it was in the neighborhood 

of San Giovanni where, in 1581, a group 

of Portuguese Catholics founded what 

amounted to a male confraternity in which 

marriage rites were held. All were burned 

alive as punishment. What has changed in 

the centuries since then? According to a new 

book by University of Bologna Sociology 

Professors Marzio Barbagli and Asher 

Colombo, Omosessuali Moderni, published 

by the distinguished Il Mulino, Italy is 

among the last countries in Europe to have 

changed attitudes. The law and politics 

have lagged behind public perceptions of 

homosexuality, the authors demonstrate. 

For the record, the Church position on 

homosexuality was codified by John Paul 

II in a book he published: Theology of 

the Body, a compendium of his addresses 

between 1979 and l984. In it, the late 

pontiff maintained that, while homosexual 

attraction is not sinful, it “is more or less a 

strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic 

moral evil and thus the inclination itself 

must be seen as an objective disorder.” 

Since then the Church position has further 

hardened--not coincidentally, with the 

pedophile scandals which have rocked the 

Church in both the U.S. and Europe, from 

Ireland to Austria, and not excluding Italy 

itself. 

The following dispatch on Rome Gay 

Pride March was first written for the 

DIRELAND blog (direland.typepad.com) 

by Rome correspondent, Judy Harris. 

Permission has been granted to reprint it 

here, in the pages of the Seattle Gay News. 

A veteran expat journalist who wrote from 

Italy for years for TIME and the Wall Street 

Journal, Judy now writes for ARTnews and 

this month published a new book, “Pompeii 

Awakened: A Story of Rediscovery” (I.B. 

Tauris & Co. Ltd.). 


June 22, 2007

Seattle Black Pride 

launches new website 

Offering increased functionality and 

greater user compatibility 

The new website, www.seattleblackpride. 

org focuses on supporting the Seattle Black 

Pride organization by providing program 

content, point of contact information, and 

showing users how the website can be 

efficiently used. The new website includes 

project information, schedule of events, 

information about the organizations Annual 

Seattle Black Pride Event (July 19th-22 nd 

2007) and more. The site gives an exciting 

overview of the organizations past social 

and community building events. The site 

also gives detailed information on the 

journey Seattle Black Pride has taken since 

it’s inception in 2005. 

Take time to stop by and travel through 

the new and improved Seattle Black Pride 

Website, please email us your feedback at 

www.seattleblackpride.org. 

SBP Board President and founding 

member, Kiantha Duncan-Woods notes, 

“Seattle Black Pride (the organization) gives 

voice to the Black GLBTQ in Washington. 

We are more than an annual event we are a 

culture”. 

Seattle Black Pride is a not-for-profit 

organization that organizes the Seattle 

Black Pride event in Seattle July 19 th -22 nd 

to commemorate and celebrate all lesbian, 

gay, bisexual and transgender individuals 

and groups. 

SBP welcomes participation of all, 

regardless of race, age, creed, gender, 

gender identification, HIV status, national 

origin, physical or mental developmental 

ability, religion or sexual orientation. 

To contact Seattle Black Pride: (206) 

324-1520; info@seattleblackpride.org; 

www.seattleblackpride.org 

We’re on the net at www.sgn.org 



9

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Experience the true spirit of Aloha 

Enjoy the privacy of an entire home for the price of a hotel room 


June 22, 2007

Pride in Tijuana, Mexico! 

Tijuana’s 12th Gay/Lesbian Pride March 

hit the streets Saturday, June 16, at 3 p.m. 

Participants gathered in front of the 

community-based Alliance Against AIDS 

(ACOSIDA) Clinic at 7648 Calle 1ra, five 

blocks west of Avenida Revolución. 

There never have been any anti-Gay 

incidents at the Tijuana parade, and the 

marchers – many of whom are drag queens 

or Transsexuals – always are rewarded 

with a persistent polyphony of cheers, 

whistles and whoops. 

rEX WOcKnEr rEX WOcKnEr rEX WOcKnEr 

Special to the SGN from Rex Wockner 


rEX WOcKnEr 


11

on the net @ www.sgn.org 


June 22, 2007



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June 22, 2007



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June 22, 2007

Vancouver Pride – June 30 to August 5: 

Official “Pride in the City” events 

The Seattle Gay News brings you this sneak peak of Offical Vancouver “Pride in the City” events. For additional information 

on these events and new additions for the 2007 “Pride in the City” season, visit www.vancouverpride.ca. 

SATuRDAY, JuNE 30 

East Side Pride Festival 

Saturday, June 30 

11:00am to 5:00pm 

at Grandview Park 

Come out and help the VPS kick off our 

Pride Season by celebrating East Side Pride 

in the heart of the city. This Festival will 

feature something from the very young 

to the young at heart and everybody in 

between, including the Dog. East Side Pride 

Festival will feature live entertainment on 

or festival stage, great food, and variety of 

vendors from all over. Our focus will be 

to showcase more of a local artisan with 

a dedicated open market for new and nonretail 

vendors. This is your opportunity to 

catch up with old friends and make new 

ones. Stop by the VPS tent to buy your 

Pride merchandise and memberships. 

East Side Pride Dance 

Saturday, June 30 - 8:00pm to 1:am 

at Wise Hall 

This Saturday night dance will include 

entertainment and dance music! Space is 

limited, so act quickly and get your tickets 

for this memorable night! $7 in advance 

or $9 at the door all proceeds to VPS 

fundraising. 

SATuRDAy, JuLy 14 

Picnic in the Park 

Saturday, July 14 - 11:00am to 7:00pm 

at Brockton Oval – Stanley Park 

Bring the kids, families, bring the dogs, 

bring your old high heels for the toss. 

Whether you just watch or participate, you 

don’t want to miss this. Tug-a-wars, drag 

races, live entertainment, and a beer garden!! 

Plenty of food and plenty of FUN! 

SATuRDAy, JuLy 21 

Gayday at Playland 

Saturday, July 21 - 12:00pm to 8:00pm 

at Playland at the Pacific 

National Exhibition Grounds 

Back again for its second year Gayday at 

Playland is open to the public so make sure 

you wear your RED shirts and get a Gayday 

Play-pass. Your all day pass will get you 

unlimited regular rides, access to the picnic 

grounds where live and drag performances 

will entertain the crows throughout the day. 

Bring the family & bring the friends but be 

prepared to leave your stomach. 

SuNDAy, JuLy 29 

Dine with Pride 

Dinner & Silent Auction 

Sunday, July 29 6pm to 8:30pm 

at Pacific Crab Company on Denman 


Returning to the Pride Season, this small 

but upscale event will feature a preset 

menu, silent auction of donated items from 

the community as well as this year’s artist 

interpretation of the “Pride in the City 

logo” by John Ferrie to be auctioned off. 

Our International Grand Marshall’s will 

be present for you to meet and share their 

experiences with. This is a ticketed event 

and seating is limited to 100 persons. 

THuRSDAY, AuGuST 2 

Vancity Theatre presents 

European Prides in Conflict 

Screening & Dialogue 

7pm-9:30pm, Thursday, August 2 

at Vancity Theatre 

In cooperation with Out on Screen, the 

Vancouver Pride Society will present an 

international perspective on Pride Events 

with the GLBT community. Representatives 

from Moscow Pride & Warsaw Pride will 

speak on the current situation in those 

regions. A graphic film on the challenges of 

Eastern European Prides and the community 

turmoil that has transpired over the past few 

years will demonstrate how fortunate we 

are in Canada. The evening will close with 

the Film “At the Rainbows End”. This will 

be a ticketed event and seating is limited to 

150 persons. 

FRIDAY, AuGuST 3 

Official Pride Weekend Launch 

Friday, August 3 - Noon to 1:30pm 

at Art Gallery, 

Georgia Street – Downtown 

Kicking off the biggest weekend of the 

summer season, Vancouver Pride takes 

it downtown in the heart of the financial 

& shopping district to have Mayor Sam 

Sullivan present the City Declaration for 

“Pride in the City” 2007. This rally will 

showcase the Parade Grand Marshall’s, 

speeches by several prominent political and 

community representatives to the GLBT. 

Photo-ops for all… 

SATuRDAY, AuGuST 4 

Terry Wallace Memorial Breakfast 

Saturday, August 4 

9:00am to 1:00pm 

at Davie Street and Bute 

In its 4th year, we take it to the street 

and we celebrate Terry Wallace, one of the 

founders of Vancouver Pride with a fantastic 

Pride Breakfast. Bring your appetite!! We 

respectfully request a donation. Lets keep 

the tradition alive. 

SuNDAY, AuGuST 5 

29 th Annual Pride Parade 

Sunday, August 5 - 12:00pm to 2:30pm 

at The West End – Denman & Davie 

The Vancouver Pride Society & Vancity 

Present the 29th annual Vancouver Pride 

Parade. Join us in bringing together the 

dynamic people and cultures of the city! 

Celebrating our 29th year, we invite you 

to come out and experience the vibrant 

life and diversity of the Vancouver Queer 

community. Parade participants are invited 

to register early, as space is limited to the 

first 140 entries. If you plan on being one 

of the over 300,000 spectators, get you 

viewing spot early to catch all the action. 

Pride Day Festival 

Sunday, August 5 - 12:00pm to 6:00pm 

at Sunset Beach Lower Bowl 

& Parking lot 

Keep the celebrations going after the 

parade! Come soak up the energy and be a 

part of largest Pride event in the Vancouver. 

There is something for EVERYONE: 

Food, retail, community groups, sampling 

vendors, a kids and youth zone. NO ONE 

goes away empty handed from this party! 

We will kick off the day with an acoustic set 

for those wanting a relaxed start to the day 

from noon to 2pm then the party kicks into 

high gear Featuring live entertainment from 

2pm to 6pm on our high energy stage, music 

to the ears as well the eyes. The Festival is 

something not to be missed, the true crown 

and glory to end pride season. And best of 

all its FREE to everyone. 

Pride Youth Dance 

Sunday, August 5 - 9:00pm to 1:00am 

at West End Community Center 

Hosted by one of the youth community 

groups, this up to 18 years of age dance 

party is a supervised no nonsense good 

time. Friends & allies of the GLBT youth 

community come together and celebrate 

Pride in a safe, no drug or alcohol 

environment. This will be a ticketed event 

and ID will be required of all persons 

wishing to enter. 

Printed by permission 

of Vancouver Pride Society 

sgn.org 


17

For more information: 

www.seattledykemarch.com 


June 22, 2007

• Travel Guides 

• Travel Literature 

• Green Trail Maps 

• Tilley Hats 

• Eagle Creek Packs 

• Electronic Language 

Translators 

...and Much More! 

206-842-4578 

287 Winslow Way. E., Bainbridge Isl., WA 98110 


Second annual 

Seattle Black Pride 

Mark your calendars for the second 

annual Seattle Black Pride (SBP). “This Is 

Why We’re Hot” is this year’s theme, and 

incorporates a celebration of wisdom, unity, 

leadership, pride and endurance within our 

Black GLBTQ community. 

Join SBP for 4 days, July 19-22, for 

culture, education, enlightenment and 

entertainment. We are celebrating with 

performances by the very best local and 

out of state talent, guest speakers/town hall 

discussions, educational workshops, live 

performances, Old School dance party and 

the big “This is Why We’re Hot” dance 

party, family barbecue and our second film 

festival showcasing cutting edge features 

and short films focused on our people of 

color and diversity. 

SBP Board President and founding 

member, Kiantha Duncan-Woods notes, 

“Seattle Black Pride gives voice to the 

Black GLBTQ in Washington. We are more 

than an annual event we are a culture; that 

culture is celebrated during this event. 

Seattle Black Pride offers the community a 

space to highlight and recognize 

the beauty and strength within 

our Black GLBTQ community. 

We are making history here in 

Washington and this is just the 

beginning.” 

Seattle Black Pride is a not-forprofit 

organization that organizes 

the SBP event in Seattle to 

commemorate and celebrate 

all Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and 

Transgender individuals and 

groups. 

SBP welcomes participation 

of all, regardless of race, age, 

creed, gender, gender identification, HIV 

status, national origin, physical or mental 

developmental ability, religion or sexual 

orientation. 

Duncan–Woods adds, “Seattle Black 

Pride is so much more than a party, it’s an 

experience. It offers a sense of belonging 

to the bigger picture for Black GLBTQ 

people”. 

Complete schedule/highlights listed on 

www.seattleblackpride.org. 

A Seattle Black Pride press release 


19

W.E.T. presents 

Hero 

The premiere production from 

the Queer Teen Ensemble Theatre program 

Hero 

Written & Performed 

by Kalila Griffin and Koe Sozuteki 

Directed by Rhonda J. Soikowski 

June 21 – 24, 2007 

Thursday through Sunday at 8pm 

WET Theatre 

609 19th Ave E at E Mercer St 

SEATTLE, WA –Washington Ensemble 

Theatre (WET) is proud to introduce the 

premiere of QTET: Queer Teen Ensemble 

Theatre - a new program giving voice and 

artistry to LGBT youth in the community. 

What does it mean for a fairy tale to have 

two princesses? Can you still be a hero if 

you’re wearing the dress? Led by WET 

Associate Artist Rhonda J. Soikowski, 

emerging teen playwrights Kalila Griffin 

and Koe Sozuteki give voice to what it 

means to be young and ‘out’ in Seattle. 

HERO. explores LGBT perspectives on 

identity as two young women go on an 

adventure to discover how the girl can save 

the girl and live happily ever after. 

HERO. is the flagship production of 

Queer Teen Ensemble Theatre, a new citywide 

teen program which WET will offer 

annually as part of the theatre’s educational 

outreach programming. Though a generous 

grant from the Mayor’s Office of Arts 

and Cultural Affairs, WET was able to 

offer LGBT teenagers full scholarships to 

participate in this new ensemble theatre 

project. Using the WET model for 

ensemble-generated new works, the students 

collaboratively produced a production 

based on their own experiences surrounding 

identity. With statistics showing that 9% 

of high school students identify as Gay, 

Lesbian, Bisexual or Questioning, WET is 

proud to offer a place for these emerging 

voices to express their struggles, triumphs 

and unique perspectives on the stories they 

tell best – their own. 

ARTIST BIoS: 

Rhonda J. Soikowski 

(Director; Associate Artist) 

Rhonda has been acting, directing and 

generating new work in collaborative process 

for ten years. She holds a BFA in Acting 

with an Original Works emphasis from 

Cornish College of the Arts, is an Associate 

Artist with Washington Ensemnble Theare 

and an Alumni Member of DirectorsLab 

Chicago. Seattle-premiered new work’s 

under her direction include The Show, a one 

man show with Troy Misklevitz at both On 

the Boards and WET, A Day in Dig Nation, 

a one man show with Michael McQuilken at 

Re-Bar, Fellow Passengers, an adaptation 

of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol 

for three actors at Strawberry Theatre 

Workshop and Split, a one-act play by Jen 

Grigg produced by EXITheatre. She was 

also involved in the generative process 

as an actor for the creation of both Paper 

Airplane and Extropia with former Seattle 

Arts collective Collaborator. Rhonda has 

taught theatre arts at Cornish College, 

Lake Washington Girls Middle School and 

North Lawndale Charter High School in 

Chicago. At WET Rhonda has appeared 

in Swimming in the Shallows directed by 

Katjana Vadeboncoeur and most recently 

in Iphigenia in Aulis directed by Lathrop 

Walker. For more information on Rhonda 

visit www.soikowski.com. 

Jessica Trundy (Project Manager) 

Jessica is a Seattle based lighting designer 

for theatre, dance and opera. Recent designs 

include Bust by Lauren Weedman at the 

Empty Space Theatre, Zoe Scofield’s there 

ain’t no easy way out at On The Boards, and 

Plainsong and House of Spirits for Book-it 

Repertory Theatre. She received her MFA 

from the University of Washington, and her 

BA from the University of California, Santa 

Cruz. Visit www.jessicatrundy.com for 

images of past and current designs. Jessica 

works administratively at WET in the 

production department. Her recent designs 

at WET include Iphigenia in Aulis, Crumbs 

are also Bread, What is Sexy?, and Crave. 

Kalila Griffin (Writer/Performer) 

Kalila is a sixteen year old high school 

student going into her junior year. She enjoys 

acting, writing, and photography. She has 

had a great experience working with QTET 

at the Washington Ensemble Theater. She is 

also very happy to have been able to work 

with the talented dynamic duo, Rhonda J. 

Soikowski and Jessica Hatlo. She would 

like to thank her parents for driving her to 

rehearsals and Rhonda for coming back to 

Seattle. 

Jessica Hatlo (Assistant Director) 

Jessica is a writer, director and performer 

from San Jose, California. She is currently a 

senior at Cornish College of the Arts seeking 

a Theater BFA with an emphasis in Original 

Works. Her recent acting credits include 

Mrs. Peachum in The Beggars Opera, 

The Virgin Mary in The New Playwright 

Festival’s workshop of Mechanical Angels, 

The Buttonmoulder in Peer Gynt, and 

Rachel in the sophomore ensemble Nest at 

Cornish. Jessica’s recent directing credits 

include She Bit Me by Suzan Lori Parks 

as a part of Seattle’s 365 project. Her other 

projects this summer include her 4th year as 

part of the Seattle Center Academy, a unique 

summer arts program for 7th & 8th graders, 

and developing The Bird Flew Theater 

Co.- a women’s original works ensemble 

of which she is a founding member. She is 

thrilled to be the co-pilot for QTET’s first 

year and gives a special thanks to Rhonda J 

for helping her get WET. 

Koe Sozuteki (Writer/Performer) 

Koe is a seventeen year old genderqueer 

pansexual individual. Koe grew up 

polyamorous and sex positive which she 

reports played a large part in shaping her 

into the awesome person that she is today. 

Over the last year and a half Koe has made 

quite an impact in the LGBTQ Youth 

community here in Seattle by organizing 

dances, lobbying on issues that effect the 

community, raising awareness through 

panels at local high schools and celebrating 

her own queerness by attending the 

LGBTQ Camp Ten Trees and through drag 

performances as ‘Lady Koko Divarms.’ 

Koe recently received MPowerment’s 

Upcoming Queer Youth Activist of the Year 

award and the LGBT Center’s Cherry award 

for outstanding Queer youth activism. She 

believes that by having a good time with 

her identity she is filling a void for people 

who aren’t comfortable being themselves, 

to whom she says “Hey, voyeurism is 

participation.” 

WASHINGToN 

ENSEMBLE THEATRE (W.E.T.) 

is committed to the creation of relevant, 

immediate and bold theatrical events. 

Through collaborative artistic leadership 

and decision-making, W.E.T. empowers 

artists to have a daring voice in the creative 

process and in the global community. 

Currently, W.E.T. is under the umbrella 

of Theatre Puget Sound as a non-profit 

organization in the state of Washington. 

www.washingtonensemble.org 

Tickets are $10, available at the door or 

in advance through Brown Paper Tickets. 

For ticket orders call 800-838-3006 or visit 

www.brownpapertickets.com. 


June 22, 2007



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June 22, 2007



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June 22, 2007

Seattle gay newS pride '07

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