LA LGBT GREENS/OUT AGAINST WAR NEWSLETTER, OCTOBER 2014

[shane que hee]

LOS ANGELES LGBT GREENS/OUT AGAINST WAR, 923 Levering Avenue Unit 102, Los Angeles CA 90024. Editor:Shane Que Hee. Phone: (310)208-1624; lgbtg...@hotmail.com; oa...@hotmail.com 

Other: www.cagreens.org/lacounty; www.gp.org; www.losanglesgreens.org; www.campusgreens.org; www.cagreens.org; www.greens.org; www.lavendergreens.org;
lavende...@green.gpus.org; lavender-...@green.gpus.org
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LA LGBT  GREENS/OUT AGAINST WAR  NEWSLETTER  OCTOBER 2014  Volume 14  #10

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SAME SEX MARRIAGE:
   The Mormon Church, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Assn of Evangelicals, the Ethics & Religious Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod requested that the Supreme Court settle the question of whether states can allow or disallow same sex marriage as the 9^th Circuit Court continued to favor to ban same sex marriage bans (LAT Sep 7 A18;Sep 9 A6;Sep 21 A23;Sep 28 A16;  FILA Sep 18 p13;Oct 2 p8,9).
   Fred McQuire successfully appealed the verdict that he could not receive Social Security and Veterans benefits after his same sex husband (they married in California), George Martinez,  died in August because of Arizona’s non-recognition of same sex marriage (LAT Sep 13 A8).
   The movement of the Presbyterian Church to recognize marriage equality was explored in Advocate Oct/Nov p26.
   The role of the Mormon Church in Prop 22 was further investigated (FILA Sep 18 p20).
   The quandary that the Republican Party faces over same-sex marriage was discussed in LAT Oct 3 A17. Republican governors in states that have same sex marriage have not opposed it nor will they try to ban it, whereas Republicans in the House of Representatives are fully opposed
Other: FILA Sep 18 p11(2)
 
 
LGBT  NEWS
INTERNATIONAL  
   Anti-LGBT legislative actions in Russia were noted in Out Oct p20 by drawing notice to HBO’s Hunted: The War Against Gays in Russia (relates the change in living in Russia as a LGBT) and To Russia With Love (the price that LGBT athletes had to pay and also featuring
former Olympian ice skater Johnny Weir) on Epix. FILA Sep 18 p18 noted the Russian activities of Brian Brown, President of the anti-same sex marriage organization, National Organization for Marriage.
   LGBT activists in Serbia held a Pride Rally and Parade in Belgrade that numbered thousands and that was protected by riot police (LAT Sep 29 AA2). Some right-wing groups attacked police guarding liberal media stations and buses.
   Egypt is cracking down on its LGBTs (FILA Oct 2 p8).

NATIONAL
   Teaching Tolerance Fall p38 contained an article from a closeted teacher.
   Apple’s openly Gay CEO Tim Cook grabbed the limelight with the 1^st new Apple product, a smartwatch, since Steve Jobs died (Time Sep 22 p48;  LAT Sep 10 A1).
  The musical Kinky Boots (6 Tonys), about shoe fetishes of drag queens, by Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper is on a national tour that includes Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles (LAT Sep 14 E8).
   Violence in LGBT same–sex relationships was discussed in Advocate Oct/Nov p28, as was prostitution in Advocate Oct/Nov p28, the latter being legal in 50 countries including New Zealand, the eastern Australian states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, Bangla Desh, Germany, Mexico, Venezuela, Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Turkey, Ghana, Taiwan, Israel, and Greece.
    The role of money in obtaining LGBT equality was explored in Advocate Oct/Nov p53.
    The current crop of famous LGBT journalists with websites included Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight, Andrew Sullivan of The Dish, Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept, Kara Swisher of Re/Corde, Nick Denton of Gawker Media, Choire Sicha of The Awl,  Tom McGeveran of Capitol,  and originator Maer Roshan of Radar (Advocate Oct/Nov p62). Anderson Cooper, Robin Roberts, and Michelangelo Signorile got mention too.
   The attributes of perfect drag queens were discussed in Advocate Oct/Nov p71.
   Transgender Emmy nominee Laverne Cox will host Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word that profiles transgenders of ages 12-24 in a documentary on MTV and Logo in Oct (LAT Sep 19 D2).
   Cartoonist Alison Bechdel received a McArthur (Genius) Fellowship worth $625,000 (Time Sep 29 p23).
   David Hockney’s finger iPAD paintings are on display in the Pace Gallery in New York City though Nov 1 (Time Sep 29 p56).
   Retired soccer star David Beckham had “Dream Big -Be Unrealistic” on his hand (Time Sep 29 p56).
   A new biography of Tennessee Williams, Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh  by John Lahr, has appeared and greeted warmly in LAT Sep 21 E1 for its personal and psychological insight into the playwright.  His lover Frank Merlo figures prominently as do director Elia Kazan and William’s mentally-ill sister Rose.
    Social media were used by Philadelphia police to catch 3 charged for assault on a Gay couple (LAT Sep 24 AA2).
   A cartoon commenting on how it would be impossible to elect FDR today with today’s media microscope had a question: “Is Eleanor a Lesbian?”(LAT Sep 26 A17).
   Giovanni’s Room bookstore in Philadelphia was recently purchased by the Philadelphia non-profit Philly AIDS Thrift and will reopen on Oct 10 (RFD Fall p5).
   RFD celebrated its 40^th anniversary of publication with a celebratory Fall issue. It was born in Iowa City in 1974, and resided in Wolf Creek in Oregon,  Washington, Running Water in North Carolina 1979-1988, Short Mountain in Tennessee (for 22 years until 2009!), and at its current home in White River Junction in  Hadley, Massachusetts (since 2009).  EuroFaeries began 20 years ago, inspired by Harry Hay, RFD and the Short Mountain collective.
    Cleve Jones, 60, of the Names Memorial Quilt and an ardent supporter of Harvey Milk was interviewed in FILA Oct 2 p16. He worked against Prop 6, the Briggs Initiative, in 1978 and became Milk’s intern when Milk was elected in 1978 as Supervisor. After working on the Quilt, he now works for Unite Here.  He still practices Milk’s gospel: come out, seek allies, and create coalitions.
   The Miss Gay America pageant returns to its hometown Nashville on Oct 8-12. Miss California Kendra More and her Alternate Suzy Wong (aka Arnold Myint) will represent California (FILA Oct 3 p21).
  An interview with openly Gay actor Alan Cumming appeared in Time Oct 13 pp60-62.
  Openly Gay actor Neil Patrick Harris published his autobiography Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography (Time Oct 13 p63).

CALIFORNIA
   Gender-neutral University of California bathrooms will be produced by gradually converting single-stall bathrooms (LAT Sep 30 AA4)
    Equality California announced its new mission statement: Equality California is the premier statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization focused on creating a fair and just society. Our mission is to achieve and maintain full and lasting equality, acceptance, and social justice for all people in our diverse LGBT communities, inside and outside of California. Our mission includes advancing the health and well-being of LGBT Californians through direct healthcare service advocacy and education. Through electoral, advocacy, education and mobilization programs, we strive to create a broad and diverse alliance of LGBT people, educators, government officials, communities of color and faith, labor, business, and social justice communities to achieve our goals http://www.eqca.org/site/pp.asp?c=kuLRJ9MRKrH&b=9206793

LOS ANGELES
    LA Weekly Best of LA Issue of Oct 3 mentioned following LGBT haunts: The Troubadour (Best All Ages Club p32),The Abbey (Best Bar for People Watching; Best Gay Dance Party p32); Sundance Sunset Cinema (Best Indie Movie Theater p112), and TigerHeat (Best Gay Dance Party, p152).
    Former USC professor Walter Williams pleaded guilty to child sex by flying to foreign countries to have sex with underage minors (LAT Sep 7 A27;  FILA Sep 18 p12; ). He was once on the FBI ‘most wanted “ list and was apprehended at LAX in Feb 11 2011.  He is likely to have a no more than a 5-year jail sentence, 10 years supervision after release, and will pay $25,000 to his victims (estimated at 10) as a result of plea bargaining that is due to be announced on Dec 15. He taught anthropology, gender studies, and history at USC and resigned from there in 2011.  He is an author and Fulbright Scholar. One Archives supplied the FBI with the materials that had been deposited there by Williams himself
     The alternative night scene was covered (LA Weekly Sep12 p62;Sep19 p68;Sep 26 p66;Oct 3 p228).
     Sheila Kuehl is facing corporate preference for her rival, Bobby Shriver, in the race for Supervisor to replace termed-out Zev Yaroslavsky in the 3^rd District as a debate occurred at UCLA on Sep 16 (LAT Sep 14 A30;Sep 16 AA4;Sep 17 AA3;Sep 22 A11;  Daily Bruin Sep 15 p3;Oct 2 A4; FILA Oct 2 p14). Predictably, they disagreed over the value of corporate incentives. Termed-out US Rep Henry Waxman endorsed Kuehl on Sep 29 (LAT Sep 30 AA3).
     Director Peter Sellers, still the enfant terrible, will.present Bach’s St Matthew Passion and  The Gospel According to the Other Mary (John Adams) in Lincoln Center, New York, on Oct 7-8 (LAT Sep 14 E22). 
    AIDS Project Los Angeles had a fundraiser Glamorama: Fashion Rocks on Sep 9 as did Project Angel Food on Sep 6 at its Angels Award Gala [raised over $515,000] (LAT Sep 14 P8; FILA Sep 18 p18).           
  The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles participated in the Sep 12 The Simpson’s Take The Bowl by backing Simpson’s scriptwriter Conan O’Brien in the Monorail Song and Spider Pig (LAT Sep 15 D1).
   AIDS Walk Los Angeles is to occur on Oct 12, its 30^th anniversary (LAT Sep 18 A9;  FILA Sep 18 p21;Oct 2 p30).
   Mike Bartlett’s Cock directed by Cameron Watson exploring the bisexual dilemma is on at Rogue Machine, 5041 W Pico Blvd through Nov 3.
   The 40^th anniversary of Rocky Horror Movie Show was celebrated at Dragonfly and The Nuart (LA Weekly Sep 19 p68).
  WeHo cars and trucks may be forced to yield after the more deaths of pedestrians (LAT Sep 20 AA1).
   The Pasadena Museum of California Art is open Wed-through Sun to Jan 11 for An Opening of the Field: Jess, Robert Duncan, and Their Circle (LAT Sep 21 E10;Sep 23 D1;Sep 28 D2).  Poet and sketcher Robert Duncan (1919-1988) and collagist Jess Collins (1923-2004) were lovers and mutually influenced their art and fellow artists.  They met in the early 50s in San Francisco, and in 1952 with painter Harry Jacobus, opened the King Ubu Gallery in 1952 in San Francisco, an important facility for avant-garde art. The exhibit has 130 art works, 85 being by their inner circle artists like RB Kitaj, Edward Corbett, Wallace Berman, Lawrence Jordan, Robert Bladen (also a sculptor), Helen Adams, Virginia Admiral, William McNeill, and George Herms as well as poets/writers Jack Spicer, Robin Blaser, Denise Levertov, Robert Creeley, Jack Olson, and Michael McClure. The show also has posters that Jess made for Pauline Kael (who briefly married poet James Broughton whose affections were also being vied for at the same time by Harry Hay), then running the Berkeley Cinema Guild.
   Outfest Legacy Awards went to novelist Armistead Maupin, actress Hillary Swank, and Levi Strauss & Co (LAT Sep 23 D2; FILA Oct 2 p9).
   The City of West Hollywood (Mayor John D’Amico) and the state of  Israel (consul general David Siegel) celebrated the creation of a joint HIV/AIDS Task Force on Sep 18 at the reform Jewish synagogue Kol Ami (Rabbi Denise Eger) (Jewish J Sep 26 p31). It is part of the Israel-California collaboration signed in March by Israel Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and California Governor Jerry Brown.  WeHo councilman John Duran also attended the celebration. Consulate staffers have been participating in AIDS Walks for years.
  The African American LGBT focused Choir Boy by Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by Trip Cullman is on at The Geffen, Tues through Fri 8p, Sat 3 and 8p, and Sun 2 and 7p, ending Oct 26.  The play/musical is about the oppression of Gay boys.
  Star Trek’s Sulu George Takei acted as the Master of Ceremony at the Sep 30 opening of the 1.9 mile $1.4 billion downtown Regional Connector Project that would burrow under Little Tokyo to link the Gold, Red, Purple, and Blue light rail lines, being projected to open in 2020 (LAT Oct 1 AA3).  Takei’s involvement with public transit began in the 70s when on the Board of the Southern California Rapid Transit District, the predecessor of the present Metropolitan Transit Authority.  The District built the 1^st phase of the Red Line light transit subway.
   An exhibition of the 102 large canvas art of Andy Warhol entitled Shadows at MOCA received the cold shoulder in LAT Oct 1 D1 being called “vapid and pretentious and overblown”.
   The currently most commercially successful Gay male pop singer, Sam Smith, 22, from Britain did a concert at the Greek Theater (LAT Oct 1 D1).  He sang soul vocals and his use of pronouns was commented upon by the concert reviewer. He has a single Stay With Me as well as being lead singer with bands like Disclosure
    The Catch One disco on Pico Blvd is up for sale (FILA Oct 2 p8).
 
LGBT PASSINGS
 Simone Battle, 25, an X-Factor finalist in 2011, committed suicide by hanging in her WeHo apartment home on Sep 5. She was found by her father. She was a member of the girl band G.R.L ,  had collaborated with rapper Pitbull, and had just finished a tour overseas. The group also performed on ABC's Good Morning America in August. She was featured in the group’s debut album Ugly Heart. She was depressed over financial matters and making it to the top.

Weho resident, Mark Tyree, 52, committed premeditated suicide in the WeHo Sheriff’s Station parking lot on Sep 6 on his birthday.  The motive was not known, but was rumored to be health related and not depression or family related.

Franz Boerlage, 87, died from Parkinson’s Disease on Sep 9 in Santa Monica. He was an Opera Stage Manager and spent 23 years at the University of Southern California as well as Seattle Opera, Netherlands Opera, and Barcelona (Spain) Opera and did more than 200 opera productions.  He also was a writer and published 5 books, poems, plays, operas, and musical theatre. His husband of 37 years, Joseph Harrington, and he spent 37 years in Santa Monica.

Song writer and producer Bob Crewe, 83, died on Sep 11 in Scarborough, Maine. He had dozens of hits including Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You, Rag Doll, Walk Like a Man, and Silence is Golden, and made Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons into a pop powerhouse group.  Crewe resided in Los Angeles for 4 decades from the mid 70s, moving to Scarborough Maine in 2011 after a brain injury. He started off wanting to be an architect but soon switched into song production, although he was also a fashion model (for example, the ad for Coca Cola in 1957). He mentored other pop groups like Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, Bobby Darin, Lesley Gore, Oliver, the Rays, and LaBelle. He also mentored songwriters Kenny Nolan, L Russell Brown, Desmond Child, and Cindy Bullens. He was portrayed in the musical (2005­he was the lyricist) and film (2014) Jersey Boys.  He signed Valli and his band in 1959. His 1st writing partner was Frank C Slay. His 1^st solo hit (cowritten with Bob Gaudio), was Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You in 1967. Ge was an innovator in pop music and established his own label, DynoVoice Records. He also performed and supervised the score along with Charlie Fox for the film Barbarella of 1968.  He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992. Ritchie Unterberger wrote a biography.  He also had exhibitions of his paintings and sculpture at Earl McGrath Gallery, Tom Solomon’s Garage, and the Jan Baum Gallery , all in Los Angeles. He was Gay and established the Bob Crewe Foundation in 2009 to support AIDS research and support Gay rights.
 

GREEN PARTY NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
   Climate change continued to roil supporters and critics alike as millions demonstrated on Sep 20 and 21, even in Los Angeles at Wilshire/Vermont on Sep 20 as a huge march of over 400,000 occurred in New York City ahead of the meeting of 125 countries in New York City on Sep 23 (Time Sep 29 Business4;Oct 6 p13;Oct 13 p14; LAT Sep 9 AA1;Sep 21 A27(2 photos);Sep 22 A6,A11;Sep 23 A1,A6,A10,A11;Sep 24 AA1;Oct 1 A4).
   Venezuela is becoming less hospitable to outsiders (LAT Sep 11 A3;Sep 21 A7;Ofdt 1 A3).
   One nuclear power plant with 2 reactors in Sendal in Southern Japan of the idle 48 plants was approved to begin producing electricity under the new safety rules post-Fukushima (LAT Sep 11 A5).
    Scotland rejected its independence by a margin of about 11% with about 80% of its registered-to-vote population doing so (Time Sep 29 p11;  LAT Sep 19 AA1;Sep 20 A1).
    Pres Pena Nieto of Mexico will face a test over an alleged execution of 22 on June 30 in the state of Tlatlaya by his army (LAT Sep 27 AA2;Oct 2 AA2).
   The potential global extent of the current Ebola epidemic was a source of concern with a 3^rd US  volunteer hospitalized in the Maryland NIH medical facility (Time Oct 6 p12;Oct 13 pp34-45;  LAT Sep 29 AA2;Sep 30 A1;Oct 1 A1;Oct 2 A1,A4,A12;Oct 3 A1,A4,A5,AA2;Oct 4 A1,A9,A11,B2).

NATIONAL
   Unemployment dropped to 5.9% nationwide in September (LAT Oct 4 B1).
   Obama will put off Executive actions on immigration until after the midterm Nov elections as ICE procedures continued (Time Sep 22 p10,28;  LAT Sep 7 A1;Sep 9 A10;Sep 11 A1;Sep 12 A19;Sep 14 A12;Sep 15 A1,A17;Sep 16 A6,AA1;Sep 17 A10;Sep 21 A8;Sep 26 AA1;Sep 27 A8,AA4;Oct 3 A6;  SPLC Report Fall p3).
   The aftermath of events in Ferguson continued as a fire destroyed a memorial to Michael Brown killed on Aug 9 and window smashing resumed on Sep 24 (Time Oct 6 p21;  LAT Sep 10 A8;Sep 12 A12;Sep 25 A12;Sep 26 A9; Sep 28 A10MA19;Sep 29 A5;  SPLC Report Fall p2).
   The dichotomy between federal and state laws on pot continued to cause problems (Time Sep 29 p15;  LAT Sep 11 A15;Sep 22 AA3).
   ObamaCare continued to have problems (Time Sep 29 p15;  LAT Sep 16 A6,B3;Sep 19 B1;Sep 24 A12;Sep 26 B1;Sep 28 A1).
   Blacks are twice as likely to die by a gunshot than Whites according to the CDC (LAT Sep 19 A12).
   The damaged hazardous waste dump in New Mexico for nuclear waste is still shut after two Feb accidents, one an underground  fire and another a drum rupture that released radioactive materials (LAT Sep 21 A10;Oct 3 A6).  Most of the waste comes from Los Alamos National Laboratory.  Reopening has been estimated to be in 2016.
   Death with dignity issues arose again (LAT Oct 1 A2).

CALIFORNIA
   There are at least 37 Greens running in November 2014 elections, mostly for “non-partisan” race http://www.cagreens.org/elections/2014-fall.
   Unemployment remained at 7.4% for August (LAT Sep 19 B1).
   Water wars and drought preoccupied the news headlines (LAT Sep 8 AA1;Sep 13 A1;Sep 17 AA1;Sep 18 A1,A17;Sep 23 A2;Sep 26 A1;Sep 30 AA1,AA3;Oct 1 AA1;Oct 3 AA1).  The 11 large reservoirs in the state are between 11-38% of normal capacity.
   The only functioning nuclear power plant in California, the Diablo Canyon plant near San Luis Obispo, was declared “safe” relative to earthquake preparedness (LAT Sep 16 AA4).
   Asians and affirmative action were discussed in LAT Sep 25 A15.
   The California Highway Patrol and Marlene Pinnock have settled for $1.5 million in light of video of the CHP officer punching her on the 10 Freeway (LAT Sep 25 AA1;Sep 26 AA1).
   Governor Brown signed the disposable plastic bag ban for the state into law on Sep 30 (Time Oct 13 p16; LAT Oct 1 A1).
 
LOS ANGELES
   The 68^th annual Mexican Independence Day rituals were celebrated at Cesar E Chavez and Gage on Sep 7 (LAT Sep 8 AA6(photo)).
   Corruption continued to be uncovered (LAT Sep 9 AA3;Sep 13 B3;Oct 4 AA3).
   The homeless were still a focus (LAT Sep 11 AA2;Sep 13 AA4;Sep 15 A1).
   Events during the former Sheriff’s term continued to be examined as the electioneering continued (LAT Sep 11 AA4;Sep 12 A18,AA1;Sep 17 AA1;Sep 24 A1;Sep 25 A14;Oct 1 A1, AA1).
   Workers at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach are still dissatisfied over their pensions as fires erupted (LAT Sep 11 B2;Sep 24 AA1;Sep 28 A27).
   The announcement that termed-out Supervisor Gloria Molina would contest Jose Huizar’s District 14 seat in the next City Council elections caused a ripple (LA Weekly Sep 12 p12;Sep 19 p8).
   Mayor Garcetti kept popping up in the news especially relative to a plan for a graduated increase in the minimum wage (LAT Sep 12 AA1;Sep 13 AA1,B3;Sep 14 A19;Sep 15 A17,AA1;   Sep 21 A22;Sep 22 AA1;Sep 23 A10,AA1;Sep 24 AA3;Sep 25 AA1;Sep 30 A13).
   Transit issues were in the news as Metro increased its fares from Sep 15 and as work on the downtown light rail interlink under Little Tokyo began (LAT Sep 14 A23;Sep 16 AA3;Sep 19 AA4;Oct 1 AA3).
 The LAPD is more trusted by whites than Blacks, Latinos or Asians (LAT Sep 14 A23;Oct 2 A14), as police perfidy as to evidence was uncovered and dissension arose within the LAPD ranks (LAT Sep 18 AA3;Sep 28 A24;Oct 1 AA1,AA3).
   Protests against police use of drones occurred (LAT Sep 17 A11(cartoon)).
   Gov Brown on Sep 29 signed a deadline of the end of 2015 for the Exide plant in Vernon to comply with hazardous waste laws by becoming a permitted EPA hazardous waste treatment facility rather than the interim status that it has operated on since its inception (LAT Sep 30 AA1).
   LA County jails have not met federal mental health standards for their inmates and the County may lose oversight to the Feds (LAT Oct 3 AA1).
  Violent crime is starting to increase again in Los Angeles (LAT Oct 4 A1). Relative to 2013, the following have increased: rape, 7%; aggravated assault, 19.4%; total violent crime, 7.6%;robbery, burglary and thefts have all decreased.
 

OUT AGAINST WAR
  A photospread of LGBT veterans was in Advocate Oct/Nov p66.
  Chelsea Manning is suing the Pentagon for denying her access to therapy for gender dysphoria.  Chelsea Manning pursued almost all administrative 'remedies available for treatment, and as Kevin chronicles in his report, was systematically obstructed from receiving care every time from when the diagnosis was made 4 years ago. Manning wrote a Sep 16 Guardian op-ed on the recent beginning of bombing of ISIS in Syria. She thought the bombing would be unsuccessful at destroying ISIS but  instead “only a very focused and consistent strategy of containment can be effective in reducing the growth and effectiveness of Isis as a threat.” ( http://www.chelseamanning.org/uncategorized/chelsea-manning-on-containing-isis-in-guardian-op-ed ).
  Julian Assange stated: “I am very very pissed about a lot of things…I am pissed that are torturing Chelsea Manning” (FILA Oct 2 p7).very
Manning
  John O’ Brien joined the climate change building blocks actions at Wilshire/Vermont on Sep 20 (LAT Sep 21 A27 ( 2 photos)). Scott Tucker and lover Larry Gross also participated.
  John O’Brien and Shane Que Hee were at the Sep 24 Emergency Rally called by ANSWER at the Westwood Federal Building to protest the U.S. bombing of ISIS Syria with some 30 in attendance.
  Eleven people participated in the Sep 25 Out Against War’s lunchtime action outside the office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein at her Sepulveda/Santa Monica Blvd office because of her role as Intelligence Committee chair and as a member on the Appropriations Committee (she is a former Chair) in aiding and abetting Obama’s declared and undeclared wars.  John O’Brien and Shane Que Hee presented her staff with a letter of demands. Bill Kaiser was cute waving his Peace flag.  The demo was also endorsed by Jewish Voice for Peace, Los Angeles (Thank You!). We encourage you all to write her and Sen Barbara Boxer too with the same demands. The text of the press release follows:
 
OUT AGAINST WAR TARGETS FEINSTEIN     PRESS  RELEASE       September 26, 2014
Contacts:  Shane Que Hee  oa...@hotmail.com; Bill Kaiser  Phone: (818) 953-5096

Out Against War, Los Angeles' LGBT antiwar organization, held an emergency protest at U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein's office in Los Angeles midday on Thursday September  25.  The focus was the new expansion of war and militarism by the U. S. government, at the cost of providing needed help and services at home, including AIDS research for a cure.
While a number of placard-holding demonstrators picketed outside the building, long-time Gay activists and spokespersons for Out Against War, Shane Que Hee and John O'Brien, hand-delivered a letter to Senator Feinstein's office and gave out flyers to the staff with six demands: Fund AIDS research - not war-to find a real cure; Release Chelsea Manning; Drop all charges against Edward Snowden; End the Patriot Act (that expires on December 18 unless renewed);
End the militarization of local police forces; and Stop funding U.S. President Obama's declared and undeclared wars.

Shane Que Hee, an AIDS activist and educator, explained why Senator Feinstein was selected as the focus of these protests and these demands. The senator's position as chair of the Intelligence Committee and being a member of the Appropriations Committee (and former Chair) makes her a key player in all six of these issues.  Senator Feinstein has been very public in demanding maximum punishment for whistleblowers Chelsea (Bradley) Manning and Edward Snowden, but she has remained silent on funding for a real cure for AIDS.  She has also remained silent on the Michael Brown murder in Ferguson Missouri that brought to public attention the widespread militarization of local police forces. 

Senator Feinstein's memberships on the U. S. Senate Appropriations Committee and Armed Services Committee have facilitated big funding for such merchant of death companies as General Electric and Raytheon providing them historic profits, while needed funding for AIDS research for a cure goes wanting.  And now the U. S. Congress (including Senator Feinstein) is approving the spending of the obscene costs for the missiles and jets used in Iraq and Syria and an additional 500 million dollars to fund various Islamic opposition groups in Syria - many who have carried out murder and torture of LGBTs- and the Iraq government that was revealed as having active death squads to detect and torture and murder Iraqi LGBTs.

John O'Brien, a leading participant in the Stonewall Rebellion and long-time LGBT activist including for international LGBTs, wanted to know why there is funding for these known extremist religious-based hate groups who want to enforce Sharia Law at the expense to the rights of women and Gays, while the same Congress keeps stating they do not have funds to do needed research for a cure to AIDS and to do AIDS education. O'Brien pointed out "President Obama and the Congressional leadership can seem to find money to waste on proven failed efforts of bombing, occupying and setting up unpopular nation puppets in the Middle East, while they claim that needed services for Americans must go without."

O'Brien went on to explain how historically such militarist doctrines failed, only leading  to much pain and the wasted lives of both Americans and to people in the Middle East.  "We should have learned by now after a string of failures from Vietnam to Iraq to Libya - that we do not need to add Syria to this sorry record", stated O'Brien.

OAW activist Robert Brown added  "Last year the majority of Americans correctly opposed President Obama and his congressional allies when they wanted to attack and bomb the Syrian government, so as to aid the very same rebel groups that now the same U. S. president wants to bomb.  It seems the focus of U. S. foreign  policy is threatening or carrying out military attacks, instead of promoting rights and justice. We are only creating more enemies with a militarist foreign policy."

"We see the same failed government policies over and over again.  We first supported partners like Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, former Panama dictator Manuel Noriega, and former Iraqi prime minister Anwar Malaki.  We then turned our military weapons against these same folks.  We should be aiding and defending women and Gays and not more dictators and gangster outfits who portray themselves as religious believers, when they are just mainly poor uneducated youth with no jobs and no hope,  lured by promises of some paradise by religious charlatans", stated Brown.    
 
John O'Brien expressed fear "that once the U. S. military had defeated the relatively small organized forces of ISIS and some of the other fifty jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq, that the same U. S.  forces by early 2015, will then come into active conflict with the Syrian government military." Should the U. S.  government arrange with a section of the Syrian military and Bathist leaders to topple dictator Bashir al-Assad", O'Brien went on to state "the new then U. S. -approved Syrian leader will be viewed as a puppet when rejecting the needed demands and aspirations of a Syrian populace, that has endured much suffering and this will inevitably lead then to a growing active resistance among Syrians, as occurred in Iraq and is now playing out in Libya.  All this does is to create new enemies". 

O'Brien emphasized that we witnessed over five decades of such failed policiesbased on militarism and war.  He stated "these short-sighted actions and responses might aid the policies of the governments of Israel, Iran, Turkey and Saudi
Arabia - but do not help the average American and makes us all less secure."

The OAW leaders all emphasized that LGBT people,  as with most people in the USA and around the world, do not benefit by warfare that benefits large corporation shareholders and dictators.  Instead, the U.S. should cooperate, educate,  provide jobs and hope,  to those many Arab youth now facing the same desperation of our own nation's poor youth-- no hope, no jobs and a poor future.  The ISIS leaders are just gangsters who use the same methods as USA inner city gangs.

We can and must do better as a nation and a people.  Perhaps LGBT people can provide that needed leadership, of offering cooperation and hope to others who have also been disenfranchised- as have many poor LGBT people in both the
USA and other parts of the world.  War is not the answer and Eternal War will definitely not create a better world.  Militarism creates nations with less civil liberties and fewer rights, and does not extend and enforce rights.
Text of the Dianne Feinstein Letter

September 25 2014
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein
11111  Santa Monica Blvd Ste 915
Los Angeles CA  90025

Out Against War demands that you support:

• Repeal of the Patriot Act
• No funding for President Obama's declared and undeclared wars
• Funding for AIDS research,  not for War--and a cure for AIDS
• Dropping of all charges against Edward Snowden
• Releasing Chelsea Manning
• Ending militarization of police

Sincerely, 
 

WAR NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
  Al Qaeda pockets in Somalia, India, Jordan, Mali, and Yemen were discussed (LAT Sep 7 A3;Sep 9 AA2;Sep 10 A4;Sep 21 A4;Sep 22 A3;Sep 23 AA1,AA2;Sep 24 AA2;Sep 25 A3;Sep 26 A1;Sep 27 A4;Oct 4 A8,AA2).
  ISIS continued its operations in Iraq and Syria as Obama vowed to destroy it from the air (US) and on the ground (allies) in a speech on Sep 10 as 3 other non-Islamic hostages were beheaded on Sep 13, Sep 23, and Oct 3 (Time Sep 22 p15,32-35;Sep 29 p7,23,24-27;Oct 6 p13,16;Oct 13 p15,17;  LAT Sep 7 A16, A22(2);Sep 8 A1,A3;Sep 9 A1,A11(plus cartoon);Sep10 A1,A4;Sep 11 A1(2),A5, A16;Sep 12 A1(2),A6,A10, A19(cartoon);Sep13 A1,A4;Sep 14 A1(2),A3,A7,A20; Sep15 A1(2), A3(2),Sep 16 A7,A11(2); Sep 17 A1,A10; Sep 18 A4;Sep 19 A2,AA2;Sep 20 A4; Sep 21 A1,A3, A4,A22; Sep 22 A1(2),D1; Sep 23 A1,A3, AA2;Sep 24 A4;A5;Sep 25 A1,A5, Sep 26 A4,A17;Sep 27 A3;Sep 28 A1,A3,A4,A24;Sep 29 A3,A11;Sep 30 A13;Oct 1 A3;Oct 3 A3;Oct 4 A3,A4,AA2;  LA Weekly Oct 3 p218 (Henry Rollins column)).
  Afghanistan continued to face deaths and bickering over Presidential election results as Ashraf Ghani was declared the winner on Sep 22 and was sworn in on Sep 29 (Time Sep 22 p15;Oct 6 p13;  LAT Sep 8 A3;Sep 9 A3;Sep 10 A3;Sep 16 A2;Sep 17 A3;Sep 19 A17(cartoon);Sep 20 A3; Sep 22 A3;Sep 23 A4,A11;Sep 24 A3;Sep 27 A4;Sep 29 A3;Sep 30 A4;Oct 1 A3).
   Pakistan continued to be rent by assassinations, bombings and drones (LAT Sep 25 A2).
  Syria continued to have its civil war as ISIS tried to dominate (Time Oct 13 p16; LAT Sep 7 A4;Sep 10 A4(2);Sep 12 A10,AA2;Sep 16 A1;Sep 18 A1;Sep 19 A1,A17,AA2;Sep 20 A8,AA2;Sep 23 A1,A3;Sep 24 A1(2);Sep 24 A4,A12;Sep 25 A5;Sep 26 A3;Sep 28 A3;Sep 29 A11(cartoon);Sep 30 A5,AA2; Oct 2 A5(2);Oct 3 A3)
  Violence continued in Egypt as ex-President Morsi was accused of spying (Time Oct 6 p14;  LAT Sep 7 A3;Sep 14 A4;Sep 17 AA2).
   Libya continued to be unstable (LAT Sep 9 A4;Sep 16 A1;Sep 24 A13).
   Iran continued its independent course as talks over its nuclear capabilities bogged down (Time Oct 13 pp46-51;  LAT Sep 16 A4;Sep 18 A4;Sep 20 A3;Sep 21 A3;Sep 23 A2(photo);Sep 25 A4;Sep 26 A4;Sep 27 A4; Sep 28 A3;  Jewish J Sep 26 p24).
   Fatah and Hamas are now bickering over power in the Palestinian State as an uneasy ceasefire with Israel held as Israel continued to expand its Jewish settlement program on Palestinian territory (Time Sep 29 p11;  LAT Sep 8 AA2;Sep 11 A5;Sep 14 A20;Sep 23 A3;Sep 26 A3;Sep 30 AA2;Oct 2 A4,AA2; Daily Bruin Oct 3 A9).
  The ceasefire in Ukraine generally held as the involved parties manouevered diplomatically AS Russian troops 1^st reinforced their allies and then departed (Time Sep 22 p10,14;Oct  13 p15,26;  LAT Sep 7 A3,A7;Sep 8 A4,A15 (cartoon);Sep 9 A3,A11;Sep 10 A3;Sep 11 A3;Sep 13 A3;Sep 14 A3;Sep 17 A5;Sep 20 A1;Sep 21 A4;Sep 22 A3;Sep 24 A3;Sep 26 A4;Sep 29 A2;Sep 30 A3;Oct 2 A3; Oct 3 AA2).
   Guantanamo Bay inmate cases even for ex-inmates continued (LAT Oct 2 A3).

NATIONAL/STATE/LOCAL
   With the beheading of 2 journalists in Iraq, journalism is no longer safe (LAT Sep 7 A22;    ).
   A young Colorado adolescent woman nurse who was the internet girlfriend of a young Islamic militant in Syria pleaded guilty in conspiring to aid ISIS by attempting to join him on April 8 (LAT Sep 11 A10).
   Non military uses of drones are being promoted (LAT Sep 13 B1;Sep 26 B1).
   The Benghazi hearings resumed (LAT Sep 18 A3).
   The Boston bombing enquiry has been delayed until Jan 5 and the motion denied to move it out of Boston (LAT Sep 24 A8;Sep 25 AA2).
  Osama Bin Laden’s son-in–law was sentenced to life in prison for his role in 9/11 and Al Qaeda (LAT Sep 24 A8).
   More arrests were made of suspected war criminals and human rights violators especially those suspected of being sympathizers of ISIS or Al Qaeda(LAT Sep 25 AA2;Sep 28 A34).
   The new issues of Changelinks published by that collective have been rolling along since the death of founder John Johnston.
   The Liberator, a film about how Simon Bolivar liberated the north and west of South America from Spanish rule in from 1800-1830 has appeared in theaters (LAT Oct 3 D8).
   The Southern California Library on Vermont, now over 50 years old, was named Best Social Justice Library in LA Weekly Oct 3 p122.
 
 
OCCUPY
   The deliberate policy of keeping at least 5% in poverty and being defined as “full employment” was attacked in LAT Sep 21 B1. Other than for those over 65 and under 18, however, wages and economic mobility are frozen.  The median (middle) annual income is $51,939.  The peak was $56, 895 in 1999. From 1990 through 2013, the median annual income of the lowest 20% of wage earners fell 5.9%, but the median annual income of the top 20% increased by 23%, and that of the top 5% rose by 34.5%.
   A federal jury in Sacramento acquitted 4 mortgage borrowers citing the fact that the CEOs of their banks deliberately floated fraudulent loans for their personal enrichment and that the borrowers were the designated scapegoats of the CEOs (LAT Oct 1 B1).  The Federal government has been reluctant to punish CEOs. for such behavior, instead punishing the designated scapegoats
   The collusion among the Fed, Congress and the bankers was discussed in Time Oct 13 p32. Banks needed to be treated as businesses not social welfare cases.
 
 
LAVENDER GREENS MISSION STATEMENT(June 24 2003): 
The National Lavender Green Caucus (NLGC) is the Green Party's advocacy group on gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (GLBTIQ) issues. NLGC works for the elimination of heterosexism and all its manifestations such as homophobia, violence, prejudice, and injustice against GLBTIQ communities. NLGC also works for the elimination of racism and sexism and all their manifestations in GLBTIQ communities and in society as a whole, and our work is centered in ten key values and four pillars of the Green Party of the United States. The caucus recognizes that freedom and social justice for GLBTIQ individuals will only come with the liberation of all people, and we actively view ourselves as a part of a broader movement for social justice.

EVENTS:
ANTIWAR VIGILS: Fridays 5-7p at Vista Theater at Sunset Bl./Hollywood Bl./Hillhurst Av./Virgil Av. junction; Echo Park, intersection of Glendale/Alvarado, S of the #2 freeway entrance; 5-6p at Pico/La Cienega; 6.30-7.30p at Mar Vista Park at Palms/McLaughlin.
ARLINGTON WEST MEMORIAL AT SANTA MONICA PIER BEACH: Sundays until Troops Come Home, 7:30-9:30a to 6:00-7:00 p at Santa Monica Pier (North Side)
OCCUPY LOS ANGELES GENERAL ASSEMBLIES, Mon, Wed, Fri 7:30-10:30p; Sat 4p-7p, Pershing Square. www.occupylosangeles.org
OCCUPY VENICE GENERAL ASSEMBLIES, https://www.facebook.com/OccupyVeniceCA
HELP CHELSEA MANNING: Sign the Chelsea Manning Presidential pardon at http://pardon.privatemanning.org
Write a letter for clemency for Chelsea Manning.  Directions and information are at http://www.privatemanning.org/featured/write-a-letter-supporting-pvt-mannings-request-for-clemency .   The letters must be printed, signed, then scanned (so that they have the signature) in pdf format, and e mailed to nat...@privatemanning.org. 
 
We also recommend general support of Trayvon Martin and anti-Syria and -Iraq War related actions.