Seattle Gay News has launched GoFundMe campaign

Seattle Gay News recently launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover operating expenses impacted by COVID-19 and the subsequent loss of considerable advertising revenue.

Seattle Gay News and Angela Cragin are organizing this fundraiser.

Seattle Gay News Needs Your Support Now!
As the third oldest LGBTQ+ publication in the U.S, the SGN has been your independent advocate and voice of the LGBTQ+ community in Seattle and Washington state for 47 years.

From gay marriage, child adoption, AIDS, domestic rights, and every other issue affecting the community, the SGN has been and is a central force of change – for you!

[INTERview] Under fire – Director Rod Lurie on bringing the story of The Outpost to life

by Sara Michelle Fetters

THE OUTPOST
Video On Demand

Based on the best-selling book by journalist Jake Tapper, The Outpost chronicles the 2009 assault on Combat Outpost Keating in Afghanistan. Located at the base of the Hindu Kush Mountains just 14 miles from the Pakistani border, 53 soldiers fought to defend themselves against an overwhelming force of more than 400 Taliban fighters. It is still considered to be one of the deadliest fights of the Afghan War. More importantly, it’s a fight that never should have taken place.

Veteran director Rod Lurie’s adaptation goes into great detail as it analyzes the men stationed at Combat Outpost Keating and the building dread most of them felt knowing that an assault on their indefensible position could happen at any time. Seen entirely through their eyes, the film is a visceral powder keg that explodes with devastating emotional ferocity once the attack on the outpost ultimately begins. Featuring several unforgettable moments and showcasing a performance from actor Caleb Landry Jones that is arguably the best of his career, The Outpost moved me in a number of unexpectedly intimate ways. I had the pleasure to sit down and chat with Lurie over the phone about his film and his career for a good half-hour. Here are some slightly edited excerpts from our wide-ranging conversation:

EXCLUSIVE: Judy and Dennis Shepard reflect on 20 years after Matthew Shepard’s death

by MK Scott

It is hard to believe that October 12th will be the 20th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard. It all started on the night of October 6, 1998, when Matthew Shepard was lured to an open field and was tied up to a fence and tortured for days. Not since the days of the AIDS crisis, both the LGBTQ and straight community came together to help put hate crime legislation into law. Yes, Matthew was known as being the face of combating hate crimes.

I first met Judy Shepard in the fall of 2001 during her visit to Seattle to appear as a keynote speaker at the screening of a documentary called Journey to a Hate Free Millennium at the old Opera House. In 2009, I met up with Shepard again at a cocktail party in Portland; so when I had a chance to actually interview this amazing woman (and meeting her incredible husband) at the National Conference of LGBTQ Journalists on September 8th in Palm Springs, CA I seized the opportunity.

Earlier in the day, the Shepards spoke to a jam packed room of over 200 journalists and when it was all over the audience got up and gave them a standing ovation that lasted for over 10 minutes. This was an amazing opportunity to reflect on the past 20 years and we got to go into detail of what we discussed 17 years ago.