The last weekend in June arrived on the heels of victory, love and justice still realized for same-sex couples and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) communities throughout the country. With the Supreme Court ruling the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional, same-sex couples who are married now, under federal law, have the same rights, benefits and protections as straight married couple and can now petition for their partners abroad to immigrate to the states. This comes after six months of same-sex marriage being legal in Washington state. But with celebration comes more work to be done, as demonstrated over Pride weekend by Filipino activist coalition BAYAN-USA Pacific Northwest (BAYAN-PNW), whose organizers brought out 40 members after the Sunday Pride march — joined by UNITE HERE! organizers and GABRIELA-USA affiliates — to demand better labor practices at the Space Needle. Organizers cited the immense struggles of immigrant workers. The BAYAN-PNW contingent also pointed to the struggle for democracy in the Phillipines and resulting forced migration patterns. And finally, came the protest of escalating violence against women and LGBTQ-identified people, demanding justice for Danny Vega, a gay Filipino-American man from Rainer Valley who was beaten to death as a result of a hate crime in 2011.
