'MO - July 2008 - (Page 13)

cover story Strong Beliefs Text by Vincent Kovar Photos by Andrea Walker Some are born great and some have greatness thrust upon them. As I sat down to meet with the aptly named Charlene Strong, the old saying was going through my head but I found (and still ﬁnd) it difﬁcult to determine which end of the adage most accurately describes her. Readers will remember that during a storm in December of 2006, Charlene’s partner of 10 years, Kathryn Fleming, was trapped and drowned in the ﬂooded basement of the couple’s home. Though medics were able to restart Kathryn’s breathing, she would pass away a short time later at Harborview Medical Center. It was these few minutes however, that added insult to tragedy. Charlene was initially blocked from Kathryn’s room in the hospital as, at the time, she was not legally counted as next of kin. Later, she would be excluded from decision making about organ donation and funeral arrangements. For Charlene, these would also be the moments in which the call to greatness was thrust upon her shoulders. “I would never have classiﬁed myself as an activist. Personally, I have always believed very strongly in things that matter to me but as far as getting out there and holding a sign or protesting or anything like that I would not say I was one of those people. It took what happened that evening and the days that followed for me to ﬁnd my voice to do something so that no one would experience that discrimination ever again.” Though she wouldn’t have called herself an activist, even before the tragedy, Charlene was a woman of strong beliefs. “I’ve always had a very strong sense of justice and it grew in relationship to Kate as she had a background in social justice and the labor movement. Some of the things I’ve always felt very strongly about are the rights of animals and children. If you mess with a child or you mess with an animal, that’s something I’m going to take issue with. I also started volunteering with the Humane Society, speciﬁcally working with those who are debilitated ﬁnancially with HIV or AIDS. In the early days of the AIDS epidemic, people were being encouraged to get rid of their animals and often times that was the only contact they had with other life. Our goal was to educate the medical ﬁeld that ‘look you don’t want to take those animals away.’” But that is activism, I said. “That is activism,” she agreed, “… but as far as being an up front activist, I never saw myself like that. I always just felt I was speaking up for things I believed in. As far as being an activist now, it feels like the right path.” Though she never saw herself as up on stage, Charlene was suddenly thrust into the cultural and political limelight. She became involved in the passage of the historic civil rights bills of 2007. “Joe McDermott and I spoke a month after Kate died and I went to Olympia and testiﬁed before the Senate. The bill passed and I was told that because of my testimony, a Republican crossed over the aisle, changed his vote and signed for the domestic partner bill. Does that make me feel good? Absolutely. It is a moment of personal activism that I will always be proud of.” So the bill has been passed. A second, broader bill followed. The governor signed them. Some would say, “Okay, now you’re done.” “Oh, I’m not done.” Charlene answered quickly and in a sure tone, “oh honey, I’ll never be put out of business. Do you think civil rights activist are put out of business once the laws are put into place? Absolutely not. It takes the dedication and education of people in our community to stop discrimination. So, would I like to be put out of a job? Yeah. It would be amazing but I don’t see it happening. Marriage equality is my focus and hospitalization rights. I would like to see something on the federal level very quickly to help with medical decision making; access to loved ones as they lay dying. There needs to be Federal protections. This is not just (continued on page 14)

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of 'MO - July 2008

'MO - July 2008 Contents Letter From The Editor Series 2008 Needs Volunteers Voices 'mo-BIZ: City Lights Sign Company HIV Is Still a Big Deal, The Online Video Series Instant Activist Pet Project: Wiener Takes All Charlene Strong on the Rights Fight Form & Function: Molding Your Middle Will the Economy Ruin LGBT Funding? Toronto is a Great Place to Meet Feature Film Review: American Teen Live Event Preview: Sitting In Circles with Rich White Girls Book Review: In the Eye of the Storm by Gene Robinson Capitol Hill Guide Three Dollar Bill Cinema Presents: Features from the Black Lagoon Raising Spirits: Tini Bigs Offers Five New Martinis SceneOut: People@Places

'MO - July 2008

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