The Nightly: UW's Anarchist Newspaper - Mayor Harrell to Appoint Homophobic and Anti-LGBTQ Civil Rights Director

Seattle Mayor Harrell to Appoint Homophobic and Anti-LGBTQ Civil Rights Director

This article is based on an article published two days ago in the South Seattle Emerald that was censored by Derrick Wheeler-Smith and his supporters in the Harrell Administration.

Interim Director of the Seattle Department for Civil Rights, Derrick Wheeler-Smith is about to be appointed formally by Mayor Bruce Harrell despite serious concerns of homophobic behavior.

The majority of the claims against Wheeler-Smith center around a homophobic email he sent to his staff this January. In the email, he quotes Dr. Bob Moorehead, a homophobic pastor from Kirkland who was forced to resign after sexually abusing over a dozen young boys.

Wheeler-Smith quotes Dr. Moorehead as he talks about modern “throwaway morality.” He comments on “one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.” The email went further to include body-shaming and homophobia.

Perhaps more concerning though is Wheeler-Smith’s involvement in the organization World Vision. World Vision is an expressly anti-LGBTQ+ group that is devoutly Christian and has historically opposed queer rights. While Wheeler-Smith was working with the group in 2014, the group elected to keep a company-wide ban on queer employees.

The policy that they maintained continued to require a “biblical covenant of marriage between a man and a woman” for married employees. This effectively barred the queer community from employment with the company for the foreseeable future.

Interim Director of the Seattle Office for Civil Rights Derrick Wheeler-Smith

The South Seattle Emerald was also informed by a commissioner that Wheeler-Smith deliberately ignored residents who had their constitutional rights violated by the Seattle police.

When The Nightly interviewed an unnamed city commissioner we were told that there is concern that “Derrick Wheeler-Smith will not fight for people’s rights when they are under attack” and that instead he “will give the appearance of doing so, but won’t actually be there to stand up for justice when it really counts.” The commissioner continued by stating the negative harm Wheeler-Smith could have on the community.

Derrick Wheeler-Smith’s actions have caused concern for some in City Hall. In a February 24th Email, Seattle Women’s Commissioner Tana Yasu rescinded her recommendation of Wheeler-Smith citing the “recent behaviors of the interim director and some of his staff.”

In a separate Nightly interview, an unnamed UW Health Student told us: “I was astonished when I first read the email and when I heard about Derrick Wheeler-Smith’s involvement in the active harm of queer people, I immediately became scared of what the Harrell Administration plans to do to my community and the communities around me.”

When the South Seattle Emerald gave the opportunity to provide comment about the “email and the commissioners’ concerns” as well as Wheeler-Smith’s actions with World Vision, Wheeler-Smith, the Seattle Office for Civil Rights, and Harrell’s Mayoral Office declined to comment.

Interim Director of the Seattle Department for Civil Rights, Derrick Wheeler-Smith is about to be appointed formally by Mayor Bruce Harrell. This appointment could have major harms on the Seattle queer and trans community. We need to let the Harrell Administration know that homophobia will not be tolerated. It is up to the working people of Seattle to show the Harrell Administration that we will fight for our community!

You can mail a letter to Harrell’s Seattle address: 5846 Seward Park Ave S. Please let him know how you feel.

All Sources have been kept anonymous and names have been changed for privacy.

The complete South Seattle Emerald Article can be found on the Wayback Machine:

Published on March 24th 2023

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