Top Stories
Aging Gayfully – A Legacy Opportunity
Many of us in our 60’s or older are feeling that our community has moved on without us. While we were stuck with having to choose between “lesbian” or “gay,” “butch” or“femme, a whole new vocabulary is evolving (and our acronym expanding!) to describe an ever-expanding range of sexual preferences and gender identities. Many(…)
Trump Bans Transgender People From Serving in the Military
In a stream of tweets, President Donald Trump announced this morning that he has banned transgender people from the US military. Trans folks were allowed to serve openly before Trump’s decision to force currently serving military members out of the armed forces. Yesterday it was reported that Vice President Mike Pence, long a foe of(…)
Bi Activists: Building Our Bommunity is the Most Important Thing’
The Washington Blade recently spoke with bisexual activists in the U.S., Australia, Brazil, China, France, Kenya, New Zealand, the Philippines, Serbia, South Africa, Spain and the U.K. They all said they are fighting stereotypes while seeking more visibility.Here is what they said. Australia Connecting with the global bisexual movement is often difficult for Australian advocates(…)
Local News
Sonoma County Issues Toxic Algae Warning for Russian River Beaches
Sonoma County officials were planning Wednesday to post beaches up and down the Russian River with caution signs alerting visitors to positive test results for a potentially dangerous naturally occurring neurotoxin linked to harmful algae that is surfacing in other Northern California waterways this summer.Water samples collected at three local beaches turned up very low(…)
SMART Advances Path Segments Along Tracks in Sonoma County
Segments of a bike and pedestrian path designed to skirt North Bay railroad tracks where occupied passenger trains are soon slated to run inched closer to reality under funding proposals advanced Wednesday.One of the segments, a 1.2-mile path running along railroad tracks over the Petaluma River and under Highway 101 between Payran Street and Southpoint(…)
DUI Checkpoint Set for Friday in Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa police will set up a DUI and driver’s license checkpoint in Santa Rosa between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m. Friday.Officers at the undisclosed location will be specifically on the lookout for drug-impaired drivers. Car accidents involving people under the influence of drugs have been increasing throughout the state, Santa Rosa police said. The(…)
Sonoma County to Start Pavement Work Monday on 54 Miles of Road
Crews will begin road construction work Monday on some 54 miles in the unincorporated areas of Sonoma County, continuing a years-long effort to upgrade aging pavement outside city limits, including segments damaged by storms this winter.This summer’s $13.2 million pavement projects will affect major roads across the county, from Cloverdale to Petaluma, and the construction(…)
Arts & Entertainment
Book Review: ‘My Mourning Year: A Memoir of Bereavement, Discovery and Hope’ by Andrew Marshall
In 1997, Andrew Marshall’s worst nightmare happened when his partner, Thom, died from a two-year illness at the age of forty-three. In order to cope with his loss, Marshall grieved through his diary in the months leading up to Thom’s death and the year after Thom was gone. Twenty years later, Marshall decided to publish(…)
Exhuming the Life of a Man Shunned for His Sexuality
Like many gay men in the 1980s, Miguel moved to New York City in search of a life out of the closet; he found a career in theater and a rewarding relationship. Yet in the midst of the AIDS crisis, his devout Catholic mother pressured him to repent for his homosexuality on his deathbed. Twenty-five(…)
State News
Why This Activist Is Biking 4,200 Miles This Summer
Trystan Cotten, the transgender founder of indie publisher Transgress Press, is spending the summer pedaling 4,200 miles across America to raise awareness of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and sex trafficking. He’s raising funds for Stand Up Placer, a Northern California organization that helps turn victims into survivors. “I teach about gender-based violence as(…)
Judge Refuses to Reinstate Trump Sanctuary Cities Order
A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday refused to reinstate President Donald Trump’s executive order to cut funding from cities that limit cooperation with U.S. immigration authorities. The U.S. Department of Justice had asked U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick to reverse his own injunction in April against Trump’s executive order. The injunction was(…)
