Top Stories
Meta Seeks Exemption From California Child-Harm Bill
Politico reports: Social media giant Meta is pushing California state lawmakers to shield it from pending legislation that would increase legal penalties in child-harm cases. Lobbyists for Meta have approached Senate Judiciary Chair and Santa Ana Democrat Tom Umberg with draft amendments that would create a pathway for social media companies to gain an exemption from the legislation, AB 2. The bill from Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, a Long Beach Democrat, threatens fines of up to $1 million per child for platforms found liable for harming kids through negligent product design. It’s set for a Tuesday hearing in Umberg’s committee. Meta’s plea […]
Ohio pastor who called LGBTQ+ books a ‘health risk’ sentenced for child sex crimes
Silas Shelton, a church pastor from Clinton County, Ohio, was sentenced to prison Monday for sex crimes against a child that occurred in 2019. He was arrested in October of last year and charged with multiple felonies. Supporters of both the victim and Shelton filled the courtroom, anxiously anticipating the judge’s ruling, as reported by local tri-state CBS affiliate WKRC. However, statements by Shelton’s supporters and his attorney claiming he was a good family man and a pillar of the community didn’t carry much weight with Judge Andrew McCoy, who ultimately imposed the maximum sentence. Stay up to date with the latest […]
200,000 Turn Out For First Post-Orban Budapest Pride
The Associated Press reports: Tens of thousands of people gathered in soaring temperatures in Hungary’s capital on Saturday to celebrate the 31st annual Budapest Pride, the first such LGBTQ+ march since former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who had sought to ban the event, was ousted in an April election. The march began Saturday afternoon as temperatures reached at least 100 degrees amid a record-breaking heat wave that has gripped most of Europe. Organizers distributed water bottles to marchers, and the city’s public water utility opened fountains along the route. Participants set off from Budapest’s iconic Opera house and wound through the […]
Local News
CALL TO ACTION: We the People 250th Birthday Party: The People’s Independence Day Happens July 4 in Santa Rosa
Join us in celebrating a government of, for, and by THE PEOPLE. We declare our independence from the tyranny of Donald Trump and the travesties he and his regime has committed. This birthday party will celebrate the freedoms we cherish and must be willing to fight to preserve. Because We the People have always pushed to build a more perfect union, this party will also offer a hopeful view of the America we wish to become. Live Entertainment and Activities The event will offer fun activities for all ages (bring the family!), live music by Good Trouble and others, a performance […]
Wake Up Sonoma Hosts Fundraiser August 13
Our Vision: To foster a vibrant, just, respectful and welcoming Sonoma Valley community. OUR MISSION IS TO:EDUCATE – by providing resources to Sonoma Valley residents to be informed and engaged.ADVOCATE – for local diversity, equity, inclusion, civic and corporate transparency.ACTIVATE – by promoting democracy and providing opportunities for local engagement. We Educate. Advocate. Activate. on issues related, but not limited to:– LGBTQIA+ safety and visibility– Protection of our immigrant population– Defense against Christian Nationalism– Transparency in large corporate investment and responsible development– Active local civic engagement
Arts & Entertainment
Frameline50: Interview with Luchina Fisher, the director of “The Dads”
Inspired by the Emmy Award-winning short documentary of the same name (Netflix, 2023), The Dads chronicles fathers of trans and nonbinary children as they are forced to choose between country and family when a new right-wing administration and conservative Supreme Court take hold in the United States. Filmed over the course of a year spanning retreats in rural Maine and Minnesota, protests, family milestones, a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court decision, and the collapse of gender-affirming care for youth, The Dads captures this national reckoning with remarkable intimacy through vérité footage and interviews with the film’s main protagonists. This is fatherhood as an act of […]
Frameline50: Interview with Kai Stänicke, the Director of “Trial of Hein”
On a windswept remote island in the North Sea, Hein has returned from the mainland to his tiny village after 14 years’ absence. Why do so many of the villagers refuse to recognize him, or claim he is an impostor — even his own family members and the now-grown man who was his inseparable teenage friend? When the close-knit village decides to hold a community trial to prove if Hein is who he says he is, long-held secrets and memory itself will be put to the test. Winner of the Teddy Jury Award at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, Trial of […]
State News
Gay Jewish lawmaker running to replace Nancy Pelosi chased from San Francisco Trans March
California state Sen. Scott Wiener says he was harassed, threatened, and physically intimidated at San Francisco’s Trans March on Friday, forcing the out gay Jewish lawmaker to leave one of the country’s most important transgenderPride gatherings in a city that has long imagined itself as a refuge. Wiener, a Democrat who represents San Francisco and is running for the congressional seat long held by retiring House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, said in a statement posted to Instagram that two incidents this week showed how easily political anger can curdle into something more menacing. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a […]
Police on the hunt for ‘The Doodler’ suspect who killed six gay men in 1970s
San Francisco police have renewed their appeal to identify “The Doodler,” a serial killer who targeted gay men more than 50 years ago, offering a $250,000 reward for information. Investigators believe the killer murdered six gay men between January 1974 and June 1975. Police say the victims were all targeted because they were gay, and that each met the suspect shortly before being killed in isolated coastal locations. Four bodies were found around Ocean Beach, with another in Golden Gate Park. The victims were 49-year-old Gerald Cavanaugh, 27-year-old drag and comedy performer Joseph “Jae” Stevens, 31-year-old Klaus Achim Christmann, 52-year-old lawyer Warren Andrews, 32-year-old […]
