Top Stories
GOP Senator’s Campaign Pledge: I’ll Stop Drag Queens
The Kansas Reflector reports: Both U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall and Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson present themselves to the public as square-jawed manly men, red-blooded conservative Republicans who love the Second Amendment, juicy steaks and gargantuan American flags in equal measure. They command the landscape. Nothing scares them. Well, nothing except drag queens. Then the candidates for U.S. Senate and Kansas governor shriek like little girls, flail their hands in panic and beat a hasty retreat behind the nearest piece of overstuffed furniture. Who knows what that drag queen might do to them? If their recent social media posts are any indication, […]
Houston Gets Emergency Shelter For LGBTQ Teens
The Houston Chronicle reports: By some estimates, at least 10,000 youth aged 15 to 17 in the Houston area don’t have a place to sleep on any given night. Many identify as LGBTQ+ and may be fleeing unsupportive or unsafe living environments. A new emergency shelter aims to give those most at risk a safe place to rest their heads. On Monday, LGBTQ+ community leaders and advocates unveiled Asia’s House, the city’s first temporary emergency shelter for queer and trans youth. The shelter is a partnership between Houston’s Montrose Center and Grace Place, a nonprofit that provides support for homeless youth in […]
Strength In Weakness: Guy Hammond’s Program That Devastates LGBTQ Survivors
At 17 years old, Sami Tacher remembers standing atop a parking garage outside Seattle and staring down at the pavement. They had been trying for five years to suppress their attraction to men. At 15, Tacher had found Strength in Weakness, a Christian ministry that purported to teach people experiencing “same-sex attraction” how to resist those desires. To Tacher, who had grown up believing that being gay would destroy their relationship with God and devastate their family, SIW felt like an answer. Two years later, Tacher says, they could no longer imagine how they were supposed to live the rest […]
Local News
Human Trafficking Awareness and Violence Against Women Forum Happens August 13
he Commission on the Status of Women warmly invites you to attend the Violence Against Women and Girls: Human Trafficking Forum on August 13, 2026, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, at 575 Administration Drive, Suite 117C, Santa Rosa, CA 95403. This forum will explore the scope and impact of human trafficking and multiple forms of violence against women, including domestic violence, sexual assault, and exploitation. It serves as a public forum to raise awareness and promote prevention of human trafficking and gender-based violence. The forum will bring together survivors, advocates, service providers, and community leaders to share testimony, examine systemic challenges, and highlight effective […]
Positive Images Social Saturday Happened August 8 at Healdsburg Beach
Join Positive Images and Sonoma County Regional Parks for a Rainbow River day at Healdsburg Veterans Memorial Beach for swimming, and some fun in the sun on August 8th from 12-2pm This is an all ages, family focused event. For questions, please reach out to joy@posimages.org
Arts & Entertainment
Now at Rialto Cinemas in Sebastopol: “Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World”
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the WorldOne Week Only Starts Friday July 24 3:50 pm & 5:45 pm If poetry had a pop icon, Mary Oliver would be it. Celebrated best-selling poet, Pulitzer Prize-winner, lover of dogs and long walks in the woods, openly queer but intensely private, Oliver was America’s unlikely contemporary mystic, stalking the ponds and forests of Cape Cod for nearly fifty years in order to open herself – and her readers – to the known and unknowable world. From a lonely childhood to literary fame, Oliver’s life was shaped by devotion to nature, paying attention, and the […]
State News
Pro-LGBTQ Pharmacy Vandalized With Slurs
The Davis Vanguard reports: A family-owned Woodland pharmacy was vandalized early Monday morning, with a window smashed near pro-LGBTQ signs and anti-gay slurs painted across another window, prompting community leaders to raise concerns about a potential hate crime and an escalating pattern of online harassment targeting LGBTQ+ supporters in Yolo County. Corner Drug, a longtime Main Street pharmacy, disclosed the vandalism in a Facebook post Monday, saying the damage came after the business had publicly displayed its support for the LGBTQ+ community. “Early this morning the window of our family pharmacy was smashed and anti gay slurs were painted on them,” Corner […]
San Francisco named the world’s best city for LGBTQ+ life, but US cities are sliding
San Francisco has been ranked the world’s best city for LGBTQ+ life, though the study warns that American cities are slipping overall amid the political climate under Donald Trump. The finding comes from the 2026 Sexually Liberal City Index, compiled by adult entertainment platform Erobella, which scored 41 cities worldwide across four areas: sex-work law, LGBTQ+ life, reproductive health and adult lifestyle. San Francisco topped the LGBTQ+ category specifically, scoring 70 out of 100, ahead of Manchester on 62 and Cologne on 61. The city was praised for its enduring community infrastructure, from the Castro to its Pride traditions, and the […]
