Top Stories
The fight for trans athletes isn’t about fairness. It’s about who gets to belong
A young Rose Montoya was put in T-ball and basketball because of the gender she was assigned at birth. Her teammates were boys who spent more time bullying her than passing her the ball. Her real friends were the girls who let her play dress up. Most days, the boys made it clear she didn’t belong with them. So she got pushed into solo sports instead, and she missed out on the things sports are supposed to teach kids: teamwork, confidence, belonging. That’s what’s actually at stake in this fight. Not trophies. Belonging. This was never really about sports. Sports are the distraction, […]
New York’s record-breaking LGBTQ+ lawmakers are about to become a political force. Now they want a caucus
For Tony Simone, being gay in the New York State Legislature has occasionally carried a strange contradiction. He represents a district that includes Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen, neighborhoods inseparable from generations of LGBTQ+ life in New York City. He serves in one of the most Democratic legislatures in the country. And yet, Simone said, being one of relatively few openly LGBTQ+ lawmakers in Albany can still feel solitary. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. “It can be isolating and lonely in Albany,” the Democratic assemblymember told The Advocate. That may be about […]
Trans couple ‘beaten by mob for using bathroom’ arrested instead of their alleged attackers
A transgender couple in Louisiana says they were brutally assaulted by a mob outside a public restroom, only to be arrested themselves while their alleged attackers walked free. Aurora Rush and Shae Sanders told Erin In The Morning via Substack in a 5 August interview that they were leaving Cypress Black Bayou Park in Bossier Parish on 31 May when they were surrounded by a group of around 10 people after using the women’s restroom. According to the couple, they were subjected to anti-trans slurs, threats and physical violence. Sanders says they were knocked unconscious and required four stitches above one […]
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
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 […]
When San Francisco “went absolutely bonkers” over a gay vigilante group
“Nothing disgusts me more than a f**got on the sideline.” So said the Rev. Ray Broshears, the collar-clad leader of the Lavender Panthers, a gay vigilante group enlisted by Broshears to combat attacks on gay and trans people in San Francisco during the 1970s. Broshears aggressive tactics and publicity-seeking gained the group some mainstream headlines and probably account for its prominent place in the history of the “Gay Liberation” movement today, when other community-based responses to police harassment and gay-bashing have been lost. The controversial and self-styled gay “reverend” was a master at provocation. “I believe in confrontation politics,” Broshears […]
