Top Stories
Authors sue Alabama’s library board for censoring books with transgender characters
Three authors have joined an advocacy group in a federal lawsuit challenging the Alabama Public Library Service’s anti-trans book ban. Late last week, legal nonprofit Democracy Forward filed the lawsuit in the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama on behalf of authors Kit Rosewater, Page Powars, and Phoenix McDonald, and Read Freely Alabama, a volunteer organization that advocates against library censorship. The complaint argues that the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) policy not only violates the First Amendment, but also negatively impacts the three authors’ book sales. “I think that having a small group of people […]
Georgia librarian sues after being fired over trans-inclusive children’s book display
A Georgia librarian has filed a federal lawsuit alleging she was fired after a trans-inclusive children’s book, When Aidan Became a Brother, was included in a summer reading display. LaVonnia Moore is suing Pierce County and the Three Rivers Regional Library System in the Southern District of Georgia. In her complaint, Moore alleges her termination violated her civil rights, including discrimination based on race, sex and religion, and the alleged deprivation of free speech, due process and equal protection. The case centres on When Aidan Became a Brother, a picture book by Kyle Lukoff that has won awards and is about a transgender boy. […]
Allison Montgomery wins race to become Alabama’s first transgender state lawmaker
In a historic win, Democrat Allison Montgomery defeated Republican incumbent State Rep. Phillip Rigsby for a seat representing Alabama’s House District 25 on Tuesday night, becoming the state’s first transgender legislator. According to the Associated Press, which called the race, Montgomery leads Rigsby 53 to 47 percent with over 95 percent of the estimated vote counted. Montgomery is one of three Northern Alabama seats flipped in Tuesday night’s blue wave, per local state publication AL.com. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week. A software engineer, Montgomery ran on a platform that prioritized affordability […]
Local News
Free Online LGBTQI History: A Sonoma County Timeline Class Discusses the Impact of 12-step Programs on Our Community
LGBTQI History: A Sonoma County Timeline 1947-2000. Mondays 6-7:30pm. Online via Zoom. Join us on November 9 for a conversation about the impact that 12-step programs had on our LGBT Community during the late 1970s-80s Please contact me to enroll and get a Zoom invite:cdungan@santarosa.edu
Transgender History Presentation at Finding History Day Happens Saturday in Santa Rosa
There will ba a discussion of a chapter of transgender history in Sonoma County from 1947–48 this coming Saturday at Finding History Day, held at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building (details below). The presentation highlights the marriage of a transgender man and a cisgender woman, David and Thelma Warren. In 1947, they obtained a marriage license in Sonoma County and were married in San Francisco. Later that year, David’s sex assigned at birth was discovered, and the couple was reported to the District Attorney’s office. On Thanksgiving Day, as Thelma and David were preparing to host their neighbors for […]
Arts & Entertainment
Electric Tumbleweed at Occidental Center for the Arts Friday November 6
Friday, November 6 @ 8 pm: Electric Tumbleweed at Occidental Center for the Arts. One of Sonoma County’s finest bands returns for our listening and dancing pleasure. Electric Tumbleweed is a psychedelic outlaw country group based in Sonoma County, California. Founded in 2019 by members rooted in bluegrass, country, and psychedelic rock, the music is a hard driving mixture of twangy guitar and psychedelic noise, held together by a steady rhythm section with the cry of pedal steel layered in between it all. Tickets are $20/$15 for OCA members @ www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org; or at the door. Doors open at 7:30 PM. […]
Historians straightwashed a 1600s poet. A new book captures the true legacy of “the Welsh Sappho.”
When the Welsh government in 2021 embarked on what Deputy Minister of Social Partnership Hannah Blythyn described as a project to make Wales “the most LGBTQ+ friendly nation in Europe,” Welsh scholar Norena Shopland was commissioned to help train librarians, museum staff, and archivists on the inclusion of LGBTQ+ history. In 2022, Shopland served as founding researcher in an inspiring and beautifully done countrywide effort to write a local LGBTQ+ open-access online history for each of the twenty-two counties of Wales, providing, she wrote, “a means by which local people, allies and events can be celebrated instead of replicating mainstream narratives and […]
State News
Who Can Vote in California
You must register before you can vote in California. You are eligible to vote in California if you meet all of the following requirements: You cannot register to vote in California if: Voter Registration Requirements To register to vote: If you don’t provide any of these numbers or the state can’t match the number you provide to official records, you will have to show an accepted form of ID the first time you vote. You can use any unexpired photo ID or a non-photo document with your name and address. Common examples include: Same Day Registration California allows voter registration […]
Polyamorous relationships in West Hollywood now offered extra protections
People in “multi-partner domestic relationships” in West Hollywood have just been granted extra protections. The move, which has been in the works for months, was officially adopted at a 2 November, 2026 City Council meeting, after a 5-0 vote. It will go into effect 30 days after it was adopted. West Hollywood, which is in itself an independent city and can enact local legislation, will now recognise and protects the rights of people in polyamorousrelationships with an official register. A “multi-partner domestic relationship” is officially defined as having all individuals involved: being 18 or older; not being related by blood that would bar marriage in […]
