Friday, April 4·6:30 – 8:30pm 200 Montgomery Drive Suite C Santa Rosa CA 95404 notes https://www.posimages.org/calendar/ A weekly support group for LGBTQIA+ adults!
Hungary, led by anti-LGBTQ+ authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, is seeking to ban the Pride celebration in Budapest and use facial recognition software to identify those who attend the event if it is held in defiance of the ban. And Donald Trump has emboldened Hungary to make the move, Hungarian officials say. Hungary is also considering a constitutional amendment that would say the nation recognizes only two genders, male and female, mirroring an executive order issued by Trump. A bill to ban the Pride march was introduced in Parliament Monday, the Associated Press reports. It “would make it an offense to hold or attend events that violate […]
During this milestone year marking the 40th anniversary of the GLBT Historical Society, it’s important to reflect on our past, present and future. It was on March 16, 1985, when more than 60 people gathered at the San Francisco Public Library, answering a call from Eric Garber, Jim Gordon, Terry Henderling, Ellen Klages, Greg Pennington, and Willie Walker who built on smaller gatherings that had started the previous fall and included members of the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay History Project and the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Periodical Archives. They weren’t gathering that day just to build an archive; they were making a bold declaration: LGBTQ+ history matters. At a […]
Poppers have always operated in a legal gray zone. Now the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is cracking down on their production. This week, many major poppers brands began wiping their websites and social media presences. On Friday, Double Scorpio, a popular isobutyl nitrite brand, posted a statement on its website. “Double Scorpio has stopped all operations following a search and seizure at our offices by the FDA,” it wrote. Poppers, which are packaged in liquid form and inhaled for a brief euphoric effect, generally need to be prescribed. Still, many manufacturers skirt the law by using alternate chemical formulas […]
(Amsterdam) – Candidates for the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) failed to adequately address human rights and good governance in documents outlining their proposed programs, in advance of March elections, the Sport & Rights Alliance said today. “The International Olympic Committee affects the lives of millions of athletes, workers, fans, journalists and communities worldwide,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. “It is essential for candidates who want to oversee global sport to make clear that they will uphold the IOC’s human rights framework, commitments and responsibilities, and commit to meeting with stakeholders and operating with transparency and […]
The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association’s (IGLTA) Gender Diverse Travel Advisory Group is urging the travel industry to support inclusion and safety for all travelers as attempts to erase anti-trans/gender diverse people escalate globally. The volunteer-led group, in collaboration with IGLTA and the IGLTA Foundation, has released a statement calling for meaningful action. “With increased visibility often comes pushback, and trans and gender diverse (TGD) travelers continue to face significant barriers to safe and inclusive travel. Many global entities still fail to recognize gender diversity, while others are rolling back protections, reinforcing outdated assumptions that restrict movement for TGD travelers. Reports […]
Current proposals in the US that prohibit transgender people from being able to use public restrooms that align with who they are (e.g. proposals forcing transgender men to use women’s bathrooms, and trans women to use the men’s room) are constructed on intentional falsehoods. This trend of inflammatory fearmongering and demonization is a threat to the health and safety of transgender people, as well as cisgender people perceived to be trans. Safety and privacy is important to all of us, and banning transgender people from these spaces does nothing to make other people safer. These discriminatory endeavors are part of […]
A cisgender woman in Arizona is speaking out after she says she was harassed by cops in the women’s restroom of a Tucson Walmart late last month. Kalaya Morton, 19, of Phoenix, says she and her ex-girlfriend were using adjacent stalls in the store’s women’s restroom when two male sheriff’s deputies entered. “They were flashing lights on our feet and saying, ‘You have to get out of here. You have to come out. We need to talk to you,’” Morton told Advocate. Morton, who identifies as a stud — queer slang for a Black masculine-presenting lesbian — says she believes a store employee […]
As the new U.S. government takes shape, we are bracing for an uphill fight to defend the safety and dignity of at-risk LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers. This new era of leadership threatens to erode the progress LGBTQI+ and immigrant rights groups have made in securing pathways to protection for LGBTQI+ refugees. Within 24 hours of taking office, President Trump signed an executive order that suspended the U.S. Refugee Admission Program, halting the processing of LGBTQI+ refugees already approved for resettlement, and leaving vulnerable and displaced queer and trans individuals stranded in dangerous and precarious conditions. It is critical that we leverage […]
As brands make their decisions to rollback DEI initiatives, and as others maintain or increase diversity efforts, consumers are watching. A new report from Collage – Building Trust in Turbulent Times – examines how Americans are responding. Eighty percent of consumers say trusting a brand is important when making a purchase, and only 40% say brands and companies are trustworthy. […]
