Out West Dance Jitterbug & East Coast Swing Class Starts January 6 or February 3 in Sebastopol
Gary Carnivele
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Stephen Fry receives knighthood in 2025 New Year Honours list
Stephen Fry has received a knighthood in the 2025 New Year Honours list.
The actor and author, who recently described Stonewall’s current LGBTQ+ campaigning as “nonsensical”, has received the New Year honour alongside the likes of the mayor of London Sadiq Khan and former England manager Gareth Southgate.
The 67-year-old was recognised for “devoting much time and effort in generating awareness of bipolar disorder, using his public platform to speak candidly about his own journey, undermining the taboo that has prevented many from seeking support”.
However, the news comes after Fry recently appeared to revoke his support of LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall, which was established as a charity for lesbian, gay and bisexual people but expanded its remit to include trans people almost a decade ago.
Fry – who has previously refused to condemn JK Rowling’s anti-trans views – made the comments on the Triggernometry podcast, a “free speech YouTube show.”
He was challenged over his support of the charity by host Konstantin Kisin, who read out a letter from ex-Stonewall employee turned critic Levi Pay and asked him how he could support the LGBTQ+ charity “in all conscience.”
“Do I? I am not sure I do support them,” Fry responded. He said previously supported the charity’s efforts to equalise the age of consent and legalise same-sex marriage but has “no interest in supporting this current wave of nonsensical [policies].”
Fry went on to further disavow Stonewall, describing the organisation as “shameful and sad” and “stuck in a terrible, terrible quagmire.”
Members of the trans community have since expressed their disappointment and anger over Fry’s comments. However, his comments have not come as a surprise to some, given his prior refusal to criticise JK Rowling’s contentious views on trans people.
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Fry was also described in the honours list as “one of Britain’s most highly regarded public figures”. He was noted as being the president of the charity Mind, and his involvement with the Terrence Higgins Trust for “raising awareness and funds for people living with HIV and AIDS”.
New progressive chair says Dems don’t have to abandon trans folks to reconnect with working class
The newly elected chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said a combination of factors led to electoral losses for the party in November’s election, not least of which was being “seen as preachy” and “disconnected.”
Rep. Greg Casar of Texas, 35, is replacing outgoing chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who is term-limited in the post. The Texas native and son of immigrants from Mexico was a labor organizer and Austin City Council member before winning a second term in the House last month.
Casar called Democrats’ losses in the election “avoidable.”
“The progressive movement needs to change,” he told NBC News in an interview on Wednesday before his election to chair the influential caucus. “We need to re-emphasize core economic issues every time some of these cultural war issues are brought up.”
“So when we hear Republicans attacking queer Americans again, I think the progressive response needs to be that a trans person didn’t deny your health insurance claim, a big corporation did — with Republican help,” Casar said. “We need to connect the dots for people that the Republican Party obsession with these culture war issues is driven by Republicans’ desire to distract voters and have them look away while Republicans pick their pocket.”
And he asserted Democrats can do it “without throwing vulnerable people under the bus.”
That response may have been in answer to his colleagues Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) laying blame for Democrats’ losses in part on Vice President Kamala Harris’ stance on trans rights.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear also recently backed away from his support of health care for trans inmates — mandated by the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution barring cruel and unusual treatment of prisoners.
During the election, Republicans spent over $215 million on attack adshighlighting the Democrats’ and their standard bearer’s support of trans rights.
“It’s less of a left-right fight and more of a getting back to a Democratic Party that’s for everyday people, no longer being seen as preachy or disconnected,” Casar said.
“I think we should lead the country, but we should never be more than an arm’s length ahead,” Casar said. “If we get more than a couple arms lengths ahead of the country, then you’re vulnerable to attacks from the Republicans.”
Casar maintained part of his party’s strategy to reconnect with the working class would mean an effort to “shed off some of its more corporate elements” that have blurred the distinction between Democrats and Republicans.
“The core of the Republican Party is about helping Wall Street and billionaires. And I think we have to call out the game,” Casar said. “The Democratic Party, at its best, can hold people or can have inside of its tent people across geography, across race, and across ideology. Because we’re all in the same boat when it comes to making sure that you can retire with dignity, that your kids can go to school, that you can buy a house.”
Casar said Republican calls to extend President Trump’s massive tax cuts, set to expire in 2025, will be one of the first of many opportunities to distinguish between the two major parties.
Positive Image’s QTBIPOC Hangout Happens Monday January 6 at 6 PM
In recognizing the lack of spaces for Sonoma County’s LGBTQIA+ communities of color to feel safe, seen, and a sense of belonging, Positive Images’ QTBIPOC Hangout program is a monthly joy-centered social space for QTBIPOC adults in Sonoma County to connect with one another. Through different activities and workshops at the PI community center or other trusted local spaces, this program strives to also offer experiences of personal, cultural, and community empowerment & exploration. Since the program’s start in February 2023, hangouts have included: art & movie nights, potlucks, a rock climbing night at Vertex Climbing Gym, a free professional photo shoot/portrait day with QTwithacamera Photography, a clothing drive, and a holiday gift exchange.
Hangouts are every first Monday of the month from 6-8pm at the PI Community Center, unless shared otherwise. The space welcomes all those who identify as QTBIPOC*.
*QTBIPOC = Queer and Transgender, Black, Indigenous, People of Color
CDC Warns COVID Rates Have Tripled In Recent Weeks
CNN reports:
In the week ending December 21, there was nearly three times as much Covid-19 circulating in the US than there was during the week ending December 7, CDC data shows.
This surge happened in all regions of the country, but there has been a particularly sharp uptick in the Midwest, where Covid-19 levels are nearly twice as high as they are in other parts of the country.
Some experts worry that the rapid rise after an unusually long lull could have left many people vulnerable to disease spread at the height of the holiday season.
Read the full article.
Man arrested under Russia’s ‘international LGBT extremism’ law dies in custody
The director of a Russian travel agency arrested last month on charges of international LGBT extremism died yesterday while in custody in Moscow, OVD-Info reports.
Andrei Kotov, 48, was found dead around 4 a.m. on Sunday at the Vodnik pretrial detention center, where he was awaiting trial on charges of supporting an international LGBT extremist terrorist movement. Leisan Mannapova, Kotov’s lawyer, confirmed her client died by suicide. His body was discovered in his cell covered in blood, and “cuts were found” on his body, an internal source told RIA Novosti.
Kotov ran Men Travel, a travel agency reportedly catering to gay men. He had recently concluded a cruise along the Volga River and was planning a trip to Egypt to ring in the New Year at the time of his arrest.
Security forces arrested Kotov on Nov. 28 but it was not made public until two days later. Video of the arrest posted to multiple Telegram channels shows the muscled Kotov shirtless with his hands cuffed behind his back. Kotov testified at a court hearing earlier this month that he was beaten and threatened with a stun gun if he did not confess his alleged crimes during the arrest.
“About 15 people came to me at night, they beat me, hit me in the face, on the legs, left bruises,” Kotov said at a detention hearing on Dec. 2, Zona Mediareported at the time. “I did not offer any resistance. I was extremely surprised by this procedure.”
He told the court he was beaten by two masked men who demanded he confess to LGBT extremism. Kostov said one man punched him in the face while the second man threatened him with a stun gun. When he insisted the tours were not LGBT-centric, Kostov said he was escorted to the kitchen where he was told to say hello to the man’s “brothers in the regiment.”
Kotov also claimed a television reporter and camera person were on hand to ask questions on video without his permission.
At court, Kotov continued to deny the tours were aimed at gay men. He instead claimed the Volga River cruise was mainly about fishing and sightseeing.
“Our only appeal was that there are interesting museums, interesting hotels,” Kotov testified. “All this information was only of a tourist nature.”
Judge Kristina Kostryukova denied release for Kotov over his lawyer’s objections, who noted he was a vegetarian with a high caloric intake.
The arrest and death of Kotov comes as part of a larger crackdown on the LGBTQ+ community by the Russian government under President Vladimir Putin.
Last month, Putin signed two new laws outlawing the promotion of non-traditional families and the adoption of Russian children by foreign nationals from countries that recognize a person’s right to gender-affirming care.
The adoption law effectively prohibits citizens of Australia, Austria, Argentina, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and other countries from adopting children from Russia or taking guardianship over them. Citizens of the U.S. were banned from adopting Russian children in 2012.
The second law bans what it terms “childfree propaganda” that promotes non-traditional families as a positive environment for children. Media companies and social media sites will be required to monitor content to ensure compliance with the law. An exemption would be made for positive portrayals of a monastic life that included celibacy.
In December of 2022, Putin signed a law strengthening a ban on LGBTQ “propaganda” in Russia and making it illegal to promote same-sex sexual relations or suggest non-heterosexual attractions are “normal.” Individuals can be fined up to 400,000 rubles ($6,370) for “LGBT propaganda” and up to 200,000 rubles ($3,185) for “demonstrations of LGBT and information that encourages a change of gender among teenagers.” The fines increase to 5 million rubles ($80,000) and 4 million rubles ($64,000) respectively for legal entities.
Last year, Putin directed sexologists in the country to treat homosexuality as a mental illness no different than bestiality and ordered the Ministry of Health to create an institute to study homosexuals at the Serbsky Center for Psychiatry and Narcology.
“The help of such specialists is necessary if a person wants to recover from frigidity, impotence, or such violations of sexual behavior as fetishism, masochism, and sadism,” the Duma reported in its official newspaper at the time.
In November of last year, Putin requested that the Russian government officially recognize the “international public LGBT movement” as “extremist” under the law, and his request was granted that same month. Less than two days later, security forces raided at least four LGBTQ+ establishments in Moscow.
An employee of the Central Station gay bar said police raided Club Secret, Mono Bar, and Hunters Party in Moscow, the local group SOTA reported on its Telegram channel. A fourth establishment, an unidentified gay sauna, was also raided, according to Novaya Gazeta. Video posted to social media shows a strong police presence outside one of the venues.
If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services. Trans Lifeline, designed for transgender or gender-nonconforming people, can be reached at (877) 565-8860. The lifeline also provides resources to help with other crises, such as domestic violence situations. The Trevor Project Lifeline, for LGBTQ+ youth (ages 24 and younger), can be reached at (866) 488-7386. Users can also access chat services at TheTrevorProject.org/Help or text START to 678678.
Ohio changes election forms to protect transgender political candidates
Ohio’s Secretary of State Frank LaRose has changed the state’s candidate declaration forms to help prevent a repeat of earlier this year when a trans candidate was disqualified after failing to list her deadname.
Vanessa Joy, a transgender woman, was disqualified from running as a Democrat to represent House District 50 in Stark County in January after she failed to include on her signature petition forms any names she legally used within the prior five years.
While Joy was upset about the forced outing of her deadname, she was more upset that she was not informed of the requirement at the time she submitted her petitions.
“Something that is that important should have been on the instructions,” Joy told the local ABC affiliate WEWS in January. “It should have been on the petition.”
“The new form does that, and it’s now available on our website for potential candidates to use if they decide to file a candidacy in 2025,” Dan Lusheck, a LaRose spokesperson, told Cleveland.com.
LaRose’s office has enlarged the space provided for a candidate’s name along with the instruction to “include all prior names used in the past 5 years” except those resulting from marriage.
Republicans were also impacted by the prior name requirement and sought to pass legislation before the holiday recess. Candidates would still be required to list any name changes within the last five years under the proposed legislation. However, the bill mandates “a space provided for the purpose” on the official declaration of candidacy form, much as LaRose has already accomplished.
The bill ultimately failed to pass before the holiday break.
Joy said in an interview that while she was encouraged others would not be unfairly disqualified by the prior name requirement, she was moving out of state with no plans of running for office.
“I’m not going to have to worry about it anymore,” Joy said.
President Jimmy Carter dead at 100 — here’s his history as an LGBTQ+ ally
Former President Jimmy Carter, the 39th U.S. president, will be remembered as a staunch LGBTQ+ ally, although it took him time to evolve on some issues.
The former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner died on Sunday after over a year in hospice care. He is the longest-lived U.S. president. He passed away at his home in Plains, Ga. — the same house he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died last year, spent the majority of their lives, according to the Carter Center.
“Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the center wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” said Chip Carter, one of the former president’s sons. “My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.”
LGBTQ+ rights group the Human Rights Campaign remembered Carter’s queer rights legacy in a statement on Sunday.
“All of us at the Human Rights Campaign feel an immense loss with the passing of former President Jimmy Carter,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “In recent years, he became a prominent voice in support of LGBTQ+ rights, speaking out for marriage equality at a time when most national leaders in the U.S. still opposed it. For decades after he left the White House, he continued to make public service his enduring priority through his work with Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Presidential Center, cementing his reputation as a champion for human rights and as one of the all time great former presidents. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and all who mourn him.”
Carter was a devout Christian, but his faith did not include homophobia. In 2015, he said Jesus Christ would approve of marriage equality. Here’s a look his record on LGBTQ+ rights.
Carter’s administration was the first to welcome gay and lesbian rights activiststo the White House. He did not attend the meeting himself (he was at the presidential retreat, Camp David, at the time), but on March 26, 1977, two months into his presidency, representatives of what was then called the National Gay Task Force met with members of the administration. The session was organized by Carter aide Midge Costanza.
Attendees were asked to draft a white paper on an issue of importance to the community that would then be circulated to federal agencies. One of them, George Raya, wrote about health issues. He found out that hepatitis was the disease most affecting gay people at the time, and his paper led the federal government to fund a hepatitis research project in San Francisco, and a few years later it provided valuable information to AIDS researchers.
In 1978, Carter was in San Francisco campaigning for the reelection of Gov. Jerry Brown. In that same election, Proposition 6, also known as the Briggs Initiative, was on the California ballot, asking voters to bar gays and lesbians from teaching in the public schools. Former President Gerald Ford and future President Ronald Reagan had already spoken out against it, and Carter did so as well, albeit with a nudge from Brown. Urged on by the governor, Carter “leaned into the microphone, asking voters already inclined to check No on 6 to do so. The crowd roared its approval,” according to the Journal of Policy History.
Carter left the White House in 1981 after a single term, losing to Reagan amid economic problems and the Iran hostage crisis. With his work in international diplomacy and global human rights, plus his volunteer efforts for Habitat for Humanity and other organizations, Carter became known as the nation’s greatest ex-president. His advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights became stronger too.
In 2005, upon the publication of his book Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis, he gave an interview to The Advocate. Reporter Sean Kennedy said, “You’re a Christian, but you don’t have a problem with gay men and lesbians as many other Christians do. Why?” Carter responded, “I’m a worshipper of Jesus Christ, who never mentioned homosexuals in any way — certainly not in a deleterious fashion. And when it has been mentioned in the New Testament, it’s been combined with things like selfishness or something like that. So I’ve never looked upon it as any sort of reason to condemn a person. I think it’s an inherent characteristic just like other things that we do with our lives.”
He was not yet a supporter of national marriage equality, however. In 2006, speaking to an audience at Emory University, he said marriage rights should be decided state by state. “You can’t take away what people believe in, and laws should be based on what each state believes in,” he said, “because each one has their different beliefs.”
By 2015, though, when the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges ruling took marriage equality nationwide, Carter approved and said it fit within his religious beliefs. “I think Jesus would encourage any love affair if it was honest and sincere and was not damaging to anyone else,” he said in a HuffPost Liveinterview. “And I don’t see that gay marriage damages anyone else. … I believe Jesus would approve gay marriage. That’s just my own personal opinion.”
He agreed that no church should have to perform a marriage it didn’t approve of, but he had also long advocated for greater acceptance within faith bodies. He left the Southern Baptist denomination in 2000 over what he called its “rigid” beliefs. Among other things, the church teaches that being LGBTQ+ is wrong, and it does not allow women to be ministers.
Carter spoke out for equal rights in the military as well. In 2007, he called for an end to “don’t ask, don’t tell.” “The nation’s commitment to human rights requires that lawmakers revisit ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ the current policy that prevents lesbians, gays, and bisexuals from serving openly in our armed forces,” he said in a statement issued through the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. “‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ is the only law in America today that regulates a group of citizens, then prohibits them from identifying themselves and speaking up on their own behalf. Gay soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines are unable to tell their member of Congress or their commander that the policy is an abject failure, and they are living proof because they will face discharge. Those who defend our liberties and freedoms deserve better…. There are great differences in public opinion on social issues today compared to 20 years ago. When I served as president, the majority in our country did not support equality for gay Americans, but that has now changed.”
The policy ended in 2011 under President Barack Obama.
The Carter Center announced that public observances will be held in Atlanta and D.C. in addition to a private interment in Plains. The scheduling will be announced soon.
People’s March Happened January 18 on Sonoma Square
PEOPLE’S MARCH SONOMA – A NATIONAL EFFORT PROMOTED BY THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S MARCH ORGANIZATION.
SATURDAY JANUARY 18TH, 2024 – SONOMA PLAZA 10-12
RALLY AT THE HORSESHOE THEN MARCH DOWN BROADWAY
BRING YOUR SIGNS – NONVIOLENT MARCH
A PEACEFUL SHOW OF COLLECTIVE STRENGTH IS POWERFUL
New Census Data Refutes Claims Of “California Exodus”
SF Gate reports:
The California exodus that’s been declared over and over again isn’t real, according to new figures from the U.S. Census Bureau published this week.
The Golden State’s population grew by 0.6% between July 1, 2023, and July 1, 2024. That’s an addition of almost a quarter of a million people, pushing the number of residents closer to pre-pandemic levels.
Of the state’s 10 largest counties, only Contra Costa County experienced a population decline. Del Norte County had the highest increase in residents, 1.1%, while Plumas County dipped 1.2%.
Read the full article.