Sunday, April 11th @4pm. Occidental Center for the Arts’ Virtual Book Launch Series presents Barbara Gonnella and Gaye le Baron in conversation on newly published Occidental, Images of America. Admission free, all donations gratefully accepted. Visit OCA website (occidentalcenterforthearts.org) for link to this event live-streaming on YouTube. Book sales through author or at the Union Hotel.
The County of Sonoma has arranged to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to adults 16 years and older who are homebound for a variety of medical reasons and have difficulty getting to a clinic. The County is working with Fox Home Health, which has established a mobile vaccine clinic for those who are homebound.
The County Department of Health Services is working to prioritize homebound individuals in collaboration with service providers, including in-home supportive services, hospice, North Bay Regional Center, Council on Aging and the Adult & Aging Division of Human Services.
The community can participate by reaching out to people they know who may be homebound to share information about the mobile clinic.
“We want to connect with those individuals who are homebound for medical reasons and let them know we will come to their home to vaccinate them against COVID-19,” said Dr. Urmila Shende, head of the County’s COVID-19 vaccination team, in a statement. “This is part of the County’s campaign to take care of our medically vulnerable residents and make sure they don’t slip between the cracks of the vaccine rollout.”
Medicare considers a person homebound if:
• He or she needs the help of another person or medical equipment such as crutches, a walker or a wheelchair to leave home, or their doctor believes that health or illness could get worse if they leave home.https://newsletter.pressdemocrat.com/framed/single?pid=41&hideImage=1&fid=6053
• And, it is difficult for the person to leave their home and they typically cannot do so.
Fox Home Health will screen homebound individuals for eligibility before providing vaccinations.
Homebound individuals who fit the criteria should call 565-4667 or email stompcovid@foxandassociates.org for more information.
It was December 9, 2010. Joe Manchin, the former Democratic Governor of West Virginia, cast his first vote as a newly-sworn-in U.S. Senator. He voted against repealing the discriminatory, anti-LGBTQ “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
“As a Senator of just three weeks, I have not had the opportunity to visit and hear the full range of viewpoints from the citizens of West Virginia.”
That’s the same Joe Manchin who in 1982 had begun his political career as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates.
After nearly three decades of serving as a lawmaker, Secretary of State, and a governor, Senator Manchin felt he wasn’t sufficiently well-enough informed to do the right thing and vote to protect America’s LGBTQ service men and women.
Fast forward to today, when Joe Manchin has now been in public service for almost 40 years.
On the campaign trail Joe Biden indicated his top priority was passing the LGBTQ Equality Act, legislation that has been introduced into Congress in various forms since the 1970’s, even longer than the 73-year old Senator from West Virginia has been in politics. Biden said he wanted to sign the Equality Act into law in his first 100 days.
There are three things getting in the way of legislation that seven out of 10 Americans not only support, but think is already federal law: the filibuster, Republicans, and Joe Manchin. Ironically, Manchin, like Republicans, opposes killing the filibuster and opposes passing the Equality Act.
“A little more than two months into Biden’s term,” The Daily Beast reports, “Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has taken on the role of perpetual fly in the ointment of progressive legislation. The Equality Act is no exception.”
Make no mistake, Manchin is anti-LGBTQ. He opposes same-sex marriage (although agrees it is settled law) and echoing the massive conservative campaign against transgender people, opposes the Equality Act (in part) because, he claims, it does not provide “sufficient guidance to the local officials who will be responsible for implementing it, particularly with respect to students transitioning between genders in public schools.”
That is not the function of legislation, that is the function of the Dept. of Education, something Manchin certainly must know.
“In private, according to those familiar, Manchin has been equally skeptical this time around, citing a massive call-in campaign organized by conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation intended to sink the bill. Manchin told one co-sponsor of the Equality Act that the calls to his office were opposed to the legislation ‘a thousand to one.'”
The Beast calls getting 60 votes to pass the Equality Act without one of them being Manchin’s “functionally impossible, given the Senate’s current makeup.”
The Pentagon on Wednesday will sweep away Trump-era policies that largely banned transgender people from serving in the military, issuing new rules that offer them wider access to medical care and assistance with gender transition, defense officials told The Associated Press.
The new department regulations allow transgender people who meet military standards to enlist and serve openly in their self-identified gender, and they will be able to get medically necessary transition-related care authorized by law, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal decisions not yet made public.
The changes come after a two-month Pentagon review aimed at developing guidelines for the new policy, which was announced by President Joe Biden just days after he took office in January.
Biden’s executive order overturned the Trump policy and immediately prohibited any service member from being forced out of the military on the basis of gender identity. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin then gave the Pentagon two months to finalize the more detailed regulations that the military services will follow.
The new rules also prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. Their expected release Wednesday coincides with International Transgender Day of Visibility.MORE STORIES:
Austin has also called for a reexamination of the records of service members who were discharged or denied reenlistment because of gender identity issues under the previous policy. Results of that review have not been released.
Until a few years ago, service members could be discharged from the military for being transgender, but that changed during the Obama administration. In 2016, the Pentagon announced that transgender people already serving in the military would be allowed to serve openly, and that by July 2017, they would be allowed to enlist.
After Donald Trump took office, however, his administration delayed the enlistment date and called for additional study. A few weeks later, Trump caught military leaders by surprise, tweeting that the government wouldn’t accept or allow transgender people to serve “in any capacity” in the military.
After a lengthy and complicated legal battle and additional reviews, the Defense Department in April 2019 approved a policy that fell short of an all-out ban but barred transgender troops and recruits from transitioning to another sex and required most individuals to serve in what the administration called their “birth gender.”
Under that policy, currently serving transgender troops and anyone who had signed an enlistment contract before the effective date could continue with plans for hormone treatments and gender transition if they had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
But after that date, no one with gender dysphoria who was taking hormones or had transitioned to another gender was allowed to enlist. Troops that were already serving and were diagnosed with gender dysphoria were required to serve in the gender assigned at birth and were barred from taking hormones or getting transition surgery.
The new policies being released Wednesday are similar to those developed in 2016.
As of 2019, an estimated 14,700 troops on active duty and in the reserves identify as transgender, but not all seek treatment. There are more than 1.3 million active-duty troops and close to 800,000 in the National Guard and Reserves.
Since July 2016, more than 1,500 service members were diagnosed with gender dysphoria; as of Feb. 1, 2019, there were 1,071 currently serving. According to the Pentagon, the department spent about $8 million on transgender care from 2016 to 2019. The military’s annual health care budget tops $50 billion.
All four service chiefs told Congress in 2018 that they had seen no discipline, morale or unit readiness problems with transgender troops serving openly in the military. But they also acknowledged that some commanders were spending a lot of time with transgender people who were working through medical requirements and other transition issues.
Lucas Wilson said he received conversion therapy from a student club called Band of Brothers at Liberty University from 2008 to 2012, when he was an undergraduate student.
Wilson, now 30, said when he visited campus prior to enrolling, he saw an ad for “struggling with same-sex attraction.”
“The biggest factor in why I chose Liberty was ultimately the conversion therapy program because I, in fact, believed that one could become straight,” Wilson said.
He is now one of 33 LGBTQ students who are suing the Department of Education in a class-action lawsuit filed Monday. The students allege that they faced discrimination at 25 federally funded Christian colleges and universities in 18 states.
Wilson said Liberty University is a “thoroughly homophobic institution” and that, in addition to offering conversion therapy in the form of a student club, he also had several classes that taught “the evils of the homosexual lifestyle.”
Lucas Wilson, 30, alleged Liberty University is a “thoroughly homophobic institution.” He said he received conversion therapy through a student club now known as Armor Bearers.Cole Burston
He said the conversion therapy group, and the culture at Liberty, “amplified and compounded feelings of self-hatred, feelings of shame and guilt and anxiety that ultimately took years to deconstruct.”
The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ students at taxpayer-funded religious colleges and universities, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Oregon on behalf of former and current students.
Liberty University has not responded to NBC News’ requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the Biden administration is “fully committed to equal education access for all students.”
The spokesperson added that President Joe Biden stated in an executive order earlier this month, “It is the policy of my Administration that all students should be guaranteed an educational environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex, including discrimination in the form of sexual harassment, which encompasses sexual violence, and including discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Many Christian colleges and universities receive federal funding and are still allowed to enforce policies that, for example, prohibit same-sex relationships on campus. That’s because Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination, contains an exemption for religious entities.
The students’ lawsuit argues that the religious exemption is unconstitutional and that it allows the Department of Education “to breach its duty” to LGBTQ students at religious colleges and universities “where discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is codified in campus policies and openly practiced.”
The ultimate goal of the lawsuit is to strike down Title IX’s religious exemption.
Paul Southwick, the director of REAP, said the main premise of his argument is that the federal government is “not allowed to pass laws or take actions that target a politically unpopular group.”
“Here, what the religious exemption to Title IX is doing is, it really targets people based on sex, which includes sexual orientation and gender identity, for inferior treatment,” Southwick said.
His argument claims that the religious exemption is unconstitutional because it violates the due process and equal protection rights afforded to LGBTQ people and it violates the establishment clause because it “favors certain fundamentalist religious organizations and gives them preferential treatment above all other educational institutions, including religious educational institutions that have affirming beliefs about LGBTQ people.”
Regarding the religious exemption, the Department of Education spokesperson said the text of Title IX states it does not apply to “an educational institution which is controlled by a religious organization” where its application “would not be consistent with the religious tenets of such organization.”
Southwick’s constitutional argument is based on a number of cases, but he said one of the most important is Bob Jones University v. United States, which found in 1983 that Bob Jones University did not get to maintain its tax-exempt status due to an interracial dating ban — a policy the university claimed was based in its sincerely held religious beliefs.
The Supreme Court held in an 8-1 decision that limitations on religious liberty can be justified by an “overriding governmental interest” such as prohibiting racial discrimination. As a result, it found that “not all burdens on religion are unconstitutional.”
Southwick said mainstream LGBTQ organizations haven’t done enough to fight for LGBTQ students at religious colleges, and that’s because “when you talk about queer kids at Christian colleges, their responses are ‘What the hell are they doing there?’”
LGBTQ students often attend religious colleges for a host of reasons, but mainly because they’re born into fundamentalist Christian families, Southwick said.
“The natural consequence of that is that — gay or straight — a lot of them will end up at Christian colleges, and when they’re there, they’re treated inhumanely and subjected to these dangerous and abusive policies and practices,” he said.
Some of the plaintiffs claim they were denied admission to or expelled from religious colleges due to being LGBTQ. Others say their colleges have strict policies surrounding sexuality and purity.
“The general language that you’ll find in a lot of the policies is as follows: The schools prohibit homosexual conduct, homosexual relationships, transgender conduct, which they struggle with how to describe,” Southwick said. “And they prohibit same-sex marriages. So what that means is kids are getting engaged and hiding it because they’ll be expelled. Kids who are found out are being expelled. What it means is when a nonbinary or a trans student is dressing and grooming and using names and pronouns consistent with their gender identity, they’re punished.”
The student club that offers conversion therapy at Liberty University still exists, though now it’s called Armor Bearers, according to the school’s 2020 “Pathways Handbook,” which provides students with a “menu” of “educational opportunities” to choose from if they violate school policy.
Wilson said the lawsuit will help shed light on the policies at Liberty and other religious schools.
“We’re putting pressure on these schools to change how they treat their LGBTQ students, so for me, this is very important work,” he said. “It’s work that is long overdue.”
FFT Elects Two New Board Members Food For Thought is pleased to announce the addition of John Andrew Wesley, M.D., and Estelle H. Rogers to its Board of Directors. “Our board plays an important role in helping the agency provide food and nutrition services to people living with HIV, COVID-19 and other serious illnesses,” said Ron Karp, executive director of Food For Thought. “John Andrew and Estelle, who have both served as volunteers, have long been advocates for underserved communities in Sonoma County. Estelle, an accomplished attorney, has a keen mind and outstanding interpersonal skills and John Andrew has a medical background and extensive experience working with people living with HIV through his work with both Face to Face and Santa Rosa Community Health. We look forward to incorporating their insights into our client programs and are excited to have their help in raising Food For Thought’s visibility in the community.”
Click here to learn more about John Andrew and Estelle and FFT’s other board members.
John Andrew WesleyEstelle H Rogers
FFT’s Wellness Month Events in Coming in April!Join FFT’s Fundraising Team Today! FFT invites you to get moving while helping us provide nutritious food for our neighbors living with serious illnesses! This fun and engaging virtual fundraiser challenges you to get up go and do something active that you enjoy! Walking, running, hiking, cycling, skating or even swimming – you choose! Then ask your friends and family to donate to FFT in support of your fundraising effort. Simply click here to become a fundraiser.Healthy Greens Online Cooking Class Join FFT’s Registered Dietitian Nina Redman and Chef Ruth Lefkowitz for an online cooking demonstration on Wednesday, April 7th at 2 p.m. Our culinary team will be preparing a spring herb soup and a chicken, avocado and grapefruit salad. These recipes feature a variety of spring greens that you can mix and match. To sign up, please email KathleenH@FFTfoodbank.org. A Zoom link and the recipes will be sent to you prior to the class. A suggested donation of $25 is requested. To donate, please click here.
Yoga at DeLoach Winery Join local yoga teacher Kelliann Reginato for a 75-minute class at picturesque DeLoach Vineyards on April 11th to benefit Food For Thought! Class will be multi-level and COVID-19 safety protocols will be in enforced. Standard ticket price is $30, with option to donate more if desired.
DeLoach will be offering two-for-one tastings to all participants, with proceeds for wine purchases donated to Food For Thought as well! Click here to register.
FFT’s Plant Start Sale Get ready to plant your 2021 garden at Food For Thought’s Wellness Month Plant Sale! Buy starts of diverse organic heirloom vegetable varieties, flowers and native plants. The sale runs during the weekend of April 24-25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the Food For Thought parking lot at 6550 Railroad Ave. in Forestville. Support a great cause and take home some special plants! All proceeds benefit Food For Thought, serving thousands of Sonoma County residents living with serious illnesses with healthy food.
Spicy Chard Soup Enjoy a delicious bowl of Spicy Chard Soup this St. Patrick’s Day! This savory soup is a great way to get some nutritious leafy greens into your diet. It includes crushed caraway and cumin seeds and is accented by harissa or the hot sauce of your choice. Click here for the recipe.
Revry celebrates Easter and Oscar season with an entire April calendar highlighting incredible Queer content made by and for the community including multi-award winning festival favorites God’s Own Countryand TransMilitary. Revry kicks off April Fools with it’s hysterically charming, absurdist, original game show, Versus, hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race icon, Deven Green, where instincts and fun override smarts and knowledge. As Jesus rises on Easter, step into conversations about religion and sexuality with films like Mercy’s Girl, Hell or High Water, Deviant…or the powerful documentary Call Me Troy, about the first gay Reverand who started the queer friendly Metropolitian Community Church, now, with over 200 congregations. Throughout the month, Revry will continue to celebrate special holidays including the World Premiere of the dark comedy series Pet Peeves on National Pet Day (4/11) about pet psychic and ex-con Milton Michaels; the mockumentary comedy series Dope State on 4/20; Denial, a documentary about electricity, identity, family on Earth Day (4/22); for Perfect Date Day the comedy Sweater on 4/25; and on Lesbian Visibility Day 4/26, the appropriate I Lesb You.
Also this month, a week before the Oscars is the annual star-studded Dorians Film Toast, the official GALECA (The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics) awards show highlights the best films and performances of the year. And starting on April 20th, Revry will launch its first weekly news show, Culture Q starting every Thursday. The full calendar of events is below, including hyperlinks on titles available to watch immediately.
APRIL HIGHLIGHTS CALENDAR ON REVRY
Thursday, April 1, 2021 (April Fool’s Day)Boys Town (s1) – BoysTown is a modern day gay episodic drama about friendship, sex and relationships, exploring the everyday lives of seven friends and lovers. In a cross between a gay Desperate Housewives and Sex in the City, the guys are always getting themselves into messes they can’t get out of. Versus (s1) – From Ru Paul’s Drag Race icon Deven Green and musician Ned Douglas, VERSUS pits contestants against each other in six rapid-fire challenges that will test their trivia skills, memory, and even knowledge of their own social media. Each episode features a new set of mini-games that no-one can prepare for! Chica Busca Chica(OML on Revry) – This hot and hilarious lesbian soap opera takes you on a wild ride through the mixed up love lives of a group of sexy Madrid lesbians including the unbelievably gorgeous Spanish TV star Celia Freijeiro. Think: The L Word meets Almodovar. Haunters – Iggy is a jerk who takes pleasure in other people’s pain and embarrassment. But when Iggy suddenly dies and is sent to her version of purgatory – she gets a taste of her own medicine.
Sunday, April 4, 2021 (Easter)Mercy’s Girl – Mercy lives a double life. In one she is dating a sexual and loving college student named Jesse. In the other she is living by her family’s religious standards. As her two world’s begin to collide she must find her identity in both. Chance – Trevor’s life has become a void, following the passing of his wife and long term companion, Doris. Days run into weeks, as Trevor slowly finds himself isolated and alone, and unconcernedly slipping towards death. A chance encounter in the park with a mysterious stranger equally troubled by his own dark past jarringly reawakens him, and forces both men to once again start to live. Call Me Troy – Call Me Troy is a truly inspirational story about a remarkable and dynamic individual whose activism was decades ahead of its time. Rev. Perry is perhaps best known as the founder of the Metropolitan Community Church – the first church to recognize the spiritual needs of the gay community – but his “firsts” don’t stop there. In 1969, Perry performed the first public same-sex wedding in the U.S. setting the stage for a lifetime of activism of behalf of the LGBT+ community. Deviant – In the early sixties, a sexually conflicted teenager finds faith and acceptance after escaping the tortures of electrotherapeutic conversion therapy. Room to Grow – Room to Grow is a Revry Original film which chronicles the lives of LGBTQ+ youth and their families across North America, offering a raw, intimate glimpse into their daily lives as they endeavor to find their identity and a place in their communities. Hell or High Water – Hell or High Water is a short film that tells the story of a young pastor loved and adored by the people around him. Things change for him when he must confront a hidden truth about himself, a truth that could make or break him psychologically. But, whatever decision he makes, he is still going to crash and burn, for life as he once knew it would never be the same again. The story explores the reality of sexuality amidst spirituality, exorcism, blackmail, and family life. ”Hell or High Water” challenges stereotypical narratives about sexuality.
Monday, April 5, 2021 (American Music Awards)Indiana Queen (Music Videos for “Walk with Strength”, “I Don’t Know What To Do”) – Fronted by Kevin James Thornton, Indiana Queen is a queer-folk band blazing a new path in a traditionally conservative genre. Faultlines – (Music Videos for Rain, Wooden Bridges, If You Only Knew, Starting at the Finish Line) – Faultlines, an acoustic folk-pop group known for their three-part harmonies that warm like the California sun and lyrics that speak to the gritty, universal interhuman experience. Seeking Dolly Parton – When Charlie (Kacey Barnfield) and her partner Cerina (Anya Monzikova) decide to have a baby, they go to Cerina’s estranged ex-boyfriend Josh (Michael Worth) to help fill in the “blanks”. But when old feelings return to the surface, the new feelings are not coming in without a fight. This unique threesome must each confront their own “closeted” emotions before allowing a new light to shine into all their lives. Queens & Cowboys – Roping and riding across North America, the International Gay Rodeo Association’s courageous cowboys and cowgirls brave challenges both in and out of the arena on their quest to qualify for the World Finals. Along the way, they’ll bust every stereotype in the book. Paisley Fields (Music Videos for “How Low”, “She’s No Angel”, “Not Gonna Be Friends”, “Windows Fogged Up In Your Pickup Truck”)
Tuesday, April 6, 2021Twenty (OML on Revry)– Twenty follows the story of Maya, her girlfriend Catalina, and her group of eclectic friends as they navigate careers, love, and life in their early twenties.
Wednesday, April 7, 2021 (National Beer Day)Beer, Beer – “Beer! Beer!” is an “anti-romantic comedy” set in the early morning following a wild party in Berlin. When Tao, a Chinese guy, meets Sebastian, a local German. As they seem to get more and more intimate with each other, suddenly a mattress changes everything…
Sunday, April 11, 2021 (National Pet Day)Pet Peeves – After spending 15-years behind bars in a Florida prison, Milton Michaels (Jonah Blechman from “Another Gay Movie”) moves in with his sister in California to restart his pet psychic career. While there Milton reconnects with his childhood dog, as he discovers the urn containing his ashes. But Milton is torn from the beloved ashes when his childhood tormentor, Candice, comes to visit. Candice tricks Milton into a dog-napping scheme that could jeopardize his freedom, just as he starts to connect the dots in his love life. Watch the trailer.
Sunday, April 18, 2021Dorian Film Awards – The Dorian Awards are film and television accolades given by GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, founded in 2009 as the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association.
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 (4/20)Dope State – Dope State is a mocku-comedy that chronicles a modern day gold rush, a civil rights movement and, potentially, the end of a prohibition. From stoner celebrities to politicians and corrupt cops, a marijuana journalist documents the daily life of producers, distributors, and consumers in the California weed industry.. From the mind of comedic tour-de-force Gabriel Sunday (who stars as all of the lead characters), Dope State is a dreamy, absurd love letter to pot culture. Twenty (OML on Revry) Culture Q – Culture Q is the world’s first weekly queer-centric news series brought to you by the leading global queer streaming network, Revry. This innovative, weekly news series creatively features entertainment, pop culture, lifestyle and political news with wit and insightfully nuanced perspectives. Emphasizing the queer millieu, Culture Q stands to be the penultimate, weekly forum for boundary-pushing discussions and commentary.
Thursday, April 22, 2021 (Earth Day)Denial– DENIAL is a documentary about electricity, identity, family, and the many ways we lie to ourselves when faced with overwhelming facts. It is the story of a family coming to terms with complex personal truths against the backdrop of a global crisis.
Friday, April 23, 2021TransMilitary – TransMilitary chronicles the lives of four individuals (Senior Airman Logan Ireland, Corporal Laila Villanueva, Captain Jennifer Peace and First Lieutenant El Cook) defending their country’s freedom while fighting for their own. They put their careers and their families’ livelihoods on the line by coming out as transgender to top brass officials in the Pentagon in hopes of attaining the equal right to serve. The ban was lifted in 2016, but with President Trump trying to reinstate it, their futures hang in the balance again.
Sunday, April 25, 2021 (Perfect Date Day)Sweater – Corey’s day couldn’t be worse. Then he gets a free coffee. God’s Own Country – In Yorkshire a young unhappy farmer is living with his grandmother and sickly father. He numbs his frustrations with drinking and casual sex until a Romanian migrant worker sets him on a new path.
Monday April 26, 2021 (Lesbian Visibility Day)I Lesb You – Alcohol, music, and one wild night take control of 4 parallel stories in a lesbian bar in Santiago de Chile. The Night Is Ours – Tomboy Morgan is shattered by the sudden death of her best friend Olivia. But when Olivia mysteriously comes back to life, the two go on a final road trip that takes them beyond friendship into a special place that Morgan learns can’t go on forever. Suicide Kale – While having lunch with another couple, new couple Jasmine and Penny stumble upon an anonymous suicide note and proceed to work to uncover the identity of the author.
Thursday, April 29, 2021 (Billboard Music Awards)Boy Untitled(Music Videos for “Skin”, “Spark”, “Sacrifice”) – Boy Untitled is a L.A-based queer artist exploring the boundaries of music, mixing vulnerability with world pop-inspired tracks that jump from ethereal to vibrant, dancey electronica. Music Artists: John Chandler, Keekai, Gabby B., Jack Rayner, Malou Beauvoir, Chelzzz and Yaeji
Friday, April 30, 2021 (Arbor Day)The Millennial Experience – The Millennial Experience is one part dance-for-film and one part documentary. The film explores cultural appropriation vs appreciation, LGBTQIA+ culture, feminism and how these topics impact the Millennial generation.
ABOUT REVRYWatch Queer TV 24/7 with the first LGBTQ+ digital cable TV network. Revry offers free live TV channels and on-demand viewing of its global library featuring LGBTQ+ movies, shows, music, podcasts, news, and exclusive originals all in one place! Revry is currently available globally in over 280+ million households and devices and on seven OTT, mobile, and Desktop platforms. Revry can also be viewed on nine live and on-demand channels and Connected TVs including: The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, Comcast Xfinity X1, Cox, Distro TV, Plex, Galaxy TV, Local Now, VIZIO, Zapping TV, STIRR, TiVo, and as the first LGBTQ+ virtual reality channel on RAD (available on PlayStation devices). The company–an inaugural member of the Goldman Sachs Black and LatinX Cohort–is headquartered in Los Angeles and led by a diverse founding team who bring decades of experience in the fields of tech, digital media, and LGBTQ+ advocacy. Follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @revrytv, Revry.tv
Sonoma Film Institute Virtual Screenings Continue for Spring 2021
Sonoma Film Institute Virtual Screenings Continue for Spring 2021The link for watching the films will be posted on the SFI website by Friday at noon and will be good for 72 hours https://sfi.sonoma.edu
Acasa, My HomeFriday, April 02, 2021 – Sunday, April 04, 2021
IIn the wilderness of the Bucharest Delta, an abandoned water reservoir just outside the bustling metropolis, the Enache family lived in perfect harmony with nature for two decades, sleeping in a hut on the lakeshore, catching fish barehanded, and following the rhythm of the seasons. When this area is transformed into a public national park, they are forced to leave behind their unconventional life and move to the city, where fishing rods are replaced by smartphones and idle afternoons are now spent in classrooms. As the family struggles to conform to modern civilization and maintain their connection to each other and themselves, they each begin to question their place in the world and what their future might be. With their roots in the wilderness, the nine children and their parents struggle to find a way to keep their family united in the concrete jungle. With an empathetic and cinematic eye, filmmaker Radu Ciorniciuc offers viewers, in his feature debut, a compelling tale of an impoverished family living on the fringes of society in Romania, fighting for acceptance and their own version of freedom. (in Romanian w/English subtitles) FREE for SSU Students (get code from your professor)$12 for 72-hour rental to the General Public (Correction from 03/17/21 email) Released: 2020Run time: 86 min.
Martin EdenFriday, March 16, 2021 – Sunday, March 18, 2021
Adapted from a 1909 novel by Jack London yet set in a provocatively unspecified moment in Italy’s history, MARTIN EDEN is a passionate and enthralling narrative fresco in the tradition of the great Italian classics. Martin (played by the marvelously committed Luca Marinelli) is a self-taught proletarian with artistic aspirations who hopes that his dreams of becoming a writer will help him rise above his station and marry a wealthy young university student (Jessica Cressy). The dissatisfactions of working-class toil and bourgeois success lead to political awakening and destructive anxiety in this enveloping, superbly mounted bildungsroman. Winner of the Best Actor prize at the Venice Film Festival and the Platform Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Pietro Marcello. (in Italian w/English subtitles) FREE for SSU Students (get code from your professor)$12 for 72-hour rental to the General PublicReleased: 2019Run time: 129 min.
Laverne Cox, Gabrielle Union and Halle Berry have joined hundreds of prominent feminists in taking a stand for trans women and girls.
More than 465 feminist leaders in business, entertainment, media, politics and social justice signed an open letter released by GLAAD in honour of the Transgender Day of Visibility on Wednesday (31 March).
The letter calls for an end to the ongoing discriminatory rhetoric and attacks against trans people, and serves as a proud statement of solidarity between cis and transgender women.
Signatories include A-list celebrities such as Regina King, Selena Gomez and Megan Rapinoe, as well as activists and women’s rights groups like Gloria Steinem, the Me Too Movement and Planned Parenthood.
Others who signed include Mj Rodriguez, Patricia Arquette, Judith Light, Cynthia Erivo, Anna Wintour, Chelsea Clinton, Sarah Paulson, Peppermint, Lena Dunham, Beanie Feldstein, Alison Brie, Bella Hadid, Lena Waithe, Wanda Sykes and Janelle Monáe.
“Trans women and girls have been an integral part of the fight for gender liberation. We uphold that truth and denounce the ongoing anti-transgender rhetoric and efforts we witness in various industries,”
“We acknowledge with clarity and strength that transgender women are women and that transgender girls are girls. And we believe that honouring the diversity of women’s experiences is a strength, not a detriment to the feminist cause.
“All of us deserve the same access, freedoms, and opportunities. We deserveequal access to education, employment, healthcare, housing, recreation, and public accommodations. And we must respect each person’s right to bodily autonomy and self-determination.”
The signatories highlight the “wave of bigoted governmental policies and legislation” launched this year in the form of bills banning trans healthcare and inclusion in sports. They draw parallels with past efforts to legislate cis women’s healthcare, warning: “We refuse to let youth endure that now.”
The letter calls on others to fight against these “unnecessary and unethical barriers” placed on trans women and girls by lawmakers, as well as “those who co-opt the feminist label in the name of division and hatred”.
“Our feminism must be unapologetically expansive so that we can leave the door open for future generations,” they state conclusively. You can read their letter here in full.
Today, we honor and celebrate the achievements and resiliency of transgender individuals and communities. Transgender Day of Visibility recognizes the generations of struggle, activism, and courage that have brought our country closer to full equality for transgender and gender non-binary people in the United States and around the world.
Their trailblazing work has given countless transgender individuals the bravery to live openly and authentically. This hard-fought progress is also shaping an increasingly accepting world in which peers at school, teammates and coaches on the playing field, colleagues at work, and allies in every corner of society are standing in support and solidarity with the transgender community.
In spite of our progress in advancing civil rights for LGBTQ+ Americans, too many transgender people — adults and youth alike — still face systemic barriers to freedom and equality. Transgender Americans of all ages face high rates of violence, harassment, and discrimination.
Nearly one in three transgender Americans have experienced homelessness at some point in life. Transgender Americans continue to face discrimination in employment, housing, health care, and public accommodations. The crisis of violence against transgender women, especially transgender women of color, is a stain on our Nation’s conscience.
To ensure that the Federal Government protects the civil rights of transgender Americans, I signed, on my first day in office, an Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.
Today, we are proud to celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility alongside barrier-breaking public servants, including the first openly transgender American to be confirmed by the United States Senate, and alongside patriotic transgender service members, who are once again able to proudly and openly serve their country.
We also celebrate together with transgender Americans across the country who will benefit from our efforts to stop discrimination and advance inclusion for transgender Americans in housing, in credit and lending services, in the care we provide for our veterans, and more.
John Andrew Wesley
Estelle H Rogers
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Healthy Greens Online Cooking Class
DeLoach will be offering two-for-one tastings to all participants, with proceeds for wine purchases donated to Food For Thought as well! 
FFT’s Plant Start Sale