Thursday October 31 @ 7:30 pm. Occidental Center for the Arts presents Halloween Bash with the Thugz!! A fun-filled evening of dancing and frolicking awaits you when West County favorites The Thugz (Tribal Hippie Underground Zone) – long-time purveyors of cosmic Americana and old-time psychedelic music – bring their positive vibes and communal spirit, original songs and cosmic jams to a first time ever Halloween Bash at OCA! There will be a $250 cash prize for Best Halloween costume! $15 Adv/$18 at the door. OCA is wheelchair accessible. www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org. 707-874-9392. 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental, CA. 95465.
Sebastopol Senior Center’s Fabulous Halloween LGBTQ and Friends Dance Party. Included in the $15 door prices are 4 rooms of fun, black light art, gorilla kissing photo booth, talking pumpkins, delicious food for meat eaters and vegetarians, CAKE, Fortune Tellers for private sessions by donation, live DJ takes requests, home-backed chocolate chip cookies, FUN PEOPLE, ghosts that fly through windows, 8-foot clowns, skeletons. Beer and wine only $5. Our team of volunteers are up late preparing this wonderful event for you to enjoy. All money raised goes to help Seniors. And DJ BearCake Donald Rodreick has been up late working on his “Monster Mash” dance music set! Come Sat Oct 26th, 6:30 PM to the Sebastopol Senior Center 167 N High Street, Sebastopol
The singer and Tony nominated Broadway actor Sam Harris wrote a memoir, which he parlayed into a one man stage show picking up Ovation Awards in LA, and now its a full blooded film.
Most people know of Harris from when he won TV’s first ever talent show Star Search back in 1987 but Ham A Musical Memoir starts way before then when he was growing up as gay boy in Oklahoma’s bible belt. His story is full of ups and downs,, with more of the latter as anybody who also had to hide their sexuality for a very long time will know all to well.
The film starts of a little hesitantly but as soon as the charismatic Harris warms up he is beaming telling tales of his first break into show business. At junior school he was cast as one of the polynesian children in South Pacific and next as african/american child in a play about Helen Keller where he was desperate to play the lead,
Acting these all out Harris, a rather adept song and dance man, is a delight until the mood gets dark and he relates how as an 11 year old boy he swallowed more than a handful of seconal because he couldn’t equate being gay in the world that he lived in. It was an extremely touching scene that will ring so true particularly with so many other gay men and women.
He moves on quickly on to his decision to leave home at 16 and follow his dream of being a performer and his accounts of all the low dives he had to play …….once with not a single soul in the audience…. are hilarious . He claims he has no humility, but his self-effacing honesty is the reason why his stories have such an authenticity to them and that draws us in more.
Winning every week on Star Search changed his life ….. and gave him Somewhere Over The Rainbow as his theme song …. but that wasn’t his highlight. After kissing a few frogs along the way, some 27 years ago he met Danny, now his husband, and when they adopted Copper their son, Harris had achieved his life’s ambition.
Harris’s is an entertaining and compelling story that finally has a happy ever-after ending and by setting it all to song, he makes it that more enjoyable. Filmed live at the Pasadena Playhouse,with a generous performance from his musical arranger and accompanist Todd Schroeder and some neat choreography by Lee Martino he has all the help to make him look and sound good, and he takes full advantage of it.
This movie will delight his loyal fans but it really needs to get in front of other audiences too as it well definite appeal to a whole slew of people who may not have seen Harris since his early days of fame . The boy grew up good.
WorldPride 2023 will be held in Sydney, InterPride has announced, marking the 50th Anniversary of Australia’s first Gay Pride Week.
InterPride is the international association of Pride organisations, and it voted on Sunday, October 20, at its Annual General Meeting in Athens on the bids for 2023 WorldPride.
The bid said that WorldPride in Sydney, with the theme of “fearless”, would “benefit those communities who need it most; neighbouring countries where LGBTQI communities experience some of the worst human rights abuses in the world”.
2023 will now be the first time a city in the Southern hemisphere has hosted the international LGBT+ event.
The bid highlighted the importance of a Southern Hemisphere WorldPride: “It presents a unique challenge to the WorldPride movement, asking it to engage with and celebrate the many unique, culturally diverse expressions of genders and sexualities found in Oceania and Asia on an unprecedented scale.
“From the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sista Girls and Brutha Boys, to the Fa’afafine and Fa’afatama from Samoa, the Fakaleiti from Tonga, the Kathoey from Thailand, and the Hijra from India.
“WorldPride in Sydney will be a global first, providing a unique opportunity for the Prides of the world to meet with these diverse communities and for them to be seen, be heard and be included.”
New South Wales minister for tourism Stuart Ayres told ABC that WorldPride could generate $664 million for the city, and it has been estimated that the event could draw around one million visitors.
He added: “Sydney is a truly cosmopolitan city with an amazing harbour, delicious food and beverage, world-class transport and a proud history of celebrating diversity.
Campaigners who fought for decades to end Northern Ireland’s same sex-marriage ban and restrictions on abortion prepared on Monday for a momentous change to the laws on both at the stroke of midnight.
Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that does not allow same-sex marriage. Also, unlike England, Scotland and Wales, laws in Northern Ireland forbid abortion except where a mother’s life is at risk, bans that have been upheld by the region’s block of conservative politicians.
But an overwhelming vote by British lawmakers in July to compel the government in London to overhaul the laws if Belfast’s devolved executive had not been restored by Oct. 21 is set to kick in with little or no hope of politicians ending the local parliament’s near three-year hiatus.
Advocacy groups have planned a number of events on Monday to usher in the changes.
“We are not going to stick with the guilt and the shame any longer. Tomorrow the law changes in this place, and for the first time in Northern Ireland, women will be free,” Pro-choice campaigner Dawn Purvis told a public meeting in Belfast
“Free to choose if, when and how many children they will have in the care of health-care professionals. This is a very emotional day for many here.”
Abortion rights were long opposed in Northern Ireland by religious conservatives in both the Protestant community that supports continued British rule and the Catholic community that favors union with the traditionally Catholic Irish Republic.
Pressure has mounted, however, to change the Victorian-era laws in recent years, particularly after the neighboring Irish Republic voted overwhelmingly last year to repeal a similarly restrictive ban, demonstrating a stark change in attitudes on an island once known for its religious conservatism.
If a new devolved government is not formed by midnight, abortion will be decriminalized, beginning a consultation on what the framework for services should look like, which is due to be finalized and approved by March 2020.
“This is a bad law being implemented through a bad process leading to bad consequences for both women and unborn children,” said Dawn McAvoy from the anti-abortion Both Lives Matter group.
Opinion has also changed on same-sex marriage. But despite opinion polls showing most in the region in favor, previous attempts to follow the Irish Republic in legalizing it have been blocked by the socially conservative Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), using a special veto intended to prevent discrimination towards one community over another.
It will take the British parliament until mid-January to bring in the new legislation, setting up Feb. 14, 2020 – Valentine’s Day – as the first opportunity for same-sex couples to marry once they give the required 28-days’ notice.
A Ugandan doctor allegedly shattered a patient’s skull, arms, legs and back with an iron bar and then threw her out of the hospital, all because she is lesbian.
The patient was attacked in August this year in Kampala, the country’s capital, where the medical professional brutally battered her after finding out she is friends with his daughter.
Enraged, the doctor ordered security to give him an iron bar which he then used to pelt the woman’s head, arms, legs, and back, local outlets reported.
Patient went in to purchase glasses, left with her body and mobile phone shattered.
According to a statement recorded at Kabalagala Police Station, the patient had gone to consult an eye specialist at Mukwaya General Hospital in the Kabalagala neighbourhood, a vibrant business hub dotted with commercial banks, restaurants and fuel stations.
A friend had advised her to visit Dr Mukwaya at the clinic because purchasing a pair of glasses would be cheaper at the hospital than at a nearby opticians, where she first had an examination.
Arriving for her appointment, Mukwaya asked which friend told her to visit his facility. She gave a name, which happened to be his daughter who is a nurse at the hospital, the statement read.
Mukwaya General Hospital in the southeastern Kabalagala neighbourhood, known for its vibrant restaurant scene and high-end supermarkets. (PinkNews)
This prompted the healthcare professional to allegedly ask a hospital security officer to give him an iron bar which he swung into the woman’s head and several other parts of her body.
Her phone was also cracked during the assault, detectives reported.
The alleged assault left her, according to medical records and X-ray results, with a “tender” skull and her arm dislocated as a result of the brutal beating.
An examination at the Mayfair Clinic along Entebbe Road concluded that the woman’s skull had been cracked. Her condition is unknown.
Erasing 76 Crimesreached out to the doctor of comment, but he did not reply. While an anonymous source informed PinkNews that they reported the incident to the local authorities, who confirmed the incident is under investigation.
A proposed conversion therapy ban in Utah is in danger of being derailed after The Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-day Saints came out in opposition, just months after it said it wouldn’t stand in the way of a similar measure under consideration. The church said in a statement that the regulatory rule prohibiting Utah psychologists from engaging in LGBTQ conversion therapy with minors would fail to safeguard religious beliefs and doesn’t account for “important realities of gender identity in the development of children.”
State regulators crafted the rule at the request of Republican Gov. Gary Herbert, a member of the church, who in June asked for a set of rules after a similar bill died in the Legislature despite the church not taking a position. The church’s statement strikes a blow to the hopes of LGBTQ advocates hoping Utah could join 18 states that have enacted laws banning or restricting conversion therapy that’s opposed by the American Psychological Association.
In a country where it is not only illegal to be gay, but laws are defined by traditional and strict religious views, a trans woman being elected councillor seems like a fever dream.
But for Bangladeshi garment shop owner Pinki Khatun, it’s a reality.
Khatun was elected as councillor for Kotchandpur, a rural town in the country’s westside, after beating her nearest rival by more than 4,000 votes earlier this week, reported The Straits Times.
“I am very delighted. I campaigned door-to-door and people have responded positively,” said Khatun.
“I did not face any discrimination or hate campaigns.”
Trans councillor: ‘My aim is to work for the betterment of women and protect their rights’.
Local police chief Mahbubul Alam confirmed the win for Khatun on Monday.
The 37-year-old is a youth wing official of the ruling Awami League party.
She campaigned as an independent candidate in the 200,000-population town of Kotchandpur after the party did not back anyone.
In parts of South Asia, the term hijra refers to certain women, intersex and non-binary people assigned male at birth. While some hijra are trans, not all trans people are hijra.
The community has received some legal recognition in the last decade, but work continues from tireless campaigners to enshrine the wider LGBT+ community with better protections while improving cultural attitudes.
“My aim is to work for the betterment of women and protect their rights,” said Khatun.
A Californian police officer smashed a gay man against a car’s windshield – hurling homophobic insults at him and mocking his voice – is now retired and collecting around $100,ooo per year from his pension pot.
The former Palo Alto police sergeant was swamped with criticism when video footage capturing the incident went viral in April, The Mercury News reported.
Wayne Benitez was placed on administrative leave earlier this year after the video surfaced, state officials said, and retired on 30 September.
Scrutiny bubbled again, however, when it emerged that the former officer is collecting a monthly pension of $9,866 — earning him an annual retirement package of about $118,600, according to Amy Morgan, information officer for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.
Benitez joined the city’s police department in 2000 and previously served as union president of the Peace Officers Association.
Gustavo Alvarez filed a federal lawsuit against the Palo Alto Police Department in April, alleging that several officers used excessive force when he was pulled over and arrested in February 2018.
Alvarez had been allegedly driving with a suspended license, leading to law enforcement to break his door down, cuff him, slam him against the car and make him bleed.
The only evidence of the attack is surveillance footage from outside Alvarez’s house that he set up in front of his residence. Officers had removed their body cameras and parked their cars facing away from his house, preening being on tape from their dash cameras.
According to the 77-page complaint, officer Christopher Conde was on patrol that day when he spotted Alvarez’s car. He was aware that Alvarez had had his licence suspended a month before, so followed in pursuit.
Although, he was unaware if Alvarez was even in the vehicle.
Soon after, he went to Alvarez’s mobile home telling him he was being arrested for driving without documentation.
When Alvarez asks the officer if he saw him driving, Conde admitted that he didn’t. Alvarez then went back inside his home.
After telling officers he was coming out, officers busted gay man’s door down and dragged him outside.
As a result, Conde called for backup – including Benitez – to order Alvarez outside his home. Despite informing officers he was coming out, they busted his door, dragged him outside and cuffed him.
His head was repeatedly smashed into his car windshield, as the sergeant asked: “You think you’re a tough guy now?”
“You’re going to be bleeding a whole lot more.”
“See how well they behave when we put our foot down?” Benitez said to another officer after Alvarez was back in the squad car. “That’s what we don’t do enough of,” the mic recording showed.
Benitez added “He’s gay” before calling the suspect a “frickin’ low life”. He ordered for Alvarez’s car to be towed and proceeded to raise his voice to mock him while mentioning Alvarez’s sexuality.
Furthermore, Alvarez alleged that the incident was provoked partly because he is gay.
Suspect’s attorney: ‘To think that taxpayers are still rewarding him is incomprehensible at this point in time and history.’
Alvarez spent two weeks in Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of driving under influence, driving with a suspended or revoked license and resisting arrest.
But all of those charges were later dismissed by the Santa Clara County Superior County due to insufficient evidence.
“Obviously the police department and the city of Palo Alto thus far have failed to step up and condemn the actions of these officers,” Alvarez’s attorney Cody Salfen told Mercury News.
“To think that taxpayers are still rewarding him is incomprehensible at this point in time and history.”
“This speaks volumes to our claims that the agency suffers from a culture of violence, a culture of covering things up, a culture of failing to adhere to their constitutional duties as police officers to the point that they are breaking their own policies and therefore, the law,” Salfen said.
Efforts to contact Benitez proved unsuccessful, TheMercury News reported.
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Sum Ting Wong opted for a more muted look today as she and more than “150 people” protested today against the first UK Chick-fil-A store.
In the southern town of Reading, England, locals were filled with unease when they awoke to the news that the American fast-food chain – known for its donations to anti-LGBT+ organisations – was set to open up shop in their town.
Sending ripples through the queer community, campaigners rallied together to stand against the chain by spilling outside The Oracle shopping centre in the Berkshire town today telling the corporation to ‘sashay away’.
The protest came after a spokesperson for the shopping centre confirmed that that “the right thing to do” is to not extend Chick-fil-A’s lease past its “six-month pilot period”, Reading Pride confirmed in a news release.
Organisers added that as the “restaurant will be profiting from unsuspecting patrons”, the protest would continue as planned.
Protest organisers: ‘They failed to respond, and so we took action’.
Protesters watch speeches from Reading Labour councillors and Reading Pride organisers. (Martin Cooper)
Dozens of local residents and Pride organisations from nearby towns gathered on the red bricked-Broad Street to hoist up rainbow Pride flags, unfurl banners and hand out pamphlets at around 11am.
Protesters chanted “Chick-fil-A, sashay away!” while others held banners up high reading: “Get the chick out! Say no to bigotry and hatred on your High Street.”
The beating heart of the ‘Get The Chick Out’ protest was Reading Pride – first formed in 2003.
Reading Pride chief executive officer Martin Cooper told PinkNews that the LGBT+ community needs to take a stand against the corporation.
“The individual franchises may have differing views to the family that own the company.
“But the profits that are made are used towards anti-LGBT+ activities, including conversion therapies and law making in Uganda, where officials want to ‘kill the gays’.
“Therefore, it is appropriate to protest and let the community know where their money could go.”
Labour councillors, local unions and officials from the UK Pride Organisers Network travelled to the city’s shopping district to show their support.
While representatives from Gloucester Pride, Newbury Pride, Pride in Surrey and Weston-Super-Mare Pride swung to plump up crowds, which organisers estimated saw around 150 people attend throughout the day.
“All in all, the message was put across, and it was clear,” Cooper recounted.
“We won’t allow companies that are actively supporting oppression of LGBT+ persons to get away with setting up shop without calling to question their actions.
“They failed to respond, and so we took action.
“And it paid off.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star allegedly turned away from Chick-fil-A.
Outside a Sainsbury’s supermarket in the city centre, shoppers may have been given a flyer from Sum Ting Wong.
Wong was dressed to match the airy weather in a nondescript mustard beanie, grey drop-stitch cardigan and sandals.
Far removed from her usual powdered, perfumed drag that has made her a fan favourite on the show.
Sum Ting Wong, the stage name of Bo Zeng, is a Reading local who took part in the protest today, pictured handing out pamphlets in front of a convince store. (Martin Cooper)
But the Reading local meant business as she joined protesters in solidarity.
Attempting to go into the Chick-fil-A, Wong was allegedly turned away by staff, according to a tweet.
“But I just wanted see if chicken tasted better than bigotry?” Wong continued.
Moreover, Wong claimed in another tweet that customers in the branch threw “the middle finger” at protesters outside – an obscene hand gesture in the UK.
