Local

October Newsletter Client Advisory Committee The HIV Client Advisory Committee will have their next meeting later this month. The committee’s co-chairs, Wade Flores and Bobby Moske, want all clients to know that an email address has been set up for anyone who would like to reach the committee hivclientadvcomm@thespahrcenter.org. The email goes directly to a committee member who is coordinating communications. Volunteer Opportunities We need a few volunteers to help out at our front desk. This involves answering a multi-line phone system, connecting callers with staff members, greeting clients, providing information and assisting pantry shoppers and syringe exchangers. Our volunteer receptionists […]

Hey LGBTQI and friends community: You are all invited to a spectacular & fun Halloween Dance Party! It’s being held at the Sebastopol Senior Center. You don’t have to be gay or a senior to attend, all adults are welcome! Multiple rooms will be set up of your enjoyment. We have a DJ in our largest room, with a Drag Show scheduled for 9pm, with Joseph singing his hit Halloween song “I Put a Spell on You.” You can also enjoy complimentary Palm Readings with George, Tarot Card Readings with Susan, and our super cool Black Light Room (wear white […]

October is Bullying Prevention Month and Thursday, Oct 18 is #SpiritDay, a tradition started in Oct 2011 after a number of LGBTQ young people were lost to bullying & suicide. To visibly let our LGBTQ youth know they are loved & supported by a community that cares, we wear purple (the color for Spirit on the rainbow flag) and, since 2012, we’ve been making a big, beautiful, community collage! Visit our website for full details on these 3 ways you can get involved this year and show support for LGBTQ youth: “Go purple” for #SpiritDay, Thursday, October 18! Drop by our Napa or Santa […]

FRI, OCT 12 AT 6:30 PM Project Nunway Nunlimited: To Infinity and Beyond Guerneville Veterans Hall · Guerneville, CA Tickets: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3617422 Greetings and Welcome to the First Annual Russian River Sisters Project Nunway! This event was first created by the San Francisco Sisters over ten years ago by Sister Babra Ganesha and has become a world wide phenomenon! It has spawned hundreds of events around the globe with the same premise: to create a new and unique Haute Couture designs out of recycled and/or recyclable materials called “Trashion” or “Garbage Couture”. And what better place to do it but the Russian […]

It’s that time of the year again! The Russian River Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (with a tiny bit of help from Purple Stardust Productions) are throwing a big drag contest. Yes! Closet Ball is coming! TICKETS: https://anthem.brownpapertickets.com Join us on Friday, October 6th at the R3 Hotel for the 15th incarnation of this amazing show.  This show is, at its core, an amateur drag competition and fundraiser. While our contestants, Earl Gilbert, Renee Ledford Combes, Joe Young and Nay Hulsey are the heart and soul of our effort, we’ve got an amazing variety show to entertain y’all while they are […]

OUTwatch – Wine Country’s LGBTQI Film Festival is thrilled to announce our move to Rialto Cinemas in Sebastopol.  We join an impressive list of film festivals that call Rialto Cinemas home, including the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival. The weekend of October 12 – 14, we will present seven critically-acclaimed films and the first of two exciting additions to the festival. Sunday Cinematic Salons, a discussion of queer film, and LGBTQI Classic Film Revival, a presentation of groundbreaking films that changed the landscape of cinema. OUTwatch is determined to bring the best of International LGBTQI Cinema to the North Bay.  This […]

As I’m sure you know, even though we live in a fairly progressive county, there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure our LGBTQ community members are getting the resources, support, and respect we deserve. We are currently working on a policy map to identify all the areas in Sonoma County where things could be better for LGBTQ people. As we move forward with this project over the next three years, we are looking to build a task force here in Sonoma County of community members, program leaders, advocates, youth, and anyone else who is looking […]