Local

The Sonoma County Pride (SCP) will produce its annual Pride Parade and Festival in Santa Rosa, returning to the heart of Sonoma County where previous Pride events enjoyed crowds numbering in the thousands.  The move to Santa Rosa from Guerneville will allow the event to thrive and grow.  The location will provide improved accessibility to: public transit; hotel accommodations; and parking. This year’s celebration spans three days of events and activities designed to appeal to a large array of the community’s interests. Friday, June 1, 2018  Pride Kick-Off at Laugh Cellar – Starring TV Star Alec Mapa Discover Santa Rosa: […]

Redwood Rainbows Square Dance Club has a new class starting Monday, January 8th in Sebastopol.  Our club is unique in the square dance world in that it is open to both singles and couples, gay and straight, no partner required; dress is casual. In addition to the physical and mental exercise that square dancing provides, our club offers a wonderful community of caring, fun-loving friends. During these challenging times in our Sonoma County Community, Redwood Rainbows would like to extend an invitation to victims of the recent firestorm to join their new class at a reduced, half-off rate of $60 […]

Join us at The Laugh Cellar on January 6th for a fundraiser to benefit The Anova Center for Education – Sonoma County’s only nonprofit school for children living with autism. Anova’s Santa Rosa campus was destroyed in the North Bay Fires, leaving 120 students ranging from 5 to 22 years old without a school.  Proceeds from this night will go to their Phoenix Campaign, which will help rebuild their K-12 classrooms, transition program, occupational therapy equipment, and many other specialized needs of our students. All-Star Stand Up Comedy Line Up with: Jennie McNulty, Ronn Vigh, Irene Tu And… Dance the […]

Free film screening! El Canto del Colibri, Thursday, January 11th from 6:30-9 pm at the Arlene Francis Center- El Canto del Colibri is a documentary exploring the relationships between Latino immigrant fathers and their LGBTQ family members. This film is in Spanish with English subtitles, and we will have time before and after to share food and build community. This event was rescheduled after the fires in October, and we are really excited to share it with you all! This event is free but capacity is limited. Please reserve your spot here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/el-canto-del-colobri-film-screening-tickets-41027866453?aff=efbeventtix Celebrate the renewal of our Santa Rosa LGBTQ youth group! […]

Half of us will become unable to speak for ourselves in a future medical situation, yet only 23 percent of adults have written advance health care directives defining our health care wishes. To help residents think ahead about documenting their health care wishes, My Care My Plan: Speak Up, Sonoma County will host a free advance care planning workshop, Who Will Speak for You If You Can’t Speak for Yourself?, on Tuesday, January 16, 1:30–3:30 p.m., at the Redwood Credit Union Community Room, 3033 Cleveland Avenue, Santa Rosa. Register  online at MyCareMyPlanSonoma.org under Events, by phone at (707) 565-5950 or […]

AIDS Walk July was AIDS Walk time for all of us at The Spahr Center. Thanks to the efforts of our board and staff, we raised over $20,000 to support HIV prevention and education in schools and the community. Many thanks to everyone who donated to make this fundraising event a huge success! Academy of Friends Gala The Spahr Center participated in The Academy of Friends Gala in February and we received a $10,000 grant at their awards ceremony. New Grants Innovation Grant We received a $50,000 Innovations grant from the Marin County’s Behavioral Health Department in November to support LGBTQ youth […]

On Sunday, January 28, 2018, North Bay LGBTQI Families will hold our 2nd Annual Family Formation Symposium at Social Advocates for Youth from 9am to 5pm at 2447 Summerfield Rd, Santa Rosa, CA. Supported by a grant from the LGBTQI Giving Circle Sonoma County and generous community donors, this is a free day for LGBTQI families and prospective queer parents as well as LGBTQI youth and elders looking for community. Social Advocates for Youth is a homeless youth organization – a high percentage of homeless youth are queer because of the still high stigma within their families of origin. SAY […]

In response to a strong surge in demand, Covered California is giving consumers more time to sign up for health coverage that will begin on Jan. 1, 2018.  Over the past three days, Covered California has seen more than 38,000 new consumers sign up for coverage, which means that as of Dec. 13 more than 182,000 new consumers have signed up for coverage since open enrollment began. Compared to the same time last year, when 156,000 had signed up, this enrollment marks an increase of 26,000, or 17 percent. Many of these new members are taking advantage of the fact […]