Local

A second year of local programs to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) seniors, the LGBT Seniors Outreach Project, has begun offering training and events at three local senior centers, while also planning the spring launch of the LGBTQI Senior Information & Assistance Program to increase elders’ access to social services for healthy aging. (LGBTQI = lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex) “While LGBT seniors face the same challenges of aging as all Sonoma County seniors, they have added concerns resulting from a lifetime of discrimination and lack of recognition of same-sex relationships,” says Sonoma County Board of […]

Support a great cause by joining Food For Thought and Rialto Cinemas for Academy Night as we present the 89th annual awards ceremony live and on the big screen Sunday, February 26 at 4 p.m. We have movie trivia contests, wonderful raffle prizes, prizes for best costume from a Best Picture nominee, and a grand prize for the audience member who correctly predicts the most winners! Tickets on sale starting February 1 at Rialto Cinemas. Buy in person, online, or by phone at (707) 525-4840. Tickets usually sell out, so be sure to buy soon! Tickets are $30 and include […]

A healthy democracy is determined not simply by what happens on voting day, but by what takes place between elections—the ongoing actions of citizens, neighborhoods and organizations working to build a better world. Ready to engage? Turn complaints into actions? Want to help secure civil liberties, protect the disenfranchised and empower a more equitable economy and resilient ecology, but not sure how or where to plug in? Join us on January 29th in Santa Rosa for a free Community Engagement Fair, a day-long exhibition of organizations and community groups from across the North Bay looking for volunteers and activists just […]

A new exhibition at the GLBT History Museum will feature the work of cartoonist Fran Frisch as a starting point for exploring the history of the bear community, a subculture that developed in the 1980s to celebrate older, larger, hairier, ruggedly masculine gay men who had been largely excluded from standards of attractiveness in gay popular culture. “Beartoonist of San Francisco: Sketching an Emerging Subculture” opens Jan. 27. “Fran Frisch’s bears are both cuddly and sexual, playful and laid back, yet radical and subversive; his cartoons epitomize what it means to be a Bear,” says curator Jeremy Prince. “Frisch was […]

The Sonoma County rally and march will include diverse music, inspirational speakers and a promised dance mob dance, followed by a  30 minute sidewalk march.  Local community leaders will present a variety of options for engagement and action as we move forward towards inclusion and unity.  This noon rally is a sister march of the DC Women’s March and these coordinated marches are being held on the eve of the anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. Volunteers are reaching out to all corners of Sonoma County to encourage everyone — women, men, children and families — to join together for a […]

Sonoma County took significant action last week to ease the local housing crisis. With actions taken by the Board of Supervisors, the County is now set to expand emergency shelter capacity during winter months, implement innovative programs to boost homeless services, challenge federal Housing and Urban Development regulations to make housing vouchers work in Sonoma County, and invest nearly $4 million in new affordable housing construction in 2017. “Housing is fundamental to the health of our communities,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Efren Carrillo. “Expanding housing opportunities for all in the County and providing the safety net of expanded shelters […]

Thursday, December 1 marks the fifteenth year Food For Thought hosts Sonoma County’s annual Dining Out For Life event, which is also World AIDS Day. 87 area restaurants and cafes will participate, donating 25% or 50% of the day’s sales to Food For Thought, which provides life-giving nutritional services to over 800 men, women, and children living with HIV and other serious illnesses in Sonoma County. Dining Out For Life is a unique event where people can enjoy lunch or dinner at their favorite restaurants knowing that they are also benefiting their friends and neighbors in need. “It’s our biggest […]

For decades, Spanish speakers in many parts of the Western Hemisphere recognize the word ambiente — literally meaning “atmosphere” or “environment” — as a coded reference. Queer Latinas and Latinos have used the word to identify themselves, their distinctive cultures and their spirit of resistance. “Noche de Ambiente” curators Ángel Rafael “Ralph” Vázquez-Concepción (left) and Juliana Delgado Lopera The term is at the heart of a new exhibition that will debut October 28 at the GLBT History Museum: “Noche de Ambiente.” The show opens a window into the meanings of ambiente as reflected in Latino drag performance and LGBTQ and […]

Petaluma’s Mystic Theater has canceled scheduled a September show by reggae artist Sizzla whose lyrics insight violence against the LGBTQI Community and who makes anti-gay statements during performances.  He first emerged onto the Jamaican dancehall scene in the late ‘90s, and quickly became notorious for incorporating hateful lyrics into his songs. The North Bay LGBTQI Community reached out to the Mystic and alerted the local media to bring attention to the concert and Sizzla’s reputation.  Many emails and calls went out to the Mystic to express concern and urge owners and management to cancel the Sizzla show.  Members of the […]