News

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Williams Instate Releases Report on the LGBT+ Community, 23% Live in Poverty

This brief details levels of poverty among LGBT people before and since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. When our last LGBT poverty report was released in 2019, data indicated an economic disparity between LGBT and non-LGBT people. Since that report, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and a cascade of negative economic effects were felt by large proportions of the U.S. population. Our new analyses, across multiple datasets, indicate that these disparities persist—a higher percentage of LGBT than non-LGBT people have incomes below the federal poverty level (FPL). We see consistency in the relevance of LGBT status over time, […]

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7.2% of U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ, Gallup Poll finds

The percentage of adults in the U.S. who identify as LGBTQ increased slightly year over year, to 7.2% last year, according to a Gallup Poll released Wednesday.  While that’s just a slight increase from 7.1% in 2021, it’s more than double what it was a decade ago, when Gallup found just 3.5% of the U.S. population identified as something other than heterosexual in 2012. Gallup asked more than 10,000 adults nationwide how they identify in telephone interviews last year.  For the first time, the organization recorded the identities of LGBTQ people who said they are something other than lesbian, gay, bisexual […]

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Hungary Court Closes Door on Transgender Legal Recognition

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In the latest blow to trans people in Hungary, the country’s Constitutional Court issued a ruling that will continue to block new applications from transgender people for legal gender recognition. The judgment effectively creates two categories of trans people in Hungary: those who applied early enough to pursue gender recognition and those who did not. In 2020, Hungary’s parliament passed a law banning transgender or intersex people from legally changing their gender, putting them at risk of harassment, discrimination, and even violence when they need to use identity documents. In 2021, the Constitutional Court ruled the ban on legal gender recognition does not apply retroactively, so […]

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Trans woman to stand trial after video accusing her of indecent exposure goes viral

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A trans woman is facing an upcoming trial in which she has been charged with five felony counts of indecent exposure for an incident that occurred at a Los Angeles spa.  A judge recently ruled that the trial of Darren Merager can move forward after multiple witnesses testified in a pre-trial hearing that in the summer of 2021 Merager made them uncomfortable while naked in the spa’s women’s locker room due to her exposed penis.  ADVERTISING Witnesses cannot agree on whether or not Merager’s penis was erect, but the possibility that an erection took place was enough for the judge […]

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What does the queer movement look like from under a desk?

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During the recent Speaker voting chaos, the world had an unprecedented view of the House Chamber through uncensored camera footage. Self-described citizen journalist V Speharsays being in the room where it happens reveals the true colors of elected officials and how their personal and political agendas may impact our country’s future. Spehar, 40, spent the early part of their career in the hospitality industry in New York City, Tampa, and eventually as an event planner with one of Washington D.C.’s most prominent caterers.  “People speak so honestly in front of you when they don’t think you’re ‘that’ kind of smart — when they […]

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LGBT+ & Friends Mardi Gras Dance Party Happens in Sebastopol Feb 25

LGBT+ MARDI GRAS PARTY! Share this link: https://fb.me/e/2L8VS5xV9 WE’VE ADDED A DRAG SHOW! Led by our local Fabulous BILLIE JEAN QUEEN! YAY! FREE KAZOO AND Mardi Gras BLING to first 90 people! JOIN OUR KAZOO PARADE. 6:30PM: Doors Open Dance to DJ Rockin Rotten Robbie! FREE Cake, Popcorn, Snacks, Beer and Wine only $6, soft Drinks $1 8PM Everybody’s Kazoo Band Mardi Gras Parade led by Professor Paddy-Whack: “When the Saints Go Marching In” DRAG SHOW: 8:30PM 9:00PM we will announce the winners of the costume contest! Advance tickets: $15; at-the-door: $20 Purchase at the Sebastopol FUN Senior Center or […]

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Fee Online LGBTQI History: A Sonoma County Timeline Class Will Discuss Local Activism by Forward Together Wednesday

LGBTQI History: A Sonoma County Timeline 1947-2000. Wednesdays 1:30-3pm. Online via Zoom. On February 22,  Magi Fedorka will be joining us for a presentation on the activism carried out by Forward Together. Look forward  to seeing you there! Please contact me to enroll in this FREE  class and receive a Zoom invite: cdungan@santarosa.edu

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Ben LaBolt to become first gay White House communications director

Ben LaBolt will become the first openly gay White House communications director, succeeding Kate Bedingfield, who is expected to leave at the end of February, advisors to President Joe Biden announced on Friday.  Bedingfield is expected to work on Biden’s reelection campaign. LaBolt has worked for the president since the Obama administration, most recently leading communications around matters like the nomination and confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the American Rescue Plan, and the Inflation Reduction Act.  The move comes shortly after Biden’s Chief of Staff Ron Klain and top economic advisor Brian Deese announced their departures […]

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Missing gay teen’s body found with gunshot wound to the head in possible hate crime

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The body of a missing gay 19-year-old was found in Brooklyn last week with a gunshot wound to the head and “significant burn wounds.” DeAndre Matthews, a student at SUNY Broome Community College studying criminal justice, reportedly went missing on February 6. According to his sister, Dajanae Gillespie, Matthews left his job at Buggy Service Center in Crown Heights, Brooklyn at around 5 p.m. that evening, returning home to borrow his mother’s Jeep. Danielle Mathews, the teen’s mother, was reportedly one of the last people to speak to him on the phone that night. On Tuesday, Danielle Matthews was able […]

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Drag bans could result in arrests at Pride parades

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Laws banning drag performances have been introduced in legislative sessions in at least 14 states this year, and their potential effects are much more far-reaching than entertaining shows.  An alarming number of anti-LGBTQ+ (particularly anti-transgender) bills continue to be introduced; the ACLU is tracking 278 of them across 33 states. While many target bathrooms, IDs, books, healthcare, education, and sports, a newer trend this year is attempting to ban drag.  Republican state legislators in Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia have all introduced various bills on this theme. Sybastian […]

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