News

/

Happening This Month at Sonoma County Library

Join the Sonoma County Library for in-person and virtual eventsthroughout the month of December, from crafting classes to Zero Waste workshops. All events are free and you don’t need a library card to attend; registration is required for select events. See some of our December events below! Kids & FamiliesJoin us for December’s Seeds & Reads program and create a wildflower seed bomb! For grades K-6. Available at six library locations: Healdsburg, Northwest Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Rohnert-Park Cotati, Sebastopol, and Windsor.Light up the holidays with our Maker Studio: Light Up Cards! Learn how to make a greeting card using LEDs, wires, and coin-cell batteries. Tinker with […]

/ /

Trans woman forced to cut hair and ‘remove breast tissue’ by Qatari officials

,

A trans woman in Qatar has described how she was forced to cut her hair and had her breast tissue “removed” after being arrested for who she is.  LGBTQ+ rights, or lack thereof, in Qatar have been in the spotlight since the country was announced as host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.  While there has been global outrage over Qatar’s criminalisation of gay sex, punishable with jail time or the death penalty, little has been said about the fate of trans Qataris.  In Qatar, trans people can be arrested without charge for “violating public decency”, simply for being trans.  Speaking to […]

/ /

Taliban publicly whips Afghan men accused of gay sex amid Sharia crackdown on LGBTQ life

,

Islamic extremist Taliban officials in Afghanistan publicly whipped 12 people in a public soccer stadium, including individuals accused of gay sex. The whipping occurred as thousands watched in the eastern Logar province, BBC reported. The punished individuals were allegedly guilty of “moral crimes” including adultery, robbery, and gay sex, a Taliban official told the publication. Each person received between 21 and 39 lashes; 39 is the maximum number that Taliban authorities reportedly inflict upon convicts. Some of the individuals were jailed afterward. The incident was similar to a public flogging of 19 people that took place in the northern Afghan province of […]

/ /

Colorado shooting prompts top drag queens to tour with armed guards and metal detectors

The deadly attack at an LGBTQ club in Colorado last month — where a shooter turned the venue’s “Drag Divas” night into a massacre — has made an already harrowing year for drag performers worse. Eight of the country’s top drag queens told NBC News that the current environment has subdued their larger-than-life personas, prompting four of them to increase security at their events in recent weeks. The Nov. 19 shooting at Colorado Springs’ sole LGBTQ nightclub, Club Q, left five people dead and 17 others shot and injured. The 22-year-old suspect is being held without bond on suspicion of murder and hate […]

/ /

Club Q Suspect Formally Charged in Colorado Mass Shooting

The suspected gunman who prosecutors have accused of killing five people in the mass shooting at the gay nightclub Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colo., last month has been formally charged with more than 305 counts, which include murder, attempted murder, assault, and hate crimes. On Tuesday morning, Colorado’s Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen announced the charges at a hearing. The suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, appeared in court for the announcement. Aldrich’s lawyers say Aldrich identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. Aldrich is accused of entering Club Q in the final minutes of November 19 and using a long-gun killed […]

/ /

Historic NYC Gay Bar Julius’ Granted Landmark Status

New York City’s ABC affiliate reports: New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted on Tuesday to designate Julius’ Bar in the Village as an individual landmark. In the 1960s, the state liquor authority did not allow people to be served alcohol if they were openly gay. “In 1966, we had something called the sip-in,” Julius’ Bar manager Nick Gabriellini said. “Where the state liquor authority didn’t allow homosexuals to be served alcohol if they were openly gay. So, they staged the sip-in here, and there was a lawsuit.” The sip-in and lawsuit, even before the Stonewall uprising around the corner, would […]

/

Gay CA State Senator Gets “Groomer” Bomb Threat

Just in via press release: Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) released the following statement after receiving a bomb threat targeting his home and office: “Early this morning, I was informed by the San Francisco Standard and the police that someone had issued a bomb threat against me, listing my specific home address and also threatening to shoot up my Capitol office. The email said ‘we will fucking kill you’ and called me a pedophile and groomer. “This latest wave of death threats against me relates to my work to end discrimination against LGBTQ people in the criminal justice system and […]

/

Happening this Month Sebastopol Senior Center for the LGBTQI Community

OutWest Holiday DanceSaturday, December 176:30 – 9:30 pmWischemann Hall465 Morse St. Sebastopol“OutWest events are open to everyone. (The events are predominantly attended by lesbians, but open to everyone, men, women, trans, straight, queer, pan… etc.) Thanks for asking!Joy outwestdance@gmail.com Exciting Announcement!LGBT+ Movie NightWe are launching a monthly evening activity at our Senior Center for our LGBT+ folks.LGBT+ Movie Night (Bring your own dinner / snacks / drinks) LGBT+ Movie NightThe 3rd Thursday of each monthDate: Jan 19th & Feb 16th & Mar 16th Time: 5:30pm meet and greet      6 pm movie starts (Bring your own dinner / snacks / drinks)      7:30 Movie discussion      8 clean […]

/ /

‘It’s easier to die than live in Russia’: Queer artist flees Putin’s LGBTQ+ ‘propaganda’ crackdown

,

After Russia voted to extend its LGBTQ+ propaganda law to adults, artist and activist Yulia Tsvetkova has been forced to flee. Tsvetkova was acquitted of distributing pornography and so-called LGBTQ+ “propaganda” by the Komsomolsk-on-Amur court in July, in a rare win for the queer community in Russia. Tsvetkova was arrested and charged with distributing pornography in 2019 after she posted drawings of vaginas on social media in a bid to combat societal body norms. She was also charged over the same drawings in 2020 after Russian officials claimed she violated the country’s LGBTQ+ “propaganda” law. After the acquittal, prosecutors attempted to relaunch proceedings against Tsvetkova, but on […]

/ /

Same-sex households in the U.S. surpass 1 million for the first time, data shows

The number of same-sex couple households in the U.S. has surpassed 1 million for the first time, according to recently released government data.  There were more than 1.2 million same-sex couple householdsacross the country in 2021, up from 540,000 in 2008, an increase of 120%, the data, taken from the Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey, showed. About 710,000 (59.2%) of the same-sex couple households were married, and about 500,000 (41.7%) were unmarried.  The number of married same-sex households started to outnumber unmarried same-sex households in 2016, following the Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 Obergefell vs. Hodges ruling, which effectively legalized gay marriage […]

«‹ 207 208 209 210›»