LGBTQI History: A Sonoma County Timeline 1947-2000. Wednesdays 1:30-3pm. Online via Zoom. This Wed. 8/31, we will look at how Sonoma County came to be an LGBT destination spot even as the Lavender Scare created more reasons to live a closeted life. Please contact me to enroll and receive a Zoom invite: cdungan@santarosa.edu
Administrators at a Nebraska school shuttered the school’s award-winning student newspaper just days after its last edition that included articles and editorials on LGBTQ issues, leading press freedom advocates to call the move an act of censorship. The staff of Northwest Public Schools’ 54-year-old Saga newspaper was informed on May 19 of the paper’s elimination, the Grand Island Independent reported. Three days earlier, the newspaper had printed its June edition, which included an article titled, “Pride and prejudice: LGBTQIA+” on the origins of Pride Month and the history of homophobia. It also included an editorial opposing a Florida law that bans […]
A transgender advocate and Harvard graduate student died in police custody this month while on his honeymoon in the Indonesian tourist island of Bali. Rodrigo Ventosilla, a 32-year-old transmasculine person from Peru, and his husband, Sebastián Marallano, were detained Aug. 7 by customs police at the Bali airport for illegal possession of marijuana, Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Two days after the arrest, Ventosilla was taken to the hospital, where he died on Aug. 11 due to “failure of bodily functions,” according to police spokesperson Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto, who added that Ventosilla became sick after […]
Contact Playwrite and Director Dianna Grayer at 707-364-1819
Two Russian men were arrested after being reported by a neighbour for allegedly having gay sex. The neighbour made a police report claiming that her young children had seen the two men, Timur, 21, and Daniil, 22, through a window pouring water over each other and “doing something resembling sex”, as reported by Baza. The two men were detained and prosecuted under the Violent Acts of Sexual Character act. If found guilty they could face anything from 12 to 20 years in prison, as a child under 14 witnessed the alleged sexual act. However, the mother has since tried to retract her […]
Vietnam’s Health Ministry officially confirmed on August 3, 2022, that same-sex attraction and being transgender are not mental health conditions, Human Rights Watch said today. The decision brings Vietnam’s health policy in line with global health and human rights standards. Vietnam’s new directive states that “the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization (WHO) have confirmed that homosexuality is entirely not an illness, therefore homosexuality cannot be ‘cured’ nor need[s] to be ‘cured’ and cannot be converted in any way.” “The Vietnamese Health Ministry’s recognition that sexual orientation and gender identity are not illnesses will bring relief to LGBT people and their […]
A new guaranteed basic income program is investing in family households to access $500/month for 2 years. This money is unrestricted COVID Disaster Relief and it is not taxable income. Eligibility:PregnantParent/Guardian of a child younger than 6Income at less than 185% of the Federal Poverty LevelImpacted by COVID-19Applications will be available 09/01/2022 online and at these locations: Community Action PartnershipCommunity Baptist ChurchCorazón HealdsburgPetaluma People Services CenterLa Luz CenterChild Parent InstituteRiver to Coast Children’s ServicesWest County Health Centers Funded by Sonoma County ARPA and the Cities of Santa Rosa, Petaluma, and Healdsburg. More information: yguzman@first5sonomacounty.org707-200-7924 [Image description: Light blue flyer with […]
Marsha P Johnson, born 24 August, 1945, holds a special place within the LGBTQ+ community for her larger-than-life spirit and trans rights activism. She was instrumental in the 1969 Stonewall riots which kickstarted the modern fight for LGBTQ+ rights in the US. Along with Sylvia Rivera, who was also a key part of Stonewall, she established their landmark STAR organisation in 1970 to help homeless trans youth and other marginalised groups in New York City. She also was one of the founding members of the Gay Liberation Front. Elle Moxley is founder and executive director of the Marsha P Johnson Institute. She say […]
Sarasota County teachers in west-central Florida must now out their students if they come out as LGBTQ+ to them under new guidance. The district released new guidance ahead of this school year to align with the state’s Parental Rights in Education bill, known to critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Pupils must now have their parents’ or guardians’ permission to use a different name and pronouns at school, according to a memo sent to teachers and administrators, per Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Students will have to request the change to school staff, who will then notify administrators and school counsellors. When the young person’s parent […]
Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, endorsed California Proposition 1, the Reproductive Freedom Act, that seeks to amend the California Constitution to protect a person’s right to basic healthcare and reproductive freedoms on Wednesday. Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon introduced the Reproductive Freedom Act shortly after the draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson was leaked in May, indicating that the Court would likely issue a ruling that would reverse Roe v. Wade and undercut nearly five decades of precedence that protects access to abortion. The California Legislature voted to place Proposition 1 on […]