The Santa Rosa Metro Chamber is partnering with Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit and downtown merchants to boost business during the holidays.
This weekend and that of Dec. 2-3, shoppers will get a free one-way ticket on SMART for every $25 they spend. In all, 5,000 passes will be handed out to shoppers at participating businesses. Passes are valid through Dec. 31, and must be handed to an on-board conductor to be redeemed.
For information and a list of businesses participating, go to pd2go.net/XgzBoj.
The chamber will also create a guide to downtown deals and savings available this holiday season. The guides can be picked up at businesses around town, or viewed online at pd2go.net/kts49v.
Danica Roem (Photo by PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)
Republicans have abruptly taken the decision to stop using gendered language in the Virginia House of Delegates – so they don’t have to refer to groundbreaking trans politician Danica Roem as a woman.
Democratic delegate-elect Danica Roem made history earlier this month as the first openly transgender lawmaker to be elected to a state legislature, after unseating GOP incumbent Bob Marshall, who penned anti-transgender ‘bathroom’ legislation.
Roem is set to take up her seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in January.
But ahead of the new session, the Republican-controlled body has opted to make drastic changes to the chamber’s 400-year-old rulebook.
Under the changes, politicians speaking on the floor of the House will no longer have to refer to eachother as ‘Gentleman’ or ‘Gentlewoman’, and will instead use the term ‘Delegate’ as a gender-neutral address.
While the removal of unnecessarily-gendered language might be cheered by liberals in other occasions, the GOP’s actions appear to be preventing lawmakers from having to refer to Ms Roem as a ‘Gentlewoman’.
House Majority Leader M. Kirkland Cox (R-Colonial Heights) confirmed the change.
In a statement to the Washington Post, his spokesperson said: “All members will be afforded the same respect and courtesy that this nearly 400-year-old institution commands.
“Speaker-designee Cox believes the ‘gentlelady’ and ‘gentleman’ terminology is outdated, and that referring to everyone as ‘delegate’ is more timely and appropriate.”
Republicans repeatedly referred to Ms Roem as male during the campaign, with Marshall focussing much of his campaign on attacking his opponent’s gender identity.
Delegate-elect Roem, who focused her campaign on local infrastructure issues, did not rise to her opponent’s jibes.
After the election result, she said: “Bob is my constituent now. I don’t attack my constituents.”
Politics professor Bob Holsworth told the Post that the Republicans are “trying in some way to thread a needle with their own base”.
He added: “They’re willing to change the tradition in this sense before they will explicitly acknowledge Danica Roem as a woman.”
Delegate-elect Roem said: “What matters the most is that I’m there.
“What matters the most to the people of the 13th District is that the woman they elected to serve them will be working on their behalf.
“I will be the delegate from Prince William, and I will conduct myself as the gentlewoman from Prince William while I’m in Richmond and in any other official capacity in which I serve.”
Marshall, who will be unemployed in January, co-authored the state’s now-defunct constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
In her victory speech, Roem said: “This election has to prove nationwide that discrimination is a disqualifier.
“When you champion inclusion, when you champion equality, when you champion equity and you focus on the issues that unite us, like building up our infrastructure…those are the issues that you have to focus on,” she added.
“I believe in building up our infrastructure instead of tearing down each other. That is fundamental.
“When the negative ads started coming out, attacking transgender kids…we stayed on our message while decrying discrimination.”
Roem told everyone watching: “We can’t get lost in discrimination, we can’t get lost in B.S., we can’t get lost tearing each other down.
“No matter what you look like, where you come from, how you worship, who you love, how you identify – and yeah, how you rock – if you have good public policy ideas, if you’re well-qualified for office, bring those ideas to the table, because this is your America too…and we are stronger together,” Roem told the crowd.
She dedicated her win to everyone who’s been discriminated against.
During the campaign, she championed LGBT rights, saying: “We are unabashedly pro-equality & anti-discrimination.
“It’s time we put LGBTQ kids front-and-centre, and I’m standing with them.
“As a trans woman, I know representation matters.”
In contrast, Republican Bob Marshall, who has been in office since 1991, has a long history of introducing hateful anti-LGBT bills to the Virginian legislature.
In May, Roem said: “When the people of the 13th District elect a transgender woman to replace the most anti-LGBT legislator in the South, it will be an act of certainty, and it will be a defining moment that will resonate across the country.”
Hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Russia have doubled in five years, researchers said on Tuesday, in the wake of a law banning “gay propaganda”.
Murders accounted for almost 200 out of 250 crimes analyzed, the Center for Independent Social Research said, attributing the surge to Russia’s 2013 ban on the spreading of “propaganda for non-traditional sexual relations” to minors.
“(Offenders) have become more aggressive and less fearful,” said Svetlana Zakharova, a board member with Russian LGBT Network, the country’s most prominent gay rights campaign group, which has noted the same trend.
“It seems to them that, to some extent, the government supports their actions. Many perpetrators openly talk about their crimes as noble deeds.”
The police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The number of sentences for crimes against LGBT people increased to 65 in 2015 from 18 in 2010, the St. Petersburg-based researchers said, drawing on court records and data from judicial watchdog RosPravosudie. Most victims were gay men.
Homosexuality in Russia, where the influence of the socially conservative Orthodox Church has grown in recent years, was a criminal offence until 1993 and classed as a mental illness until 1999.
Researchers said the figures are an underestimate as many hate crimes are not reported, investigated or prosecuted.
The ‘gay propaganda’ law, which has been used to stop gay pride marches and to detain gay rights activists, is seen by many as a move by President Vladimir Putin to crack down on dissent and draw closer to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Russia was ranked Europe’s second least LGBT-friendly nation in 2016 by ILGA-Europe, a network of European LGBT groups.
Face yo Face’s clients, staff, and volunteers have been devastated by the fires which swept through our beloved county in early October. Our compassionate team of professionals kept the doors open during the week of the fires, fulfilling our mission through limited services.
Even with these recent losses, we have never been more optimistic about the future. We will rebuild. We are #SonomaStrong.
At Face to Face our focus is on beating HIV and making the community healthier. We have tremendous hope: rates of new HIV infections in the county are on the decline for three consecutive years. And, with continued focus, together we can get to ZERO new HIV infections in Sonoma County in the very near future.
HIV medications are working as prevention: The FDA’s approval of Truvada as PrEP (Pre-exposure Prophylaxis)–taken once a day by HIV-negative individuals–has proven up to 99 percent effective at not transmitting HIV. Astounding results when you consider condom use at only 78 percent.
Not everyone who is at risk for HIV in Sonoma County is on PrEP or necessarily knows their HIV status. To reach them, we provide free, anonymous and confidential HIV testing at our office and in the commmunity. During each test counseling session we offer PrEP referrals to HIV-negative individuals. You make our HIV prevention services possible.
We know that you are being called upon more than ever with requests for your volunteer time and financial support. Thank you for considering making a gift to Face to Face on #GivingTuesday–a national day to kick-off the end of year giving season.
Late September, the last transgender Central American woman who arrived at the US-Mexico border over the summer seeking asylum as part of a caravan was granted parole and released from the Cibola County Correctional Center in Milan, New Mexico. The women and their attorneys now call on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to exercise similar discretion and release three gay men who also were members of the caravan, and continue to face risk to their health and safety in custody at the Otero Processing Center in Chaparral, New Mexico.
The asylum seekers were part of the Rainbow 17 Caravan, a group of 11 transgender women and 6 gay men from Central America and Mexico who arrived at the border in Nogales, Arizona, on August 10, 2017, and requested asylum after experiencing extreme forms of violence in their home countries.
ICE’s decision to release the women abides by the government’s long-standing parole guidance favoring release for asylum seekers who are not flight risks nor pose threats to the community. But since President Trump took office, ICE has failed to grant parole to the vast majority of individuals who have been locked up after requesting asylum at the border or a port of entry, and decisions on parole requests vary greatly between different regions of the country.
“My experience being locked up in the detention center was awful,” said a translatina caravan member who was released last month. “Never in my wildest thoughts did I imagine the conditions would be that unbearable. I am very happy to be out and grateful for where I am in the process now and for the family I am staying with, who are making me feel welcome.”
The women, along with their advocates and lawyers from the National Immigrant Justice Center, Transgender Law Center, and Instituto Legal, remain extremely concerned about the gay men who still are detained. Those individuals have reported they are being harassed by jail guards and other detainees, have been denied medical treatment, and fear for their safety because of their sexual identity.
“The lack of oversight in this parole process is really unfair,” said Keren Zwick, associate director of litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center. “If you ask for protection at the border, ICE can send you basically wherever it wants, and the decision as to where they send you can mean the difference between release and detention, as we are seeing in these cases. On the court side, when you have an LGBTQ-based claim, where you are detained also can make a difference between winning or losing your asylum case.”
“We are relieved that these brave women, who came to the U.S. seeking safety from persecution, have finally been released from immigration detention centers that we know are horrifically violent and abusive of transgender women,” said Flor Bermudez, legal director at Transgender Law Center. “Unfortunately, there is still a long road ahead for the men still in Otero and for the transgender women who have been released, as they fight deportation back to the countries where their lives have been threatened. They are not facing this journey alone, though, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to ensure they, and all transgender immigrants seeking safety from torture and abuse, remain safe and free.”
“New Mexico has a long history of welcoming asylum seekers,” said Joaquin Sanchez-Leal, director of programs for Instituto Legal, a non-profit legal organization based in Albuquerque. “Placing those who are fleeing violence because of their gender identity or sexual orientation behind bars, even though they are eligible for immediate release, goes against our long-held tradition. We are all watching and will continue working to ensure the remaining caravan members are released from detention.”
The freed caravan members still each have a long road ahead of them as they pursue their asylum cases. In the United States, asylum seekers must wait months or years for permission to work and for access to housing or food support. They also have no right to appointed attorneys, so are left to find legal counsel on their own. Advocates must continue to work to support the women and improve the system in a way that gives bona fide refugees a fighting chance to prevail on their applications for protection. The human rights violations inherent in the ICE detention system have gained increased attention in the past month in Washington, D.C. In early October, U.S. House Representatives Adam Smith (WA-09) and Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) introduced the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, which would hold ICE accountable to protect detained immigrants and ensure access to release for asylum seekers and other immigrants. Also this month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard re-argument in Jennings v. Rodriguez, which challenges ICE’s prolonged detention of immigrants fighting deportation.
“I cannot find the words to express how happy I am to be out of that horrific detention center,” said a translatina caravan member. “When I started my journey, I was very scared. I needed to flee the violence and transphobia in my country of origin, but had heard many stories of trans women who didn’t make it through the journey or were trapped for months in terrible detention centers. I know my release is not typical, and I thank God I have a great team fighting for my rights and safety. I feel like a new woman, secure and ready to take on the world.”
The deadline to claim Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) for workers who lost wages or became unemployed due to recent fires has been extended to December 18, 2017, from November 16 by the U.S Department of Labor.
“This is an important support for the many residents and workers affected by fires in our county,” says Katie Greaves, Director of the Sonoma County Human Services Department Employment and Training Division. “As of November 8, residents had filed 4,700 applications for Disaster Unemployment benefits. The number of customers visiting the Job Link office for employment and job search support doubled in the four weeks after the fire, primarily to submit claims for Disaster Unemployment Assistance.”
Federal Disaster Unemployment benefits are available to individuals who are unemployed as a direct result of the October 2017 Sonoma County wildfires. Claims must be filed by December 18, 2017. Applications submitted to the EDD after December 18, 2017, will be considered if the claimant can show good cause for late application.
Sonoma County Job Link offers workers help to file these claims online at www.SonomaWIB.org, or Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., by phone at 565-5550 or in-person at the Employment and Training office 2227 Capricorn Way, Santa Rosa. Job Link’s online career center and employer and job seeker resources are available year-round, and can provide residents with information about health care options, regular unemployment insurance benefits, job training and retraining, and connecting with employers now hiring. Additional information about Disaster Unemployment Assistance is also available at https://www.sonomacountyrecovers.org/unemployment/.
DUA provides weekly benefit payments for individuals 1) whose work or self-employment is interrupted due to a disaster and 2) who are not eligible for regular Unemployment Insurance or State Disability Insurance benefits. Benefits are available for 26 weeks, beginning October 15, 2017, and ending April 14, 2018, which is the final payable week of disaster benefits.
To be eligible for Disaster Unemployment benefits, individuals must be unemployed as a direct result of recent wildfires. They must be 1) unemployed workers or unemployed self-employed individuals who lived, worked, traveled through, or were scheduled to work in a disaster area at the time of the disaster, and 2) due to the disaster:
No longer has a job or place to work; or
Cannot reach the place of work; or
Cannot work due to damage to the place of work; or
Cannot work because of an injury caused by the disaster; or
Became the head of household because the primary breadwinner or head of household died in the disaster.
DUA claimants must meet all eligibility criteria during the entire period of the claim to continue to receive disaster benefits. They cannot continue to receive benefits if they return to work before April 14, 2018. Individuals with regular UI benefits that end before April 14, 2018, who also meet all the Disaster Unemployment eligibility criteria, can file for DUA benefits for any remaining weeks or until they file new regular unemployment claims, whichever comes first.
DUA is a federal benefits administered by the Employment Development Department on behalf of the U.S. Department of Labor, so workers in these additional counties are also eligible: Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Orange and Yuba.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) aimed a bright spotlight on five federal judicial nominees — Jeff Mateer, Damien Schiff, Leonard Steven Grasz, Mark Norris, and Stephen Schwartz. If confirmed by the Senate, the nominees could seriously threaten the future of LGBTQ equality in America. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Grasz and Norris on Thursday.
“In their crusade against the LGBTQ community, Donald Trump and Mike Pence are doing everything they can to stack our federal courts and all agencies of the government with anti-LGBTQ nominees and appointments,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “This is a deliberate attempt to undermine the progress we’ve made and weave discrimination into every part of our government. There are scores of under-qualified nominees with terrible anti-equality records, and Jeff Mateer, Damien Schiff, Leonard Steven Grasz, Mark Norris, and Stephen Schwartz are among the worst of the worst. The Senate must reject their nominations to lifetime appointments to the federal bench.”
In less than one year, the Trump-Pence Administration has unleashed a torrent of attacks on the LGBTQ community and undermined the rights of millions of Americans. Through rollbacks, rescissions, and re-interpretations, Donald Trump and Mike Pence have systematically and meticulously eroded years of progress and protections. What’s more, Trump and Pence have appointed and nominated scores of extreme and unqualified anti-LGBTQ officials to crucial agencies and court benches — some of whom will serve lifetime appointments.
Jeff Mateer has been nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. In a 2015 speech titled “The Church and Homosexuality,” Jeff Mateer objected to a transgender student using a restroom consistent with her gender identity, saying “I mean it just really shows you how Satan’s plan is working and the destruction that’s going on.” He defended then-Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s ‘license-to-discriminate’ bill and objected to efforts to alter the legislation. Mateer fought against non-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community in Plano and San Antonio, Texas, and he even supports the dangerous and debunked practice of so-called “conversion therapy.” Mateer also claimed that marriage equality will lead to bestiality.
Damien Schiff, nominated to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, has been unabashed in his anti-LGBTQ views. He called Anthony Kennedy a “judicial prostitute,” opposed anti-bullying policies, opposed the decriminalization of same-sex relationships, and has been a longtime critic of marriage equality. In his writings, Schiff has encouraged parents to opt out of public schools in response to new curriculum that discouraged LGBTQ bullying and normalized families with same-sex parents; opposed the Supreme Court ruling decriminalizing same-sex relationships; defended supporters of Prop 8, falsely claiming same-sex couples had the same legal benefits as married opposite-sex couples before Prop 8.
Steven Grasz, nominated for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, served on the board of a non-profit that backed the abusive practice of conversion therapyon LGBTQ minors and was unwilling to clarify his own views during his confirmation hearing. Grasz said that language protecting people on the basis of “sexual orientation” opened the door for protections for pedophilesand argued Nebraska should not recognize marriage equality in other states. Grasz also opposed allowing same-sex parents to adopt. The American Bar Association has deemed Grasz unqualified to serve in the position Trump has nominated him for.
Mark S. Norris has been nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Currently the Senate Majority Leader of the Tennessee General Assembly, Norris has voted to support legislation giving business a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people and supported a state law preventing local municipalities from passing LGBTQ non-discrmination protections. Among a host of other positions supporting discrimination, Norris opposed federal guidance from the Obama administration helping to protect transgender students from discrimination and harassment in public schools.
Stephen Schwartz, nominated to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, has a demonstrable anti-LGBTQ record. HRC joined in an opposition letter with 27 LGBTQ groups, including Lambda Legal and the National Center for Transgender Equality, opposing Schwartz. His work opposing equality includes defending North Carolina’s discriminatory HB2. He also notably served as co-counsel to the Gloucester County School Board in Virginia after it was sued by transgender student Gavin Grimm for discrimination. Grimm challenged the school board in court for denying him use of the boy’s restroom.
Join our community event “Recovering with Pride: A Holiday Gathering” on December 9, 3 – 6 p.m. to learn more about what we are doing to support a strong, healthy community for LGBTQ people and fire victims.
We are hosting a community gathering by LGBTQ youth leaders, in collaboration with Positive Images, at the Fountaingrove Lodge, an LGBTQ retirement home. Fountaingrove Lodge residents were evacuated from the fires for several weeks, and were only able to return home recently. Join us as we welcome them back to their home, build connections across generations, and create a space for people to find healing after the fires.
Originally, our Youth Leadership Team was planning on hosting a winter LGBTQ youth dance where they could have fun and be free (and potentially meet their next partner!). After the North Bay Fires, our youth felt a need to bring the whole community together and create a sense of unity. So, we brainstormed with Positive Images and decided to create a collaborative event for the whole LGBTQ community, especially those affected by the fires.
Deeply red Oklahoma elected a state senator this week who breaks the mold of the typical Sooner State politician. Democrat Allison Ikley-Freeman, a 26-year-old lesbian, bested Republican Brian O’Hara in Tuesday’s special election to win a seat in west Tulsa’s conservative Senate District 37.
Complete but unofficial election results show Ikley-Freeman, who is a therapist at a nonprofit mental health agency, won by 31 votes. Her win is the fourth pickup for state Democrats in special elections this year in Republican-dominated Oklahoma, which has seen years of state budget shortfalls and the scandal-fueled resignations of several Republican incumbents.
Ikley-Freeman, a wife and mother of three, said she was “shocked” upon hearing she had won.
“The odds were not in our favor, and we knew it, but we knew if we could fight hard, we had a chance,” she told NBC News. “It was worth fighting for.”
Ikley-Freeman attributed her victory to “a lot of hard work” and “getting out and knocking on doors.”
“That voter-to-voter contact really made a difference,” she said, adding that she and her campaign team even mailed out handwritten postcards to people in the district.
Once she assumes office, Ikley-Freeman said she plans to focus on the “most vulnerable Oklahomans” who are “struggling every day.” Her campaign website lists public education, mental health, police accountability and chronic homelessness among her priority issues.
Toby Jenkins, executive director of Oklahoman’s for Equality, an LGBTQ advocacy organization based in Tulsa, told NBC News Ikley-Freeman is “the first openly LGBTQ individual elected to an office in Tulsa County.”
“It’s a huge historic step for us,” Jenkins said. “It’s going to be really inspiring to our young people.”
Jenkins called Ikley-Freeman a “no-nonsense person,” a “worker bee” who’s not afraid to “roll up her sleeves” to get the job done.
While Ikley-Freeman is set to be the first out lawmaker in Tulsa County, Jenkins noted other parts of the state have elected openly LGBTQ politicians. Kay Floyd, who represents parts of Oklahoma City, was the first out lesbian elected to the Oklahoma Legislature. Floyd’s predecessor, Al McAffrey, a gay man, was the first openly LGBTQ person elected to serve in the state Legislature.
Ikley-Freeman will likely have to wait until Feb. 1 to take office, according to Tulsa World, because the resignation of the incumbent, Dan Newberry, a Republican, does not become effective until Jan. 31.
TDoR 2017 Cenotaph Sculpture by Heath Satow (PRNewsfoto/Transgender Community Coalition)
Nov. 20, the Transgender Community Coalition will host their annual Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) honoring the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence in the past year. The event will take place at Palm Springs City Hall, 3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., with the vigil commencing at 5 p.m.
“One out of eight transgender people of color face murder in their lifetime, and one out of 12 Caucasian trans people face murder in their lifetime,” says Thomi Clinton, Chief Executive Officer and founder of the Transgender Community Coalition in Palm Springs.
Speakers at this year’s event include: the CEO of the Transgender Community Coalition with Gwendolyn Ann Smith, founder of the TDoR, Ian Harvie, Transgender comedian and actor from the award-winning TV series Transparent, Ryan Sallans, Transgender author and advocate and Ashlee Marie Preston, Transgender producer and activist.
This year, Palm Springs’ Transgender Community Coalition unveils the first Transgender Day of Remembrance Memorial Cenotaph Sculpture. The non-profit organization commissioned the life-size sculpture to honor victims of transgender violence. The statue was inspired after the death of a transgender woman, Yaz’min Sanchez, who was shot and burned behind a garbage bin in Florida. Sanchez’ body left a silhouette where her remains were discovered.
Los Angeles-based metal artist Heath Satow created the breathtaking sculpture, illustrating the life-size figure, made of steel butterflies (symbolizing metamorphosis or transition), lying on their side. The sculpture aims to inspire needed conversations aimed at ending discrimination and violence against transgender people in the United States and across the world.
