News

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Burlesque Birthday Party Invades Buck’s Rivermill Theater

Cabaret de Caliente and Pinch Of GlitterProductions celebrate Eva D’Luscious’ Pretty Pretty Princess Birthday Party with Twice Upon a Tassel, A Royal Rambling Revue at Buck’s Rivermill Dinner Theater Saturday, September 6. The Burlesque and variety show features tales of princesses, traveling rogues and minstrels and Eva’s very own Fairy Drag Mother!

Guests are invited to wear their own princess gowns to compete in a costume contestwith prizes from local businesses, and as always the show includes a fundraising raffle benefitting The Russian River Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

Buck’s Rivermill Dinner Theater

Street, Guerneville

Doors 8:30pm; Show 9:30-11:30pm

GA Standing Room $10 Advance/$15 Door

Reserved Seats $20 Advance/$25 Door (Additional details online)

Dinner & Seating $36 Advance/$41 Door (Chicken, Beef or Vegetarian Prix Fixe Meal)

Advance Tickets: http://tickets.glittertix.com/events/evabirthday/

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/685815348165237/

Email info@cabaretdecaliente.com in advance to celebrate birthday, anniversary, bachelor/ette parties at the show.

Cabaret de Caliente is the Wine Country’s home for Burlesque and Variety performance.

Join us every third Thursday at HopMonk Sebastopol for Bubbly Burlesque wine tasting and show, and look for us at special events and other productions around the BayArea. Visit cabaretdecaliente.com or on Facebook for information on shows, private bookings and Burlesque classes. Many thanks to our sponsors ICandy Pole Dance Studio and Spice Sensuality Boutique

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CALABASH – A Festival of Gourds, Art and the Garden Happens Sunday, October 5

Food For Thought, Sonoma County AIDS Food Bank, in collaboration with the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, will host the 14th annual CALABASH – A Celebration of Gourds, Art and the Garden on Sunday, October 5, 2014. Sonoma County’s unique and inspiring harvest event, Calabash was voted Best Fundraiser by the North Bay Bohemian in 2013 and 2014, and features a silent auction of fine gourd art along with tours of Food For Thought’s beautiful, organic garden

Guests at Calabash enjoy a sumptuous array of fine food and wine from the county’s bountiful harvest, a chance to buy gourd art by local artists, and live music played on hand-made gourd instruments.

CALABASH is a benefit that supports Food For Thought, a nonprofit that serves 700 men, women, and children living with HIV/ AIDS by providing high quality groceries, fresh produce, and nutrition services at no cost. The truly grassroots organization is staffed by over 600 volunteers who participate in all facets of the operation supporting people with HIV/ AIDS.

“There are people in our community living with HIV/AIDS who have to choose between spending their limited money on food or on medicine. We think that’s a choice nobody should have to make, especially those who are living with a serious chronic illness” said Ron Karp, Food For Thought’s Executive Director. “There is a peace of mind and security in knowing where your next meal will come from, and that your food, because it’s healthy, is actually part of your medicine.”

Food For Thought, in its 25th year, serves anyone in Sonoma County with an HIV/AIDS diagnosis. HIV remains a significant challenge in our community, as more people are affected by the epidemic than ever before. And as those living with HIV age, their circumstance and needs are even more urgent and complex.

Particularly inspiring at the Calabash event are the gourds themselves. The prehistoric gourd is one of the world’s oldest cultivated crops, and is traditionally used for art as well as storage, hauling water, and making cooking and eating utensils, musical instruments, bird feeders, bird houses, and rattles.

Many of the gourds for this event are harvested from the food bank’s own gardens, where clients and volunteers work side-by-side, breathing in the bounty that nature provides. More than 100 participating artists fashion their pieces from the gourds in this unique West County fundraiser.

Tickets: $45 in advance either online (FFT.org) or at the Forestville offices, or $50 at the door the day of the event. For advance tickets sales and more information, call Food For Thought at 707-887-1647.

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Drag Race Fave to Perform Stevie Nicks Mini-Musical at Bucks

Fan favorite and RuPaul’s Drag Race season 5 queen Alaska Thunderf**k has chosen Labor Day Weekend in Guerneville to perform her new show Stevie Forever, a dragged-out, musical fairy tale from hell that tells the story of Stevie Nicks’ rise to rock goddess fame. It sounds pretty amazing:

In Stevie Forever, RuPaul’s Drag Race finalist and cosmic starlet of stage and screen Alaska invites you to join her as she channels the grand high priestess of rock herself. Alaska will be joined by her stalwart companion and pianist Handsome Jeremy who becomes Stevie’s on-again-off-again love and lifetime musical partner Lindsay Buckingham. Together they retell and relive Stevie’s history as a rock goddess and all-around badass witch. Spells will be cast, curses will be placed, and illicit substances will be consumed while Stevie and Lindsay tear through their all-time classics and re-imagine current hits in timeless Stevie style.

Opening the show at 8:30 pm will be Tora Hymen and Her Backwoods Barbie’s Review! $35-45

August 30th 8:30 pm at Buck’s Rivermill Dinner Theatre
16440 4th St at Mill Guerneville Ca
707-869-3600
www.rivermilltheatre.com

Ticketts available soon at brown paper tickets bpt.com
key words Buck’s Alaska

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Burlesque Show at Buck’s Rivermill Dinner Theater Will Offer Sass, Class, and Dessert

Buck’s Rivermill Dinner Theater presents a feast for the senses with Burlesque at Buck’s, Friday, August 8. The monthly show features performers from Wine County Burlesque Troupe Cabaret de Caliente and visiting acts. Each ticket includes a glass of champagne and dessert.

A raffle benefitting The Russian River Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will include gift certificates from Buck’s and tickets for Bubbly Burlesque and Shakespeare in The Cannery.

Guests may increase their chances of winning by bringing packages of basic school supplies for The Sisters Pencil & Paper Project; 1 additional ticket per package of supplies. A wish list of items can be found on the Burlesque at Buck’s Facebook Event Page.

Buck’s Rivermill Dinner Theater, Guerneville
Friday, August 8
Doors 8:30pm; Show 9:30-11:30pm
21+

GA Standing Room $10 Advance/$15 Door
Premium Seats –$15 Advance/$20 Door (Limited Availability)
VIP Tables for 2 — $40 Advance/$50 Door (Limited Availability)

Advance Tickets: http://tickets.glittertix.com/events/burlesqueatbucks/
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/904672399547148/

Email info@cabaretdecaliente.com in advance to celebrate birthday, anniversary, bachelor/ette parties at the show.

Cabaret de Caliente is the Wine Country’s home for Burlesque and Variety performance. Productions include Burlesque at Buck’s, Buck’s Rivermill Dinner Theater, Guerneville, and at HopMonk Sebastopol, Bubbly Burlesque every third Thursday and occasional shows with live music. Visit cabaretdecaliente.com or on Facebook for information on show line ups and dates, private bookings and Burlesque classes. Many thanks to our sponsors ICandy Pole Dance Studio and Spice Sensuality Boutique

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Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds Registry For Same-Sex Couples

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 2009 law that establishes a registry for same-sex couples, saying it does not violate an amendment to the state’s constitution banning gay marriage.

The registry gives registered same-sex couples the right to hospital visits, family medical leave to care for a stricken partner, health benefits under a partner’s insurance and the right to inherit assets when a partner dies.

The court said the ban on same-sex marriage did not include a ban on certain rights for same-sex couples. The gay marriage ban was approved by Wisconsin voters in 2006.

Three years later, the registry was created under Democratic Governor Jim Doyle to afford certain rights to same-sex couples. It now has more than 2,000 couples on it, according to Fair Wisconsin, a gay-rights organization based in Madison.

Wisconsin Family Action, an anti-gay rights group, argued in a 2010 lawsuit that the registry violated the amendment because it resembles marriage under state law.

Lambda Legal, an advocacy group pushing for same-sex marriage, hailed the Wisconsin court’s decision.

“Gay and lesbian couples in Wisconsin no longer have to fear that the protections they have will be taken away by unnecessary anti-gay legal action,” it said in a statement.

The Wisconsin ban on same-sex marriage took a hit on a national level when a federal judge in June ruled that it was unconstitutional.

The ruling was later put on hold with Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen filing an appeal to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas, and Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Bill Trott, Jim Loney and Eric Beech)

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Registration Opens for Wildwood’s Fall Men’s Festival

 

The Wildwood Conservation Foundation & Retreat Center will be hosting its 9th Annual Fall Men’s Festival Thursday, September 18 through Sunday, September 21, 2014. Wildwood, located in the hills above Guerneville, California, is a non-profit sanctuary created and sustained by gay men for healing, transformation and spiritual growth. “The intention of the Fall Men’s Festival is, first and foremost, to build community,” says Darrel Richey, Chairman of the board for the Wildwood Conservation Foundation. “It’s also a sampling of the type of men’s workshops we have throughout the year like yoga, massage, and erotic work.” This year’s activities include workshops like Erotic Body Reunion, Modern Dance, Naked Yoga, and Gay Numerology to name just a few. Participants are free to join any of the workshops or just spend time relaxing by the pool or exploring Wildwood’s 200 acres of woods, fields, and streams.

According to Richey, “The festival weekend is about balancing the workshops with fun activities like dancing, hiking, etc. The Saturday evening Poolside Cock/Tail Party and Cabaret Night are great community builders and always a highlight of the festival!” The Fall Men’s Festival is Wildwood’s marquee event and all proceeds support the retreat center in its aim of providing a safe and sacred space for gay men. “Wildwood has a rich history of being a sanctuary and a place of healing for gay men,” says Richey. “From the early days of carefree sex in the 1970s, to the time of fear in the early AIDS pandemic, and all the way up to the present day, Wildwood has given gay men opportunities which really don’t exist elsewhere. The land itself is healing. There is something quite profound and, dare I say, mystical about Wildwood.”

The cost of attending the weekend is $495.00 all-inclusive ($395.00 if you bring your own tent) with meals prepared by Wildwood’s resident chef. Men can register for the event by going to: www.wildwoodretreat.com/events. More Information

Event Details: http://wildwoodretreat.com/events/19-events/99-annual-fall-mens-festival

Registration:
http://shop.wildwoodretreat.com/Fall-Mens-Festival-Sept-18-21-2014-Fall-Mens-Fest- Sept-18-21-2014.htm Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/550069905115640/

About Wildwood The Wildwood Conservation Foundation & Retreat Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Covering more than 200 acres of woodlands near Guerneville, California, the property has been used as a retreat for gay men since the late 1970s. Wildwood’s mission is to be a sanctuary created and sustained by gay men for healing, transformation and spiritual growth. For additional information visit: www.wildwoodretreat.com

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Obama Signs Executive Order On LGBT Job Discrimination

President Barack Obama on Monday signed an executive order banning workplace discrimination against millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees of federal contractors and the federal government.

The executive order has two parts: It makes it illegal to fire or harass employees of federal contractors based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and it explicitly bans discrimination against transgender employees of the federal government. The part targeting federal contractors affects 24,000 companies employing roughly 28 million workers, or about one-fifth of the nation’s workforce.

“America’s federal contracts should not subsidize discrimination against the American people,” Obama said during remarks at the White House just before signing the order. “I’m going to do what I can with the authority I have to act.”

The provision affecting federal employees takes effect immediately, while employees of federal contractors will have their new protections in place by early next year, according to senior administration officials.

To the relief of the LGBT community, Obama did not include a sweeping religious exemption in the executive order — something the community feared could happen in the wake of last month’s Supreme Court ruling in the Hobby Lobby case.

Instead, Obama simply added the categories of sexual orientation and gender identity to an existing executive order that protects employees of federal contractors from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. President George W. Bush amended that executive order in 2002 to allow religiously affiliated federal contractors to prioritize hiring employees of their particular religion, however, and Obama is keeping that language intact.

Obama is fulfilling a 2008 campaign promise with his action targeting federal contractors. His action affecting federal employees, meanwhile, responds to what some have described as a shortcoming in existing governmental rules. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled in 2012 that the federal ban on sex discrimination covers transgender discrimination, but those affected by that rule change say the government hasn’t been enforcing it and that they continue to be discriminated against.

It is still legal in 32 states to fire or harass someone at work for being LGBT. Congress could remedy that by passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which already passed the Senate. But Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has refused to bring the bill up for a vote in the House.

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Oklahoma’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban Overturned

A federal appeals court on Friday ruled Oklahoma must allow gay couples to wed, marking the second time it has found the U.S. Constitution protects same-sex marriage.

The decision from a three-judge panel in Denver upholds rulings that struck down Oklahoma’s gay marriage ban.

The 2-1 ruling comes after the same panel ruled June 25 that Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the Constitution. It was the first time an appellate court determined last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down the Defense of Marriage Act means states cannot deny gays the ability to wed.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel put its Oklahoma and Utah rulings on hold pending an appeal. Utah’s attorney general has said he plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Gay marriage in the two states will remain on hold.

Still, the decisions give increased momentum to a legal cause that has compiled an impressive string of lower court victories. More than 20 courts have issued rulings siding with gay marriage advocates since the Supreme Court’s DOMA ruling in June 2013. The rulings have come in 17 states, with Florida being the latest.

Two of the most striking of those decisions were in conservative Utah and Oklahoma, which saw their voter-approved gay marriage bans struck down in December and January, respectively. In Utah, more than 1,000 same-sex couples married before the Supreme Court issued a stay.

It’s unclear whether the two cases will be the first to reach the Supreme Court. The high court could choose from cases moving through five other federal appellate courts, and it won’t consider a case until next year at the earliest.

Attorneys representing Utah and Oklahoma argued voters have the right to define marriage in their states, and unions between a man and woman are best for children.

Gay rights lawyers countered that voters cannot define marriage in a way that deprives gay people of their fundamental rights, and say there is no proof that gay couples make inferior parents.

Ten years ago, nearly a dozen states outlawed gay marriage. Now same-sex marriage is legal in 19 states and the District of Columbia, and recent polls show a majority of Americans support it.

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A Forest Fire, A Motorcycle and a Wonder Woman Outfit – a Women’s Festival Comes Full Circle.

“Women’s Weekend”, the classic women’s music and comedy festival that has been happening in the Russian River area for over 27 years is being reinvented by it’s original founder.

In September of 1986 Carmen McKay was a worker at the West Coast Women’s Music and Comedy Festival near Yosemite when a large forest fire broke out endangering the lives of the 150 workers setting up for the festival, and ultimately, cancelling the festival itself. Carmen donned a Wonder Woman outfit she happen to have with her, and led the woman out of danger on her motorcycle. She then diverted 600 disappointed festival goers to the Atlantis Resort in Guerneville, CA. In 1987 Carmen began working with Eric Pariser, Manager of The Woods Resort in Guerneville to bring entertainment, a crafts faire and a large promotional outreach to build upon a smaller women’s gathering called,

“May Day” which was started in 1982 by The Woods and Fifes Resort. “Women’s Weekend” attracted 6000 women bi-annually to the area until the mid 90s when Carmen turned the festival over to the community. The festival eventually devolved into a smaller event with last May’s event at the Triple R Resort in Guerneville attracting approximately 300 women.

Carmen is reviving and reinventing the festival this September 12-14 with her partner, Annie Albright. Carmen and Annie own “She She”, an event production company focused on the over 35 lesbian market.

“Women’s Weekend 2.0” will be held at the outdoor Monte Rio Amphitheater in Monte Rio, CA and features headlining acts such as Beverly McClellan from NBC’s “The Voice” as well as comics Julie Goldman of Logo and Bravo TV and Suzanne Westenhoefer. The event also offers a golf tournament, crafts fair, flash mob dance, wine tasting, a Sunday Jazz and Blues line up, “The Largest Lesbian Single’s Mixer in the World” and many other activities.

“I’m so excited to bring Women’s Weekend back to it’s full glory! This festival will be focused on diversity, fun and connection. We are marketing to include the lesbians over 35 – not just the younger market – Baby Boomers are welcome! Many women refer to the festival as ‘The Dinah Soar’”. – referring to the large Dinah Shore festival in Palm Springs. The theme of the festival is: “Practice random acts of kindness”.

“The festival is designed to give women permission to really connect – rather than hide out in cliques” says Carmen. 10% of the festival profits will be donated to charity.

Friday and Saturday evening dance parties will be held at the River Theater in Guerneville with Bay Area DJ Rockaway of the “Play” Dances fame.

Camping and hotel accommodations exclusively for woman are available and listed on the Women’s Weekend 2.0 website. Early bird tickets are offered at a discount if purchased before August 15 also available on the website.

For more information contact Carmen McKay at rrwomensweekend@yahoo.com.

Website: www.womensweekend2.com

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Governor Brown Signs Bill Enshrining the Freedom to Marry in State Statutes

On July 7, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1306, authored by Sen. Mark Leno and co-sponsored by Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, Equality California and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. The bill will bring California statutory law into line with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 decision restoring the freedom to marry in California.

While both the California and U.S. Supreme Courts have affirmed the right for same-sex couples to marry, current state laws in many cases do not reflect that change. SB 1306 ensures that references to “husband” and “wife” will be replaced with gender-neutral language such as “spouse” to recognize all married couples throughout the California code.

“I am pleased Governor Brown has recognized the importance of this bill, which makes it explicitly clear in state law that every loving couple has the right to marry in California,” said Sen. Leno. “This legislation removes outdated and biased language from state codes and recognizes all married spouses equally, regardless of their gender.”

“While we have achieved many milestones in the journey towards full equality for LGBT people — including the freedom to marry for same-sex couples — it’s important that we completely erase discrimination from the books,” said Rick Zbur, executive director-elect of EQCA. “This new law will take us one step further in that journey. We applaud Senator Leno for authoring this important legislation and Gov. Brown for signing it.”

“We are grateful for Sen. Leno’s legislation that will ensure the fair and equal treatment of all married couples in California,” said National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell. “Although there is no question that same-sex couples can marry in California, the discriminatory language that remains on the statutory books creates confusion about the rights of same-sex couples. This law makes it clear to everyone that same-sex couples can marry and that all spouses have the exact same rights and responsibilities under the law, regardless of gender.”

SB 1306 officially becomes law on January 1, 2015.

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender advocacy organization in California. For more than a decade, Equality California has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to a state with some of the most comprehensive human rights protections in the nation. Equality California has partnered with legislators to successfully sponsor 96 pieces of pro-equality legislation. EQCA continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, electoral work, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org

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