Moms for Liberty backed candidates are facing blistering defeats in Philadelphia, despite holding their annual conference there.
In July, Moms for Liberty hosted their annual conference in Philadelphia, the largest city in Pennsylvania.
Moms for Liberty, which now has branches across 48 states, with over 300 local chapters, focuses on opposing the mention of LGBTQ+ rights, race and ethnicity, critical race theory and discrimination in school curriculums.
Residents from Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs held counter-protests linked to the Moms for Liberty Summit.
In continued protest they are now voting Moms for Liberty endorsed candidates out of school boards across the region.
Nationally, the group backed more than 130 candidates running for local officers in 2023 and lost nearly two-thirds of their races, according to an analysis from Indivisible.
In the Philadelphia suburbs, Democrats running for school boards in Central Bucks and Pennridge school districts swept all their races defeating Moms for Liberty backed candidates.
Democrat Karen Smith officially took up the role at Central Bucks School Board on 4 December, during a ceremony in which she took her oath on a pile of six books that have been opposed by Republicans for their LGBTQ+ themes.
Smith was one of five Democrat candidates who beat opponents endorsed by the notoriously anti-LGBTQ+ group Moms for Liberty, who have been waging war on school boards across the US.
Following being sworn in, the school board voted to repeal the district’s policies banning books, marginalising LGBTQ+ students and teachers and banning transgender athletes from sports, as reported by The Keystone.
At the time of Moms for Liberty’s conference, The Keystone spoke with parents about Moms for Liberty harming the Central Bucks and Pennridge school districts.
Kate Nazemi, a parent living in the Central Bucks School District, said: “In our school district, we’re really seeing several different outside influencers impacting education policy for our kids, and we’re seeing teachers, many parents and students’ needs and wants being pushed aside in favour of partisan policies that don’t reflect the local needs of the community,”
Jane Cramer, who lives in the Pennridge School District, said: “Right now in Pennridge, our students have lost a lot of their rights. It’s been a slow process, but the past few months, it’s really escalated.”
U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, a Republican representing parts of Michigan, encouraged the Ugandan government to “stand firm” amid the international backlash against the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which includes the death penalty in some cases, during a speech in Uganda last October. The act is also known as the “kill the gays” bill.
Walberg made the remarks at Uganda’s National Prayer Breakfast. The Republican co-chairs the event in the U.S. According to reporting by The Young Turks, the trip was paid for by the secretive conservative group The Family — which is also known as the Fellowship Foundation. Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni sat in the audience. He signed the law back in May.
In video in the outlet’s reporting, Walberg is seen “listening to, endorsing and associating himself with the remarks of other speakers. Speakers called LGBTQ+ advocates ‘a force from the bottom of hell’ and urged government officials to adopt ‘Christocracy’ over democracy.”
TYT writes, “Walberg’s trip marks the first time a Family leader or any American lawmaker has publicly embraced the legislation.”
Though Walberg doesn’t mention the Anti-Homosexuality Act, he urges Uganda’s political leaders to not bow down to U.S. or international pressures.
“Though the rest of the world is pushing back on you,” Walberg said during his speech, “though there are other major countries that are trying to get into you and ultimately change you, stand firm. Stand firm.”
The lawmaker referenced Bible stories and verses throughout his speech, according to TYT.
“Worthless is the thought of the world,” he said to applause. “[W]orthless, for instance, is the thought of the World Bank, or the World Health Organization, or the United Nations, or, sadly, some in our administration in America who say, ‘You are wrong for standing for values that God created,’ for saying there are male and female and God created them.’”
Walberg added: “Whose side do we want to be on? God’s side. Not the World Bank, not the United States of America, necessarily, not the U.N. God’s side.”
The Ugandan president welcomed Walberg’s comments, saying that there were Americans who “think like us,” TYT reports.
The national prayer breakfast movement has been a massive project by The Family and has been protested against in the U.S. over The Family’s connections to anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ movements around the world.
Uganda’s breakfast co-chair Member of Parliament David Bahati began championing a “kill the gays” bill more than a decade ago.
In his speech, Walberg told attendees to support the Ugandan president and his violent anti-LGBTQ+ policies: “He knows that he has a Parliament, and … even congressmen like me who will say, ‘We stand with you.’”
None at the event outright spoke about the legislation, TYT notes. However, given the circumstances and the allusions to international pressure, it’s not hard to make the connections.
“I want to thank the congressman from Michigan, because you have seen that we have got the Western people that we see here. I’m not the only one,” Museveni said. He added that Walberg’s support showed that there were others that backed them.
“There are others, also,” Museveni said, TYT reports, “who come to tell you about homosexuals, about abortion. You now know that there are other Americans, other Western people, who think like us.”
Before the new law, Uganda’s penal code already punished same-sex sexual relations with life imprisonment, according to Human Rights Watch. However, the new law created new crimes such as the vaguely worded “promotion of homosexuality” and introduced the death penalty for several acts considered as “aggravated homosexuality.” The new legislation also increased the prison sentence for attempted same-sex conduct to a decade.
The speech hasn’t been widely reported until now. The comments were first reported by the Take Care Tim blog and several other outlets.
During his speech, Walberg said, “I expect some pushback, but I’m not gonna give in to them.”
The Advocate has reached out to Walberg’s office for comment.
Seattle has canceled a proposed plan to build a playground at a nude beach following backlash from the city’s LGBTQ+ community.
As The Seattle Times reported, funding for the proposed $550,000 project to build a children’s playground at Denny Blaine Park, a grassy lawn overlooking a secluded beach on Lake Washington, came from an anonymous donor. At a community meeting earlier this month, Seattle Parks and Recreation Deputy Superintendent Andy Sheffer said that the project would address a lack of playgrounds in the neighborhood without using public funds.
But opponents countered that a playground would jeopardize the beach’s status as a queer haven, where members of the LGBTQ+ community swim and sunbathe in the nude. While public nudity is legal in Washington state, it can be considered “indecent exposure” under certain circumstances, the Times noted, and opponents of the project feared the playground would be used as an excuse to target LGBTQ+ people.
Some even alleged that the purpose of the project was to displace the LGBTQ+ community, despite Seattle Parks officials’ insistence otherwise.
“It’s hard to even come up with a different reason beyond the one that feels most obvious, which is that this is someone trying to shut down the nude beach,” 30-year-old Milo Kusold told the Times.
“If you have a person who’s not in the community showing up with their kids, and there are people around who are naked, they’re probably going to call the cops,” Kusold continued. “This is kind of the weaponization of children to try to exclude or harm the queer community. This is just another example.”
An online petition opposing the playground garnered over 9,000 signatures, and the December 6 meeting was packed with members of the LGBTQ+ community who opposed the project, many of them holding signs that read “Don’t Displace Historic And Diverse Community,” “Gay Buns Over Shady Funds,” and “Save Denny Blaine.”
“I’m a Black transgender man and a homeowner in the city. Denny Blaine is the only park that I feel safe to swim in,” said Vince Reiman, a Seattle native. “When I transitioned, I thought that I would never be able to swim in Lake Washington again… Denny Blaine is my miracle.”
“After hearing from many community members who participated in the community process on the proposed play area project at Denny Blaine Park, Seattle Parks and Recreation has decided not to move forward with the play area project at Denny Blaine,” spokesperson Rachel Schulkin said in a December 8 statement. “While this area of our city still lacks accessible play equipment for kids and families, we understand the feedback that this particular park is not the best location, and we will evaluate other location alternatives.”
“Many members of the public spoke to the importance of this space and use as a beach, and the cohesion it has brought within the LGBTQIA+ community,” Schulkin’s statement continued.
According to the Times, Schulkin would not say whether the funds pledged by the anonymous donor would be used to construct a playground at another location. In response to the paper’s public records request to find out who the donor is, the city said that it would provide records identifying the donor in late February.
Sophie Amity Debs, an organizer with the “Save Denny Blaine” campaign, said that opponents of the playground project were “ecstatic.”
“We came away from the meeting feeling like there was absolutely no way they were going to go ahead with it,” Debs said. “I’m glad the parks department listened to the community.”
A coalition of key LGBTQ+ and immigrants’ rights groups has come forward with a strong condemnation of potential revisions to the United States asylum system. In a letter addressed to President Joe Biden, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and members of Congress, organizations including Immigration Equality, the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, and Lambda Legalhave outlined severe concerns regarding the implications of these changes for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers.
It comes at a critical juncture, just days after the Biden administration indicated its willingness to consider significant changes to the U.S. asylum and immigration system. Last Tuesday, reports emerged that the administration, in discussions with Congress, was open to new border authority measures, including the possibility of expelling migrants without asylum screenings and expanding immigration detention and deportations.
In negotiations with Congress over a roughly $100 billion emergency funding package, which includes military aid and immigration enforcement measures, the White House indicated a willingness to support new, stringent immigration policies, CBS News reported. These include a new legal authority for U.S. border officials to expel migrants without processing their asylum claims, effectively reviving the Trump-era Title 42 policy but without using public health considerations to support it.
Additionally, the administration is considering expanding the use of expedited removal, which allows for the deportation of migrants without court hearings and mandating the detention of certain migrants. These measures are part of an effort to secure Republican backing for the foreign aid package, which includes assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan as well as funding for border enforcement and hiring additional immigration officials.
The letter describes the proposed adjustments as “radically irresponsible restrictions,” drawing parallels with policies from former President Donald Trump’s administration.
“The dangerous and highly politicized proposals under consideration threaten to make asylum inaccessible to a vast majority of refugees,” the letter reads, emphasizing the particular vulnerability of LGBTQ+ individuals escaping persecution and torture.
The coalition points explicitly to the potential reimplementation of expulsion policies that would enable a president to halt asylum access at the border indefinitely. They argue that it is reminiscent of the Title 42 policy’s severe repercussions, during which LGBTQ+ asylum seekers faced egregious violence, including instances of kidnapping, rape, and assault.
Title 42, a policy initially implemented during the Trump administration in March 2020, was framed under the guise of a public health order. Its primary function was to enable U.S. officials to rapidly expel migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, citing the prevention of COVID-19 spread as the rationale. This policy marked a significant shift from previous practices, under which migrants could typically request asylum upon entry, even if entering illegally, and often be allowed into the U.S. to await the outcome of their immigration cases.
Under the stringent measures of Title 42, migrants, regardless of their asylum claims, were swiftly returned across the border, effectively denying them the opportunity to seek asylum. This led to more than 2.8 million expulsions, according to the Associated Press. Notably, families and unaccompanied children were often exempt from these expulsions.
“As we saw under the deadly Title 42 policy, over thirteen thousand migrants were subjected to severe violence in Mexico, including LGBTQ asylum seekers who were kidnapped, raped, and assaulted,” the letter states.
While the policy was initially enacted as a health measure, it had substantial implications for border management and asylum processes, often criticized for circumventing established asylum protocols. In January of this year, the Biden administration announced the end of national COVID-19 emergencies, leading to the cessation of Title 42 restrictions. This has prompted a shift in border policies and asylum processing, sparking debates and legal challenges around the treatment of migrants and the protection of public health.
Equally concerning to the groups is the possibility of enforcing a “Transit Ban” or “Safe Third Country” agreement. The letter highlights the extreme danger these transit countries pose to LGBTQ+ people, marked by widespread violence and discrimination, making them unsuitable as asylum havens.
Transit Ban and Safe Third Country agreements are immigration policies that significantly impact the asylum-seeking process. Under a Transit Ban, asylum seekers who pass through another country before reaching the United States are not eligible to apply for asylum in the U.S., on the assumption that they should have sought asylum in the first safe country they entered.
Similarly, Safe Third Country agreements are formal arrangements between the U.S. and other countries, requiring refugees to seek protection in the first country they enter that is deemed safe, effectively barring them from claiming asylum in the U.S. if they traveled through a designated “safe” third country. These policies have been controversial, as they can force asylum seekers, including those from vulnerable groups like the LGBTQ+ community, to seek refuge in countries where they may still face danger or where the asylum process is not as robust as in the United States.
Additionally, the letter critiques the idea of tightening the asylum screening process, asserting that this could lead to the wrongful return of legitimate LGBTQ+ asylum seekers to countries where they face persecution. The coalition stresses the critical need to maintain an accessible and equitable asylum system, especially for groups at heightened risk, like the LGBTQ+ community.
The Advocate reached out to the White House for comment.
Concluding its message, the coalition made a plea: “The lives of LGBTQ asylum seekers must not be compromised in legislative bargaining.” They call on the Biden administration and Congress to contemplate the grave consequences of these proposed policy changes and to pursue immigration reform that protects the rights and safety of refugees and asylum seekers.
LGBTQ+ parents have existed for as long as LGBTQ+ people have been around. That is to say, forever.
We haven’t been visible until recent decades and haven’t had any rights until recent years, but we have been here. We have been able to have biological children as bisexual and transgender parents, as well as lesbian and gay parents (from various situations, including relationships before coming out). Before there were any legal rights, we’ve had step-children and children in different configurations of chosen family. And now, we can legally adopt and foster in every state.
But it’s been a long road to get here, and we still don’t have equality.
A brief history of queer parenthood
We know that queer people have existed all through history, so it’s not a stretch to imagine we’ve parented from ancient times, though the records don’t exist. In recent centuries, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)’s wife forced him to give up parental rights to their two sons after the indecency trials for his queerness. Audre Lorde(1934-1992) was proudly lesbian, but before she was with her female life partner for over 20 years, she had two children with an out gay husband. Bisexual icon Josephine Baker (1906-1975) adopted twelve children from nine countries and cited being too busy with motherhood as her reason for turning down Coretta Scott King’s offer to become a new figurehead of the Civil Rights Movement after Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination.
Other queer historical figures had children within their straight-passing marriages, like Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) and Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). In one story of a documented transgender parent, American jazz musician Billy Tipton (1914-1989) adopted three children with one of his wives. The adoptions and the marriage weren’t legally recognized, and according to all five women who married him at different times and all three children, none of them knew of his trans identity until he passed away.
Wilde’s loss of custody and the lack of legal recognition over Tipton’s adopted children are indicative of the landscape of LGBTQ+ parentage rights in the 19th and 20th centuries. In cases documented as early as the 1950s in the U.S, a parent’s homosexuality was routinely used to take away custody of their children in a divorce because it was considered a mental illness to be gay or transgender. One mother lost custody because she “associated with female homosexuals and refused to change her ways.” In another, a wife’s “strange passions” made her an “unfit mother.” In another, a judge decided that a heterosexual environment was in “the best interests of the child.”
In the mid-1950s, the nation’s first lesbian rights organization, the Daughters of Bilitis, held the first known official discussion groups about lesbian motherhood. Group co-founder Del Martin (1921-2008) was divorced from a husband before her 50-year partnership with Phyllis Lyon (1924-2020), which was foundational to the lesbian rights movement.
Martin’s ex-husband retained primary custody of their daughter, Kendra. Martin went on to co-found another group, the Lesbian Mothers Union, with Pat Norman and others in 1971 in California. Chapters popped up around the country throughout the 1970s. The group helped lesbian mothers in their custody battles by raising legal fees, putting them in touch with sympathetic witnesses, and trying to change the perception of lesbians as deviants who could not provide a moral home for children.
The movement for queer women to start inseminations from sperm donors grew in the 1970s. Because clinics only served married women, they had to find sperm donors outside of fertility clinics by using friends, helpful queer men, or strangers (the Sperm Bank of California became the first in the country in 1982 to serve single people and queer women). On top of that, there were no legal protections against the donors claiming parental rights, and the co-parents who didn’t give birth had no legal claim to their child.
Adoption also started to become an option in a few areas around that time. In 1978, New York became the first state not to reject applications for adoption based on sexual orientation. One year later, a gay couple in California became the first same-sex couple to jointly adopt a child. A single gay man had already adopted a child in California in 1968.
The 1970s began a positive turning point in custody cases, with openly LGBTQ+ parents winning for the first time. In 1973, a transgender parent won his right to retain custody of his child in Colorado, the first known court opinion involving a trans parent. In 1974, a New Jersey court affirmed that a gay father’s sexual orientation was not a reason to deny him child visitation. It was the first time a U.S. court acknowledged the constitutional rights of LGBTQ+ parents. In 1976, Washington, D.C. became the first jurisdiction in the country to prohibit judges from making custody decisions based solely on sexual orientation.
With self-inseminations and the growth of visibility of the LGBTQ+ rights movement, the “gayby boom” began. The term appeared in print in a story in Newsweek in 1990. It noted that the AIDS epidemic was the top issue for the LGBTQ+ community, but that family issues like child custody and marriage equality were starting to be added to the agenda.
It goes on: “Many are already living the settled-down life of their ‘breeder’ peers. That includes children–either through adoption, artificial insemination or arrangements between lesbians and gay ‘uncles.’ There are an estimated 3 million to 5 million lesbian and gay parents who have had children in the context of a heterosexual relationship. But in the San Francisco area alone, at least 1,000 children have been born to gay or lesbian couples in the last five years.”
The children’s books Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy’s Roommate came out in 1989 and 1990, adding to the visibility of LGBTQ+ families.
Transgender men’s pregnancies started to make the news as sensationalist headlines in the 2000s, but today the field of trans fertility is growing with studies, trainings, and resources.
When marriage equality isn’t enough
Around the turn of the century, civil unions began popping up, then marriage state by state until there was federal recognition of these marriages in 2013. And finally, the Supreme Court granted national same-sex marriage rights in 2015. These relationship protections helped couples with children achieve legal rights for both parents. But it wasn’t automatic. National LGBTQ+ legal organizations still advise that a birth certificate is not enough to prove parentage or custody and recommend that non-biological parents go through a second-parent adoption as they did before marriage legalization.
Earlier this year, for example, an Oklahoma judge ruled that a nongestational mother who was on her child’s birth certificate, married to the child’s other mother, co-created the child, co-raised the child from birth, and had given the child her last name had no parental rights to the child — but the sperm donor did as the biological father.
“LGBTQ+ parents and our children are most definitely under attack, both as part of the general attacks on LGBTQ+ people right now and in terms of specific attacks on our families,” says Dana Rudolph, founder and publisher of the two-time GLAAD Media Award-winning site, Mombian and creator of LGBTQ Families Day.
She doesn’t see this as a moment of losing rights, but rather as ongoing inequality, since full equality for LGBTQ+ parents has never been reached.
“LGBTQ+ parents and our children have more visibility than ever, in our communities and workplaces, in the news, and in books and other media for children,” Rudolph says. “Despite current attacks on our families in many places, I think that broadly speaking, we have achieved greater acceptance over the past decades, making it easier to be visible.”
Nevertheless, bans of books showing LGBTQ+ families, state laws allowing discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in adoption and foster care, anti-trans laws, and outdated state parentage laws, all leave LGBTQ+ parents at risk.
But LGBTQ+ parents’ numbers are growing. One in three LGBTQ+ people has had a child at some point in their life and as many as six million Americans have an LGBTQ+ parent. Half of LGBTQ+ millennials are actively planning on having a first or additional child. And there are many famous LGBTQ+ parents today – including Lance Bass, Karamo Brown, Andy Cohen, Anderson Cooper, Elton John, Melissa Etheridge, Tan France, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Patrick Harris & David Burtka, Jesse Tyler Ferguson & Justin Mikita, Ricky Martin, and Wanda Sykes – who are doing wonders for visibility.
They all stand on the shoulders of the parents who came before and fought for the rights we have today to be able to adopt, appear on birth certificates, partner with surrogates, get married, and more. Today, we’re more visible and protected than ever today, even if we still have further to go.
Major retailers in California are now required to have gender-neutral toy aisles under a new state law.
The law, which went into effect Monday, stems from a 2021 bill in the California legislature requiring toy retailers with a physical location in the state and at least 500 employees “to maintain a gender-neutral section or area to be labeled at the discretion of the retailer.”
California Assemblymember Evan Low said he was inspired to introduce this bill by an 8-year-old girl who asked, “Why should a store tell me what a girl’s shirt or toy is?”
“Her bill will help children express themselves freely and without bias. We need to let kids be kids,” Low said.
Stores failing to comply with the new law could be subjected to a $250 penalty for the first violation, and up to $500 for subsequent infractions, the bill text outlined.
“We should all have compassion for individuals experiencing gender dysphoria,” said California Family Council President Jonathan Keller at the time. “But activists and state legislators have no right to force retailers to espouse government-approved messages about sexuality and gender. It’s a violation of free speech and it’s just plain wrong.”
The bill passed in a 49-16 vote in September 2021 and was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom the following month.
The Spahr Center has moved to:1575 Francisco Blvd. East, San Rafael 94901The building is just before the turnoff to Target and Home Depot. Our phone number continues to be 415/457-2487.
Our staff will be working remotely and online until January 8 when the new location opens for limited services. We will be fully operational in our new home by January 15. More details here. LGBT+ Senior Programswill be fully operational starting January 4 with our Topical Thursday zoom group. January 8 will bring our Monday Living Room Conversation on zoom and we’ll be back to our Second Tuesday in-person group at Mgt. Todd Senior Center on January 9.
UPCOMING EVENTSall events are free unless otherwise noted January 4Topical ThursdaysListening to Each Other12:30 to 2 pmon zoom January 8Living Room Conversation7 to 8 pm on zoom January 9Second Tuesdayat Mgt. Todd Senior Center Topic: Doing Things Differently1560 Hill Road, Novato in the Hill Community Room behind the main building12:30 to 2:30 January 10LGBT+ Senior Monthly Mixer **at San Rafael Joe’s -from 4th Street entrance4:30 to 6 pm January 16Games Day *at Sam’s Place, Novato 1545 S. Novato Blvd.meal at 2 pm, games at 3 pm January 18Senior Breakfast Club *at Sam’s Place, Novato 9:30 am January 23Fourth TuesdayWest Marin LGBT+ Senior GatheringSan Geronimo Valley Community Center 6350 Sir Francis Drake Blvd12:30 to 1 brown bag/1-2:30 discussion January 26Men’s Brown Bag Lunchlast Friday of every monthAT OUR NEW OFFICES1575 Francisco Blvd. East, San Rafael 94901PLEASE CONSIDER CARPOOLING! noon to 1:30 pm January 30Women’s Coffee *at Sam’s Place, Novato 10 am
*Social Committee event, must RSVP, at least 8 participants required;to RSVP or get on their email list, write to them at socialcommittee@comcast.net ** See flyer below
To join the Spahr Senior Groupon ZoomMondays, 7 to 8 pm, &Thursdays, 12:30 to 2 pm,click the purple button below the Butterfly Heart or here:
New participants are warmly welcomed!If you’re zoom-challenged, let me know and I’ll work with you!
Topical Thursdays12:30 to 2 pm January 4Topic: Listening to Each OtherIs there a difference between hearing people speak and truly listening to each other? In the Heart Circle practice that is part of another community that I am part of, we pass a talisman/talking stick and each take a turn speaking from the heart. When someone else is speaking, the rest of us, as we say, listen from the heart; in other words, we let go of our thoughts and judgments and give the person speaking our full, witnessing attention. This practice gives our time together a profoundly different quality. Let’s talk!
Living Room Conversation Mondays7 to 8 pm We share with each other about how we’re doing and have unstructured conversations focused on listening from our hearts and deepening community.
Second Tuesday 1560 Hill Road, NovatoMgt. Todd Senior Center’sHill Community Roombehind the main buildingsee site map below new people warmly welcomed! 12:30 to 2:30 pm potluck & discussion Topic: Doing Things Differently If you had your life to live over again, what would you do differently? Given your present understanding and perspective, what changes would you make in the life you have lived? I don’t have a lot of regrets in my life but one is that I let a stepmother get in the way of my relationship with my dad in the last years of his life. It wasn’t entirely my actions – he was a participant in this, too – yet I allowed my stepmother to dominate our conversations and stifle deeper connection. What would you do differently were you able to do it all over again. And could that awareness possibly affect how you live the life you still have ahead?
New Covid Protocols: The Spahr Center provides critical, life-saving services to some immunocompromised communities. Therefore, we require program participants to be fully vaccinated, including a bivalent booster. Otherwise, community members are required to wear a mask. And please stay home if you’re experiencing any possible covid symptoms! The purple arrow points to our meeting room behind the main building at the Mgt. Todd Senior Center:
The Northbay LGBT+ Senior Social Committeehas been consistently offering meaningful, fun events for the senior community. Everyone born in any month will be celebrated in that month’s calendar – including your birthday if you’ll let them know when it rolls around! To sign up for their emails or register for events, clickhere. You can find their January birthdays and calendarhere.
Coronavirus Updates A recent covid vaccination is available if you had your last injection at least 6 months ago. Check with your care provider. Flu and RSV vaccine shots are also available. Covid Test Expiration Dates Extended:When the tests were created, a conservative date was assigned because authorities didn’t know how long they would be effective. They are working beyond their original expiration date and have been assigned new ones. You can check on your kits’ expiration date and learn more by clicking here.IF your kit is made by Quickvue, you can search for the updated expiration date here. In order to keep track of new infections, the County asks that we report self-test resultshere. To see Marin County’s latest pandemic information, click here. May we all be safe and well!
Vivalon Resources for Seniors Vivalon has moved to its new Healthy Aging Campus at 999 3rd Street, San Rafael, next to the Kaiser Building. Their phone number is 415/456-9062 The agency offers many resources for us seniors. You can learn more here. You can see their schedule of classes, some in person and some on zoom, here. The Vivalon Cafe has great daily specials, a spacious dining room, small tables and big round tables for groups. Open 11:30 to 1:45 weekdays; $8 for members, $15 for guests, with takeout readily available. You can find their daily changing menu and more information here.
Building Community from the Comfort of Your Home!See old friends and make new ones! Join us! The Spahr Center’s LGBT Senior Discussion Groupscontinue everyMonday, 7 to 8 pm& Thursday, 12:30 to 2 pm on zoom
To Join Group by Video using Computer, Smart Phone or TabletJust click this button at the start time, 6:55 pm Mondays / 12:25 pm Thursdays:Join GroupAlways the same link! Try it, it’s easy!
To Join Group by Phone CallIf you don’t have internet connections or prefer joining by phone,call the following number at the start time,6:55 pm Mondays / 12:25 pm Thursdays:1-669-900-6833The Meeting id is 820 7368 6606#(no participant id required)The password, if requested, is 135296#If you want to be called into the group by phone, notify Bill Blackburn at 415/450-5339
California Department of Aging ResourcesThe CDA has a website that is packed with information and resources relevant to the lives of seniors in our state. From Covid-19 updates to more general care for age-related health issues, access to legal assistance to getting home-delivered meals to help with housing, you may well find answers to your questions by clicking: here.
Adult and Aging Service’s Information and Assistance Line, providing information and referrals to the full range of services available to older adults, adults with disabilities and their family caregivers, has a new phone number and email address: 415/473-INFO (4636) 8:30 am to 4:30 pm weekdays473INFO@marincounty.org
Love Song for Humanity Cellist Jamie Sieber’s Love Song for Humanity is here if you would like to hear a piece of her beautiful instrumental work.
months ahead. In a world where the fight for equality and acceptance continues, one crucial area that demands our attention is the rights and well-being of the LGBTQ+ community. With more than 71 percent support for marriage equalityand more than 7.2 percent of American adults identifying as LGBTQ+, according to Gallup, the journey towards a more inclusive society is ongoing, and each of us holds the power to contribute to this crucial cause. New Year’s resolutions often focus on personal growth and improvement, but they can also be a powerful tool for social change, especially in championing LGBTQ+ rights.
This community, diverse in its nature, faces unique challenges ranging from discrimination and social stigma to legal barriers and health disparities.
In 2023, Republican state legislatures passed dozens of laws that attack the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, with particular vigor in legislation targeting transgender people.
We can create a ripple effect of positive change by actively promoting equality and understanding. Whether through educating ourselves, advocating for inclusive policies, or simply being an ally, every action counts. Embracing such resolutions not only benefits the LGBTQ+ community but also enriches everyone’s lives, fostering a culture of empathy, respect, and unity.
To guide and inspire these efforts, here is a list of 24 resolutions that can be adopted in 2024 to support the LGBTQ+ community. These resolutions are designed to be practical, impactful, and achievable. They encompass a range of activities, from personal education and advocacy to community engagement and political activism. This list serves as a starting point for individuals looking to make a meaningful difference in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, ensuring that the upcoming year is marked by personal growth and a deeper commitment to social justice and equality.
Educate Yourself
Commit to learning more about LGBTQ+ history and issues.
Support LGBTQ+ Businesses
Make an effort to buy from businesses owned by LGBTQ+ individuals.
Advocate for Inclusive Policies
Work towards implementing inclusive policies in your workplace or school.
Attend Pride Events
Show your support by participating in Pride parades and events.
Volunteer for LGBTQ+ Organizations
Offer your time to local LGBTQ+ charities or groups.
Challenge Homophobia and Transphobia
Speak out against discrimination and hate speech.
Support LGBTQ+ Artists and Creators
Promote and support the work of LGBTQ+ artists and creators.
Support LGBTQ+ Youth
Mentor or support programs that assist LGBTQ+ youth.
Donate to LGBTQ+ Causes
Financially support organizations fighting for LGBTQ+ rights.
Educate Others
Share your knowledge about LGBTQ+ issues with friends and family.
Promote Gender-Neutral Language
Use inclusive language in your daily life.
Respect Pronouns
Always use the correct pronouns for everyone you meet. A helpful resource on the importance of pronouns is pronouns.org.
Participate in Advocacy Campaigns
Join campaigns fighting for LGBTQ+ rights.
Create Safe Spaces
Ensure your environment is welcoming to all LGBTQ+ individuals.
Support Mental Health Initiatives
Advocate for and support mental health services for the LGBTQ+ community.
Engage in Political Advocacy
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A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked key parts of an Iowa law that bans some books from school libraries and forbids teachers from raising LGBTQ+ issues.
Judge Stephen Locher’s preliminary injunction halts enforcement of the law, which was set to take effect Jan. 1 but already had resulted in the removal of hundreds of books from Iowa schools.
The law, which the Republican-led Legislature and GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds approved early in 2023, bans books depicting sex acts from school libraries and classrooms and forbids teachers from raising gender identity and sexual orientation issues with students through the sixth grade. Locher blocked enforcement of those two provisions.
The judge said the ban on books is “incredibly broad” and has resulted in the removal of history volumes, classics, award-winning novels and “even books designed to help students avoid being victimized by sexual assault.” He said that part of the law is unlikely to satisfy the constitution’s requirements for free speech.
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In barring the provision barring any discussion of “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” in elementary school, Locher said the way it was written it was “wildly overbroad.”
Reynolds said in a statement that she was “extremely disappointed” by the ruling.
“Instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation has no place in kindergarten through sixth grade classrooms,” Reynolds said. “And there should be no question that books containing sexually explicit content — as clearly defined in Iowa law — do not belong in a school library for children. The fact that we’re even arguing these issues is ridiculous.”
Educators lauded the decision, however.
“When education professionals return to work next week, they can do what they do best: take great care of all their students without fear of reprisal,” Mike Beranek, president of the Iowa State Education Association, said in a statement.
The judge let stand a requirement that school administrators notify parents if their child asks to change their pronouns or name, saying the plaintiffs did not have standing.
Iowa’s measure is part of a wave of similar legislation across the country. Typically backed by Republican lawmakers, the laws seek to prohibit discussionof gender and sexual orientation issues, ban treatments such as puberty blockers for transgender children, and restrict the use of restrooms in schools. Many have prompted court challenges.
Opponents of the Iowa law filed two lawsuits. One is on behalf of the organization Iowa Safe Schools and seven students, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and Lambda Legal. The other is by the Iowa State Education Association, publisher Penguin Random House and four authors.
The first lawsuit argues the measure is unconstitutional because it violates students’ and teachers’ free speech and equal protection rights. The second, which focused more narrowly on the book bans, argues the law violates the First and 14th amendments.
Lawyers for both lawsuits said the law is broad and confusing.
At a Dec. 22 hearing, Daniel Johnston of the Iowa attorney general’s office argued that school officials were applying the book ban too broadly. When deciding whether to remove books, educators shouldn’t focus on the idea of a sex act but instead look for text or images that meet Iowa’s definition of a sex act, Johnston said.
When a celebrity comes out publicly as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, it may no longer warrant a Time magazine cover or a prime-time television interview, but it’s nonetheless a meaningful revelation for the individual sharing their story and an important milestone for the community as a whole.
Psychologist Robert Eichberg, who co-founded National Coming Out Day with activist Jean O’Leary in 1988, spoke about the broader impact of a person coming out of the proverbial closet three decades ago: “Most people think they don’t know anyone gay or lesbian, and in fact everybody does. It is imperative that we come out and let people know who we are and disabuse them of their fears and stereotypes,” Eichberg said in a 1993 interview, according to his New York Times obituary.
National Coming Out Day is celebrated annually on Oct. 11, a date that was chosen to mark the anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, which drew hundreds of thousands of people to the nation’s capital. But lucky for us, LGBTQ people — celebrities or not — come out 365 days a year.
While it would be impossible to honor them all, here are just a few of the countless queer people who came out in 2023.
Noah Schnapp
Noah Schnapp in Paris, on Jan. 19.JM Haedrich / SIPA via AP file
“Stranger Things” star Noah Schnapp came out as gay in a TikTok video posted in January. In a written message that appeared on the video, the 19-year-old actor revealed that when he “finally told my friends and family I was gay after being scared in the closet for 18 years,” their response was simply: “We know.”
Bella Ramsey
Bella Ramsey in New York City, on May 1.Evan Agostini / Invision/AP file
“The Last of Us” star Bella Ramsey came out as gender-fluid in an interview published in The New York Times in January. The actor, who first rose to fame in HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones,” told the paper that her “gender has always been very fluid” and said if she sees “nonbinary” as an option on a form, she will tick it. However, she added, “Being gendered isn’t something that I particularly like, but in terms of pronouns, I really couldn’t care less.”
Jakub Jankto
Jakub Jankto of Cagliari during a match in Turin, Italy, on Aug. 21. Jonathan Moscrop / Sportimage/Cal Sport Media via AP file
Czech Republic soccer player Jakub Jankto came out as gay in a video shared on social media in February. “I am homosexual, and I no longer want to hide myself,” he said in the video, which has nearly 18 million views on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Sparta Prague, the professional club Jankto was playing for at the time, retweeted the video, saying, “You have our support. Live your life, Jakube. Nothing else matters.”
Alison Brie
Alison Brie attends the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Mar. 12.Leon Bennett / FilmMagic via Getty Images file
“Freelance” and “GLOW” star Alison Brie came out as bisexual in a video for BuzzFeed News in February, where she and her husband, Dave Franco, were reading thirsty social media posts from fans about each other. At one point, Brie reads a tweet to her husband: “Listen, I am bisexual for a reason, and that reason is strictly to be used in a threesome by Dave Franco and Alison Brie.” Brie and Franco high-five, and then Brie says, “That’s also why I’m bisexual.” Franco responds, “You’ve been waiting for this tweet from someone you don’t know who they are or what they look like?” Brie shrugs and says, “Yeah.”
Mo’Nique
Mo’Nique appears in “My Name is Mo’Nique” in 2022.John Washington Jr.
Comedian and actor Mo’Nique came out as queer in her Netflix comedy special, “My Name Is Mo’Nique,” which debuted in April. She told a tearful story about how she never came out to her grandmother due to her grandmother’s tense relationship with Mo’Nique’s Uncle Tina, who was assigned female at birth but presented masculine, according to the Gay Times. Later in the special, Mo’Nique revealed that she came out to her husband, Sidney Hicks: “I said, ‘Daddy, I want to be with another woman sexually.’ And he look at me, so beautifully and so patient and so loving, and said, ‘B—-, me too.’”
Chloe Veitch
Chloe Veitch at the VIP Watch Party and Celebration for “Love Is Blind: The Live Reunion” in Los Angeles on April 16.John Salangsang / Variety via Getty Images
Chloe Veitch, the star of Netflix’s reality series “Too Hot To Handle,” came out in April in an interview with The Sun. She said “doing breath work forced me to dig deeper.” She added, “I realized, ‘This is what’s bothering you — you’re bisexual and you haven’t told anyone.’ I’ve definitely been battling it, to be honest. I mean, being in and out of little flings with girls. I felt like it was my dirty little secret so it has taken the weight off my shoulders.”
Lauv
Lauv performs during the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball in Washington, D.C., in 2022.Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images for iHeartRadio file
Lauv, the singer-songwriter known for his song “I Like Me Better,” came out in a TikTok in June. The video shows Lauv in what appears to be the back of a car under the text, “When ur dating a girl but ur also a little bit into men.” He added in the caption, “Does it have to be that big of a deal? i havent done much aside from kiss so tbh don’t wannna jump the gun but tbh i feel things and i dont wanna pretend i dont.” Many of his fans were supportive in comments, with one writing, “Lauv is lauv is lauv.”
Miss Benny
Miss Benny attends The Out100 Party in Hollywood, Calif. on Nov. 9.Presley Ann / Getty Images for Out.com file
The lead of Netflix’s show “Glamorous,” which also stars Kim Cattrall, came out as a transgender woman in a June essay for Time magazine. Miss Benny revealed that her character, Marco, would also transition in the show. She said she was afraid to come out as herself on a show featuring a trans character at a time when dozens of states have considered bills to restrict trans rights. “But then I am reminded that this fear is exactly why I wanted to include my transition in the show: Because I know that when I was a terrified queer kid in Texas, it was the queer joy I found in droplets online that guided me to my happiness,” she said.
Adore Delano
Adore Delano performs in San Francisco, on Aug. 12.Annie Lesser/imageSPACE / imageSPACE/Sipa USA via AP file
Former “RuPaul’s Drag Race”contestant Adore Delano came out as transgenderin July. In a video shared with her millions of Instagram followers, Delano said she initially came out as trans when she was a teenager but went back in the closet when she competed on “American Idol” in 2008.
Shinjiro Atae
Shinjiro Atae in Hollywood, Calif., on March 27.Frazer Harrison / Getty Images file
Japanese pop star Shinjiro Atae came out as gay at a fan event in Tokyo in July. “For years, I struggled to accept a part of myself … But now after all I have been through, I finally have the courage to open up to you about something,” he told his fans, according to the AP. “I am a gay man.” Atae, who is now based in Los Angeles, performed for 15 years in the popular group AAA before taking a break in 2020.
Gabby Windey
Gabby Windey on “The Bachelor.”Craig Sjodin / ABC via Getty Images file
Former “Bachelorette” star and Denver Broncos cheerleader Gabby Windeyrevealed that she’s in a relationship with writer and comedian Robby Hoffman. In an Instagram post shared in August, Windey included several photos of herself and Hoffman and cheekily wrote, “Told you I’m a girls girl!!”
Wayne Brady
Wayne Brady at the American Music Awards, in Los Angeles, in 2022.Chris Pizzello / Invision/AP file
“Let’s Make a Deal” host Wayne Brady came out as pansexual in an interview with People magazine that was published in August. LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD defines pansexual as a descriptor for someone “who has the capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, and/ or emotional attractions to any person, regardless of gender identity.”
Ncuti Gatwa
Ncuti Gatwa in London in 2022.Samir Hussein / WireImage
“Sex Education” star Ncuti Gatwa came out publicly as queer in an interview with Elle UK published in August. Gatwa, who played one of the Kens in this summer’s wildly popular “Barbie” blockbuster, shared a touching story about meeting “another queer Rwandan person” at Manchester Pride several years ago. At the time, he told the magazine, “I thought I was the only one in the world.”
Joe Locke
Joe Locke in London on July 13, 2023.Fred Duval / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via AP file
“Heartstopper” star Joe Locke plays an openly gay teenager who faces bullying for who he is in the popular coming-of-age series based on Alice Oseman’s graphic novels, but Locke didn’t publicly discuss his sexuality until August.
“People have assumed and written it,” he told Teen Vogue of his sexuality, “and I haven’t ever corrected anyone because I haven’t felt the need to. But I’ve never specifically stated my sexuality.”
He told the magazine that he can’t recall when he first knew he was gay, but that he’s been openly gay since he was about 12.
Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens.Colin Young-Wolff / Invision / AP file
Singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens seemingly came out in an Instagram post in October about his late partner, Evans Richardson, to whom he dedicated his latest album, “Javelin.” Stevens wrote that Richardson, who died in April, “was one of those rare and beautiful ones you find only once in a lifetime — precious, impeccable, and absolutely exceptional in every way.”
Jade Jolie
Jade Jolie at the Los Angeles premiere of “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans” in Hollywood, Calif. in 2022.Araya Doheny / Getty Images file
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 5 contestant Jade Jolie came out as transgender in a short post on X in October, writing, “Deciding to choose myself and move forward with my transition.”
Che Flores
Che Flores referees a basketball game in Phoenix on Nov. 21.Chris Coduto / Getty Images file
Che Flores became the NBA’s first out nonbinary and transgender referee after coming out in October. Flores, who uses they/them pronouns, told GQ being misgendered as she/her “felt like a little jab in the gut,” and that after coming out they could be more comfortable in the world and at work. “I just think of having younger queer kids look at somebody who’s on a high-profile stage and not using it,” Flores told GQ. “And I’m not using the league to an advantage in any way. This is just to let young kids know that we can exist, we can be successful in all different ways.”
Karan Brar
Karan Brar at the premiere of “Murder Mystery 2” in Los Angeles on March 28.Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Netflix file
Karan Brar, who starred in the comedy “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and the Disney Channel’s “Jessie,” penned an emotional essay for Teen Vogue in November in which he came out as bisexual. He wrote that his yearslong struggle with his sexuality and grief over the loss of his friend and fellow Disney star Cameron Boyce led him to develop a “deeply unhealthy relationship with alcohol” until he checked himself in to an inpatient treatment center in 2020. “I still keep things close to the vest online, but the gap between who I am and who I appear to be is shrinking,” Brar wrote. “It’s not closed yet, and it may never be.”
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish performs in Leeds, England on Aug. 25.Matthew Baker / Getty Images for ABA file
Singer-songwriter Billie Eilish said she was surprised when she found out people didn’t know she isn’t straight. The 22-year-old described being attracted to women in a November interview with Variety, saying of women, “I’m attracted to them as people. I’m attracted to them for real.” Earlier this month, she told Variety at an event that she didn’t intend for her comment to be major news. “But I kind of thought, ‘Wasn’t it obvious?’ I didn’t realize people didn’t know,” she said. “I just don’t really believe in it. I’m just like, ‘Why can’t we just exist?’ I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I just didn’t talk about it. Whoops.”
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