It is always exciting when a new media organization starts up and provides readers and listeners with news you are truly interested in and entertainment to lighten your day. The new Sac Pride Media Group led by Tyler Edwards will launch the first ever live LGBTQ weekly radio show, “Sac Pride Live” on local Talk 650 KSTE Radio as well as worldwide on iHeartRadio, by app on your Smartphone or online at www.iheart.com/live/Talk-650-KSTE-229. The first show will air live Saturday, April 27 after the River Cats game between 10:00 PM and 12 midnight. On-air hosts for Sacramento’s newest source for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer community, will be realtor Tyler Edwards and we

In celebration of Black History Month, KVIE Public Television will broadcast local and national programs that honor the spirit, creativity, and determination of significant heroes of the Civil Rights Era, as well as important individuals in history and today. KVIE will air three documentaries from its original series, ViewFinder, that highlight African Americans in the region. The first examines Sacramento during the Civil Rights era, and the many significant, yet unknown, heroes during this turbulent time. African Americans in California’s Heartland – The Civil Rights Era, airs Tuesday, February 5, at 10:30pm and explores the issue of equality in education, housing and job opportunities,

A group of dedicated marriage equality activists waited out the morning at Badlands in the heart of Lavender Heights Monday only to learn that once again, the Supreme Court issued no word on the status of Proposition 8 along with several other federal cases involving same-sex couples. It was mid-morning when finally it was learned that the justices announced that it “redistributed the Prop 8 and DOMA cases for consideration during its morning conference this Friday, December 7, 2012”. According to the web site of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), “This means we could get word from the Court on Friday, or the morning of Monday, December 10. It is important to remember that

To most Northern Californians, the torrential rain may have dampened interest in what is going on behind closed doors in Washington at the Supreme Court, but for hundreds of same-sex couples here in Sacramento, there is but one thing on their minds. Will they be planning a December wedding? Today the U.S. Supreme Court justices were in conference to decide if they will take on the case of Proposition 8 (Hollingsworth v. Perry). When the clerk of the court handed out outcome of the conference today to the press, none of the marriage equality cases were on the list. In other words they did not make a decision ether way. The next time we have a chance to find out anything is Monday mornin

Sacramento organizations plan events around Prop 8 Supreme Court decision It has been a long road for Sacramento’s same-sex couples, their families, friends, and supporters, and that road may or may not end this week. The Supreme Court justices will go behind closed doors Friday morning to decide if they will take on the case of Proposition 8 (Hollingsworth v. Perry), if the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the State of California from defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. At the same conference session Friday, the court will work their way through several appeals to decide whether legally married gay couples have the right to equal benefits u

Kate Sullivan Gibbens, with license from the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) and Broadway Impact, is proud to announce a one-night-only reading of “8,” Saturday, October 20, 2012 at the downtown Crest Theater. “8” is a play chronicling the historic trial in the federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8, written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter and AFER Founding Board Member Dustin Lance Black. Black, who pinned the Academy Award-winning feature film Milk and the film J. Edgar, based “8” on the actual words of the trial transcripts, first-hand observations of the courtroom drama and interviews with the plaintiffs and their families of the unprecedente

Peer-abuse and biased harassment is a problem in the best of schools. Last Sunday, “Seth’s Law” which forces public schools to better enforce existing anti-bullying policies took effect. To those parents whose children were victims of peer abuse-driven bullycide, based on biased harassment, this California law comes too late. However, for those students returning to school in the fall, it will offer them, as well as their parents’ valuable support in enforcing legal protections as well as creating a transparent compliance structure that schools must follow in order to be in compliance with Seth’s Law. Authored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) and sponsored by Equality Cal

Tuesday, shortly after the ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denying an en banc hearing, upholding an earlier ruling that Proposition 8’s ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional, LGBT leaders and community members gathered at the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center for a press conference. Shara Murphy, Executive Director of the Center hosted members of the Board of Directors of Equality Action NOW, same-sex couples who are waiting to be married, representatives of organizations such as the Sacramento Stonewall Democrats, Rainbow Chamber of Commerce, Sacramento City Councilman elect, Steve Hansen,  as well as allies and members of the community. While most are happy that

Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center Hosts Community Gathering An announcement was made today that the Ninth Circuit will issue an order tomorrow around 10:00am on the court’s web site, concerning marriage equality here in California. To date, in a decision by a three-judge panel after a fiery hearing, affirmed Judge Walker’s decision striking down Proposition 8 as unconstitutional. Those who supported Prop 8 were frustrated. So in a “play to slow down the process of marriage equality”, they asked the ninth Circuit for an en banc rehearing. They were basically saying “we do not like the decision from those three judges so we want an 11 judge panel to re-hear the case”, hoping to perhaps put

Last Tuesday was Harvey Milk Day in California. Equality Action NOW (EAN), a local civil rights organization hosted their third annual Harvey Milk Day celebration at Mulvaney’s in Midtown Sacramento. The event was well attended. Tina Reynolds, co-founder of EAN opened the event by giving a brief history of the organization. Ken Pierce, EAN’s long-time Public Relations Director, Angela Luna, 5th grade teacher and author of “In Celebration of Harvey Milk”, and Diana Lutz, all former recipients of the Harvey Milk Award, introduced and presented this year’s recipients of the “Spirit of Harvey Milk” Awards. The “Spirit of Harvey Milk” award is given out to community members and activist who b

Though it was a sparse crowd, none-the-less the first of several events honoring Harvey Milk, last Tuesday, was exciting, informative, and meaningful. Held at the beautiful California Museum and hosted by The Harvey Milk Foundation, Equality California (EQCA) and the California State LGBT Legislative Caucus, the event focused on a discussion of the FAIR Education Act (SB 48) as well as related issues including peer abuse which is prevalent in some of our schools. The FAIR Education Act authored by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) mandates all California schools to be more inclusive in teaching students about the history and accomplishments LGBT people have in American society. Because o

This year Harvey Milk Day will be marked with several events here in Sacramento. Harvey Milk was a leader in the gay rights movement who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. This made him the nation’s first openly gay man elected to public office in a major U.S. city. Milk, along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone was assassinated by ousted Supervisor Dan White, November 27, 1978. On October 12, 2009, Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill (SB 572) establishing “Harvey Milk Day” to take place each May 22nd, Milk’s birthday. This year, during the week of May 21 – 25, schools are encouraged to educate students about a leader whose courageous work helped to end

Equality Action NOW (EAN), a local Sacramento grassroots civil rights organization is hosting their third annual, all-ages, Harvey Milk Day celebration, Tuesday, May 22, 2012 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at Mulvaney’s Next Door to the B&L, 1215 19th Street, Sacramento. Harvey Milk was a leader in the gay rights movement who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. This made him the nation’s first openly gay man elected to public office in a major U.S. city. Milk, along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone was assassinated by ousted Supervisor Dan White, November 27, 1978. On October 12, 2009, Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill (SB 572) establishing “Harvey Milk Day”

Following the successful New York/L.A. premiere of “Bully” distributor Harvey Weinstein and filmmaker Lee Hirsch will open the compelling documentary in cities across the U.S. April 13, 2012. Last week the heavy-hitting documentary opened in five theaters and made an average of $23,000 per-theater in a single night. Here in Sacramento “Bully” will premiere at the Tower Theater for invited guests Tuesday, April 10 then open for a limited run beginning Friday, April 13th. During the 2009-2010 school year, director Hirsch and his crew followed five families affected by youth bullying by their peers, including two who’s children committed suicide after persistent and intense mental and physi

The Sacramento International Film Festival 2012 invites you to discover former governor Pat Brown in an exciting tale of political power and a family dynasty called by some “The West Coast Kennedys.”  The California State of Mind: The Legacy of Pat Brown plays on opening night of the festival, April 21, 2012 (Pat's 107th Birthday) at the Crocker Art Museum. In the turbulent 1960’s, an ordinary man rose to face extraordinary challenges.  Now, Pat Brown’s granddaughter and award-winning Director, Sascha Rice, gives an inside look into the former Governor’s life and legacy which takes on startling new significance as his son, Jerry Brown is Governor of California – again.  The documentary gr

Press Conference Called in Front of the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center Tomorrow 1:00pm March 8, 2012 – Earlier today news broke that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, earlier this year, decided that because the new Executive Director of Francis House Center, Reverend Faith Whitmore, supported LGBT marriage rights and the organization, Planned Parenthood, they would abruptly pull their yearly donation to the homeless organization. While Rev. Whitmore was eloquent in an interview with the Sacramento Bee and News 10 of how she took the news when she received the letter from the Diocese, members of the LGBT community, the faith-based community and homeless rights advocates were qu

On Friday morning, March 2, 2012, after a meeting with leadership of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community concerning gay rights issues, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson joined a growing list of over 175 other mayors and municipal leaders, including West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon who signed early in the campaign, representing 32 states across the country, standing up publicly for marriage equality. “Mayors for the Freedom to Marry” are a broad-based and nonpartisan group of mayors who believe “all people should be able to share in the love and commitment of marriage”. Though it took a while for Mayor Johnson to agree to sign the statement, in the end the mayo

A couple of weeks ago I reviewed the five live action and five animated Academy Award nominated narrative shorts playing at the Crest Theatre.  Those two programs are continuing for another week and the original article can be found here. But on Thursday (Feb 23), for the first time in Sacramento, there's a chance to see the nominated documentary shorts.  Well, four of the five films - as one is missing.  This isn't that unusual, in fact it's more remarkable that the distributors of the shorts programs could corral the other 14 films into 3 programs, than it is that they couldn't get the 15th.  It's conjecture on my part, but I'd guess that there was a problem securing distribution right

Well over 800 visitors participated in the Museum Day festivities at the Sojourner Truth Multicultural Arts Museum this past Saturday. The day’s events included cultural performances, storytelling, arts and crafts activities for children, food demonstrations and vendors displays of ethnic jewelry, greeting cards and well as original works of art. “We had a beautiful event today,” stated museum director and founder, artist Shonna McDaniels. “All of our activities today were intended to further our primary mission to educate children and adults about the cultural diversity that has strengthened this nation while providing a platform to develop and showcase artists from culturally diverse

The fire Dr. Martin Luther King stoked still burns. Today over 20,000 people in Sacramento marched to honor him. Across the nation, perhaps millions. Honoring King with the 31st annual March for the Dream, a diverse group of US citizens, from points near and far, joined each other in Sacramento as they marched simultaneously from Grant High School in north Sacramento and from Oak Park's Community Center to Sacramento Convention Center for a community celebration. People jumped into the march from Land Park and Del Paso Blvd. as the march moved forward. Bands played, marchers sported banners, signs and balloons. Two young girls rode a horse. Here are some images from today: