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

To follow up “National Day of Silence”, an event held in Junior and High Schools all across the nation, the local Sacramento LGBTQ Youth Task Force is hosting a “Breaking the Silence” rally on the west steps of the California State Capitol (1314 Tenth St., Sacramento, CA 95814) Friday, April 19, 2013 between 5:00pm and 7:30pm. Originally organized by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in 1996, the “Day of Silence” is a day of action in which “hundreds of thousands of students across the country take some form of a vow of silence to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and peer-abuse in schools. Through their activities students can sp

A man was walking home the night of St. Patrick's Day in Midtown, near D and 20th when one man approached him and made gay-bashing comments. Then another man hit him with a bat while making anti-gay remarks. This occurred only blocks away from Sacramento's Lavender Heights, otherwise known as the gay-berhood, which is home to businesses, bars and clubs owned by those in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community. Police have suspect descriptions, but no one has been arrested for the crime; the victim sustained minor injuries in the attack and is out of the hospital. News of the attack spread Monday morning, and gay rights advocates were concerned for the overall safety

It's been like Groundhog Day for the past 12 years for gay couples who have wanted to get married on Valentine's Day as part of Freedom to Marry Week. Groundhog Day, the movie. You know, the one where the same thing keeps happening day after day. For straight couples it's been a piece of cake; get dressed up, head to the county's Recorder office, fill out some paperwork. Boom…….you're married. For gay couples, all they've heard is "no." Yolo and Sacramento County Chapters of Marriage Equality USA on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, rallied at noon at the Sacramento County Recorder’s Office. The staff at the Recorder's office have grown used to the scenario, so it's like 'old home week' when g

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

In 28 years of celebrating Pride in Sacramento there has never been an official Pride Gala. 2012 changed everything. This year the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center(SGLC) premiered Courage to Stand, the official kick-off gala for Sacramento’s Gay Pride Weekend. The setting was the Citizen Hotel in Downtown Sacramento on a night that was probably one of the warmest of the year. Downtown Sacramento was abuzz with activity with Friday Concert in the Park happening, Pride set up going on along the Capital Mall and people just ready to get summer started after an unseasonably cool spring. Recreating the Plaza Park Ballroom of the Citizen Hotel was no easy fete. Taking the hotel setting and chan

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

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

“It is important for me personally to go ahead and affirm that same-sex couples should be able to get married.” It was short and sweet. History was made Wednesday as the first sitting president to ever come out for full marriage equality, not civil unions, but marriage equality across the board. President Obama has come to the decision that it is in the best interest for our country to accept committed same-sex couples and afford them the same rights and privileges straight couples have. Members of the board of directors of Equality Action NOW, a Sacramento local grassroots civil rights organization were elated with the news but as their middle name implies, they look forward to walkin

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”

Monday evening, Equality California (EQCA) hosted their 2012 Equality Awards reception at the California Dental Association’s banquet room, just a block away from the State Capitol in Sacramento. San Francisco based, EQCA is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights advocacy organization in California. They have partnered with legislators and advocates to sponsor more than 80 pro-equality bills providing the LGBT community with the most comprehensive civil rights protections in the nation. Each year, the organization bestows three awards to persons who most exemplify the work EQCA does by improving the lives of LGBT Californians, creating a strong California, a

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

Marriage rights activists will deliver a petition asking Mayor Kevin Johnson to join other mayors in support of same-sex marriage Tuesday morning at City Hall in a move they said they hope will cause him to consider endorsing Mayors for the Freedom to Marry. “We’re not trying to force anybody’s hand or be aggressive in any way,” said Neil Pople, communications director for the Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento and author of the petition. It has more than 300 signatures and is posted here. “We want to positively encourage the mayor and let him know that there are people who want this to happen.” Last week’s ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals against Proposition 8 –

  Equality Action Now, a local grassroots civil rights organization based in Sacramento along with Marriage Equality USA is encouraging same-sex couples to go to their City or County Clerk’s Office on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 and request a marriage license. Here in Sacramento representatives of Equality Action NOW will be at the Downtown County Clerk’s (600 8th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 – 916-874-6334) at noon to cheer on same-sex couples. Tina Reynolds, EAN’s Executive Director is asking participants to, “bring lots of candy and flowers and bring a bunch of “LOVE” signs!” The annual event has never been more important or appropriate given the Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appea

Thursday, the California Supreme Court published their written decision allowing proponents of Prop 8, namely ProtectMarriage.com, to step in the place of the State of California to argue in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in essence saying that Judge Walker’s decision to strike down Prop 8 was wrong and the “will of the people” should take precedence over the state’s constitution. This ruling has implications far beyond the question of the constitutionality of Prop 8, but for many same-sex couples who have committed themselves to each other, some who have children who worry about protecting them as well as older couples who face going into nursing homes, separated from their long-

The California Supreme Court announced it will issue a written opinion today at 10 a.m. on whether conservatives who sponsored Proposition 8 are entitled to defend the measure that overturned a 2008 ruling recognizing the right to same-sex marriage. The leadership of Equality Action NOW, a local Sacramento civil rights organization is inviting the community to gather at Headhunters/Cornerstone Restaurant on the corner of 10th and K Streets beginning at 9:30 a.m. to await the decision. For many members of the organization it is a personal issue and today will mark a pivotal moment in their fight for marriage equality. The Court in San Francisco will decide whether California law allows P