Sessions Confirmation Hearing

His name sounds like something out of “Auntie Mame” but Senator Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III is one of the most homophobic candidates Trump has chosen as his Attorney General‎ selection. His Senate confirmation hearing begins today. Rick Zbur Equality California Executive Director stated, “Sen. Jeff Sessions’ long record of disinterest in, at best, or outright hostility to protecting the civil rights of LGBT people, women & communities of color disqualifies him from serving as U.S. attorney general. His record has demonstrated that he is incapable of performing one of the chief duties of the office: ensuring that our nation’s civil & voting rights laws are enforced fairly & thoroughly. Sessions’ contempt for the LGBT community is well documented. He is a current co-sponsor of the so-called First Amendment Defense Act (FADA), which would give businesses, landlords or even government agencies license to discriminate against LGBT people if an individual believes that doing so would violate his or her religious beliefs. He was a longtime supporter of efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban marriage equality in all 50 states & supported federal legislation that would invalidate state laws permitting gay & lesbian couples to marry. He opposed the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” & fought against federal laws protecting LGBT people from hate crimes. In addition, Sessions has displayed hostility to women, opposing the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act & to African-Americans, famously calling a black attorney ‘boy’ & suggesting that a white attorney representing black clients was a race traitor. Those comments disqualified him from serving as a federal judge in 1986 & similarly disqualify him from serving as U.S. attorney general today.” Please contact your Senators to reject his nomination.
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Meryl Streep Rocks Golden Globes

Meryl Streep’s remarks at the Golden Globe Awards were spot on. It was one of the best segments of the show. Of course it resulted in Trump going ballistic on Twitter but one of the best reactions we found was by Matt Thorn, Executive Director of OutServe-SLDN the LGBT military organization who stated on Facebook, “I think the most important part of Meryl's speech was highlighting the fact that this position, President of the United States, as the most revered office in the world comes with it an inherent responsibility that he or she who holds that office must to the best of their ability be the best of our country. Currently the President-Elect on several occasions has not exuded the core values that make up our country. This isn't to say that all previous presidents have been perfect but that they must try to be the better part of us & Mr. Trump has not & his Twitter reactions to criticism are evident that he is more concerned about himself. Disrespect is chiding a gold star family, discrediting a Senators military service because he was a POW, called a contestant on a beauty pageant fat & mocking a disabled reporter. It is not disrespectful to call & brings those actions to the forefront of people's consciences, it is accountability. Every president whether democratic or republican must be accountable for their actions because they are the representative of our country & should embody to the best of their ability what makes us good. Trump has not exuded that with his actions or behavior. I did not vote for Trump, I do not support his policies. I vehemently disagree with him but that is my right under the constitution just like it was Meryl's. It is our job as citizens to hold our public servants accountable on all sides of the aisle and in all offices up & down the ballot. Holding them accountable is not party based its constitutionally based.”
For More Info: outserve-sldn.org
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The Dinah Palm Springs 2017

The iconic lesbian event Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend that takes place in Palm Springs, California from March 29th to April 2nd is continuing to make its presence felt across our country & around the world by raising the visibility of women in all facets of life, from artists, to comics, to filmmakers, to athletes & beyond. For over a quarter century Mariah Hanson founder & producer of the largest lesbian event in the world affectionately known as The Dinah has not only been delivering epic good times to our global lesbian community but she has also been successfully moving the needle with her ongoing commitment to amplifying, championing & celebrating women’s voices & talent. This year Dinah 2017 will celebrate & honor the trailblazing women in the Arts, Sports & Entertainment industry who have achieved historic firsts. Mariah Hanson stated, “Now more than ever, it is enormously important to celebrate & raise the visibility of women breaking glass ceilings especially within our own community because we need to be reminded that we are strong, capable, united & powerful in a time when our voices, especially spoken in unity, are needed more than ever before. The Dinah has always stood for living out loud in celebration of our unique & incredible lives. This year we are bringing that message up a few notches.” The 27th installment of The Dinah is already expected to be one of the major highlights of the 2017 Palm Springs festival season with a powerful all-female line-up covering the entire gamut of the entertainment spectrum including sports, music, fashion, comedy, film & TV.
For More Info & Tix: thedinah.com
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Ploumpis Joins Equality California

Veteran political strategist Valerie Ploumpis has been hired by Equality California as its first national policy director in light of the unprecedented threat to LGBT civil rights represented by the incoming Donald Trump Administration & 115th Congress. Ploumpis will lead Equality California’s legislative & administrative programs in Washington, D.C. Rick Zbur, Executive Director of Equality California stated, “We’re thrilled that Valerie will move into this new role leading our federal advocacy efforts. Now more than ever, California is positioned as a bastion of LGBT civil rights & as a beacon of hope in Donald Trump’s America. Valerie will play an instrumental role as we fight attacks on the Affordable Care Act that so many LGBT people rely on, on undocumented immigrants & on the LGBT community in general.” Valerie Ploumpis concluded, “As a native Californian & long-time DC resident, I am thrilled to be joining Equality California at this critical juncture. With the incoming Trump Administration & the 115th Congress, Equality California will be on the ground to defend the programs on which every LGBT Californian, our families & our communities rely. The stakes are high but so is our resolve and passion.” Ploumpis is a political expert with more than two decades of experience in issue-advocacy campaigns, grassroots education & mobilization, coalition building, lobbying & media outreach. She serves on the board of directors of OutRight International, a global LGBT civil rights organization & prior to joining Equality California she was a principal at Burnside & Associates where she managed political & mobilization campaigns.
For More Info: eqca.org
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LGBTQ Strive To Become Fearless

Since the election our LGBTQ community has been going through the 5 stages of grieving. Over the last few months most of our LGBTQ organizations have been working hard to raise funds to take on whatever Trump’s administration might dish out in an attempt to reverse the progress we have made towards obtaining full equality in this country. Now as we get back to work after celebrating the holidays we should be seeking out new leaders with new ideas about how to maintain the equality we have achieved during the Obama Administration & where we go from here. This is not a time to become fearful but a time of great opportunity for our community. Do not buy into people within our community who are basing their agenda on fear. There are so many people in this country who believe that financing organizations that are selling the fear factor will succeed in advancing LGBTQ equality. You cannot fear your enemies. You can be aware that they are a challenge for your success but throwing money at people without a plan will accomplish nothing. It probably won’t even maintain the progress that we have accomplished so far. Take these few weeks before the inauguration & think what personal goals you would like to achieve this year. Start dreaming again of a better life for your loved ones & your community & strive to become fearless.
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Sharon McNight As Sophie Tucker

“Red Hot Mama” is about the legendary performer Sophie Tucker the first lady of show business whose fabulous career spanned sixty years. It contains the music & history of burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway & Las Vegas in a critically acclaimed one-woman musical biography of the entertainment icon, written by & starring Sharon McNight & featuring over two dozen songs made famous by Tucker including composers Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George & Ira Gershwin, Henderson, DeSylva, & Brown & her 1928 million record seller, Jack Yellen’s “My Yiddishe Mama”. Performances run now through January 29th at the Cinnabar Theater 3333 Petaluma Blvd N. at Skillman Lane, in Petaluma, California. "Red Hot Mama" was developed by Tony Nominee Sharon McNight at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Lucille Lortel’s White Barn Theatre & Santa Fe Stages before playing Off-Broadway for three months. Fierce LGBT ally Sharon McNight has been the forefront in the fight against AIDS since the early eighties & was featured in Randy Shilt's book "And The Band Played On". She was chosen twice as the honorary chair of the San Francisco AIDS Emergency Fund & was one of two heterosexual women chosen as the Grand Marshall of San Francisco’s Gay Pride Parade. Sharon says the greatest day of her life was the day she quit smoking.
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LGBTQ New Year’s Resolution

In wishing our global LGBTQ community & allies a fabulous 2017 we have to remember that nothing is so bad it can’t get worse & at the same time not to worry about things that will never happen. It’s a fine line but we can be crafty & creative & continue to move forward in these challenging times. When we recently asked political humorist Kate Clinton how she sees our LGBTQ community moving forward in a Trump administration Clinton stated, “Well I think historically the LGBT community has been very creative & there’s a lot going on and this certainly is a challenge. On December 1st, World AIDS Day I went down to The New York City AIDS Memorial & you know you are reminded of the creativity & fierceness that the gay community reacted to AIDS & we really transformed a healthcare system & made sure we got drugs in a timely manner & we took care of each other & there was great art produced & great anger so I think that we have the resilience & we will do it again. We’ve had victories & we’ve had a very short life as a movement. So it’s understandable that we’ll have some setbacks but I believe in the creativity & wonderful things that we come up with. My fear is being used by the Trump administration & I think in passing the federal marriage law we really reached out & it was a great strategy reaching out to republicans like Portman of Ohio who has a gay son and therefore he supported full equality rights for gay people which I always thought like couldn’t you possibly like dreamed it up yourself on your own, you have to have a son? But anyways, so I think that what I worry about now is that we could be used. We could be a wedge issue again, a pink-wash. That the Trump people they’re lovely people, they have a lot of humanity, look how wonderful they are to gay people, which will drive a wedge between us & people of color & it’s a dangerous thing. I think we really have to be careful how we use the Trump administration. I think to say it’s the lesser of two evils, we’ll pick that but it’s still evil. I think we have to rely on a moral compass at this moment.” HAPPY NEW YEAR & Let's  Continue The Fight For Full Equality.
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