Bella of the Ball
Feb. 26 — Hi, y’all. We made it to Wednesday.
📍A landmark 2016 theme study highlighting the history of the LGBTQ community has been pulled from the National Park Service website. The study’s removal comes after NPS received instructions to remove the “T” and “Q” from “LGBTQ” from all internal and external communications, triggering an uproar when trans people were removed from the website of the Stonewall National Monument.
🐘 Georgia GOP lawmakers are in lockstep with President Trump’s agenda to try to erase transgender people, especially young trans people. Several anti-trans bills are making their way through both the Senate and House. They include Senate Bill 1, which would ban transgender athletes from female athletics, and Senate Bill 39, which would ban the use of state resources for gender-change procedures. Both have passed the full Senate.
❌ House Bill 267 would bar transgender girls from playing sports on girls’ teams in schools of all grade levels, including college. It would also mandate separate restrooms for student-athletes based on the sex they were assigned at birth. HB 267 could be voted on by the full House today.
📧 Send a message to your House representative right now to urge them to oppose the bill.
👓 In this issue, we’ve got awesome news about Bella Bautista, who will be the first transgender woman to compete in the Miss Georgia USA pageant, Smyrna Pride accepting the Log Cabin Republicans as a vendor, and U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. rolling out the agency’s new anti-trans webpage. We also have a list of upcoming events, including Rome, Ga.’s, first 5K to raise funds for its June Pride fest, and the “March Forth” day of action at the Georgia Capitol. Our social follow of the week is a tribute to Black queer history.
🤟 How are y’all doing? What helps you get through the week? Let me know.
Dyana
(she/her)
🍸 Join us at Sip Brookhaven at Oglethorpe on April 12 to discover amazing restaurants and beverage brands right in your backyard. An afternoon of sipping, savoring, and socializing awaits! Early bird tickets are available until February 28 at Sipbrookhaven.com! SPONSOR MESSAGE
Bella Bautista to be first trans contestant in Miss Georgia USA
👑 When Bella Bautista flew back home to Georgia after this year’s Miss International Queen USA, a pageant for transgender women, she was ready to tackle another competition – this time, making history.
In June, Bautista will be the first transgender woman to take the stage and compete for the title of Miss Georgia USA.
“I didn’t think I was going to get in because there had never been a transgender contestant before,” Bautista told Georgia Voice. “Going into it, I was very uneasy, but I was authentic and honest.”
🏳️⚧️ Read Katie Burkholder’s story here.
Embark on a prehistoric adventure!
SPONSORED BY THE FERNBANK MUSEUM
🦖 Journey through time at Fernbank Museum to discover what made dinosaurs that once roamed the Southern Hemisphere unique from their better-known relatives in North America. With stunning skeletal displays and augmented reality, the new exhibit Ultimate Dinosaurs reveals how the breakup of Pangaea shaped the evolution of dinosaurs. See life-sized casts, fossils, and hands-on specimens like Eoraptor and Giganotosaurus.
➡ Visit the Ultimate Dinosaurs exhibit daily during regular hours, plus select after-hours events until May 4. Plan your visit today and step into the prehistoric world!
Log Cabin Republicans OK’d for Smyrna Pride Fest
🏳️🌈 After backlash from the Georgia GOP, Smyrna Pride organizers have decided to admit the Log Cabin Republicans as a vendor to “de-escalate unnecessary division,” according to a statement.
The Smyrna is Fabulous, Inc. Board of Directors, which organizes the June festival, said in the statement that it had no legal obligation to admit the Log Cabin Republicans since it clearly stated it would not permit political organizations.
Smyrna Pride’s initial decision spurred Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon to release a letter arguing that the rejection violated the Log Cabin Republican’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
RFK Jr. debuts anti-trans webpage at HHS
⚕️ Less than a week after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the agency rolled out a webpage promoting the Trump administration’s anti-trans executive orders and issued public guidance asserting that a person’s sex is “unchangeable.”
The webpage for HHS’s Office on Women’s Health highlights President Donald Trump’s executive actions defining sex in a manner that excludes transgender, nonbinary, and intersex populations, prohibiting trans women and girls from participating in competitive sports, and restricting people younger than 19 from accessing medically necessary gender-affirming healthcare interventions.
➡ Read the story from our partners at the Washington Blade here.
🍸 Join us at Sip Brookhaven at Oglethorpe on April 12 to discover amazing restaurants and beverage brands right in your backyard. An afternoon of sipping, savoring, and socializing awaits! Early bird tickets are available until February 28 at Sipbrookhaven.com! SPONSOR MESSAGE
Best Bets
🏃🏽♀️➡️ March 1 – Put your sneakers on for the inaugural “The Big Gay 5K & 1 Mile Pride Stride,” a fundraiser for Rome GA Pride. The 5K race begins at 9 a.m. The 1 Mile Pride Stride begins at 9:45 a.m.
🏛️ March 4 –Join more than a dozen LGBTQ+ organizations for a day of action at the Georgia Capitol from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The day will include advocacy training, rally and assisted legislator contact. A free breakfast and lunch will be provided with your RSVP. March 4 is the last full legislative day before Crossover Day, the final day for bills to pass out of the House or Senate to move forward.
🫶 March 18 – PFLAG support group meeting from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Johns Creek United Methodist Church, 11180 Medlock Bridge Road, Johns Creek, GA 30097. Free. Details here: PFLAGJohnsCreek.org.
Social Follow of the Week
📸 February is Black History Month. Check out @blackqueerstory on Instagram for Black LGBTQ+ history every day.
