Elections & Remembrances
Nov. 6 — I’m bleary-eyed after a late-night covering Atlanta’s municipal elections (you can see results here), while also keeping an eye on the first nationwide rebuke of the current administration. LGBTQ+ allies were elected governor of Virginia and mayor of NYC, while Californians took decisive action to counter Republicans’ gerrymandering of districts. Let’s keep this energy going until next year’s midterms.
Also making headlines:
⚖️ The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to meet on Friday to decide whether it will accept a challenge to marriage equality. Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff whose name now defines the right to same-sex marriage, told The Advocate he was concerned about the court’s willingness to ignore established law.
🙄 The Texas Supreme Court ruled that judges in the state can refuse to marry same-sex couples if it violates their “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
🛒 As I hit send on this newsletter, it was still unclear whether the Trump administration would use contingency funds to pay SNAP benefits despite a court order to do so. If you need food assistance in metro Atlanta, check this link.
🇯🇲 A Jamaican LGBTQ+ rights group is raising funds to help victims of Hurricane Melissa.
🔎 LGBTQ Nation has more on yesterday’s passing of former Vice President Dick Cheney, whose legacy includes supporting same-sex marriage and the torture of prisoners of war during the Iraqi invasion.
🫦 Jonathan Bailey made history this week as the first out actor named People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive.”
There’s a quiet storm…
Collin
P.S. We’ll have a report from last night’s “State of the Study” regarding the results of the Atlanta LGBTQ+ Community Center Feasibility Study later today at thegavoice.com.
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Kennesaw Pride Alliance mourns the death of its leader
🕯️ The Kennesaw Pride Alliance (KPA) is mourning the death of its president, Marisol Payero, on Oct. 27.
The 22-year-old was a senior at Kennesaw State University studying History Education. She helped lead the opening of the Kennesaw Pride Center after the university shuttered the LGBTQ+ resource center due to DEI cutbacks.
Payero, who was transgender, died by suicide. KPA says that Payero’s family cited school stress as the cause of her death. “Please remember, you are more than one facet of yourself,” the organization said in a statement. “Mari was more than just a trans woman and more than just an activist. Her work had a widespread and amazing impact, but her impact on her family and her close friends will be something that cannot ever be taken away, and cannot be forgotten.”
Payero’s family has raised over $5,000 for her funeral service, which is scheduled for Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. at Iglesia Adventista Metropolitana de Atlanta, 5990 Oakbrook Parkway in Norcross. The family will receive visitors from 5 to 9 p.m. at Fischer Funeral Care, 3742 Chamblee Dunwoody Road.
➡ Read more in Katie Burkholder’s story here.
Italian Ruins to DIVE for!
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White House moves to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth nationwide
⚕️ The Trump-Vance administration is pushing to end all gender-affirming care for transgender youth, according to a new proposal from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Texts obtained by NPR show the proposed healthcare policy changes would prohibit federal Medicaid reimbursement for medical care provided to trans patients under 18, and would also prohibit reimbursement through the Children’s Health Insurance Program for patients under 19.
Another proposal found by NPR shows the administration is considering blocking all Medicaid and Medicare funding for any services at hospitals that provide pediatric gender-affirming care.
➡ Read more in the Washington Blade’s report.
MORE NEWS
⚖️ Two lawsuits were filed Monday against the Trump administration after the Education Department published a student debt forgiveness rule that could exclude organizations that work with LGBTQ+ individuals, immigrants, and transgender children.
Pride-themed bus rolling through Atlanta
🚍 MARTA rolled out a new LGBTQ+ Pride design as part of its Artbound Bus Wrap program.
The bus wrap, created by graphic designers Edwin Villalba and Sabdiel Rodriguez Ortiz, features the lesbian, transgender, and bear Pride flags worked into a design inspired by the Puerto Rican mural “Las Tres Razas” (“The Three Races”), which celebrates the Taíno, Spanish, and African heritages that make up Puerto Rico.
The design, which complements this year’s Rooted in Resistance logo – also designed by Villalba – for Atlanta Pride, will run until October 2026.
➡ Find out more about the design here.
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Best Bets
🎪 Cirque du Soleil’s “Luzia” opens Thursday, Nov. 6, at Atlantic Station. This aerial acrobatic performance chronicles the encounters of a traveler who parachutes into a dreamlike version of Mexico and meets a mystifying menagerie of characters along the way.
📚 Charis Books & More in Decatur is celebrating its 51st birthday on Saturday, Nov. 8, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. with bagels & coffee, Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström in conversation with Wanda Morris for a discussion of “Bitter Honey,” and a store-wide sale with a percentage benefitting New Disabled South’s food assistance program for disabled folks impacted by the loss of SNAP.
🎭 Theatrical Outfit’s production of Tennessee Williams’ classic drama “The Glass Menagerie” continues through Nov. 23.
📲 Be sure to check out Instagram stories @thegeorgiavoice for even more happenings around Georgia.
Read the November issue
👓 The November issue of Georgia Voice is out now and includes a guide to holiday fun throughout the month. You’ll also find news headlines, photos from last month’s Atlanta Pride festivities, and much more. You can read the issue here.
