Government blues
Nov. 12 — In a moment of judicial sanity, the U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it would not take up a case challenging marriage equality. Kim Davis, the former Kentucky city clerk jailed and sued for refusing a marriage license to a gay couple, was the would-be plaintiff. I guess she’ll have more time to search for that fifth husband now.
A few more headlines:
🙄 The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is expected to end tonight after eight Democrats caved on Sunday with an unlikely promise from the GOP for a vote on extending ACA subsidies before the end of the year. And I’m not waiting up nights for Trump’s $2,000 tariff dividend either.
🛂 SCOTUS ruled that the Trump administration can implement a policy that bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers.
🕯️ Five people died and 13 were injured on Saturday after a driver involved in a high-speed police chase crashed into the popular Tampa gay bar, Bradley’s on 7th.
⚖️ For yesterday’s observance of Veterans Day, the Washington Blade spoke with Second Lt. Nicolas Talbott, U.S. Army, a plaintiff in the case fighting the Trump administration’s trans military ban.
📁 The Atlanta LGBTQ+ Community Center Feasibility Study hosted a final meeting last week to present its findings before presenting them to Mayor Andre Dickens’ office in December.
You’re moving on, I’m moving on…
Collin
Atlanta LGBTQ+ activist and historian Dave Hayward dead at 76
🏳️🌈 Dave Hayward – an activist, historian, and witness to much of Atlanta’s early LGBTQ+ rights movement – has died at 76.
Hayward co-founded the nonprofit Touching Up Our Roots, the LGBTQ+ story project and self-guided audio tour featuring sites important to queer Atlanta. A frequent guest speaker at local LGBTQ+-related protests and events, Hayward was an early member of the activist group Georgia Gay Liberation Front and was one of the co-founders of the city’s chapter of ACT UP, the political group formed in the late 80s to end the AIDS pandemic.
Born in New Hampshire, Hayward arrived in Atlanta in 1971 when the city’s gay rights movement was still in its nascent phase. A lover of history and storytelling, Hayward began to befriend and chronicle the city’s queer history and the people who were making it. Hayward participated in the city’s first sanctioned Pride march in 1972.
➡ Find out more about Hayward and read tributes from his friends and fellow activists here.
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Trans woman’s Tucker library encounter sparks police investigation
🔎 A typical Monday afternoon at the Tucker-Reid H. Cofer Library became both frustrating and scary for Sasha Swinson when a DeKalb County police officer allegedly approached her with a misgendered greeting: “Excuse me, sir.”
The DeKalb County Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit is actively investigating the incident involving an officer and Swinson, a trans woman and lifelong DeKalb County resident.
Swinson said the verbal altercation with the officer was “every transphobic trope” one could experience in 30 seconds. The incident has drawn attention on social media and is a matter that the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners is also watching closely.
➡ Read more about the incident here.
Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Luzia’ makes it rain, sticks the landing
🎪 The Cirque du Soleil big top is back at Atlantic Station this holiday season for a production of “Luzia,” a high-flying spectacle with an added “wow factor” – rain.
“Luzia,” which has the subtitle “a waking dream of Mexico,” is two hours of acrobatics, trapeze work, juggling, life-like puppets, and traditional Mexican songs and music. You’ll see nods to Dia de Muertos, soccer, Frida Kahlo, mythical gods, and other cultural signposts.
And then there’s the rain, which is not a special effect, but gallons and gallons of water falling on the center ring where the performers cavort.
MORE REVIEWS
🎭 Theatre critic Manning Harris took in a performance of Tennessee Williams’ classic “The Glass Menagerie” at Theatrical Outfit, calling the show “powerful and poetic.”
📽️ Nia DaCosta has given Henrik Ibsen’s classic “Hedda Gabler” a queer bent in her new film adaptation “Hedda,” starring Tessa Thompson.
Best Bets
🎶 Black and QTPOC-focused organization Southern Fried Queer Pride is hosting “It’s Giving: A Mutual Aid Cabaret” on Nov. 14, benefitting the Trans Women of Color Healing Project and Sol Underground.
🪶 The First Voices Festival is returning to 7 Stages in Little Five Points on Nov. 14–28 with an expanded lineup of programming that celebrates Indigenous communities.
🆓 The autumn edition of atlFREEfair is Saturday, Nov. 15, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Friendship Center, 737 Woodland Ave. SE. There will be free food, skill shares, conversations, crafts, art, movement, play, and much more.
🏳️⚧️ Trans-led organizations TWOC Healing Project and Game Changing Men are hosting the fourth annual “I Was Here: A Celebration in Honor of Trans Day of Remembrance” on Nov. 15.
💃🏻 Drag superstars BenDeLaCreme & Jinkx Monsoon are bringing “The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show” to The Eastern in Atlanta on Nov. 16.