Welcome to 2026

Jan. 7 — The digital January issue of Georgia Voice is available now and print versions will arrive starting next week. We’re a little behind schedule due to the holidays, but the issue is filled with news and features to help ease you into an already insane 2026. 

Here are a few more news headlines:

👓 The Washington Blade has a roundup of legal and political developments poised to have grave implications for LGBTQ+ people nationwide, including the midterm elections, SCOTUS rulings, and more.

➳ If you missed our preview of what’s on the Georgia legislative agenda, you can check that out here. The 2026 session begins on Monday, Jan. 12.

🙄 On the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol led by a mob of his supporters, President Trump mocked transgender people and vowed to continue fighting to ban trans women from sports.

⚖️ The Human Rights Campaign Foundation has filed a class action lawsuit against the Trump administration on behalf of federal employees denied gender-affirming care for themselves and their families.

🥵 If you’re having “Heated Rivalry” withdrawal, Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams are starring in “Ember & Ice” – an erotic audio drama about two feuding princes who fall in forbidden love. 

So far away, but still so near…
Collin

Courtesy Blue Moon Campground

Blue Moon Campground is an LGBTQ+ oasis in North Georgia

🏕️ Nestled in the North Georgia mountains, you’ll find several hundred people relaxing by the pool, glamping in RVs, and enjoying the great outdoors.

Given this is a rural, conservative area, you wouldn’t expect that all of these people are members of the LGBTQ+ community. In fact, that is one of Blue Moon Campground’s two rules to visit: be queer and be invited.  

Located near Lafayette, the private campground, which opened in August, has already become a beloved retreat for LGBTQ+ patrons aged 21 to 90+. Along with boasting 220 acres of picturesque scenery, Blue Moon welcomes campers with a communal, non-judgmental attitude.

➡ Read Katie Burkholder’s full story here. 

Fashion meets art at the High Museum!

SPONSORED BY THE HIGH MUSEUM

👗 Experience Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Statements – a bold, breathtaking exhibition celebrating avant-garde fashion visionaries who blurred the line between haute couture and art. Only at the High, the exhibition’s sole U.S. stop.

➞ On view through Feb. 8.

Courtesy Lavender Fest

Submissions open for LGBTQ+ performing arts showcase Lavender Fest

🎭 Applications for season three of Lavender Fest, Atlanta’s LGBTQ+ performing arts festival, are open now through Feb. 15.

Lavender Fest is looking for solo performances, musicals, dramas, comedies, storytelling, drag, burlesque, readings of new works, variety shows, and stand-up with queer themes that embody this year’s theme, Unerasable.

➡ Find out more about the festival and how to submit here.

Courtesy Out on Film

Submissions open for 2026 Out on Film festival

🎥 Submissions are open for the 39th annual Out on Film festival, Atlanta’s LGBTQ+ film festival set to take place from Sept. 24 to Oct. 4.

The regular deadline to submit a film to Out on Film is May 22 while the late deadline is June 26, according to a press release. The early deadline is Feb. 14.

At 2025’s festival, Out on Film showcased more than 150 films from around the world. 

➡ Get more details here.

Best Bets

📍 Join Southern Fried Queer Pride for A Queer Community Vision Board Party & Open Mic, happening at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8, at Create ATL (900 Murphy Ave SW, Atlanta). There will be arts stations for attendees to make their own vision boards, plus an open mic starting at 7 p.m.

📖 Georgia Center for the Book at the Decatur Library is hosting a poetry reading on Thursday, Jan. 8, at 7 p.m. in honor of The AIDS Memorial Quilt: Honoring Lives, Inspiring Change exhibition, featuring Georgia Voice editor Collin Kelley, Franklin Abbott, and Cleo Creech. 

💃 “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Suzie Toot is bringing her one-woman show “If You Knew Suzie” to Out Front Theatre in Atlanta on Saturday, Jan. 10.

📸 Alphabet Redacted, an exhibition of LGBTQIA+ photographers in Atlanta, opens Jan. 12 at Georgia State University Perimeter College in Clarkston. A reception and artist talk will be held from 3 to 5 p.m.

➡️ Be sure to visit our IG stories @thegeorgiavoice to find even more happenings and events around Georgia. 

Collin Kelley is the executive editor of Atlanta Intown, Georgia Voice, and the Rough Draft newsletter. He has been a journalist for nearly four decades and is also an award-winning poet and novelist.