Echoes of the past
Wednesday, Aug. 19 — The arrest of My Sister’s Room co-owner Jen Maguire early Sunday morning by an Atlanta Police officer following a noise complaint is still under investigation (read more below), but the incident has now gone national as questions swirl about law enforcement targeting LGBTQ+ establishments in this era of emboldened homophobia and transphobia. For me, it immediately brought to mind APD’s notorious – and illegal – 2009 raid on The Eagle, which forced the chief to resign and led to a major overhaul of policing tactics. And, of course, Atlanta’s own version of the Stonewall riots, the raid on the Ansley Mall cinema in 1969 during a screening of Andy Warhol’s “Lonesome Cowboys.” Be sure to support the beloved Midtown lesbian bar as it celebrates its 30th anniversary on Aug. 22.
Here are the headlines:
⚕️ Georgia health officials moved to add low-income people living with certain HIV diagnoses to a list of the “medically frail,” meaning they wouldn’t have to satisfy work requirements to qualify for Medicaid coverage.
🔎 CIA officer Julia Curlee details in The Atlantic her removal as a White House intelligence briefer after it was publicly revealed she was transgender.
🙄 Vice President JD Vance urged the Justice Department to investigate allegations that medical institutions improperly billed insurers for care provided to transgender patients.
🙅 Directors Ally Pankiw and Kate Herron said they turned down offers to direct HBO Max’s new “Harry Potter” series due to JK Rowling’s transphobia.
🕯️ Hayden Panettiere – the bisexual star of “Nashville,” “Heroes,” and “Remember the Titans” – died Sunday at age 36. The cause of death is believed to have been an overdose, but the investigation is ongoing.
Wow, that girl, that girl…
Collin
📍 Celebrate Little 5 Points at People Make the Place Sun., Aug. 23 at 7 Stages. Hear the stories of those supporting health & wellness in L5P and be entertained by Dad’s Garage improv. Light bites and food with ticket purchase! SPONSOR MESSAGE
My Sister’s Room co-owner arrested after noise complaint
🔎 Jen Maguire, the co-owner of the Midtown lesbian bar My Sister’s Room, was arrested early Sunday morning after officers received a noise complaint.
Atlanta Police Department officers arrived at MSR at 1:13 a.m. on the morning of Aug, 16 after receiving a call regarding a noise complaint. According to the incident report, arresting Officer Jayden Joseph “did not hear or witness any loud music” coming from MSR or Seven Midtown, the neighboring bar, but did hear “several patrons [who] were inside [MSR] projecting their voices loudly.”
While attempting to make contact with Maguire, Officer Joseph alleged that she refused to provide identification, which led to her arrest. In an Instagram post (pictured), Maguire questioned why she needed to provide identification before she was arrested.
“We knew where our 100-foot marker was, and we had been following those requirements very carefully, especially on Fridays and Saturdays,” she said. “…I was asked to show my ID. The officer already knew who I was, and I questioned why I needed to provide identification when we had not done anything wrong. I was willing to show the video footage demonstrating that the noise was not coming from MSR. Instead, I was arrested.”
➡ Read Katie Burkholder’s full report here.
Your commute is about to get a lot more fun
SPONSORED BY PERIMETER COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS
🚆 Transit Month is bringing a little fun to your commute this September! Throughout the month, Perimeter Connects is popping up at Medical Center, Sandy Springs, and Dunwoody MARTA stations with free coffee, bagels, treats, plants, live music, giveaways, and more.
Whether you’re commuting to work or just passing through, stop by to enjoy the festivities and discover how Transit Month rewards riders all month long.
🎉 Explore all the rewards and event schedule.
Atlanta hosts four-day symposium for Southern HIV/AIDS advocates
⚕️ In time for Southern HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on Aug. 20, the Saving Ourselves Symposium (SOS), presented by the Southern AIDS Coalition, will bring together the Black LGBTQ+ community for a four-day conference in Atlanta.
From Aug. 20 to 23, HIV and LGBTQ+ advocates will meet at the Atlanta Marriott Northwest Gala to share research, updates, and community. This year’s theme is Collective Action for Collective Impact, a call to move beyond conversation and into coordinated strategy, shared accountability, and cross-sector collaboration.
Among the participating organizations is the Normal Anomaly Initiative, which creates barrier-reducing, narrative-changing resources for marginalized people. Deputy Director Jordan Edwards and Program Manager Titan Capri, who are both living with HIV, will be in attendance at SOS.
➡ Find out more about Edwards and Capri’s journey living with HIV here.
Out on Film announces full 2026 festival lineup
🎞️ More than 150 films will screen at this year’s Out on Film festival, set for Sept. 24 to Oct. 4.
Gary Jaffe’s comedy “Before I Do” will open the festival, while the Spanish movie “La Bola Negra,” directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, will serve as the closing film.
Other movies include “Give Me the Ball,” a documentary about tennis icon Billie Jean King; “Desert Hearts,” a romantic drama based on the novel of the same name; “The Divine Tragedy,” from director Sergio Tovar Velarde; and “Out of the Woods,” starring Francis Fisher.
➡ Find out more about this year’s festival lineup here.
MORE MOVIES
🩸 Check out Sammie Purcell’s review of the acclaimed “Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Miasma” from trans filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun.
📍 Celebrate Little 5 Points at People Make the Place Sun., Aug. 23 at 7 Stages. Hear the stories of those supporting health & wellness in L5P and be entertained by Dad’s Garage improv. Light bites and food with ticket purchase! SPONSOR MESSAGE
Best Bets
📽️ Visionary Justice StoryLab’s “Resisting Narratives of Erasure Short Film Showcase” will celebrate original work from emerging Southeastern QTBIPOC filmmakers. The event is tomorrow, 7 p.m., at the Tara Theatre.
🐚 Charis Books & More in Decatur will host a screening of the documentary “Can’t Stop Change: Queer Climate Stories from the Florida Frontlines” followed by a Q&A and discussion on Aug. 21 starting at 7 p.m.
🏊 Trans Joy, This Doesn’t Define Me, and Atlanta Freedom Bands will host an all-gender Pool Party on Aug 22 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Milam Park Pool Center in Clarkston, GA. RSVP and get more details at trans-joy.com.
💃 The Draaag Atlanta Bar Crawl is Aug. 22 hosted by Mona Lott. Stops on the tour include Felix’s, The T in Grant Park, Woof’s, and the Atlanta Eagle.
📖 Long Story Books will present a screening of the documentary “Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World” on Aug. 23, 2:30 p.m., at Plaza Theatre. Georgia Poet Laureate Chelsea Rathburn will introduce the film. Read more about the documentary, which is also coming to PBS on Aug. 25.
➡ Find many more events and activities in our IG stories @thegeorgiavoice.
