“Santa Cruz County youth march for LGBTQ rights” – Santa Cruz Sentinel
“Bryce Grossman, a 14-year-old Mission Hill Middle School student, organized the event to ‘help people feel empowered to live their truth, to not hide themselves away in fear and stay safe from harm.'”
“Santa Cruz Pride Parade sees largest turnout for 50th year” – The Santa Cruz Sentinel
“Instead of having just one parade grand marshal, Santa Cruz Pride decided to commemorate its 50th year by inviting back every living previous grand marshal, many of whom waved from a boat pulled by a Ford F-150 or danced in the street to Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family.” Among the former grand marshals in attendance were Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley, state Sen. John Laird, Elaine Johnson, executive director of Housing Santa Cruz County; and Adam Spickler, Cabrillo College Governing Board trustee and the first openly transgender man elected to office in California.”
“Out of the Closet and Into the Streets” – Good Times
“Since 1975, Santa Cruz Pride has convened an annual event, parade or festival that brings nearly 5,000 people to downtown Santa Cruz. The 50th anniversary of Santa Cruz Pride is a milestone in history for the visibility and celebration of a vibrant LGBTQ+ community unlike any across the country. It is a time to celebrate all people and allies across the county.”
“Community comes together to repaint Black Lives Matter mural” – The Pajaronian
For Elaine Johnson, President of NAACP Santa Cruz County and Housing Santa Cruz County Executive Director, the repainting event was a reminder of the importance of everyone working together.
“It was an opportunity for the community not just to come together, but to continue to collectively support each other as a community,” she said. “Don’t just come together when we’re celebrating something. It’s how we show up with each other afterwards.”
“88-Year-Old Audio Engineer Sandy Stone Survived Transphobic Backlash and Made History” – KQED
“Now 88 years old and watching the backlash unfold, Sandy Stone has been here before. Yet she pushed through coordinated harassment campaigns and death threats, and made her mark on culture. In the decades after leaving Olivia, she became a world-class academic, a foremother of transgender studies and an early innovator at the intersection of art and technology. In 2024, she became the first openly transgender woman inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. A documentary about her life, Girl Island, is currently in production.”
“Trans Music Pioneer Beverly Glenn-Copeland Is Making a Kid’s Show” – them
Over email, O’Neill added that while Glenn-Copeland is “an all-too-rare Black trans elder,” part of what made the series feel important was because of “his insistence that he has just as much to learn from the younger folks following in his path as they may from him.”