Richmond lost more than a business owner this week. On September 2, 2025, Vicky Hester, the longtime owner of Babe’s of Carytown, passed away at age 71. For many, her death marks the end of an era. For nearly five decades, Hester kept the doors of one of the nation’s...
Marilyn: One of the great things about Virginia PrideFest is that it's the kind of all-consuming event you can attend and direct your focus in any of several directions. Regardless of what you focus on, you're still sure to have a great time. Just as I had a great time, as described in my report about attending PrideFest that we published last...
You aren't really at Virginia PrideFest until you cross the walking bridge onto Brown's Island. But last Saturday, September 24, passerby could be forgiven if, even several blocks away on Cary St, they still felt like they were somewhere on the outskirts of the 2022 edition of VA Pride's main annual event. Throughout the afternoon, people...
The laws on the books haven't changed. Laws protecting transgender students, passed by the General Assembly in 2020 and signed into law by former Governor Ralph Northam, remain in force here in the Commonwealth of Virginia. And yet, late Friday afternoon, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) announced that it would overturn guidelines...
Jerry Williams, aka TVJerry, is a veteran of independent media in Richmond, Virginia. From radio shows and theater criticism to music video direction and television production, he's done just about everything there is to do within the local media community over the past several decades -- even reviewing movies for GayRVA for several years. He's...
Hoping to use the bathroom? If you're a transgender student in Hanover County, you'll need the School Board's specific approval. That's the result of a vote held by Hanover County's School Board on Tuesday night, in which the school board voted 5-2 in favor of a policy requiring any transgender Hanover County student who wants to use the correct...
The vilification included almost every day of Pride Month. Because why wouldn't it? Rupert Murdoch’s right wing cable channel Fox News vilified LGBTQ people across more than 100 days out of the first 181 days of 2022, according to a just-published report that characterizes the attacks as “extreme and harmful.” “Fox News attacked LGBTQ people at...
However, according to Marco Rubio, it's a "waste of time." Meanwhile, a significant number of other Republicans seem willing to vote in its favor. Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to put the same-sex marriage protection bill to a full floor vote quickly, after it passed the House Tuesday by a strong 267-157 margin, including...
Safe Space RVA's Summerfest is coming to Diversity Richmond this weekend, and if you haven't checked them out yet, this is a perfect opportunity. Safe Space RVA was founded in the past year by several local queer activists, makers, and small business owners, who put it together to be both a monthly community market and a safe community space in...
Five years ago, Black Pride RVA became the first Black LGBTQ event in the state of Virginia. Created and hosted by Us Giving Richmond Connections (UGRC), Black Pride RVA came into being in order to celebrate the unique intersection of identities experienced by all Black LGBTQ people, to promote equality for Black LGBTQ people within the broader...
