Members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex community will be able to show their pride with a Midtown block party filled with music, entertainment, divas, drag shows and drinking this Labor Day weekend. The Sacramento Rainbow Festival will feature events and entertainment Sept. 2 - 4 and will include performances by dance-pop musicians Crystal Waters and Wynter Gordon; an SF Diva Drag Show featuring Cassandra Cass; and performances by drag queen Tommi Rose the Disco Diva and singer-entertainer Jimmy James. The festival street fair will be 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. on Sunday Sept. 4 and will feature all-day entertainment and vendors, drag shows, a Latin stage and the annual wet

Sandwiched between the Capitol and Tower Bridge, Capitol Mall was blocked off Saturday for the 26th annual Sacramento Pride Festival. About 12,000 people filled Third through Seventh streets from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to celebrate the event and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. The event was kicked off with a parade from Southside Park to Capitol Mall. A ribbon-cutting ceremony included Mayor Kevin Johnson, Senator Darrell Steinberg and Speaker of the Assembly John Pérez. "(The festival) is a celebration of equality for all people, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation," said Bonnie Osborn, Sacramento Pride's marketing committee chair. Attendees wandered amon

A downtown restaurant is now home to a church that embraces gays and people of color. For more than a month, Sofia on 11th and its owners, Jeremy and Vicki Bennett and partner Martin Tejeda, have welcomed A Church for All to take over a 1,500-square-foot banquet room. That has allowed the church to continue providing a spiritual meeting place for its diverse members. The Rev. Doretha Flournoy describes it as a "radically inclusive" church with an interest in social justice and unique ideas about "how God operates in the world." "If you walk into A Church for All on a Sunday morning, you'll see African-American folks, Latino folks, Caucasians. You'll see transgender folks. You'll see dra

Before this week, he could have been best described as your average, typical 23-year-old male. A love of cars, technology and fashion is evident from the photos and descriptions that litter his online MySpace and Facebook profiles. Comments from friends show he was much loved and adored, but now those same friends are showing signs of solidarity and support for a man accused of murder. "My heart goes out to you," friend Christopher Williams wrote Michael "Mykel" Weisz's MySpace profile. "I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt someone on purpose." But that's exactly what authorities say Weisz did Wednesday morning when he allegedly ran down 64-year-old security guard Leroy Fisher with hi

Friends of a bouncer allegedly run down and killed on the job were asking themselves Thursday why they weren't able to protect him the way he'd protected them for years. People who knew 64-year-old Leroy Fisher described him as a down-to-earth, soft-spoken security guard who could de-escalate most bad situations just by talking. His calm demeanor, helpful advice and age earned him the nickname "Pops" at the four gay bars at which he coordinated security. When fights did break out, Fisher jumped right in to break them up. That earned him the love and respect of many in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, who mourned him at a candlelight vigil Wednesday night. But that al