Pride 2025
San Luis Obispo County’s News and Entertainment Weekly. Pride Issue for 2025.
Cover Story
Pride 2025: Celebrate the season with the Gala Pride and Diversity Center, Free Mom Hugs, and nightlife
It’s officially Pride Month, and despite the national politics surrounding certain LGBTQ-plus issues, the community is ready to celebrate with events across the Central Coast. As part of our annual Pride issue, Staff Writer Libbey Hanson writes about the Gala Pride and Diversity Center as it continues to recover from its financial issues and hosts…
All hugs allowed: Free Mom Hugs’ Central Coast chapter embraces the LGBTQ community and anyone seeking comfort
Feel the love The local Free Mom Hugs group assembles twice a month on Sunday mornings at the Gala Pride and Diversity Center building at 1060 Palm St. in SLO. For more information on the local chapter of Free Mom Hugs, visit galacc.org/resources. Free Mom Hugs, the Oklahoma City-grown movement that supports queer people rejected…
Talent, investments, and hot dogs keep the 50-year-old Melodrama healthy as a horse
Get a seat The Great American Melodrama is staging Less Miserable through June 14. Its next show, How the West Was Really Won, opens June 20 and runs through Aug. 2. The theater’s 50th anniversary celebration kicks off on Aug. 8 and runs through Sept. 20. Visit americanmelodrama.com or call (805) 489-2499 for ticket information…
We need better pesticide drift detection tools, so South SLO County residents are better protected
A year ago, June 13, 2024, there was a long-distance drift event from a fumigation using chloropicrin (tear gas) and 1,3-dichloropropene (1,3-DCP) seriously impacting 33 known individuals in Oceano and Arroyo Grande with migraine headaches, nausea, flu-like symptoms, respiratory issues, and perhaps causing two pneumonias, according to data that I and others collected. Crows and…
Killer retro-soul act The California Honeydrops headlines day 2 of Live Oak on June 14
Day 2, Saturday, June 14, of the Live Oak Music Festival is always a bit of a marathon. The music starts at 8 a.m. and rolls all the way through to 1 a.m. on Sunday. There’s an amazing lineup for the day, but the headliner is one of my favorite bands to see live: The…
Local governments need to reinvest in their rural areas
What’s happening to Carrisa Plains middle schoolers isn’t new—it’s the latest chapter in a long, painful pattern of rural divestment by in-town agencies. When the Atascadero Unified School District (AUSD) removed sixth through eighth grade from Carrisa Plains Elementary, it didn’t just disrupt families—it replaced local learning with a 100-mile-a-day bus ride. Examples of that…
Cal Poly’s Matt Ritter and Michael Kauffmann release California trees field guide
Can you tell the difference between a pine and an oak tree? What about a white alder and a blue elderberry? “I’ve written several nonfiction books: Plants of San Luis Obispo, California Plants, and A Californian’s Guide to the Trees among Us,” Cal Poly biology professor Matt Ritter explained. “This most recent guidebook is exclusively…
Unitarian Universalists SLO supports transgender individuals
In this time where the very existence of transgender people is at stake, Unitarian Universalists San Luis Obispo aims to protect and honor transgender, intersex, and non-binary people and their families at all life stages. We condemn all legislation that seeks to erase transgender personhood and diminish the rights of all people to express their…
Artist Deanna Barahona to discuss her work on June 7, in the SLO Museum of Art
Interdisciplinary artist Deanna Barahona and curator and educator Bill Kelley will discuss her exhibition, Stars Love Beng Alone, on Saturday, June 7, from 11 a.m. to noon in the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA) located at 1010 Broad St. “Together, they will explore themes of community, memory, and the socially engaged art practice,”…
Cancel culture and forbidden words
A recent article on the NBC News site described the rehabilitation underway of the term “retarded,” which in recent years has just been solemnly referred to as the “R-word.” Public figures like Joe Rogan, Elon Musk, Ben Stiller, and a Danish astronaut have landed in hot water for their unrepentant use of the term. Curiously,…
Disney’s live action Lilo & Stitch adds new twists to a beloved story
LILO & STITCH What’s it rated? PGWhat’s it worth, Emma? Full priceWhat’s it worth, Libbey? Full priceWhere’s it showing? Downtown Centre Cinema, Sunset Drive-In, Regal Arroyo Grande, Colony Cinemas Atascadero, Park Cinema A live-action film based on the 2002 Disney movie Lilo & Stitch, this is the story of a lonely and grieving 6-year-old named…
Follow the rainbow: SLO’s LGBTQ-plus community continues to celebrate Pride Month despite local and national opposition
Find the party! For more information about Gala Pride and Diversity Center’s Pride Month events, visit galacc.org/events. To learn about Atascadero Pride Month, visit atascaderopride.org. Then, now, forever—that’s this year’s theme for Pride Month in San Luis Obispo. Gala Pride and Diversity Center, SLO County’s prominent LGBTQ-plus nonprofit, isn’t giving up the opportunity to celebrate…
SLO’s Silent Book Club—not so silent—offers a safe and inclusive space for reading enthusiasts
You’d probably assume San Luis Obispo’s Silent Book Club would live up to its name. But when these reading enthusiasts are together, it’s just the opposite of silent—a space of inclusivity, connection, and happening conversation over a plethora of written stories. Silent Book Club is actually a worldwide effort with chapters filled with eager readers…
Pride parties: Local businesses bring more LGBTQ-plus nightlife to the Central Coast for Pride Month and beyond
Time and place For more information about Libertine Brewing, visit libertinebrewing.com or call (805) 548-2338. The venue is located at 1234 Broad St. in SLO. Chido Bar is located at 221 N. Broadway in Santa Maria. For more information, visit facebook.com/ChidoBarSantaMaria or call (805) 631-5007. To find more Pride events happening during the month of…
Nonnas offers a glimpse into the origin of Staten Island restaurant Enoteca Maria
What’s it rated? PG When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Netflix Vince Vaughn stars as Joe Scaravella, a grieving man determined to honor the memory of his late mother by opening a restaurant with Italian grandmothers as the chefs, in this wholesome and engaging based-on-a-true-story comedy. The grandmothers, played by Susan Sarandon, Talia Shire, Lorraine Bracco,…
Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders explores the over-the-counter deaths of 1982 and the potential forces behind them
What’s it rated? TV-14 When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Netflix It’s likely we all have a bottle of Tylenol in our cabinet right now for everyday aches and pains. But before I knew the story about the Tylenol murders, I would have never guessed why these bottles are so well-sealed when you purchase them from…
Times are a changing
The most progressive, most experienced elected official on the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors is retiring in 2026. He who can’t be beat is going to beat feet! Bruce Gibson, who held onto his reign over the 2nd District in spite of conservatives’ best efforts to unseat him, is not going to run…
Bruce Gibson to end career as 2nd District supervisor in 2026
San Luis Obispo County’s longest-serving supervisor put a sunset date on his two-decade tenure. Come 2026, 2nd District Supervisor Bruce Gibson will not seek reelection, consequently ending his spell as the North Coast leader after five terms. “You may be curious about the ‘why’ of this decision,” Gibson announced in his May 29 newsletter. “The…
SLO County conducts special hearing on health services impacted by budget deficit
With their days numbered, many local health services are paying the price for San Luis Obispo County’s $38 million revenue deficit, triggering a Beilenson Hearing as a result. Required by the California Health and Safety Code, the Beilenson Hearing—stemming from the act of the same name—is a public hearing focused on the closure, elimination, or…
Paso launches first child care study, aims to support workforce
Of Paso Robles’ 88 licensed child care facilities, the city has the capacity to serve 1,612 children under the age of 12, which isn’t enough to support its growing workforce, according to the City Council. To fill this gap, the city joined forces with the Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County (CAPSLO) and…
SLO County firefighters prepare for dry summer season ahead
San Luis Obispo County is preparing for a dry summer season as cities update fire hazard zones and firefighters train to ensure they are in mental and physical shape for when fires inevitably spark. Major efforts for fire training started on May 27 as the San Luis Obispo County Fire Service Training Officers Association, All…
Central Coast Cooking Show says goodbye for summer with Father’s Day-themed barbecue dinner
Dinner and a show Central Coast Party Helpers will host the June 2025 Central Coast Cooking Show, themed What Men Want, on June 17 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Idler’s Home in Paso Robles, located at 2361 Theatre Drive. Seating is limited for the barbecue cooking demonstration. Tickets are $88.36 for a group dining…
