The 1972 Atlanta Pride March (Photo by Boyd Lewis/Touching Up Our Roots) The origins of Atlanta and Georgia’s LGBTQ+ rights movement stretch back to the upheavals of the 1960s, when a handful of activists began laying the groundwork for visibility and justice. Abby Drue. (Photo by Katie Burkholder) Among the earliest leaders was Lorraine Fontana, co-founder of the Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance (ALFA), the state’s first lesbian organization. Abby Drue became the first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve at Atlanta City Hall, working under three mayors and later leading the Ben Marion Institute for Social Justice.

Sandy Springs speaks Oct. 9 — It’s been a busy week at Rough Draft. We hosted a series of candidate forums for mayor and City Council to help you prepare for Sandy Springs’ upcoming elections. Bob Pepalis breaks it down for you below. But first, some other news.. 🚌 The Fulton County Board of Education plans to spend $15.7 million on renovations to Sandy Springs Middle School. 👩🏻‍💻 Nashville coworking concept E|Spaces will open at East Palisades Office Park on Peachtree Dunwoody Rd. 🧑🏼‍🌾 The Sandy Springs Farmers Market has been nominated for the Georgia Business Council’s Best of Georgia’s produce markets and local farms.

Maria Helena Dolan and Liz Hill at the 1979 March on Washington. (Courtesy Touching Up Our Roots) This is my first arrest. The jail is gritty and grimy, but it’s filled with incredible Queer spirit. It’s Oct. 13, 1987, and I’m in Washington D.C. for the second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights with more than 700,000 fellow Queers and allies. I’m taken into custody on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on the charge of civil disobedience. I’ve made my way inside the jail and am standing in line to await fingerprinting.

The Atlanta Hawks close out the Pride festivities on Monday, Oct. 13, with their eighth annual Pride Night. The event, coinciding with their first preseason home game of the 2025-26 season against the Miami Heat, will feature in-game programming and performances that honor and uplift the LGBTQ+ community. The celebration will begin with a pregame concourse parade, featuring members of the Atlanta Pride committee and an exclusive pregame happy hour before tipoff at 6 p.m. “We are thrilled to be a part of the Hawks’ upcoming Pride Night following the festivities of the Atlanta Pride Parade and Festival,” said Steven Igarashi, Director of Communications and Community Engagement at Atlanta Pride.

Photo courtesy of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival. The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) 28th annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival will feature awards season contenders such as “Bugonia,” “Sentimental Value,” and more. The festival will take place Oct. 25 - Nov. 1 in Savannah. According to a press release, the lineup features 167 films, including 56 narrative feature films, 15 documentary features, and 96 short films. On Oct. 25, the festival will open with “Eternity,” a romantic comedy directed by David Freyne and starring Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller, and Callum Turner.

Two years later  Oct. 9 (10 Tishri 5786) 🇮🇱 It's been two years. Musical notes hang in the air, a song interrupted by screams, guns, crashing, exodus, violent noise. There's a duality in hope for negotiations between Israel and Hamas and the devastation of two years of intense war. 📍 The Atlanta Jewish community met at AA Synagogue, while other cities like Washington, D.C. and New York held public displays. 🕊️ While we're waiting for peace in the Middle East, here are a few websitesI'm following. ⁉️ Did you read that…

Rainbow Friday Oct. 10 — The Rough Draft crew will be at Piedmont Park this weekend for the Atlanta Pride celebration. Stop by our booth to say hi, and wave to us on Sunday as we march in the parade with a Mercedes-Benz convertible, courtesy of Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead. Our complete Pride Weekend Guide is here. ☀️ After a cool morning, it will be sunny and 72° today. A spectacular fall weekend is ahead with sun and temperatures in the mid-70s. ⚖️ DeKalb County School District Superintendent Devon Q. Horton was placed on leave after he was criminally indicted on…

Ann Morrison in the national tour of "Kimberly Akimbo." (Photo by Joan Marcus) When Ann Morrison was 25 years old, she made her Broadway debut as Mary Flynn in the much-maligned (now, reclaimed) Stephen Sondheim musical “Merrily We Roll Along.” Morrison was asked to play a woman in her 40s moving backward through time. Now, at the age of 70, she’s being asked to play a teenager. Morrison plays the titular role in the national tour of “Kimberly Akimbo,” a show about a teenage girl with a rare genetic condition that makes her age at a much faster rate than her peers.

It's another busy fall weekend in metro Atlanta, with the Atlanta Pride celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, free rock 'n' roll at the Oakhurst Porchfest, and the opening of the High Museum's new fashion-forward exhibition. Courtesy Atlanta Pride Atlanta PrideOct. 11 – 12, Piedmont ParkThe 55th annual Atlanta Pride celebration will feature events, activities, parties, performances, and the big Sunday parade through Midtown. See our complete guide here. Oakhurst PorchfestOct. 11, DecaturMore than 200 bands will be performing on front porches and in yards across the Decatur neighborhood.

(L-R) Tonatiuh and Diego Luna in "Kiss of the Spider Woman." (Photo provided by Roadside Attractions) Watching “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” one thought kept crossing my mind – why has it taken this long for someone to put Jennifer Lopez in a musical? Thankfully, director Bill Condon has righted this travesty. In “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” based on the 1993 stage musical, which is in turn based on Manuel Puig’s 1976 novel, Lopez plays the diva multiple times over. She is a movie star named Ingrid Luna – a vampy, musical siren a la Rita Hayworth or Marilyn Monroe.

Rough Draft hosted candidate forums for the Tucker Mayoral election on Oct. 6, featuring candidates Anne Lerner, Noelle Monferdini, and Beverly E. Williams.

Rough Draft hosted candidate forums for the Sandy Springs City Council election on Oct. 6, with Donna Lowry of GPB moderating the discussion.

During a Sandy Springs mayoral debate, Councilmember Andy Bauman read an email allegedly sent by incumbent Mayor Rusty Paul to the council in 2021, expressing his hesitation about running for another term, which triggered emotional reactions from both the incumbent and challengers.

Four Sandy Springs mayoral candidates discussed their ideas for the city in a televised forum, with topics including redevelopment, public safety, immigration, hate crimes, and affordable housing.

Dr. Devon Horton (File photo) DeKalb County School District Superintendent Devon Q. Horton has been criminally indicted on 17 charges by the U.S. Attorney for acts he allegedly committed while serving as the superintendent of Evanston-Skokie School District 65 in Illinois. After an emergency meeting on Oct. 9, the DCSD board placed Horton on leave and appointed Dr. Norman Sauce, the chief of student services, as the acting superintendent. The 37-page indictment, according to the Evanston RoundTable, claims Horton, along with three other co-conspirators – Antonio Ross, Samuel Ross, and Alfonzo Lewis –  took kickbacks from businesses they owned that were under contract with District 65 and Chicago Public Schools (CPS), without disclosing their involvement or financial stake. 

A rendering of Hub Spring Street. (Courtesy Core Spaces) The Midtown Development Review Committee will review plans at its Oct. 14 meeting for a student housing tower proposed for the Cheetah Lounge strip club property at 8th and Spring streets. The 27-story building – named Hub Spring Street – would have 532 units, including 1,407 bedrooms and 6,527 square feet of retail space at street level. A 119-space parking deck would be shielded from view of Spring Street, according to the application details. The building, developed by Core Spaces, would be accessible via an ingress-only driveway along Spring and a two-way driveway along  8th Street, which also accesses back-of-house services.

It greatly saddens and concerns me that Fulton County has seen several violent dog attacks in recent months. As someone who loves animals, I have worked closely with families affected and understand the pain they felt when their loved ones or beloved pets were attacked. I have also worked side by side with our Fulton County Police and Animal Control officers to ensure that those responsible are held accountable and that dangerous animals are never given another chance to harm someone again. Recent incidents include: • Actor Tyrese Gibson’s dogs:

Former District 65 Superintendent Devon Horton has been indicted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for alleged acts committed during his tenure.

Nuttopia, a new Tucker candy store, was forced to close after a break-in, but the community rallied around owner Shantell Reid and helped her reopen the store.

Lenda Holloway (Supplied by family) In recognition of her 100th birthday, Atlanta native Lenda Grace DeBardelaben Holloway enjoyed many special moments – a drop-in party, complete with her favorite chili dogs and fried pies from the Varsity, as well as numerous other honors from around Atlanta and the United States. Her daughters, LeeRee and Laynne, documented her extraordinary life. Lenda Grace DeBardelaben, who celebrated her 100th birthday on October 6, entered the world on October 6, 1925, at Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta. Her family resided in Smyrna in two different homes until they moved to the Virginia Highlands area of Atlanta after her graduation from high school.

Smorgasburg Atlanta Best Bites + Eats on Ponce Closure + GA Pecan Farms Recovery Update Oct. 9 — For today's Side Dish, we're offering two recipes, including one for a fall frittata using seasonal produce from your local farmers market. ➕ Read a story from Beth on the sad closure of Eats after 33 years on Ponce. Sarra offers a glimpse into the recovery efforts taking place on Georgia pecan farms following Hurricane Idalia in 2023 and Hurricane Helene in 2024. Pro tip: Stock up on Georgia-grown pecans during the fall baking season.

Ethan Hawke as the Grabber in "Black Phone 2," directed by Scott Derrickson. The film will be playing at SCADshow on Oct. 10. (Photo by Sabrina Lantos/Universal Pictures and Blumhouse) SCADFILM and the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) are celebrating horror this October with special guests Patrick Wilson, Arianna Rivas, and more. According to a press release, on Oct. 10 SCAD will host an event called “IN FOCUS: Horror,” spotlighting the popularity of the horror genre. Throughout the day, there will be panels, conversations, and a 7 p.m. screening of the new Scott Derrickson film “Black Phone 2” combined with a Q&A with actor Arianna Rivas. 

Max Parker (right) stars as Sergeant Robert "Bobby" Sullivan in "Boots." (Photo courtesy of Netflix) Out actor Max Parker began his audition process for the new Netflix series “Boots” over Zoom – and didn’t meet anyone in person until the eighth round. At first, the scripts he received were light on detail. But the more scripts came his way, the more he was convinced that Sergeant Robert "Bobby" Sullivan was a character he really needed to play. “I thought it would be an amazing opportunity to dive into that as well as play a queer character, something I have wanted to do,” he said in a recent interview with Georgia Voice.

A rendering of the naw patio and entryway for Dad's Garage Theatre Company. (Courtesy Dad's Garage) Dad’s Garage Theatre Company will host a grand opening of the facility’s new exterior entryway and patio in conjunction with the Old Fourth Ward Neighborhood Association (O4WNA) on Oct. 11 at 5:30 p.m. This over 3000-square-foot addition to the original 12,000-square-foot theatre is the first major renovation completed at Dad’s Garage since renovations in 2015, according to a press release. “Dad’s Garage is in a unique position to connect the past and present through social bonds, programming, and its physical space,” Dad’s Garage Managing Director Katie Pelkey said in a statement.

The forum will take place Thursday.