What can we say? We love Martha Wash — always have — and she’s coming to Sacramento to open for Boy George and Culture Club. It will certainly be raining… something! We can’t wait. In the meantime, join us as we sit down with her for a chat. Long live (and love) the Queen of Clubland! You can find Chris Narloch’s interview with her on page 13.

There are some interesting happenings we touch on in this issue. For instance, there’s a city workshop supporting Sacramento’s nightlife and hospitality businesses. We also have a couple of informative pieces about what’s going on with the Stonewall Pride flag, as well as efforts in some places to criminalize queer existence.

We say goodbye to a civil rights powerhouse, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who recently passed away. His energy and leadership will be missed. RIP. Senator Cabaldon has introduced a couple of new bills that help everyday Californians, and you can read about them on page 6.
Over the weekend, we attended Beazer Homes’ R21 open house to tour the beautiful residences they’re preparing to sell in the heart of Midtown. You’ll find photos, details, and helpful links on page 7.

We’d also like to shamelessly promote a couple of our very popular themed issues coming up soon. First is our 30th annual Travel issue, hitting the street March 12, followed by our Homes & Gardens issue on April 9. Starting in May, our Pride issues — all four of them — return to help usher in the season. (Can you believe we’re already getting close to Pride?)

Further in the magazine, Free Museum Weekend returns in March. The wonderful Jonathan Van Ness will be performing in San Francisco — which should be a lot of fun (too bad he’s not coming to Sacramento just yet… hint, hint). Chris Narloch also brings us four mini movie reviews, including an Elvis documentary and the films Crime 101 and Wuthering Heights. You’ll find all of that on page 15.

On page 16, the always-awesome Matthew Burlingame delivers his “Out and About” column, filled with great things to do and fabulous people to see.
You know how much we love to eat and drink, so we’re sharing a recipe from Café Beaujolais, which just introduced a stunning new cookbook. And no issue of Outword feels complete without a fun cocktail recipe, right? “Activating Taste Buds” delivers with an espresso martini that comes with just a little attitude.

Of course, there’s even more inside. As always, you can click your way to outwordmagazine.com to read the flip version online or download a PDF to enjoy offline at your leisure. It’s always free to read.

Thank you for making it all the way to the bottom of this email blast — you’re the greatest! We hope you enjoy the issue, and we’ll see you again in two weeks.