LGBTQ elected officials providing hope during coronavirus
Plus: 9 arrests in Grindr sting, Ten's refresh, crash and run at gay-owned business
Happy Friday! We all need a haircut, some toilet paper and just one more time-lapse workout on Instagram. In the meantime, we bring you inspiration with the stories of LGBTQ folks helping others during the coronavirus pandemic. Scroll down for two more examples we reported on this week. And if you know of LGBTQ folks in Georgia doing good during the pandemic, reply to this email and let me know. (If you’re reading the web version, leave a comment below.)

Canton Mayor Bill Grant – one of at least four LGBTQ mayors in Georgia – turned his marketing firm into a business of hope. He and his employees are spending their pandemic downtime by plastering the city with signs carrying inspirational messages to salute healthcare workers and first responders.
“Our clients have gone into hibernation and we’re sitting here twiddling our thumbs, so we decided to take this nervous energy and turn it into positive energy,” he told Project Q Atlanta.
The messages of hope and healing have made their way to Marietta and soon to Emory and DeKalb Medical Center.
And in Atlanta, City Council member Antonio Brown – the only LGBTQ member of the council – launched a program providing thousands of free meals to people in need.
“It speaks volumes to the work that people are doing to support one another,” he said. “I just think it’s such a beautiful thing.”
At Barking Leather, the gay-owned leather shop is making fabric face masks for local healthcare workers and first responders.
And for even more inspiration, see how LGBTQ Atlanta is joining the daily salute to healthcare workers fighting coronavirus.

Our coronavirus coverage also includes:
Yes, stay at home even if you’re bored, horny and at “low risk.”
Columnist Bill Dickinson on navigating loss during the pandemic.
Must see LGBTQ-TV on Hulu, Amazon Prime and Netflix.
Queer Atlanta virtual events blossom during coronavirus.
Flip through this week’s Q magazine, which has been cleaned with an alcohol wipe yet still has Atlanta’s LGBTQ local lockdown on lock.

What LGBTQ Atlanta is talking about
The Dawson County Sheriff's Office arrested nine men during a three-day sting using Grindr, charging them with a host of misdemeanors and felonies. How’s that for protect and serve?
Popular gay bar Ten stripped off its signs and shut down its social media outlets last weekend – a move that took its LGBTQ fans by surprise. Turns out, the bar is taking advantage of the coronavirus shutdown by doing a brand “refresh.”
Gay-owned print and design studio Creative Approach was again the victim of a crime. This time, the driver of a stolen Dodge Challenger crashed into the closed business. Thieves have smashed their way into the business three times in the past.
A pro-life student group asked the Student Government Association at Georgia Tech to bankroll the appearance of Alveda King. The SGA – citing King’s long history of being “a known homophobe” – declined. So the pro-life group enlisted the Alliance Defending Freedom – also a known homophobe – to sue in federal court.
See you next Friday!
We’re done here. Go get your weekend started. But before you do, click on that little heart below. It’s our version of a virtual hug. And we all need one of those right now.