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FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | SEPTEMBER 2024 51 Our next potluck will be on Saturday, Oct. 26. This will consist of our October Anniversary celebration and annual group meeting. Information on the location and the time of this event is available on our Facebook page or via email (rainbowgroup@myyahoo.com). This month our selection for the Famous LGBT Americans series is Maria Ressa (at left), an open lesbian, who holds dual citizenship of the United States and the Philippines. Ressa was born in Manila and moved to the United States with her family after martial law was declared in the Philippines. She graduated from Princeton University with a degree in English and a certificate in theater and dance. She returned to the Philippines during the People Power Revolution, which led to the country's transition from authoritarianism to democracy. Ressa then began a career in journalism. After working for a couple of Philippine news organizations, she joined CNN, working as an investigative reporter, foreign correspondent, and bureau chief in Manila and Jakarta. In 2012, Ressa co-founded Rappler, a digital-media company for investigative journalism. After Rodrigo Duterte became President of the Philippines in 2016, Rappler investigated his war on drugs (in which thousands of extrajudicial killings took place), government corruption, and human rights violations. Ressa reported how the Philippine government weaponized social media to spread disinformation, harass opponents, and manipulate public discourse. This resulted in a backlash from the Philippine government. Rappler and Ressa faced several lawsuits. Numerous warrants were issued for her arrest, and in 2020 she was convicted of cyber-libel, which carried a sentence of up to six years in prison. In the midst of appealing that conviction and anticipating the outcome of several pending cases, she and Rappler were acquitted of tax evasion in January 2023, and, later that year, both were acquitted of another tax evasion charge. Ressa has referred to Facebook as being "a threat to democracy," adding that the social media giant fails to protect against the spread of disinformation. In 2021, Ressa was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, along with the Russian journalist, Dmitry Muratov. She was cited for using "freedom of expression to expose abuse of power, use of violence, and growing authoritarianism in her native country." For more information on Maria Ressa and on the sources for this article, please go to the Rainbow Group's Facebook page or request a copy via our email. ~ Dan Hazeltine and Frank Galvan Rainbow Group

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