Jazlynn Johnson we speak your name, Roller derby league defeats anti-trans legislation in New York, and Billie Eilish’s song “Lunch” is a lesbian dream – May 20, 2024

[00:00:00] There’s no place like the Qube. I hope

this contest can live up to its promise and continue to stand for peace and dignity for every person in this world.[00:00:30]

Family, it’s your favorite queer radio personality, Anna Deshawn, and this is Queer News, your favorite weekly news pod where race and sexuality meet politics, culture, and entertainment. The voice you heard at the top of the show said, I hope this contest can live up to its promise and continue to stand for peace and [00:01:00] dignity for every person in this world.

That is the voice of Nemo. A singer and performer who just won Eurovision Song Contest, which is a big deal. They became the first non binary performer to win this title. All right. I watched the teaser and their performance looked fierce, honey. Okay. And after winning, reporters asked who they would be calling first.

Now, I know what you would say. You’d say your loved one, right? Maybe your parents, your [00:01:30] partner, a good friend. You want to know what Nemo said? Nemo said Switzerland’s justice minister. They want to talk about non binary representation in their politics. Yeah. Mm hmm. Not their loved ones, child. Nemo going straight for social change.

I am here for it. And if you want to check out their performance, I’ve included a link to the teaser in the show notes. And if you want to watch the whole thing, you got to go to Peacock. That’s what they told me. Congratulations, Nemo. Family, don’t forget the Queer News tip [00:02:00] line is open. I want to report on the stories.

That don’t make it to the news or a blog. A link is in the show notes and Q Crew what’s going on. Thank you for helping to financially sustain this podcast. Thank you. Oh, and if you don’t know the Q Crew helps to supplement the costs of this pod, hosting, editing, marketing, PR, travel, everything. So if you believe in the work we do, if you believe LGBTQ stories need to be amplified, if you love LGBTQ stories, and respect how I [00:02:30] report on the news and tell our stories.

Join the Q crew. A link is in the show notes and family. Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. It’s been popping off. I’ve been posting over there. And so turn on the notification. So you don’t miss a thing. Follow us at E the number three radio on YouTube. Okay. Now for the news, we remember Jaslyn Johnson.

18 year old trans woman who tragically lost her life in Las Vegas. [00:03:00] In politics, a roller derby league fights anti trans legislation and wins. In culture and entertainment family, it’s AAPI month and I’m going to And let’s talk about the hate speech heard around the world by Harrison Buckner. Let’s talk about that for a little bit.

And the WNBA chartered flights debacle is getting resolved this week. Let’s go family. Our top story today [00:03:30] is coming out of Las Vegas. We remember Jaslyn Johnson, an 18 year old trans woman who was killed. And ironically, she was killed by a friend. So many of the details have not been shared about what happened that night.

But according to reports, the person that shot her came home about 3 a. m. and confessed to his parents that he had Quote unquote, accidentally shot his friend, Jaslyn. It [00:04:00] seems as though he was very upset. He didn’t want his parents to call the police, but his parents was like, we got to call the police.

And they did. They called the police on their son. He’s now in juvenile hall facing murder charges. But this story is just so odd to me because how do you accidentally shoot somebody in the head? Like, are we just playing with guns? Is this truly not an accident? And this is just the ploy that’s happening.

Now, I [00:04:30] wonder what happened in that car that night. I don’t know if we’ll ever find out, but what we do know is that Jaslyn Johnson was 18 years old and she didn’t deserve this. My heart goes out to her family and friends and those that loved her. Jaslyn Johnson, we speak your name today.

In politics, I’m, I’m excited to share this particular story because [00:05:00] I love it when regular people doing regular normal things decide they’re going to fight the system and decide they’re going to fight back and they don’t know where to maybe their beginning or maybe where it’s going to end, but they just know that they’re doing the right thing and that’s what happened in Nassau County is based in New York and it’s just east and connected to Long Island.

Essentially, the Long Island Roller Rebels, right? It’s the women’s roller derby group, and we know if you know roller derby, it’s just filled with [00:05:30] lots of lesbians, okay? It’s also typically is a very liberal place. Well, they had a trans woman playing on their team. It was cool. Everybody was cool. Until, until anti trans legislation passed in Nassau County.

That’s right, the county’s executive, his name is Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, signed this order, right? And you don’t want to know what’s really terrible about this order in particular. The order still allowed trans boys [00:06:00] and men to continue playing alongside cisgender boys and men. If this isn’t just as sexist and misogynistic as you could possibly ever be in pieces of legislation, there’s just no way anybody could ever make that make sense to me, but I digress.

Okay. At the end of the day, the roller rebels were not going to take this sitting down. And so they decided to fight back and they actually filed a lawsuit against this policy. [00:06:30] And guess what? They won! A little over a week ago, a New York State Supreme Court judge said that Bruce Blakeman, the person that signed that order, didn’t have the authority to do so.

They said, you signed that? Despite there being no corresponding legislative enactment that gave him the authority to do so. So this Supreme Court judge threw that out and said trans folks, y’all can play on sports here in Nassau County. Amanda, [00:07:00] the president of the Roller Rebels, said this. Today’s decision is a victory for those who believe that transgender people have the right to participate in sports, just like everybody else.

She went on to say, County Executive Blakeman’s order tried to punish us just because we believe in inclusion and stand against transphobia. Trans people belong everywhere, including in sports, and they will not be erased. I love this story [00:07:30] because it was the people that fought back against the system.

And I love it when the people win, because power concedes nothing ever. Okay. I love this story. Congratulations, ladies. Y’all did it. Y’all did it. And now is the perfect time to take a quick break. When we get back, we’re gonna jump into culture and entertainment. Hey, queer news fans, it’s Derek from ET Through Radio here to tell you all about our latest [00:08:00] show Queer Open Mic.

One of our missions is to uplift and support the incredible talent within the LGBTQ plus community. And that’s exactly what we set out to do with this monthly showcase, queer Open Mike with future talents such as musicians, DJs, poets, and more. Head over to our YouTube channel at E three Radio to catch the latest episode.

And before you go, make sure to hit that subscribe button, turn on your notifications and share, share, share. That’s it for me. And thank you for joining us in celebrating queer talent. Peace family. What’s good podcast family. It’s your boy Yanni Blue, and I [00:08:30] am one of the co hosts of the Creators Toolkit podcast.

Alongside my co host, Mike Brown of the Art of Letting Go. We talk to creative entrepreneurs every week about how they’re taking their art to tangible places and how they’re using that to increase their finances. Season one has so far included artists like She’s Ryan, Sad Boy Music, Kristoff Jenkins of The Poet Life, and Rio Japan.

If you are looking for a new podcast to keep you inspired, motivated, and give you some really cool tips, check out the Creator’s Toolkit podcast on all streaming platforms. Thank you. [00:09:00] I’m Darren. And I’m Esther. And this is Second Sunday, a podcast about Black queer folk finding, keeping, and sometimes losing faith.

This season’s full of candid conversations. We’re talking to theologians, artists, activists, and community members living at the intersections of faith, spirituality, and identity. The Saints ain’t ready for this. We’re still gonna talk about it. Second Sunday, find it wherever you get podcasts. Second Sunday is a Qube original podcast, and it’s [00:09:30] part of the PRX Big Questions Project.

Family, welcome back to Queer News, and let’s jump into culture and entertainment. Now you may or may not know, but May It’s AAPI Heritage Month. And if you don’t know what AAPI stands for, it stands for Asian American and Pacific Islander. Now I love these types of months because it gives us an opportunity to highlight and celebrate those from a particular [00:10:00] community, those you may not have heard of otherwise, but because it’s AAPI month, they get highlighted and celebrated to a broader audience.

And so what are we supposed to be doing here on Queer News other than doing just this? So how about we just take a couple minutes and amplify some AAPI queer folks out here doing good in the world. Let’s go. First up, we got to go with two of the most popular Asian American queers out here, right? First up, Margaret Cho, right?

She’s performed in 43 films, 56 [00:10:30] TV shows. She’s had eight solo comedy specials. I mean, she’s been out here for a long time. So we got to show mad love to Margaret Cho. And if we show love to Margaret, then we got to show love to George Takei. Y’all know him from Star Trek, and he was one of the first Asian Americans on television, period.

And then we got to talk about leaders such as Urbashie Vadd. I never met her in person, but can I tell y’all I’ve encountered her work at every turn, the impact of her work at [00:11:00] every single turn. She was the first woman of color to lead a national LGBTQ plus organization. Yeah. She served as the national LGBTQ task force executive director from 1989 to 1992, which y’all very well know was at the heart, the heart of the AIDS crisis.

Yes. Yes. How can we talk about Urvashi and then not talk about Alok, right? Urvashi was Alok’s aunt and Alok is one of the most powerful queer voices out here today. Comedian, [00:11:30] activist, advocate. Alok is a gender non conforming artist and they are absolutely one of our biggest leaders in the movement today.

And family, you should also know this other leader. Andy Merrim. Andy is a Korean American activist who serves as the executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. And of course, we gotta show love to Bowen Yang as well. He was the first out gay and first Chinese [00:12:00] American cast member on Saturday Night Live.

He has a wonderful podcast he co hosts called Los Culturistas, which is absolutely hilarious. And he starred in Fire Island and Bros. Chile, you’ve seen Bowen everywhere. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Do you understand? There’s so many more AAPI siblings to celebrate during Heritage Month. So like I said, stay close to social media.

I want to do a video and highlight them for real, because we need to speak their names too, because representation matters. [00:12:30] Yes, it does.

Our next story in culture and entertainment is about the hate speech heard around the world that originated at Benedictine College at a commencement address given by Harrison Butker. football fan. You’ve probably never heard of him because he’s a kicker and kickers don’t get no love. Okay. But he is one of the best kickers in the NFL and he plays for the Kansas city chiefs who’ve won a couple of [00:13:00] Superbowl titles over the last few years.

He’s known for being conservative. Hence why Benedictine college, a Catholic college asked him to give the commencement speech. From where I sit, he said so many vile things. Let me give y’all some highlights, huh? He said. Abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media come from, quote, the pervasiveness of disorder.

What? [00:13:30] So essentially, he ain’t for abortion, okay? Then he doubled down on the women in the room and talked about how their place was in the home. He said the women have been told the most quote, diabolical lies, diabolical. Okay. He went to tell a story about his wife, Isabel, who he said would say that her life, her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.

I [00:14:00] wish y’all could see me blinking right now. Okay. He says, Isabelle’s dream of having a career might not have come true, but if you ask her today if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud without hesitation and say, heck no. Heck no. Because the vocation, the vocation that’s most important is what he said is a homemaker.

Y’all, I promise, I promise these conservatives want to take us back to a time when women [00:14:30] couldn’t vote. Okay. Women didn’t have a say so. Women shut their mouths and did what they husband said and made them feel great and stroke their ego all day. And as it pertains to this here pod and the queers, y’all.

He leaves the best for us. Okay. He said that students should have quote, true God centered pride, not the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it. That would be us. Yeah. [00:15:00] Let me say this as a journalist, I believe in the first amendment. I believe people should be able to say what they want to say.

People should be able to be who they want to be. People should be able to do. what they want to do. The problem is these conservatives, they really don’t believe that they want you to be who they want you to be. They want you to do what they want you to do. Okay. I also believe it. No, that hate speech in particular is some of the most dangerous form of free speech [00:15:30] because that hate is what is leading to so many of our trans siblings being killed in the street.

It’s leading to all of this anti trans hate. It’s leading to polls where folks are Are less supportive of same sex marriage today than they were 10, 15 years ago. That is what hate speech does. You free to do it. And we’re free to call out hate when we see it and know it. And this right here was just a bunch of filthy hate.[00:16:00]

Our next story is about the music. Okay. We got any Billie Eilish fans out there? Chile. She just dropped her new album, Hit Me Hard and Soft. And of course, of course she has the most lesbian song. On the planet called lunch. I wasn’t ready for these lyrics. Okay. I wasn’t ready. You ready? No, you not, but I’m going to tell you anyway, it goes.

I could eat that girl for lunch. Yeah. I could eat that girl for lunch. [00:16:30] Yeah. She dances on my tongue. Tastes like she might be the one and I can never get enough. I could buy her so much stuff. It’s a craving, not a crush. Call me when you’re there. Said, I brought you something rare and I left it under Claire.

So now she’s coming up the stairs. So I’m pulling up a chair. And I’m putting up my hair. This is, this is it. This is a lesbian anthem. If I’ve ever heard one. [00:17:00] Billie Eilish is holding nothing back in this track called lunch. I wasn’t ready. You ain’t ready. Go download the track. Do whatever you do. Go listen to the album.

We here. We here for Billie Eilish. We are, we’re here for this. And for our next story in culture and entertainment, let’s talk about sports and specifically the WNBA. This past week, it was a big story that dropped that the WNBA was going to start chartering flights. Now this has been a big [00:17:30] deal. If you’ve been listening to this pod for a little while, you remember the story.

Story I reported on last year when BG was in the airport and she got harassed by a YouTuber, right? A conservative YouTuber who was yelling at her in the airport and following the team around completely disrespectful, a completely unsafe situation, not only for BG, but for the rest of the players, which bubbled up this conversation that’s been going on for years with the WNBA was that these players deserve chartered flights.

[00:18:00] Well, the money never made sense. They could never pull it off last year. They pulled it off with playoff games. It costs the league about 4 million, but because of the attention, the media deals in negotiation, all of the blow up and glow up the WNBA has been experiencing. They announced that they were able to charter flights beginning this year for every single team.

And that it was going to be a phase rollout, but child, that phase rollout was so wrong. It was so wrong, [00:18:30] y’all. Let me tell you why. The Indiana Fever, for example, got a chartered flight. Kaitlin Clark. Makes sense. Okay, they got a chartered flight. But why didn’t the Chicago Sky have a chartered flight with Angel Reese?

You telling me Angel Reese is safe to ride a commercial flight today? Absolutely not. They also had the Atlanta Dream having to take multiple layovers. They also had the Atlanta Dream who had to take multiple stops to get to their game in LA who could have used a chartered flight. And so the [00:19:00] rollout was just really, really terrible.

It was pretty wack. And Breonna Stewart, one of the best to ever do it. She tweeted two out of five WNBA teams traveling today are on WNBA charters and that’s a win. It could be a bigger one. If the W allowed teams who were not offered league charters to secure their own until a full 12 team solution is ready.

So here’s another piece of the puzzle for my new WNBA fans. So there have been teams over the years whose owners said [00:19:30] we will pay for the chartered flights and the WNBA said No, you cannot charter flights for just your team and all the other teams don’t have it. It will cause for an unfair advantage, et cetera, et cetera.

But now that they allowed it, you would think that they would also allow owners to get these charters, but that’s not how it rolled out, but they fixed it. Okay. They fixed it in less than a week. All the teams, all 12 teams starting this week. will begin to fly private on [00:20:00] chartered planes. And y’all, it just makes sense.

One, their popularity is out of control now. Okay. Then walking through a commercial airport is just wild. Two, these ladies are six feet, six, three, six, seven, six, nine. And they’re riding on tiny planes where myself five, four, six, three in my heart, but five, four in real life, it is tight business. And you telling me these women have been on these flights traveling after a game to another game.

Sometimes there’s delays and they get [00:20:30] impacted. I mean, it’s just not practical. It’s been terrible. So I’m really proud of the W. I’m proud that they listen. I’m proud that they able to rectify things quickly. And now all 12 teams will be on private chartered flights. That’s the win for the W y’all keep watching.

I’m going to keep watching. Cause all of this helps to continue to tell a story that ain’t nobody here to play with by women’s sports. We about this life. Okay. Okay.[00:21:00]

Family. It’s that time of the show for Anna’s Got A Word because Anna’s always got a word. And the word today is actually going to come from Harvey Milk, because on Wednesday, May 22nd marks Harvey Milk Day. And so I thought, what better way to commemorate? The activist, the organizer, the first openly gay man elected to public office in the country.

Harvey Milk, who was also assassinated, [00:21:30] was to uplift his voice, uplift a quote that he left us with because of his revolutionary work. So here’s the word he says. The only thing they have to look forward to is hope, and you have to give them hope. Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a better place to come to if the pressures at home are too great.

Hope that all will be all right. Without hope, not only gays, but the blacks, the [00:22:00] seniors, the handicapped, the usses. The usses will give up. And if you help elect to the central committee and other offices more gay people, That gives a green light to all who feel disenfranchised. a green light to move forward.

It means hope to a nation that has given up because if a gay person makes it, the doors are open to everyone. So if there is a message I can give you, it is that if I’ve found one overriding thing about my personal election [00:22:30] is the fact that if a gay person can be elected, it’s a green light and you and you And you and you have to give people hope.

So family today, as Harvey milk said it, we have to continue to live in hope before without hope we have nothing and we will keep fighting. Yes. Until we win. And no matter what the noise of social media says, I want y’all to know we are in fact winning [00:23:00] till next week. Family peace.

If you’ve enjoyed what you heard, rate and review us inside your favorite podcasting app. [00:23:30] This podcast is written and produced by me, Anna Deshawn. Podcast editing by Ryan Woodhull and brought to you by E3 radio and distributed on the Qube. We are Queer News Done Right.