A gay man was brutally attacked on Coney Island, Uber still can’t their transgender policies together, Candace Parker comes out on Instagram & I remember bell hooks.
Show Notes
00:00 – Welcome & Intro
01:16 – The Kaya Kollection Ad
01:52 – Intro Music
02:33 – A gay man was brutally attacked in Coney Island
04:34 – Uber still can’t their transgender policies together
05:27 – Candace Parker comes out on Instagram
06:44 – Anna’s Got a Word: Remembering bell hooks
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About Queer News
An intersectional approach to a daily news podcast where race & sexuality meet politics, entertainment and culture. Tune-in to reporting which centers & celebrates all of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & comrade communities. Hosted by Anna DeShawn. 7 minutes a day, 5 days a week, ready by 9 a.m.
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Transcript
Family, this is your favorite Queer radio personality Anna DeShawn here and before we jump into Queer news I wanted to acknowledge that I missed ya’ll the last couple of days. For those of you who don’t know I founded E3 Radio, an online radio station playing Queer music & reporing on Queer news in high rotation. I’ve also founded The Qube, a curated destination for music & podcasts by BIPOC & QTPOC creatives. Now, I did everything I could to get an episode out on Wednesday but it wasn’t meant to be. I will say I had a divine day. I rocked The Qube pitch and our first onboarding of 3 new hires to The Qube. We are paying people to listen and review BIPOC & QTPOC podcasts ya’ll. The dream is becoming a reality. Thursday, I got in my own head and planned to get it out that evening and was just tired. I don’t plan on missing another one because there is always much to report on and you are my QCrew. We are in this together and we have a good thing going. Now let’s get into our Queer news from today.
A gay man was brutally attacked in Coney Island, Uber still can’t their transgender policies together, Candace Parker comes out on Instagram & I remember bell hooks.
Our leading story for today is coming out of Brooklyn, New York where Jawhar Edwards was brutally beaten with a metal pipe and robbed of his walker while passing out food to the homeless on the boardwalk. He quite literally handed the man some food, he gay bashed him, and then went about eating the food Mr. Edwards provided. The incident took place a month ago and Jawhar recently shared his story at a rally. He told FOX 5 New York that he was targeted because he was gay. The people who attacked him yelled homophobic abethets at him while they took off with his phone, coat, money & walker. Edwards says, “I went to feed the homeless. In return, I got gay-based.” The first responders on the scene rushed him to the hospital where he had to undergo multiple surgeries on his eye. The rally took place last Friday to urge law enforcement to treat this incident as a hate crime. Police were able to apprehend the attacker and charged him with second-degree robbery but not for inflicting a hate crime. Unfortantely, this was not the first time Edwards has been gay based and according to data from the NYPD, anti-LGBTQ hate crimes have surged a staggering 139 percent this year. Family, I will continue to say this over and over again. This is not just happenstance or a coincidence. It comes at a time where the most anti-trans & anti-lgbt legislation has been introduced & passed in state legislatures across the country. We are also living in a time where anti-trans rhetoric is amplified not just inside the walls of the state legislature but in the media as well; i.e. the Dave Chappelle comedy special and the subsequent social media diatribe of hate and misinformation. Family, do everything you can to protect yourselves out here. Travel in groups, tell your friends where you’re going, keep your location finder on. At this point you can’t be overly cautious.
Okay now, why can’t Uber get their transgender policies togehter like Grubub & Lyft have been able to do for years. Essentially, Uber has said they would make it easy for transgender Uber drivers to update their documents, like their picture for example, but in fact that’s not what happens. Trans employees go to update their information and get their accounts shut off for “fraudulent” documentation. One transgender man reported he was banned from the platform until the ACLU stepped in. He had to call on the ACLU to get his account reactivated the same day. Not many people would even think to do that. I will say, Uber knows how to say the right things but at this point they just need to do the right thing. Get the application together and fix it. People out here are trying to make a living and we know ya’ll are short on drivers. Get it together.
Family, I have to be honest okay, I have a soft spot for a good coming out story but this Candace Parker one has taken it to a whole level. One, let’s talk about the type of circle it takes to keep this type of secret on lock for two years. Not to mention the time they were dating. That’s special & hella rare. May we all manifest that type of circle into our own lives, okay. Two, her wife Anna, who I think has a wonderful name, is pregnant so they’re about to grow their family together, which for us is a big deal because it takes so much time and energy to make that happen. Candace said, “We’ve always dreamed of growing our family…it’s surreal that we now have a baby on the way!” Three, to come out on your own terms, as one of the highest profile athletes in the world, is an absolute gift that her family & friends gave to her. The Shade Room said it best okay, “If “move in silence” was a person. Okay, big #facts. What we all need to do is go and manifest ourselves a Candace Parker type 2022 because her 2021 was next level.
Now we always close out the podcast with a word of the day. Today’s word comes from the Black feminist icon bell hooks who made her earthly transition this week. Ya’ll she gifted us and the world with over 30 pieces of work and bell hooks is church for me. I was introduced to her work in undergrad, like so many others, and she articulated all my feelings in a way no one had before. I remember it being a very surreal experience. She identified as queer-pas-gay with pas being translated from French to English meaning not so essentially queer not gay and she shared this, “queer not as being about who you’re having sex with (that can be a dimension of it); but queer as being about the self that is at odds with everything around it and has to invent and create and find a place to speak and to thrive and to live.” Feel free to rewind that part and take it in a bit. Another quote of hers that speaks to me says, “rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.” Community is where the healing happens. Take your rest bell hooks. Well done. Till Monday family, peace.
Sources
Gay man brutally beaten with metal pole and robbed of his walker as bystanders ignored him
Anti-LGBTQ+ hate has no place here.
— Office of the Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams (@nycpa) December 11, 2021
Community Organizer Jeffrey Severe joined Assemblymember @FrontusAD46 & @ABatistaPerezBk to stand up for Jawhar Edwards, who’s experienced harassment and now a violent assault. We must protect our neighbors and address the root causes of hate. pic.twitter.com/jP9o9MWAj6