Lawyers out of Los Angeles, San Francisco & San Diego are threatening to sue Uber if they can’t get their transgender policies together. I share a cautionary text messaging tale as a daughter receives a X-rated gay video of her dad & we celebrate Willmer “Little Ax” Broadnax in our Black History Month Spotlight.

00:00 – Welcome & Intro

00:31 – Rate & Review Queer News Ad

00:59 – Intro Music

01:41 – Lawyers out of Los Angeles, San Francisco & San Diego are threatening to sue Uber if they can’t get their transgender policies together

03:15 – I share a cautionary text messaging tale as a daughter receives a X-rated gay video of her dad

04:34 – We salute Willmer “Little Ax” Broadnax during our Black History Month Spotlight

06:09 – Anna’s Got A Word

Things for you to check out 

Queer News December 17th episode on Uber’s transgender policies 

https://bit.ly/3GTsEM0

Queer History: Willmer “Little Ax” Broadnax

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Family, this is your favorite queer radio personality Anna DeShawn here with our queer news from today. 

Lawyers out of Los Angeles, San Francisco & San Diego are threatening to sue Uber if they can’t get their transgender policies together. I share a cautionary text messaging tale as a daughter receives a X-rated gay video of her dad & we celebrate Willmer “Little Ax” Broadnax in our Black History Month Spotlight. 

Our leading story for today is about Uber still not getting their trans documation issue in order. I reported about this on our December 17th podcast because trans drivers were reporting about the discrimination they were facing updating their documents, like their picture for example. 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. Well now city attorneys for LA, San Francisco & San Diego have issued formal warnings to Uber that if they keep rejecting transgender drivers’ identification documents they will see them in court. LA city attorney Mike Feuer said, “Uber tries to talk a good game when it comes to LGBTQ equality, but we have serious questions about whether it is failing transgender drivers.” Based on the reports I’ve been seeing they are failing them and it feels eerily similar to the story I shared about the women only app using the racist & transphobic artificial intelligence software to reject trans women from using their app. This tech was built with some inherent bias’ and Uber needs to figure it out. It seems like their counterparts at Lyft & Grubhub have so I’m not sure why this has been challenging for them. One thing is for sure, these attorneys are ready to help them if they don’t prioritize this and get it done. 

Now this next story is a cautionary tale and I’m only sharing so we all double check that “To” line of our text messages, okay. A woman went on Reddit to share that her dad, for whom she kind of suspected was gay, accdiently sent her a video of him having sex with his boyfriend. Oh NO! Disturbing was the word she used to describe it but I can think of at least a dozen more. Now her brother told her not to respond but when her dad realized he sent it he texted her and said, “Oh no, forget you saw that”. She told him that she had already deleted it and that she loved him and already knew he was in a relationship with his roommate. Her dad followed up with an apology and asked how her day was going. Haha how’s her day going?! What! It’s terrible. She can’t unsee that. So friends, please be cautious. Accidents happen but some just don’t need to ever happen. You feel me. 

Ya’ll know its Black History Month and in every episode this month we are going to celebrate living at the intersections of being Black & Queer. There are so many Black LGBTQ folks who have made history but their sexuality was left out of the story. I’m here to change that. E3 Radio is here to change that. Who they are is just as important as what they did and acknowledging the full depth and breath of someone’s existence can not be understated. We deserve to be seen for all of who we are. Anything less is unjust. So with that our Black History spotlight today is Willmer ‘Little Ax’ Broadnax.  

Willmer ‘Little Ax’ was a talented gospel quartet singer in the 20th century. He was born in 1916 in Texas and was taken with music from an early age. After moving to Southern California in the mid-1940s, Wilmer and his brother, William, joined the Southern Gospel Singers.

Later Willmer and William formed the Five Trumpets, they were both lead singers and Willmer was known for his powerful tenor voice. Following this he performed with the Fairfield Four and the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi before forming his own group called Little Ax and the Golden Echoes. He performed with his brother, who accepted and supported him, through his life. Willmers trans identity was discovered after his death in 1992 during an autopsy. I will absolutely be doing a TikTok on Little Ax to share his story far and wide. Little Ax we see you & we salute you. 

For our word of the day I want to center change. If you’ve set some resolutions or in my case some intentions we’ve started making the moves necessary to see those things become our reality. The change that needs to happen is often internal and when it manifests itself in the world it can make others feel uncomfortable. Some may not like it because they want you to be who you’ve always been to them. Be encouraged by this quote “Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change”. When things begin to feel overwhelming take a big step back. I mean big. Focus on the bigger picture and not the finite details in front of you at that moment. Breathe. Believe that change isn’t bad. Inconvenient, maybe, but it will be what you make it. So make it good. Make it work in your favor. I believe in you. Till tomorrow family, peace. 

Sources

City lawyers threaten legal action against Uber for photo system that blocks transgender drivers

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/02/city-lawyers-threaten-legal-action-uber-photo-system-blocks-transgender-drivers/

Dad accidentally sends gay porn video of himself to his daughter: ‘It was deeply disturbing’

Dad accidentally sends gay porn video of himself to his daughter: ‘It was deeply disturbing’

Willmer ‘Little Ax” Broadnax

https://spectrumoutfitters.co.uk/blogs/spectrum-spotlight/7-famous-trans-people

Queer History: Willmer “Little Ax” Broadnax

Uber can’t get their transgender policies together, A dad accidentally texts his daughter a X-rated gay video of himself & we salute Willmer “Little Ax” Broadnax in our Black History Month Spotlight – Tuesday, February 8. 2022