On LGBTQ Elders Day Governor Pritzker of Illinois signed groundbreaking legislation which will ensure LGBTQ older adults have a voice at the table. L. Morgan Lee becomes the first trans woman nominated for a Tony for her role in Strange Loop. Janelle Monae announced that she will be playing Josephine Baker in an upcoming TV series. 

00:00 – Welcome & Intro

01:01 – The NECANN Illinois Cannabis Convention is coming to Chicago on June 10th and 11th. Grab your tickets now at necann.com/illinois

01:44 – Intro Music by Aina Bre’Yon

02:25 – On LGBTQ Elders Day Governor Pritzker of Illinois signed groundbreaking legislation which will ensure LGBTQ older adults have a voice at the table

4:05 – L. Morgan Lee becomes the first trans woman nominated for a Tony for her role in Strange Loop

05:29 – Janelle Monae announced that she will be playing Josephine Baker in an upcoming TV series

06:42 – Anna’s Got A Word

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Transcript

Family, this is your favorite queer radio personality Anna DeShawn with our queer news for today. If you enjoy what you hear please consider joining the QCrew. The QCrew is our monthly membership program we just started to help us grow the podcast. I want to bring on a producer, an editor, and travel around the country to tell our stories. If you’re down with it check the link in the show notes for more information. Now for the news.

On LGBTQ Elders Day Governor Pritzker of Illinois signed groundbreaking legislation which will ensure LGBTQ older adults have a voice at the table. L. Morgan Lee becomes the first trans woman nominated for a Tony for her role in Strange Loop. Janelle Monae announced that she will be playing Josephine Baker in an upcoming TV series. 

Our leading story for today is out of Illinois where earlier this week on LGBTQ Elders Day Governor Pritzker signed “The Disrupting Disparities for LGBTQ Older Adults Bill.” This bill will do a few things. It will create a 3-year Illinois Commission on LGBTQ aging so this community can have a voice when it comes to state programming and policymaking. It is also making it a requirement for the Director on Aging to appoint an LGBTQ Older Adult Advocate to ensure the needs & experiences of LGBTQ older adults and especially those living with HIV are centered and integrated into the department’s work. Lastly, it will require state-funded service providers to complete LGBTQ older adult awareness and competency training. This is major. If you didn’t know, our fam living with HIV & AIDS are living longer and their care is particular. People should be trained on how to care for our fam. In addition, it’s a fact that as our LGBTQ fam ages and transition to assisted living facilities and alike they end up going back into the closet because they don’t safe to be out. This mandated training is critical so those who work in these places can learn what it means to be affirming. I want to send a big thank you & congratulations to all the people and organizations that worked so diligently to see this get passed. And who knows maybe it will set an example that other states can follow. 

Now we have two great entertainment stories today. First up is L. Morgan Lee, who has made history as the first out trans woman to be nominated for a Tony Award. How amazing is that! She’s been nominated for Best Featured Actress for her role as Thought 1 in the musical A Strange Loop. Get this, this role marks her first appearance on Broadway and she got a Tony nod. That is so dope! She said this to Playbill, “My mind isn’t processing that this is real…I can’t stop crying. To specifically be a trans actress in the company of these incredible women that I respect and have enjoyed for many years… This nomination is SO much bigger than me.” She goes on to say. “I hope someone will see this moment and feel like they can go on. No matter what the world, or school, or people tell them they are “supposed” to be…that they will keep striving to love and embrace the fullest version of who they are….that they will keep studying and working and dreaming the biggest dreams.” I love all of this and we will be tuning in on Sunday, June 12th so we don’t miss the moment. Make sure you hit that record button for the Tony’s so you don’t miss it either. 

Next, Janelle Monae is set to star as Josephine Baker in an upcoming TV series. Ohhhh this is going to be so good. Janelle is known for being a longtime fan of the icon so this is a dream come true. She wrote on IG, “A dream role with a dream team! Mercí beaucoup! I can’t believe i get to honor you 🖤“Black Venus”🖤aka my hero🖤💋MADAME JOSEPHINE BAKER💋🥺🥹🥹 I can’t wait to transform into the iconic performer, American hero, glamorous bi-con🌈goddess, intellect, global humanitarian, and SPY that is you; telling a unique story only a few know.” The series is titled “De La Resistance” which wil focus on her music of course and also her time as a spy for the allies in German-occupied France during World War II. No date on its release just yet but Deadline is reporting that multiple streaming services are looking to get the rights to the series. 

Let’s close out the podcast with a word on collaboration. Now this podcast is coming out so late because I spent the first half of my day at the Collaborative Journalism Summit organized by the Center for Cooperative Media. I had the opportunity to join the Chicago Independent Media Alliance aka CIMA on a panel about our fundraiser last year. E3 Radio came in first amongst the 43 outlets that participated which is pretty amazing considering we are one of the smallest outlets. There is a lot I could say about the experience but the one thing that really resonates with me is the collaborative way in which we all worked together to make it work. ⅔ of those who gave opted to spread their donation out across all of our outlets not just one. That is powerful and I’m sharing this to say that it might be more work to share the load and responsibilities. It can be more messy too and complicated. But from my experience it is also more rewarding and far more fun when you win together at that thing. The African Proverb says, “If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together.” Choose the far option because it is far more rewarding. Till tomorrow family, peace. 

Sources

Legislative Update

https://www.equalityillinois.us/2022/04/legislative-update/

Governor Signs Groundbreaking New Legislation for LGBTQ Older Adults, People Living with HIV in Illinois

https://states.aarp.org/illinois/governor-signs-groundbreaking-new-legislation-for-lgbtq-older-adults-people-living-with-hiv-in-illinois

L Morgan Lee makes history as first out trans woman to be nominated for a Tony Award

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/05/l-morgan-lee-makes-history-first-trans-woman-nominated-tony-award/?utm_source=LGBTQ+Nation+Subscribers&utm_campaign=a730b021e9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_05_15_03_30&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c4eab596bd-a730b021e9-431517357

Janelle Monáe To Play Josephine Baker In Upcoming TV Series

http://gomag.com/article/janelle-monae-to-play-josephine-baker-in-upcoming-tv-series/

Illinois passes landmark legislation for LGBTQ older adults, L. Morgan Lee becomes the first trans woman nominated for a Tony & Janelle Monae is set to star as Josephine Baker – Thursday, May 19, 2022