Anna is back from her Juneteenth / Father’s Day family trip and she has a special one for all the dads out there! Beyoncé releases her first single from Renaissance, her 7th solo studio album, giving us New Orleans bounce and the jury is still out on her house music moment. Biden signs LGBT executive order in response to anti-lgbt laws in states like Texas and Florida.

00:00 Welcome & Intro

00:47 Today’s Top Stories

02:25 Happy Pride

02:45 BLKYN Boihood AD

03:16 LGBTQ Women’s Survey

04:51 Intro Music by Aina Bre’Yon

05:32 Juneteenth / Father’s Day Shoutout

07:39 Its Pride

08:02 Beyoncé drop new music

08:55 Biden Signs Executive Order

09:35 Jennicet Guitierez

10:22 Anna’s got a word

Things for you to check out 

Join the QCrew

Get your tickets to BKLYN BOIHOOD’s Pride Party @The Bell House with code: BKBOIS2022

https://bit.ly/3tPBard

Take the National LGBTQ+ Women*s Survey today

​​https://www.lgbtqwomensurvey.org/

Sign the Petition – Secure Brittney Griner’s Swift and Safe Return to the U​.​S.

https://www.change.org/p/secure-brittney-griner-s-swift-and-safe-return-to-the-u-s

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Listen to More Queer News

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Transcript

Family. It’s your favorite queer radio personality Anna Deshawn with our queer news for today.

Now, before we hop in, I want to make you a promise. We will continue to bring you the latest in queer news, culture and politics: 7 minutes a day, 5 days a week. So, if you are digging our intersectional take on the daily, consider joining the QCrew.

The QCrew is our monthly membership program we started to help us grow the podcast. With your help we can bring you more stories celebrating our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & comrade communities. You’ve shown us your support by tuning into this episode. You can show your curiosity by clicking the link in the show notes to learn more about the QCrew.

Now for the news.

Family, we celebrated Juneteenth and Father’s Day this Sunday. To all the dads listening, happy Father’s day. And to my queer dads, I see you: we saved you a special seat at today table.

Beyoncé captures the world’s attention with latest single. What better way to celebrate Juneteenth and Pride Month than a release date for Beyoncé’s new album. This could very well be her house music moment?

President Biden signs a new LGBT executive order on Wednesday saying “Pride is back at the White House”. Trans activist Jennicet Guitiérrez declined her invitation to DC saying the celebration does little for the many trans people in ICE custody. 

An emotional Judge Mathis urges his son to embrace his sexuality on Mathis Family Matters. Oh man, we love to see days like these.

Are my new yorkers in the building? Are you looking to pop out this weekend? Well tickets are still available for bklyn boihood’s 2022 Pride party. They are giving our listeners $5 off with the code BKBOIS2022 while tickets last. Tickets are in limited supply, so don’t wait, family, get yours today using the code BKBOIS2022. Link in the show notes.

I know that the personal is political, it’s one of the reasons I even host this podcast.

I’ve partnered with Justice Work to encourage you to share your experiences by taking the National LGBTQ+ Women*s Community Survey.

Look, the needs of queer, trans, and gender-expansive folx don’t always make it to the people making decisions for our lives, and they should.

That’s why I’m asking you to join me and more than 8000 people that have already completed the survey.

If you are lesbian, bi, pansexual, trans, intersex, asexual, and queer women who partner with women; trans men who want to report on their experience of partnering with women when they identified as or were perceived to be girls or women; and non-binary people who partner with or have partnered with women – we want to hear from you. 

The survey covers so many topics about our lived experiences and it’s because ALL of our needs deserve to be addressed. So take your time-you have up to seven days to complete it once you start. Go to lgbtqwomensurvey.org today and leave the tab open. That’s lgbtqwomensurvey.org and leave the tab open. It’s important to be heard. 

From the media coverage we’ve seen, Brittney Griner has gone from being “wrongfully detained” to essentially being a political prisoner. That’s if her story actually gets covered at all.

The terms that are at the center of this coverage, as well as what happened to Brittney, can get confusing at times. I want to break it all down today.

It has been 124 days since Brittney Griner was first arrested in Russia. Brittney is a WNBA superstar who was first detained upon her arrival in Moscow on February 17, 2022. We learned last week that her pretrial detention is now extended another 18 days. On the couples anniversary this past Saturday Brittney’s wife Cherelle Griner was not even able to talk to her over the phone or learn anything new about how she is being held or how she’s doing. Anyone who knows BG knows how beloved she is not only in Women’s Basketball but by the many who know her and have felt her impact.

We’ve been reporting on BG since the beginning and I’ve included a link to the other stories in the show notes so you can get all caught. What you need to know in this moment is that Cherelle needs to get in front of President Biden in order to urge him to bring Brittney home. You can also sign the petition. 

The petition to get her released reads: “Pay inequity has led to Brittney Griner’s wrongful detention in Russia…Brittney’s detention must be resolved out of respect for the safety of all athletes traveling to compete internationally and the sanctity of sport.”

Brittney, like me, and many who tune-in to this show, is a Black Woman so as we think about freedom for Black folks in America this Juneteenth, we cannot forget that that term is loosely defined, especially for Black women and femmes. Black women have not seen their compensation keep up with the innovation and value they bring to the American economy. That’s not freedom. Black people still remain behind bars for what’s often non-violent drug charges. That’s not what freedom looks like. We are too often criminalized for nothing more than our Blackness. It’s not right, nor is it fair. But, each day I’m reminded of the strength, wisdom, and creativity of our community in the midst of the forces we’re against.

Let’s rally behind bringing BG home. I’m leaving a link to the petition calling for Brittney Griner’s safe return to the U​.​S. in the show notes. There are 35,000 more signatures needed to reach the goal of 300,000 signatures. We got this family.

Now for today’s top stories.

Family, how was your Juneteenth/Father’s day? I talked to one of my friends from Texas–you know the place where Juneteenth has its roots given it was the last state to free its slaves—and she said Juneteenth took a back seat to the Father’s day festivities on Sunday. Are we surprised? Texas straight up telling Juneteenth to “sashay way” 😂. Now, Texas is a big place with rich diversity but I could’ve been a little more surprised when I heard this one.

Let’s get into it.

On January 1, 1863, then President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln proclaimed that he was to free “all persons held as slaves,” but it wasn’t until June 19, 1865 that the last enslaved African Americans received the news and were set free in Galveston, Texas. Today, the city is now best known as the birthplace of Juneteenth, and we celebrate the freedom of the last enslaved person every year on June 19.

Before Jim Crow and segregation in the south, Juneteenth symbolized freedom and liberation for black Americans who revered the celebration. Though as our emancipated ancestors would soon learn, we may be free from formal slavery, but we have not reached complete liberation. Folks like George Floyd, Breyona Taylor, and Tamir Rice are grim reminders on black people’s minds lately that we are far from the liberation our ancestor’s envisioned for us.

All in all, it was still a special day. To all the dads, fathers, & masc mentors out there, we hope your day was filled with nothing but love and pride. Fatherhood is such a special gift. And to have the gift of a loving father in your life makes a world of difference. And to all the gay and queer dads out there– we celebrate you for being brave enough to be all of who you are while raising your little one(s). 

Here’s what else you need to know today.

Beyoncé gives us some new music and a release date for what appears to be the singer’s 7th solo studio album. The royal Queen B dropped the first single, Break My Soul, Monday night. The song is giving New Orleans bounce, house music, and something tells me this will be the song of the Summer. The long-expected album, Renaissance, will be arriving on July 29. Now, Renaissance is labeled as act 1 of which some are speculating will be a multiple part release. If this project is Beyoncé’s career retiring album, now is the time to get in formation, family!

In politics, President Joe Biden is back in the news. On Wednesday, the President signed a new executive order that directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to release new guidance for states on expanding access to comprehensive health care for LGBT patients, according to a White House fact sheet. The order prepares the federal government to push back on laws in states like Texas and Florida that have restricted access to health care for transgender youth and restricted discussion in elementary schools about gender and sexual orientation.

The signing was attended by elected officials and LGBTQ activists – but Jennicet Gutiérrez was not one of them. As an immigrant and activist herself, Jennicet turned down the White House’s invitation entirely, going on to say, “the reality is that as this celebration is taking place, trans people currently in ICE custody will be in unsafe conditions.” She continued by adding “attending a pride celebration and having access to the White House isn’t a priority for me.” The resistance is very much alive with comrades like Jennicet. She is calling on Biden to end the deportation of LGBTQ+ people in this country. And, in solidarity we will amplify her message!

And, let’s close out with a clip from Judge Greg Mathis’ new reality television series, Mathis Family Matters. In the clip Judge Mathis gets emotional about his son’s feelings about being gay, urging him to embrace all of who is no matter how it might reflect on the Judge. Till tomorrow Family. Peace

Sources

Biden signs new LGBT executive order amid a raft of bills targeting trans youth

https://thehill.com/homenews/3524589-biden-to-sign-new-lgbt-executive-order-amid-a-raft-of-bills-targeting-trans-youth/

Trans immigrant activist emphatically turns down White House invite over Biden’s LGBTQ+ failures

https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2022/06/15/joe-biden-white-house-pride-jennicet-gutierrez/

How Judge Greg Mathis Encouraged His Son to Come Out on Mathis Family Matters

https://www.eonline.com/news/1334859/how-judge-greg-mathis-encouraged-his-son-to-come-out-on-mathis-family-matters

Anna celebrates Juneteenth & Father’s Day, Beyoncé drops new music, Pres. Biden Signs LGBT executive order, & An emotional Judge Mathis accepts gay son- Wednesday, June 22, 2022