Today I celebrate the multi-talented Angelica Ross as she joins the cast of ‘Chicago’ as lead Roxie Hart. She will be the first trans performer to star as the lead in the Broadway musical. A gay couple were brutally attacked in the heart of D.C. and its being investigated as a hate crime. & Giant’s baseball player Solomon Bates takes to IG to come out while calling out baseball to make more space for gay players.

00:00 – Welcome & Intro

01:00 – Palm Springs Ad

01:54 – Top news stories

02:17 – Intro Music by Aina Bre’Yon

04:53 – D.C. Hate Crime

06:25 – Solomon Bates

07:24 – Anna has a reflection

08:02 – Outro

Things for you to check out 

Palm Springs Women’s Jazz Festival

https://bit.ly/PalmSpringsWomensJazzFestival

Join the QCrew

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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Transcript

Family, it’s your favorite queer radio personality Anna DeShawn with our queer news for today. Now, 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. 

This month for the QCrew we have an exclusive interview with our new producer Dae. Catch the video to learn all about them and to hear his fire vocals. If you want to watch the exclusive interview, you have to join the QCrew. Now 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.

Family, did you know the Palm Springs Women’s Jazz Festival is back celebrating its 10th anniversary. It’s all going down November 11-13th at the Cathedral City Amphitheater. This anniversary celebration is featuring some of the very best women in jazz including none other than Ledisi herself. So if you like jazz and enjoy being with lesbians of color from across the country. Then you need to start making your plans to attend the Palm Springs Women’s Jazz Festival. Visit palmspringswomensjazzfestival.org for all the details. I plan on being there too so come on let’s go. 

Now for the news; Angelica Ross will become the 1st transgender performer to lead one of Broadway’s most iconic’s productions ‘Chicago,’ an attack in D.C. is being investigated as a hate crime, and Giants baseball player Solomon Bates comes out as gay. Let’s go.

For today’s top story we celebrate Angelica Ross as she will becomes the first transgender performer to lead ‘Chicago’ the musical! Angelica will play lead Roxie Hart for her Broadway debut. We know Angelica from her iconic appearances in ‘Pose’ as Candy and ‘American Horror Story.

She’s been out here trailblazing. In June we reported on the release of her debut single and music video, ‘Only You. She’s also president of Miss Ross, Inc. and founder of TransTech Social Enterprises, which is an incubator for LGBTQ talent with a focus on Black, Queer, and Trans people. She’s also a self-taught computer programmer and outspoken advocate for trans rights.

The announcement is coming just months after L. Morgan Lee became the first openly trans performer to be nominated for a Tony Award for “A Strange Loop.”

Angelica’s run will last eight weeks, from September 12 to November 6, at the Ambassador Theatre in New York. It marks a historic moment for the Tony-winning musical, as she joins a small group of other openly trans performers in principal roles like Alexandra Billings in ‘Wicked,’ L. Morgan Lee in ‘A Strange Loop,’ and Kate Bornstein in ‘Straight White Men.

The announcement has garnered an outpouring of support and excitement from her fellow cast mates and fans. YAS, Angelica!

We’ve been reporting on anti-gay hate crtimes a lot more lately. And, our next story is out of D.C. where an attack on a gay couple is being investigated as a hate crime after they were called anti-gay slurs and blamed for monkeypox before being assaulted. After punching one of the men in the jaw to the point where he needed three stitches, the attackers fled. Seriously?!

In a news release Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police Department called for public assistance in identifying two people in the assault, which unfolded shortly after 7 p.m.

The victims were taken to the hospital for treatment and luckily no one suffered life-threatening injuries. The police also noted that the hate-crime designation could be changed as the investigation proceeds and more information is gathered. 

But, we’ve seen incidents like this one play out countless times. The wounds a trauma like this inflicts after such a violent attack tend to stay with those who were harmed. One of the victims told NBC Washington that he was angry but not shocked by the attack, saying that it can and did happen in D.C. 

On Tuesday, Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was “extremely disturbed by the reported hate crime.” Investigators have instructed anyone who knows about the incident or the assailants to call the D.C. police.

I hope the couple gets justice and healing from this unfortunate incident. I am sending love and peace to them.

For our last story of the day, Giants baseball player Solomon Bates comes out as gay. The 25-year-old relief pitcher, who has been out to fellow players since 2019, took advantage of his unexpected release from the Giants organization to get personal.

‘Being gay in this sport, you don’t know what comes at you!’ said Bates in an Instagram post and he also noted that he won’t give up on what he wants to do.

Solomon becomes baseball’s second active player to come out publicly and Bates made it clear he’s not giving up on what he loves to do saying “I’m still going to open up doors for gay athletes like me. Still will strive to be one of the greatest to do it.” Just know we’ll be there rooting for you. 

While we have continuously broken glass ceilings and made historic moves, we still have a long way to go, family. We always close out with a word and today’s word is from Angelica Ross that simply says “I’ve always had big dreams and very little means.” Your dreams are powerful & it costs nothing to dream big. The real cost comes when you give up on them. Till tomorrow family, peace. 

SOURCES

Angelica ross will become 1st transgender performer to lead Broadway’s ‘Chicago.’

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-pop-culture/angelica-ross-will-become-1st-transgender-performer-lead-broadways-chi-rcna41638.

D.C. attack investigated as a hate crime after attackers used anti-gay slurs and mentioned monkeypox

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dc-attack-hate-crime-anti-gay-slur-monkeypox-suspects-rcna42347

“You’re out!”. Giants baseball player Solomon Bates comes out as gay

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/08/youre-giants-baseball-player-solomon-bates-comes-gay

Angelica Ross becomes first trans woman to lead Broadway’s ‘Chicago’, A gay couple attacked in D.C., & Giants’ player Solomon Bates comes out as gay – Wednesday, August 24, 2022