Now for the news. It’s time to vote. The midterm elections are tomorrow, and the stakes are high for all of us that believe in democracy & especially the underrepresented. November kicked off Transgender Awareness Month and spotlights important issues facing trans people across the country. Next up, Dwyane Wade’s 15-year-old trans daughter, Zaya, is now at the center of a court battle after Dwyane’s ex-wife had the court prevent the change of Zaya’s legal name and gender. A leather bar right here in Chicago is in hot water after inviting a white ventriloquist to perform racist jokes using a Black puppet he called “Sista Girl”…you can’t make this stuff up. Let’s go!
00:00 – Welcome & Intro
00:34 – Palm Springs Ad
01:23 – Intro by Aina Breyon
02:01 – Anna’s Message
Things for you to check out
ONYX is an organization formed 27 years ago and operated by Men of Color who enjoy the leather lifestyle.
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
Listen to More Queer News
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 . So, if you are digging our intersectional take on the weekly, consider joining the QCrew.
The QCrew is our monthly membership program we started to help us grow the podcast. You get weekly emails from me and exclusive interviews with LGBTQ influencers from across the country. With your support, we can bring you more stories celebrating our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & comrade communities.
This month our exclusive interview for the QCrew is with Angie Harvey. Angie is a dear friend of mine and a woman on a mission to help tell our stories. Her documentary “Black Rainbow Love” was her introduction to film and it’s already won 13 awards and is making its international debut!
If you want to watch the exclusive interview, you have to join the QCrew. As always, the link is in the show notes.
Family, Queer News is now a Weekly Podcast and you’re catching the first episode since we made the announcement! Every Monday at 7 AM Chicago time we will drop a new episode of the pod, so show us some love and leave us a review. Thank you for being on the Queer News podcast journey with us.
Now for the news. It’s time to vote. The midterm elections are tomorrow, and the stakes are high for all of us that believe in democracy & especially the underrepresented. November kicked off Transgender Awareness Month and spotlights important issues facing trans people across the country. Next up, Dwyane Wade’s 15-year-old trans daughter, Zaya, is now at the center of a court battle after Dwyane’s ex-wife had the court prevent the change of Zaya’s legal name and gender. A leather bar right here in Chicago is in hot water after inviting a white ventriloquist to perform racist jokes using a Black puppet he called “Sista Girl”…you can’t make this stuff up. Let’s go!
We will never forget BG. BG has been wrongfully detained for 263 days now. US Embassy officials met with BG in Moscow on Thursday and said they “saw firsthand her tenacity and perseverance despite her present circumstances.” Despite her bravery, she still suffers by not being able to call her wife or family or do what she loves, play basketball.
BG continues to be used as a political pawn by world leaders while simultaneously being ignored by mainstream media. We will continue to speak her name and call on the US and Russia to orchestrate her safe return home.
It’s time to vote y’all. I know voting isn’t always the sexiest subject, but Tomorrow, November 8th, are the midterm elections and the reality is “the stakes have never been higher” for the LGBTQ+ community.
Federal and statewide elections are important, but almost if not more important are local elections! According to the numbers, .2% of elected officials in the US openly identify as LGBTQ+ even though 7.1% of the country identifies as LGBTQ+. This means we would need to elect roughly 36,000 more queer and trans public servants on top of the 1,043 we have in office today to achieve true representation in government.
The numbers paint a clear picture. The only way we can get more LGBTQ+ representation is by winning seats on city councils, school boards, and county clerkships. One in 10 voters in tomorrow’s midterms will be LGBTQ+ as long as we show up. So, family, show up no matter how safe or quiet your district or state may seem.
Voting is where & how we start. It’s how we show we care. If voting didn’t matter they wouldn’t be fighting like hell to make it harder and harder for us to get to the polls. Go vote. Then on Wednesday get back to work.
Next up, November 1st marked the beginning of Trans Awareness Month, bringing much needed attention to our trans fam. The month is less of a celebration and more of a call-to-action. Many local organizations and community groups feature events and educational opportunities to uplift the voices and experiences of the trans, nonbinary, and intersex community. During Trans Awareness Month, there are some important days of observance:
• Nov. 6th – Trans Parent(s) Day
• Nov. 8th – Intersex Day of Rememberance
• Nov 15th – 19th -Transgender Awareness Week
• Nov. 20th – Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Let me share of facts about our trans fam to put this all into perspective.
In 2022, 155 anti-trans bills were introduced across the United States.
Only 29% of American adults personally know someone who is transgender.
53% of trans youth have seriously considered suicide in the past year.
85% of victims of anti-trans violence are women.
There are 70% higher odds that a transgender person lives in poverty compared to straight cisgender men.
Family, we have a lot of work to do and if you’re not down for doing the work alongside our trans fam you need to question your own humanity.
And as we honor our trans fam this month we have to share the saga that is Zaya Wade’s identity. You know when Zaya came out as trans all the trolls and right wing conservatives had something negative to say. They couldn’t wait to give their unsolicited opinions. And through it all Dwayne, Gabrielle & their children stood in front and stood up for Zaya. I promise you that I gained so much respect for him after that. Well now it’s time to take the next step. In August, Dwayne filed to have her name and gender legally changed. Well Zaya’s mom is on the record for not agreeing with any of this from the very beginning. She has now filed an objection to stop the name and gender change. So Dwayne took to Instagram and had a lot to say. Here is a small excerpt. He says, “While none of us are surprised by Siohvaughn’s attempt to fight Zaya’s identity and her unwavering attempt to drag my name through the mud, I’m very disappointed that she continuously find ways of centering herself and HER needs, without regard to her children.” Whew. When I say a small excerpt that’s exactly what I mean he had three IG slides of a statement. Chile’ this is all just a mess. No child wants to be in the middle of their parents disagreeing and for this to be so public just makes it even worse. This step in the process is so incredibly important for a trans person because this when who you are on the inside can begin to align with legal documents; like your ID for example. A decision on the matter won’t be made until the hearing, reportedly scheduled for Dec. 12. I sure hope they can work this out before then because its just ugly.
Now I want to close with a local story about the last standing leather bar here in Chicago, Touche. Last Tuesday, Touche’ was celebrating its 45th anniversary of being in business. That’s a major feet for any business let along a gay leather bar. They decided to celebrate by inviting a longstanding ventriloquist Jerry Halliday to perform with his puppet Sista Girl. Yea you heard me, Sista Girl. Just so I’m clear Jerry is white so y’all already know this is about to be some BS. His jokes spanned from loving watermelon, being on welfare and having multiple kids. I saw video of the performance on Twitter and honestly it was just awful and when a person called him out he told him he could just get the f*% out. When he asked the crowd if he should continue, people cheered. Like WTF. The bar and its owner are getting all the heat right now as they should because they knew exactly what they were doing. They’ve issued an apology but you knew what this was before he hit the stage. Now there is a town hall happening this Wednesday, 7pm at the Leather Archives & Museum so the community can voice their opinions & concerns. Since I’m not part of the leather community I wanted to talk with a leader of color in the community to get their take. I had the opportunity to catch up with Mufasa Ali, founder of ONYX. ONYX is an organization formed 27 years ago and operated by Men of Color who enjoy the leather lifestyle. Hear is some of our conversation.
I always close the podcast with a word but today I want a word from you. I want to know if you enjoyed the new format. I want to know if like that we’ve switched to weekly. Send me a note at info@e3radio.fm or hit my DM’s or drop a comment on TikTok or IG. Till next week family, peace.
Sources
LGBTQ+ Votes are crucial on the local level
Trans Awareness Month