Brittney Griner’s penal colony is worse than we thought, the Respect for Marriage Act and its impact, and Drag entertainers are hiring armed guards – Monday, December 5, 2022

00:00 – Welcome & Intro

01:10 – Queer News Goes Weekly

01:40 – Top Stories This Week 

02:13 – Intro Music by Aina Bre’Yon

02:53 – BG Update

07:57 – Respect for Marriage Act

10:55 – Lost & Found for Podcasters

11:35 – Drag Entertainers

12:46 – Cookie Tookie

13:39 – Closing

14:19 – Billy Porter Has A Word

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Write Brittney a Letter

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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. 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. My goal is to build the team up so we can properly execute a daily pod. Until then, a new episode will drop every Monday by 7 AM Chicago time. If you enjoy what you hear please leave us a review and thank you for being on the Queer News podcast journey with us.

Now for the news. Britney Griner has been wrongfully detained for 293 days. We know more about her penal colony conditions as well so we’ll get into that today. The Respect for Marriage Act passed the Senate, now what? Drag entertainers don’t feel safe so they are hiring armed guards to travel with them. Cookie Tookie passes away and we celebrate Billy Porter receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And Let’s go. 

Our first story for today is an update on Brittney Griner.  Here is what we know. It took two weeks for the US Embassy to be notified of BG’s move. Her penal colony is known as IK-2. It is a female penal colony located 300 miles southeast of Moscow in the isolated republic of Mordovia. We also know her legal team has been there to visit. 

A member of Brittney’s legal team said this to Sports Illustrated, “First, on behalf of Brittney, we would like to thank everyone who has expressed care for her. During the last few days, we’ve received numerous messages of support. We can confirm that Brittney began serving her sentence at IK-2 in Mordovia. We visited her early this week. Brittney is doing as well as could be expected and trying to stay strong as she adapts to a new environment. Considering that this is a very challenging period for her, there will be no further comments from us.”

It’s said her day will start at 6am with porridge, bread, and tea. From there she will work at least 12 hour days sewing clothes, mostly uniforms for the prison service and for the Russian army fighting in Ukraine under strict deadlines. There was a case filed against this facility for these labor conditions as it reported during those 12 and sometimes 16 hour days the women weren’t even allowed to use the restroom. People who have served time in this facility have said they went months with no days off. Marina Alexandrova, an associate professor at University of Texas who lectures on the history of Russian prisons said, “Her life will be very difficult…it will be terrible.” Russia Behind Bars, a humanitarian group based in Moscow, asserts that IK-2 violates national law with these conditions because medical care is limited and that porridge, bread, and tea for meals is substandard and provides little sustenance especially during long, cold winters. You think? The prisons in Mordovia are known for being just awful with their harsh regimes and human rights violations. 

Now she is required to wear a uniform and it must be perfect or she could be punished if it’s not buttoned down correctly. Y’all this place just sounds awful. The Warsaw report stated “In most prisons, the state of repair and the overcrowding make it difficult to maintain basic hygiene…This leads to regular outbreaks of epidemics.” What the what! They say she will share a barrick with 100 other women at a time. They aren’t allowed to have pictures of family or anything like that. It’s a sterile place which looks & feels like you’re stuck in the 1930s when it was built. 

Let me just remind all of us she is sentenced to 9 years in this place. I also want to note that right now no one knows where Paul Whelen is. You all remember Paul, right. He is the Russian prisoner who’s a former marine and also wrongfully detained in Russia. His family has heard from him in weeks. They are living in fear at this moment and the government has been pressing the Russian government for answers. This is just insanity. 

I do want to share a way you can put your frustration into action. Brittney’s wife, Cherelle Griner, put out a call to action on The View and asked us to write letters to uplift her spirits. Hear what she had to say. [INSERT CLIP] I’ve included the details in the show notes.

Now we all know the Respect for Marriage Act has passed the Senate which is a big deal. This was a bipartisan vote where 12 Republicans and 2 Independents voted in favor to protect LGBTQ+ families as well as interracial couples. Now it’s off to the House for a vote, then back to the Senate, and then to the president’s desk for signature. So what does this all really mean and how does it affect you. I want to give a big thanks to Equality Illinois for providing a great breakdown. 

1. It repeals the archaic federal statutory definition of marriage as one only between a man and a woman

2. It ensures that the federal government will provide equal benefits to all married persons, so long as the marriage was valid at the time and in the place where it was officiated.

3. It requires all states to recognize valid marriages from other states, regardless of the couple’s sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin. 

While the Respect for Marriage Act provides these protections against a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that erodes marriage equality across the country, this legislation would not stop a state from denying same-sex couples the freedom to marry. Which means a state could ban it but if you get married somewhere else and then come back to said state they would have to recognize it. 

I want to give a whole lot of credit to the Democrats on this one. Working to get this done before the House is majority Republican. Working to get this done before the holiday break. You know we hold them accountable for a lot and we should pat them on the back when things go well too. Well done Democrats. Of course we will continue to follow this story as things continue to unfold. 

Our next story for today is about our drag entertainers. I wanted to share this one because we often take them for granted. We assume they will show up, we assume they will be fabulous, and we assume they will make us laugh. But we have to stop taking our entertainers for granted. In a recent article published by NBC Out some of the top drag entertainers across the country who travel around have invested in additional security following the shooting at Club Q. They are living in increasing fear that they will be shot or harmed. Jinkx Monsoon winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race season five and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season seven said, “We’re trying to smile and make people happy for the holidays, and in the back of our heads we’re thinking, ‘I hope I don’t get shot.’ Y’all thats a lot. So the next time you’re out and enjoying drag entertainment take out the big bills okay. Give them their flowers because the fear is real out here. 

With that I want to acknowledge the passing of Samantha “Cookie Tookie” James. She was a whole mood on the Internet. She came to fame with her appearance on Jerry Springer back in 1998. It was one of those, “I need to tell you something. I’m a man shows.” She was one of the very first to live her trans life out in the media. Her candid lives could take you anywhere. From fun, to laughter, to sex work, to drugs, to whatever she was getting into that day. She did it all unapologetically and the people will definitely miss her. Rest well Cookie. 

Now you all know we always end with a word. Today the word is going to come from Billy Porter. You know I reported last week that Billy was going to get his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 1st, World AIDS Day. I wanted to know what he was going to wear and hunny he did not disappoint. GayeMagazine posted clips from his speech and it was so good that I wanted to share it with you. In his speech he reminded all of us to not dim our light and to be just who God created us to be. Thank you Billy & congratulations again. Till next week family, peace. 

Sources

Russian government notified US embassy last week about Griner’s transfer to penal colony, weeks after she was moved

https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/01/politics/brittney-griner-transfer-russia-us/index.html

Brittney Griner facing ‘terrible’ life at remote penal colony in Russia

https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2022-12-04/brittney-griner-life-in-russian-penal-colony

Brittney Griner Moved to Penal Colony in Russia’s Mordovia Region, per Report

https://www.si.com/wnba/2022/11/17/brittney-griner-moved-to-penal-colony-in-russias-mordovia-region-per-report

IK-2 Mordovia: the harsh, notorious penal colony holding Brittney Griner

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/18/ik-2-mordovia-harsh-notorious-penal-colony-brittney-griner

Here’s which senators voted for or against the Respect for Marriage Act

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/senator-vote-count-respect-for-marriage-act/

Colorado shooting prompts top drag queens to tour with armed guards and metal detectors

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/colorado-shooting-prompts-top-drag-queens-tour-armed-guards-metal-dete-rcna59478