Now for the news. Happy Pride! I hope you had an amazing pride weekend. In good news the Equality Act has been reintroduced. You think we can get it passed this time? An Arkansas judge bans an anti-trans bill. Big Freedia drops a new album and I share a pride month story. Let’s go!
00:00 – Julianna’s Pride Voicemail | Leave Queer News a voicemail for PRIDE 🌈, https://www.speakpipe.com/msg/s/243669/12/a7mpvs34mswsoo7e
1:54 – Subscribe to Rebound Revolution, https://pod.link/reboundrev
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2:28 – RSVP to attend – The Qube, ShePodcasts & Libsyn presents: UNAPOLOGETIC: Being Black and Queer in Podcasting
https://lu.ma/q5r0ya5f
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3:19 – Top News Stories
3:47 – Intro Music by Aina Bre’Yon
4:28 – The Equality Act has been reintroduced
8:08 – Arkansas bans an anti-trans bill
9:41 – Leave us a Review Ad
10:19 – Lincoln Park Zoo Adult Pride Night Ad – Get your tix https://www.eventbrite.com/e/adults-night-out-pride-party-tickets-646547951327
11:10 – Big Freedia releases a new album
12:05 – Anna shares her favorite pride month story
14:27 – Outro
🌈✊🏾🏳️⚧️✨
Things for you to check out
RSVP to attend – UNAPOLOGETIC: Being Black and Queer in Podcasting
Get your tickets to Adults Night Out: Pride Party at the Lincoln Park Zoo
Leave Queer News a voicemail for PRIDE 🌈
Listen & Subscribe to Rebound Revolution
Watch the full interview
Tre’vell Anderson talks Black Trans Life in TV & Film with Anna DeShawn
Order Tre’vell’s Book Today!
Queer News Pride Specials – Get You An Ad Today
Listen to Black HIV in the South: How Did We Get Here?
Join the QCrew
Listen to More Queer News
The Blog Post by Chat GPT
Family, Happy Pride! It’s your favorite queer radio personality, Anna DeShawn, and I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Julianna for leaving us a beautiful pride voicemail. Although this episode is a bit shorter due to some technical challenges, it’s still packed with quality queer news. Before we dive into the stories, I also want to extend a big thank you to our sponsors who have supported us this month—Lipstick & Lace, Jamila Bryant with Push Forward Development, the Together Real Bad podcast, and Keep It Savory Salt Co. Your support keeps our podcast going strong.
In our latest episode, we kick off with the UNAPOLOGETIC: Being Black and Queer in Podcasting segment. It’s an annual broadcast where we celebrate and amplify the voices of Black Queer podcasters. This year, we had the pleasure of hosting Shana Sumers & Kris Chesson from Bad Queers, as well as Tre’vell Anderson from the FANTI Podcast. I must send a special shoutout to Elsie Escobar of She Podcasts for co-producing this broadcast with me. If you’re interested in joining us for future events, please check out the RSVP link in the show notes.
Now, let’s dive into the news. As we continue to celebrate Pride, one significant story is the reintroduction of the Equality Act. Sponsored by Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) in the House of Representatives and Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) in the Senate, this act aims to expand civil rights protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Currently, our civil rights laws do not explicitly protect queer individuals from discrimination, and the Equality Act seeks to address this crucial gap.
In another momentous development, a federal judge in Arkansas has struck down a ban on transition-related medical care for transgender minors, ruling it as unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. emphasized the positive impact of such medical care on the mental health and well-being of transgender youth. This decision sets an important precedent and may pave the way for challenges against similar laws in other states.
We also celebrate the release of Big Freedia’s new album, “Central City.” The album, which dropped during Pride weekend, features tracks that pay homage to the artist’s roots in New Orleans and includes collaborations with artists like Lil Wayne. Let’s support the queen of bounce and download her album!
Before we wrap up, I want to share a personal Pride month experience. Hosting a storytelling event called OUTSpoken at the Illinois Holocaust Museum was a profound and uplifting moment for me. The space was filled with love as queer individuals, including myself as one of the few Black attendees, shared stories of coming out, survival, and joy. This event reminded me of the power of unity and acceptance within our community.
In conclusion, I want to thank all of you for your continued support and love. As we navigate through Pride month and beyond, let’s keep fighting for equality, celebrating our diverse voices, and supporting each other. Remember, you are special, loved, and valued. Till next week, peace.
Transcript
Family, Happy Pride! it’s your favorite queer radio personality Anna DeShawn and I’ve got to start by saying THANK YOU to Julianna for taking a little time to leave us such a beautiful pride voicemail. I spent this pride weekend taking my nephew to college orientation and of course left my computer charger at home. So this episode is a little shorter than others but still full of quality queer news.
Before we get into things I also want to say thank you to our sponsors who bought ads this month. Lipstick & Lace, Jamila Bryant with Push Forward Development, the Together Real Bad podcast, & Keep It Savory Salt Co. Your support keeps this podcast going. Thank you.
With that in mind let’s take a quick break and then jump into our top queer news stories for this week. We’ll be right back.
UNAPOLOGETIC: Being Black and Queer in Podcasting. This is an annual broadcast I put one to celebrate and amplify Black Queer podcasters. We talk about their creative work, lived experiences, and how race and sexuality informs their podcasting work and creations. This year our guests are
- Shana Sumers & Kris Chesson from Bad Queers
And
- Tre’vell Anderson from FANTI Podcast
I got to send so much love to Elsie Escobar of She Podcasts for co-producing this broadcast with me. I wouldn’t want to do it without her. If you’re interested in joining us on Thursday night please RSVP. The link is in the show notes.
Now for the news. Happy Pride! I hope you had an amazing pride weekend. In good news the Equality Act has been reintroduced. You think we can get it passed this time? An Arkansas judge bans an anti-trans bill. Big Freedia drops a new album and I share a pride month story. Let’s go!
Our top story today is that the Equality Act was reintroduced this past week. House of Representatives by Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) and in the Senate by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) have sponsored the legislation. So what is the Equality Act all about.
So basically, our civil rights laws protect folks based on race, color, national origin, and in most cases sex, disability, and religion. Now you didn’t hear me mention sexual orientation or gender identity. That’s because our current civil rights law don’t. We are not protected from discrimination. Now, we can all see how desperately need this to be reality given the current climate against queer folks.
The Equality Act would prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system.
Kierra Johnson, the Executive Director of the LGBTQ National Taskforce had this to say, “Currently, LGBTQ people in 29 states are not protected by anti-discrimination laws. This patchwork of equality is indefensible and in the current hostile climate at the state level, this legislation is more important than ever. We implore Congress to consider the Equality Act as a must-pass bill and use every tool available to ensure the protection of LGBTQ communities.
We call on the Biden Administration to advocate and rally congressional support to explicitly include LGBTQ people in civil rights laws and expand protections for women, and people of color who are vulnerable to discrimination. Everyone should be able to live without the fear of harassment, violence and discrimination. This is an opportunity for Congress to work together to bring our country closer together. We’ve been waiting too long. The time is now to make the Equality Act a reality and take the country one step closer to living its promise of “liberty and justice for all”
Our political allies and top LGRQ organizations have been trying to pass the Equality Act since 1974 but maybe given the current climate it will actually pass. Maybe people are fed up. Angry enough to really get it done. Only time will tell.
In more political news, a federal judge in Arkansas has struck down a ban on transition-related medical care for transgender minors, citing its violation of constitutional rights. U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr., ruling that the law was unconstitutional, emphasized that the evidence presented during the trial indicated the positive impact of such medical care on the mental health and well-being of transgender youth.
Similar restrictive laws have been passed in 19 other states, with several others considering similar measures. This decision sets a crucial precedent, potentially leading to challenges against these laws across the country.
While the governor plans to appeal the decision, similar laws have faced temporary blocks in other states, reflecting the ongoing legal battles surrounding transgender rights and healthcare. This decision marks a significant victory in the fight against discriminatory legislation and offers a ray of hope for transgender minors seeking essential medical care.
Now let’s take a quick break & we’ll be right back.
So we got our first bad review. The subject was “Too Much” and they said “trying to push their agenda” and then gave us a 1 star. This 1 star has taken our apple rating down to 4.3. If you dig this podcast and love what we’re building. Can you leave us a good review to balance this bad one? I’d really appreciate it.
Wrap up your Pride Month celebrations with DJ All the Way Kay, drag bingo and performances, yard games, and pop-up bars throughout the zoo!
Everyone knows a group of lions is called a pride, but did you know a group of flamingos is called a flamboyance?
Get your pride or flamboyance together and wrap up the month of June at Adults Night Out: Pride Party. Dance to music by DJ All The Way Kay, play drag queen bingo with Veronica Pop, enjoy free face painting, listen to animal chats, and stop by pop-up bars set up all throughout the zoo at this after-hours event.
Proceeds benefit Lincoln Park Zoo and help the zoo stay free, accessible, and open to public 365 days a year!
Get your tickets at the link in the show notes.
Welcome back family to the show. In culture & entertainment news, Big Freedia has released a new album titled “Central City”. Her album dropped on June 23rd right in time for Pride weekend. She’s pushing her single El Nino & she’s got a collab with Lil Wayne. She said, “Central City will take you on a journey to uptown 3rd ward New Orleans, down to Josephine street where Big Freddie became Big Freedia. I’m throwin it back with some old school bounce tracks, and taking bounce into the future with sounds you have never heard from the Diva before”. I love me some Big Freedia & I know you do too. Go download and support the queen of bounce.
Now let’s close out with our word for today. Pride month has treated me so well; we sold more ads than ever before, the speaking engagements, record number of podcast downloads, apple podcasts feature. I mean I could literally go on and on. The one event that really stands out is a storytelling event I hosted called OUTSpoken that took place at the Illinois Holocaust Museum. I didn’t know what to expect but the room was full of 100-150+ folks. Mostly Jewish. Listening to queer stories of coming out, survival, and joy. As one of approx. 6 Black people in the space I really didn’t know what to expect but when I say the space was filled with love I mean it. That event gave me hope. Now I co-host OUTSpoken every first Tuesday of the month at Sidetrack. One of the largest gay bars in the country based on Chicago’s northside. At the end of every set I do a call & response with our audience. This month I shared “Special” by Lizzo because I want to always remind us that we are special. So indulge me. Repeat after me.
In case nobody told you today
You’re special
In case nobody made you believe
You’re special
Well, I will always love you the same
You’re special
I’m so glad that you’re still with us
Broken, but damn, you’re still perfect
Till next week family, peace.
Sources
The Equality Act
https://www.hrc.org/resources/equality
Judge strikes down Arkansas ban on transition care for minors
https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/judge-strikes-arkansas-ban-transition-care-minors-rcna90272
Big Freedia album drops June 23rd
Adults Night Out: Pride Party
https://www.lpzoo.org/event/adults-night-out-pride-party/