Students in Texas stand up for LGBTQ rights, Marlon Wayans opens up about his trans son, LGBTQ Business Week kicks off and the Old Lesbians documentary has premiered – November 27, 2023

This week on the Queer News podcast Anna DeShawn reports on a student-led group (SEAT) in Texas that has filed a complaint of discrimination because of anti-trans policies passed in the Katy school district. A man in New York has been found guilty for murdering a trans woman. Famed actor & comedian Marlon Wayans opens up about his trans son. LGBTQ+ Business week kicks off on Monday and closes with a summit featuring Arlan Hamliton. A new documentary called Old Lesbians has premiered & I’ve got a little petty queer news too. Let’s go!

00:00 – Welcome to the Queer News podcast 

00:22 – Queer News Listenership Survey, https://bit.ly/QNPSurvey2023 

1:21 – Queer News Tip Line Story

2:20 – Join the QCrew, https://bit.ly/3L3Ng66 

3:18 – Top queer news stories 

3:56 – Subscribe to the Second Sunday podcast, https://pod.link/1708662302 

4:34 – Intro Music by Aina Bre’Yon

5:10 – Students in Texas stand up for LGBTQ rights

9:45 – A man in New York has been found guilty for murdering a trans woman

11:25 – Subscribe to The Head Nod – https://pod.link/1699870161 

11:55 – Famed actor & comedian Marlon Wayans opens up about his trans son

15:05 – LGBTQ+ Business week kicks off

17:01 – Old lesbians is a new doc everyone should see

19:46 – Property owner paints his house into a rainbow to get back at a anti-LGBTQ neighbor 

21:40 – Anna’s Word

22:55 – Closing

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Transcript

Family, it’s your favorite queer radio personality Anna DeShawn and this is Queer News. Your fav weekly news pod where race & sexuality meet politics, culture, and entertainment. 

Now I really need you to tap in because I know how it is. Y’all hear the beginning of the show every week and you kind of tune out. I get it but I really need you to tap in because I need your help. I want to know more about you. I want to know more about what you like about the show. I want to know what you’d like to see with the show. So I’ve put together a survey. The survey will take you about 7-10 minutes to complete. Once you complete the survey you enter to win a $50 gift card. The link is in the show notes but you can also find it on my IG & TikTok profiles.Thank you so in advance.  

Our Queer News Tip Line is always open on TikTok and this week I got a tip from Sean Samson790 about the Las Cruces New Mexico pride parade. It took place last month and it was the first parade to ever take place in Southern New Mexico. Hundreds attended flying pride flags, dressed in rainbows, and celebrating inclusion. We love to see it. Thank you Sean Samson790. I appreciate you.  

The QCrew is our Queer News community where you receive a weekly email sharing our top queer news stories, an unedited video from me about the top queer stories, and now exclusive interviews. The QCrew helps to supplement the costs of pod; podcast hosting, editing, marketing, PR, travel, etc. If you believe in the work we do. If you believe LGBTQ stories need to be amplified. If you love and respect how I report on the news and tell our stories, join the QCrew like our newest member, Lucien. Welcome Lucien and thank you for joining us. Come on and join us. A link is in the show notes. 

Now for the news. A student-led group in Texas has filed a complaint of discrimination for anti-trans policies. A man in New York has been found guilty for murdering a trans woman. Famed actor & comedian Marlon Wayans opens up about his trans son. LGBTQ+ Business week kicks off. Old lesbians is a new doc everyone should see & I’ve got a little petty queer news too. Let’s go!

I’m Darren. And I’m Esther. And this is Second Sunday, a podcast about black queer folk finding, keeping, and sometimes losing faith. This season’s full of candid conversations. We’re talking to theologians, artists, activists, and community members living at the intersections of faith, spirituality, and identity.

The Saints ain’t ready for this. But we’re still gonna talk about it. Second Sunday starts October 4th. Find it wherever you get podcasts. Second Sunday is a Cube Original podcast and is part of the PRX Big Questions Project.

You are now this station to eat great music in the latest movement. Safe listening for anyone tuned in you up. It’s that real

frustrated leadership. Your vibrations and get yourself.

That’s the only way to Letitia.

We ain’t worried about the other stations. Our leading story for today is coming out of Texas, and it’s a story that gets me so fired up, okay? And let me tell you why. This story is centered around an organization called SEAT, S E A T, which stands for Students Engaged in Advancing Texas. That’s right. Now, this is an organization that is student led, it’s a movement, and the whole idea is that they demonstrate youth visibility in educational policy making.

Now, I can’t think of a better time for Texas to have such an organization working on behalf of the marginalized and those who often don’t have a voice at the table, which is absolutely young people. Now, just over a week ago, They actually filed a formal complaint of discrimination with the U. S.

Department of Education. Mm hmm. The whole U. S. Department of Education, after Katy Independent School District’s Board of Trustees adopted a comprehensive anti trans policy. Just like so many other places in Texas. And I know we spend a lot of time talking about Florida, because DeSantis always makes the news.

But Governor Abbott in Texas is just as bad and just as ruthless when it comes to anti-trans policy. And so this Katy School district is no different and they’re just falling in line with the leadership of Texas. Okay? Now, at the end of the day, their anti-trans policy looks and feels just like all the other anti-trans policies, um, bathroom rules, right?

Um, not using the pronouns that an individual may want them to use. Uh, teachers not being able. to talk about gender identity or LGBTQ, absolutely anything in school, around school, even walking towards the school. Listen, no, no. And I think one of the most harmful pieces of this policy is that if a young person tells a teacher that.

They may be having same sex attractions or that their body is in an alignment with who they are. That teacher is mandated to tell that person’s parents. Yeah, so teachers are no longer a safe place. They are mandated to report that incident to that student’s parents. And what if that student’s parents aren’t accepting?

What if those student’s parents actually kicked them out the house? To date, families, since this policy went into place, Yes, 19 students have been outed to their parents. Can’t you imagine? But in this case, the students said, Not here, not today, we’re gonna fight. And one student in particular. His name is Jared Burton.

He goes by he, they pronouns, and he’s currently a junior in the Katy School District. He has been an outspoken vocalist at school board meetings with the student body. And this is what he had to say. This policy tries to endanger and erase trans students all under the misleading guise of parental authority and student safety, when it is clearly driven by ignorance and hate.

He went on to say, attempts at mental health awareness mean nothing with policies like this in place, attempting to erase queer. He goes on to say a lot more, but he finishes his statement with this. We are fighting for our rights. We are fighting for a better future. Yes, they are. Cause the one we live in is not the one I want to die in.

You understand? According to the Trevor Project, 45 percent of queer youth have considered suicide this past year. 45 percent and over half of those. Identify as trans and gender nonconforming young people. Y’all listening to this podcast, we got a lot to do to keep our young people lifted and protected out here in the world because they have less rights than we had.

And we’ve got to change that. And look, who’s leading the way. Young people, if you want to support seed and you got a few extra dollars, I’ve included a link in the show notes where you can make a donation. I’m sure this fight is going to cost some money and I’m sure they could use your Come on, see, come through.

Our next story today is out of New York city in May of 2022, a Black trans woman by the name of I said, Hemingway Powell. She went by Sid, was murdered, well, last week, 27 year old Aiyer Robinson was found guilty of murder. He said that he killed her because he contracted HIV from her. Well, truth is, we don’t know where he contracted HIV, but we do know he murdered Sid.

And now he’s facing 25 years to life in prison. As I was reading about this case, I began to learn a little bit about Sid. And Sid was pretty freaking amazing, y’all. And let me just tell you a little bit. She had just graduated from the university at Albany with a degree in biology. She had just received the 2022 Spelman Academic Achievement Award.

This award recognizes the accomplishments of undergraduates of African, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native American descent, according to LGBTQ Nation. Her family and friends say that she was just a loving person. She had so much more to accomplish. She had a lot of ambitions, a lot of goals, and now she won’t be able to fulfill any of them.

So today… Sid, we speak your name and I hope that your family and friends have a little bit more peace now. We’re just going to take a quick break and when we get back, I’m going to share our culture and entertainment news for the week.

Hey, I’m Anna, and I’m Adele, and this is the Head Nod Season 1, Black Life at a PWI. It’s an unfiltered take on Black life in predominantly white spaces. In the process, I mean, we learned some things. Ooh, especially that music, chile. Tune in every Tuesday for a new episode wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Family, welcome back to the show. Now it’s time for our culture and entertainment news leading the way this week is Marlon Wayans. I saw his interview with the breakfast club and y’all, I am so proud of these black men coming out and saying, I love my trans kid. So let me tell you. Marlon Wayans was on The Breakfast Club, right?

One of the most popular radio shows in the country. And he’s talking about how his daughter became his son, Kai. And how he had to transition as a parent. He said, My transition as a parent? Going from ignorance and denial to complete unconditional love and acceptance. It’s going to be in his new comedy special, okay?

And he’s thinking about calling it Skittles or Rainbow Child. And he went on to say, I think there’s a lot of parents out there who need to have that message. And I know I’m dealing with it. I love this because that’s exactly why that new Netflix special, which I talked about last week, The Dads. It’s so incredibly important.

There are so many dads out here who are struggling with their children coming out, who are struggling with their children telling them that they are trans, and they have nowhere to turn. They feel like they don’t have a community, and they don’t have anyone to talk to. Magic Johnson set the example, Dwayne Wade has come on and taken the torch, and now we’ve got Marlon Wayans out here saying, I love my trans kid, and I’m not the perfect parent.

He talks about not getting the pronouns right all the time, but he also says his child understands. He understands that I’m trying and that I’m happy and I gotta respect their wishes. I just want my kids to be free. I want them to be free in spirit, free in thought, free to be themselves. The more you know yourself, the more you can govern yourself.

The more you live your truth, the happier your existence. So if they can’t get that in the household with their father and their mother, who do I send them out into the world with that kind of confidence? Come on, Marlon. You better let him know. So much of a child’s life and confidence comes from their parents and when parents reject their children, it can cause that child to absolutely spiral if they’re left without community.

So, I so appreciate this culture news, okay? Because Marlon Wayans didn’t have to do it. He didn’t have to say a word. But he did, and I know that he helped somebody. Now this part I found really funny, cause he went on to say that I’m just proud of them for being them. But that don’t mean that they ain’t got jokes.

And we know Marlon got some jokes. I can’t wait for this comedy special. I’m voting for the title Skittles, okay? I’m voting for Skittles.

Our next story is a celebration of small businesses. Did y’all know that Monday kicks off LGBTQ plus business week? It’s okay if you didn’t, I’m here to tell you all about it. And I’m so proud to be a founding partner of this initiative. I’m so proud of my friend Trav with Queerency. If you’re not tapped into Queerency, go ahead and hit the follow button, okay?

Trav is always dropping new news and support for all types of LGBTQ plus businesses across the country. The point of LGBTQ Plus Business Week is to increase visibility of queer owned businesses, empower LGBTQ Plus small business owners, and raise awareness of economic issues facing LGBTQ Plus people.

And I had a chance to talk with Trav about why this was so important, and hear what he had to say. I created this week because over the past year, I started to notice that queer owned businesses have been facing increased harassment and violence. You would see storefronts being vandalized, venues being threatened, and small business owners being brutalized.

Queer businesses have been under attack and they need our support now more than ever. But despite all that hate, there’s still so much to celebrate. And I’m with you Trav, there is so much to celebrate. We are culture shapers, space makers, and job creators. And family, this is your opportunity to support LGBTQ plus businesses.

So here’s the deal, I want you to go follow them on social media, and I want you to sign up for the virtual summit that’s taking place on December the 1st. The keynote is Arlen Hamilton, y’all. Come through. I’m also doing a panel, which I’m excited about, and there’s just so much to dig into. So if you want to show your support, just show up.

You feel me?

In more culture and entertainment news, I want to tell y’all about this documentary called Old Lesbians. Old Lesbians is a homage, a celebration of this really dope project called the Old Lesbian Old Herstory Project. Now this was started by Arden Eversmeyer. Now Arden, in 1985, lost her partner of 33 years.

During this time, she was grieving and she needed community. She was 54 years old and she wanted to know where all the other old lesbians were. She couldn’t find them. So she started her own organization called Lesbians Over Age 50. Now a decade into that organization, she realized people were getting sick, people were dying, and she thought it was so important to preserve their stories.

So she started the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project. It started with her interviewing just a few of her close friends. Little did she know that that would lead to her recording over 800 interviews. Do you hear me? She recorded 800 interviews. of old lesbians sharing their life stories. Now these tapes, if you ever wanted to dig in, they’re located at Smith College in the Sophia Smith Collection.

That’s where they’re being preserved. And that’s where filmmaker Megan McDonaghue. Found this beautiful treasure trove of stories that has now inspired the documentary old lesbians. Megan says, I hope that young people, people of my generation watch the film and realize that we can’t take our rights for granted.

They didn’t just magically appear. There are generations before us who fought really hard to get them. And that is the reality that we are facing today. That. If we don’t know our history, then we are bound to repeat it. And I feel like we’re repeating so much of it today. Don’t you? Well, the doc premiered on November the 11th at a film festival.

And if you visit their website, old lesbian film dot com, they are actually taking requests for community screenings and educational use. They have a form on their website that you can fill out or you can email old lesbians film at gmail. com If you think your community could benefit from hearing these stories, reach out.

I know they want as many people to see the film as they possibly can.

Our last story for today is a petty one, and if you listen to this pod, y’all know I don’t really get real petty. But this, this story was worth sharing. It’s out of Omaha, Nebraska, and there is an owner of an apartment complex. His name is Ryan Basie. He was having a conversation with a fellow property owner on the block, okay?

Just a random date, just talking to his neighbor. Now, during this conversation, the neighbor said a lot of anti gay remarks, which really took Ryan by surprise. You know what Ryan did? He said, Oh, I can be petty, honey. Oh, I can be petty. He decided to paint his entire apartment complex a big ol rainbow. I mean, y’all, it starts with red, it go orange, yellow, green, blue, and to the purple, okay?

And this apartment complex is huge. Now, his kids are really excited about it being a rainbow because it’s bold and beautiful. But, could you imagine what his neighbor thinks? Ryan said, it puts a smile on my face knowing that my neighbor has to see it every day. That’s what he told the Omaha World Herald.

And let me just tell y’all I am here for this level of petty. Now he did tell his tenants that he was doing this and he would help them relocate if they felt like it was too much attention, if it didn’t align with who they are, etc. But all his tenants loved it. The apartment is situated next to an elementary school, so the kids are loving it.

And his wife probably had the pettiest comment, okay, in all of the shade. Because she went on to say, It’s funny because it’s coming from a boring, moderate, old, straight, white guy. Yes, wife, I am here for that. And Ryan, thank you for the petty.

Family, now it’s time for Anna’s Word, because you already know, Anna’s always got a word. And today my word is thankful. Mm hmm. We’re coming off of the Thanksgiving holiday, and let’s be clear, I am not into why this holiday started, but I am into spending time with my family over food. And gathering over food.

And I hope that you all did that. I hope that you had time to spend with those that love you the most, your chosen family, your friends, your neighbors, and that it really did something good for your spirit. And I want y’all to know that I am thankful for all of you. I’m thankful that you choose to listen.

I’m thankful that you choose to tune in and tell a friend. I’m thankful for you because I find this work incredibly important. And so the fact that you keep listening lets me know that you find it important as well. So my job is to keep growing this pod and it’s hard y’all, it’s hard, it’s challenging, but I’m committed.

So my hope is that y’all keep rocking with me. And as we embark on the last month of the year, I just want y’all to know. How thankful I am for you till next week, family, peace.

If you enjoyed what you heard, rate and review us inside your favorite podcasting app. This podcast is written and produced by me, Anna Deshawn. Podcast editing by Experience J of Just Listen Media and brought to you by E3 Radio, your number one queer radio station, playing queer music and reporting on queer news in high rotation.

Sources

Hundreds celebrated Las Cruces’ first ever Pride parade Saturday – Here are some highlights

https://www.lcsun-news.com/picture-gallery/news/2023/10/11/hundreds-celebrated-las-cruces-first-ever-pride-parade/71134365007/

LGBTQ Youth File Federal Civil Rights Complaint Against Anti-Trans Texas School District Policy

https://glaad.org/lgbtq-youth-file-federal-civil-rights-complaint-against-anti-trans-texas-school-district-policy/

Man accused of killing transgender woman in upstate New York found guilty

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/11/man-accused-of-killing-transgender-woman-in-upstate-new-york-found-guilty/

‘Old Lesbians’ documentary highlights the importance of recording ‘herstory’

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/nbc-out-proud/old-lesbians-documentary-highlights-importance-recording-herstory-rcna124401

Old Lesbians Official Website 

https://www.oldlesbiansfilm.com/

Marlon Wayans talks about his ‘transition as a parent’ of transgender son Kai: ‘So proud’

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2023/11/14/marlon-wayans-son-transgender-comedy-special/71577828007/

LGBTQ+ Business Week

https://www.lgbtqbusinessweek.com/

Man paints apartment building rainbow colors to get back at anti-gay neighbor

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/11/man-paints-apartment-building-rainbow-colors-to-get-back-at-anti-gay-neighbor/