Savannah Ryan Williams, we speak your name, Wisconsin Governor Troy Evers vetoes anti-trans legislation and Brittney Griner will tell her story exclusively to ESPN – December 11, 2023

This week on the Queer News podcast Anna DeShawn reports on Savannah Ryan Williams, a Cuban & Native trans woman who was murdered in Minneapolis. Wisconsin’s Governor Tony Evers has vetoed anti-trans legislation and a trans student athlete in Florida was outed. Brittney Griner has inked a deal with ESPN to tell her story of being wrongfully detained in Russia. Anna dares you to guess what the gayest state in the country is… we aren’t telling you right now. You got to listen to the podcast.Let’s go!

00:00 – Welcome to the Queer News podcast 

00:23 – Queer News Listenership Survey, https://bit.ly/QNPSurvey2023 

1:23 – Join the QCrew, https://bit.ly/3L3Ng66 

2:12 – Top Queer News headlines 

2:54 – Buy an Ad on the Queer News podcast, https://bit.ly/3ohYXAw 

3:26 – Intro Music by Aina Bre’Yon

4:01 – Savannah Ryan Williams, a Cuban & Native trans woman who was murdered in Minneapolis

7:54 – Wisconsin’s Governor Tony Evers has vetoed anti-trans legislation

9:47 – A trans student athlete in Florida was outed

13:20 – Subscribe to the Second Sunday podcast, https://pod.link/1708662302 

13:54 – Brittney Griner has inked a deal with ESPN to tell her story of being wrongfully detained in Russia

16:54 – What is the gayest state in the country? 

18:58 – Anna’s Word

19:45 – 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. 29 of you have taken the survey. THANK YOU! We are trying to get to 100. For context, 500-600 of you listen faithfully every week. I need you. 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.  

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. A link is in the show notes. 

Now for the news. Savannah Ryan Williams we speak your name. She was a Cuban & Native trans woman who was murdered in Minneapolis. Wisconsin’s governor Tony Evers has veto’d anti-trans legislation and a trans student athlete in Florida was outed. Brittney Griner has inked a deal with ESPN to tell her story. I dare you to guess what the gayest state in the country is… I’m not telling you right now. You gotta listen to the podcast. Let’s go.

If you’re hearing this, it means we didn’t sell this ad space. If you’re hearing this, it means running ads on our podcast actually can work. You see what I did there? You see this real life example, you got an event. Do you have an organization? Do you got something you need to get the word out about? We got rates starting as low as a hundred dollars.

Check the link in our show notes for more information.

You are now tuned in. We do this frequently. Turn your red into E for that decency. Listen to great music and the latest movements. Save listening for anyone that’s tuned in. Who you with? You enter the shot. You crew and friends. It’s that real talk. Online red bands. You caught up in traffic, frustrated.

Just shake in with E to shift your vibrations. And get elevate right. So that’s the only way to live life and that’s how it’s done here. Just know y’all tuned in to the great petition. We ain’t worried about the other stations. Check! Family, our top story for today is about Savannah Ryan Williams. A 38 year old Cuban and native trans woman who was murdered in Minneapolis on November 29th.

While doing my research on this story and on Savannah, my heart really broke because one of the first things I saw was a picture of her grieving family. Her sisters, her partner, her nieces. It just really broke my heart. Her family and politicians and community leaders, on December 7th, gathered in the Minnesota State Capitol to honor Savannah and to report about what had happened to her.

During this press conference, her sister said this, If Savannah saw one of her brothers who was homeless, She would give them the shoes off her feet and go barefoot. She went on to say, I just would like the world to know that Savannah meant the world to me and my kids. She would give me her last. And she was very loved by our family.

Savannah was also part of this local support network for trans women called T Time. And the co leader of Tea Time was at this press conference as well, Amber Mung. And she described Savannah as fierce and full of life. She said Savannah had a big personality and an even bigger heart. She’s going to be dearly, dearly missed.

Now in just two weeks, police have arrested 25 year old Damarian Bible. And they are charging him with second degree murder for Savannah’s death. He’s claiming that him and Savannah had sex in a courtyard. And then afterwards, he’s owning that he shot her in the head because, quote, she made him feel suspicious, end quote.

How many deep breaths can I take made you feel suspicious? This type of defense infuriates me because. You wanted to have sex with her and now your own insecurities led you to pull out a gun and kill her because you don’t want to own whatever identity you’re trying to hide from the world. And now you’ve ripped her from her family, from her loved ones.

Amber, the co leader of T Time, the support network for trans women. She called on Minnesota during this press conference to decriminalize sex work and to ban the quote trans panic defense. I am here for that. You can’t have a trans panic now. Not after you’ve had sex with me. Representative Lee Finke was also in attendance for this press conference.

I’ve reported about Lee here on the podcast. She is the first ever openly trans legislator to serve in the Minnesota House, right? And she’s a powerful force in Minnesota. She says police cannot. Anti trans violence is an epidemic. It is everywhere. Our communities will not be safe until every one of our neighbors sees our humanity, celebrates our individuality and embraces this beautiful community.

No one could have said it better and my heart goes out to her family and her friends and the community who are still mourning and grieving and who are still very much so. In shock about what happened. Savannah Ryan Williams, we speak your name today.

Now I’ve got some positive news. And it’s political news coming out of Wisconsin. Governor Tony Evers has vetoed anti trans legislation. This legislation would have outlawed gender affirming care for minors in Wisconsin. Well, it was expected that he would veto it because he said anything coming across his desk that was anti LGBTQ, anti trans would be vetoed.

Boom, boom, boom, boom! We support this, Governor Evers, and thank you for standing with the LGBTQ community. Now, I don’t know if y’all know this, but at least 22 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender affirming medical care for our trans siblings. 22. We’ve got 50 states. It’s wild. Now, according to a study that was published in August, there have been fewer than 3, 700 of these surgeries performed in the U.

S. on patients 12 to 18 from 2016 to 2019. Y’all, 3, 700. Republicans are really using our trans siblings humanity for their own political gain. It’s disturbing. It’s disgusting and it set us all back. But here’s to Governor Evers and more governors like him who are choosing to stand up for L-G-B-T-Q Rights.

Now, one thing I will say is that we’ve seen governor’s veto legislation and then the legislature come back and override the, the veto of that governor. We’ll see if that actually happens in Wisconsin, but for now, for now today, yep. We gonna take the win family. We sure are. Mm hmm.

Our next story is coming out of Florida. A high school sophomore who plays on the volleyball team and identifies as trans has been outed. Mm hmm. The principal, assistant principal, and a few other teachers and officials have been removed from the school. This student’s mother actually works at the school.

And she said, a lot of things were taken from my family this week, our privacy, sense of safety, and right to self determination. She went on to say, the outpouring of love and support from our community this past week has been inspiring, selfless, and brave. Watching our community’s resistance and display of love.

Has been so joyous for our family, the light leading us through this darkness. I want everyone to know that we see you and we are so grateful for you. This statement was released through the Human Rights Campaign, right? Which is one of the largest LGBTQ advocacy groups in the country. Now, what are some things we know?

We know DeSantis signed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which is one of the most deceiving names for a piece of legislation. But that’s neither here nor there. In 2021, right? Which prohibits trans girls from playing on girls sports teams. Mm hmm. We also know that this family, they sued the school district and state officials in 2021 in hopes the law would be found unconstitutional and she’d be able to play on high school sports.

And HRC, the Human Rights Campaign, provided their legal representation, okay? Now a judge ruled against the family in November, though allowing time for the lawsuit to be amended. Hence why she was able to play on the team. Well, when word got out that the principal, assistant principal, these few other teachers, officials had been removed.

Do you know what the students did? They walked out. They sure did. Hundreds of them walked out of class. To the football field with signs cheering in support of this trans athlete, their friend. Yes, they did. Now the school district said this, we will continue to follow state law and we’ll take appropriate action based on the outcome of the investigation.

We are committed to providing all our students with a safe and inclusive learning environment. Oh, how I wish that was true. As I sit here reporting on a story of a. A 15 year old girl who all she wants to do is play on the volleyball team and be seen as normal. What y’all are not doing in Florida is creating safe and inclusive learning environments.

Mm hmm. And may we all, may we all have the courage of young people to stand up. And I hope when you all hear these stories that you are inspired because there will be a time, the time is coming when you listening to this podcast, we’ll need to tap into the courage of these young people across the country who are fighting back against these anti trans and anti LGBTQ policies.

I hope you’re ready. I hope you’re ready. I’m going to take a quick break family, and we’ll be right back with some culture and entertainment news. Stay close.

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. Welcome back to the show family. Now it’s time for some culture and entertainment news.

Leading the way is Ritney Griner. She has officially signed the rights of her story of being wrongfully detained in Russia to ESPN and ABC, which of course are all properties of Disney. ESPN Films will be doing the documentary and There’s potential for a scripted series from ABC Signature. It also includes an exclusive interview with my ultimate favorite, Robin Roberts.

Now, family that’s been listening to this pod for over a year, you may remember that it was a year ago, almost to the date. I went back and looked. It was our December 26th episode of 2022 and I asked who was going to get the exclusive BG interview. Who was it going to be? Was it going to be Oprah, Gayle, Robin Roberts, Angela Rye or Jameel Hill?

And look at here, almost a year later, it is my ultimate favorite, Robin Roberts. Brittany said the last two years have been the most harrowing, transformative. An illuminating period of my life, and I am grateful to be in a place now to share my story with the world. I’m proud to partner with ESPN and Disney to share this very personal story because of its incredible potential to inspire hope around the world and their proven ability to do just that.

Now, one thing I thought was really dope about this entire deal was that her wife, Sherelle Griner, who I believe is the real MVP, Of this entire story is going to be the executive producer. So, you know, it’s going to be right. You know, it’s going to be accurate. Mm hmm. And no games will be played with her story.

Love. Yes. Now, if you’re listening to this podcast and for some reason you don’t know who Brittany Griner is, she’s one of the best and one of the greatest to ever do it. Okay. She’s won a WNBA championship. She has three gold medals. Okay. She’s a two time defensive player of the year. She’s like a six time all star.

And in 2023 time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people. In the world, and if that’s not good enough, you can just go back and listen to all of our literal award winning Britney Griner coverage from 2022, because we did win an award for it. And let me just say, I cannot wait to see this documentary.

I cannot wait to see this interview.

For our last story today, the question is, what is the gayest state in this country? Do

you know? Well, let me tell you. I thought I would know. But I didn’t know. According to a new study by UCLA, Kentucky. Yes, yo. Kentucky. It’s officially America’s gayest state. And of course there is a little caveat. In terms of LGBTQ population. Now if you’re like me and you’re wondering, How is this possible?

When five Kentuckys can fit into one California? Let me tell you, Kentucky has the highest proportion of LGBTQ people in its population. Given its size. You wanna know how many? 10. 5%. Of adults in Kentucky self identify as LGBTQ, literally that means every one in 10 people walking around Kentucky identify as queer.

Who knew? And to add to this conversation, truly the highest proportion of LGBTQ adults is actually in the District of Columbia, which makes so much sense to me because that’s where DC is located. Now. There are 14. 3 percent of the LGBTQ population self identifying in the District of Columbia, but the District of Columbia is not considered a state, which is a whole nother conversation.

And so, Kentucky takes the crown. And honestly, it can’t be that big of a surprise that it’s a state in the South. The South is known, and the data has shown us. That the South is the queerest place in the country. There are more queer people living in the South than anywhere else. The study says 36. 9 percent of all LGBTQ adults live in Southern states.

And that is just the facts.

It’s that time of the podcast where we close out with Anna’s word because Anna’s always got a word. Now today’s word comes from selfmadeladies. com and it says What you think you create, what you feel you attract, what you imagine you become. So I say be conscious of your thoughts always, family. It all starts in your mind.

As we go into this new year and we’re setting resolutions now and we’re doing reflections. Learn to control your mind and you will absolutely create the life you want to live. 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

Family, friends, LGBTQ+ leaders grieve trans woman fatally shot in Minneapolis

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/12/07/family-friends-lgbtq-leaders-grieve-trans-woman-fatally-shot-in-minneapolis

Savannah Ryan Williams, a 38-Year-Old Cuban and Native Trans Woman, Killed in Minneapolis

https://www.them.us/story/savannah-ryan-williams-38-year-old-cuban-and-native-trans-woman-killed-in-minneapolis#intcid=recommendations_them-verso-hp-trending_b80e6f4c-aea5-4bfe-87ea-15cae253d2a9_popular4-1

Democratic Wisconsin governor vetoes bill to ban gender-affirming care for kids

https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-governor-veto-transgender-care-ban-68b0968cd63e20f5ce727b0c932ba4dd

Mom of trans athlete at center of Florida sports controversy speaks out

https://abcnews.go.com/US/mom-trans-athlete-center-florida-sports-controversy-speaks/story?id=105375794

Mom at heart of Broward transgender athlete controversy: My daughter was wrongly outed

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article282653578.html#storylink=cpy

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article282653578.html

Brittney Griner’s Russia Detention to Get Doc, Scripted Treatment From ESPN and ABC Signature

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/brittney-griner-espn-documentary-abc-signature-series-1235724012/

The gayest state in America is…Kentucky!?

https://www.intomore.com/impact/the-gayest-state-in-america-iskentucky/?utm_source=lgbtqnation&utm_medium=directlink&utm_campaign=directlink&utm_content=Kentucky+is+apparently+the+gayest+state