In Re:trospeQt

From community activist to politician, Carlos Guillermo Smith (he/him/el) made history with his election in November 2016 becoming Florida’s first openly LGBTQ Latinx state lawmaker just 5 months after the tragedy at Pulse nightclub. He currently serves House District 49 in the Florida House of Representatives. In this week’s episode, we unpack the importance of representation, the privilege of coming out, queer music icons, chosen families, our mutual obsession with Orlando Bloom, and reflecting on the five-year anniversary of Pulse.

A queer Black, Afro-Jamaican femme, Onnissia is a provocative visual artist boldly using sexuality and intimacy as an art form. On this week's episode, we go in on the queerness of fan fiction, first crushes, problematic favorites, imposter syndrome, and how being radically vulnerable was a means for survival.

A queer Black, Afro-Jamaican femme, Onnissia is a provocative visual artist boldly using sexuality and intimacy as an art form. On this week's episode, we go in on the queerness of fan fiction, first crushes, problematic favorites, imposter syndrome, and how being radically vulnerable was a means for survival.

A self-proclaimed “blerd” (which stands for Black nerd), Braylon Junior is a queer, Black doctoral student, tech lover, and works as an assessment coordinator for Vanderbilt University. Join us as we unpack queerness in the Black community, internalized hate, thicc werewolves, Mariah Carey's whistle tones, confronting generational trauma, and how understanding the difference between permission and agency helped Braylon on his journey to healing, love, and self-acceptance.

A bold and beautiful, Black and Boriqua bear living in Greater Philadelphia, Christian Williams is an educator, aspiring performer, and queer advocate. On this episode we reflect on navigating the biracial experience, LGBTQIA+ lingo, bus rides around Miami, a mother’s intuition, being well fed culturally and spiritually, how watching the show Zoom as a kid might mean you’re queer now, why straight dudes love cargo shorts, and Christian’s reaction to being named one of Advocate Magazine’s 2020 Champions of Pride.

Yasmin is an Israeli, Argentinian, Jewish, Pansexual community leader and co-founder of Peer Support Space, Inc. Join us as we unpack complicated childhood accents, the meaning of chosen family, mental health, overcoming imposter syndrome, and how dance helped Yasmin discover and embrace her queer identity. Recorded June 17, 2020.

Shakivla Todd is a Black, queer, self-proclaimed southern belle valley girl and social media manager for the startup IFundWomen. In this episode, reflect with us on the lessons from first crushes, the process of acquiring girlfriends, waiting until college, discovering how to self-love while confronting old body image issues and Shakivla’s journey to acceptance with her mother. Recorded June 6, 2020.