Isn't It Queer

Jonny and Heather discuss the horrors of Halloween--that is, the actual horrors of these last days of the Presidential campaign alongside the queertastic holiday celebrations of Halloween. In the back half of the show, Jonny interviews Sister Texas Hotbox of the SOIL Sisters about their holiday card project, sending holiday greetins to queer and trans folks who may not be receiving such worm wishes from their families of origin, If you would like a personalized holiday greeting from from Sister Texas, fill out these confidential forms here:

Thanksgiving: https://tinyurl.com/yttceyvf

December Holidays: https://tinyurl.com/yb8tjvhp

Heather and Jonny kick off the show with a geek-out over good Dr. Who news before moving into the threatened dystopia of a President Vance. They dig into the irony of the anti-LGBTQ senator's gay billionaire patron, delving into the influence ot technolibertarians and a philosophy of Dark Enlightenment. After detailing this bleakness, they check in on queers actually serving in the federal government and running for office, including the psychological challenges of such work. They close out with a bit more queer-positive media as a tonic for the anxieties we face in these final weeks of the 2024 election season.

Jonny and Heather record the episode on Columb--er, Indigenous People's Day, and have some things to say about the costs of colonialism and the importance of Two Spirit/Q-Spirit. The review some events last week, one a planned pesentation on the queer history of the region and the other a grassroots protest for an anti-trans speaker brought to speak in Carbodale on National Coming Out Day. They then switch to some TERF-y women causing additional problems for queer and trans folks with their loose connection to history, science, and reality. They end with excitement for new films in the works by the Wachowski sisters celebrating trans horror, as well as other films available for streaming that avoid the Bury Your Gays trope.

Jonny and Heather reunite and check back in on the stormy weather, from Hurricanes to politics and a a whirlwind of lies. In the back half of the show, the review some recent court cases and try to predict from their mostly favorable aoutcomes for trans folks what we might expect from forthcoming Supreme Court decisions on LGBTQ+ issues. The close out with some muche appreciated LGBTQ+ entertainment worth following.

Jonny details his experiences with Hurricane (Tropical Storm, by the time it got to him) Helene during the 35th Annual Gay Spirit Visions Fall Conference at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center outside Highlands NC. He tells a story of adaptation and resilience and communities coming together to deal with a crisis. In the back half of the show, he takes on the misinformation already circulating about the storm's damage and the Federal response to it. In the process, he assesses both the political and spiritual need to be aware of the world as it is, to respond mindfully to the conditions on the ground.

Jonny and Heather lean into their various fandoms and geek out a bit over genre fiction before diving into recent news. The quuer geekdom follows as they discuss 2 LGBTQ+ history making actions by Joe Biden in the last week and the queer alignments of the parties and candidates in the 2024 election. In the back half of the show the briefly check in on the St. Louis gay bar that was crashed into by a police hehicle. They then turn to Eastern Europe and the struggles against and capitulations to Russian anti-LGBTQ+ policy.

Jonny turns over the first half of the show to fellow SOIL Sister, Sr. Benedeta Cuna-lingee, and her new podcast dealing with queer spirituality, Holy Spectrum. Episode 1, "Queer Spirituality 101," lays out the plan for the podcast's future episodes and some basic starting assumptions of queer spirituality. In the back half of the show, Jonny and Heather are joined by Sr Cuna-lingee's alter ego, Dr. Christina Ivy, to discuss the episode and why a podcast about queer spirituality is much needed.

Jonny and Heather have to discuss yet another school shooting with yet again alleged queer overtones. First, it is the war of words between the Vice Presidential candidates over what really is a "fact of life." Second, it is the immediate and false charge that the shooter (and all recent school shooters) is trans. In the back half of the show, Jonny and Heather acknowledges former President Trump's increased lying, especially about trans youth, and trace the influence of these lies to Cold War politics, whether direct Russian interference or Trump's mentor, Cold War red hunter Roy Cohn. They end with some good news that, as SCOTUS takes up Tennesee's trans ban legislation, evidence shows conservatives starting to reel from the repercussions of anti-trans legislation.

Jonny is on his own this week, recording the show on Labor Day Monday. In the front half of the show, he details "autogynephilia" as a debunked pseudo-scientific theory still popular among the gender critical and transphobes. It is one of the ways LGB (No T, No Q) folks bracket out trans experience from "gay" experience. He also details its cousin, the myth of "Transing the Gay Away." In the back half of the show, he leans into his own queer story and evolution into understaning of his gender nonconforming, nonbinary identity. At the core of LGBTQ rights, he argues, is trans advocacy and the fight for gender diversity.

Heather returns, and she and Jonny recap the Democratic National Convention, parsing their feels and the ways the DNC did and didn't represent queer community. In the back half of the show, they continue the political campaign analysis with a dive into Twitter/X and who is and isn't Tweeting (X-crementing?) there these days. They ponder if harsh right wing social media might finally be facing some serious and legal push back.