Isn't It Queer

Jonny curates a series of stories covering victories for LGBTQ candidates and policies in the 2023 midterm elections. This includes a stunning amount of defeats for those who ran homophobic and transphobic campaigns. Still, the haters in power are already devising ways to ignore the will of the people...if we let them! In the back half of the show, Jonny covers some significant movement in the Catholic Church rebuking homophobes/transphobes and slowly opening up to more inclusion of LGBTQ folks in the church. He also notes that the US is paying a price with the UN for its increasing amount of anti-LGBTQ legislation.

Jonny interviews Juniper Oxford, the new coordinator of the SIU LGBTQ Resource Center. She recaps SIU LGBTQ History Month events, discusses the upcoming Trans Week of Awareness including TDOR, and shares future plans of the Resource Center. In the back half of the show, Jonny puts two stories in dialogue that are about hard right politics eating their own over transphobic agendas.

Jonny reviews new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson's (R-LA) incredibly toxic anti-LGBTQ legislative and legal history. He profiles Johnson's origins in the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the damage they are doing across the nation and across the world in the name of "defending" their religious beliefs. In the back half of the show, Jonny profiles Pastor Elazar Schoch Zavaletta of the formerly-named North Avenue Mission in Baltimore, MD. Zavaletta is an out, trans pastor serving the unhoused and marginalized in an impoverished urban neighborhood. Jonny juxtaposes Johnson and the ADF with Zavaletta and the NAM as two different paths for faith-based Christian responses to LGBTQ+ (and other) people and their needs.

Jonny interviews Carrie Vine, Executive Director of the Rainbow Cafe about ttheir upcoming (11/4) Gala fundraiser. Tickets are still available through Saturday 10/28! You can purchase tickets through links at their Facebook page, at the rainbowcafe.org web page, or here: https://t.ly/yBxqp. In the back half of the show, Jonny curates two news stories about debunked and retracted "science" about trans identity finding new homes in newly formed "research" journals and websites. Fringe and pseudoscience critical of trans identity continues to be misrepresented as "professional guidance" despite significant harms documented with "gender exploration therapy" and a broad medical and therapeutic consensus about the harms and ineffectiveness of conversion therapies.

Starting with the fiasco of the Speaker of the House oustng and subsequent fraught selection process, Jonny curates a series of recent news items that demonstrate how hate-based conservatism is self-destructive and unsustainable. The hate these folks foster for LGBTQ folks as a wedge issue pales next to the hate and lies they have for each other. In the back half of the show, Jonny examines the next potential SCOTUS case that might advance religious freedom at the expense of the health and well-bing of queer youth. He also takes stock of the rising visibility of Black queer politicians and activists.

Jonny interviews Heather O'Malley about the realease of ther new book, Hands of the Morri-- a fantasy adventure that includes a saucy raven as one of the narrators. In the process of discussing the work, they talk about what LGBTQ writers bring to fantasy/SF genres, including a brief reference to the Rainbow Space Magic conference for queer sci fi and fantasy writers. You can pick up a copy of the novel at a book release party at the Rainbow Cafe on Thursday 10/12 at 7:00 or at the the Picnic in the Park: Pride Edition/SI LGBTQ Fest this Sunday (10/15), 1-6 pm in Attucks Park. The book is also available at most online retailers or directly from the publisher, Bold Strokes Books, at: https://www.boldstrokesbooks.com/books/hands-of-the-morri-by-heather-k-omalley-4309-b

Jonny sits down with T Brown, a whistleblower about a local Sufi cult, to discuss recent efforts to share the stories of those who have gotten out of it. In the back half of the show, T discusses his experiences at the Gay Spirit Visions Fall Conference and how that both triggered cult-based traumas and significantly contrasted with them. T's story details some of the lasting damage that can be caused by structured intentional communities with charismatic and dogmatic spiritual leaders.

Jonny interviews Tricia Burns, director of the Stage Company's upcoming production of Dracula at The Varsity (October 6-8 and 12-15). In the back half of the show, Jonny digs into literary and folkloric transformations of the vampire to explore the "queer monstrous." He links peasants with torches and wooden stakes to the activities of Gays agains Groomers, Libs of TikTok, and Moms for Liberty -- organizations that unfortunately are making inroads in Illinois.

Jonny talks with Craig Gingrich-Philbrook about his experiences with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) and its likely connection to childhood homophobic trauma. Connecting to a study out of Melbourne, they discuss how bullying, disconfirmation, and anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation is potentially giving queer and trans youth develpmental neurological disorders they will have to deal with the rest of their lives. In the back portion of the show, Jonny also reviews how the Christian Right is getting states and municipalities to abandon bans on conversion therapy, despite ample evidence that such therapies do not work and cause considerable harm.

Jonny interviews SIU performance studies alum, Elizabeth Whitney, who will be presenting her latest performance, "Finland, Land of Romance," in the Kleinau Theatre on Saturday September 23 at 8 pm as a Fine Arts Activity Fee guest artist. As a queer performance artist, Whitney's latest work chronicles some of her time working in Finland, including coping with the giref of a lost sibling through ice swimming. In the back portion of the show, Jonny reviews how nation-wide anti-trans legislation is driving an uptick in trans and nonbinary candidates running for public office, with some detailed examples offered in the current Illinois election cycle. He also announces a presentation by Catalina Maria Johnson on "Latin Hip Hop as a New Poetry" at the Rainbow Cafe on September 22 at 6 pm.