Isn't It Queer

Heather and Jonny track a theme across recent stories impacting  LGBTQ+ communities that the smallness of a minority group severely limits its power. They examine several stories where a few people make a big difference, where a small local community beats a big cultural behemoth. They find queer joy in victories and hope in the ways isolating or targetting minority groups can also make them stronger.

Jonny and Heather welcome summer on the other side of Memorial Day, remembering what this coming weekend is meant to recognize. The provide some updates on the Southern Illinois Pride plans in Carbondale for Saturday, June 13th. They then celebrate that Carbondale's Pride is not (as of now) being cancelled, as too manyothers are--including China's cancelling of Hong Kong's Pride festivities. Given how excellent China proved itself at dishing out shade to our President this week, we are surprised they don't want a Pride Parade. In the back half of the show, they examine somestories closer to home that are a bit shady in the gray zone between black and white. They conclude with a confused turn to athletcis and art, noting the connections between shades and values.

Jonny and Heather face the summer with news of Southern Illinois Pride plans. This information has recently been circulated on local social media. In the process, of course, lots of anti-Pride community members have had...."interesting" things to say about Pride. Jonny and Heather remind them that their comments are public and turn to rebutting the common propaganda talking points critical of Pride and the LGBTQ+ community. In the back half of the show they run with the theme of why (this year especially) Pride is so necessary because of the ludicrous, systemic discriminations against queer and trans people.

Jonny and Heather dive into a series of headaches for the LGBTQ+ community, starting with the DOJ's investigation of 36 school districts in Illinois for teaching gender ideology. Connecting that story to many others in the news lately, they pursue the authoritarian tactic of manufacturing problems so that the supreme leader can provide solutions tat serve to consolidate power. They examine a host of recent stories impacting LGBTQ+ communities that are examples of unnecessary solutions for made up problems.

Jonny and Heather conduct separate interviews in this episode, featuring talks with transgender writers doing presentations in Carbondale this coming weekend. In the front half of the show, Heather interviews Nico Lang, an impressive award winning journalist who will be giving a talk about their book, American Teenager: How Trans Kids are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era. In the back half of the show, Jonny interviews Polish cultural anthropoligist, Dr. Jay Szpilka, who will be ging a presentation titled, "Drones, Puppies, and Mecha Pilots: Erotic Stykes beyond Cisness."

Presentation Schedule:

• Nico Lang, May 3rd, 1 pm at the Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship

• Dr. Jay Szpilka, May 4th, 4 pm in the Kleinau Theatre, 2nd floor of the Communications Building on the SIU campus.

Jonny and Heather review a serise of recent current events where "kicking out" rather than "coming out" rings the queer content. They look at hypocritical standards for expulsion in Congress, in the Trump Cabinet, and in the military. They also discuss celebrities like Caitlen Jenner, Pete Buttigieg, Megan Rapinoe, and Sue Bird. They conclude with a quick scan of some of the cases the Supreme Court has accepted and those they have passed on as well as how some states are responding to their decision about conversion therapy.

Heather and Jonny extend April Fools to make sense of the foolishness of the Trump Administration in the last week. Behind the clearly mockable "accomplishments" of the administration this week is a persistent theme of targeting the LGBTQ+ community. In the back half of the show they offer even more shade to the growing list of states pursuing toxic anti-LGBTQ+ policies and legislation while they cling to the glimmer of rainbows returned and proliferating.

Jonny and Heather are a bit disturbed about recording Wednesday's show before the destructive deadline Trump has set for Iran. They discuss the posturings and firings of the administration recently, worried about what they might do with the power they have and no supervision or experienced counsel. In this light, the see Kristi Noem's hypocrisy around her husband's (perfectly okay!) kink a telling example of the double standards at the core of the Trump administration. In the back half of the show they take a deeper dive into the SCOTUS decision about Colorado's ban on conversion therapy, good stats about support for trans rights, and another methodologically flawed study trying to justify transphobic policies of exclusion.

Jonny and Heather are joined by T--Dr. T!--who recently defended his dissertation about leaving a local cult. They discuss the No Kings protest, the Supreme Court's decision on conversion therapy bans, and the cult like qualities of MAGA all through the lens of surviving an actual cult. Now that the dissertation is done and the degree is earned, Dr. T moves on to diving into local engagement through a variety of art and performance projects, motivated by connection to community as the best response for the global and national news that keeps pressing us down.

Jonny welcomes Heather back from complications with a routine operation removing a kidney stone. They dive right into the hot mess that is the war/not war with Iran, noting the slipperyness of the Administration in sticking with or abanding strict definitions when it suits their purposes. They connect this to the rationales for demonizing trans people for not fitting their rigid gender definitions. In the back half of the show, they take this critique of binary thinking to the SAVE Act, the Senate confirmation of Markwayne Mullin, and the-on-the fence dilemma faced by Tulsi Gabbard, among other political shenanigans of the week. They end with the usual response these frustrations of destructive reductive thinking to engage more in local community involment, including the 3rd No Kings rally and local events associated with the Trans Day of Visibility.