Isn't It Queer

Jonny is joined by Craig to discuss queer neurodivergence and bullying. In the front half of the show they focus on a TikTok video by Christopher Macken who responds to a woman who promises to be her son's first bully if he ever "acts gay." In the back half of the show they share an example of the work of TikTok and Instagram content creator, Emile Ennis Jr. and his regular videos on the "Gay Agenda." Taken together, these videos and a frame of bullying allow a perspective on anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and policies that serve as a kind of cultural bullying while also providing key lessons/strategies on pushing back and preventing bullying.

Jonny and Heater interview Samantha Boucher, Founder and Executive Director of Trans Liberty, the first US political action organization dedicated solely to defending the civil rights of transgenderAmericans. In the front half of the show they explore Samantha's background and the creation of Trans Liberty. In the back half of the show they talk about some of Trans Liberty's current projects, including Project Lifeboat, responding to recent legislation in Kansas targeting transgender citizens and their legal IDs. You can find more information about the organization here: Trans Liberty PAC For more information about Operation Lifeboat and how you can help out, go here: Operation Lifeboat

Heather and Jonny commiserate over the eruption og globala military actions and the controversyies around the Trump Administrations actions and (lack of) explanations. They posit the role of conflict in controling and manipulating others. They then take this theme of x vs. y to other conflicts recently impacting the LGBTQ+ community, some further illuminating the US vs. Iran conflict eclipsing all others at the moment.

After taking a break for a few weeks from the Epstein Files, Jonny and Heather return to discuss them and other stories that show the limits of trying to control what the public can know. Even so, an administration and a party desperate to control our attention continues to go to extraordinary lengths to scapegoat minorities for ridiculous reasons. After reviewing some of those distractions by assaulting rights, they turn to some good news coming out of the end of the Winter Olympics and some proof that we will not be erased, even in the most conservative of states.

Heather and Jonny confront two stories of mass shootings this week, one in Canada with a confirmed transgender assailant and one in Rhode Island with an alleged transgender shooter. They approach this difficult topic with a couple of key reminders: First, an inventory of their local organizations and meeting groups available to help people struggling to know that they have support and a community. Second, they review the crime statistics which have not changed significantly even if these are acts of violence by transgender people.Finally, they examine this phenomenon as something profoundly exacerbated by disconfirmations, interpersonal and institutional. They review an inventory of this week's LGBTQ+ disconfirmations.

Jonny and Heather celebrate an unnexpacted and probably lasting warmer rest of February. They turn their attention to the World Human Rights report that notes the USAmerican impact on LGBTQ+ rights globally. They examine several examples of this unfortunate trend in Democratic Recession. In the back half of the show they turn to the great cultural distraction of ahtletics where two big sporty rituals--the Winter Olympics and The Superb Owl--give examples of both queer victories and queer losses. But with a bite of an ambiguously diverse oatmeal cookie, we are still in the game!

Jonny welcomes Heather back to the show, although there is still snow on the roads and the cold is only now slowly loosening its grip. They vortex out from Southern Illinois, discussing new assaults on LGBTQ+ rights, beyound ICE protests or the Epstein Files. In the back half of the show, they look to entertainment, significant political wins, and polling from a surprising source that this assault on human rights and turn to authoritarianism are encountering serious resistance. Throughout the show, they shout-out to the "Puzzle and Podcast" weekly event being hosted by the Paulette Curkin Pride Resource Center on the SIU Campus.

Jonny and Heather are both snowed in this week, but Jonny has a good mic and computer and power at home, so he offers this episode born from staying home during snow and SERIOUS cold. He begins with acknowledgement of the weather and the hypocrisy of climate change denial before moving to Trump administration hypocrisy about Anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis, especially around the shooting of Alex Pretti. He then shares a post from an online gay men's group expressing the rest of the word's frustration with Trump, followed by his own posted response laying out the dangers of assuming the current geopolitical crisis is the result of one man. Picking up onpart of his response, in the back half of the show he leans into queer-friendly and queer-written S/F and a contemplation of how visions of the future or alternative realities are more often estranged visions of aspects of the now. 

If you are interested in the GRIS book club mentioned in the podcast, you can find more about here: https://www.goldenrainbows.org/services-2

(The GRIS website identifies this as a 2025 activity, but it is still going on. The contact information there is still uptodate.)

Jonny is fresh back from the annual winter retreat of Gay Spirit Visions' winter gathering where the theme was protecting our joy while we live through a dumpster fire. Heather helps him unpack the necessity to be aware of the dumpster fire even as we choose to put our energies elsewhere. They review several of the last week's turns in the news that build the flames even as Minnesota learns to use ice against ICE. In the back half of the show they turn to a disturbing trend in declining support for LGBTQ+ rights, including marriage equality, even among younger members of the population. They explore various factors that might have caused it and recent trends in popular culture that give them hope declining support is more of a temporary dip than the edge of a cliff.

Jonny and Heather dive deep into the implications of an ICE agent's killing of Rene Good in Minneapolis this past week. The murder of a queer mother of three is bad enough, but the government's reactions demonstrate an  accumulating pattern of response that is most disturbing. In the back half of the show, they examine rights and retirements under fire and the court cases to defend the rights and pensions of those wronged. In this collection of stories, Jonny and Heather highlight the evidence that the Trump Administration's reach is actually facing serious pushback from within. Stick around to the end to learn why Heather deserves a big CONGRATULATIONS!