Happy Pride!! This episode is our first in a mini-series that will celebrate pride by diving deep into many different facets of queerness. This first one will review some important moments and figures throughout queer history, featuring several speech excerpts from queer movement legends. The first speech will be Sylvia Rivera's "Y'all Better Quiet Down" from the Christopher Street Gay Rally in New York in 1973, in which she touches on her own experiences as a trans sex worker of color and pleads with the unaccepting queer community to stop ignoring and disrespecting their trans siblings, especially those that are in jail. The second speech will be Audre Lorde's "There is No Hierarchy of Oppressions," which is a part of a publication from 1983. Here Lorde also personally divulges her own identities and calls for a unified movement culture that truly makes space for intersectionality. And lastly we'll hop to a queer elder speaking in our current moment, with an excerpt from Miss Major's interview for the Trans Oral History Project in 2016. She highlights the unchanged positionality of trans folks within the queer community as ignored and disrespected, just as Rivera did in her speech from over 40 years prior. Our ancestors lay out their message clearly: we need to center and prioritize the most marginalized among us, rather than allowing our movement to only benefit the most privileged. We need to radicalize our movement, to make it intersectional and inclusive. We need to dismantle the state systems that oppress us, but we need to confront the oppression perpetuated by ourselves and our communities too. And if we don't, 40 years from now will look pretty damn similar to where we are now. Join me in learning from our queer history and honoring our elders by incorporating their words into our everyday lives. Create spaces of radical joy and acceptance, support mutual aid, join movements beyond those that you find linked to your own identities, and care for each other boldly and without exclusion.

Resources:
Sylvia Rivera's "Y'all Better Quiet Down" Speech
Transcript of Sylvia Rivera's "Y'all Better Quiet Down" Speech (on pg. 2)
Audre Lorde's "There is No Hierarchy of Oppressions"
Transcript of Audre Lorde's "There is No Hierarchy of Oppressions"
Other Audre Lorde works: Sister Outsider (1984), Uses of the Erotic (1978), the Cancer Journals (1980), and more!
Miss Major on Stonewall from the Trans Oral History Project
Transcript of the entire Miss Major Interview with Trans Oral History Project (with more than just the excerpt included in the episode)
More speech transcripts from Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson and STAR (I really recommend these!)
Trans Oral History Project Website
Making Gay History, a podcast with Eric Marcus
Documentary on Mama Gloria, another trans icon and activist
Video featuring Alok Menon, a current trans artist and activist

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We're celebrating yet again with this episode! May is also Sex Ed for All Month, so in our effort to join the observance, we wanted to deeply discuss the state of sex ed currently and how we can join the movement for the truly accessible sex ed of our dreams. We chat with three students from our local LIGHT program, which is the Leaders Igniting a Healthy Generation of Teens program that operates out of the Planned Parenthood of South, East, and North Florida. Speaking with Isana, Rachel, and Catianna provided necessary insight into the sex ed that students deserve access to, no matter where they live or what identities they hold. I hope you all get as much out of this conversation as I did; I feel inspired to connect more meaningfully with the young people in my life, more fiercely advocate for an education system that they can find solace and power in, and more compassionately create networks of communal care that centers our young folks that are being failed and harmed by the systems of oppression that impact us all. And I hope you do, too!

LIGHT information:
@PP.Lights on Instagram
[email protected]

Quick Links mentioned in the episode:
https://sexeducationcollaborative.org/sex-ed-all-month
https://www.noteenshame.com/

Link to the Alachua County policy on sex education (which mirrors Florida's):
http://go.boarddocs.com/fl/alaco/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=CL4SX774B30F

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This episode is a celebration! It's Masturbation May, and we wanted to recognize the observance with an episode all about our self pleasure. Rather than an interview with someone in our community with intimate knowledge or life experiences related to the topic, we're going to be answering your questions and debunking myths surrounding masturbation. I hope you all find encouragement in this episode to take some time learning how to show yourself love and discovering all of the facets of your pleasure. We're often imparted with shame and guilt when it comes to masturbating, so it can be tough to work through that. I think it's a common experience for folks to have masturbation practices that have looked the same for a big chunk of their life, and those practices tend to be quick ways to make ourselves cum. But, masturbation can be so much more than getting ourselves to orgasm. It can be a meaningful way to connect with your body, prioritize your pleasure, and incorporate experimentation into your sex life. Recognize yourself as a sex partner that deserves special love and care, and I hope you all have a steamy, sexy night with yourself after listening to today's episode<3

There is an addition I'd like to make to one of the answers regarding safe sex practices during masturbation: in addition to cleaning your toys, it's important to know what your toys are made of. Some toys are made of a porous silicone, which can absorb water and bacteria in a way that can be harmful to your body. And some plastic toys might pose a risk of harm to your reproductive systems depending on its quality. Remember: these toys are going to be alllllllll up in the most absorbent parts of your body. Treat yourself with care and only purchase the toys that you know are made with safe materials. Beyond that, wash your hands before masturbating if you're going to use them! And only use body-safe lubes; while it's nice to spice things up during your masturbation practice, that doesn't mean use hot sauce as lube. Like seriously ... don't use hot sauce on your penis or vulva. And happy masturbating!!

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In this episode, we feature two different conversations to help us all better understand and destigmatize STIs. We'll chat with CJ Acevedo, the HIV High Impact Prevention Program Coordinator at WellFlorida, about the stigma surrounding HIV and how we can create empathetic networks of care throughout our communities for those living with HIV. We'll also chat with Penelope Sutliff about their personal experiences living with herpes, ranging from posting about their status online and continuing to grow throughout their journey with their positive diagnosis. With these conversations, we hope to challenge our current approach to STIs, one marked by stigma and inaccessibility, and replace it with radical joy, communal care, and accessibility to necessary resources. 

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Join us in kicking off the Sexy and Safe at Home with HEAT Podcast and recognizing Black Maternal Health Week! This episode will feature Alexandria Gibson, a joyous and radical light who graces Gainesville, Florida with her holistic reproductive and sexual health services at The Goddess Project and the world with her Pussy Talk. We spoke in detail about Black maternal health and addressed the harm in our country's Western, medical (and profit-driven) approach to childbirth. Beyond that, we explored the changes that we need personally, socially, culturally, and systemically to keep Black birthing folks safe, respected, and joyful. Black maternal mortality rates that are nearly three times higher than the maternal mortality rates of their white counterparts require numerous, expansive conversations and solutions that account for the complexity of the issue, and we hope the discussion we're sharing with you helps to build the world we envision full of healthy, thriving Black families. Thank you for taking the time to listen<3

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