An intro to your host: Ray. Coming into adulthood, politics, and queerness are an interwoven story of pain, resiliency, and self-reclamation. I made the impossible decision at 18 to forgo a relationship with my father because I believed there was a future version of me that no longer lived in fear. It took me years to realize I wasn't just an ally in queerness, or an accomplice, but a card-holding member. I have found a lot of comfort in queer storytelling and hope to showcase that through the conversations I continue to have on this show. Along with politics and healthcare, and sex!! Buckle up!!

Rocio (AKA PETE) and I sat in my living. We were talking about pursuing our dreams. Rocio, a recently turned 21-year-old is in the process of moving from Portland, OR to LA to pursue her passion: acting. While we had meaningful discussions about what we wanted out of our futures, I vulnerably read Rocio something I had been working on... A book proposal. I talked about moments that have shaped my life and in that vulnerability, Rocio and I discovered that we had mistakenly similar experiences with some of the men in our lives. In this episode of #WakingUpWithRay Rocio and I talk about how much easier it is for people to look the other way in instances of rape culture. We listen to women scream #MeToo but when those women point a finger at who, we quickly deny her experience rather than questioning how he walks through the world. In our socially patriarchal society, violence against women and other minorities is seen as something to have a call to action; but the minute we have to hold the people in our own lives accountable, we choose to look the other way for the sake of how uncomfortable discomfort is. As young women, we are discovering that although our childhoods were masked with fairytales of equality, the world is just as misogynistic as it always has been. Will you choose accountability or comfort?

In the fourth episode of Waking Up With Ray, we tackle some topics that school administrations are scared to talk about. Does separating kids by their gender make sense? Is it okay to not teach them about all sex organs? Why don't we teach sex education, like the science that it is? Is it fair that people's understanding or lack of, have been the ones writing the curriculum? Is it appropriate to take away education on something our society runs on? sex, money, power, greed? Tune in to hear Shelby Reaves and I's conversation on it all.

it was may 2018, Corrie asked me to take her senior pictures, and to also highlight how she got through school. yes, as a stripper. Corrie and i talk about how schools, places of employment, and society have deemed women responsible for men’s behavior, a narrative also perpetrated by women. it was on us as young women to solve the issue of assault by cover-up and downplaying our beauty. because boys will be boys. in a world that hyper sexualizes young girls in a means of taking away power, it’s no wonder we decide to discredit women who choose to own that power. Corrie tells me about all the jobs in which she was assaulted and told to deal with it — and how now stepping into a club, she knows the rules are hers. tune in to this episode of #WakingUpWithRay to learn about Corrie's journey with reclaiming her body, empowerment, and beauty, in a world that was constantly trying to claim that as its own.

On this episode of Waking Up With Ray, I was lucky enough to interview Mariah Clark. A community leader when it comes to sexual health. I have had many experiences with her within the state of Oregon as well as lobbying in D.C. together. In this episode, we talk about the taboo's of abortion care, women's health, and all the ways in which someone can get involved within their local community. Mariah and I are strictly speaking to our experience within this work and if you are more curious I would suggest communicating with a medical professional or seeking other sources. I would be more than happy to extend some of those resources.

In this first episode, I had the opportunity to interview Alison Gash -- the most badass professor at the University of Oregon. In the wake of the Trump era, I had little to no hope of continuing a career in political science. Alison and I talk about the very real anxieties we've had in part to the failure of checks and balances.