Jonny and Danette check in on Danette's visit to the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender (OSCLG), celebrate another successful Rainbow Cafe Gala fundraiser, offer a quick review of some of the recent Trump administration assaults on LGBTQ rights, contrast the NFL take-a-knee protest with Kim Davis's paid trip to Romania to spread anti-marriage equality propaganda, and share a recorded public interview with Mike Ziri from Equality Illinois, recorded at this year's Ca...
Oct 12, 2017•1 hr 2 min
Jonny is joined by Tara Bell to preview the upcoming Rainbow Cafe Gala fundraiser. We also offer a sound collage of this past weekend's Carbondale Pride Festival 2017.
Oct 05, 2017•1 hr
Jonny and Danette debrief Jonny's trip to the 2017 Gay Spirit Vision fall conference and then discuss with guest Shay Miller the upcoming Carbondale Pride Festival. Jonny and Danette then discuss the WDBX Friendship Drive, Hurricane Maria's devastation of Puerto Rico and why the protests by NFL players matter. Please, if you listen to this podcast regularly, consider supporting our host station, WDBX, FM 91.1. You can pledge a contribution by calling 618-457-3691 or by contributing directly at W...
Sep 28, 2017•1 hr 1 min
Jonny and Danette discuss more details on upcoming Pride Festival and LGBTQ History Month events, congratulate Danette on passing her preliminary exams for her Ph.D., mourn the death of Edith Windsor, review the problematic DOJ amicus brief in the SCOTUS case about a Colorado baker refusing to serve gay clients, discuss the appointing of under-qualified and anti-LGBTQ federal judges in Texas, and take a look at the controversy over a Stanford AI that can predict sexual orientation from a photogr...
Sep 15, 2017•58 min
Jonny and Danette discuss upcoming Pride and LGBTQ events in Carbondale IL in late September and early October, revisit the problems of Bi erasure, announce a local relief package for Houston, and discuss the problem of systemic racism as revealed by the recent hiring and firing of trans+ activist DJ Munroe Bergdorf by L'Oreal.
Sep 07, 2017•57 min
Jonny and Danette discuss personal and cultural memory and the problem of forgetting with references to Hurricane Harvey, the pardoning of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Governor Rauner's veto record in Illinois, the IL Attorney General suing the city of Chicago over police practices, revisiting President Trump's military trans* ban, and grieving the death of another trans woman, this time in St. Louis and with a heinous drive by attack on the mourners of her passing.
Sep 01, 2017•1 hr 1 min
Danette and Jonny unpack their eclipse experiences in Southern Illinois and then turn to other darkness in the land. They discuss President Trump's two contrasting speeches this week, evidence that shows the alt-right is as anti-LGBTQ as it is racist, conservative attacks on college campuses under the charge of liberal bias in higher education, considering various kinds of diversity including diversity of thought, explaining and understanding why Affirmative Action is still relevant and necessar...
Aug 24, 2017•1 hr 1 min
Jonny flies (mostly) solo today to discuss the President's response to violence in Charlottesville VA, the usefulness of taking a break from social media, the failure of the Texas anti-trans "bathroom bill" to get out of the House, parsing the primary results from the Senate special election in Alabama, the activist take-down of a Confederate statue in Durham NC, and news that the Trump trans-ban via Twitter may have been a deliberate distraction from shocking developments in the Russia investig...
Aug 18, 2017•55 min
Danette returns! Jonny, Danette and John discuss Danette's recent writing projects, particularly her work on how black communities deal with LGBTQ issues and an analysis of the 2014 documentary "The New Black," and the Facebook response to actor Stephen Amell attending the Vancouver Pride Parade and what it can teach us abut homophobic arguments, particularly the charge to "be civil!"
Aug 09, 2017•1 hr 1 min
Jonny is joined again by Craig (Danette will return next week) to discuss the Trump planned trans* ban from militaty service and its fallout, the Breakfast Club's and lil' Duvall's apparent endorsement of murdering trans* women, emotional labor and the unequal burden it places on minorities and women, a lawsuit settlement in a ground-breaking intersexuality case, and (briefly) the DOJ's assertion that Title IX does not protect LGBTQ people from discrimination. All links for the stories and music...
Aug 02, 2017•59 min
Jonny is joined by Craig to discuss the breaking news of Trumps military ban on trans people, the effects of ACA repeal/replace on LGBTQ+ community, the Teen Vogue anal sex guide controversy, and the recent increase in TV film using the "Bury the Gays" trope. If you are a casual listener or a fan, please consider nominating "Isn't It Queer" for a People's Choice Podcast Award at https://www.podcastawards.com/ Thank you!
Jul 26, 2017•1 hr
Jonny is again joined by Craig to discuss AG Jeff Sessions speech to the Alliance for Defending Freedom, a deeper introduction to who the ADF is as a conservative Christian legal organization, pending LGBTQ+ cases in the SCOTUS, Justice Gorsuch's dissenting opinions in recent cases, and welcoming the first female Doctor to Doctor Who. Session's speech transcript and other supporting materials can be found at our Flipboard page here: https://flipboard.com/ @bungy32/isn%27t-it-queer-0hrecisdy...
Jul 19, 2017•1 hr 2 min
Jonny is joined by Craig to discuss organizational boycotts of states due to their policies and legislation. We use as a case study the National Communication Association's upcoming national conference in Texas and how they have responded to Texas anti-LGBTQ legislation (and anti-Latinx policies) as well as the California travel ban for state employees to Texas.
Jul 12, 2017•1 hr
Jonny and Danette offer a recitation of the LGBTQ Declaration of Equal Rights. They also discuss the German vote for Marriage Equality, the Texas Supreme Court attempt to limit Marriage Equality, five ways the Trump Administration threatens the LGBTQ community, Senator Kamala Harris as LGBTQ advocate, and how the Chicago Dyke March (and other organizations) negotiate intersectional inclusivity while banning certain images and practices from their events.
Jul 05, 2017•1 hr
Jonny and Danette discuss the protests within queer community at Pride festivities around the country as well as recent Supreme Court decisions and actions affecting the LGBTQ+ community. Jonny also interviews Jeff Hale and Chris Jennings about the upcoming production of Hale's play, "Choices." (July 7-8 at 7pm in the O'Neil Auditorium on the John A. Logan Community College campus.)
Jun 28, 2017•1 hr
Danette welcomes Jonny back from his two week hiatus and they discuss the new Pride flag in Philadelphia and what is the community in "queer community." Danette also shares a long-form interview with Brad Calcaterra of The Studio (where he also teaches in a program called Act Out) and co-creator of the documentary "Real Boy".
Jun 21, 2017•1 hr 4 min
Jonny And Danette, embrace Covfee and discuss the impacts of the proposed federal budget on LGBTQ communities, pulling out of the Paris agreement on Climate, keeping activism focused and avoiding burnout and cynicism, France demonstrating how to hold Russia accountable for human rights violations and election tampering, the commercialization of Pride and Civil Rights, and linking LGBTQ concerns to other social justice and environmental advocacy movements.
May 31, 2017•59 min
Jonny and Danette discuss fundraising opportunities for local LGBTQ Youth Groups, the American Family Association's claims that the Rainbow Flag is the new Confederate Flag (um, no!), a check-in on Chechnya and the persecution of LGBTQ people there, Canada's announced plan to apologize for its government's past polices and practices of LGBTQ discrimination, how shifts in the US Census Bureau affect LGBTQ people, and Nevada becoming the 10th state to ban Conversion Therapy
May 24, 2017•1 hr 3 min
Jonny and Danette discuss The Russia Connection (thanks, Randy Rainbow!) that is plaguing our President, The release of Chelsea Manning from prison, the impacts of the Illinois budget crisis on SIU with a focus on cuts to LGBTQ and minority student support, the poor sales of Caitlyn Jenner's memoir, a Gallup poll that shows increased acceptance across the US for gay and lesbian relationships, lessons from Russia and Chechnya about queer visibility and the role of the State in protecting its most...
May 17, 2017•1 hr
Jonny and Danette discuss the LGBT and Trans-inclusive Girls Rock Carbondale summer camp, SIU's cancellation of its search for a Vice Chancellor of Institutional Diversity, Trump's Religious Freedom Executive Order and how it still impacts LGBTQ communities, our many frustrations with the House passing the American Health Care Act, the FCC investigation into Stephen Colbert over alleged obscene and homophobic statements about Trump, our outrage over a Project Pink activist facing a year in jail ...
May 10, 2017•1 hr 1 min
Jonny and Danette discuss surviving the ongoing Midwest floods, Lavender Graduation at SIU, the Trump Administration executive order on religious freedom expected to be signed on Thursday, Chechnya attacks on LGBT community that continue to get worse, a walkout of staff at Montreat College in NC over marriage equality discrimination, a Tennessee law that allows discrimination against LGBTQ people, an Alabama law that supports discrimination in adoption agencies, why straight men in Wyoming are w...
May 03, 2017•59 min
Jonny and Danette discuss upcoming local events in April, anti-LGBTQ legislation in North Carolina and Texas, a Minnesota lawsuit against a school districts trans-inclusive bathroom policy that has been dropped, a NYT opinion essay distinguishing "tomboy" from trans, the persecution of gay men in Chechnya, the so-called "trendiness" of trans and gay among contemporary youth, and the outing of a transgender contestant on "Survivor."
Apr 19, 2017•1 hr 2 min
Jonny and Danette discuss the Carbondale Town Council's declaration of the city as a "safe and welcoming community," pro-LGBTQ rulings in appeals courts across the country in April, a check in on North Carolina concerning private sector responses to the "repeal" of HB2 and new legislation attempting to nullify marriage equality there, a court opinion released regarding the Gavin Grimm case comparing him to other civil rights leaders, questioning the Trump administration's reversal on military in...
Apr 12, 2017•57 min
Danette and Jonny join the rest of WDBX in a weeklong party in the studio for its Spring Friendship Drive. If you are a regular listener to the show, please consider making a donation at http://wdbx.org/ . We also discuss results of the April 4 county and municipal elections, the 7th Circuit decision on Title VII that covers LGBTQ in workplace discrimination, recent anti-gay violence in the Netherlands and Russia, the problematic repeal of HB2 in North Carolina, and a discussion of the idea of r...
Apr 05, 2017•1 hr 1 min
Jonny and Danette discuss upcoming visit by a Civil Right themed art installation "Justice Fleet", events in the 11 Days of Compassion ( http://www.nonviolentcarbondale.org/11-days-for-compassion-schedule.html) , a local student protest for LGBT visibility, LGBT erasure in recent Trump executive orders, the large number of Trump appointees who are avowedly anti-LGBT,and the demise of AHCA.
Mar 29, 2017•1 hr 1 min
Jonny is joined by AB and Alex to discuss their upcoming performance, "Grayscale: Perfoming Across Difference" -- a performance at the intersection of identity, environment, art and activism. We talk about themes and tactics in the show, including the material challenges of drag and reference to proposed cuts to the NEA and the importance of art in mobilizing publics and building community.
Mar 22, 2017•1 hr
Danette and Jonny are joined by YouTuber, Ky McClosky, to discuss his work on YouTube, drag, androgyny, and growing up gay in Chicago and Southern Illinois. We also discuss keeping faith while resisting dogma in both religion and activism. Check out Ky's YouTube feed, K-SmilesXD, at https://www.youtube.com/user/ksmilesxd
Mar 15, 2017•58 min
Jonny and Danette discuss local events planned for International Women's Day as well as criticism of the proposed "A Day Without a Woman" strike, how the US Travel Ban is affecting LGBTQ refugees, companies that are backing out of public support for LGBTQ rights in order to preserve favorability with the Trump administration, caution about the romance of resistance in celebrating revolution, and how "Gay's for Trump" was centrally involved in planning pro-Trump rallies this past Saturday.
Mar 08, 2017•1 hr
Jonny and Danette are joined briefly by Paulette Curkin to discuss upcoming local events for the March 8th protest event, "A Day without a Woman." https://www.sidaywithoutawoman.com/ We also discuss local queer YouTuber, K-SmilesxD, who will be on the show but couldn't make it today due to the storms overnight -- check out his feed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4ln2pM3qpm6g2s9jaXgBgQ We then discussed the films "Get Out" and "Moonlight," a Federal Court decision in Illinois that our law b...
Mar 01, 2017•59 min
Jonny is joined by Anna Wilcoxen to discuss her upcoming performance "In Service of Venus," which deals with her various experiences in the service industry. We talk about the show but also about its central theme and the intersection of queer identity with labor issues. "In Service of Venus" will be presented at 8 pm on Thursday 2/23 through Saturday 2/25 in the Kleinau Theatre on the second floor of the Communications Building on the SIU campus. Call 618-453-5618 for reservations.
Feb 22, 2017•58 min
