Jonny reviews the current status of the Monkeypox outbreak and epidemiologists' frustration over characterizations of it as a "gay disease." He then distracts us from the bad news with good news from the Michigan Supreme Court, which decided LGB (and T, but that was already established) are protected from discrimination under Michigan's Civil Rights law. In the back half of the show, Jonny returns to Florida where ramped up assaults on LGBTQ+ communities are clearly distracting the governor and ...
Aug 03, 2022•59 min
Jonny digs deep into the Respect For Marriage Act--what it is, who voted for it in the House, how it will fair in the Senate, what folks for and against it are saying about it. He reviews local Illinois Representatives' votes against it and offers Information about a new local LGBTQ advocacy group, Pride in Action Southern Illinois. Finally, he reviews new court cases working their way toward the Supreme Court that show why legislation defending our rights is so necessary. Contact Information fo...
Jul 27, 2022•59 min
Jonny interviews Bennett Schneider (a.k.a. Sister Unity of the L.A. Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence) about what attracts them to performance and storytelling. They also discuss the increasing challenges of performing in Drag Story Time events. Jonny also reviews some LGBTQ news stories touched on in the interview, with a particular focus on the challenges of fighting where you live and getting out of an unsafe situation.
Jul 20, 2022•58 min
Jonny reviews some data and scientific understanding about abortions that was disregarded or misrepresented in the SCOTUS Dobbs decision, with an assist from the podcast "Science Vs" (and a recommendation to check that podcast out!). In the back half of the show that shows many USAmericans are "cross-pressured" (holding seemingly contradictory beliefs) about LGBTQ nondiscrimination and trans rights.
Jul 13, 2022•58 min
Jonny interviews author Taylor Brorby about his memoir, "Boys and Oil," which explores his life growing up gay on the plains of North Dakota and becoming, among other things, an environmental advocate for those fragile ecosystems. In the back half of the show, Jonny reviews some of the ways the SCOTUS Dobbs decision is already being mobilized in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and calls for language and gestures of unity rather than division in how we push back. On notice: the biological-determinism rhe...
Jul 06, 2022•58 min
Jonny interviews Jen Pepper, President and CEO of the Memphis CHOICES sexual health clinic, about the branch opening soon in Carbondale. In addition to pregnancy services including abortion, the clinic also provides gender-affirming hormone replacement therapy. Although the interview was recorded just before the Supreme Court released its Dobb's decision overturning Roe v Wade, Jen and Jonny discuss that likely outcome and how best to respond to it. In the back half of the show, Jonny interviews...
Jun 29, 2022•58 min
Jonny talks with Crane from the Southern Illinois University Saluki Rainbow Network about an upcoming rally in support of queer visibility and protesting legislation that limits acknowledging LGBTQ+ people exist. In the back half of the show, he shows the tensions of Pride Month as represented by the Texas GOP Convention and an Executive Order signed by Joe Biden this week. He ends with announcement of several Pride events this week, including a Pride Social on the 22, details about a Carbondale...
Jun 22, 2022•58 min
Jonny goes over many of the Pride festivities in and around Southern Illinois in June. He also notes that Pride is not restricted to June in the state, the nation, nor the world. Sister Mothra Stewart offers some thoughts on Pride 2022. Jonny then reviews assaults and attempted assaults on Pride events over the weekend perpetrated by far right militant groups, called to action by conservative media outlets. In the back half of the show, Jonny reviews some Pride good news that should give us hope...
Jun 15, 2022•58 min
Jonny is on the road this week and so rebroadcasts an interview with Mackie Obando from December 2021. Current information about upcoming Pride events in Southern Illinois is also included in this broadcast.
Jun 15, 2022•58 min
Jonny delves into emergent and wholly made-up conspiracy theories that the shooter in Uvalde TX was a trans woman. He notes this happens a lot lately as a way to deflect our attention from meaningfully addressing gun violence while perpetuating stigmas and scapegoats. He then reviews mixed-bag efforts to stall homophobic and transphobic legislation from advancing. He concludes by sharing two stories of high school graduations where students pushed back. The end of the show shares local Pride eve...
Jun 01, 2022•58 min
Jonny celebrates Harvey Milk's birthday (May 22) with a tribute to him by Sr Jewnita Hug and a performance of one of his more famous speeches, "The Hope Speech," by Sir Ian McKellen. He offers some reflections on Milk's sense of "hope" and "recruitment," with a heavy emphasis on involvement and visibility in our local communities. In the back half of the show, he reviews information about Monkeypox, the threat it poses, the ways it is being tied to LGBTQ community, and some of the problems with ...
May 25, 2022•58 min
In the wake of evidence the SCOTUS will be overturning Roe v Wade and federal protections for access to abortions, Jonny reviews why reproductive justice and access to safe and affordable medical termination of a pregnancy is an important LGBTQ+ Issue. He then reviews the questionable science behind other legislation that challenges bodily autonomy and LGBTQ rights.
May 11, 2022•58 min
Jonny shares a recent experience moderating an LGBTQ Town Hall meeting with candidates for School Superintendent as an introduction to the challenges of restricting or banning books. He looks at the history of book burning as a strategy of oppressing vulnerable groups. He also reports on efforts of some local school districts to ban "Safe Space" designations as a related phenomenon. In the back half of the show, he examines the conundrum of the political scandals plaguing Rep. Madison Cawthorn (...
May 04, 2022•58 min
Jonny reviews recent rhetoric from JK Rowling and explains why her actions are transphobic and not merely "pro biological women" (taking exception to that concept, of course!). He outlines how trans affirmation is in support of feminism and Women's Rights while Gender Critical and Biological Essentialist positions ultimately support the basic tenets of oppressive patriarchal systems. In the back half of the show he reviews several bad decisions from Florida in the wake of the "Don't Say Gay" law...
Apr 27, 2022•59 min
Jonny promotes local upcoming Earth Day events and explains Queer Ecology and Intersectional Environmentalism. Along the way, he explores why LGBTQ folks have a set of very specific stakes in sustainability and environmental advocacy. Topics range from social justice concerns to queer theology.
Apr 20, 2022•59 min
Jonny takes seriously Senator Marsha Blackburn's (R-TN) question to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, "What is a Woman?" noting the failure of GOP Gender Critics in Congress to answer the question very well, and then reviews a more detailed answer to the question than Justice Jackson could or should offer in a Senate Confirmation Hearing. In the back half of the show, Jonny reviews the rapid developments in the UK, including the cancellation of the (not very well) planned summer conference on LGBT+...
Apr 13, 2022•58 min
Jonny checks in on the ever-escalating kerfuffle in Florida as the state government doubles down on its war with Disney, as law suits against HB 1557 are filed, and as teachers begin to push back in creative ways. He then recaps the weekend's Trans Day of Visibility, noting the increased importance of trans affirming demonstrations in Texas and how meaningful they were in Carbondale and Southern Illinois. In the back half of the show, he links several stories from the UK where attempts to pare o...
Apr 06, 2022•58 min
Jonny talks with Benito Goff about the upcoming Trans Day of Visibility Rally (5iish-7:30, Thursday March 31, Carbondale Town Square Pavilion). He then reviews Gov. Desantis's signing of HB 1557, the "Don't Say Gay" law as well as reviewing some of the even more txic variants of the bill progressing through other states' legislatures. In the back half of the show he analyzes what the Judiciary Committee's questions for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson reveal about the Rights anti-LGBTQ agenda. We als...
Mar 30, 2022•58 min
Jonny reviews the "controversy" over Lia Thomas's historic win in NCAA swim competitions. He points out how proposed NCAA regulations (not yet implemented) monitoring trans competitors would run afoul of Texas-like legislation that refuses trans healthcare to teenagers. He then threads the needle about how the assault on trans rights is related to and a permutation of anti-abortion initiatives on the Right. Finally, he reviews the Governor of Idaho's veto of that state's trans-ban for athletes, ...
Mar 29, 2022•58 min
Jonny recaps the Disney vs. DeSantis showdown in Florida as the governor's petulant rhetoric helps push the House of Mouse to a stronger and more substantive advocacy for basic human rights. He then takes a look at two polls that confirm DeSantis and Abbott, in addition to being on the wrong side of history, are at odds with public opinion. He briefly reviews a recent election in a Florida city where an LGBTQ Asian-American won handily, despite the bigoted homophobic and racist rhetoric of his o...
Mar 16, 2022•58 min
Jonny covers reporting on Disney's financial backing of the Florida legislator's responsible for the "Don't Say Gay" bill, noting to problematic alibis and explanations offered for the support fro the House of the Mouse. He then turns to the ways Governor Abbott's letter redefining trans youth healthcare as child abuse is so far faring in the courts. In the back half of the show, we rebroadcast a set of stories from 2022-01-19 showing how hypocritical the Right's anti-trans legislation is in com...
Mar 16, 2022•59 min
Jonny reviews the LGBTQ+ "angle" on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He then examines the implications of Gov. Abbott's directive against trans youth in Texas.
Mar 02, 2022•58 min
Jonny interviews Angela Towne, the new director of the Southern Illinois University LGBTQ+ Resource Center. Picking up on her love of nature in Carbondale, I reviews an article in Outside Magazine detailing the experiences of a trans through-hiker on the Appalachian Trail. He then check's in on the even more toxic developments in Florida's "Don't Say Gay" legislation.
Feb 23, 2022•58 min
Jonny contemplates representation of LGBTQ folks in media, with a big initial nod to representing queers in the Star Trek franchise. He checks in on China's efforts to erase LGBTQ people from media, lately including the US sitcom Friends. He reviews what LGBTQ actors, portrayals, topics and directors got an Oscar nomination nod. He ends the show with a commentary about the paucity of asexual representation in media, especially for people of color.
Feb 23, 2022•58 min
Jonny reviews a story of Nevada indigenous protestors of a lithium mine on sacred land rejecting representation by the organization, Deep Green Resistance, because of their anti-trans positions. He reviews why and how Two-Spirit identity is necessary in environmental advocacy and other social movements. He then reviews how legislative assaults on LGBTQ+ and Trans rights are colonialism at its worst, using hate and divisiveness to distract us from bigger issues requiring collective action. In the...
Feb 09, 2022•58 min
Jonny puts into dialogue examples of state sanctioned censorship and examples of so-called "Cancel Culture." He reviews a School Board banning the teaching of Art Spiegelman's Maus, Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, a Mississippi mayor withholding library funds until the public library removes LGBTQ content, and a Georgia elementary school where the principal removed rainbow-themed art created by a student proclaiming "Gay is Okay" by comparing it to the Nazi Flag. He then contrasts these stories ...
Feb 09, 2022•59 min
Jonny talks with O.J. Duncan about the Rainbow Cafe's accomplishments in 2021 and what is on their horizon in 2022. He then provides a "highlight reel" of some stories covered and people interviewed on IIQ in 2021.
Dec 29, 2021•1 hr
Jonny interviews Wally Paynter of the Tri-State Alliance and the Southern Illinois AIDS Coalition about how to donate to efforts to provide holiday cheer for underprivileged families living with HIV/AIDS in Southern Illinois. He then does the IIQ annual review of queer themed and created holiday music.
Dec 22, 2021•58 min
Jonny talks with Benito Goff of the Rainbow Cafe about an upcoming Queermas extravaganza (12/18). He then reviews new survey data on the prevalence of LGBTQIA+ identifying people in the U.S. He spends time unpacking the verdict in the Jussie Smollett case and what it should really tell us about hate crime legislation. He ends out the show with a collection of brief stories that put a clearer face on what the "gay agenda" actually is.
Dec 22, 2021•59 min
Jonny talks with Mackie Obando (a.k.a. Luna Farfalla) of Atlanta and Gay Spirit Visions. Their conversation includes discussions of dancing and queer identity, immigrating from Peru to the United States, and the challenges of being a flight attendant during a pandemic. Jonny closes out the show with information about upcoming LGBTQ+ holiday opportunities. Note: In addition to the venues mention, Rainbow Cafe's "Farms & Faces of Southern Illinois" fundraising calendar can be purchased at The ...
Dec 08, 2021•58 min
