Isn't It Queer

Jonny, Cici, and Danette free associate about the weather, politics, the Olympics, soul food in Omaha, NE,and the importance of staying politically engaged in these stressful times. Yeah, it was that sort of a week.

Jonny starts of the show solo with a contemplation of the rainbow as a metaphor for systems and systems theory,linking this issue to early evidence of the "blue wave" and further signs that the Trump administration is not supporting LGBTQ concerns, nationally or internationally. At the half hour he is joined by Cici and they discuss nuancing power and privilege, the first openly trans teen elected...

Jonny and Danette are joined by Cici, student president of the Saluki Rainbow Network, to discuss the State of the Union Address (which none of us listened to), the IL Democratic Governor's forum (which none of us attended), how Indiana lost Amazon HQ2 over the states discrimination policies, two LGBTQ cases going to the Missouri Supreme Court, a national survey showing decrease in support for LGB...

Jonny and Danette discuss local controversy over a GSA in a High School, the impact of local university reorganization on LGBTQ students, Trumps mixed messages to LGBTQ communities, the new high in 2017 of anti-LGBTQ crimes, revisiting the pussyhat and both black and trans response to it, and a review of queer visibility in the new CW TV show "Black Lightning" and in the just announced Oscar nomin...

Jonny and Danette struggle through the snow and ice to tell you about the Gay Spirit Visions winter retreat, respond to Fire and Fury and other Trump shenanigans, look at several folks considering runs for office, examine several under reported deaths/murders of QTPOCs, memorialize AIDS activist Dr. Mathilde Krim, and note the "bury your gays" trope rearing its head on Star Trek: Discovery

Jonny and Craig welcome in the new year, looking for warmth in the midst of the bitter cold. They find it in three new pro-LGBTQ laws going into effect in Illinois, hopeful election possibilities in the 2018 midterm elections, and charities and organizations doing work for LGBTQ communities in 2018.

Jonny, flying solo this week, offers an eclectic review of 2017 in LGBTQ news.

Jonny and Danette are joined by John to mourn the death of Net Neutraility, Jonny conducts and interview with IL Senator Daniel Biss who is running for governor, and we end with a discussion of how to push past #resist in political actions going forward.

Jonny and Danette discuss the fresh election results of the Alabama special election for Senator, check in on the arrival of marriage equality to Australia, and take a closer look at the impact (and sometimes, unfortunately, the lack of impact) of sexual harassment and assault charges on political and media figures.

Jonny and Danette discuss holiday deserts and how a current Supreme Court case is addressing cake as freedom of speech and freedom to discriminate. We also extend concerns for preserving Net Neutrality to concerns about recent moves to consolidate news and media outlets and how this can negatively impact LGBTQ+ community.

Jonny and Danette are joined by Tara Bell, the newly elected Chair of the Board of Directors for the Rainbow Cafe, to discuss partnerships, upcoming events, and plans for the organization. You can find out more information about the Rainbow Cafe here: http://rainbowcafe.org/ Jonny and Danette also discuss the pending vote on the tax reform bill that will significantly impact (among so many others)...

Jonny and Danette return from a brief hiatus to acknowledge the troubling history of Thanksgiving, talk about the challenges of teaching about racism (with an acknowledgement of the usefulness of Muted Group Theory), offer a warning about the consequences of losing Net Neutrality, and count down their top ten gratitudes.

Jonny and Danette are joined by AB and Charlie Hope Dorsey to talk about their upcoming performance of "Heavier than Air," a play based on interview transcripts about Australian LGBTQ educators. We also reflect on the off-term election results and respond to yet another mass shooting.

Jonny and Danette discuss cultural appropriation and Halloween costumes and the Keven Spacey apology/non-apology to Anthony Rapp while coming out as bisexual.

Jonny and Danette are joined by Shelby and Colin to discuss the final week of events in LGBTQ History Month, with specific focus on Shelby's one woman performance, "Birthplace: A Florida Woman Show" and Colin's one man performance, "Bless Our Hearts: An Oral History of the Queer South."

Jonny and Danette discuss upcoming LGBTQ History events this week in Carbondale, the controversy over the Rainbow Flag at the Stonewall Inn National Monument, President Trump's inappropriate joke about VP Pence's desire to "hang all the gays," Cleveland State University organization distributes posters encouraging LGBTQ people to commit suicide and depicting an image of a hanged figure, gay artist...

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...

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.

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, W...

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...

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.

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 w...

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 dive...

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...

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!"