Isn't It Queer

Jonny is joined by Heather O'Malley to debrief the Trans Day of Remembrance and Resilience, discuss some good polling data about gender-affirming care for trans youth, share what they are thankful for, and geek out over the first of three very queer Doctor Who episodes celebrating the 60th anniversary (!!) of the British S/F show.

Jonny curates a series of stories covering victories for LGBTQ candidates and policies in the 2023 midterm elections. This includes a stunning amount of defeats for those who ran homophobic and transphobic campaigns. Still, the haters in power are already devising ways to ignore the will of the people... if we let them! In the back half of the show, Jonny covers some significant movement in the Ca...

Jonny interviews Juniper Oxford, the new coordinator of the SIU LGBTQ Resource Center. She recaps SIU LGBTQ History Month events, discusses the upcoming Trans Week of Awareness including TDOR, and shares future plans of the Resource Center. In the back half of the show, Jonny puts two stories in dialogue that are about hard right politics eating their own over transphobic agendas.

Jonny reviews new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson's (R-LA) incredibly toxic anti-LGBTQ legislative and legal history. He profiles Johnson's origins in the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the damage they are doing across the nation and across the world in the name of "defending" their religious beliefs. In the back half of the show, Jonny profiles Pastor Elazar Schoch Zavaletta of the forme...

Jonny interviews Carrie Vine, Executive Director of the Rainbow Cafe about ttheir upcoming (11/4) Gala fundraiser. Tickets are still available through Saturday 10/28! You can purchase tickets through links at their Facebook page, at the rainbowcafe.org web page, or here: https://t.ly/yBxqp. In the back half of the show, Jonny curates two news stories about debunked and retracted "science" about tr...

Starting with the fiasco of the Speaker of the House oustng and subsequent fraught selection process, Jonny curates a series of recent news items that demonstrate how hate-based conservatism is self-destructive and unsustainable. The hate these folks foster for LGBTQ folks as a wedge issue pales next to the hate and lies they have for each other. In the back half of the show, Jonny examines the ne...

Jonny interviews Heather O'Malley about the realease of ther new book, Hands of the Morri -- a fantasy adventure that includes a saucy raven as one of the narrators. In the process of discussing the work, they talk about what LGBTQ writers bring to fantasy/SF genres, including a brief reference to the Rainbow Space Magic conference for queer sci fi and fantasy writers. You can pick up a copy of th...

Jonny sits down with T Brown, a whistleblower about a local Sufi cult, to discuss recent efforts to share the stories of those who have gotten out of it. In the back half of the show, T discusses his experiences at the Gay Spirit Visions Fall Conference and how that both triggered cult-based traumas and significantly contrasted with them. T's story details some of the lasting damage that can be ca...

Jonny interviews Tricia Burns, director of the Stage Company 's upcoming production of Dracula at The Varsity (October 6-8 and 12-15). In the back half of the show, Jonny digs into literary and folkloric transformations of the vampire to explore the "queer monstrous." He links peasants with torches and wooden stakes to the activities of Gays agains Groomers, Libs of TikTok, and Moms for Liberty --...

Jonny talks with Craig Gingrich-Philbrook about his experiences with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) and its likely connection to childhood homophobic trauma. Connecting to a study out of Melbourne, they discuss how bullying, disconfirmation, and anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation is potentially giving queer and trans youth develpmental neurological disorders they will have to deal with the rest of...

Jonny interviews SIU performance studies alum, Elizabeth Whitney, who will be presenting her latest performance, "Finland, Land of Romance," in the Kleinau Theatre on Saturday September 23 at 8 pm as a Fine Arts Activity Fee guest artist. As a queer performance artist, Whitney's latest work chronicles some of her time working in Finland, including coping with the giref of a lost sibling through ic...

In the front half of the show, Jonny reviews three studies that debunk many of the prevalent assertions of those in support of banning gender-affirming care, including: details about the increase use of gender-affirming surgical therapies from 2016-2020, studies confirming exceptionally low levels of regret for those receiving gender-affirming therapies, and a thorough clinical debunking of the pr...

Jonny interviews a new colleague in SIU's School of Communication Studies, Dr. Christina Ivey, who joins the faculty as the Introductory Course Director and with research interests in gender and queer theory. The interview focuses, in part, on queer faculty getting out of "red states," seeking employment in states that support and affirm LGBTQ citizens and do not intrude in the classroom. They als...

Yeah, it's a rebroadcast. Busy week. Intro and Outro updated for more current community events, though. Jonny interviews Alex Socorro about a new 501(c)(3) organization in the area, Southern Illinois Pride Collective (https://www.soilpridecollective.org/), that will cooridinate local LGBTQ+ community events, including local Pride festivities. In the back half of the show, Jonny reviews the details...

Jonny provides information for the Friday 8/11 Trans Resource Fair in Carbondale, IL. He covers recent legal developments that are driving trans and queer folks to relocate to open and affirming states even as there is evidence anti-trans laws are often being overturned in Federal Court. In the back half of the show he demonstrates how the DeSantis administration's anti-LGBTQ policies are being ra...

Jonny interviews Alex Socorro about a new 501(c)(3) organization in the area, Southern Illinois Pride Collective (https://www.soilpridecollective.org/), that will cooridinate local LGBTQ+ community events, including local Pride festivities. In the back half of the show, Jonny reviews the details of Internal Revenue Code 501(c) organization designations, what kinds of organizations typically coordi...

Jonny interviews Carrie Vine, Executive Director of The Rainbow Cafe, noting both the many upcoming events and services for the community and how RC is part of a local and statewide network of advocacy orgaonizations. In the back half of the show, he looks at two recent and local vollies in efforts to ban books or resist book bans in public libraries. Finally, Sister Mothra Stewart of the SOIL Sis...

Jonny interviews Christina Garnette, a local drag performer and trans activist, about her work in the community. In the back half of the show, Jonny and Christina discuss the importance of solidarity in the queer community, leaving room for diversity but not allowing differences and interpersonal conflict to derail the important work of promoting and protecting a vulnerable community.

Jonny interviews Alex Waller of Golden Rainbows Illinois South (GRIS) about the new program, "Get Up, Get Out" -- providing social interaction and physical activity for older members of the LGBTQ community in Southern Illinois. In the back half of the show, he reviews how most legislative bans on gender affirming care for trans youth have been failing in Federal appeals court until this past weeke...

Fresh off a 10 day silent meditation retreat, Jonny sits down with Craig Gingrich-Philbrook to talk about US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decisions that landed while he was away, particularly the Creative LLC decision. Craig is a queer theorist and scholar of Performance and Communication Studies at Southern Illinois University. He is also Jonny's husband. In the back half of the show, they frame furthe...

Jonny interviews Priscilla Pimentel, an SIU employee currently doing community outreach for the just-forming LGBTQ Constituency Group on campus. They discuss what constituency groups are, why they are important, and what goes into forming one. In the back half of the show, Jonny rebroadcasts his interview with Keri, Cassandra, and Mitchell of the Carbondale Assembly for Radical Equity (CARE) about...

In the front half of the show, Jonny curates several stories about the threats facing public gatherings for Pride and Juneteenth. He leads with a tragic story about a Juneteenth mass shooting in Willowbrook, IL. He then reviews the impacts of enhanced security and sponsor caution on Pride. In the back half of the show, he updates the LA saga about the Dodgers honoring the Sisters of Perpetual Indu...

Jonny interviews Heather O'Malley about the release of her new novel, Transitioning Home . They spend the bulk of the show talking about the novel, which chronicles the gender transition of an Iraq War veteran after transitioning out of the Army due to battle injuries. Heather and Jonny also discuss the recent SI PrideFest, how Heather and her wife Kaye come to live in Carbondale, her own experien...

Jonny talkes with Tara Bell about the weekend lineup of PrideFest events in Carbondale, IL. In the back half of the show, he reviews why the activism in Pride is even more important this year as the LGBTQ community faces challenges and pushback across the country. We remember that Prid is a riot, in origin. We honor that legacy even as we plan for a weekend of festive events.

Jonny talks with Tara Bell of Pride in Action, Southern Illinois about the pre-Pride festivities this coming weekend (6/2-6/3). Events include a gallery showing of art titled "Seen" at The Varsity Center on Friday at 5:00, the County-to-County Pride Run starting at 8 am Saturday at the Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion, and the Pride Kickoff Fundraiser trio of bands at Hangar 9 at 9 pm o...