Isn't It Queer

Jonny comments on his Trans Day of Remembrance experience, linking it to the emotional fallout of the shooting in Colorado Springs. He details what we currently know of the ClubQ shooting and how it is one in a long line recently of assaults on LGBTQ+ institutions. In the back half of the show, Craig Gingrich Philbrook shares a brief meditation on safety in public spaces. Jonny folllows this with...

Jonny talks with Carrie Vine, newly appointed executive director of the Rainbow Cafe. They discuss the organizations new organizational structure as well as the upcoming events it is sponsoring. In the back half of the show, Jonny reviews some of the powerful outcomes of the 2022 midterm elections for the LGBTQ community.

Jonny reviews IL bail reform and the conservative narrative of high crime in Democrat-held cities and states to show how the same kind of outright lying and fear tactics used against the LGBTQ community is the standard playbook for the GOP. In the back half of the show, he looks at Elon Musk's first days as owner of Twitter, the rise in transphobic and racist Tweets on the site, and the thorny iss...

Jonny previews the showing of the documentary "Two Spirit" as part of the SIU LGBTQ+ History Month celebration, including director Lydia Nibley's campus visit. He then profiles eight active 2S artists/healers/content makers advancing (among others) the cause and awareness of queer indigeneity. He then reviews two bits of legislation (one national, one state level) that deliberately target public e...

Jonny announces an upcoming Furry Dance Party on the SU campus and uses it as an opportunity to explore an urban legend popular among conservatives that public schools are putting litter boxes in bathrooms to cater to students who identify as cats (they are not!). He then turns to an unfortunate outcome in a court case in Texas meant to further curtail LGBTQ rights. Finally, he reviews current fie...

Jonny continues to to cover events for SIU's LGBTQ+ History Month, including a focus on Sonalee Rashatwar's contributions. Our Flipboard site is full of articles and podcasts if you would like to know more about Rashatwar's important work! Building on her work, Jonny offers a caution to queer advocates and progressives who use the term "woke" as a pejorative or derisively. He then discusses the pr...

Jonny talks with Bennett Schneider about Sister Unity's Carbondale visit and performance, "Drag Nun Ruins Story Time" (Thursday October 13, 8 pm, Kleinau Theatre, Carbondale IL), and his workshop "Entering Not Knowing" on opening up the intuitive imagination (Friday October 14, 4-6 pm, Kleinau Theatre). In the back half of the show, he talks with Dr. Angela Towne, Coordinator of the SIU LGBTQ Reso...

Jonny talks with OJ Duncan (a.k.a. Sister Fagatha Hardness) about the events planned for the upcoming Southern Illinois LGBTQ+ Festival: A Pride Celebration (September 30-October 2) in Carbondale. Its an amazing line up! In the back half of the show, he reviews the protests in Iran and the lessons we can take from the unifying slogan "Woman Life Freedom." Community announcements at the end of the...

Jonny interviews Sister Gay B!tc# Milkshake of the SOIL Sisters about her former career as a defense attorney, her work with the Rainbow Cafe, the Bawdy Wenches, and a burgeoning local film career. In the back half of the show he reviews Yeshiva University's attempts to ban an LGBTQ student group, the surprising SCOTUS decision about that, and other recent legal decisions in support of LGBTQ right...

Jonny leans into the arrival of fall with an analysis of the Senate's anticipated vote of the Respect for Marriage Act and the political game being played as part of the midterm elections. He reviews Judge O'Connor's decision supporting a religious exemption for insurance covering PrEP and other preventative medication. In the back half of the show, he reviews the queer content in TV and film anti...

Jonny backs up to cover harassment by anti-LGBTQ activists of Children's Hospitals and sites around the Internet that help such harassers organize. He then covers the recent, considerable efforts at deplatforming these harassers. In the back half of the show, he reviews how anti-LGBTQ initiatives world-wide are part of the anti-democratic push for authoritarian regimes

Jonny digs into the archive to share a 2019 interview with Jesus Valles about his show (Un)Documents and an interview from earlier this summer with Jen Pepper, President and CEO of CHOICES Clinic. Jesus will be performing (Un)Documents this afternoon (8/31) at 4 pm in the SIU Student Center Auditorium, free and open to the public. Jen will be the keynote speaker at next Tuesday's (9/6) 6 pm event,...

Jonny reviews new information that strongly supports Monkey Pox is sexually transmitted and that it is harder to transmit merely by skin on skin contact. He reviews how public health officials are now targeting MSM for vaccination and education about the disease's spread. In the back half of the show, Jonny celebrates recent advances for LGBTQ rights in Singapore and Vietnam. He reviews the status...

Jonny checks back in on the efforts to ban LGBTQ+ books and curricula around the country. He focuses on examples of communities, librarians, and teachers pushing back against the efforts to challenge representations of LGBTQ+ people and racial minority figures. Across the stories covered, he notes that these efforts do not effectively keep children and young adults from knowing about LGBTQ+ folks,...

Jonny reviews recent evidence of how the trans bans in Florida and elsewhere are based on misrepresented or made-up science. He also reviews a study of media coverage of trans athletes that shows how media framing is contributing to the proliferation of trans bans. In the back half of the show, he reviews good news and bad news for queer representation in recent (popular) arts, including memoriali...

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...

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...

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...

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 right...

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 g...

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 discu...

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 announceme...

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 medi...

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.

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 stori...