Isn't It Queer

Jonny and Heather discuss the Trangender American Veterans Association's law suit brought against the Department of Veteran Affairs to get them to respond to a petition to have the VA include surgical gender confirmation therapies in VA insurance coverage of transgender veterans. Heather serves on the board of TAVA and uses her own experience as a transgender veteran to explain the suit and what l...

Jonny is on his own this week searching for that silver lining to the storm of anti-LGBTQ legislation. H finds it in evidence of a bisexual gene, in increased reportings of gender dysphoria, and increased numbers of folks identifying as LGBTQ+. He also finds it in clear evidence that anti-LGBTQ+ governors Abbot and Desantis are encountering backlash to their legislative overreach. there is evidenc...

Due to winter weather impacting travel and access to our recording studio, this week we bring you a rebroadcast of Jonny's interview of T. Brown in early October 2023. In the interview they discuss a web site sharing survivor stories of those who got out of a local cult in Carbondale as well as T's first expereice at GSV and how that differs from a cult.

Jonny and Heather discuss the consequences of book bans and other limitations on representation and sharing inormation. They cover information about the Queer Liberation Library, set up to combat LGBTQ book bans with a digital alternative. They discuss the consequences of bans on teaching Black history as part of a misguided labeling of them "Critical Race Theory." They also parse the difference b...

Jonny and Heather review recent hopeful developments in pushbacks and hinderences to trans bans and other anti-LGBTQ legislation. They also chronicle the distressing uptick in such legislation in 2023. In the back half of the show, they look forward to the election year of 2024 and speculate about the consequences of such a year on such legislation. They do their best to find the evidence for hope...

Jonny curates a review of 2023 using voices from the community (and beyond) that were interviewed on IIQ in 2023. 24 guests featured.

Jonny and Heather review a host of trans creatives celebrated in song, opera, books and other publications. In the back half of the show, they uses DC Comics' queer versions of popular superheroes to spark a conversation aboud "Canon" and when it does and doesn't apply in fan culture. At the core of the conversation are the ways queer and trans representations push back at Canon and insist on repr...

Jonny and Heather return to some recent stories that have had some elaborations and developments that are, from a certain angle, good news. Stories revisited include: further evidence that the brain drain in red states is causing economic impacts and the Supreme Court refuses to take up the Washington state conversion therapy ban case. In the back half of the show, they discuss Grok, the X (former...

Jonny, on his own this week, covers the fallout in Russia of their Supreme Court declaring all LGBT groups and activists "international extremists." He notes how too many on the Right in this country pull from President Putin's playbook, but he offers some hope in stories of folks successfully pushing back for LGBTQ+ rights in the US. In the back half of the show he reviews the shortened term and...

Jonny and Heather discuss the the impact of restrictive legislation in many Red States and the subsequent loss of intellectuals and professionals they are experiencing. They then contemplate a European study that provides evidence gay male parents are, on average, more successful than cis/het parents at parenting. In the back half of the show, they return to Doctor Who toe gush over the queer wode...

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...