The Lavender Lounge

Send us Fan Mail What if getting sober didn't mean giving things up but discovering everything you're actually capable of? This week on The Lavender Lounge, Ray sits down with Mike, from The Phoenix ,  a community that's rewriting what recovery can look like built on movement, connection, and joy. Spectrum Medical Care Centre Maricopa County Community Resources LGBTQ+ Healthcare Dir...

Send us Fan Mail In the HIV/AIDS era, gay men organized, marched, and demanded that medicine move faster. They changed healthcare forever. Dr. Homyra Hadavand trained as a doctor in that era. She calls witnessing that advocacy one of the best things in her career. Her message in this episode: "Now we're going to do it for queer women." Queer women face their own gaps such as delayed...

Send us Fan Mail SMCC Outreach navigator and medical assistant Dylan Harvey shares what it's like meeting the community where they are, and how fatherhood, spirituality, and his roots on the White Mountain Apache reservation keep him grounded. Spectrum Medical Care Centre Maricopa County Community Resources LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory Vitalyst Health Foundation Mental health resources: Crisis...

Send us Fan Mail Listen to the latest in HIV prevention innovation. Ray Delgado, Senior Director of Communications and Community Development at SMCC, talks about his experience being one of the first patients to receive Yeztugo, the new long-acting injectable PrEP.  Spectrum Medical Care Centre Maricopa County Community Resources LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory Vitalyst Health Foundation Mental health...

Send us Fan Mail What does it take to climb out of the pit? For Jericho Galindo, also known as Phoenix drag artist Gray Matter, the answer has involved a long, ongoing practice of self-care and finding meaning through art. This conversation is about what it means to keep showing up for yourself and your community. Spectrum Medical Care Centre Maricopa County Community Resources LGBTQ+ Healthcare D...

Send us Fan Mail Speaking up for your health is one of the most powerful things you can do. In this episode, we talk with public health advocate Carrie Grant about her journey from rural Georgia to Arizona and how her experiences shaped her passion for health equity. Carrie also talks about creating safe spaces, advocating for inclusive providers, and empowering people to speak up for their needs....

Send us Fan Mail   Dr. Kyle Gresenz is a queer theorist and rural healthcare scholar working to expose how systems fail LGBTQ+ communities. We dig into the four domains of healthcare, structural urbanism, and why geography and policy still dictate who gets care and who doesn't. Kyle also breaks down how finances, location, and discriminatory policies block access and what it actually takes to...

Send us Fan Mail Gender affirming therapist Dillon Mathew-Gilmore , LMSW (they/them) joins The Lavender Lounge to talk about what it really means to heal through community. Dillon shares their journey into gender affirming care, the systemic barriers facing gender expansive people, and why curiosity is the foundation of meaningful support. We get into the relationship between transphobia and misog...

Send us Fan Mail What does it actually mean to have a healthy sex life — and why does our culture make it so hard? In this episode, licensed clinical social worker and certified sex therapist Jennifer Monninger, founder of Oh My Pleasure, joins the Lavender Lounge to break down the Six Principles of Sexual Health. We discuss the impacts of purity culture and abstinence-only education, what it look...

Send us Fan Mail What does it look like to receive gender-affirming care that is grounded in science and humanity? In this episode of The Lavender Lounge, Ari Kravitz, a family nurse practitioner at Spectrum Medical Care Center, joins us to unpack the what, why, and how of evidence-based gender-affirming care. As a trans healthcare provider who specializes in HIV prevention, HIV care, and gender-a...

Send us Fan Mail Spectrum Medical Care Center CEO Mark Moeremans introduces The Lavender Lounge and the clinic that’s served Arizona’s LGBTQ+ community for nearly 30 years. Mark shares his vision for best-in-class affirming healthcare, Spectrum’s legacy founded by Dr. Thanes Vanig, and why community storytelling matters. Spectrum Medical Care Centre Maricopa County Community Resources LGBTQ+ Healt...

Send us Fan Mail Arizona’s #1 drag queen Barbra Seville talks about courage, connection, and empathy. From calling out double standards and challenging regressive policies to advocating for LGBTQ+ education and self-esteem, Barbra shares why embracing your authentic self fosters hope for representation and acceptance. Barbra Seville on Instagram Maricopa County Community Resources LGBTQ+ Healthcar...