Hate will not win! Another DeSantis bill is defeated in Florida, Anna attends the Tiny Home Summit 2.0 and the Stonewall National Monument is vandalized - June 17, 2024

This episode discusses LGBTQ+ rights, focusing on recent legal victories against discriminatory legislation and the community's resilience against hate crimes.

1. Legal victories in Florida represent a broader pushback against discriminatory legislation aimed at the LGBTQ+ community.
2. Tiny homes are highlighted as a viable solution for addressing homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth.
3. The vandalism at Stonewall National Monument underscores the persistent challenges of homophobia.
4. The episode underscores the importance of community support and legal advocacy in advancing LGBTQ+ rights.
5. The personal story of a veteran coming out in his obituary illustrates the deeply personal impact of societal attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people.

1: Introduction

Anna DeShawn opens with a tribute to resilience within the LGBTQ+ community, setting the tone for the episode's themes. Anna DeShawn: "We're gonna get through this."

2: Legal Victories

Discussion on the defeat of anti-trans legislation in Florida and its implications. Anna DeShawn: "Another hit to DeSantis' hate campaign."

3: Tiny Home Summit 2.0

Anna shares insights from the summit focused on housing solutions for LGBTQ+ youth. Anna DeShawn: "Tiny homes can be a part of a total toolkit to eradicate homelessness."

4: Vandalism at Stonewall

Coverage of the vandalism at the Stonewall National Monument, reflecting on hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community. Anna DeShawn: "You don't have to defame 160 pride flags."

5: A Veteran's Story

The touching story of a veteran who came out in his obituary, highlighting the personal struggles of older LGBTQ+ individuals. Anna DeShawn: "It's never too late."

1. Support LGBTQ+ Legal Advocacy: Contribute to organizations fighting discriminatory legislation.
2. Engage in Community Education: Share knowledge about LGBTQ+ rights and history to foster understanding.
3. Promote Safe Housing Initiatives: Support or volunteer in programs aimed at reducing homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth.
4. Stand Against Hate Crimes: Participate in community vigilance efforts to protect LGBTQ+ landmarks and individuals.
5. Honor LGBTQ+ Elders: Create spaces for older LGBTQ+ individuals to share their stories and experiences.

This week on the Queer News podcast Anna DeShawn reports on another DeSantis anti-trans bill that has fallen in Florida. San Francisco becomes an official safe haven for our trans siblings. Anna attended the Tiny Home Summit 2.0 in Chicago to hear how this solution can combat LGBTQ youth homelessness. The Stonewall National Monument was vandalized and a Vietnam vet decided to come out in his obituary reminding us it's never too late. Let’s go!

People

Judge Hinkle, Anna DeShawn

Content Warnings:

Discussions of homophobia and hate crimes.

Anna DeShawn
There's no place like the cube.

Gloria Gaynor
I, oh, no, not I I will survive oh, as long as I know how to love I know I feel alive? I've got all my life to live I've got all my love to give and I'll survive I will survive hey, hey.

Ann
My name is Ann. I'm a bisexual. She her hers.

Cisgendered woman, black woman who partners with black lesbian, black masculine. Presenting lesbians and pride means that this is the time of the year to be able to say, this is who I am publicly, even though I do it every day of the year, 365, making sure that I say, hey, this is who I am. But recognizing, too, that that is a privilege. It is a privilege that not everybody has. It is a privilege that everyone should have to be able to express themselves and who they are without any negativity, without any policies that are against who people are. LGBtQiA people, especially black people, especially our black queers, recognize that this is pride month, but pride is every day of the year.

I am so happy to be able to live out loud because there are people who have done the fight before I have come out. I'm able to be who I am because those who've come before me have fought the fought happy pride. Y'all. Y'all have to realize that we are here, and we're not going anywhere.

Anna DeShawn
Family, it's your favorite queer radio personality, Anna Deshawn. And this is queer news, your favorite weekly news pod, where race and sexuality meet politics, culture, and entertainment. This week, I opened the show with I will survive by Gloria Gaynor, a song, really, the community took on as their own, and I feel like every drag show I've gone to, someone has performed that track at least once, and it feels so apropos because we will survive. We're gonna get through this. Which speaks to Ann's pride message as well. Y'all have heard Ann's voice before on this podcast because she is one of our culture contributors to the pod, and I love that she loves women like me. Okay. Black queer masc, women of center. Okay? That's me. And we don't get that type of love out loud all the time, so thank you, Ann. I'm here for it. Mm hmm.

And, family, I would love to hear your pride messages, too. I only got one this week. We got four last week. Only got one this week. We got makeup for it next week. Okay. And for the week after that. Cause I wanna hear your voices, and I wanna hear what pride means to you, even if it's hard, even if it's tough. That's important in this moment, too. And don't forget, the queer news tip line is open. So if you've got a queer news tip, something happening in your local community that's not making the news or a blog, send it in. I wanna report on it. A link for both are in the show notes now.

Ann
Cute crew.

Anna DeShawn
What's going on? I have to continue to say thank you for financially sustaining this podcast. The hosting, the editing, the marketing, the pr, the travel. You helped me do this. You keep this podcast alive, and I thank you.

Now, family, if you haven't joined the Q crew, but you believe in the work we're doing, if you believe LGBTQ stories need to be amplified, and if you love and respect how I report on the news and tell our stories, a link to join the Q crew is in the show notes.

Darren
Uh oh.

Anna DeShawn
And family, don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, okay. At e three radio. And turn on the notifications so you don't miss a thing.

Now for the news. Another DeSantis anti trans bill has fallen in Florida.

Celebrate the wins. Come on. Doom. Doom. Doom. Doom. It's a celebration.

Yes. Also, San Francisco becomes an official safe haven for our trans siblings. I got to attend a tiny home summit this past week in Chicago, and I want to tell you all about it.

Some homophobes decide to ravage the Stonewall national monument, and a Vietnam vet decided to come out in his obituary, reminding all of us it is never too late.

Let's go.

In politics, can we talk about how another piece of DeSantis anti Trump, trans anti lgbtq legislation has just been slashed? Can we talk about how amazing that is? Now, if y'all remember, and you've been listening to the pod, back in March, I reported about the settlement that took place around the don't say gay legislation. This settlement really filled the holes that were left by this broad, discriminatory piece of legislation. Right. That really became a blueprint for other states on how to discriminate against trans and lgbtq folks.

But when this settlement was reached back in March, it really cleared a lot of things up. I mean, it really gutted this piece of hateful legislation.

You can say gay in Florida, they can't stop you from having lgbtq books or musicals. In Florida, the schools can have gsas. Right? Gay straight alliances in Florida.

That anti gay legislation was gutted. Another hit to DeSantis hate campaign. Okay, but now, today, can we talk about how Florida was gutted again as judge Henkel. Come on. Judge Hinkle.

A little bit off subject, y'all. Please, whenever it's time to vote, do not skip the judges section, okay? Even if you think you may not ever end up in front of a judge, somebody you love, a cause you care about is gonna end up in front of a judge, okay? And we need more judges like Judge Henkel. Okay? He ruled that Florida can't just ban transgender healthcare, that they just can't do that. He said gender identity is real. Transgender opponents are, of course, free to hold their beliefs, but they are not free to discriminate against transgender individual just for being transgender.

Let me read more of what he said in his decision, because it gets even better than that.

He goes on to say, in time, discrimination against transgender individuals will diminish, just as racism and misogyny have diminished. To paraphrase a civil rights advocate from an earlier time, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.

He better quote doctor King. You better quote doctor king where it fits. To quote doctor king.

Gloria Gaynor
Okay.

Anna DeShawn
Now, Judge Hinkle goes on to say, in the meantime, the federal courts have a role to play in upholding the Constitution and laws. The state of Florida can regulate as needed but cannot flatly deny transgender individuals safe and effective medical treatment. Yeah, that's just a little piece of this 105 page decision that he wrote. But at the end of the day, he has permanently blocked, can I say permanently blocked, Florida from enforcing this ban on transgender medical care, not only for adolescents, but for adults. This right here, my friends, is a huge win, and I don't think it can be overstated by the people most affected in Florida. So let me read you some quotes from some folks who were involved in this lawsuit.

One of the mothers in the suit, and they are proceeding anonymously, right? She said, this ruling means I won't have to watch my daughter needlessly suffer because I can't get her the care she needs. Seeing Susan's fear about this band has been one of the hardest experiences we've endured as parents.

All we've wanted is to take that fear away and help her continue to be the happy, confident child she is now.

Another parent said, this ruling lifts a huge weight and worry from me and my family, knowing that I can keep getting Gavin the care he needs and he can keep being the big hearted, smiling kid he is now. I'm so grateful the court saw how this law prevented parents like me from taking care of our children.

And another quote from one of the plaintiffs says, I'm so relieved, the court saw that there is no medical basis for this law. It was passed just to target transgender people like me and try to push us out of Florida. This is my home. I've lived here my entire life. This is my son's home. I can't just uproot my family and move across the country. The state has no place interfering in the people's private medical decisions. And I'm relieved that I can once again get the health care that I need here in Florida.

And family, let me tell y'all something. All of this costs money, and it costs time. So, big ups to everybody who can give to support these organizations. The GLBTQ, legal advocates and defenders, the National center for Lesbian Rights, the Southern Legal Council, the human rights campaign.

All right. And the Lowenstein Sandler national law firm. These are the advocates who were able to see this through.

Thank you.

Florida started this mess, and we're slowly gutting all of this anti trans legislation.

And as we continue to lay these legal precedents as why this type of legislation is unconstitutional, we can fight this in the other 25 states that ban trans healthcare for minors and for adults.

You see, it takes time, but we can do this. Family. We in the fight. We are in the fight, and we are winning.

We are winning.

It's not pretty, it's not easy, and it's still harmful. But let me tell you, when we look at the numbers, we are still winning.

In another good news political story, San Francisco has officially declared itself a safe haven for our trans siblings. Now, what does this mean? It means that not only can our trans siblings get gender affirming healthcare, it also means that if you're an elected official in San Francisco, you can't help other states prosecute individuals who come to San Francisco for gender affirming care. Right? Because that's part of what they do. If I am in, let's say, Tennessee, and I can't get gender affirming care if I go to San Francisco to go get it, they have rules on the books where I can be prosecuted. But they're saying in San Francisco, we can't help you with that. Tennessee. Not here, not ever. I love this quote from Rafael. He is a city supervisor, board member. He said this as other cities and states turn up the hate, places like San Francisco need to turn up the love.

He goes on to say, with this resolution, we are reaffirming that our city has been and will continue to be a sanctuary and a beacon for our transgender and gender non conforming siblings.

This is what we have to do. We have to double down on our affirmation of our humanity because they're not going to stop.

And other cities have recognized this, too. San Francisco is not the first city to declare itself a safe haven. Also, big ups to Ithaca, New York, New York, New York, Lawrence, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri. And then there are states who have done the same thing. Minnesota, Washington, New York, Colorado, and California.

And then let's not forget Arizona. Yeah, I said Arizona. Maryland, and Jersey have passed executive orders saying the same exact thing.

I'm sitting here wondering why Illinois isn't on this list. But the states that believe and affirm LGBTQ folks have to be doubling down on legislation like this and saying, hey, we're a safe haven here. You're okay here. You're safe here. While we continue to fight in places like Florida to gut bills like don't say gay.

Mm hmm. So, well done, San Francisco. I like to see it, and I think this is a great time for us to take a quick break. And when we get back, let's talk about some culture and entertainment.

Esther
I'm Darren.

Kim Hunt
And I'm Esther.

Esther
And this is second Sunday, a podcast about black queer folk finding, keeping, and sometimes losing faith.

Kim Hunt
This season's full of candid conversations. We're talking to theologians, artists, activists, and community members living at the intersections of faith, spirituality, and identity.

Esther
The Saints ain't ready for this, but.

Kim Hunt
We'Re still gonna talk about it.

Esther
Second Sunday. Find it wherever you get podcasts.

Kim Hunt
Second Sunday is a Cube original podcast and is part of the PRX Big Questions project.

Anna DeShawn
Family. Welcome back to the show. Now let's jump into some culture and entertainment news. This past week, I had the opportunity to attend the tiny home Summit 2.0. Now, the 1.0 version took place nearly a decade ago here in Chicago, and it focused on youth experiencing homelessness. And we know here in the queer community how pervasive LGBTQ youth homelessness and housing instability really is. I mean, the Trevor project tells us that 28% of LGBTQ youth reported experiencing homelessness or housing instability at some point in their lives.

That is a lot of us.

I had the opportunity to catch up with Kim Hunt, who was the director of Pride Action Tank, and she was one of the organizers a decade ago with the Tiny home summit 1.0. And I wanted to talk to her why she thought tiny homes would be a great solution for queer youth as it pertains to homelessness and housing instability. Hear what she had to say.

Darren
I think tiny homes is a great example of a solution that could be so helpful for queer youth who are experiencing homelessness. In fact, when Tracy Bame and I did the LGBTQ Youth Homelessness Summit in 2014, Tiny Homes came up as one of the ideas for addressing homelessness, in part because it's housing with dignity. Everybody gets their own little unit.

And the way we envision tiny Homes is creating communities. So not standalone housing, but having a nice community where folks can receive services, where folks can socialize, bring their friends, and that kind of thing. And I think just having a home of your own as a young person who has experienced homelessness is so important just for your outcomes in life.

Being able to go to school, being able to be healthy, having an address, having a place to receive your mail, those all have both physical health implications, but also psychologically, where folks feel grounded and like they belong. So tiny homes is just one option.

But we love tiny homes as a solution because it's an innovative model.

Tiny homes can go up fast.

They cost less than traditional housing, and it's a great solution for youth homelessness.

Anna DeShawn
And just in general, I've always been concerned about homelessness and housing instability, because when you don't have a home, that means you don't have an address.

And for everyone who does have a permanent address, there's a privilege that comes along with that. You don't even think about the places that you put down your address.

Literally, I go to buy anything online. I gotta put an address in for delivery. When I go to apply to go vote, for example, I need an address.

When I go to apply for a job, you need an address. Without an address, it is hard to do anything. And I didn't even focus on the living conditions, because when you don't have a place and a safe place to lay your head every night, you are constantly in survival mode. When you're in survival mode, you can't think about much of anything else. You can't grow. You can't be all you can be. The world is not your oyster when you have to think about how you're going to survive tonight. And so this tiny home summit brought together experts not only from Chicago, but across the US to talk about solutions to meet this urgent need for homes for the unstably housed, those needing affordable housing, and others just looking for freestanding, smaller footprint living in Chicago and across the country. So I wanted to catch up with Tracy Bame, who is a legend, okay, in the journalism game, especially. Especially as it pertains to LGBTQ stories and history. But she's also an advocate for tiny homes and she was the director of the Tiny Homes Summit 2.0, and she was there a decade ago, along with Kim Hunt, as they worked together to tell this story about tiny homes. And she began to tell me about the housing first model here, what she had to say about this.

Tracy Bame
So there's a model called the housing first model. It started out of New York City, and basically, they analyze what it costs to keep people housed versus the cost of someone who lives on the streets. If you think about someone who lives on the streets, they're more often a victim of crime. So there's lots of interaction with the police on all sides of the equation. They go to emergency rooms in the cold. They go to emergency rooms for everything. They are interacting with streets and sanitation. They're interacting with the department of Family, Social Services. Right? So they have all these interactions with the government that cost a lot of money. And they looked at it. This. This was a few years ago that it costs over $80,000 a year, right? And so to build housing or to have people in apartments is actually cheaper, under $20,000 a year, depending on the city, depending on the circumstances. So that's why we know that the housing first model, where you house people first and then deal with all the other things they need, mental health services, substance abuse counseling, you name it, job training. They then become. Can become contributors to society. Whereas if. If you have people on the streets 910 years, they're costing structures and governments over a million dollars, and their life expectancy is lower. So if you don't care about the people and you only care about the money, it's actually cheaper to use the housing first model to solve this problem.

Anna DeShawn
And can I just say, I learned so much when I attend these summits.

I mean, I report about this stuff. And so it's important to be knowledgeable, to be tapped in to the people who are affecting change in these areas.

So here are some things I learned, some things I jotted down, okay? Tiny homes are a solution, not the solution. Okay? So it's a solution as part of a total toolkit to eradicate homelessness and housing instability. And I really love that thought process, because it can't just be one thing. It has to be all of the things. I also learned that homelessness increased by 200% last year. 200%.

And this is due to new arrivals, but folks who are already here, it increased by 25%.

What?

I also learned that the average life expectancy of an unhoused person is 42 to 52 years old, which y'all know just by me saying those two numbers is significantly lower than the average of 78 years old of people who are housed. So quite literally, being in this survival mode and being unhoused will kill you.

Mm hmm.

I also learned that one of the biggest misconceptions is that it could never be you, that you could never be the person who becomes unhoused. And someone on the panel was sharing a story about how they got assigned a case to help somebody who was recently unhoused. It turns out their home caught on fire. Right. And the person he was going to help was actually one of his cousins he hadn't seen in years.

They never thought they were going to be unhoused. They never thought their home was going to catch on fire.

This could literally be any of us on any given day.

And one thing that really stood out to me as well was that people continued to use the word beautiful as it pertained to the housing solutions that folks can provide.

Yes. Housing. Yes. Shelter. Yes. And let it be beautiful and well put together and feeling like a home.

Yes to that, too.

I actually got to tour a model tiny home, and it was way more spacious than I thought. I posted a video of it on my socials, and I'll put a link in the show notes if you want to check it out. I think tiny homes and these tiny home communities and villages that are being built that also provide wraparound services around job, employment. Maybe this is a transitional village or care.

They're so thoughtful, so innovative.

Nothing is perfect, but we talk about getting people off the street, giving them a community that they can lean on so that they can be the productive citizens they want to be. I'm saying, y'all, tiny homes seems like a really, really viable solution.

For our next story, I want to talk about the Stonewall National Monument. Have you ever been there?

It's in Christopher park. It's in the village. And I went for the first time last year, and I can remember how I felt being at what so many of us consider to be the beginning. We know there was a lot of fight that happened before Stonewall, but that moment.

That moment was a tipping point. And so to be there, you can feel it. You can feel the energy.

And when I came across this story, it was just, ugh. You know, that's what I felt. I felt, ugh.

So someone decided to jump the gate at the Stonewall National Monument, break apart 160 pride flags that line the inside and the outside of the monument. 160. So this wasn't something that happened in the blink of an eye.

Do you know what I'm saying? I mean, it was 160 flags. This took some time.

And they didn't just stop there. They also burned some pride decorations, too. And this isn't the first year it happened. It happened last year as well. Of course, they don't know who did it, but even if you did, what are you gonna do? Put them in jail? Is that gonna cure the homophobia?

It's just not. It's just not.

I just don't know why they just can't let us live our life. Let us live our lives. You live your life. We live our life.

I'm happy you're happy.

We don't have to agree.

But you also don't have to defame 160 pride flags.

You don't. You can just go about living your life. Can you try that?

For our last story today, I want to give a big shout out to queer news daily. Go follow them on social media. It's run by Nico Lane, who is an LGBTQ journalist, and he reported on this story, and I saw it, and I said, yes, we need to hear this story on this podcast, because it's a reminder, especially during pride month, that it is never too late. It's never too late. So let me tell y'all exactly what I mean.

This story is about Edward. And let me. Colonel Edward Thomas Ryan, okay? He recently made his earthly transition at the age of 85.

He was a decorated military veteran who served in Vietnam. He was a firefighter in New York, and he founded a radio station in New York as well.

Now, clearly, Edward had some directives in his will, and I'm glad his family honored them, okay? Because at the bottom of his service and funeral details, he wrote this message. He said, I must tell you one more thing. Now, this is after, like, all the accolades and stuff like that, he says, I must tell you one more thing.

I was gay all my life, through grade school, through high school, through college, through life, child. He came out in his obituary, okay. He went on to say that he had been in a long term, loving and caring relationship with another man named Paul.

Now, that relationship ended, I guess, in this very heartbreaking situation.

But he said, they will be reunited.

He was the love of my life. We had 25 great years together.

But he died from a procedure gone wrong, and I will be buried next to Paul.

Child, can I tell you, he's revealing all these secrets in his obituary, okay? And, you know, people like to print the obituaries, okay, in the newspaper. He wanted the people to know, after years of keeping his sexual identity hidden, he actually apologized. He said, I'm sorry for not having the courage to come out as gay. I was afraid of being ostracized by family, friends, coworkers.

He went on to say, seeing how people like me were created, I just could not do it.

Now that my secret is known, I'll forever rest in peace.

Child. If this was my parent, uncle, family member, friend, and I read that he comes out in his obituary, I can't ask no questions.

And there's a couple of things with this story, okay? One, the courage it took for him to write that, to put these directives in place and say, I want to be buried next to Paul. I don't care if y'all didn't know who he was. I knew him for 25 years, and I loved him. And that's where I want to be forever.

Okay? That's a mood. I love that. And that's the message is never too late. And then the second part of the story is, my heart breaks for him that he never had the courage to do this out loud, that he had a love that sounds like it was taken so abruptly and he had no one to mourn with.

And my heart breaks for him in that.

But I feel like he's also so free now.

I just had to share that story. I just had to share that story. Because this is what pride is all about.

We celebrate for people like Edward, who could never celebrate out loud.

May he truly rest in peace and his power. Cause that took a courage. Okay, that's courage and family. Now it's time for Anna's got a word. Because Anna's always got a word. And I really wanna lean on courage coming off of that story about Edward coming out of his obituary.

Family, I challenge you to have a little courage this week, okay? Do something you didn't think you was gonna do. Have the courage to talk to the person you've been avoiding.

Do the hard thing this week. Do the hard thing. Make Edward proud.

Find some courage.

Not the liquid courage. You don't need that, you know? Tap into some courage. Do something hard this week and be free. Go ahead and get yourself free.

We gonna work on the liberation political side of getting free. But in the meantime, free yourself, you know?

Till next week, family peace.

If you've enjoyed what you heard, rate and review us inside your favorite podcasting app. This podcast is written and produced by me, Anna Deshawn. Podcast editing by Ryan Woodhull and brought to you by e three Radio and distributed on thecube. We are queer news done right.