Sha'Carri Richardson secures Olympic bid, Utah pride centers are set to close, and the Chicago Pride Parade has been shortened - June 24, 2024

This episode discusses major events impacting the LGBTQIA+ community, including Sha'Carri Richardson's Olympic qualification, the closure of Utah pride centers, and changes to the Chicago Pride Parade.

1. Sha'Carri Richardson's Olympic qualification is a testament to resilience and excellence in athletics.
2. The closure of Utah's pride centers highlights ongoing legislative challenges faced by the LGBTQIA+ community.
3. Adjustments to the Chicago Pride Parade reflect safety concerns but also raise issues about community visibility and support.
4. Queer summer camps across the U.S. offer vital spaces for LGBTQIA+ youth to connect and find community.
5. Personal reflections and community stories enrich the discussion, underscoring the diverse experiences within the LGBTQIA+ community.

1. Opening Remarks

Anna DeShawn starts the episode with a celebration of Pride Month and introduces the main topics. Anna DeShawn: "Let's dance tonight in celebration and reflection of what pride means to us."

2. Sha'Carri Richardson's Olympic Bid

A detailed account of Sha'Carri Richardson's race and her overcoming challenges to qualify for the Olympics. Anna DeShawn: "Her shoe came undone, she did not have the best start... and now she's going to her first Olympics."

3. Utah Pride Centers Closure

Discussion on the impact of anti-DEI legislation in Utah leading to the closure of pride centers. Anna DeShawn: "With the dismantling of DEI, the idea is that this equal opportunity initiative says that services are available to everybody."

4. Chicago Pride Parade Changes

Overview of the changes to the Chicago Pride Parade and their implications. Anna DeShawn: "The parade is shorter... all of these changes are happening due to what the city is calling safety concerns."

5. Queer Summer Camps

Exploration of various summer camps for queer youth across the U.S., providing safe and supportive environments. Anna DeShawn: "These camps are situated across the country from Vermont to LA to New York to Arizona."

1. Support local LGBTQIA+ events to foster community solidarity.
2. Advocate for inclusive policies in educational and public spaces.
3. Participate in or volunteer at LGBTQIA+ youth camps and initiatives.
4. Educate oneself and others about the ongoing challenges and triumphs of the LGBTQIA+ community.
5. Engage with local LGBTQIA+ organizations to understand and address community-specific needs.

This week on the Queer News podcast Anna DeShawn reports on Sha’Carri Richardson securing her Olympic bid by running the fastest 100m in the world. In Utah, three pride centers are closing their doors because of DEI bans. Queer summer camps are providing refuge for queer youth. Four queer friends started a basketball club in Chicago and they cheer for airballs. The Chicago Pride parade is shorter this year so let me tell you all about it. Let’s go!

People

Sha'Carri Richardson, Anna DeShawn, Melissa Jefferson, TT Terry

Content Warnings:

None

Anna DeShawn
There's no place like the cube?

So let's dance, let's dance, let's dance, let's dance, let's dance, let's dance tonight?

Unidentified Speaker
Pride can be many things to many people. I've always thought it's kind of like a Rorschach test. For some, it's a protest. For some, it's a party. For some, it's an opportunity to be out for one or a few days of the year or even for that month when it's not possible otherwise.

But one of the most important things for me about pride is that it can show anyone in the LGBTQIA community or our allies that they're not alone, that they're part of something bigger, that they're able to join in community and see the full breadth of diversity of who we are and understand the love and the power and the joy and the anger and all of the things that come with that as we continue to fight for liberation.

So when I say happy pride, it doesn't mean that we're all always happy. It means that we can, for at least that month, at least that day, or even an hour for some people, be together in community, feel that unconditional love and joy and help that be the thing that carries us for the rest of the year.

Anna DeShawn
Queer news, queer news.

Queer news.

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 last Dance by the queen of disco herself, Donna Summer. And I know y'all was singing. Cause I was singing.

I can't help but sing it, you know what I'm saying? And this is kind of apropos because this is our last dance, our last episode of Pride Month, and we received four pride messages for this episode. And I'm so thrilled about that because I feel like it's gonna put a beautiful cherry on top of this cake of us sharing what pride means to us. Okay? It's gonna sprinkle a little bit of queer fairy dust over us this week as we embark on the last week in June.

Remembering Stonewall, so many cities across the country are celebrating pride this week, and so I hope these little sprinkles, as my friend Adele likes to say, actually give y'all what you need, okay. To get through this last week. And thank you, Kathy, for your pride message, reminding us that sometimes this month is that month that may get somebody through the rest of the year. Thank you for that.

Also, family, don't forget, the queer news tip line is open. Okay? I wanna report on stories that are not making the news, not making a blog. Those are important too. So hit the link in the show notes. Q crew. Thank you. Thank you for sustaining this podcast. I appreciate you. And don't forget, we got that YouTube channel d three radio. Okay, hit the subscribe button and turn on the notifications.

Now for the news. Shaqiri Richardson is the fastest woman in the world, and I could not be more excited for her in politics. Because of Dei bans, three Utah pride centers are having to close their doors.

Family, did y'all know that there are summer camps for queer kids? I wanna tell you all about it. And in Chicago, four queer friends got together and started a basketball club that you should know. It's called swish in Chicago. Family, the pride parade is a little shorter this year, and there's a few things you need to know. Let me tell you all about it. Let's go, family. Our top story for today is all about Sha'Carri Richardson. I mean, I watched that hundred meters. Her shoe came undone. She did not have the best start. She came from behind and still clocked 10.7, the fastest time yet all year for any woman in the whole wide world. And now she's going to her first Olympics, and not just by herself with two team members. They all have the same trainer, y'all, Melissa Jefferson and TT Terry will also be going to the Olympics, and this is all of their first time. And we all know what Sha'carrie has been through.

Wow. You know, and she family out here, she might just break Flo Jo's record. You feel me? And I think that it's just so important that we lift her up because the media was trying to tear her down.

The headlines were so brutal.

But watching her family's reaction to that race was absolutely everything. Everything. I am gearing up for this Paris Olympics. I cannot wait to see how all of it unfolds. And I am just so happy for her. Congratulations, Shaqiri. Congratulations.

Mary Morton
Hi, everyone. My name's Mary Morton, and my pronouns are she and her.

And for me, pride is an act, it's a feeling, it's an attitude that I try to live every single day.

Now more than ever, it's important to remember that pride started as a protest. And we have access to rights and benefits because in 1969, members of all of our communities understood the assignment and they started the work that we continue to push forward. Today, we will only move forward. So let's celebrate. Let's celebrate really, really hard, and then let's get to work, y'all. Happy pride.

Anna DeShawn
Thank you, Mary, for that pride message and that reminder that we celebrate, and then we gotta get back to work. And this next story speaks so much to that in politics. Utah and their anti Dei bands have now equated to the closing of three pride centers in Utah.

One at the University of Utah, another at Southern Utah University, and the third at Webber State. They're going to be shut down before the next academic year. Now, this is after the Black Cultural center, the American Indian Resource center, and the center for Equity and Student belonging have also been closed. And so what happens now is that they're gonna be integrated into the office of Student affairs, which seemingly makes sense, but we know how big these schools are, and we also know the needs of these communities are so very different. It's also not clear yet how or if the LGBTQ resource center will also be accommodated like the others. So with the dismantling of DEi, the idea is that this equal opportunity initiative says that services are available to everybody.

Doesn't matter your personal identity characteristics. But, you know, that's really easy when your personal identity is not under attack.

I tell you the truth, it is so easy to say those types of things when you've never been on the other end of political hatred.

But what I love about this story is that in the face of this closure, they said, we gonna celebrate. Okay? So they posted on their instagram about this celebration that they're gonna have on June 28 at 06:30 p.m. and so if you're in Salt Lake City, Utah, I encourage you to go to this center and celebrate with them. They are going to celebrate 21 years of this LGBTQ resource center being a place of refuge for queer students on their campus.

They said in this Instagram post, the work and legacy of the LGBT resource Center will continue at the University of Utah. However, we would like to come together to celebrate what once was and grieved the end of an era. As we welcome in the new.

The announcement goes on to say that they want you to share memories, express your gratitude, and celebrate their hope for a better future.

Adele Coleman
Hi, I'm Adele Coleman from the DC Maryland area.

Mary Morton
She.

Adele Coleman
Her pronouns, pride means just that. Pride.

Being unapologetically oneself, living in your truth, loving and just sharing in that abundantly giving that love and joy and just self affirmation to yourself and others and just spreading that. And it's a truly, truly beautiful thing.

Anna DeShawn
Yes to sharing the love. Yes to sharing the joy thank you, Adele, for that message and family. Little known fact, I co host another podcast called the Head Nod with Adele. So if you want to talk about being black and predominantly white spaces, if you want to hear those stories, tap into that podcast, okay?

And in culture, I love the transition here because I didn't even know that there were queer summer camps that are giving queer kids and queer youth so much joy and sharing that joy. I wasn't a camp kid growing up, okay? You ain't gonna find me on the outside, but I know so many queers that are, and there are queer summer camps creating brave spaces for them to be authentically themselves.

PfLaG has a list of these camps. Let me give you all the names, okay? Because they are really great. Brave trails camp, Gavaya camp highlight camp, light bulb camp, lilac Camp, outdoors camp, outright camp, ten trees harbor camps, Kingdom Camp, Odyssey Teen Camp, one heartland, Rebels of the Moon, the naming project, and Tyef camp.

These camps are situated across the country from Vermont to LA to New York to Arizona to Ohio to Provincetown, Massachusetts, one of the gayest places on the planet. These camps are so essential, and I want y'all to know about them.

One of the first campers to ever attend camp Lilac, her name is Solomon. She said, in the last few years, it has started feeling more and more heartbreaking getting these kids home, back into the world. And they feel it, too. They're sad sometimes, scared to be going back to their state, where every governor is out to get them that hits.

And so this camp is offering solace from the outside world in such a beautiful way.

Another quote that I want to share with you is by puck. He founded Camp Light Bulb in 2021. He said that one week that kids are with us, they take that experience with them. It has a huge impact throughout the rest of the year. I think now more than ever, a place like ours and other LGBTQ camps are super important, and I think Puck is super right. So, family. I included a link to that p flag site with all of the camps, so feel free to share that with your friends or with your family who got queer kids, because one of these camps might be perfect just for them.

Queer youth. We are the voices missing in the conversation.

Celeste Lacine
I've been watching straight people kiss since I was six, and I don't want to kiss a woman.

Anna DeShawn
Existing as I am should be bare minimum.

Celeste Lacine
This current generation of queer young people have a lot to teach us. I'm celeste lacine, and I'm thrilled to bring you. I'm feeling queer today. The podcast that amplifies the voices of queer youth. Pride means change, showing the world that.

Anna DeShawn
We are still here, and nothing is gonna change that.

Celeste Lacine
Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.

Anna DeShawn
Family, our next story is about the Chicago pride parade. I want y'all to be ready, okay? Cause some changes have been made.

First, the parade is shorter. They cut three blocks off of the parade. And I can't tell you how upsetting that is to me that in 2024, in Chicago, of all places, we are cutting the pride parade.

That's one. The second thing is, the parade is starting at 11:00 a.m. this year, not at noon, okay? So you're gonna have to wake up a little bit earlier than normal to get down to your favorite spot, okay? For the parade.

And three, the parade will also be shorter. They had to accept fewer entries this year, so expect that, too. All of these changes are happening due to what the city is calling safety concerns.

But what I want you to do if you plan on coming to the parade is have a beautiful time. Like always. Smile. Celebrate yourself, okay? Because there is somebody somewhere who wishes they could be out enough to show up at a pride parade in a place like Chicago. Cause one thing I know for sure, we still gonna have a ball, period.

This will not steal our joy.

Susan Blake
Hi, my name is Susan Blake, and my pronouns are she, her, and hers.

Pride to me is standing tall, being seen and being heard. It's being grateful for those who forge the path I walk on and continuing to try to make it a small journey for those who come along behind me. Pride is individual, and pride is collective. Pride is internal, and pride is external. It's quiet and loud.

It's essential for us as an LGBTQ community to thrive. Pride is a baton our seniors handed to us that we will carry and eventually pass on as our community continues to thrive.

Anna DeShawn
Thank you, Susan. I really appreciate the individual and the collective, the internal and the external. The idea of us thriving. And this next story, I saw it in them, which blew me away. And I am so proud of my queer homies who started this queer basketball club called Swish.

It has been everything in Chicago and them covered. Swish did a ten minute doc about the starting of Swish in Chicago. Their story, and it is so beautiful. I finally had an opportunity to watch it. I have a link in the show notes if you want to jump into it. I believe swish needs to exist absolutely everywhere because the queers love basketball. And the funny part is that the article highlights that they clap for airballs and it's so true.

When I went to swish for the first time, I was like, oh, we're going around saying our names and our pronouns. Oh, this is community basketball. Okay. Cause, y'all, I'm a gym rat. Okay, I'm in, like, check ball. All right. No, they were like, what is your name? What is your pronouns? What brought you here today? We did stretching. Okay. There was snacks and treats and cheering. It is just a beautiful community of folks, and I'm so glad they exist. I'm so glad they're getting the media coverage they deserve, because what they're creating is so needed. So, family, if you're in Chicago and you love basketball and you still be shooting air balls, swishes for you, go check them out. Congratulations, y'all.

Darrin
I'm Darrin.

Esther
And I'm Esther.

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

Esther
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.

Darrin
The saints ain't ready for this, but.

Esther
We'Re still gonna talk about it.

Darrin
Second Sunday. Find it wherever you get podcasts.

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

Anna DeShawn
Now, family, it's time for Anna's word, because Anna's always got a word. And I figured since it was the last episode of Pride Month, it was worth me sharing what pride means to me.

As a professional queer who talks about LGBTQ business literally 365 days a year, it's a tough question for me to sit with. And at the same time, I recognize June being so different. For me, it's a time that I actually put on my rainbow earrings.

It's a time that I find my rainbow socks that's been gathering dust, and I rock them.

It's my time where I am seemingly a little more brave, seemingly a little more bold about my queerness in June.

For me, there's something about this month that gives me a little more permission to be a little more queer.

Adele Coleman
Queer.

Anna DeShawn
And so, upon reflection and sitting with this question, for me, pride is bravery.

Pride is boldness, and pride is unapologetic.

Till next week, family peace.

Queer news. Queer news.

Queer news.

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 the Cube. We are queer news. Done right.