The House Republicans tried anti-LGBTQ legislation and failed, a bookstore in Indiana needs our help and Anna celebrates pride in DC - June 10, 2024

This episode delves into the recent legislative attempt by House Republicans to push anti-LGBTQ measures, the plight of a queer bookstore in Indiana, and Anna's experiences at DC's Capitol Pride.

1. House Republicans' attempt to pass anti-LGBTQ legislation was thwarted by the Senate, highlighting the ongoing political battle over LGBTQ rights.
2. Community support is crucial, as seen in the efforts to save a queer bookstore in Indiana through crowdfunding and strategic shifts.
3. Pride celebrations are integral to promoting visibility and acceptance, as demonstrated by Anna's vibrant recount of DC's Capitol Pride.
4. Achievements in representation, like Bailey Ann Kennedy's crowning, signify progress in broader societal acceptance.
5. The LGBTQ community continues to face legislative challenges, underscoring the importance of vigilance and advocacy.

1: Introduction and Pride Celebrations

The episode opens with heartfelt Pride messages and an homage to the disco icon Sylvester, emphasizing the power of authenticity and visibility in the LGBTQ community. Anna DeShawn: "Sylvester lived his life on his own terms... Before Lil Nas X, there was Sylvester."

2: Political Developments

Discussion on the failed anti-LGBTQ legislative attempt by House Republicans, detailing the bill's journey through Congress and the eventual removal of all discriminatory provisions. Anna DeShawn: "The Senate removed every single last one of them... politics is exhausting."

3: Community Spotlight

Focus on a bookstore in Indiana struggling against anti-LGBTQ book bans, highlighting the broader impact of such legislation on small businesses and community spaces. Anna DeShawn: "We can't allow bookstores that support who we are go out of business because of censorship."

4: Celebrating Achievements

Celebration of Bailey Ann Kennedy's crowning as Miss Maryland USA, discussing her impact as a trans woman in a traditionally exclusive arena. Bailey Ann Kennedy: "The work that I will do... is to make sure that children who feel like me will never have to worry about the consequences of being who they are."

1. Stay informed on LGBTQ-related legislation to actively participate in advocacy and resistance against discriminatory laws.
2. Support LGBTQ-friendly businesses and initiatives, particularly those under threat from restrictive legislation.
3. Engage in community events and Pride celebrations to bolster visibility and solidarity.
4. Share and amplify stories of LGBTQ individuals overcoming adversity to inspire others and promote understanding.
5. Educate others about the importance of inclusivity and representation in all spheres of life.

This week on the Queer News podcast Anna DeShawn reports on how the House of Representatives Republicans tried to come for us but they failed. A bookstore in Indiana selling queer and diverse literature needs our help. We congratulate Bailey Anne Kennedy on becoming the first trans woman crowned Miss Maryland USA. Our very own Carter was honored as part of the Windy City Times 2024 30 under 30 class and I share my experience at DC’s Capital Pride. Let’s go!

People

Anna DeShawn, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Bailey Ann Kennedy

Content Warnings:

None

Anna DeShawn
There's no place like the cube.

Imani
Happy gay month. Yes, this is Imani calling in from Chicago. Pronouns they, them. But I'm a brooklyn, baby. Shout out to New York.

Being pride, I think being black and gay in June is just a superpower in itself, but pride to me means radical authenticity.

I am a light bloomer. I came out to my mom right before my 30th birthday, and the last three years has just been an amazing opportunity to connect to the self that was hidden and shamed into a closet. So pride to me means, move, I'm gay.

What? It means I'm me. It means, this is who I am. This is who I was designed to be. This is who I choose to be.

And it's just a constant reminder to myself what liberation and freedom looks like. Because autonomy, exercise even when the world doesn't want you to. Oh, baby, what's that? That's power.

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. We opened the show with you make me feel mighty real.

Yes. Our very own Sylvester, the disco hit that dropped in 1978. And let me tell y'all something. Sylvester lived his life on his own terms. He was out, he was effeminate, and he was everything. Okay, literally. Before prince, there was Sylvester. Before Lil Nas X, there was Sylvester. And we got to honor that. Also, little known facts about this track. In 2019, the song was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. And then in 2023, Billboard ranked it among the 500 best pop songs of all time. All time.

Time is a long time. Okay, Sylvester, we thank you. And I wanna thank my friend Imani as well, for your pride and message. Move. I'm gay. That's what you said. Yes. And that autonomy part in the face of hate and ignorance is absolutely power. I'm with you. Imani's working on an app, too. It's coming soon called shades of romance, tales by Kashmir, and friends. Okay. It's gonna be a new era of black erotica, and I'm here for that. I am here for that family. I'd love to hear your pride messages. And don't forget the queer news tip line, too. So a link for both is in the show notes. Choose one, leave me a pride message, or leave me a queer news tip. Let's go. And cute crew. What's going on? Thank you for continuing to help financially sustain this podcast, hosting, editing, marketing, pr, travel. You all are helping me live my dream. Thank you. If you believe in the work we do, if you believe lgbtq stories need to be amplified, if you love and respect how I report on the news and tell our stories, join the Q crew today. Okay, a link is in the show notes and family. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, he the number three radio. And turn on the notifications so you don't miss a thing.

Now for the news in politics. The House of Representatives Republicans tried to come for us, but they failed. And let me tell you something. When Marjorie Taylor Greene is mad, I am so happy.

A bookstore in Indiana selling queer and diverse literature needs our help. And we congratulate Bailey Ann Kennedy on becoming the first trans woman crowned Miss Maryland USA.

E three radio and theCube's very own Carter was honored as part of Windy City Times 20, 24, 30 under 30 class. And I share my experience at DC's Capitol pride, y'all, it was lit, and I can't wait to tell y'all all about it. Let's go.

In politics, let me tell y'all how the Republicans in the House of Representatives tried to push through all this anti lgbtQ, anti abortion legislation in another bill. Let me tell y'all all about it. So the bill is called the military construction, Veterans affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations act of 2025. I promise y'all, these names are so long and convoluted. It really is. But essentially, it's a military act. All right? And the dollar amount associated to this act is $147.5 billion. All right? It's $147 billion bill that is literally goes to fund military construction and the Department of Veteran affairs. Now, here we go. I don't believe in warm. I'm just an anti war person. I don't think it solves anything. As a matter of fact, I think it causes great harm to the people who have to enact it and the people that are on the receiving end of it. I don't think war does anything for us, but the world is what at war right now. Multiple wars are happening right now, and the US is a big part of funding these said wars.

Okay? And so this is $147 billion bill.

And the House passed it 209 to 197. Why? Because most of them want to fund veterans affairs, military construction, and these related agencies. But do you know what the House Republicans did? Let me tell you, they attached these riders to this piece of legislation because they know that people need to pass this legislation desperately. So what they do is they throw all these anti lgbtq and anti abortion riders, or what are considered provisions, okay. That have nothing to do with the main point of the bill. So let me tell you what they tried to put in here, okay.

One of the provisions would stop the VA from receiving funding or even covering gender affirming care for veterans or their employees. Mm hmm. It would also ban something like flying a pride flag at any of their facilities.

Yeah.

And they couldn't just leave it at that. Of course. They also had to include anti abortion legislation that would completely defeat fund the VA covering an abortion in cases of rape, incest, or even if the mother's health was in danger. Like, this is what they were trying to push through a military funding bill. It's really ridiculous. But in government, the House passes something, but the Senate has to approve it. So do y'all know what happened next?

I bet y'all can guess, given the high pitchedness of my voice. All those things got left out. Yes, it did. The Senate removed every single last one of them, voted 87 to 13 to pass the 2024 National Defense Authorization act. And it includes no anti LGBTQ provisions. It includes no anti abortion provisions.

Whew.

Then it went back to the House, and then it passed their 310 to 118 for the same exact bill.

My goodness, y'all, politics is exhausting, and it's so hard to understand. Just know it didn't pass, okay? And let me just quote Marjorie Taylor Greene, because when she is mad, that means that something good has happened for us. You feel me? Let me tell y'all what she said.

And she posted this on x, formally known as Twitter. Democrat trans policy, Democrat abortion policy. 300 million for Ukraine is back in the bill. Now. Were supposed to just grin and take it with no say in the final bill. This was a total sellout of conservative principles and a huge win for democrats. Congratulations to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. You should all be excited to vote for this. Im a hell no.

Yo, if Marjorie Taylor Green is a hell no, that means everybody listens to this podcast. This podcast right now should be a hell yes.

I'm just saying.

Now let's listen to another pride message from one of our friends of the podcast.

Derek Holland
Peace, everyone. My name is Derek Holland. Pronouns are he, him, and dialing in from Texas. And pride to me means being authentic and accepting of yourself and loving yourself and loving who you are and knowing that there's nothing wrong with you and that you are a blessing on this earth, and your spirit is a blessing to any person that you come in contact with. And if they don't accept you, then that's their problem.

All right? I'm proud to be a black trans man. And I'm proud to represent us in media. Proud to represent e three radio in thecube, Apple. And I'm proud to represent any and everywhere I go, because I'm proud to be me. So happy pride month, y'all.

Anna DeShawn
That's right. I couldn't agree with Derrick Moore. If they don't love you, it is their problem. You are not the problem. Okay? Period. And Derek hosts our queer open mic. If you're an artist and you wanna get featured, wanna get amplified, email him at Musicthreeradio FM. That's Musichreeradio FM.

Now for our next story, family. A bookstore in Indiana needs our help. And I found this story, and I was like, we gotta tell this, because we can't allow bookstores that serve our communities, that house books that continue to be banned, that are about our humanity. Bookstores that support who we are go out of business because of censorship. And that's exactly what's happening in Indiana to this bookstore called Brainlayer. Brain layer was founded by Kathy Burnett with the whole intent to uplift marginalized voices. Well, because of republican book bans and legislation in the state of Indiana, so many of her contracts with schools came to an end. They didn't even want to seem like they were affiliated with her bookstore. And so she has lost so much money. And I like to say doing good comes with receipts, too, y'all.

So they need our support. They have started a GoFundMe to help raise money. And let me tell you what they're looking to do and what they're looking to raise. All right? They're looking to turn the bookstore into a nonprofit so that they can apply for grants, which I actually think is pretty strategic and pretty smart to do, especially given the state of the country right now, which is really unfortunate. And then the GoFundMe is also going to support one years of rent, a year's salary for an interim executive director, a year's wages for the bookstore staff, professional fees, vendor accounts, and increased community programming. That includes workshops, authors, community events, book fairs, and more partnerships. It takes money to do good, and I don't want South Bend, Indiana, to lose this bookstore.

Okay, so, family, I'm gonna do a TikTok video on this. I hope we can help this to go viral and spread the word. I put a link in the show notes to their GoFundMe and their fundraiser because bookstores like this are desperately needed today more than yesterday.

Okay? And these censorship laws are so out of control. So if we can help support and save this bookstore, let's do it. Okay. A link is in the show notes.

Derek Holland
Hey, y'all.

Latrice Sampson Richards
My name is Latrice Sampson Richards of Pod Melanin Productions. Pronouns, she, her. I am the producer of black HIV in the south. How did we get here? And for me, pride means love.

Pride is the people I love, the people that love me.

And pride is me doing my very best in everything that I do to create a safe space to help those who are trying to figure out how to love themselves.

And so I hope that I'm able to do that. Happy pride, y'all.

Anna DeShawn
Thank you so much, sis. Thank you so much, Latrice, for sending in that message of love. And let me tell you, you absolutely create those safe spaces for us. And I thank you for that.

All right, family, back to the news. This time, we're talking culture and entertainment. Bailey Ann Kennedy, congratulations. She became the first trans woman to be crowned Miss Maryland USA. Let me tell y'all what she said, and she posted this on Instagram. Not everyone has to agree with the spaces that you occupy, and it doesn't mean that you aren't worthy of these opportunities. The work that I will do for the remainder of my life is to make sure that children who feel like me will never have to worry about the consequences of being who they are by simply being myself and being a positive contribution to society.

I think what's really dope about this story, yes, Bailey is trans, and she's a beautiful trans woman, and she's the first to do this thing in Maryland. But what I really think is extra, extra special, like cherry on top of this beautiful cake, is that she's 31 years old, which is past the old age limit, which was 28. And so her platform for her reign as queen is beauty without an expiration date. I think that is hella powerful. So congratulations, Bailey. Congratulations.

Malia Arnold
Hey, my name is Malia Arnold. I'm from the south side of Chicago, down here in Inglewood.

Pride, to me, is a really powerful word. I think it's powerful because it can mean what we need it to mean. And what I mean when I say that is that I think in different eras, it's taken on different forms. Like, if you look back at Stonewall, I think pride was like a rallying cry for us to come together to resist oppressive systems that were meant to separate us from not being able to love on one another.

And some people might even say that's exactly what it means today, given the current state of world politics, and politics in the United States specifically. But it can also be a softer thing. I think pride can be a gentle affirmation for people and our youth to encourage them to continue to be themselves and to not be afraid to love out loud and, you know, to bring their entire authentic selves into the world. And I think that's a really beautiful thing. And for that reason, I think pride is probably one of the most powerful words that existed.

Anna DeShawn
Thanks, family. Are y'all enjoying these pride messages? I hope they are inspiring and uplifting you as much as they are me, and I can't wait to keep infusing them throughout the episodes this month. And thank you, my friend. Thank you, malia, for sharing your perspective on the word pride.

And for our next story, we just want to say congratulations. Okay. The Carter Cavassos. Okay. Our Carter e three radio thecube, our director of community partnerships, was just honored as windy City times 20, 24, 30 under 30 class. Now, this honor is huge here in the city of Chicago. Some of the most well known LGBTQ advocates were on this list. Windy City Times does an amazing job of uplifting young activists, artists, advocates in the movement, doing good work, and Carter has made the list. And we knew that about Carter already, but now a whole bunch of other people know that about Carter, too. And I just had to take time to say congratulations. Congratulations, Carter. We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you.

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 got a word. Because you already know Anna's always got a word. And my word for today is quite simple. It is gratitude. I sent out so many text messages to folks asking them to share a pride message with me, and we got four back in a week. I can't wait for the other folks to submit theirs as well. But I'm grateful for it that I'm grateful that I can put a call out and folks respect my work so much that they want to respond and share their heart and their feelings with you, that means a lot to me. I'm grateful for that. And then this past weekend, I had the opportunity to spend time with my wife and do work. Okay. And celebrate pride in DC. Washington, DC. We went to Capital Pride 2024 for the first time, and it was an amazing experience. Okay. We got to meet Billy Porter and Keke Palmer. We got to network with other content creators from across the country who are LGBTQ. Okay. Travel bloggers, lifestyle bloggers, us. We were there in the midst of it all, and we got to ride on the parade float with capital pride. And it was just an amazing experience. They curated a time for us to not only get to know DC and to celebrate pride, but to also get to know them, to get to know their communities and to see them celebrate in such a beautiful way. We had a time. I can't wait to tell the stories all over social and continue to share video and pictures.

But I want y'all to know this.

Their theme was totally radical, and I think that there's so much there to hold onto because it's that time. It's that time, family, where we have to start doing radical things to fight for our humanity.

And I've told y'all this before that I hope y'all are getting ready for the moment. I hope y'all are getting ready for that call.

All right? When it's time to go and do the work and to fight and to be totally radical and remember what our ancestors, our transesters, have done for us at Stonewall with act up. They weren't popular, but they did what had to be done. And so I hope that y'all are getting ready for that moment, because it's coming. It's coming. And let me tell you right now, I'm just full of gratitude. So, family, go out and have you an amazing week. Okay? And I'll be back next week. 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 Woodhall and brought to you by e three Radio and distributed on theCube. We are queer news. Done right.

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