Podcasts about queer liberation

An androgenous figurehead of a found family that refuses to grow up -- if you've never thought of Peter Pan in those terms, director Tina Romero is here to set you straight (er, in a manner of speaking). Tina also shares the ins, outs, and inspirations behind her feature debut, Queens of the Dead, which continues and reinvents a family legacy of zombie cinema (Tina is the daughter of the legendary George A. Romero). And as always, Jordan digs up all the connective tissue between all of the above.Then, Jordan has one quick thing about Nia DaCosta's new film, Hedda, starring Tessa Thompson. Feeling Seen is hosted by Jordan Crucchiola and is a production Maximum Fun.Need more Feeling Seen? Keep up with the show on Instagram and Bluesky.

Send us a textHey everyone, we have a super cool crossover episode with Lez Hang Out to hold y'all over until we're back from break!We hope you enjoy!!Lez Hang Out Show Notes!Title: 814: Serving Books with Queer Liberation LibraryDescription: When you join our Lez Hang Out family on Patreon you will gain instant access to 24 and counting full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of all our original songs, an invite to our exclusive Discord channel, and more! You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezmerch and by purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp.Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants you to read banned books!This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with academic librarian Amber and nonprofit witch Lindsay of the Queer Liberation Library (@queerliblib). The QLL got its start in 2023 and has since curated a collection of 2,715 unique LGBTQ+ ebooks and audiobooks accessible to anyone in the United States (regardless of zip code) for the low, low cost of absolutely nothing! Once you sign up (for free!), you will be able to check out ebooks and audiobooks from an ever-expanding collection through Libby. They have everything from popular queer adult fiction to LGBTQ+ poetry, manga, and children's books. In today's environment of book bans and censorship, projects like the Queer Liberation Library are more important than ever as they provide access to titles that local physical library branches may not be able to stock.We talk with Amber and Lindsay about how the Queer Liberation Library got its start, going from “7 friends in a trench coat” with a big dream to create a nonprofit to “7 friends in a trench coat” with an extensive, fully functional digital library. We also talk about how the curation process works, the intricacies of licensing restrictions on book borrowing, and all the little behind the scenes things that make the project possible. One of the best things about QLL is the accessibility. While there are already well-established physical libraries dedicated to LGBTQ+ books (and doing an incredible job!), they are not accessible for someone like a queer or trans youth with unsupportive parents or someone living in a more restrictive state where the physical libraries may have less ability to combat queer censorship. Digital collections like the one at QLL are lifesavers in these cases because they can be accessed for free from anywhere in the US, providing a way around any potential local physical barriers to access.You can join the QLL today and start borrowing books right away by going to their website. And if you do happen to live in a less queer-friendly location and are in any way nervous about being caught browsing the site, the QLL provides an easy exit button that redirects visitors to weather.com in the blink of an eye. Remember, you can give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster respectively.

The Indypendent's John Tarleton and Amba Guerguerian speak in the first half of the show with mayoral candidate and former Bronx Assemblymember Michael Blake who cross-endorsed Zohran Mamdani the previous day. In the second half of the show, we talk with Jay Walker, co-founder of the Queer Liberation March who previews this year's march and how the second Trump administration was shaping its message. Founded in 2019 on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, the QLM has become the radical alternative to the corporate-sponsored NYC Pride March.

Reframing Media Narratives for Queer and Trans Liberation with Marsha P Johnson's Story.  How Artists and Activists Are Reframing Media Narratives for Queer Liberation.SAVE THE DATE July 16th 7pm EDT:  Laura hosts an online conversation just for our donors. It's a chance to connect, ask questions, and hear what's coming up behind the scenes. Make a one off donation or become a sustaining member by making it monthly go to LauraFlanders.org/donate. This show is made possible by you! Episode Description: Activist and artist Marsha P. Johnson was one of the key founders of the gay liberation movement after the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, but it's taken years for her to receive recognition. On this special Pride Month edition of “Meet the BIPOC Press”, we're celebrating Marsha's life and legacy with two activists carrying her story forward. A new biography from Penguin House, “Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson” by our guest, Tourmaline traces Marsha's working-class beginnings to her work with sex workers and street activists, to her death in 1992. Qween Jean is a self-described “spiritual daughter” of Marsha and the founder of Black Trans Liberation. Explore how mainstream media coverage once excluded Marsha, and what's changed since then. We also unpack the media's coverage of transphobia and the recent ruling from Tennessee that restricts gender-affirming care for minors. In the face of extreme backlash and repression, how are artists and activists reframing media narratives for queer and trans liberation?“A lot of trans and queer people, especially here in New York City, that are asylum seekers that have had to leave other countries from persecution now find themselves in a place of purgatory . . . They can't even go to get a hormone shot because they're afraid. What if ICE is literally outside waiting for us?” - Qween Jean“Marsha knew that these conditions didn't get to determine how she felt about herself. No court, no Supreme Court, no police officer, no governor, no president . . . She was creating the conditions to remind herself and each other that we too get to feel beautiful and know our value firmly.” - TourmalineGuests:•  Qween Jean: Founder, Black Trans Liberation; Human Rights Activist & Costume Designer•  Tourmaline: Artist; Author, MARSHA: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson Watch the episode released on YouTube June 27th 5pm ET; PBS World Channel June 29th, and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast July 2nd. Full Episode Notes are located HERE. RESOURCES:*Recommended books:•  “Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson” by Tourmaline: Get the Book*•  “Revolution is Love: A Year of Black Trans Liberation”: Get the Book*(*Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. The LF Show is an affiliate of bookshop.org and will receive a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.) Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:•  Full Uncut Conversation:  Marsha P. Johnson's Queer Legacy Lives On: Tourmaline & Qween Jean on Trans Liberation  LISTEN•  Special Report- Power Grids Under Attack: The Threat is Domestic Terrorism – Not Drag Artists. Watch / Listen-Download•  Imara Jones: Countering The Anti-Trans Hate Machine:  Watch / Listen: Episode•  Holly Hughes & Esther Newton: How Queer Kinship Ties Help Us Survive: Watch / Listen:  Episode•  Beyond Disability Rights;  Disability Justice:  Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha Watch  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O'Conner. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Welcome back to The NERVE! Conversations With Movement Elders a podcast from the National Council of Elders featuring intergenerational conversations between elder and younger organizers about important topics in our movements today.  This episode features a conversation about the history of the rise of the authoritarian right wing in the United States, attacks on our archives and schools, and how we organize for a world beyond fascism.  This episode is hosted by Frances Reid (she/her) a member of NCOE and a longtime social justice documentary filmmaker based in Oakland, CA. Joining Frances in this conversation are: Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons (she/her) is Professor Emerita from the University of Florida. She is a Veteran of the Black Freedom, Peace, and Social Justice Movements from the 1960s until today. She was a student activist in the 1960s Sit-In Movement. Simmons was a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and its Project Director In Laurel, Mississippi for two years beginning with the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project.  Suzanne Pharr (she/her) is a southern queer feminist and anti-racist organizer and political strategist who has spent her adult life working to build a broad-based, multiracial, multi-issued movement for social and economic justice in the United States. Since 1980, Pharr has been tracking the growth of a US authoritarian movement and providing political education about its goals, strategies, and leadership.           Ashby Combahee (s/he/they) is a Black queer memory worker from the South. Ashby is a full-time librarian and archivist at the Highlander Research and Education Center and cofounder of Georgia Dusk: A Southern Liberation Oral History   Uyiosa Elegon (he/him) is an Edo organizer rooted in Houston, Texas. He is a co-founder of Shift Press, a media organization that provides training and news that encourage local youth civic engagement. To download a free e-copy of Suzanne Pharr's recently re-released book In the Time of the Right: Reflections on Liberation visit suzannepharr.com CREDITS: Created and produced by the National Council of Elders podcast and oral history team: Aljosie Aldrich Harding, Frances Reid, Eddie Gonzalez, Sarayah Wright, alyzza may, and Rae Garringer.

Here's your local news for Monday, June 30, 2025:We find out why victim service providers are sounding the alarm on the Legislature's proposed state budget,Join this weekend's Queer Liberation March,Share the local government's calendar for the week ahead,Hear a radical historian's take on Independence Day,Review two movies,And much more.

Madison's Queer Liberation march seeks to make Pride political again. We hear from participants at the June 28, 2025 rally. The post Madison Queer Liberation March Brings Politics Back to Pride appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

In this episode of LaidOPEN Podcast, I have an insightful conversation with activist and author Dean Spade about his extensive work in movements for queer and trans liberation, anti-militarism, and the abolition of police and prisons.  Dean and I discuss his new book titled 'Love in a Fucked Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell Together,' covering topics such as mindful practices for managing stress, the evolution of his book over nine years, and personal growth in relationships.  We also delve into the romance myth, decentralizing romantic relationships, and the importance of community support. Dean shares valuable insights and practices for generating internal safety and the importance of collective care in social movements.  This episode is an enriching dialogue aimed at anyone interested in social justice, personal growth, and transformative community practices.   Show Notes: 00:00 Introduction and Course Announcement 00:55 Introducing Dean Spade 02:01 Dean Spade's Book Journey 02:28 Healing Modalities and Personal Growth 03:05 Non-Monogamous Relationships 03:34 Challenges in Writing the Book 05:15 Self-Help Literature Critique 06:45 Emotional Awareness in Movements 15:27 Decentralizing Romantic Relationships 23:49 Self-Generated Safety and Belonging 31:40 Therapy Misconceptions and Realities 32:38 The Overuse of Pathologizing Language 33:23 Forgiveness and Self-Inquiry in Relationships 36:05 The Impact of Alcoholism on Relationships 37:28 The Process of Forgiveness and Healing 41:34 Sexual Trauma and Cultural Narratives 44:18 Transformative Justice and Community Response 49:52 Decentralizing Romantic Relationships You can watch this episode on my YouTube channel, just search LaidOPEN. Plus, I have free guided visualizations and a host of other tools and resources available to you there and on my website at CharnaCassell.com.

Support the campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/acidhorizon/vintagia-i-ching-oracle-for-psychogeographers-and-creatives"Living Currency" syllabus: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OeUT0XSZdIQ9VpgLaqjuw0sP3blJZySG/view?usp=drive_linkWhat happens when queer liberation becomes entangled with the myths of the nation-state? In this episode, we speak with Alexander Stoffel about his new book Eros and Empire, which traces the transnational roots of sexual freedom movements in the U.S. From gay liberation to Black lesbian feminism and AIDS activism, Stoffer shows how desire has been both constrained by and mobilized against imperial and capitalist systems. Together, we explore how a Marxist approach to desire can open new paths for solidarity beyond the boundaries of the bourgeois state.Eros and Empire: https://www.sup.org/books/politics/eros-and-empireSupport the showVintagia Pre-Launch: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/acidhorizon/vintagia-i-ching-oracle-for-psychogeographers-and-creatives Support the podcast:https://www.acidhorizonpodcast.com/Linktree: https://linktr.ee/acidhorizonAcid Horizon on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/acidhorizonpodcast Boycott Watkins Media: https://xenogothic.com/2025/03/17/boycott-watkins-statement/ Join The Schizoanalysis Project: https://discord.gg/4WtaXG3QxnSubscribe to us on your favorite podcast: https://pod.link/1512615438Merch: http://www.crit-drip.comSubscribe to us on your favorite podcast: https://pod.link/1512615438 LEPHT HAND: https://www.patreon.com/LEPHTHANDHappy Hour at Hippel's (Adam's blog): https://happyhourathippels.wordpress.com​Revolting Bodies (Will's Blog): https://revoltingbodies.com​Split Infinities (Craig's Substack): https://splitinfinities.substack.com/​Music: https://sereptie.bandcamp.com/ and https://thecominginsurrection.bandcamp.com/

In Part Two of our Queering Talks series with Dr. Jen Self, we will center the voices of those who have always led the way in liberation movements, claiming the spotlight for those who have consistently been “out in front” of struggles for justice, love, and equity, demonstrating that the margins have always been the source of radical change. Queering leadership is not just about reclaiming lost stories; it's about futurism — imagining and building new realities. Leaders who live at the intersections of power systems have long envisioned new possibilities and turned them into reality. They've led us beyond the dismantling of oppressive systems and into the creation of new spaces where power is shared, community is centered, and liberation is a lived practice. Queer futurism taps into the resilience and creativity of those who dream beyond the status quo, moving us from inclusion to transformation, and inviting us to build new worlds rooted in radical imagination and collective care. From the beginning, Town Hall has been a space for meeting the needs of our city—hosting concerts, book talks, and new ways to connect. This bold new series reimagines the traditional lecture format through a queer lens, challenging ideas about who speaks, who listens, and who is centered. Built around three themes — In Between (exploring fluid identities and spaces), Out in Front (centering changemakers leading justice and equality movements), and Always Been (highlighting the historic contributions of queer visionaries)—this series promises to inspire, expand perspectives, and celebrate inclusivity. Join us in sparking meaningful conversations and building a community that values growth and connection. Dr. Jen Self (they/them) is a therapist, educator, performer, and writer whose work lives in the third space—the liminal zone where identities, systems, and possibilities collide and transform. As the founding director of the University of Washington's Q Center, Jen reimagined what it means to create community healing spaces by centering a queer intersectional praxis. Jen knows that macro changes take place in our everyday decisions and actions. Their career spans decades of racial and gender justice work as a therapist, educator, strategist, program innovator, and truth sayer, navigating—and disrupting—institutions to make them more humane and transformative. Jen's current projects include writing everything from maps on napkins to a memoir, co-leading The Racial Healing Project, and co-creating the Queer Leadership Lab. Ariyah Jané is a Black Trans-Woman from Montgomery, Alabama. Deeply rooted in her diverse background, her artistry spans Musical Theatre, Gospel, and Blues. She has performed in celebrated productions like Ain't Misbehavin', graced the iconic stage of Carnegie Hall, and shared the stage with top contestants on the 2019 Sunday's Best Tour. In 2024, she released her debut EP, Dear Ariyah. Beyond her musical achievements, Ariyah is the founder and CEO of Muses and Moguls, a creative support network for independent and emerging artists navigating the challenges of the entertainment industry. She is a passionate advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community and focuses on public service, housing, and healthcare advocacy for queer and gender non-conforming individuals. Bryanna Jenkins (she/her) is the Policy Director at Lavender Rights Project. Ms. Jenkins received her B.S. from Morgan State University, her M.A. from the University of Baltimore, and her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law. Ms. Jenkins also published Birth Certificate with a Benefit: Using LGBTQ Jurisprudence to Make the Argument for a Transgender Person's Constitutional Right to Amended Identity Documents in the CUNY Law Review. Prior to law school Bryanna founded and led The Baltimore Transgender Alliance and organized the cities first Baltimore Transgender Uprising March in 2015. Bryanna is also the Vice Chair of the National Bar Association's LGBTQ Division.

Lez Hang Out is proud to be sponsored by Olivia, the travel company for lesbians and all LGBTQ+ women!  When you join our Lez Hang Out family on Patreon you will gain instant access to 24 and counting full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of all our original songs, an invite to our exclusive Discord channel, and more! You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezmerch and by purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants you to read banned books! This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with academic librarian Amber and nonprofit witch Lindsay of the Queer Liberation Library (@queerliblib). The QLL got its start in 2023 and has since curated a collection of 2,715 unique LGBTQ+ ebooks and audiobooks accessible to anyone in the United States (regardless of zip code) for the low, low cost of absolutely nothing! Once you sign up (for free!), you will be able to check out ebooks and audiobooks from an ever-expanding collection through Libby. They have everything from popular queer adult fiction to LGBTQ+ poetry, manga, and children's books. In today's environment of book bans and censorship, projects like the Queer Liberation Library are more important than ever as they provide access to titles that local physical library branches may not be able to stock. We talk with Amber and Lindsay about how the Queer Liberation Library got its start, going from “7 friends in a trench coat” with a big dream to create a nonprofit to “7 friends in a trench coat” with an extensive, fully functional digital library. We also talk about how the curation process works, the intricacies of licensing restrictions on book borrowing, and all the little behind the scenes things that make the project possible. One of the best things about QLL is the accessibility. While there are already well-established physical libraries dedicated to LGBTQ+ books, they are not accessible for someone like a queer or trans youth with unsupportive parents or someone living in a more restrictive state where the physical libraries may have less ability to combat queer censorship. Digital collections like the one at QLL are lifesavers in these cases because they can be accessed for free from anywhere in the US, providing a way around any potential local physical barriers to access. You can join the QLL today and start borrowing books right away by going to their website. And if you do happen to live in a less queer-friendly location and are in any way nervous about being caught browsing the site, the QLL provides an easy exit button that redirects visitors to weather.com in the blink of an eye.  Remember, you can give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod.  Find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster respectively. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're talking with QLL about who they are and what they do! Tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/queerliblib  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/queerliblib/?hl=en  Bsky https://bsky.app/profile/queerliblib.bsky.social  Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@queerliblib  Media mentioned https://www.queerliberationlibrary.org https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/queer-liberation-library-offers-free-lgbtq-books-response-wave-school-rcna156463 https://xtramagazine.com/culture/books/queer-libraries-book-bans-activism-255227 https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/library_sp/68/  https://www.gaycity.org/library-information/ Donate: https://givebutter.com/J9nhcW  Preorder The Emperor of Gladness (% of pre-order proceeds go to QLL): https://sites.prh.com/emperor-of-gladness/preorder/  

Tabitha! We're taking Carrie White to the prom with a look at Stephen King's first feature film adaptation: Brian De Palma's 1976 classic, Carrie. Up for discussion: debate over Carrie as Monster, a satire of religion, our love of Miss Collins, Pino Donaggio's score, and why Trace implores everyone to watch Chris' death scene in the 2013 remake. References: > Brant Lewis. “They're All Going to Laugh at You – Exploring the Queer and Trans Lens of Carrie.” Slay Away > Brandon Trush. “The Power of Identity and Queer Liberation in Carrie” Bloody Disgusting Questions? Comments? Snark? Connect with the boys on Instagram, BlueSky, Youtube, Letterboxd, Facebook, or join the Facebook Group to get in touch with other listeners > Trace: @tracedthurman > Joe: @bstolemyremote  Be sure to support the boys on Patreon!   Theme Music: Alexander Nakarada   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's guest is Lucas Wilson (he/him). Lucas is the editor of Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors' Stories of Conversion Therapy, which features personal essays written by survivors about their experience in Conversion Therapy (CT). Lucas is also a survivor of CT and this is the focus of our conversation today - his own personal journey as a survivor of conversion therapy, and his experience studying and knowing the experiences of other survivors. This conversation includes discussion of conversion therapy, religious trauma and mentions of sexual abuse. We also talk about what it means to heal and liberate after these experiences. About the guest:Lucas Wilson is a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Toronto Mississauga and was formerly the Justice, Equity, and Transformation Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Calgary. He is the editor of Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors' Stories of Conversion Therapy (out January 21st!), and he is the author of At Home with the Holocaust: Postmemory, Domestic Space, and Second-Generation Holocaust Literature, which received the Jordan Schnitzer First Book Publication Award. His public-facing writing has appeared in The Advocate, Queerty, LGBTQ Nation, and Religion Dispatches, among other venues. He is currently working on two interrelated monograph projects that examine evangelical homophobia and transphobia in the U.S.Pre-order Shame-Sex Attraction HERE.Instagram: @lukeslamdunkwilsonThreads: @lukeslamdunkwilsonBluesky: @lukeslamdunkwilson.bsky.socialTwitter/X: @wilson_fwLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-wilson-2a0753b1/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luke.wilson.96For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com and @secondadolescencepod (IG).

Lessons from Stonewall: Alison Thorne discusses Queer Liberation in an era of pinkwashing and rainbow capitalism.  First broadcast 7 June 2024 and edited for today's episode.  

This week we bring you our live panel featuring Vanessa Carlisle, PhD and Sydney Rogers, aka Miss Barbie Q, exploring the intersections of sex work, activism and queer liberation from Circa Queer Histories Festival. Our discussion explores the longstanding alliance between sex worker activists and queer activists, the ways activism shows up in queer and sex worker spaces, and combatting burnout in the fight for liberation.This panel was made possible by the One Institute. You can learn more about the Circa Queer Histories Festival at their site https://circafestival.org/Join us over at patreon to get videos of each recording and see our adorable pups or follow along on IG or TikTok.

Join Joe as he chats with Kieran Hickey - his friend and founder of the Queer Liberation Library! Kieran shares his inspiration behind creating the queer digital library, how you can become a member of the library, and all the ways you can support QLL. They also talk about the importance of Queer History Month and recommend a few gay books. You can follow QLL on Instagram! You can learn more about QLL here: https://www.queerliberationlibrary.org/ find resources and access info here: https://www.queerliberationlibrary.org/resources become a member here: https://www.queerliberationlibrary.org/members and, donate here: https://givebutter.com/J9nhcW Titles mentioned in this episode: Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly The Women's House of Detention by Hugh Ryan Blackouts by Justin Torres Readers can sample and borrow the titles mentioned in today's episode in Libby. Library friends can shop these titles in OverDrive Marketplace. Looking for more bookish content? Check out the Libby Life Blog! We hope you enjoy this episode of the Professional Book Nerds podcast. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! You can follow the Professional Book Nerds on Instagram and TikTok @ProBookNerds. Want to reach out? Send an email to professionalbooknerds@overdrive.com. Want some cool bookish swag? Check out our merch store at: https://plotthreadsshop.com/! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode Brian and Jeff celebrate queer horror. We explore how horror has become a space for queer expression, challenging societal norms and offering a unique perspective on both classic and contemporary horror.Our guest, Eric LaRocca, a popular and prolific author of queer horror, will join us to discuss:The Monster Within: How horror reflects our deepest fears and anxieties about identity and belonging.Queer Liberation through Horror: How the horror genre provides a space for queer individuals to challenge societal norms and express their identities.The "New Queer Horror": Exploring the emergence of queer horror as a genre and its impact on our understanding of monstrosity and normalcy.Join us as we traverse this transgressive landscape and discover the queer joy and horror that lies within.Poppy Z. Brite/Billy MartinRed X by David DemchuckGretchen Felker-MartinAlison RumfittHaley PiperClive BarkerSomething is Killing the ChildrenSleepaway CampDarren Elliott Smith and John Edgar BrowningThe Dumb House by John BurnsideThe Pillow Man Martin McDonoughDennis CooperIt Came From the Closet edited by Joe Vallese 

In this very special episode to launch Season 6 of The Art Career, we sit down with founders of BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY), Jasmine Wahi and Rebecca Jampol. We share this episode with the public just a day after the kickoff in Times Square to their cross country tour, in an effort to advocate for Trans Rights, Liberation and Queer Joy, bringing resources and materials and culture to folks across the nation!! BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY) is a cross-country exhibition tour inside a 27-foot Box Truck celebrating Reproductive Justice, Queer Liberation, and Trans Joy! We're bringing over 200 artists' works inside this truck to cultivate community coast-to-coast. The two-part endeavor (a traveling exhibition and an accessible digital database) addresses the importance of agency, autonomy, and choice when it comes to healthcare and individual identity. This project aims to create awareness, cultivate community, and engender support for bodily autonomy through art. This project emerges as a response to a relentless wave of conservatism that continues to politicize queer liberation and restrict reproductive & gender-affirming healthcare. The overarching message of this program is broadening awareness of the right to Safe, Legal, and Accessible health care that allows us to live in our power and choice. Rebecca Pauline Jampol is an arts educator, gallery director and independent curator and co-director of Project for Empty Space based in New York City and Newark, New Jersey. Jasmine Wahi is a curator, arts educator and the Founder and Co-Director of Project for Empty Space, a nonprofit organization in New York City and Newark, New Jersey. Project for Empty Space (PES) is a multifaceted arts organization in downtown Newark, NJ, and downtown Manhattan, NY. PES is a woman-run, femme-powered, People of the Global Majority/BIPOC, Queer, and unapologetically radical ecosystem for creatives. Today, PES provides safe, equitable spaces for artistic innovation and complex public engagement by supporting artists whose work is oriented toward social discourse.  

Joni chats to Nova Sobieralski from Queer Liberation Boorllo about upcoming rallies calling upon Labor to finally implement the reforms to discrimination and ID laws that were promised to the LGBT+ community since taking office in 2017.

This week my friend Jenna DeWitt returns to the podcast to discuss two songs - "You're Losing Me" by Taylor Swift and "Faith" by Selmer - and exploring them in detail, in relation to their respective messages about queer liberation and owning your gender and identity. We breakdown the lyrics of each song and discuss them in depth, and Jenna gives great insight into the deeper meaning of these songs, how they've impacted her, and how they can speak to us too. We also touch on how despite one piece of art being labelled 'secular' and one more overtly, 'Christian', both can impart equally powerful messages about these issues.

Mary continues her conversation with Season 12 contestant of RuPaul's Drag Race and the national co-chair of Drag Out The Vote, Brita Filter for The Politics of Disability Pride series.The two discuss anti-LGBGTQIA+ legislation, voting, lack of access to voting, lack of accessible social media, and more.Drag Out The Vote is a nonpartisan, nonprofit that works with drag performers to promote participation in democracy. You can learn more about it here.The Politics of Disability was named Best Interview Podcast at the Astoria Film Festival in both October 2022 and again in June 2023.

In part one of the initial interview for The Politics of Disability Pride series, Mary sits down with Season 12 contestant of RuPaul's Drag Race and the national co-chair of Drag Out The Vote, Brita Filter.The two discuss mental health, advocacy, voting, voting rights, Pride, the lack of accessibility when it comes to Pride events, and more.Drag Out The Vote is a nonpartisan, nonprofit that works with drag performers to promote participation in democracy. You can learn more about it here.The Politics of Disability was named Best Interview Podcast at the Astoria Film Festival in both October 2022 and again in June 2023.

In this episode of the Psychedelic Medicine Podcast, Wilhelmina De Castro, LCSW joins to discuss the ways psychedelics may be used to support goals of queer liberation. Wilhelmina is a psychedelic therapist in the San Diego area and serves as a DEI officer for Integrative Psychiatry Institute. She is also lead faculty for the Psychedelic Research and Training Institute and is committed to creating access to psychedelic healing for historically marginalized populations.   In this conversation, Wilhelmina discusses the major topics at the intersection of psychedelic healing and queer identities. She shares her own journey of how psychedelics helped with self-discovery and acceptance of her queer identity, discussing the ways these substances can help gender and sexual minorities step outside of forms of normativity that are enforced in the culture. She also discusses creating safe spaces for queer folks where they can access psychedelic healing with facilitators and other participants of a similar background. In closing, Wilhelmina reiterates the continuing issues of access and trust queer people face in the current psychedelic landscape, emphasizing the significant work which must be done to improve this situation.    In this episode: How psychedelics can help with self discovery and self exploration What inspired Wilhelmina to begin working professionally with psychedelics Creating spaces for psychedelic healing tailored to queer-identified people Dealing with microaggressions in the context of a psychedelic retreat Working with a therapist or facilitator who shares a queer identity The queerness of psychedelics   Quotes: “When I began to explore with psychedelics, there were moments of this connection beyond… the way I was socialized or conditioned to think was normal. I was able to just be myself [and] found that this attraction and this embodiment that I was feeling was actually where I was supposed to be.” [4:41] “Psychedelics can be really helpful in challenging, in questioning, in dissolving those oppressive narratives that keep people oppressed, that keep them from accessing their liberation. And so if we can do this consciously, and if we can do this in a safe space where harm is not perpetuated, then we actually have this beautiful opportunity for collective liberation” [14:25]   Links: Wilhelmina's practice, Integrate  Integrate on Instagram Integrative Psychiatry Institute Psychedelic Research and Training Institute Queering Psychedelics: From Oppression to Liberation in Psychedelic Medicine SoundMind Institute Psychedelics and Identity Initiative Queer Psychedelic Society Psychedelic Liberation Collective Previous episode: Psychedelics and the LGBTQIA2S+ Community with Dr. Angela Carter Psychedelic Medicine Association Porangui

June is Pride Month, and while it is celebrated worldwide, the increasing anti-trans and LGBTQ+ hate continues to be a concern. In this episode, we will explore the intersection of queer liberation and anti-militarism. I will be joined by my co-organizer at CODEPINK, Tim Biondo, and we will listen to a clip from a Seattle town hall called Queer Anti-Militarism: Trans Liberation, Not U.S. Invasion at the Barnard Center for Research on Women. If you're in Washington D.C., join CODEPINK and partners as we march in the Capitol Pride Parade on June 10th. If you're not, bring anti-militarism messaging to a Pride Month event happening near you!

Echa Waode, the general secretary of Indonesian LGBTQIA+ organisation Arus Pelangi, speaks on the fight for queer and trans rights in Indonesia, including the recent criminalisation of same sex sexual activities. Special thanks to Ari Tampubolon for translating!Mani Blü drops in to share her latest track ‘Nightmare'.Queer Palestinian activist Fahad Ali speaks about Israeli pinkwashing during Tel Aviv Pride, and queer liberation in Palestine. Check out the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign.Songs:Only U in the End by Umbra MoonDwell by OdetteNightmare by Mani BlüRound & Round by Mani BlüPangaea by Stev Zar

'Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary' is out this week, wherever you get books. patreon.com/toshiom has upcoming book events. Nice things people have said about the book: I'm so thrilled everyone gets to see what I see every day in Miss Major Speaks. Miss Major has shaped the world in countless ways from Stonewall to today, by being her unruly, fabulous self, leading communities, making time, and caring for and keeping her girls going. Lucky us to live in a moment where she is radiantly shining her light unto us all through this book! – Tourmaline The extraordinary insights in this book, always punctuated by Miss Major's razor-sharp wit,  allow us to understand how liberation movements for trans, queer and other routinely marginalized people can hold the most emancipatory potential for all. – Angela Davis Miss Major Speaks is the rarests of gifts, like sitting at the feet of a wise, no-fucks-given elder, listening to her testimony, and being fortified by her brilliance. This book is a monument to the life's work of Miss Major and the liberation movements she's shaped. It reminds us that we are all we got and that is plenty. – Janet Mock    

Find AC @acfacci on twitter Find Matt at MattHorton.LIVE Art by Scout (https://ko-fi.com/humblegoat) Music by Ethan Geller (@pragmatism on Twitter) New Intersections: Queer Futurism and the Krakoan Body Politic by Sinead Kinney Houseofx.org's recap of book 4 of House of X. This has some photos we talk about in the episode. 00:00 - Can't Let X-Men Go 00:43 - Our history with X-Men 06:08 - House of X and Powers of X 22:17 - Krakoa 31:56 - Best friends doing best friend shit 31:59 - A fantastic aside 33:41 - Krakoan culture 35:57 - Resurrection 53:22 - Xavier and Magneto as metaphor? 1:04:28 - Dear Ryan Coogler... 1:07:27 - The inevitable Fall (of X) 1:14:57 - What's next? Find out more at http://cantletitgo.gay

SHE'S BACK!!! And holy balls is this conversation juicy AF.If you're newer to the pod, Jordan Shomer (she/her) is a friend, colleague and our very own resident astrologer. Jordan is a Queer Jewish intuitive astrologer who recognizes the patterns and puzzles of astrology and synthesizes them into stories that land on your heart. She believes that within the map of the stars lives a blueprint to healing and guidebook to growth. She is passionate about holding space for you to greet yourself in all your cosmic glory. And f*ck me, is she pure magic. Every time we have Jordan on, I get full body chills. And in preparation for todays episode, I listened back to the episode we last did in December 2021 and when I tell you every. thing. that. she. predicated. came. true. And in true to form of our previous episodes, I got hella fucking emotional and am brimming with gratitude for this conversation, and I know you will feel it too. And learn SO much about what's to come and where we're moving from as a collective, so you can come home to yourself as the uniquely beautiful individual you are.Things we talk about in todays episode:owning and embodying our intuitive witchy selvesyour sun, moon and rising signs in astrologysetting boundaries and navigating the patriarchal culture in our intimate relationshipssaturn returns, what to expect, and how Amanda's coincided with the downfall of her marriagestanding in your power and coming home to your wholehearted selfanti-capitalism, what to expect astrologically speaking in 2023, finding the magic in the mess, breaking the binary, some personal updates & beyond CONNECT WITH JORDAN:Jordans Instagram | Newsletter Book a reading with JordanMoon gatherings ADDITIONAL RESOURCES MENTIONED:Fucking Queer Merch - use code QUEERDO for 15% off Jordans previous episodes: episode 76, episode 111 The 7 spiritual laws of success by Deepak Choprah Alok V MenonAll About love Thousand Miles (feat. Brandi Carlisle) by Miley Cyrus WORK, SUPPORT & CONNECT WITH AMANDA:Fucking Queer Merch — 100% of proceeds from now through the end of Pride Month will go towards the LGBTQ+ charity/organization the community chooses Amanda's Instagram | Website | Tik TokAmanda's book, I Chopped Off My TitsPatreon to support the pod Join her email list for free curated playlists and very occasional gifts & announcements in your inbox

Ahmed Sadkhan (The Healing Khan) is a queer activist and life coach specializing in inner alignment and inner child work.  He is Lebanese-Iraqi and grew up in Berlin; during this episode, Ahmed discusses the work he has done internally and externally to examine the pieces of himself and his identities that have yet to receive needed care.  Ahmed also talks about the work he has done with others to help them along their healing journeys, the ways he has contributed in the collective aim for queer liberation, and more. You can follow Ahmed on Instagram @TheHealingKhan, and check out his…

Regular readers and listeners know my passion for cleaning my local park, Washington Square Park, and how my heart breaks at how we abuse this sliver of a vestige of nature, especially the mornings after the Queer Liberation Marches of the past two years.As an organizer, Jay didn't have to respond to my request, but he did. By the end of this recording, you'll hear us talk about reducing waste next year. We begin by talking about the evolution of the pride marches from when he started attending in the 1980s. He describes them becoming more corporate, less participatory, but most of all, controlled by the cops, not necessarily helping the march. The cops often seem like they're just dominating parades; all New York City parades, not just this march. As a New Yorker, his description struck a chord. His split with the older march sounds almost heartbreaking.Then we talk about the mess attendees created. I point out that nearly everyone identifies ground and waterway waste as sanitation issues, but I see them as too-much-supply issues. We talked about collaborating to reduce the waste people bring and buy at the event. For decades, if people brought things to marches and parades, they didn't leave plastic garbage behind. If they did, not nearly in the quantities of today.It may not seem fair for people to have to decline buying trinkets and bottled water when they just want to have fun, but attendees before cheap, abundant plastic enjoyed parades as much as today. I expect there will be more fun if we communicate to next year's attendees to refuse disposable anything.We also did the Spodek Method and you may be able to tell from the picture I used how it went before you listen to our second episode. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 151: Queer Liberation Means Decriminalization, Demilitarization, Decolonization.

Co-Chair of GAPIMNY-Empowering Queer and Trans Pacific Islanders, Jason Wu, joins Zerlina on the show to discuss Pride Month and the intersections between API + Queer and Trans identities!Jason Wu is a co-chair for GAPIMNY-Empowering Queer & Trans Asian Pacific Islanders, a queer and trans AAPI organization based in NYC that focuses on community building, political education and mutual aid. Wu's writing on abolition, intersectionality, and social movements has been published in Teen Vogue, Truthout, Gotham Gazette, NY Daily News, and more. Jason is also the Attorney-in-Charge of The Legal Aid Society's Harlem Community Law Office.About GAPIMNY:Founded in 1990, GAPIMNY is an all-volunteer, membership-based community organization with the mission to empower queer and trans Asian Pacific Islanders* to create positive change. We provide a range of political, social, educational, and cultural programming and work in coalition with other community organizations to educate and promote dialogue on issues of race, sexuality, gender, and health.

OK catches up with fan favorite fourth mic Joey De Jesus (@DeJesusSaves) to talk Pride month, gossip about NYC local elections/budget woes, and the trap of Puerto Rican statehood. Would you join the Queer liberation army? There’s gonna be sparkly maces involved! Also we’re leaning into groomer, it’s gonna be a whole problem. The establishment … Continue reading "163 – Groomer Pride w/ Joey De Jesus"

Inspiriert von einem anderen Podcast (Generation Dings, um genau zu sein) dreht sich heute alles um Musik. Was hören wir so, welche Texte bewegen und uns was hören wir zum einkaufen gehen? Und natürlich wird nicht nur drüber geredet, sondern auch eine dazu passende Playlist mit nichts als BANGERN erstellt. Ab sofort für euch verfügbar (auf Spotify). ERWÄHNUNGEN: Unsere Playlist „Das ist eine Playlist, krass“ - https://spoti.fi/3xqGwf1 Royal Blue Film Adaption - https://out.com/film/2021/10/03/red-white-royal-blue-getting-live-action-film-adaption Daniela Katzenberger - https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Katzenberger BUCHEMPFEHLUNGEN PRIDE MONTH: Matthew Riemer, Leighton Brown „We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation“ (2019, Penguin Random House) https://tidd.ly/3zqrPd9 * Casey McQuinston „Royal Blue“ (2020, Knaur Taschenbuch) https://tidd.ly/3xb886y * HIER FINDET IHR UNS: YouTube Kanal - https://bit.ly/3gZPoQp Buchempfehlungen - https://bit.ly/2Z7wb9r Playlist - https://spoti.fi/3xqGwf1 Kat - https://instagram.com/katcomatose Zora - https://instagram.com/ichbinszora Spotify Bewertung - https://spoti.fi/3CvfClu Apple Bewertung - https://apple.co/2NX1rBW Email-Kontakt: londoncallingpodcast (at) googlemail (dot) com *Affiliate Links (Thalia)

You have the power to demand inclusion, dignity, and respect 365 days a year because you can take your purchasing power elsewhere.But don't sit in silence with your decision to support LGBTQ+ businesses or allies.☞ Read the full article here.**********As a queer thought leader, neuro-coach, writer, and podcaster, Darren Stehle helps LGBTQ+ creators and change-makers develop their self-mastery and go from confusion to making an impactful difference in the world. 

Coming into queerness later in life. Kink dynamics. Going from monogamy to non monogamy. Abusive relationships. Sex parties & beyond.All of that, and so much more, is explored in Rachel Krantz's book: Open, and I'm not lying when I tell you I devoured this book in the span of 24 hours and immediately reached out to have Rachel (she/her) on the podcast to get into the nitty gritty of it all — and this conversation does not disappoint. TW: emotional & psychological abuse, manipulation, gaslighting & self gaslighting, power dynamicsIf you're unfamiliar with Rachel's work — she's a journalist and one of the founding editors of Bustle, where she served as senior features editor for three years. Her work has been featured on NPR, The Guardian, Vox, Vice, and many other outlets. She's the recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Radio Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award, and the Peabody Award for her work as an investigative reporter with YR Media. Open is her first book.And I imagine not her last — or at least, I certainly hope not ‘cause damn, it's pretty fucking incredible, and from a personally selfish perspective, so damn refreshing to have a first person, tell all memoir around the rollercoaster that is navigating the early days of queer liberation and non monogamy. I know so many of you have been waiting for this episode so let's get the fuck to it.CONNECT WITH RACHEL / READ OPEN:Snag your copy of Open: An Uncensored Memoir of Love, Liberation, and Non-Monogamy Rachels Website | Instagram | TwitterLook out for Rachels future podcast: Help Existing ADDITIONAL RESOURCES MENTIONED:Donate/Support to Abortion Funds Sign petition to defend Roe V. Wade Greedy by Jen WinstonWORK & CONNECT WITH AMANDA:Peer support sessionsPatreon - join her “close friends” list on Instagram at the $5+ levelAmanda's book, I Chopped Off My TitsAmanda's Instagram | WebsiteJoin her email list for all the important things / monthly announcements

Historian Hugh Ryan joins Zerlina and Jess on the show to discuss his new book The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison, out on May 10! This singular history of a prison, and the queer women and trans people held there, is a window into the policing of queerness and radical politics in the twentieth century.The Women's House of Detention, a landmark that ushered in the modern era of women's imprisonment, is now largely forgotten. But when it stood in New York City's Greenwich Village, from 1929 to 1974, it was a nexus for the tens of thousands of women, transgender men, and gender-nonconforming people who inhabited its crowded cells. Some of these inmates—Angela Davis, Andrea Dworkin, Afeni Shakur—were famous, but the vast majority were incarcerated for the crimes of being poor and improperly feminine. Today, approximately 40 percent of the people in women's prisons identify as queer; in earlier decades, that percentage was almost certainly higher.Historian Hugh Ryan explores the roots of this crisis and reconstructs the little-known lives of incarcerated New Yorkers, making a uniquely queer case for prison abolition—and demonstrating that by queering the Village, the House of D helped defined queerness for the rest of America. From the lesbian communities forged through the Women's House of Detention to the turbulent prison riots that presaged Stonewall, this is the story of one building and much more: the people it caged, the neighborhood it changed, and the resistance it inspired.Hugh Ryan is a writer and curator. His first book, When Brooklyn Was Queer, won a 2020 New York City Book Award, was a New York Times Editors' Choice in 2019, and was a finalist for the Randy Shilts and Lambda Literary Awards. He was honored with the 2020 Allan Berube Prize from the American Historical Association. In 2019-2021, he worked on the Hidden Voices: LGBTQ+ Stories in U.S. History curricular materials for the NYC Department of Education.

Award-winning writer, activist, and media strategist dedicated to Black transgender liberation Raquel Willis joins Jess on the show to celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility & discuss the past, present and future of QTBIPOC rights!More about Raquel Willis:Raquel Willis is an award-winning writer, activist, and media strategist dedicated to Black transgender liberation. She has held groundbreaking posts throughout her career including director of communications for Ms. Foundation for Women, executive editor of Out magazine, and national organizer for Transgender Law Center.Her writing has been published in Black Futures by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham, Bulgari Magnifica: The Power Women Hold edited by Tina Leung, The Echoing Ida Collection edited by Kemi Alabi, Cynthia R. Greenlee, and Janna A. Zinzi, and Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha Blain. She has also written for Essence, Bitch, VICE, Buzzfeed, The Cut, and Vogue. During her time at Out, she published the GLAAD Media Award–winning “Trans Obituaries Project.” In 2023, she will release her debut memoir, I Believe in Our Power, about her coming of identity and activism with St. Martin's Press. Raquel is a thought leader on gender, race and intersectionality. She's experienced in online publications, organizing marginalized communities for social change, non-profit media strategy and public speaking while using digital activism as a major tool of resistance and liberation.

We interview Ani Kayode Somtochukwu on #ENDSARS, Nigerian Refugees in Ukraine, Neocolonialism, Marxism, and Queer Liberation in Nigeria. Ani is the founder of QUEST (Queer Union for Economic and Social Transformation) in Nigeria. Follow Ani here: https://twitter.com/Kayode_ani

Mardi Gras Season is upon us so this week on All The Best we're asking the question, 'what does queer liberation look like?' Our first story is a rerun from early 2018. In the months following the marriage equality plebiscite Ange talks to different LGBT+ people about their relationship with labels. 'Call Me Ange' by Angela Glindemann Producer: Angela Glindemann Supervising Producer: Bec Fary Sound design: Lee Yee and Amy Hanley Our next story comes from SPUN, a live storytelling event in the Northern Territory. 'My Birthday' by Teddy Suphannabutt Written and performed by Teddy Suphannabutt Supervising producer: Johanna Bell All The Best credits Production Manager & Host: Danni Stewart Editorial Manager: Mell Chun Episode Mix and Compile: Danni Stewart Social Media Producers:  Emma Pham Community and Events Coordinator: Lidiya Josifova See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode summary I am honored to welcome Gurchaten Sandhu to our show. He is a Non-Discrimination Programme Officer at the International Labour Organization's (ILO) Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch. Alongside their B.A. (HONS) in Economics and MSc in Development Economics, their passion for social justice has led him to focus his efforts on promoting the principle of non-discrimination in employment and occupation. Over the past 16 years, Gurchaten has built His expertise and knowledge on promoting social justice through quality, decent and inclusive work for all, in particular, to enhance LGBTIQ+ rights at work and economic inclusion. He also finds the time to volunteer as President of UN-GLOBE, the group representing LGBTIQ+ staff in the UN system. As its President, HE works to ensure the voice and rights of LGBTIQ+ staff are represented in UN policies and procedures. He also serves as a committee member of the International Family Equality Day NGO, advising on non-discrimination based on family status in the world of work, a fellow of the Salzburg Global LGBT Forum, a Sarbat LGBT Sikhs volunteer and a Board Advisor for We Create Space. Gurchaten is listed as the OUTStanding Executive LGBT Role Model for three consecutive years from 2018 to 2020, an Honouree of the Out & Equal's 2021 Global LGBTQ Corporate Advocate Outie Award as well as the winner of the British LGBT Award for Exceptional Inclusion 2021. We are on a mission to eradicate the scarcity mindset from our planet. Will you join us? Everyone is invited to join our Facebook group, The Financial Mystics Sanctuary https://www.facebook.com/groups/financialmysticssanctuary If you are a gay, trans, or bi man looking for a safe place to examine your negative thinking about money, let go of the false narrative of the scarcity mindset, and step into your powerful creative queer nature, join our Facebook group; Financial Heart Space For Gay, Transgender, and Bisexual Men. https://www.facebook.com/groups/financialheartspace If you are an LGBTQI Refugee living anywhere in the world, please join our Facebook group, Empowering Queer Asylum Seekers/Refugees with Abundance. https://www.facebook.com/groups/empoweringqueerrefugeeswithabundance Thanks for Listening: Thanks so much for listening to my podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribing to The Podcast: If you want to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You can also give Speak'n the Truth About Money a follow on your favorite podcast app

If you look up the word “radical”, you'll find definitions for its noun- and adjective-based usages. Marvin Toliver, MSW, LCSW, embodies both. He's a self-respecting bisexual man of color who refuses to bear the crushing weight of racist, capitalist, heteronormative systems. Instead, Marvin advocates fiercely for marginalized folks and won't accept anything less than complete liberation and revolutionary social change.  Radical Therapy Center is a group practice where folks with marginalized identities are prioritized. The trauma-informed care is focused on liberation not only for their clients but for anyone whose identity is stigmatized (and worse) by the colonial philosophies governing our daily lives––that goes for many therapeutic environments as well. Melanated Social Work, the group Marvin co-founded with three Black and Brown therapists, is yet another way he's bringing radical change directly to marginalized people, bypassing the “wellness” structures that cause them intentional and covert harm.  Radical change takes root when everyone has space to grow into the genuine expression of who they are. Marvin sees his challenges, coupled with his privilege, as a bridge for folks routinely excluded from conversations about self-love and transformative healing.  GUEST BIO Marvin Toliver, MSW, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker born and raised in Oakland, CA. He is a radical therapist, radical educator, consultant, guest lecturer, and dope human. For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: http://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places... Website: www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoundedHealr/ https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartTherapy/ Instagram: @headhearttherapy Twitter: @WoundedHealr @HeadHeart_Chi

Guest Austin of BanexBramble joins us this week to talk about plant spirits, earth based ritual, and dance as centered roles of his magic practice. In our exploration we touch on my favorite definition of witchcraft, that of Queer Liberation.  How can witchcraft be used as an embodied experience to bridge the gap between being Othered and Free? How can we explore the lines of madness in order to embody the other more fully? In what ways do song and dance allow us to more deeply connect with spirit? All these questions are explored, and we even found some time to talk about magic ritual and othering in the classic horror film Susperia. So join us as we move about the chthonic and wild spaces of the Other lands, and how they can be explored to liberate and exalt both the self and all lands here and in between.  To find more on Austin, check out his Instagram and Twitter @banexbramble. Check out his website www.banexbramble.com to find out more and maybe book a consultation, commission occult based art, or purchase magic materia. To find more on SaturnVox, check out the Instagram and Twitter, as well as out website www.Saturnvox.com where you can read our blog or book a divinatory reading.  Special thanks to Jules M. Dooley, multidisciplinary artists and traditional astrologer based in New Orleans, for creating the original music used on this podcast.  To support the show, please consider signing up for the Patreon, where blog content and behind the scenes videos are posted monthly. 

After 135 days Other Titles Considered b Special Show Links: Valedictorian Pulls Switcheroo on Commencement Speech https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2021/06/lake-highlands-high-valedictorian-pulls-switcheroo-on-commencement-speech/?fbclid=IwAR3enZAFou9MyZILc-8Tp4IGPrTGzGUWLgqAaGbSTXSFmdRqjrfvN9IwizA Simone Biles should be praised, not punished for achieving a feat that was deemed impossible https://www.salon.com/2021/05/26/simone-biles-yurchenko-double-pike-gymnastics-scoring/?fbclid=IwAR20LjT_Fof4ZhipyM1s4WxAZswl4KY6l8s8AIPwGB42fwL0titiLud2u6A Queer Liberation, Not Rainbow Capitalism: A Reading List https://www.leftvoice.org/queer-liberation-not-rainbow-capitalism-a-reading-list/ What Rebekah Jones saw behind the scenes at the Florida Department of Health https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article251838913.html Subscribe to the podcast: via YouTube via iTunes via TuneIn via Google Play via Spotify Music: 78 & 45 archive: https://archive.org/details/georgeblood SFX: http://soundbible.com/ Purple Planet http://www.Purple-Planet.com Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OMRPodcast/

Josie talks about their journey to queerness, reclaiming their Latinx heritage, uncovering their authentic self through their Fertile Essence, and their mission to recenter queer, trans, and non-binary folks in reproductive healthcare. Welcome to the Intersectional Fertility Podcast. 

Hello. Hope February has been treating you well.In the second and concluding part of Gelek's conversation with Lama Row Owens, they speak about the loss of magic and exploring Indigeneity (01:25); holding space for anger and violence in creating justice and peace (09:05); the weaponization of niceness (20:55); bodies, movement and breathing in the time of a pandemic (22:40); and more.If you missed part one of the conversation, click here.Episode notesLoss of magic and exploring Indigeneity. [01:25]Loving our anger. [03:56]What Black History Month means to Lama Rod. [06:15]Holding space for anger and violence in creating justice and peace. [09:05]Discussing police, prison abolition, political systems and institutions in dharma teachings. [15:29]Weaponization of niceness. [20:55]Bodies, movement and breathing in the time of a pandemic. [22:40]Lama Rod's current and upcoming projects. [26:30]Interview transcriptYou have a chapter towards the end of [Love and Rage] where you speak about the loss of magic. Yeah, that's part of my Indigenous work right now. This is work that I hope to present in the next couple of years—me connecting more to my African as well as Native American ancestry, and putting all of that in conversation with Tibetan Buddhism. For me, again, it's a synthesis of what's being created. I think “Love and Rage” was a good beginning step to demonstrate how I am transitioning into this space. As an American Black person, my Indigenous spiritual practice is hoodoo. Hoodoo derives from the practice of Africans coming on to the West, meeting Christianity, and developing the system of philosophy, ritual magic and so forth. It's so related to tantra and Vajrayana in Tibetan Buddhism. I wanna understand how I can synthesize that even more so that it's more authentic for me. I remember years ago, Rinpoche [Norlha] was talking about the magic of Native Americans. He was saying, “Native Americans were so strong that they survived genocide.” It really struck me when he said that. For me, that was just the way he recognized the validity of this community of people. He respected Native American gods and spirits. When Kundun [HHDL] makes his trip to North America, he always makes it a point to also have representatives or emissaries from the local First Nations or the Native communities to meet with them and speak with them. I always find it beautiful how there are these patterns of elemental rituals that's consistent across hemispheres, cultures and Indigenous communities. I am reminded of, for instance, the whole myth or idea of how Buddhism was propagated by Padmasambhava [in Tibet], and him having to clash with nagas and deities. It's very fascinating to actually look into those things, and I'm really excited for this project that you are undertaking. The title of the book itself, I was curious about that. When you placed “Love and Rage” in that order, was that intentional?Yeah absolutely. The title came first before the content.Like not “Rage and Love,” but “Love and Rage.” Was that intentional?Yes, because love holds the rage. Love leads. So, when I talk about this conversation between love and rage, it's not a fight. It's more about how love is holding the space for our rage to be there. Love is the container that holds everything. If there is no container of love then that rage actually becomes an expression of violence. “My anger is like a living being I am in partnership with.” And then a couple of pages later you say, “Loving our anger invites it into a transformative space where it emerges as the teacher.” That's so profound. I wonder if you can expand on that a little bit.That's rooted within the teachings around the manifestation of the guru. How the guru is manifesting in the phenomenal world. One of those manifestations of the guru is through emotions. Once we pay attention to the emotion, the emotion is actually trying to teach us how to be in relationship with it. For so much of our lives, we tend to be overreacting and running away from our emotional reality. But to turn our attention back to something like anger, we begin to hold space for it and to experience it, that experience begins to teach us about the nature of emotion. And of course the nature of emotion is the nature of the mind itself. Once we realize that, the guru emerges in that moment.You're saying anger can be a vessel that helps take us to the ultimate reality.Well, anything can take us to the ultimate. The nature of the whole phenomenal world is of one essence. So if we recognize the nature of that phenomena—an emotion, an object, an idea, whatever it is—it unlocks the nature of all phenomena, and that opens us right into the ultimate.Does Black History Month hold significance for you?That's a good question. It doesn't hold significance for me because I feel like I'm always celebrating my history and culture. It's not relegated to one month—the shortest month of the year, by the way. I just think that we have to establish a culture where we're celebrating all the parts of our history; all the different groups and communities that have helped shape the world. We should have knowledge and an appreciation of that. And yes, I understand that there are histories that have been so silenced that we have to create and designate these periods of time to bring attention to it. But I really want to take it to a point where we don't need to have a special time to think about these things. That it just happens naturally. That we think about Black folks, Asian American communities, queer history, Native American history… where we just know that. And we don't. There's so much history that has been erased.This is different from how some people then take that other approach where they say, “I don't see race. I'm colour blind.” You're not saying that at all. You actually have a passage—I can't find it right now—in your book where you affirm and celebrate the different histories, traditions, lineages that we embody. Yeah, I see differences. I love that. Again, it goes back to the teachings of the mind. I can hold space for everything and notice everything. And I can look at the ways in which I have fixations on certain things. I can examine that. That fixation may also mean prejudice. It may mean resistance to certain things. I can look at that and hold space for it and allow it to be this immense amount of openness. We can hold all the difference in the world but the problem is our relationship to that difference. Is that relationship one of opening and acceptance or is it one of restricting and defining and pushing away?And asserting power.And asserting power, absolutely. Because we're fixated on our sense of self and ego, right? But there has to be space for it too.Spaciousness is another theme that's quite prevalent in your book. Early on in your book, you say (in speaking of anger): “In activist communities, our relationship to anger is immature, ill-informed and overly romanticized. We manipulate anger as a false sense of energy and inspiration.” The first image that came to my mind when I read that line is the burning of the 3rd Precinct building of the Minneapolis police department shortly after the killing of George Floyd. For me that was such a powerful, revolutionary emanation of what activism means but also what taking back justice means. Do you think your line and that image are in contradiction?I think that one of the things—and this is a really subtle, nuanced argument—that I'm always trying to push for, particularly with activists, is knowing what you're doing, and not just reacting. If you're gonna burn a building down, know that you're burning it and know that you're doing this in order to hopefully trigger freedom, liberation. Not just cause you're pissed off. I know that's a very nuanced thing. Our holding space for anger and reacting to anger may actually look like the same action. Often I'm trying to avoid violence, but at the same time, sometimes violence has to be expressed in order to reduce greater forms of violence. And so I'm not a 100 percent non-violent person. I think violence can be used skillfully to reduce other kinds of violence and harm. So we have to know what we're doing and why we're doing it. The use of violence has to be skillful. And of course people push back, but then I use this example of like, if you have a child and someone runs up and grabs your child, are you going to stand there? Are you gonna do whatever you can to get your child back in that moment?We all have the capacity to express violence. Every being on this planet has been violent in some capacity or another. What I'm arguing for is can we skillfully use that violence to reduce other forms of violence when we need to. Dr. King said, “Riot is the language of the unheard.” I think that's important for us. And then, when something needs to be destroyed, can we critically say, OK we're going to do this? Not out of hate and anger, but out of this need to be heard; to disrupt certain systems that are increasing harm and violence for others.This is perhaps my own Tibetan neurosis surfacing where I feel like non-violence tends to get weaponized, funnily enough, in how we are meant to come to terms with our traumatization and our oppression. It also operates through respectability politics, where the idea is that if you conduct yourself civilly or in a way that's appropriate, that somehow it elevates your dissent over others. I think it's very timely or relevant that you quote Dr. King because I'm reminded of his quote where he says, “True peace is not merely the absence of tension. It is the presence of justice.” That piece, again, gets easily paved over when those in power talk about non-violence or of being peaceful but miss the whole context of justice. And I think that in itself is actually a form of violence.I totally agree. I think in the west, the teachings of non-violence have been so over emphasized because it comes through a culture of dominance. You're already at the top, you actually have the privilege of being peaceful and practising non-violence because you're not fighting for basic resources. And that's what I have to struggle with in white, western Buddhist convert communities. I have to be conscious of what it means to be Black, particularly a Black man in the south right now, because my life can be at any point in danger depending on where I'm at, who I'm talking with, etc. At no point do I not know that I'm Black, and can be killed because I'm Black.You say, “My anger is the single greatest threat to my life.” I think that's a very skillful way to demonstrate that it's not about you being Black that's the greatest risk for you, but it's actually anger.Well, it's the anger and how my anger creates a mirror for dominant culture. I am angry because I've been hurt through systematic oppression. So I'm not angry just because I'm Black. That's not an aesthetic of Blackness. It comes from systematic woundedness and oppression.It's also a very convenient trope for those in power as well to then misconstrue that anger and say, oh just another typical Black person who's angry. So you're constantly having to navigate these very discombobulating experiences and then to comport in a way that makes you feel more agreeable. But that's not actually true to how you experienced whatever you experienced.Exactly. And that kind of trope is just another way that we are raised, that lived oppression. “Oh you're just complaining. You haven't pulled yourself up by your own bootstraps.” This another mythology that white, American individualism has created that further disciplines us and marginalizes us.Do you try not to bring in present-day politics into your teachings or is that something you let is come and go as it arises?It's so funny you mention that. [Norlha] Rinpoche was so political. He would talk about politics in public teachings all the time.Like American politics?Oh yeah. In my teaching, I'm much more interested in systems and institutions because I think those lie at the heart of politics in general. For me, particularly in America, it's not about the two-party system and democracy. There are deeper issues that we actually have to begin to name for ourselves. That's where I want the teachings to be. It's not about who's the president, it's why they're the president. What is the system that gives rise to certain people having power and others not? And we can use dharma to do that. Absolutely.Do you change your tack in any way when you speak about these issues in the context of a dharma teaching, depending on the audience, or do you keep it consistent?Yeah, it does depend on the audience. It depends on what country I'm in—that's a huge thing. The age of folks—when I work with teenagers it's a different energy as opposed to adults. Is it a BIPOC community? Is it mostly a white group? That all determines how I show up. But I think that mostly I show up in spaces where people are pretty much politically aligned with me. And that's the trick here. We're all excited about Trump being out of the White House, but let's go deeper now. Let's talk about what it means to be revolutionary and radical, instead of being centrist and liberal. Let's talk about how dharma is actually pushing us more towards being revolutionary rather than being conservative. It's about everyone getting free; everyone getting the resources that they need to be well and happy. It's very socialist. That's how I talk. That's the dharma that I use. Let's talk about what it means for the people that you don't even like to be free to have the resources that they need.For me, just over the past couple of years, my awareness and understanding of things like prison and police abolition has been way higher than it used to be. And I think it would be so amazing if the dharma community cohered around that. I feel that prison abolition is an incredibly complex thing that challenges all kinds of different notions about what we mean when it comes to justice, reformation, rehabilitation and forgiveness. I don't see a lot of that happening in my limited perspective of the dharma community and I'm really glad for people like yourself who are speaking on those things. Have you noticed a change in the tenor of those kinds of discourses?I think, for the most part, people are much more educated than they were in the past about mass incarceration, for defunding the police. Climate change, interestingly, is a really safe space for people to get progressive in. [laughs] That's like very neutral.Greta Thunberg and the Dalai Lama! [laughs]Oh yeah. American Buddhist communities: environmentalism, yes! But you start talking about mass incarceration…Wealth redistribution…Oh my god. That's when you run into it. Racial justice. It gets sticky because we're not linking all this together. If you're about justice for the environment then you have to be about justice for people and the most marginalized. This is why I love this kind of philosophy of liberation theology that we get from progressive Christinanity. God is on the side of the most oppressed. We have to bring some of that knowledge and language into dharma. We have to understand that oppression has to be something we disrupt for everyone.That is the calling.That's the calling. Dharma is about the liberation of people, even when we're the ones who are doing the oppressing—that dharma will actually have to deal with us. And again, we're not interested in that. We're not interested in being held accountable, hauled out, or any of that. Until that starts being a thing, it's like we're going to maintain this level of comfort.You have a piece in your book about niceness, where it's just about making people feel comfortable but not progressing any further than that.Yeah, exactly. Somehow niceness is dharmic—that's what we're supposed to do—when the fact is it's just weaponized. That's the first thing I noticed when I started going to sanghas: everyone's so nice. Then when you start talking about issues of inclusivity—cause I was the only person of colour in my early sanghas, period—people shut down. Then another kind of nice emerges where it's like, “You don't have to think about that, Rod. We're not a racist sangha.” It's like the movie “Get Out.” It's like a Jedi mind trick where I literally had people actually turn the teachings around and say, “Rod, you're too fixated on identity.”We're all Africans is another one I've heard.Right. That sounds great. This is why I've survived all of that, I went through it, and now I'm in a different space where I need to commit to creating new communities where we're not having these one-on-one, intro conversations about race. We need to start living and embodying inclusivity and radicalism in this moment, on this spot. How do we do that? It's not about having the conversation; it's about living it and doing it right now.The final piece I want to touch on is about embodiment: all the different ways that you've studied it, how you've related to your body and those of others as well, especially in the context of the pandemic that we're currently situated in. How has your relationship to your body evolved?For me it's like a deepening relationship to all the ways my body shows up. Even this past year I've noticed how when one aspect of my body is off, it impacts all my other bodies. When my subtle energy body is out of balance I'm physically and emotionally unwell. It's hard for me to connect to others. Even with my physical body, being static and so stationary for a year I feel the impact of that. I also feel the impact of all the vicarious trauma physically. I know that particularly this year so much of my work is going to have to be about getting back into the body—even my yoga practice I haven't been really doing. Moving and working energy through the body is going to be incredibly important for all of us. The body is necessary for us to process and metabolize trauma, and movement is a part of that. And also breathing, which is a key piece throughout your practice. I was thinking about how we're in a pandemic of a disease that affects the lungs and I wonder if you had any thoughts on that. About people who may have contracted COVID, or know people who did, and how that affects the act of breathing, and can be an incredibly destabilizing thing. Breath, as you've enumerated many times in the book, is one of the foundational pieces on how we first process all the different energies, right?Yeah absolutely. Even in general, I think breath is really tricky for a lot of folks. I've had to over the years had to develop ways for people to re-approach the breath. Even now, looking at a pandemic that's really affecting the lungs, one of the practices that I've been working with people is kind of like a tonglen practice—this taking and sending practice. As we're breathing, imagining that we're breathing on behalf of so many folks who can't breathe. That's gonna direct us deeper into the fear of all of this as well. We have to open our minds to the reality that people are dying because they can't breathe, not just through the pandemic but through social oppression as well. Breath has been a part of how police have attacked Black folks.I can't breathe, a slogan from a few years ago.Absolutely. All of that. Breath is important. Breath is life. We know that very intimately in the practice. Breath carries life force. So we just want to breathe and add this energy and I guess do emotional labour of acknowledging that we can breathe on behalf of so many people who are struggling to breathe. That way we stop taking our breath for granted.Thank you. Before we wrap up, can you please give us a quick rundown of the things you're working on right now and looking ahead to?I have a bunch of different events coming up through February and through March. All of that information can be found on my website. I'll be also developing some content for the Calm app over the next few weeks so I'm excited about that. I'm being introduced to the Calm network so if people subscribe to Calm, please check that content out. Are you also working on a book?I am working on a book. I am kind of in the process of figuring out what area or topic I want to go with; I have a couple of different ideas. I will say that over the summer we will be introducing a brand new course on grief and using a lot of the practices from Tibetan Buddhism and some practices from my own Indigenous practices as well. Creating something that's going to help people work through what I call the brokenheartedness of not just this past year but the grief of our lives in a way that hopefully will be really powerful and meaningful.We've lost so much ritual because of the lockdown just around grieving and mourning. I know that in many Black communities and churches, funerals are actually a social thing, with lots of spectacle and pomp. It's also true in Tibetan communities. We actually have 49 days of people gathering in homes and chanting daily. All of that has not been in play, unless you are actively contravening lockdown measures. I think that also speaks to a very special kind of isolation, especially in the moment of when you're losing someone. So thank you so much for putting that together. I think it's extremely timely.Thank you. I appreciate this.—lamarod.comInstagramTwitter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit agoodrefugee.substack.com

Losar Tashi Delek and Happy Lunar New Year!In this episode, a Good Refugee Podcast speaks with Buddhist teacher, activist and writer Lama Rod Owens on a wide spectrum of topics covering spirituality, silence and power (06:55); how class, race, wealth and justice intersect with Buddhism today (12:35); sexual abuse in dharma spaces (26:56); drawing boundaries between the teacher, student, sangha and social life (29:38); and mental health (40:00).This is part one of the conversation. Listen/read part two here.The full transcript of this interview is posted below, lightly edited for clarity and flow.BioLama Rod Owens is a Buddhist minister, author, activist, yoga instructor and authorized Lama, or Buddhist teacher, in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism and is considered one of the leaders of his generation of Buddhist teachers. He holds a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist Studies from Harvard Divinity School and is a co-author of Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation, and Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation through Anger.Lama Rod will be hosting a seven-week online course and practice group based on his book “Love and Rage.” It starts on February 15. Sign up here. lamarod.comInstagramTwitterEpisode notesMaking sense of these times. [02:30]How “Love and Rage” fits in this moment. [04:20]Meditations on silence and power. [06:55]The evolution of activism and dharma from when Lama Rod first began. [11:18]How class, race, wealth and justice intersect with Buddhism today. [12:35]Sexual abuse in dharma spaces. [26:56]Drawing boundaries between the teacher, student, dharma and social life. [29:38]Seeing the teacher as a mirror to your own wisdom. [32:58]Understanding mental health from Buddhist, western and Indigenous perspectives. [40:00]Interview transcriptLama Rod thank you so much for joining us. Welcome. Tashi Delek!Thank you so much.Where are you speaking from?I am speaking from Atlanta, where I just relocated to. This is traditionally, historically the land of the Muskogee people and the Cherokee people. But I am originally from Rome, Georgia, so this is like returning home.And how are you doing at this moment?I'm ok. I'm a little tired, but for the most part, mentally I'm feeling clear, open and fluid which is really wonderful.Has it felt like lately there has been a much more ramped up conversation or discourse about existing and how to make sense of these times?Yes, oh absolutely. I think last year the beginning of quarantine and the pandemic really forced people to do intense discernment about exactly what they were doing in their lives. The beginning of the quarantine reminded me of my years in my three-year retreat where everything just kind of shut down and I was just really holding space in one place for an extended period of time. That kind of holding space for me always triggers this deep kind of contemplation and discernment about what my work is. Last year, I think a lot of folks just started waking up and realizing that they had to start making different decisions and choices about how they were living their lives. And of course, on top of that, the world continues. We continue to live within systems and institutions that are creating violence for a lot of different people. So we were having to negotiate racial injustice, economic injustice, climate instability [while] at the same time negotiating a pandemic. A lot of folks started waking up to the reality of these harmful systems.When you first started [Love and Rage], you wrote that there was this moment where you were giving a talk with your co-author of Radical Dharma [Rev. angel Kyodo williams], and there was this Black gentleman who spoke about anger, and that was kind of the genesis which started your writing of Love and Rage. When was this around?2017. Before that I was really avoiding writing a book on anger. I wasn't really interested. But at that event, where this young Black man was just like, “What do I do with anger? How do I choose happiness?” I really realized that this would be an important teaching to offer. When you locate yourself back to that time in 2017 and how things just unfolded from that point on—understanding of course that so many of the injustices and violent things that we've witnessed and experienced have already been happening for many decades—and then this year has been such a collision of all those injustices. And then of course we have the pandemic. As I was reading through the book now, so many of those things were almost prophetic in some ways. Was that a realization that you had to also reckon with?I will say this: my experience as I was writing that book was an experience of feeling as if I—it's hard to articulate. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I felt like I wasn't talking about what was happening in the moment of writing the book. And this is why I didn't really think the book was that interesting. When I wrote it, I was like who's gonna actually resonate with this because I don't think it's actually talking about anything that's happening now. On top of that, the book was supposed to be out much earlier than last summer [2020]. It was supposed to be out the fall of 2019 and I couldn't meet the deadlines for getting the drafts in. I kept missing all these deadlines. Classic writer's dilemma.Exactly. Finally, my publisher was like, you have to get it in at this date or we have to push it back like a year. And so I made that deadline and when the book finally was published a year later, then it kind of landed within this current… well, apocalypse.June 2020.Yeah, I had no idea. Absolutely no idea that 2020 was gonna be the way that it was.Silence, which I know has been an important piece in your practice, is a recurring theme in the book. It also coheres with how many of us have lived in isolation throughout this pandemic. Is that something you've meditated on length and spoken to others about?Yeah absolutely. For me, quarantine was something that I knew how to do because of retreat. And quarantine was something the majority of folks didn't know anything about so I just felt like I was coming home to an old practice. For me, silence is also about stillness. A lot of folks didn't have the privilege of being in the space that felt still and quiet. Many folks were kind of bound together in family units and other roommates and other kinds of living arrangements where it felt very crowded and intense and stressful. But even in that kind of stress and crowdedness there's still this incredible way we can touch into this stillness within all that movement and constriction. So I've spent a lot of time meditating on silence itself and trying to understand what silence is. I'm really influenced by the work of Audre Lorde; she talks about silence and the transformation of language. For me what I began to understand is that silence helps me to understand language and all the different ways we communicate.If I may quote a passage from [Love and Rage], you say, “The transformation of silence into language is the migration from captivity into freedom or even the migration from invisibility into visibility. However, freedom and visibility come with the burden of confronting all those who don't want you to be free or seen.”What I read from that, and understand from you, is you also wrestling with the complexity of silence and how that can also be weaponized on those who are oppressed into being silenced. Can you please expand on that?I think about another quote from Zora Neale Hurston who, among many things, also wrote “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and she has this quote where she says, and I paraphrase, if you don't speak, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it. So that weaponization of silence is really about how silence is used to erase people and then to replace that erasure with a narrative that's much more comfortable than the true reality of things. And so, I was doing two things: I was trying to figure out how to move into language as an act of liberation. And secondly, I was trying to figure out in my practice how to use silence to communicate as well. That's where we talk about the weaponizing of silence. It's like, yeah we silence people but in my practice I wanted to be empowered in both silence and language. I wanted agency to choose the best way to be in the moment. I think silence, when we're conscious, intelligent and aware about it, can speak even louder than words or language.I think that's a very keen insight, especially when you pair silence with power and the notion of agency as well. You cite specific examples in your book of how silence can just be another form of abuse. You also make it a point to mention your root guru Norlha Rinpoche and how all that episode played out. How even in those instances silence is another one of the ways that people not only perpetuate violence but also delusion. Was that a piece that was intentional for you when you speak of silence? Yeah absolutely. I think that also silence is something that when we get to a certain agency, we choose because that silence—in a really complicated, complex situation, particularly in the case with my teacher—was the best choice to make for me personally.Have you noticed changes both in the spaces of activism and the dharma communities from when you were first starting out? Have you noticed any tangible differences, just even in terms of discourse?I think one of the shifts that I've noticed is that there are more resources that tend to expand the discourse. More of us are writing and speaking out, which is actually deepening the subject matter of what we're talking about. So I think this idea of justice and the practice of justice has expanded quite a bit for a lot of sanghas, particularly around inclusivity and sexual misconduct. I think there have been, over the past five years, such intense—I hate to use the word scandal but—real situations in sanghas that have created a lot of harm. From Shambhala to Rigpa to Against the Stream (these are the major ones), my monastery, Palpung Thubten Choling, people are aware of the potentiality of certain kinds of violence and injustices happening in their communities.I grew up in a Buddhist surrounding; both of my parents are very devout Buddhists. It's a tradition that is deeply instilled in me and I feel like it's almost part of my being. I can't quite extricate myself from it even though lately I've grown quite disillusioned with it. Disillusioned in the sense that I feel Buddhism is kind of devolving into this very individualistic pursuit of just finding a way to be a little bit more at ease with your existence and minimizing suffering—which is completely valid. But I find that people get too engaged in that and they lose the larger justice based framework of Buddha dharma, which I find to be much more compelling and also authentic. You speak on that quite often in your book. Is there an evolution in that discourse that you've witnessed?Absolutely. I think what's happening is that there are teachers like me who have decided to step outside of lineages and institutions to create the communities and sanghas that we most want to see. I'm no longer a reformist. I used to be a reformist.Can you explain what that is?I believed at one point in my teaching life, practice life, I can just change the sangha that I was in. That I could bring these issues of justice, inclusivity, ethics and so forth and try to transform the community to be based on these values. Over time I realized how difficult that was. And so I kind of transitioned into this space of being much more of a visionary and innovator. I just really started practising creating the communities that I want to see instead of super investing in communities to transform them. This is a better use of my time and energy.I had to make some really hard decisions about leaving a lot of sanghas to do this work of creating communities that are justice informed and ethically based. A lot of our communities, specifically here in the west and United States for instance... the convert, white western communities weren't really thinking about justice and ethics. They were just thinking about practising and feeling better and I think that has created a foundational sangha culture [in the west] which people are really attached to; [people] who will fight really hard to keep a foundational culture which is just really a culture of comfort and avoiding conflict. A culture that lacks transparency. And so when we bring up the idea of justice—it's not that people are opposed to justice; they're opposed to being uncomfortable. People can get with justice, people want accountability, people want to be safe, people don't want to be victims of violence. I think that's a universal desire. But when we talk about disrupting comfort in a culture people specifically created to be comfortable in, that's the issue. That's when justice becomes a problem. Whenever Buddhist teachers say stuff like in western societies, there's an excess of materialism… and I'm like, you can be more specific and say rich white people. That kind of specificity I think has been lacking, and for me, my contention is that it continues to lack. There is this invisibilizing of people, even in western spaces, who don't conform to that identity. There's obviously a breadth of people from different backgrounds and ethnicities, but also in terms of class, ability, sexuality...we're losing that granular aspect of it and I think that speaks to a great loss of how Buddha's teachings are then transmitted.The idea of a practitioner early on, particularly in the west, was of a white, educated, resourced person. That's still the stereotype of a practitioner now. Even a Buddhist is like a white person, not an Asian person, or anyone of any other racial background even though we have like the Dalai Lama, who's like an icon—everyone knows who the Dalai Lama is. Many people have never met an Asian Buddhist practitioner, quite honestly, but a lot of folks know white folks [laughs] who walk around chanting with dharma names and wearing whatever. So when I came along, it was obvious that to be a practitioner was to somehow assimilate into a culture that actually erased much of my identity: my queerness, my Blackness. Back then, my economic class was erased. Class was actually one of the harder things for me to deal with. I just didn't have endless resources to do retreats, to do teachings and to always offer money for everything. I felt super alienated and resentful to be in a path where money was always the thing that people operated from. And of course I heard all kinds of excuses and reasons why we have to charge [people] and to an extent I get that. But it's still really restrictive for many of us. So now as a teacher I've made a commitment to try to make everything as accessible as possible. Economically, ability-wise… just trying to invite as many people as possible into the work that I'm doing and then challenging myself to make it even more accessible. But basically, I make it accessible by just being visible. People look at me and say, oh you're a Buddhist. Not only are you a Buddhist, you're a lama. Which I don't even [understand]—how did I make it through this system to get this title? And knowing that there have been many lamas before me, even a couple of Black lamas, who haven't had the level of visibility that I've had. I am a majority of people's first Black lama that they've ever met. I'm the first one to have pushed through in this kind of public space and I mostly did that by stepping around lineage because quite frankly a lot of teachers are encapsulated within the lineage. The lineage can be quite competitive, it can be hierarchical, and I just never felt a part of that so I stepped out and created this whole other kind of, I don't know, path into teaching.You were being a punk.Yeah. Well, my teacher Lama Norlha Rinpoche, that was one of the things he told me to do. This older Tibetan master was like, “I'm not Black. There are people that will not listen to me but they'll listen to you. So you should go and try to do that.” That was one of the wisest things he ever told me. I have friends with Tibetan teachers who would never have heard that from their teachers. My teacher was like go out into the world and do what you feel is most skillful. I would go back to Rinpoche and tell him what I was teaching—justice, sex and all kinds of stuff—and he would be like, fine, whatever. Going back to your point about some of the different teachers who, for reasons that are sometimes beyond their control, don't quite include the concept of class in how they build their sangha—I think that partly informs some of my resentment towards rinpoches and tulkus. They'll speak grandiloquent things about how people are just too obsessed about work and earning money and that they should be less materialistic. Well that's easy for you to say because you don't have to worry about paying bills. A single mom who's working in a factory shift or is a healthcare provider… they don't have time to think about these things. So that's kind of situating Buddha dharma squarely within the confines of course of a capitalistic society. I think this also speaks to your persistent theme of earth, of grounding yourself.Right. Wealth has always been a factor in Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism has been a feudal system. A lama is like a lord [laughs]. When I talk to teachers in other traditions, I have to communicate that when I say I am a lama, I have this incredible agency and autonomy. You get the title and you can do whatever you want. There is no accountability. Traditionally, if I were in a feudal system in medieval Tibet, I would be in a monastery or go off, claim territory, build a monastery, collect wealth from the local village and then maybe I'll be recognized as a tulku. Wealth just begins to accumulate life after life and it keeps getting transferred into my reincarnation so it becomes this system of wealth transfer.Isn't that so bizarre?It's so bizarre! I mean there are all kinds of sophisticated ways that have been created to make sure wealth stays within a particular line of succession. There are present rinpoches who are incredibly wealthy—millions, billions of dollars, but we don't talk about that at all. I have such animosity towards the accumulation of wealth in that way.I remember in my early days of going off to retreat, I would have to get financial aid. A week-long retreat may be $1,500. That was impossible for me to afford. That's what I made in a month. So I would always have to get these hugely reduced retreat fees and in those days, [in order to get that discount] I had to work during the retreat. So it creates this class of people who are actually beginning to serve those who are more resourced. I resented that. I resented having to clean during retreat because I didn't have the financial resources. It wasn't ever framed in a way of like, “oh this just a service that we're offering.” Only the poor people had to do this. It would have been much more intuitive if everyone had to do it.A lot of teachers now in retreat centres are structuring work in a way that everyone has to do work to help run a retreat. But back in those days, it was just the poor people, who were usually the young folks or the people of colour. Whenever I see large gatherings of Tibetan Buddhist teachings and the lama is seated high on a throne, usually very ornate and with a slate of attendants around… mostly him, it's always a him—there's not a lot of Tibetan women Buddhist teachers—and I would think it would be so revolutionary if that rinpoche who was doing the teaching made it a point to be level on the ground. To be level with the people seeking his teaching or wisdom, and to actually serve the people. I don't think I've seen anything like that.Sometimes my teacher would cook and serve. But I think also the other part of that is the communities also really intensely force this kind of…Veneration. That's true.Yeah, veneration. I know that early on—of course I experienced this on a very very small level—at the beginning of my teaching in my sanghas, I felt that pressure to be a certain way. To wear certain things and accept certain kinds of devotion, which I eventually resisted. It really, over time, influenced me to leave these intense communities altogether. I just think that people find a lot of comfort in that kind of veneration and I think there are teachers—doesn't matter their background, Tibetan or westerner—who actually don't have the capacity to hold that level of devotion that people are expressing towards them. As I often say there are a lot of teachers, and this is extremely the case for Tibetan tulkus, where they've actually never had a chance to figure out who they were outside of a monastic institution. So they get recognized, get swept up into a system where they are actually being abused—emotionally, physically and sexually. And then they mature into adulthood and they have this incredible shadow side which is all this stuff, this material, that they've never processed and developed because they bypassed all of that. One of the reasons why we have these intense scandals with all these teachers is because they're trying to get their needs fulfilled within a community where it's inappropriate for those needs to be fulfilled. And also the notions of boundaries, things like agency and where someone is coming to you with authentic needs versus projections—that's a skill, like you've said. A lot of it is the skill of discernment that you develop through the course of living and when that part of your life has been excised, swept up in this tradition of tulku and the teachings and the abuses, that all gets very distorted.Everyone's a victim in the way this system has been conceived. I would say that it's important for me in my teaching that I resist these forms of veneration because I want to live a life, and to have a teaching life and to be a teacher where I'm just really honest about my life. As a teacher, you have to know that I'm also queer and that I have these beliefs about sex positivity and relationship and dating and sex… I want that to be transparent. I don't want you to ever assume that I'm like a monk. I actually get really offended, and a little scared when people from other spiritual paths relate to me like a monk. I'm like, you can't do that. You can't do that because I don't want you to assume something that isn't true. It's important for me to be truthful about how I show up in the world as a teacher. It's also a form of fragmentation in a way, right? Which is again something that you're quite persistent in your book about it being a delusion that we need to remove and liberate ourselves from.Yeah, well it's the distinction that we make between the public life and the private life. The private life becomes the shadow life. So you have these people who have these intense, devout and sacred public lives where they're really wonderful and great. They're saints. And then in their private life they begin to engage in certain desires and appetites that are not in line with their public self. I think that that's what creates the struggle and the tension within sanghas. It's that tension where teachers aren't allowed to bring their personal and public lives together and it's not accepted by the sangha. It's also different though from how you explicate in the book about your need to differentiate your sangha and the people who look up to you versus your own community of friends and sexual partners. You make it a point to keep those groups discrete, right?Absolutely. Even when I'm on a hookup app and people recognize me [there] that becomes a really important space for me to set boundaries, to say this is who I am, this is what I believe in. Depending on how this relationship goes, it's going to be a different relationship. Are you going to see me as a teacher? If you do then this other stuff isn't going to happen. And that happens. If you're more interested in me as a teacher then I can show up as that. But it can't be this mixed thing because you have to keep those roles really separate and different.If there is any binary that you subscribe to, I guess that would be one of the few ones.Yeah, absolutely. It's just getting clear about what you want. And it's not to say that I haven't had partners who've also seen me as a teacher. But they've seen me more as a partner and a lover than as a teacher, and that's been really important for me to differentiate in that way. It's just about being clear. I think it's easy to kind of get addicted to the power that being a teacher offers you. That's really where it gets messy in romantic situations. Are you into me because I'm a teacher or are you into me because you're attracted to me?Oh that's such an incredible tension or struggle. Because I can easily imagine so many times someone coming to you for guidance and that need and that projection and love and everything gets wrapped up and then that can easily become sexual. So it's important for you to make it very clear from the outset that that's a hard line that you want to maintain.I also have a very natural, built-in safeguard—which I think is just a result of very good, virtuous karma from past lives—this intuition that I have which is that I know what people are like, why people are approaching me, or why they want to be in a relationship with me. If people just see me as a teacher or a guide, I get completely turned off, sexually. It just naturally happens. I get really resentful, actually. That's part of the safeguard that people would rather see me as a teacher than as this person that they want to get intimate with. And that's a very different feeling than someone coming to me who wants to be with me romantically or as just a friend. It's a whole different energy and I've just learned how to identify that. I've been in many spaces, casual and informal, where people recognize me and I can tell which way they're gonna go. Sometimes [someone] will go, “oh it's Lama Rod. That's cool. I'm not interested in what you do but you're cool.” On the other hand, it's like “oh you're Lama Rod. Can you teach me on the spot about something?” And I usually say no. [laughs] That's not why I'm there.You write in your book that when you first met Norlha Rinpoche, there was this very incredible energy that you sensed within you and that intuitively told you that this is your teacher, in one form or another. I wonder for someone who's perhaps seeking a teacher and who has that same kind of emanation of energy, what is your guidance on how to make sense of that energy and secondly, making sure that you then don't project it in a way that becomes unhealthy and makes you prone to being manipulated or abused.Well, it's different ways I want to answer that. Beginning with: how do we make sense of the feelings that we experience around certain teachers? For me, when a teacher opens up something inside of me, I see them as my teacher or one of my teachers. Because they have this incredible capacity to do something. To create this opening for me to do work and to understand dharma deeper. And so I take that person as a teacher. When we have those experiences I encourage people to see them as these invitations to move deeper into their own experience. I think all a teacher is doing is reflecting your wisdom back to you. They're just mirrors and they're pointing us back to these parts of ourselves that we're discovering for the first time. I think the misconception is that somehow the teacher is doing something really extraordinary and special. That somehow the magic is with the teacher. I mean yeah there are incredibly powerfully realized teachers, but really, particularly in Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhism, the teacher is a mirror that points us back to our own wisdom, clarity and mind. So that's what you're experiencing, it's just your self for the first time. I've had that [experience] so many times. Of course I've had to learn what that was. At the beginning, I was like, oh this teacher is powerful and they're doing something. No, they're actually just pointing back towards me and saying, look! You're just like me, if you can just realize that. And if you trust that to take those people as a teacher in whatever way feels appropriate.Another way to think about this, from the perspective of students, is I think it's really easy to lose agency within relationships with very realized folks because we feel as if we don't know anything. It's a very [infantilizing] relationship, where we become children. At my monastery, it was like we were all the kids and Rinpoche was like the dad. No decision could ever be made without consulting Rinpoche, but that was the culture. That's Tibetan Buddhist culture because again the rinpoche, the abbot, is like the head of the manor, the king, the lord. And of course as someone who naturally distrusts authority I came into that really resentful. I was like, yeah of course I wanna ask Rinpoche about my personal practice but I don't think Rinpoche needs to be consulted about the colour of curtains you're going to put in the library. [laughs] I mean I just don't think that's necessary and I just got turned off over time by that kind of deference, that kind of, oh we can't do anything without his consent. And so I was interested in agency; I wanted to make my own decisions. Again, my relationship with Rinpoche was him always reminding me that I have agency. I think partially he did that to get me out of the way. [laughs] To get me out of the community after I was authorized, to get me into the world. It's hard and complex because I needed to be in the world. I wouldn't be here, if he didn't send me away. He dissuaded you from taking a second three-year retreat.Right. He was like, no. [laughs] He was like, “just go out into the world. Do something. If you still want to do the [retreat] after a bit, come back and do it.” Once I got into the world, I realized that this phase of my life was over, this retreat phase. But yeah, agency. I think this is a part of how we're going to cut through abuse between teachers and students. For us, as students, to remember our agency, to remember that we can make choices. If something doesn't feel comfortable, we have a right to say no. And then as a teacher—because I'm both a student and a teacher so I'm always flipping back and forth—my job is to make sure my needs are fulfilled outside of spiritual communities, and teacher student relationships. That I have other spaces that I have created in order to express different parts of who and what I am. I tell teachers all the time, you need to have friends who aren't Buddhists. [laughs] Like you need really messy friends. I'm gay, queer… so I have really messy queer friends who are really catty, and really superficial and some of them are really selfish, but all really loving. So I take refuge in those communities. I'm not Lama Rod there; I'm like one of the girls. In that space, among my friends they're like, “yeah, whatever. We see what you do. We see how you're doing it but we're here just to have fun and spend time with each other. You're not here to teach us.” And I have friends who were very clear about those boundaries, and those were very hard to hear initially because it sounds like they don't give a s**t about what I do. But instead, they're saying “we respect what you do, but you're not the teacher here. You can be the teacher somewhere else, but here you're a friend.” So we have to find those spaces and create them. That will make us a better teacher. So I can go into spiritual communities, sanghas, whatever and I'm not forcing that community to meet all of my needs, which is how traditional monastic communities are established. All the needs, even sexual needs, are being met in ways that are not articulated but are known and experienced by almost everyone within an institution.The other thing I thought about when you spoke about the need for setting boundaries, having agency and all that, is also about being true about your state of mental health. In many ways the Buddhist tradition has means of addressing those. But in other ways I also feel like there's this externalizing of it, where it feels like if you just pray on it, chant on it, meditate on it… that will hopefully find you some measure of relief. You were very deliberate in your book—you've actually outlined various different practices to deal with anger, contentment etc.—but you also state that if you need medication, therapy... you have to take that. It's about skillful means. It's about understanding the best way to reduce harm and violence. We also have to understand, as you know, within Tibetan psychology mental health is conceived of being very different. Mental health is externalized in Tibetan culture, whereas in western culture it's internalized. So we [westerners] may experience depression, traditionally Tibetans experience demons. I'm not depressed; I'm just being tormented by this demon that I can actually direct practice towards. Like the practice of chöd. What's really interesting for us right now is that we're moving through this synthesis where we're bringing together western psychology, Tibetan psychology and trying to synthesize something that I think is really quite powerful. And I'm kind of back and forth with that because for me that kind of externalization of mental health is also in a way very Indigenous. There's an indigeneity there that I'm really interested in. I think it's maybe both. I think sometimes, growing up in the west, there are energetic forces that the best way for us to name it is to name mental illness, depression, or anxiety. But maybe it's actually an energetic being that's affecting us somehow. So I'm interested in discerning those nuances as well.—Part 2 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit agoodrefugee.substack.com

Jamie and Andy interview three contributors to Commune Magazine's Summer issue. First we talk to Marxish Rock Critic Joshua Clover on Lil Nas X and its transgression of the color line. Then we chat with Michelle O'Brien about the Queer Liberation march for the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, family abolition, and what life will look like on the Queer Commune. Finally we talk to Commune editor Chloe Watlington on climate change, personal tragedy and mourning, and the existential need for communism. https://communemag.com/the-high-rise-and-the-hollow/ https://communemag.com/fifty-years-of-queer-insurgency/ https://communemag.com/who-owns-tomorrow/ Help build Commune by becoming a subscriber: https://communemag.com/subscribe/

New contributor and friend of Artblog, Wit López speaks with multi-disciplinary artist Heather Raquel Phillips about documenting people of color in the leather community and turning the camera on herself.