Episode 1 Transcript & Notes

Hello everybody, thank you for tuning in!

This is Queerdo, a queer news podcast. Queerdo covers all things queer news, from politics to health, social justice to court cases, current events and beyond. If it’s here, it’s queer.

And this, dear listeners, is Queerdo’s VERY FIRST EPISODE!! So if you’re listening, a ginormous shout out to you, you early bird!

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And if, by the time you’re done listening, you’d like to listen again, you can subscribe to Queerdo on Apple podcasts and Spotify, and you can also visit Queerdo’s nascent website at queerdonews.wixsite.com/listen. I won’t be obnoxious and spell that all out – it’s written in the episode description for ya.

so, let’s get ready to jump right in…

This episode is titled “The First News is Good News*” – we’re publishing during the waning days of Pride month, so we’re gonna go fierce, we’re gonna go a little freaking happy, bc, hey! Good news is still happening too! Sometimes! We’re going to cover some legislative news, some political news, and round it out with some legal news.

Alright Queerdos, here’s our news.

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The Equality Act was reintroduced in Congress on Wednesday, June 21st. The Equality Act is an amendment of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It would add language prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity. These protections would extend to workplaces, schools, housing, and beyond.

In a statement of support, Representative Mark Takano of California, the first openly gay person of color to serve in Congress, said, “Equality shouldn’t depend on your zip code, but not all states offer the same protections against discrimination, and vulnerable members of our community such as trans people and queer people of color are especially impacted by these disparities.”

The Equality Act was first introduced in 2019 and again in Congress’ last session, where it was passed by the House but not heard in the Senate. This reintroduction was announced by the House’s Equality Caucus, a group of LGBTQ House members. The Act has been co-sponsored by every Democratic member of the House of Representatives. A twin bill was also introduced in the Senate.

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Continuing in the legislative vein, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Susan Collins reintroduced the Refund Equality Act on Monday, June 26th. The day had symbolic importance as the 10th anniversary of the Supreme Court case US v. Windsor. That case ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act’s discrimination against same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. This extended some of the nitty gritty benefits of marriage, like tax breaks, to same-sex couples – but was applied only from that moment on.

The Refund Equality Act would give those equal marriage benefits granted in Windsor to same-sex couples married before 2013. These couples would be able to amend their tax returns to be refunded for the years they had to file individually, because their marriage was not federally recognized. This would affect couples married in Massachusetts, Connecticut, California, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Washington, D.C, where same-sex marriage was legal at the time.

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So these first two stories were old news made new again, now let’s turn to some new news!

Delaware state senator Sarah McBride announced she is running for a U.S. House of Representatives seat. If elected, McBride would be the first out trans person in Congress.

If McBride’s name sounds familiar and you don’t live in Wilmington, Delaware, that’s probably because the 32 year old has had a rather illustrious career. She was the first out trans person to work at the White House, as an intern back in 2012. She went on to work in state politics, gave a speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, and was a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign. She won her Delaware senate seat in 2020 with 73% of the vote.

McBride is running a progressive campaign for a seat her Democratic predecessor won 55% to 43% over a Republican challenger. While she more than likely will have a primary challenger, McBride carries some key endorsements, including from Delaware’s attorney general, several state lawmakers, labor leaders, and her seat’s current holder Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester, who is running for Senate in 2024.

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And that brings us to our last news story of the pod.

Federal judges in both Tennessee and Kentucky put a pause on state laws banning gender-affirming care for trans youth.

The bans in both states face ongoing legal challenges, and the judges halted portions of the laws from taking effect while the challenges go forward. Specifically, trans youth will be allowed to access hormone therapy and puberty blockers.

This comes as states have passed a wave of anti-LGBTQ laws – 77 in this legislative session alone, according to the ACLU’s tracker. Twenty states have passed laws restricting trans youth from getting gender-affirming care. Of those, judges in six states – Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee – have temporarily blocked these bans. A judge in Arkansas permanently blocked that state’s trans youth healthcare ban. The attorney general of Oklahoma has agreed not to enforce that state’s ban.

So far, every federal judge who has heard a lawsuit against one of these bans has ruled these healthcare restrictions are unconstitutional.

Joshua Block, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, said, “Across the country, we’re seeing a clear and unanimous rejection of these laws as unconstitutional, openly discriminatory, and a danger to the very youth they claim to protect.”

• Trans youth healthcare bans: AZ, AL, ND, NE, OK, SD, TN, TX, UT, WV, AK, FL, GA, ID, IN, IA, KY, MS, MT, MO

  • ENJOINED: TN, FL, IN, KY, AL, MO

  • BLOCKED: Arkansas, OK

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So Queerdos, that is a wrap on the news for our very first episode! Thank you so much for listening along.

However! I do want to make you aware of some news that will likely happen next week. Originally in drafting this episode, I had an asterisk in the title after “First News is Good News.” Why?

Because the Supreme Court is wrapping up its term, and they still have an anti-gay discrimination case on their docket. That case, 303 Creative vs Elenis, involves a website designer’s intended refusal to make wedding websites for gay couples.

Now usually the Court wraps everything up by the end of June so the justices can go on their summer vacays, but! The Court said happy Pride Month, we’re gonna keep y’all in suspense just a little longer!

So keep an eye, or an ear, out for that decision. Queerdo will have an episode covering that and more when it happens.

If you’d like to keep listening, you can find us on Spotify or Apple podcasts.

Stay gay everybody, until next time :)