Latest / Queer 101 with Peppermint / Queer Broadway, Trans Rights Wins & LGBTQ News | Our Spring Update

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Queer Broadway, Trans Rights Wins & LGBTQ News | Our Spring Update · Queer 101 with Peppermint

0:03
SPEAKER_00: Hey y'all, welcome to Queer 101.
0:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm Pepper Matt and Do the Historian, and we're here to bring you all things queer history that you didn't learn in school.
0:14
SPEAKER_01: This is a podcast where we dive deep into queer culture, books, and a queer experience, past, present, and future.
0:22
SPEAKER_01: From the history that shapes us to the culture that keeps us driving, we have got it all covered.
0:27
SPEAKER_00: Grab a seat and let's turn a light on queer history.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: Because these stories demand to be heard and must be celebrated.
0:34
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Queer 101.
0:36
SPEAKER_01: Class is now in action.
0:42
SPEAKER_01: Hey y'all, welcome back to Queer 101, the podcast where we talk about any and everything under the sun, including queer art, queer culture, queer literature, maybe even a little bit of queer theater.
0:56
SPEAKER_01: I'm Peter.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: And I'm Hugh the Historian.
0:59
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it is so great to be back with you.
1:02
SPEAKER_01: It's been back again.
1:05
SPEAKER_00: I am so happy that it is spring.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: I am so happy that we are having some good ass weather.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: I am so happy that well, that's about the end of the list of things I'm happy about, to be honest.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: The news continues to be utter and complete fucking tri No, actually that's not true.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: You know what?
1:20
SPEAKER_00: We ended up last uh episode on a happy note, and there is some more happiness.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: I forgot about this.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: We didn't talk about it last time, but I think it's so important we bring it up.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: Watching Orban lose in Hungary.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: I know it's not an American story, but it is so nice to see fascism lose in the voting booth, at least somewhere around the world right now.
1:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, 100%.
1:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:43
SPEAKER_01: And I I hope, I mean, I'm I'm I'm always lately super skeptical, not skeptical, but like um trepidatious, apprehensive about my celebrations, my you know, pr celebrating too prematurely because I'm like, what's this gonna be?
1:57
SPEAKER_01: What's gonna happen?
1:57
SPEAKER_01: What what's gonna happen?
1:58
SPEAKER_01: What worse next thing?
2:00
SPEAKER_01: You know, and you know, I mean I'm I'm I'm s politically trying to figure out if if the defeat of one uh is more pertinent than the success of someone that's extremely progressive.
2:21
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know that this person is I think this person is also kind of like center right.
2:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't think he's like a progressive at all.
2:30
SPEAKER_00: He didn't go to a pride parade.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: Oh, he did?
2:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: No, he didn't.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: He said that he was not going to go, but it was a a neutral statement about not going.
2:39
SPEAKER_01: You know, it was a sort of like he actually might be pretty left wing then because because he's not.
2:44
SPEAKER_01: But I mean, you know, he would definitely be going to a pride parade if he was very far right wing, if you know what I mean.
2:50
SPEAKER_01: He'd be on Grinder at the Pride Parade at the very least.
2:53
SPEAKER_01: Speaking of which, this week, I think Grindr is going to be uh uh the um official sponsor of the uh White House Correspondence Dinner, which hasn't happened for a couple of years now, the White House correspondence.
3:08
SPEAKER_01: You know, it was kind of uh on fur h furlough, hiatus, whatever during the pandemic mostly.
3:15
SPEAKER_01: And then um Trump canceled last year's uh my girl, my good girlfriend Amber Ruffin was supposed to to host it, and then that got canceled.
3:26
SPEAKER_01: Like all she got canceled.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if they I don't think they had the dinner.
3:29
SPEAKER_01: And if they like were the clips, there's not even any clips.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: But they won't have comedians, and so like what wait, but I I'm sorry, I think I just like blacked out or something for a moment.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: Did you say Grindr is sponsoring it?
3:43
SPEAKER_00: Grinder?
3:45
SPEAKER_01: Wow Yeah, here it is right here for all of our viewers.
3:48
SPEAKER_01: Here it is right here.
3:49
SPEAKER_01: Here's a a little image of it right here.
3:51
SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, Grinder is going to be um the sp official sponsor of uh their like I I maybe they have more than one program happening for the White House Correspondents Center, and it's like the cock the cocktails portion or something like that.
4:08
SPEAKER_01: Um and I don't know what the hell, like obviously they're gonna give money, but like what are they gonna pro like when somebody's a sponsor, you have to give something.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like a free year long.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: I mean, those I hear that like they're not wearing no t-shirts out grinder every single day.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: Oh no, no, but no, but they'll be on it.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: They'll be on it, all of them.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, wow that I know.
4:35
SPEAKER_01: I might be canceling my grinder account.
4:37
SPEAKER_01: Not that I'm like that active on there, but like they're not they they haven't been for the community in quite a moment.
4:44
SPEAKER_00: Oh no, in a long time.
4:45
SPEAKER_00: No, not at all.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: Next thing you know, they're gonna be like having ice ads on there or something.
4:49
SPEAKER_00: Like that's just ugh.
4:52
SPEAKER_00: Everything goes to shit.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: I mean, not the grinder wasn't shit to begin with in a lot of ways, but this is a new, a new low.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: Okay, wait, we went the wrong direction.
5:01
SPEAKER_00: We were talking about good news happening.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: So that was funny.
5:03
SPEAKER_01: That was like funny.
5:04
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't good news, but it was like funny news.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: What else?
5:09
SPEAKER_00: One thing that I think we can both agree on, and that is exciting, is that this season, for those of you who are Broadway watchers, who are theater folks, those of you who are coming to visit New York, we have got a queer as hell Broadway season ahead of us.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: And that is one thing, one small thing that is giving me some delight and some silver lining to look forward to.
5:34
SPEAKER_00: It is kind of amazing, honestly.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: We've got what?
5:38
SPEAKER_00: O'Marry out there right now, we've got the Rocky Horror Picture Show coming, and my absolute favorite, Cats.
5:45
SPEAKER_00: It's the Rocky Horror Show.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: No, not the show.
5:48
SPEAKER_00: Oh, you're right.
5:49
SPEAKER_00: You're right, not the picture show.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: That's the movie.
5:51
SPEAKER_00: I always get that wrong.
5:52
SPEAKER_00: I always get that wrong.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: I cats, the Jellica Ball.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: You saw Cats, right, when it was when it was off Broadway?
6:02
SPEAKER_01: I saw when it was off Broadway, and I was there at opening night a couple weeks ago.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: Opening night?
6:07
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm so jealous.
6:08
SPEAKER_00: I have not yet seen it.
6:09
SPEAKER_00: I have my tickets, but I haven't been yet.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: How was the opening night?
6:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was wonderful.
6:15
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's one I'm going back again.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: I'm actually, let's see, what is it now?
6:19
SPEAKER_01: It's probably early May now.
6:21
SPEAKER_01: Um and so I am going to be uh in a couple of weeks going back and um to see it again.
6:31
SPEAKER_01: Uh that's the best way to say it.
6:33
SPEAKER_01: And I'll be uh there's a surprise moment for those of you that uh have seen the show.
6:38
SPEAKER_01: There's a surprise moment uh that they do every show, every performance, and I'll be participating in that performance's surprise moment.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: That is very exciting.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: Can you uh do you know the the dates when that will be happening?
6:52
SPEAKER_01: Uh I think it might be it's the week of the 18th, it might be the 21st, the Thursday the 21st, I think.
6:59
SPEAKER_01: Um still we're still confirming it, but the Thursday the 21st and a couple of weeks from now.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that is so exciting.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: I love that show because gosh, 20 years.
7:10
SPEAKER_00: You saw it downtown too, right?
7:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: And it was amazing.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: Oh no, I hate cats.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: Cats is a fucking terrible show.
7:17
SPEAKER_00: Like the jellic ball is amazing.
7:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't make any sense to me.
7:21
SPEAKER_00: I saw it as a kid when I was like twelve or thirteen, and even then I was like, what is this bullshit?
7:28
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't understand.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: It never made any sense.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: I was like, why are these cats competing?
7:32
SPEAKER_00: Making it into ballroom is the only time cats has ever made sense.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: Well, let's since we're on Broadway, like, you know, Cats the Original is a s a book, it was like literally just a book of poems of describing each poem was just about a different type of cat.
7:49
SPEAKER_01: Like kind of a fictional type of cat, too, but like just different types of cats.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: It's like a this type of cat, that type of cat, and that's it.
7:55
SPEAKER_01: And then so there's no story, there's no plot, it's nothing.
7:58
SPEAKER_01: And so Andrew Lloyd Weber put it, obviously set it to music, set the the rhyming of the poetry to music and blah blah blah blah blah.
8:05
SPEAKER_01: Uh and since there was no story, and uh they kind of put a loose premise of like, okay, let's show cats.
8:12
SPEAKER_01: Where do cats live?
8:13
SPEAKER_01: In the alley, you know, showing them with balls of yarn and things like that.
8:17
SPEAKER_01: And then the thing that was so noteworthy about the original production of cats, which I didn't see, I didn't see well, I guess I did see the original production.
8:24
SPEAKER_01: Because it ran out, and I did go and see it, the original production, but I just didn't see the original cast.
8:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, was that it um was people dressed in cat costumes with cat makeup that looked really, really like bri um sort of cutting edge and and they had state of the art uh they had their theater had state of the art like lighting and like technical it was state of the art, you had all the fog standpoint and all the fog and all the stuff.
8:51
SPEAKER_01: And also the music was this electronica music, which is very dated now, but it was all the synths and all that stuff were were not being used on Broadway until that moment.
9:01
SPEAKER_01: So that the show was groundbreaking in that way for that reason, and they had a a song which is a hit, it's a very memorable song, memory which didn't even become apparently.
9:16
SPEAKER_01: I found I found it I think it didn't even become a hit just because it was in the Broadway show.
9:21
SPEAKER_01: Apparently it was used because of its because it's relevance, it was used in a like a some kind of Christmas commercial that played on TV that wasn't even for the show.
9:31
SPEAKER_01: It was like some unrelated Christmas.
9:33
SPEAKER_01: They're like, here's a song from this thing.
9:34
SPEAKER_01: And they used it.
9:35
SPEAKER_00: Broadway shows never make that jump.
9:37
SPEAKER_00: That is amazing.
9:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
9:38
SPEAKER_01: It's so wild.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: So it it really did.
9:40
SPEAKER_01: And um there, there you have it.
9:42
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, cat.
9:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, extreme, but but the fact that it is now, like you said, it is set in the ballroom as in like ballroom, house, uh Vogue, you know, uh Voguing, LGBT, ball ballroom.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: Because Andrew Lloyd Weber made it a competition between those cats, which doesn't make any sense because I've never seen cats have a competition.
10:04
SPEAKER_00: But making it into a ballroom show makes so much sense.
10:07
SPEAKER_00: And personally, for me, 20 years ago, when I was first learning about ballroom, one of the first people who I saw in the world, who introduced me to it, who I learned so much through and around, was Leomi Maldonado, who is now making her Broadway premiere, or has already made her Broadway premiere in the Jellico Ball.
10:29
SPEAKER_00: And so that just feels like to see her recognized for her excellence and and in this way just makes this show so much more special.
10:39
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's got a huge queer cast, it's got Andre the Shields, it's got Junior LeBeja, you know, it's but Laomi is the one for me that I'm like, I cannot wait to go.
10:47
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
10:48
SPEAKER_01: Laomi is fantastic in the show.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: She is right at home.
10:53
SPEAKER_01: She I you know, that's the great thing.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, this is the the cast of the show uh mo is a gr it's a great sort of amalgamation or combination between people who are experienced people in theater who are Broadway, people who've been on Broadway before, uh you know, trained dancers and singers and things like that.
11:15
SPEAKER_01: And then there's also the ballroom community, which is an authentic ballroom community, and it's not not this thing that those things are mutually exclusive.
11:22
SPEAKER_01: There's lots of people who've done both.
11:24
SPEAKER_01: But, you know, if you go and grip bring a bunch of people from the ballroom, chances are most of them will don't have experience.
11:30
SPEAKER_01: I have them been on Broadway.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: And and so getting all of these, and like you said, this is Laomi's uh Broadway debut.
11:37
SPEAKER_01: As is, I think there's like 15 people from the show who it was their broad.
11:41
SPEAKER_01: I think it might be one of the it's probably not the largest.
11:44
SPEAKER_01: The most debut.
11:45
SPEAKER_01: It's a very large, yeah.
11:47
SPEAKER_01: I don't think it's the most in history, but it's the most this season, that's for sure, and in a long time.
11:51
SPEAKER_01: Um anyway, so it's a lot of debuts, and it's the authentic the world authentic world of broad uh ballroom combined with the uh pr professionalism of the Broadway theater world coming together, which is wonderful.
12:07
SPEAKER_01: And the great thing about it is they're not just getting, you know, I mean, maybe they're you know, you could just get somebody who's like says that they've done a a ball here or says that they went to something here, and they're a little no-gate.
12:20
SPEAKER_01: These are people who are like top-notch at the legends, the icons of the ball of the ballroom scene, of which there are many, um, are here, and but these people are known, these people are supported, and uh it's the story itself, the story which there there is a more tangible story now, feels it is in set in the world of ballroom, and so it allows us to really celebrate these people and doing what they do best, but on our Broadway stage.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
12:52
SPEAKER_00: And it is amazing to see that recognition.
12:55
SPEAKER_00: Laomi, for those of you who don't know, watch America's best dance crew from MTV, where her crew like came to the top.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: Or, you know, I years ago interviewed someone about ballroom history, but interviewed a bunch of people in the ballroom scene, and they said to me, Laomi changed the entire thing.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: People were so wanting to compete against her that they created new categories in which more people could compete against Laomi because Laomi is that much of a star.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: So it is so good to see that recognized, like you said, to have real ballroom on Broadway and not, you know, you go to some shows these days and you do see like four chorus boys who have watched like a couple seasons of legendary or drag race and they like move their hands around a little bit and call it voguing.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: But it's nice to see like actual real voguing happening on Broadway.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: I'm just over my mind over my over my mind.
13:47
SPEAKER_00: That makes no sense.
13:48
SPEAKER_00: I'm out of my mind.
13:48
SPEAKER_01: That's out of my mind, over my head.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so and but there's e even beyond, I mean, cats is definitely I think I think cats is making going to make a great showing, but then there's also shows that aren't explicitly I mean cats it this is production of cats isn't explicitly L it's not even explicitly LGBT by da by definition.
14:09
SPEAKER_01: It's explicitly ballroom, of which LGBT is undeniable.
14:14
SPEAKER_01: Um so in a similar vein, uh we have shows like um uh uh Dog Day Afternoon, which we had talked a little bit about, uh where the uh you know there's a trans character in the show and the um the uh the protagonist, the lead of the show, played by John Bernthal, robs a bank so that he can pay for the gender-affirming care of his trans white.
14:41
SPEAKER_01: Liz Eden.
14:42
SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah.
14:44
SPEAKER_01: Um and then also there is uh Titanic, which uh has run off Broadway and also on the West End for uh several years now and is making its Broadway um debut.
14:56
SPEAKER_01: The show is opening on Broadway officially, and and it actually I was at the opening of both of those shows.
15:01
SPEAKER_01: And um it is I'm going to Titanic in a week.
15:06
SPEAKER_01: Uh I think you're gonna love it.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: It's fantastic.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: Did you get a chance to see it downtown?
15:11
SPEAKER_00: No, I totally missed it.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: I was like, mm, keep meeting to, and then never did.
15:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's really, really funny, really great.
15:18
SPEAKER_01: Uh has some of that downtown energy, which is great.
15:20
SPEAKER_01: That's what I always look for, is like when I can see if you if you're if I'm lucky or or you know fortunate enough to see a show transfer from like off Broadway to Broadway, wanting to see, make making sure that it you know downtown or whatever, wherever it was before it came to Broadway, it was obviously so great that they said we have to take this to Broadway, right?
15:42
SPEAKER_01: You don't take things to Broadway to like hope that they improve.
15:45
SPEAKER_01: And so you want all as much of that energy, whatever it was in that package that made the show so great that it should that everyone's like that.
15:55
SPEAKER_01: You want that to come with it to Broadway.
15:58
SPEAKER_01: Um and so yeah, Titanic Cats has that.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: Both they both have that, yeah.
16:04
SPEAKER_00: Uh just uh Dog Day Afternoon.
16:06
SPEAKER_00: One of the if you don't know the story of Dog Day Afternoon, if you haven't seen the film, if you're planning on going, there is a book coming out later this year called Dog's Day the true story of a bank robbery, gay liberation, and toxic love that inspired a Hollywood classic, which really digs into the actual story behind the film, behind the show.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: And uh yeah, that comes out in a couple of months.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: So if you're checking out the show, please check out the book as well.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: And I guess you could do that with cats too, but I don't know.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: Nobody really needs to buy cats.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: No one needs that.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: Nobody wants nobody wants that.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: Nobody wants that.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if Titanic was based on a book.
16:48
SPEAKER_01: I know it's based on a film, right?
16:50
SPEAKER_01: Um I think I've heard about that one.
16:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: A couple people like that.
16:57
SPEAKER_01: Shout out to LGBT.
16:58
SPEAKER_01: Speaking of gender affirming care with Dog Day Afternoon, uh Montana, I think, recently struck down an um anti-trans uh ban on gender-affirming care for youth.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: And so that was uh I think their Supreme Court, if I'm not mistaken, uh struck down a ban saying that was unconstitutional.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: And then also it might also be Montana whose uh Supreme Court just ruled against a pro or struck down a or rejected a pro I don't know if it was a bill or I guess it was a bill that was defeated, um, I think.
17:35
SPEAKER_01: Uh a blocking access for trans people to have their IDs, their um licenses, and birth certificates.
17:43
SPEAKER_01: So good good for Montana.
17:45
SPEAKER_01: Star State of the Day gets we give you a big star.
17:50
SPEAKER_01: Dun dun.
17:52
SPEAKER_01: Um what else is going on in the in there?
17:55
SPEAKER_00: One thing that was interesting to me, I was just at a show.
17:58
SPEAKER_00: This is the the time period where you know all the uh Broadway cares or equity cares, Broadway fights AIDS, you know, they do their big fundraisers after shows.
18:07
SPEAKER_00: And it really struck me.
18:09
SPEAKER_00: I can remember the first Broadway shows I was going to, you know, 1990 probably was the first time I ever saw a Broadway show.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: When they did those asks for money, it was people sobbing on stage talking about how many people are dying right now, how many people from this show that you're watching are have AIDS or are hospitalized, how many people we have lost and and the intensity of it.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: When I went last week and saw a show and they did the pitch afterwards, it was still you know a great pitch.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: But the first thing they said when they got out there, they were like, you know, this money, yes, it's fighting AIDS, but also we're fighting a ton of other diseases, and we're actually helping with disaster relief, and we're doing and it really had it drove home for me the way in which the relationship between sort of the queer community and AIDS has changed.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: AIDS is still a scourge.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: It is still especially for people of color, for black people, for trans people, for people who are low income.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: But to feel that change, to feel less of the death being present, uh really drove home for me in a in a sort of like weirdly nostalgic, but also kind of good way.
19:15
SPEAKER_00: I was like, that's something that has changed over our lifetime.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: Like the nature of the AIDS crisis.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: And then I think about what, again, to bring us back fucking down, this administration is doing pulling all of the.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: Yep, it's like the one every the everything they touch turns to shit, you know.
19:33
SPEAKER_00: But that is another, like, I was like, I had this moment where I was like, well, it is nice to see for at least a moment this good sense of like, yeah, actually.
19:41
SPEAKER_01: Now we know it works.
19:42
SPEAKER_01: Now we know it works.
19:44
SPEAKER_01: Knowing your status, getting tested, putting money into these programs works to drive down the uh, in this case, infection rates and and and rates of of contracting HIV and and also the ability to treat and take care of quality of life, you know, um equity fights AIDS is is you know m also geared towards quality of life.
20:05
SPEAKER_01: People who are it don't have the ability to feed themselves or have uh, you know, whatever they need to to make it from day to day, like people's lived experiences.
20:16
SPEAKER_01: Um and that's also a testament, it's it's a testament to the arts community because I believe the LGBTQ community is a part of the arts community inextricably.
20:25
SPEAKER_01: But you know, there are it's great to see that even that's every Broadway show, um, and and many off-Broadway shows, and so it's great to see even a show.
20:33
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure that some some shows exist where there isn't even a queer person around, that happens.
20:38
SPEAKER_01: There might be a lot of people.
20:38
SPEAKER_01: Um, and they are yeah, and even those shows are um you know, doing the pitch and raising funds, and really speaking to uh to the need, you know, and the need is rising.
20:51
SPEAKER_01: We're seeing uh HIV rates in black women ri rising, going up, not going the wrong direction.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: Um, AIDS rates and SDD rates with older people are suddenly rising again, too.
21:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
21:06
SPEAKER_01: And it's so so for that reason it was really great to see some um the housewives pulling together um uh most of the black housewives, like black women who were on Housewives uh like Bravo's Housewives show, the real housewives, um speaking out and getting involved in in uh an AIDS awareness initiative, like Nene Leaks, and I can't remember who else was there.
21:31
SPEAKER_01: I think maybe Phaedra and I love Phaedra.
21:34
SPEAKER_01: I don't know, all the girls uh were there.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: Phaedra headlined a big like justice event that I organized many, many years ago, and so she remains like my favorite housewife.
21:42
SPEAKER_00: I don't know anything else about most of the housewives.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: I've never watched any of the shows, but Phaedra I love.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: Uh well who who who what else is in this news?
21:52
SPEAKER_01: Uh Christy Gnome's husband.
21:55
SPEAKER_01: They are talking about, like, speaking of it's while we're going back to Caitlin Jennings.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: And she was doing her interview on Fox.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and like w the fact that that they needed they were so desperate to drag the trans com this is how you can see that they're using the trans community as a football because our issues mean nothing.
22:14
SPEAKER_01: Uh uh uh uh if it's not the ability to ta to center what the fuck Kate uh qu Christy Gnome's shitty husband has to say.
22:24
SPEAKER_01: You know what?
22:25
SPEAKER_01: Why are we centering him and his needs?
22:28
SPEAKER_01: I mean, listen, I'm not kink shaming.
22:30
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it's a kink.
22:31
SPEAKER_01: If I don't believe that Kate that Christy Gnome's husband is trans.
22:35
SPEAKER_01: So whatever Chris, I don't know anything about whatever that is.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: No, nothing.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: But also, why ask Caitlin Jenner?
22:43
SPEAKER_00: And then to watch Caitlin Jenner punt the question so badly, to refuse to say anything except like what?
22:49
SPEAKER_00: She said something about uh Brian Gnome should go golfing.
22:54
SPEAKER_00: I was like, I don't even understand.
22:56
SPEAKER_01: I hope that was in relation to I hope that we didn't watch the whole clip, but I hope that was in relation to um, you know, Caitlin sort of contextually saying he's not trans, so don't bring him up in this conversation next to my passport.
23:09
SPEAKER_01: I hope that's what she was saying.
23:11
SPEAKER_00: Ugh, she said, I just I'm not going to ask about relationship issues.
23:15
SPEAKER_00: I was like, I I'm not not impressed here.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: But I w what did I expect to be impressed?
23:20
SPEAKER_01: You're not asking Caitlin.
23:21
SPEAKER_01: They were asking you, stupid.
23:23
SPEAKER_01: That's how questions work.
23:25
SPEAKER_01: Anyway.
23:26
SPEAKER_01: So fucking dumb.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: You know, though, I think it would be remiss in our talk about Broadway not to mention that you, in fact, were the first openly trans woman to originate a principal role on Broadway.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: Am I not correct in that?
23:45
SPEAKER_00: Are you not historical?
23:48
SPEAKER_01: It's true.
23:50
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
23:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:51
SPEAKER_01: Head over heels, uh, in 2017 is when we oh, 2018 is when we uh debuted, opened the show, and I was a part of the cast, and it was a great time.
24:00
SPEAKER_01: One of the best and worst experiences of my life.
24:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I would do it again, you know, to originate a role, which is it's different, you know, than um, you know, like there's some shows where like, you know, uh where there's a show that's already going on, and then they eventually that actor leaves the show and then they replace.
24:17
SPEAKER_01: And that's what we've seen a lot of replacements of people that are going on, but like originating a role means you're the very first one to ever do it.
24:25
unknown: Yeah.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: Everyone who does it after that is compared to you, you.
24:28
SPEAKER_00: You create the template for the character, you uh invent it.
24:31
SPEAKER_00: You know, I was thinking about what we were talking about last week and all of the shitty things that, like, you know, them who shall not be named, those comedians, those uh anti-trans celebrities, what they said, and how that opened the door for where we are now, and how this is the inverse of that, you know, you originating that role in that show, head over heels, a fantastic show, so good, and you were so good in it, and how that's created the possibility for things like Cat's the Jellico Ball, for Cola Scola to win all of these awards for O'Mary.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: It's like the work that you were doing 10 years ago, it it sets up the opposite set of dominoes.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: It's it's so good to see it, and I just want to make sure that those of you at home who are like loving what's happening on Broadway right now, like recognize Peppermint's role in making all of this possible.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: You know, not to throw too many flowers at you.
25:21
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to embarrass you on the podcast, but like Thank you.
25:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's uh I'm really excited to see like where and I'm and and as great and as sort of queer-centric as this current season of Broadway is, it is again like you know, we have one actual that that I know of that I've seen so far, uh, one actual role that the character themselves is sp specifically trans, and that's because they were a real person in real life.
25:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
25:52
SPEAKER_01: Um in Dog Day Afternoon.
25:54
SPEAKER_01: Uh whereas the other ones are presumably queer actors, obviously it's a queer community, but like it's not about it's not a story of queer people.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: Like that's not how it's written.
26:04
SPEAKER_01: And so it would be great if we were able to, in addition to that, getting more stories that were um specifically trans focused.
26:14
SPEAKER_01: I mean also queer focused in general, but like, you know, that the trans, like the there's it looks like they are going to move in in a direction of trying to challenge um marriage equality.
26:28
SPEAKER_01: Uh and that seems apparent, but I don't know that this is cons considering if the Lemkin Institute is considering this a red flag towards genocide of the of gay people.
26:39
SPEAKER_01: Um, but they are for trans people.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: And so all hands on deck, alert, alert, alert.
26:46
SPEAKER_01: Let's use every uh tool at our disposal.
26:50
SPEAKER_01: We need uh advocacy and education, we need news alerts, we need uh charity, and we need people to volunteer, but we also need art and joy to continue to take our mind off of the bad things, but then also allow Art and Joy to show uh s stories about trans people that we that are happy, that we that or that are real that are happy that run the full gamut.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
27:15
SPEAKER_00: And that give roles for trans actors, right?
27:18
SPEAKER_00: Because how else are they gonna get on Broadway?
27:20
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
27:21
SPEAKER_00: We won't get more debuts like Laomi unless we have the roles for people.
27:24
SPEAKER_01: When are you not gonna do it?
27:25
SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna do it.
27:26
SPEAKER_01: You need to have us doing w what we do best, yeah.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: And as clear characters are disappearing from television, bring more of them to Broadway.
27:34
SPEAKER_00: Please.
27:36
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
27:37
SPEAKER_01: Speaking of which, we have we're on the official countdown, two-month countdown, one month to your book, not even a month, only a couple of weeks by this time.
27:45
SPEAKER_01: Oh my god, we're almost there.
27:46
SPEAKER_01: May 22.
27:47
SPEAKER_01: Your book, My Bad, comes out.
27:49
SPEAKER_01: That's God, that week is gonna be a special week.
27:51
SPEAKER_01: That's the same week.
27:52
SPEAKER_01: You'll be busy.
27:53
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be why.
27:54
SPEAKER_01: I'll be uh going back to going to Seacats again.
27:57
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then uh after that, uh Coming Down the Pike, season three, third and final season of Survival of the Thickest, which there is a trans character on that show uh on Netflix.
28:08
SPEAKER_01: And this will be a good opportunity for us to like watch Netflix and be like, okay, Netflix, before they bring back some kind of special or some other anti-trans comedian.
28:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
28:18
SPEAKER_00: Wait, when is that?
28:19
SPEAKER_00: When is the when does the third when does the third season drop?
28:22
SPEAKER_01: Uh it hasn't been announced by this point, but it looks like it's gonna be this summer.
28:28
SPEAKER_00: Excellent.
28:28
SPEAKER_00: We'll have to do some kind of like watch episode.
28:30
SPEAKER_00: We'll have to do like, you know, for the list.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we should.
28:34
SPEAKER_00: I think that'd be really fun.
28:36
SPEAKER_01: React to some of it.
28:37
SPEAKER_01: I'd love that.
28:38
SPEAKER_01: That'd be great.
28:39
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: Oh, so that is good news for spring.
28:42
SPEAKER_00: That's that's what we've got for you.
28:43
SPEAKER_00: That's our springtime.
28:45
SPEAKER_00: In our book club, you're looking forward to.
28:47
SPEAKER_00: You should have Melissa Phoebus's dry season right now, and we've got some new and great books, including mine, heading your way soon.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: So look for those and uh yeah, let us know.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: Tell us in the comments what are you looking forward to?
29:00
SPEAKER_00: What's giving you hope?
29:01
SPEAKER_00: What's entertaining your queer spirit right now?
29:04
SPEAKER_01: We need a little and you'll be and you'll be uh keep your eyes peeled, hopefully, for an interview with Melissa and um our other authors.
29:13
SPEAKER_01: Of course, we'll definitely have one with Hugh and hopefully um whoever else we happen to be covering their book for over the summer.
29:21
SPEAKER_01: But uh, you can go to allstore.com if you're listening to this or watching this and not a member of the book club.
29:26
SPEAKER_01: You can go on over to the book club and connect and um you know get on the list and all that jazz.
29:34
SPEAKER_01: And uh make sure that you share this.
29:36
SPEAKER_01: If you enjoyed this episode, uh, you know, we know that the format's been changing a little bit over time.
29:41
SPEAKER_01: Um, but we're just like adjusting to the way things are.
29:45
SPEAKER_01: And so we're growing and changing.
29:47
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, yeah, leave a comment, obviously, like, share, subscribe.
29:50
SPEAKER_01: It costs you nothing and helps us, helps other people find our podcasts, our recording, our video on YouTube, uh, helps us, helps other people find us um so that we can keep bringing these to you.
30:03
SPEAKER_01: So thanks so much for watching, and we'll see you next week.
30:06
SPEAKER_01: Bye.
30:08
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for joining us today.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: This podcast is part of Pride House Media, hosted by us, Peppermint and the Cube, produced and edited by Josh Rosenzweig with original music composed by Nel Balavan.
30:18
SPEAKER_01: If you enjoyed this episode, then don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to your podcast.
30:23
SPEAKER_01: And while you're there, leave us a rating and a review.
30:26
SPEAKER_01: It really helps others discover the show.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: You can stay connected and join the conversation by following us at Peppermint 247 or write to us at questions at queer101podcast.com.
30:38
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening, and remember, our history is your history.
30:42
SPEAKER_01: Stay proud, stay curious, and we'll see you next time on Queer One One.