Happy Obama! - 11/7/12

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Although my show this week was a bit scattered, I am so pleased to share it with you. Instead of 4 years of regression and the destruction of the equality that we have been striving for, America was smart enough to elect President Obama for a second term. This means progress, hope, and to be blunt, getting shit done.

I don't have much else to say, but enjoy the episode. 

Music you heard:

1. "6PM" from Animal Crossing OST
2. "Time Is All Around" by Regina Spektor
3. "Change" by Podington Bear
4. "bamboo cactus" by i, cactus

Useful links:

1. Obama's Victory Speech

Safety Girl! - 10/24/12

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Today's show I had a very special guest: Tanya Veilleux, who you might know as Safety Girl. She recently opened Get Curious with Safety Girl on Liberty (under Bongz & Thongz), and is on a mission to help the community by offering lots of toys, workshops, and fun costumes.

Something I love about what Tanya does, is that she is not afraid to be completely sex positive, and in a completely safe way. There are no dumb questions with her, and there's nothing TMI. You can talk about anything, and her shop is a completely safe space for this. Tanya also has developed a relationship with First Step, a domestic violence support community, which I think is so necessary to talk about and bring to light, since 1 in 4 women has experienced domestic violence.

The thing I realized while talking to Tanya was that it's important to band together in small communities like ours. Sometimes it's hard to open up about your sexuality, whether your straight or queer, and it feels good to have other people that are open about it. That is one of the fundamental reasons for my show here guys: to make you feel comfortable talking about your sexuality. I want you to feel empowered and comfortable with yourself, and the only way for that to happen is if other people are open about their own sexuality. Sex-positivism is catching.

Music you heard:

1. "Curious Jungle" by Podington Bear
2. "Ask Me Now" by Thelonious Monk
3. Safety Girl Theme

Useful links:

1. Get Curious with Safety Girl
2. Safety Girl on Facebook
3. "Boutique caters to student sexual needs" via Michigan Daily
4. First Step

Older LGBT Adults - 8/15/12

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Today's show I interviewed Kathleen LaTosch, the special projects consultant for Affirmations, about a very interesting topic, and probably not one that's on your radar: LGBT older adults. The elderly community itself is something that younger generations sometimes don't think much about (until they are part of it), but everyone needs to do their part to make their issues known.

Older LGBT adults have a lot of problems not only with housing, but with typical aging services, such as retirement homes, assisted living, hospice, etc. These are major issues for heterosexual adults, but for LGBT individuals, it can create a whole host of problems. Maybe they're severely closeted, and don't trust others to come into their home for fear of being outed. Maybe they are living with a partner, but cannot live in the same retirement community because of discrimination (which is allowed in Michigan by the way).

Please realize that this could be an older person that you know. Maybe someone at your church or temple. Maybe it's your next door neighbor. An important point that I want to make is that simply talking about the issues can solve the problem, and can make people more aware. If you know an older person, have them take this survey. I also have it linked below. This can help change the discrimination we face in Michigan, and discrimination specifically faced by older LGBT individuals.

Useful Links:

1. LGBT Older Adult Coalition
2. LGBT Needs Survey
3. Affirmations of Ferndale, MI
4. Relevant article from the New York Times

Music you heard:

1. "Easy Living" by Billie Holiday
2. "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" by Louis Armstrong
3. "To the Gateway" from Super Mario Galaxy OST

Tune in next week! And don't be shy about leaving a comment or shooting us an e-mail! We love e-mails!