Everywhere is Queer, the YELP App for LGBTQ People, Creator is in the House!

Our guest today is Australian journalist/filmmaker Jordan Bryon, a trans man, who embeds with a Taliban unit, as they retake control of Afghanistan. Jordan shares the spotlight today with co-director Monica Villamizar, as they discuss the making of the intense documentary Transition.  In the film, Jordan gains incredible access to a Taliban unit during the fall of Afghanistan. The countryʼs transition coincides with his own physical transformation as a trans man. While he and his local videographer, Teddy, embed with the Taliban. From rural Australia, Jordan conceals his physiology and is accepted as a man. However, if the Taliban were to find out, he and Teddy would likely be in grave danger, Jordan struggles with the moral and ethical dilemmas that come with his unique situation. The film follows Jordan’s journey, as he paradoxically gains more freedom as he transitions, while deftly chronicling the increasing oppression of women as the Taliban transitions to power. Jordan is a recipient of two BAFTAs, two Emmys, and a Human Rights Press Award.  His feature film, Birds of the Borderlands. delved into the lives of queer Arabs in Jordan and Lebanon and resulted in his deportation from both nations. Thereafter, Jordan moved to Afghanistan for a six-year journey making films that showcase the country’s complex tapestry. Monica Villamizar is a Colombian-American director, producer, and on-air reporter. She has won three Emmys and was nominated for the prestigious One World Media “Journalist of the Year 2015 Award.”    With co-host Brody Levesque

28 Mars 202458min

The critically acclaimed drama "TOLL”  from rising star filmmaker Carolina Markowicz (“Charcoal,” “The Orphan”) premiers in the US this week! As a filmmaker, Carolina focuses on work that is in tune with the current political climate. The things that have happened in Brazil recently have been unimaginable to the filmmaker in many ways.  Brazil is a very conservative and homophobic society, where a minister of human rights, now a senator, stated that kids shouldn’t play with Frozen dolls because the character of Elsa was a lesbian. In the film TOLL, the main character, a toll booth attendant, realizes she can use her job to raise some extra money illegally. But this is only for a so-called noble cause: to send her son to an expensive gay conversion workshop led by a renowned foreign priest. The film is is a drama permeated with dark, irreverent humor.  We talk to Carolina today, along with film star Maeve Jinkings, about the film. She has written and directed 6 short films, which were selected for more than 300 festivals and the recipients of many awards.  The Orphan , her most recognized film, premiered in Cannes Director’s Fortnight in 2018 and won the Queer Palm. Her debut feature, Charcoal, premiered in competition at Toronto International Film Festival and made its European Premiere at San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2022. Maeve is an award winning actress born in Brasilia. With Co-host Brody Levesque

13 Mars 202458min

The award winning documentary Much Ado About Dying has its US theatrical premiere March 15! Today we talk to filmmaker Simon Chambers. When Simon Chambers received an email from his elderly gay uncle — “I think I may be dying” — he took it as a summons. His Uncle David, a retired actor living alone in a cluttered, mouse-infested London house, was being dramatic. But a documentary film was born. For the next five years, Simon both cared for and documented  Uncle David, through all his performative exuberance (acting out passages of Shakespeare), swings from boisterous humor to short temper, and physical/mental challenges.  Simon is present for it all and the film captures the impact on him as the gay nephew potentially witnessing his own future.  Best Directing, International Competition at the 2022 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam Award winner, Simon taught disadvantaged teenagers in London for 14 years before turning his hand to films.  In 2006, with his first feature ‘Every Good Marriage Begins With Tears’, he realized that he had a knack for making the kind of documentaries that people want to watch.   With co-host Brody Levesque

7 Mars 202459min

Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old non-binary student from Oklahoma, tragically died on February 8, 2024, after three girls beat him up in a restroom on Campus. .Nex had been experiencing bullying for over a year due to their gender identity. This alleged bullying reportedly began soon after a law was passed in Oklahoma requiring students to use bathrooms corresponding to their birth certificates and an anti-trans culture emerging in Oklahoma thanks to the involvement of Libs of TikTok in the school system there. Today we talk about what it is like to be an LGBTQ youth in the state of Oklahoma, and the effects of the death of Nex Benedict. We will be talking to Travis, a youth in the school system, with Scotty Hernandez, the president of PFLAG Oklahoma, and LGBTQ youth advocate, Lance Preston, founder and executive director of Rainbow Youth Project USA, and with Kris Williams, a queer youth advocate working through the Diversity Center of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City..  Scotty is also a real estate agent who serves as the Oklahoma president of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. He ran unsuccessfully for a school board seat in the OKCPS District 4.  Lance, one of our heroes and good friend of the show, founded Rainbow Youth Project as a social welfare organization in response to recent legislation targeting the rights of LGBTQIA+ people, women, Indigenous people, and immigrants in the United States. Kris has  two decades of successful experience in developing queer youth programming; from social support, homeless services, mental health support, and inpatient residential programming. Kris specializes in 2SLGBTQ+ cultural competency trainings and was recently a guest speaker with the Trevor Project at the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention's national conference. With co-host Brody Levesque

29 Feb 202458min

Today we talk to two powerful LGBTQ activists,, advocates, and writers.  We have Joe Jarvis, one of the most popular and award-winning LGBTQ bloggers on the planet with the outspoken Joe.My.God blog and website. Joe spoke about his 19th year "in business" last April:  "We’re at 138,342 posts over 19 years, the last 15 of which have been without a full day off, although posting on weekends is usually at a slower rate. As I’ve said on this day every year, whether I am insanely committed or am insane and should be committed – that is entirely your call.” Today Jow, and we, are celebrating our other guest Carl Siciliano, and Carl's new upcoming book Making Room. Named a White House Champion of Change by Barak Obama, Carl is a nationally recognized advocate and provider for homeless LGBT youth. He has been dedicated to this population since 1994. His career began by helping manage shelters, soup kitchens, and residential programs for homeless individuals in New York, Washington, D.C., and Connecticut1. In 2002, Carl founded the Ali Forney Center (AFC) in memory of Ali Forney, a homeless gender-nonconforming youth who was killed on the streets of Harlem in New York City. The AFC has grown to become the largest agency dedicated to LGBTQ+ homeless youths in the country, assisting over 2,000 youths per year through a 24-hour Drop-In Center, medical and mental health services, and a scattered-site housing program. In Making Room, Carl tells the story of Ali Forney, a black nonbinary teen who was an inspiration to Carl before Ali was brutally murdered. The murder drove Carl to create a home where unhoused teens could live and feel loved. The book is Carl's story of mending hearts broken by displacement and rejection, including his own.

15 Feb 202458min

The AP dubbed them the Transgender Power Couple. Journalist Erin Reed was formerly the digital director of The American Independent. She currently writes for the Los Angeles Blade and Harpers Bazaar.. She is a researcher who tracks anti-LGBTQ+ legislation around the world and helps people become better advocates for their queer family, friends, colleagues, and community. Reed also is a social media consultant and public speaker. Her fiance is Zooey Zephyr, member of the Montana House of Representatives from the 100th district.  Zephyr was a vocal opponent of multiple anti-LGBT bills introduced during the 2023 legislative session. During a floor debate on April 18, 2023, Zephyr admonished those who supported Senate Bill 99, which prohibits gender-affirming medical and surgical care for minors. She first commented, "If you are forcing a trans child to go through puberty when they are trans, that is tantamount to torture, and this body should be ashamed."  When this remark triggered an objection from Republican majority leader Sue Vinton, Zephyr replied, "The only thing I will say is if you vote 'yes' on this bill and 'yes' on these amendments, I hope the next time there's an invocation when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands." This led to a massive attempt by the state Republicans to censure her and silence her. Today we talk to them both about the wave of oppression and intolerance against trans kids and adults, and their mission to defeat it. With co-host Brody Levesque

1 Feb 20241h

Lie With Me is a stunningly beautiful, bittersweet love story. It will soon be available on major platforms in the United States. The film is about a writer coming terms with the love of his life, that he had lost years before. Upon agreeing to be the brand ambassador for a famous cognac celebrating their bicentennial, novelist Stéphane Belcourt returns to his hometown for the first time in many years. Once there, he meets his first love’s son, Lucas. Memories come rushing back to him:irrepressible attraction, bodies becoming one in the heat of desire, a passion that can never be revealed... His first love’s name was Thomas. They were 17. Today we talk with filmmaker and director Olivier Peyon. Olivier is a French screenwriter, and film director.,  He has made several short films including “Jingle Bells” (1997) which was selected for the 54th Venice Film Festival. In addition to making documentaries for French television. He directed his first feature film, “Les petites Vacances” in 2017. His second feature film, the documentary How I Came to Hate Math (2013), was nominated for a César. In addition to directing, Peyon also has translated over 150 films into French including such films as “Fargo,”“The Big Lebowski,” “trainspotting,” and “The Usual Suspects” to name a few. With co-host Brody Levesque

25 Jan 202449min