11 Unmissable Episodes of LGBTQ&A
How do LGBTQ+ people speak when the mics are turned off, when it's just us in a room talking and laughing and sharing stories? It sounds like the conversations on LGBTQ&A.
Every Tuesday for the past five years,the LGBTQ&A podcast's brought you interviews you won't hear anywhere else.
Getting beyond transition and coming out stories, the podcast features titans of LGBTQ+ history, including Laverne Cox, Pete Buttigieg, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Tracey 'Africa' Norman, Cleve Jones, Trixie Mattel, Roxane Gay, Margaret Cho, Alok Vaid-Menon, Congressman Ritchie Torres, Jim Obergefell, and the late pioneering lesbian, Ivy Bottini who passed away this year at the age of 94.
Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you don't miss a single episode.
Laverne Cox Is Done Debating Whether Trans Is Real
"I'm just done debating my existence. I'm done debating whether trans is real. I'm real. I'm sitting here and I have lived experiences as a woman, as a woman of trans experience, as a black woman, and so I'm done with that and I know a lot of trans folks are done with that.
We don't need to debate trans existence. We need to say that we shouldn't be discriminating against people because of who they are."
Click here to listen to the full interview with Laverne Cox.
Tracey 'Africa' Norman Looks Back on Her Legendary Modeling Career
"I'm not seeing anyone of color do the things that I have done and sign contracts. It's only been my white counterpart who are working, who are doing the shows, who are on the covers of major magazines...I'm 68 years old. I'm proud to have lived this long and still being relevant. It amazes me that people were still having a conversation about Tracey Africa. It really does, it just amazes me."
Click here to listen to the full interview with Tracey 'Africa' Norman.
Lili Reinhart Talks Bisexuality, Crystals, Tattoos, and 'Riverdale'
"I have a tattoo of a rose on my arm that I got to basically represent to myself and to remind myself that I am-- this is how I like to phrase it -- I am a warrior for love. I know it's cheesy, but because I always choose love every time. Love. I have the power of unconditional love."
You can listen to the full interview with Lili Reinhart here.
Pete Buttigieg's Big Gay Interview
"I very quickly realized that I just had to be who I was, and it's too much work to try to be someone else. And so we just trusted people. The amazing thing is, for the most part, that trust was vindicated. People who, maybe even people of an older generation who were struggling with joining us on the right side of history, at it's best, I think they felt better about themselves for inching our way."
Click here to listen to the full interview with Pete Buttigieg.
And here for the podcast with Chasten Buttigieg.
Jim Obergefell: We Still Don't Enjoy 'True' Marriage Equality
"If I'm demanding equal rights or civil rights for me as a gay man, then I better damn well be demanding those same things for every other member of the LGBTQ+ community."
Click here to listen to the full interview with Jim Obergefell, one of the plaintiffs in Obergefell v. Hodges.
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy: What The Trans Elder Wants You to Know
"I do good to be here. Most girls don't make it past 30. It's a rough life that we have...so it's important that one or two of us make it. It's hard. It's very hard when you think about it."
You can listen to the full interview with Miss Major here.
Roxane Gay Talks About Sex, Love, and Soulmates
"I do find it difficult to write about love because love is so complicated. It's also just incredibly simple. It's also very private. It's challenging to write about love and maintain some semblance of privacy, which is why I actually don't write about my relationships. It's just too much to put stuff out in the world."
You can listen to the full podcast with Roxane Gay here.
Brian Michael Smith Makes Trans TV History on '9-1-1: Lone Star'
"That's something I really like about Lone Star, is that they allow my character to just be who he is, while also at other times exploring his trans experience and giving room for that as well...It's just been a beautiful, beautiful year in terms of transmasculine representation, and I see where that trajectory is going."
Click here to listen to the full interview with Brian Michael Smith.
'Drag Race's' Two-Spirit Queen Says F*ck Gender
"I'm experiencing this very crazy fluidity right now where my mind and my body aren't connecting. And so I don't want to put my foot down too much with any label right now because who knows a few months from now when I'm in a better mindset how I'm going to be feeling and who I'm going to be? We're always changing. We're always growing as people."
Click here to listen to the full interview with Ilona Verley.
Your Reigning 'Drag Race All-Stars' Queen
"It's weird to feel like I had to make this announcement and come out as being nonbinary because I feel like it's obvious. I mean, look at my career choice. I've been living out of the binary now for years."
You can listen the full podcast with Shea Coulee here.
Karine Jean-Pierre: The History-Making Lesbian in the White House
For the first time in U.S. history, all of the top communications roles in the White House are filled by women -- two of whom are queer women of color. Karine Jean-Pierre has been announced as the principal deputy press secretary in the White House and Pili Tobar will be the deputy White House communications director.
Two of the people acting as the face and voice of our government are queer. It's incredibly exciting. You can listen to our interview with Karine Jean-Pierre here.
Meet The Host: Jeffrey Masters
Jeffrey Masters has been documenting the stories of the LGBTQ+ community on LGBTQ&A since 2016. @jeffmasters1
Click here to listen to LGBTQ&A on Apple Podcasts. And click below to listen to LGBTQ&A's interview with the late pioneering activist, Ivy Bottini, who passed away this year at the age of 94.
