Season 1 | Episode 4: Dr. Rob and Big Gay Smiles

Season 1 | Episode 5: D and Susie

Episode transcript availablehere [https://www.rainbowdistrictpodcast.com/episode-6-transcript]. In Episode 6 of Rainbow District, Beth talks to queer activists D and Susie about their experiences as organizers for the DC Dyke March. The DC Dyke March began annually in 1993, took a 12-year hiatus in 2007, and was brought back in 2019, which is when D and Susie got involved. In this episode, they discuss the organizing process, the2024 theme, "Dykes Against Genocide," [https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/06/11/photos-dyke-march-2024/] and the purpose of the march. The first Dyke March took place on April 25, 1993 in Washington DC, attended by 20,000 self-identifying Dykes. The main organizers of the march were theLesbian Avengers [https://www.lesbianavengers.com/about/history.shtml], a direct-action group founded in New York City in 1992. Theycreated a manifesto [https://apps.lib.ua.edu/blogs/empoweringvoices/activism-dyke-manifesto/] about the necessity of grassroots lesbian organizing, and handed out 8,000 flyers advertising the event. Due to its success, Dyke Marches were planned in various cities that June, and have since continued worldwide. Dyke March history sources:Lesbian Herstory Archives [https://lhaexhibits.omeka.net/exhibits/show/dyke-marches/dyke-marches] (n.d.);DCist [https://dcist.com/story/19/01/08/the-first-dyke-march-happened-in-d-c-now-organizers-are-trying-to-bring-it-back/] (2019);NYC Dyke March [https://www.nycdykemarch.com/history] (2018);Washington Blade [https://www.washingtonblade.com/2019/05/29/dyke-march-to-return-during-d-c-pride-week/] (2019). Please consider donating:Operation Olive Branch [https://linktr.ee/opolivebranch];Omna Tigray [https://omnatigray.org/];Sudan Solidarity Collective [https://sudansolidarity.com/];Friends of the Congo [https://friendsofthecongo.org/]. Learn more about Rainbow District, queer history, and community resources at⁠⁠⁠⁠rainbowdistrictpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ [rainbowdistrictpodcast.com]. If you want to be notified when new episodes of Rainbow District are released, click⁠here⁠ [https://www.rainbowdistrictpodcast.com/email-list] to join the mailing list.

Season 1 | Episode 4: Dr. Rob and Big Gay Smiles

Episode transcript available here [https://www.rainbowdistrictpodcast.com/episode-4-transcript]. In Episode 4 of Rainbow District, Beth talks to queer activist Dr. Robert Mckernan [https://lgbtqhealthcaredirectory.org/provider/robert-mckernan]. Dr. Rob is a dentist at ⁠Whitman Walker Health⁠ [https://www.whitman-walker.org/], a public health clinic offering high-quality healthcare to the queer community and individuals affected by HIV/AIDS. He is the founder of and lead dentist at Big Gay Smiles [https://www.biggaysmiles.com/], an LGBTQ2IA+ owned practice in Washington, DC that provides queer- (and ally-) focused dental care. 10% of Big Gay Smiles' yearly revenue is donated to HIV/AIDS nonprofits [https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/01/05/robert-mckernan-big-gay-smiles/] that provide services to some of the most vulnerable members of the queer community. Dr. Rob was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), or Mormon Church. In the LDS Church, "acting on same-sex attraction" is ⁠considered a sin⁠ [https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/official-statement/same-gender-attraction]. The Church's official stance [https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/statement-proposed-rule-sexual-orientation-gender-identity-change] is that it opposes conversion therapy [https://www.hrc.org/resources/the-lies-and-dangers-of-reparative-therapy], the pseudoscientific and dangerous practices intended to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity; still, LDS organizations such as North Star [https://www.northstarsaints.org/] provide "faith-affirming" resources for managing queerness, as if it were a mental illness. Dr. Rob escaped this toxic culture when he moved to New York for medical school, and began embracing his queer identity. Now he passionately serves his community along with his husband, helping the world Smile with Pride™! Queer liberation and Palestinian liberation are inextricably linked. Human rights monitors, journalists, and United Nations agencies have concluded that Israel’s actions in and regarding Gaza since October 7, 2023 ⁠⁠⁠violate the Genocide Convention of 1948⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.humanrightsnetwork.org/genocide-in-gaza], yet the US continues to ⁠⁠⁠send billions of dollars of aid⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20has%20provisionally,amid%20its%20war%20with%20Hamas.] to Israel. Click ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/gaza-recovery] to provide urgent humanitarian aid to people in Gaza by donating to the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Palestine Children's Relief Fund⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.pcrf.net/], and ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.rainbowdistrictpodcast.com/palestine] for queer Palestine solidarity resources. If you want to share your oral history for the podcast, schedule an interview [https://www.jotform.com/232897319687072] with Beth. Learn more about Rainbow District, queer history, and community resources at ⁠⁠rainbowdistrictpodcast.com⁠⁠ [rainbowdistrictpodcast.com].

Season 1 | Episode 3: Laya

Episode transcript available ⁠here [https://www.rainbowdistrictpodcast.com/copy-of-episode-2-transcript]. In Episode 3 of Rainbow District, Beth talks to queer activist Laya Monarez [https://www.layamonarez.com/]. Laya is a transgender latinx artist based out of Washington DC.  She studied at the Corcoran College of Art and Design where she received her BFA in 2005, and has several murals in the DC area. Laya's work has been shown at the Greater Reston Art Center, Mclean Project for the Arts, Cheshire, and the DC LGBTQ+ Community Center. For over a decade, Laya has been an advocate for queer rights and sex worker rights. In support of a bill introduced by Councilman David Grosso to decriminalize sex work, Laya testified at a DC Council hearing [https://www.hrc.org/news/hrc-joins-activists-to-testify-in-favor-of-dcs-community-safety-health], did an interview on Good Morning Washington [https://wjla.com/features/7news-mornings/what-could-decriminalizing-sex-work-mean-for-the-district#], and spoke at a rally [https://www.fox5dc.com/news/dc-council-member-activists-push-to-decriminalize-sex-trade] with the Sex Worker Advocates Coalition [https://www.hips.org/sex-worker-advocates-coalition-swac.html]. Laya was also featured in the Newsy special on sex work in the US, Sold In America: The Workers [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRQqN0qPEus]. Now she works at the DC LGBTQ+ Community Center [https://thedccenter.org/], a nonprofit that educates, empowers, and uplifts the queer community in DC. Learn more at layamonarez.com [https://www.layamonarez.com/]. Follow Laya on Instragram: @layamonarez [https://www.instagram.com/layamonarez/] and TikTok: @nina_ninja_skater [https://www.tiktok.com/@nina_ninja_skater?lang=en]. Further information on topics discussed in this episode: Decriminalizing sex work: Brooks-Gordon, Morris, & Sanders [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-021-00636-0] (2021); Rottier [https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/374286] (2019); TED Talk by Juno Mac [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc-n852sv3E] (2016). Sex work and disability: ⁠⁠ [https://www.mysafetyplan.org/]Geymonat [https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/374286] (2019); Jones [https://bhacjournal.org/index.php/dsq/article/view/9094/7750] (2022); Wotton & Ann [https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/16875] (2016). "Spiritual genocide" and the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act: Talbot [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4140266] (2006). Israeli "cemeteries of numbers" keep hundreds of bodies of Palestinians: Al Tahhan [https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/8/10/why-does-israel-keep-the-bodies-of-palestinians] (2017). Queer liberation and Palestinian liberation are inextricably linked. Human rights monitors, journalists, and United Nations agencies have concluded that Israel’s actions in and regarding Gaza since October 7, 2023 ⁠violate the Genocide Convention of 1948⁠ [https://www.humanrightsnetwork.org/genocide-in-gaza], yet the US continues to ⁠send billions of dollars of aid⁠ [https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20has%20provisionally,amid%20its%20war%20with%20Hamas.] to Israel. Click ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ [https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/gaza-recovery] to provide urgent humanitarian aid to people in Gaza by donating to the ⁠⁠Palestine Children's Relief Fund⁠⁠ [https://www.pcrf.net/], and ⁠here⁠ [https://www.rainbowdistrictpodcast.com/palestine] for queer Palestine solidarity resources. If you're a queer activist and want to share your oral history for the podcast, ⁠schedule an interview⁠ [https://www.jotform.com/232897319687072] with Beth. Learn more about Rainbow District, queer history, and community resources at ⁠rainbowdistrictpodcast.com⁠ [rainbowdistrictpodcast.com].

Season 1 | Episode 2: Pride

Episode transcript available here [https://www.rainbowdistrictpodcast.com/episode-2-transcript]. This is a mini episode in honor of the first day of Pride, a worldwide, month-long celebration of queer identity. Beth shares a compilation of interviews with queer activists responding to the question, "What does queer joy look like for you?" Queer people in Gaza do not have the luxury of celebrating this month. Human rights monitors, journalists, and United Nations agencies have concluded that Israel’s actions in and regarding Gaza since October 7, 2023 violate the Genocide Convention of 1948 [https://www.humanrightsnetwork.org/genocide-in-gaza], yet the US continues to send billions of dollars of aid [https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20has%20provisionally,amid%20its%20war%20with%20Hamas.] to Israel. Click ⁠here⁠ [https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/gaza-recovery] to provide urgent humanitarian aid to people in Gaza by donating to the ⁠Palestine Children's Relief Fund⁠ [https://www.pcrf.net/], and here [https://www.rainbowdistrictpodcast.com/palestine] for queer Palestine solidarity resources. None of us are free until all of us are free. If you're a queer activist and want to share your oral history for the podcast, ⁠schedule an interview⁠ [https://www.jotform.com/232897319687072] with Beth. Learn more about Rainbow District, queer history, and community resources at ⁠rainbowdistrictpodcast.com⁠ [rainbowdistrictpodcast.com].

Season 1 | Episode 1: Robert

Episode transcript available ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ [https://www.rainbowdistrictpodcast.com/ep-1-transcript]. In Episode 1 of Rainbow District, Beth talks to queer activist Robert Rigby Jr [https://thewpwire.org/2086/news/latin-teacher-robert-rigby-dedicates-career-to-lgbt-rights-advocacy/]. Robert created and is the president of FCPS Pride [https://www.fcpspride.org/], and founded what is now the Northern Virginia chapter [https://www.glsen.org/chapter/northern-virginia] of a national queer advocacy organization, GLSEN [https://www.glsen.org/]. Robert grew up in Northwest Florida during the rise of Anita Bryant [https://exhibits.library.gsu.edu/out-in-the-archives/the-power-of-protest/anita-bryant/], a notorious anti-gay activist from the 1970’s who led the first organized opposition to the gay rights movement, the "Save Our Children" campaign [https://wams.nyhistory.org/end-of-the-twentieth-century/the-information-age/anti-lgbtq-activism/]. Robert fled to New Hampshire to attend Dartmouth College, where Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham hired a reporter to secretly record and publish tapes [https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/16/us/dartmouth-group-privacy-battle-concord-nh-july-15-ap-student-reporter-s-taping.html] of him and other gay students discussing their sexual identities and experiences. For about twenty years, Robert tried to become straight [https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/after-19-years-of-conversion-therapy-gay-virginia-man-finds-acceptance-god-loves-you-the-way-your-are/65-18f8a184-a914-469d-a191-90186f1926d5], which included talk therapy, groups, and electroconvulsive (shock) therapy. Now, he has embraced his queer identity and become a fierce advocate for the queer community.  This episode contains brief mentions of a suicide attempt. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline [https://988lifeline.org/] at 988 for immediate support. More mental health resources: ⁠My Safety Plan⁠⁠ [https://www.mysafetyplan.org/]: create a safety plan to use when you're in crisis. Trevor Project [https://www.thetrevorproject.org/]: A suicide intervention and crisis prevention for LGBTQIA+ young people. Call ⁠1-866-488-7386⁠, text ‘START’ to 678-678, or click here [ https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help/] for immediate support. Open Counseling⁠ [https://www.opencounseling.com/]: Find free and affordable therapy. MoodTools [https://moodtools.org/]: Free app that provides six evidence-based tools to aid against clinical depression and negative moods. Calm Harm [https://calmharm.co.uk/]: Free app that helps you manage or resist the urge to self-harm. If you want to be notified when new episodes of Rainbow District are released, click ⁠here⁠ [https://www.rainbowdistrictpodcast.com/email-list] to join the mailing list. Learn more about Rainbow District, queer history, and community resources at ⁠⁠⁠rainbowdistrictpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ [rainbowdistrictpodcast.com].