Queer Voices
Queer Voices
October 15th - Rainbow Crosswalks with Jack Valinski, Sumya Paruchuri of SEAT, the word GAY, and LEVITATION
It's a packed episode this week! Brett Cullum talks with the ORIGINAL QUEER VOICE, Mr. Jack Valinski! It's all about the crosswalk controversy in Montrose, and we give you a little more insight than the mainstream media. Then Deborah Moncrief Bell talks with Sumya Paruchuri about SEAT, an organization that advocates for queer students. Historian and author R. Lee Ingalls and Brett Cullum talk about the origins of several queer terms for our history month. And Davis Medoza Darusman waxes nostalgic about the LEVITATION music festival.
Queer Voices airs in Houston Texas on 90.1FM KPFT and is heard as a podcast here. Queer Voices hopes to entertain as well as illuminate LGBTQ issues in Houston and beyond. Check out our socials at:
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SPEAKER_04:Hello everybody, and thank you for listening to Queer Voices, KPFT 90.1 FM in Houston, 89.5 FM in Galveston, 91.9 FM in Huntsville, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Davis Mendoza DeRuzman, Ehem Pronouns, excited to bring you today's episode. Starting with the hot button issue in Houston's and Texas's LGBTQ community, Governor Greg Abbott's call for the removal of our beloved Rainbow Crosswalks, threatening to pull funding for noncompliance. To speak on that matter, we have contributor Brett Cullen speaking with the president of the neartown Montrose Super Neighborhood, Jack Balinski. Then we have producer Deborah Moncrief Bell speaking with Sumia Paracuti, the director of development for Seats, where students engaged in advancing taxes. Later, we bring back contributor Brett Cullen for his conversation with his husband, Author R. Lee Ingalls, about the history of the word gay. Lastly, we close out our episode with my review of the very queer-affirming and inclusive music festival in Austin last month, Levitation Festival. We have a galvanizing, inspiring, and enlightening episode for you today. So let's kick it off with Brett Cullum's interview with presidents of the Neartown Montrose Super Neighborhood, who's also a founding member of Houston Pride, and none other than our show, Queer Voices, Jack Valinsky.
SPEAKER_07:On Wednesday, October 8th, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the removal of Houston and any Texas City's rainbow-painted crosswalks. He called them distracting and in violation of federal roadway standards. If not removed, cities could face funding. And the mandate has followed a letter from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, which urged all states to comply with the Safe Roads Initiative. Now he wrote this back in July. It was a federal guideline requesting road markings remain free of political messaging or visual distractions. Now, similar actions have been taken in Florida. Thank you, Ron DeSantis. The Rainbow Crosswalks in Montrose at West Timer and Taft, they were painted in 2017 to honor the neighborhood's LGBTQIA plus history. These crosswalks were among the first targeted for removal. And the project was also intended as a memorial for Alex Hill, a gay 21-year-old man who was killed in a hit-and-run crash in January of 2016. Now, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin all have rainbow crosswalks. And from what I gather, all of them are saying that they will remove them. Mayor, Whitmeyer, and Metro have agreed to paint over ours here in Houston. So with me today is activist and community icon Jack Velensky. He's one of Houston's original queer voices as a host of the show back in the day. And it's an honor to have him here today to discuss this issue and its significance. So welcome, Jack.
SPEAKER_05:Thank you. I do understand that San Antonio has not given in yet.
SPEAKER_07:Well, that's good to know. I know that Austin would surprise me that they capitulated so quickly, as did Houston. So, and disappointing to say the least, but we'll keep an eye on what develops with that. Now, I was just telling you, you have been in every person's news Rolodex. I think I saw you on almost every major network, quoted in the chronicle over this one. How did you find out about this mandate coming down? When did you hear about it?
SPEAKER_05:So I lived just a few blocks away. Actually, that morning, I was up early walking at 5 30. As I'm walking around that area, I see this TV parked there. Now, in the old days, it had to be a big truck, but now the thing, the equipment is much more compact. But I, you know, wasn't trying to startle anybody, but I noticed they were sitting there with the car with the car on, and I waved to them and they were from Channel 26. So I did an interview there. Then at a little bit later, I got a call from Javon Tyler, and I was communicating with Anise Parker, and he says, Anise is headed down there right now. So we went down there and it happened at the Chronicles. There, they probably already knew the Chronicle was there. And then I got a call from channel two, and we made, we said we'd be there at 1:30. Well, it also happened that channel 11 was there. So it was just this coincidence that I was around and available to do it. I'm retired now. I'm also president of the near town Montrose Super Neighborhood. I've I'm a veteran of doing Pride when it was in Montrose for like 25 years. So I have a little bit of history.
SPEAKER_07:Just a little. Yeah. You got a lot of history, Jack.
SPEAKER_05:Well, and I remember when I was doing Pre Voices, we interviewed Matt Broiler, who was starting this project up because somebody got killed on that corner. And he was working to get that done, and he was successful in getting the original painting there. And I didn't realize it was the first in the state.
SPEAKER_07:Now you mentioned Super Neighborhood 24, right? That's the near town in Montreus. Tell me a little bit about that organization because you are currently the president of it.
SPEAKER_05:And yes. So, you know, I worked professionally in radio as a technician for a number of years and I loved it. And unfortunately, radio sort of is not what it used to be. And there's very few stations around that actually do local news. But when that sort of fizzled, I started working for the city. It just so happened as at least became mayor, there was a bunch of budget cuts. So I was trying to figure the best way to make myself very valuable. And I saw this whole program of super neighborhoods. And so what super neighborhood is, is because Houston is so big that Mayor Lee Brown says it's impossible to deal with all the civic clubs because we don't even know of all of them, because I tried for a couple of years to database them, but he set the city up into 88 unique super neighborhoods. And Montrose is one of them. Midtown is one, Washington Avenue is one, the Heights is one. Part of my job was to go to these meetings representing the city and understanding what the concerns are. Because as much as we think that Houston is this unicorn of a city, it's very different. Different parts are very different. And I learned more about the city doing that. And I was responsible for going to the near town Montrose meeting. And then I retired about a year and a half ago. The president who was there and the vice president there for about 10 years, they were sort of tired of doing it all. And a lot of the programs that they were working on were dissolved by this mayor. So they were looking for a sucker. And my name came up, and I wasn't even at that meeting. And it's interesting because I had a sit-down meeting with Denise about three weeks ago. I'm a little bit older than her, and she says one of the reasons she's running for county judge is she just doesn't want to sit at home. And I'm sort of the same thing. I'm a total introvert. That's why I love radio, but still I want to do stuff. And this sort of forces me to go to places. And it's actually been an interesting challenge because we're building up things like we have the nonprofit reinstated, and we're doing a number another a number of things, and part of it is fighting the mayor.
SPEAKER_07:Well, you met right after this happened. So was anything decided to be done? Is there anything that you are proposing?
SPEAKER_05:Well, even before that, on Tuesday, uh the night before, I was thinking about stuff, and I remember reading that in Florida, where this happened much wider spread and they had such incredible uh crosswalks, like with bricks and stuff, that one of the businesses decided to paint their parking lot. I thought that was really, really a great idea. So I messaged a few different businesses and nobody's committed yet, but there's interest. There's definitely interest. The other thing, I'm sort of a slow thinker now that I'm getting older. I remembered that the Pride Committee, when I was part of Pride, we established a Lower Westheimer banner district. We used to put banners up every year before Pride, and they kept up there for a few months. I honestly don't know whether it's defunct yet, uh, because they haven't used it a number of years. But I got the go-ahead from the super neighborhood to explore us obtaining that district. So, what we would love to do, of course, we're gonna have to raise money, is if if we get it and we get funded, we will put banners up there, rainbow banners or something commemorating the community, either the GL LGBT community or the community of Montrose near town as much as we can.
SPEAKER_07:I would sponsor a banner in a heartbeat. I mean, that would be something that I think would be great. I would love to do that. So definitely keep us posted on that because that's something that, you know, I always wonder what you can do. I mean, as a as a resident of Montrose, as a resident of Houston, what can you even do to respond to all of this? It's just crazy.
SPEAKER_05:Let's put this in perspective. People are losing their health care, especially our our community. I'm HIV positive. I've been lucky to have insurance and now Medicare that you cannot afford if you don't have insurance, that medication. And there's so many other problems going on. Our streets are falling apart, the city doesn't have enough money to run the city every year. They sort of figure what can be cut, what can we cut. And there are so many other problems in the city. And why would we focus on this? And I think there's a number of reasons. And first of all, I have the time to do it. But it is sort of a symbol. First of all, it was a commemoration for somebody who passed away. Second of all, I walk a lot and I know how bad traffic is and how poor enforcement is. I walk to the downtown wine many days and trying to cross those streets like Louisiana and Smith and Travis is difficult early in the morning, but if you try to cross it midday or afternoon, it's almost impossible. So it's part of a safety program. The real thing that it means to a lot of us, it's us. It's us. We recently dedicated that little park on Whitney and Westheimer, the Avondale Promenade Park. And I remember when we were talking about it, a council member Ellen Cohen at the time got a grant from the state about a million dollars to build that little park. But before they built that park, they met with the super neighborhood to say, What do you want in this park? Within reason, of course. You know, you can't put a big stage in there, but do you want a dog park? Do you want a playground? Whatever. And all that was discussed. And some of our communities said, we would love to have some placards there to commemorate who we are and what we are, and that was done. And it was done in an open public local meeting. And I used to be very proud working for the city, and believe me, the city has many problems, that we had a lot of open meetings when we discussed things. You know, it was discussed for many years that we hoped that Westheimer would be redone. It's only being paved right now, which is only going to last a couple years. It was also sort of this thing, well, when Metro paved over the Rainbow Crossing, it was they were not planning to redo it. But our council member Abby Cayman pushed the mayor, the mayor said yes, and then Metro did it. With that, bought some publicity. Unfortunately, that's probably one of the triggering things with this governor.
SPEAKER_07:It feels like I was talking to somebody a couple of weeks ago, it feels like they are trying to erase our community. And this feels like a literal expression of that. It just shocks me how quickly the governor issued this and and and Whitmeyer just said, okay, and Metro just agreed to do it. And really, when you think about it, and and the major mainstream media did not seem to pick up on the memorial aspect of it at all. They were really talking about it just being a pride thing. But the fact that it was for Alex Hill really kind of makes it even worse that they're gonna take it out.
SPEAKER_05:You're absolutely right. We're being attacked by so many ways. I mean, they went after public radio and television. And in fact, in central Pennsylvania, Penn State's been running a station there for 16 years. They're gonna just shut it down because they don't have the money to, you know, keep it going without the federal money. And, you know, our books are being removed from libraries, our clubs are being removed from high schools, you know. So we are we're being attacked in so many ways, and we got to step up as much as we can when we can. And I'm actually sort of mad that a lot of our community thinks, oh, nothing, you know, we're fine, we're fine. And, you know, we're the largest city that does not have a non-discrimination bill. And we failed at that multiple times. And I was part of some of that, and I will say, I will admit, we didn't do as enough as what we should have done. But I also do believe that marriage equality could easily be erased in the this year, it could be. Yes, I'm alarmist because I think we have a track record of things happening to us.
SPEAKER_07:Well, I think that that's absolutely on the table. It's on the GOP's political platform. I mean, they actually expressly said they want to get rid of gay marriage. It's their documents. So it is on the docket, it is on the menu. There is no way anybody can convince me that it's not.
SPEAKER_05:There's a bit of history just around the corner where KPFT used to be on Lovett Boulevard. Ray Hill back in the 80s was walking down the street and a cop was about to beat somebody up, and Ray yelled at the cop, uh, the cop with some explicit things, and that case went all the way to the Supreme Court and Ray won the case as being a troublemaker. And of course, the history of Harris County is that Lawrence v. Texas started in Harris County. You know, what we used to think, what many people used to think of Houston in the terms of our community, where we were a flyover city. But we have done some good stuff. We elected the first gay mayor in a large city in the country. So we need to keep what we got in any way that we can.
SPEAKER_07:Well, you know, I'm so glad that you said that because I was thinking, you know, now we have a governor who feels bold enough to require that the Christian Ten Commandments be posted in every classroom, but our streets can't reflect any aspect of our community at all. And I find myself asking myself, what makes me stay here? Why aren't we all just running for the hills of California or New York or something where it just feels a little bit more accepting?
SPEAKER_05:Well, I mean and I'm using that example because not just in our community, but younger people who have the opportunity, not all of us do. And I mean, it happened to me in '81. I moved to Houston because of a great job in radio. But younger people who have a choice to live in a city like Houston or Portland or Chicago or whatever, why would they come to Houston when our bike lanes are being erased? When walkability is such a challenge in the city. And not everything can be fixed overnight, but things are disappearing of what we already had, like the bike lane in on Austin Street in Midtown. So, and younger people, even though I'm old, I sort of understand they like walking. They like going to a bar and walking home without having to drive. They they want this, even though we know sometimes it's a challenge to live to walk in Houston. But it goes on to our community too. A lot of some GLBT people also have a choice of where to live and why would they want to live in Houston? And as I was retiring a year and a half ago, I was figuring out should I stay in Houston? And I think my answer was all my friends live here and all my enemies live here. So I'm here, you know, and and I I know this community. And, you know, part of the community is having these things like museums, places to go, and and walkability and parks. And, you know, we've done a tremendous job in our parks in this city under Mayor, what Mayor, Mayor Parker. But we as a community need to keep this. And Montrose being the historic neighborhood, which is now uh all over the country, these neighborhoods are diluting because of gentrification. And not all gentrification is bad because buildings fall apart, you've got to put new ones up there. But in Houston, like many other cities, people felt they didn't have to live in the neighborhood because they can have that freedom other places in the city or the metro area. A lot of us, some of us have gotten married, have kids, are part of the PTOs or their city clubs and involved in other things because we some people think we won. This is a city that was such a good old boy city that before that Lawrence v. Texas was over was overthrown, uh sodomy law by the Supreme Court, not too far from that was on the city's application to become a police officer. Have you broken the law? If you didn't check that and you were gay, you could be fired because you probably did break that law. And if you did check it, you were automatically disqualified. We made this tremendous history since Stonewall. But I think some of us think we're there, but we're not. We're just as easily as any other marginal community, it's going backwards.
SPEAKER_07:It's absolutely going backwards. And this whole crosswalk thing, it does, like you said, it seems like a small consider that's going on, but it is a very literal erasing and kind of what is happening on a larger scale. It's definitely a microcosm for everything and one of the calls to action for the community. So I appreciate you being out there. I appreciate you talking to everybody. I appreciate you working every angle of this. Please continue to work on those banners, work on parking lots that maybe become rainbow colored. I would love to see that. I don't want to lose this part of Montrose. It felt so great driving through that intersection and seeing that and remembering that it's there because we are the original Gaborhood and also the memory of Alex Hill as well. A memorial for him as that. So I appreciate it. I appreciate all you do, Jack. You've done so much in your lifetime. Thank you. It is just amazing. So we will have you back, I'm sure.
SPEAKER_05:Okay. Well, thank you very much.
SPEAKER_04:Thank you, Brett and Jack. Now let's turn it over to producer Deborah Moncree Bell for her interview with the Director of Development for SEET, or students engaged in advancing Texas, Sumya Paratutti.
SPEAKER_03:Today on Queer Voices, we're talking with Sumia Pachuri, who is the development director of SEET. SEET is the organization that has taken on school districts around the state to deal with the issues that are harmful to many students. And the exact acronym is Students Engaged in Advancing Texas. So, Sonia, tell me exactly what CET is, how it got started, and what you've been up to.
SPEAKER_00:So CET is a movement of youth, particularly high school and college-age students, that work on empowering each other and fostering policymaking skills and advocacy skills amongst youth. We think that there's a lot of policies that are being passed that primarily affect students, but we often don't have a say in what happens because we aren't afforded the same opportunities, such as being able to vote, being able to be members of Congress or school boards. So what CET does is we provide the resources and connections and support to students to be able to go advocate for themselves, whether that's at the local, state, or federal level, we provide the support to allow them to do this. CET first started back in 2022 when our executive director, Cameron Samuels, saw a problem in their local school district, KDISD, where there was increasing censorship and book bans of particularly queer issues, including things like bans on the Trevor Project's website. And a lot of books were being removed from the libraries just for mentioning things like queerness, gender fluidity, uh sexuality, things like that. So they rallied a group of students to go speak at the KDIC board meeting, and that's where Seat got its roots and was started from. So after that, they realized that they had a real movement of people and they wanted to put a name to it. And that's where the name Seat came from. And ever since then, we've just been moving forward and we continue to just grow exponentially from then, which has been really cool to see.
SPEAKER_03:So SET got started as a grassroots movement, a student-led movement, which I think is very exciting. Um, and how did you personally get involved?
SPEAKER_00:So I had this friend that at the time was programs associate for SEET back in 2024, I believe. Yes. It was April 2024. SEET was hosting their annual advocacy day. And because my friend was programs associate, she was helping putting together the event. And she had messaged me and said that I would probably really enjoy the event. And I talked to my parents, they said I could go. And I went to Advocacy Day. I had a blast. It was a ton of fun and it was so educational. And I felt so inspired by seeing all of these amazing things that other people are doing across Texas in order to help advance things like equity for students. And I wanted to get involved. After advocacy day, I got busy with different school things, but I ended up reaching out again and I talked to my friend and I was like, hey, I want to get involved. I just don't know exactly what I can do. Then Cameron ended up reaching out and said that Connor ISD, my Alma Mater school district, was attempting to pass the same gender fluidity ban that Katie ISD had previously tried to pass. So with that, I collected students to come speak at the board meeting, email our school board trustees. So I organized locally in my school district, and that's how I got involved. I spoke at four or five school board meetings past that. And I kept showing up to see events, whether that was in person or virtual. I continued organizing in my local school district. From there, I ended up joining the leadership team as program associate because my friend, who at the time was program associate, was now program director. And then in this past summer, I moved into the position of development director, which is what I now do with seats.
SPEAKER_03:And you uh I guess identify as non-binary and use them they pronouns. Yes. And so this from your just personal perspective, uh how did those policies make you feel?
SPEAKER_00:I oftentimes didn't particularly feel like I would be the one facing the brunt of it because I was relatively like part of the bill that was the largest problem was that it would require students to be outed to um their guardians if students or if teachers were alerted of their identity.
SPEAKER_03:That wasn't something that I go back to the you yeah, you cut out again. So go back to I didn't particularly think that I was a person that yeah.
SPEAKER_00:The bill primarily targeted individuals who would be in put in bad situations with their households because it would mandate that teachers reported students that they had suspicions were trans or queer in any way. That wasn't an issue that I was particularly concerned with, but I knew that it was a huge issue that other people would have, which is kind of what I guess motivated me to first get involved. Obviously, like at the end of the day, I would still be affected. And I think that obviously played a part in it, but it was a much larger desire to kind of protect my community and other people that I know that would be affected and that would cause significant challenges for.
SPEAKER_03:So the organization has really grown since its inception, and unfortunately, it's um still such a need for it uh as we've seen more and more school districts uh come up with these things that um can affect students in such a negative way. Uh and uh I I believe you also go to Austin and lobby. Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Well, we don't lobby. Um we have and we provide students like uh transportation to go to Austin and speak at Senate hearings or committee hearings in order to have that student voice representation in Congress. Sorry, I misunderstood your question.
SPEAKER_03:At the legislature in Austin. Uh and uh so what are some of the things you feel like where the organization has been particularly effective?
SPEAKER_00:I think we've primarily been effective at local organizing grassroots movements at individual school level, at individual school boards and that level because students or school board trustees really do want to hear from students, but a lot of the time students are just unaware of what their school districts are talking about, what might potentially be happening, or even if they do have an issue with the district, they don't know how to approach that and how to deal deal with it. But CET is able to provide them with the resources and education in order to go talk to their school board trustees, email them, speak at board meetings. And we've had a lot of success at that level where we've seen so many students go testify, either against primarily book bands, and we've seen so much success for it where the community really just shows up and shows out for issues like this once they have the training and the awareness in order to go about that.
SPEAKER_03:And you have an event coming up October 19th. Tell me about this people power and purple mock tales.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so our event on October 19th, Seat on the Horizon, is our first ever fundraising event in person that we're really excited for. It's going to be a night filled with all the various members of C talking about the things we've been up to the past years, what our plans are for the future, and just various ways that people can get involved and support us. It's going to be really fun. We've been kind of getting closer to the day and things are starting to fall into place. And it's going to be really exciting and we can't wait to see people there.
SPEAKER_03:And there's uh a dinner provided, uh, a cash bar for those that have the valid ID and are of the legal drinking age, but the mocktails. I'm very intrigued because I love purple. And so, do you have any idea exactly what goes into a purple mocktail?
SPEAKER_00:So we have two special drinks for sea that are purple because purple is our organization's color. The first one is a butterfly pea lemonade, and butterfly pea flowers or leaves have this special effect where they start off purple, and once you add lemon or something acidic to them, it turns into this pink color. So it makes this beautiful ombre and drinks. And then the other drink is a blackberry smash. So it's sparkling water just made with a blackberry puree, kind of, and it makes a gorgeous, again, purple color, and it's absolutely delicious. Um, and they're gonna be really fun and exciting. We're really happy that we were able to find a group that we could work with that would make us purple moptails.
SPEAKER_03:It it sounds like a a very tasty uh libation and um very enjoyable. So that'll be a lot of fun. Uh and uh talking about seat just a little bit more, um What are the next steps? Hopefully, you do a successful fundraiser. And then what's next on the horizon?
SPEAKER_00:So currently we're working with the ACLU of Texas, and we filed a lawsuit against Senate Bill 12, which primarily again affects your students. So that's primarily what we're working on. We have a couple of mental health initiatives that we're working on at the federal level that our federal policy director is in charge of. And we are also working on our first ever equity fellowship. So we have a group of 29 students across the state of Texas that we're training to work in their community in order to build sort of these chapters of motivated students that are involved in their community and are able to organize against issues that arise as they come. So that's been really exciting. We launched it last August, and it'll conclude in April at our annual advocacy day. So that's primarily where a lot of our team's efforts have been between that, our litigation against SD-12, and then other initiatives that we have at the future.
SPEAKER_03:I was listening to someone who I respect a great deal about what they have to say about things, and they said go to a school board meeting. Even if you don't sign up to speak, your presence of support means a lot to those that will be speaking. And that's I think a really important thing about being in community and finding one another. How do you get the word out about the organization among the various school districts?
SPEAKER_00:So we will reach out to contacts that we have in districts that we see issues arising in. So for example, I was student at Connor I see, which is why Cameron ended reaching out to me whenever we were trying to pass or whenever Connor was trying to pass the gender fluidity ban. But we do similar things across other school districts. We have a newsletter of students. And whenever we see issues that are rising in them, we either reach out to students or teacher contacts that we have in those areas. Because C is such a large statewide network, we really do have the connections to be able to fight these issues across the state. And whenever we aren't able to necessarily find students or teachers in that area, we'll provide transportation costs in order to get people to mobilize at those school board meetings.
SPEAKER_03:And for you personally, you're currently in college, and what's your field of study?
SPEAKER_00:I'm majoring in philosophy.
SPEAKER_03:Ah. So a lot of material for you there. One of the things I think that's important about seed is for young people, particularly those that may be in their first year of college, that is a group that faces uh suicide at a higher rate. And so finding your tribe and finding people that are doing things to make a difference has a tremendous value. Uh and as you said, you have this mental health component. So I really applaud that because that that is just vital. Um, and uh what do you see yourself doing with this philosophy degree?
SPEAKER_00:So, straight out of graduating college, my plan is to be a high school debate coach for a couple of years. After that, I'm going to transition into some sort of government work. I'm not sure in what capacity exactly yet. That's either going to be through switching to nonprofit work full-time, working in campaigns for public offices, running for public office myself, or going to law school and then getting engaged with government through law. Um, I have some time to figure that out though, so I'm not stressed. But I know the end goal is to end up working in policymaking in some capacity.
SPEAKER_03:That sounds like a wonderful plan. This is Deborah Moncrief Bell, and I'm speaking with Semya Caruchuri, who is the development director of Seed. And so tell me about Seed on the Horizon, people power and purple mock tails.
SPEAKER_00:So our Seed on the Horizon event is October 19th, and it's our first ever fundraiser that we've been working really hard for. It's going to be a night filled with various student speakers from the C both on the leadership team and not on our leadership team, speaking about what they have been able to do through C, what C is up to, and what our future plans are. There's going to be a lot of networking and there's going to be delicious food and drinks that I'm really excited to um have and enjoy. And it's just going to be a really fun event focused on building community within people engaged in similar interests out of this area. And where is it taking place? It's going to be at Job of the Creator, which is a local venue in Houston, Texas.
SPEAKER_03:And it's over on Chimney Rock. Uh, and as we said, there's dinner provided, a cash bar for the grown-ups, and then the young folks, or if you're a grown-up and maybe you just don't drink alcohol, or maybe you just want to taste those delicious uh mock tails that's available. Uh, have you done debate in your high school career?
SPEAKER_00:Yes. I did debate for all four years of high school, and I got introduced into advocacy and seat because of debate and the connections I've made through debate. In college, I've continued debating on the North Texas debate team, and I now coach and judge high school debate as well. So I've seen debate have such a meaningful impact on the people involved, and I think coaches have such a large capacity to influence students in the most positive ways. And I think I want to contribute to that a little bit before I end up going to policymaking.
SPEAKER_03:Well, you know, one of the great debaters that we've had in our country was Barbara Jordan. It is an area that is really important for those that are looking into going into government because it forces you to look at both sides of the issue. When you're doing debate, you don't just get to pick one side or the other. They often have you debate from each side at different points. So I I think that's really marvelous that you have that going on for you. We've been talking with Samya Parachuri of CET, students engaged in advancing Texas, which we hope that is something that we can do for all of us. We have this little crew of folks working every week to produce what's no longer unique because we're almost mainstream now, but we're still an important voice that might not otherwise get heard because it's not on that many places. So KPFT is very important to give voices to those who might not otherwise have voices. So as Glenn always says, you participate by listening, you should also participate by supporting the station. So please go to KPFT.org and make your donation right away.
SPEAKER_04:Thank you, Deborah and Sumia. Now let's bring back contributor Brett Collum for his conversation with his husband, author R. Lee Ingalls, about the history of the word gay.
SPEAKER_07:Hi, this is Brett Cullum, and I am joined by author and well, my husband, R. Lee Ingalls. He is uh here to help me talk about the etymology of the word gay, because we keep having these conversations about gay history where we realize that people don't really consider themselves gay, think of it. True, and they don't really refer to the person as that. It came up in our discussion about Abraham Lincoln, and it also came up when you interviewed our friend Richard Watson. Right. He said there was no such thing as a gay man 70 years ago. So we started thinking, how did this come about?
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, even when I first came out, gay wasn't commonly used, or it wasn't a word that I used to describe myself, even though I know now and knew then that that's what I was after I found our community. But yeah, so the question came up because my grandfather's brother, Uncle LB, he was gay, but they didn't use that word back when he was a young man in the 20s, 30s, and 40s. They had other terminology. So it was, I was really curious when did the word gay start being used to refer to our community? And it turns out the answer is 1955.
SPEAKER_07:Well, that's when it gets pop culture and everybody starts using it like that. Yes. I think that it originally meant happy, carefree.
SPEAKER_06:Even when I first came out, gay was kind of an umbrella term that uh included all of our community. Uh, it didn't matter. If you were a man interested in other men or a woman interested in other wor women, that was the term that was used.
SPEAKER_07:But about 1955, and then of course, Stonewall riots in 1969 led to the terms widespread adoption because we had the gay liberation move. So that was a con they wanted to reclaim that word gay and make it their own. So that was it. But it got me thinking about what in history, if we go way back, like way back, throw it back to the 1600 era, and I was laughing because it was buggerer, which we've heard. Yep, we have heard that a lot of times we watch these like old shows that are in London. He's a buggerer. Yeah, always comes up. There was also Ganymede and Ketamite, which two very old classical illusions. Ganymede was actually a boy that was loved by Zeus, so that's how that came to be a thing.
SPEAKER_06:I've not even heard of those, but yeah.
SPEAKER_07:Buggerer was kind of a negative type thing. All of them back then were considered negative. They were. And Ketamite was linked to prostitution, and it was kind of uh even used as like somebody that it was an old used-up sex partner. Right. So it wasn't necessarily an umbrella term for gay or homosexual, but they used it sometimes, particularly if it was a uh May-December type romance. Right. So there you go. In the 1700s, I thought this was fascinating. Molly became the term.
SPEAKER_06:Interesting.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Instead of Mary.
SPEAKER_07:Now we use Mary. I know. How did that happen? But Molly was a slang term for effeminate homosexual men. And we actually had Molly houses, which I guess were the original gay clubs in the 1700s. Probably so. And that was where you went to socialize with other mollies. You went to the Molly house. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Interesting.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. Well, we talked about the 1800s and some of our stuff too. Yeah. And invert was one that you, I think, we're talking about.
SPEAKER_06:It's more was commonly referred to in the medical community as sexual inverts. They were they had to have some other terminology to separate those people that were into the same uh gender relationships from other people. And that's was the term that they used.
SPEAKER_07:In the 1800s, they also used the word shirtlifter, as well as continuing to use catamite. So and this was like when the whole lavender thing started coming about in the 1800s. That's when people would say it's a lavender relationship. Right. And that was always coded for that. So I think that was interesting.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, I was more familiar with that. And you know, I I would have to say in history, all of these terms were considered derogatory by everybody, and including the the people that were gay. I think we are probably part of the first generation that have taken those the power back from those terms, and and we don't see it as a negative anymore. If the worst thing people can say about me is I'm gay, I'll take it. Thank you.
SPEAKER_07:Well, I will as well, but um also in the 1800s, uranium was someone that a term that was used. It was coined by a German sexologist, Carl Kenrich Ulrichs. And this was uh derived from the Greek myth of Uranus or Uranus, yeah, which was used to describe men who loved other men. So sometimes you were a Uranian who came from Uranus. There you go. So very different. So it was interesting to think about all of these uh descriptors. I I think that you said that in about 1914 the word queer became more common.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, it became more commonly associated with our community. It's a word that's been around before then, but I think that's or that's what is attributed to being a label for our community. And again, even when I was a kid, queer was a derogatory term.
SPEAKER_07:Well, and I think that a lot of people still see this as a derogatory term. And it's really funny.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, especially my generation.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, it's really funny. This show, Queer Voices, we get a lot of comments saying that the title is sometimes offensive to people because they think of queer as a bad term. I think of it as a more encompassing term. I'm more comfortable with using the word queer rather than gay just to describe myself, just because I think it's a it's kind of a community word. Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't exclude anybody, it doesn't label me as one thing or another. It's just kind of like queer. And it makes it kind of like brings in an umbrella term. Right. Is what I say. But when you were growing up, was it a a bad word? I mean, I was yeah, yes. I remember smear the queer was a game.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And if people labeled you labeled you as queer, that was not a good thing at all. Right. Yeah. And of course, being someone that is part of the cu queer community, at that point in time, I didn't want to be identified. I was afraid to be identified. So yeah, no, I didn't definitely did not want to be pointed out.
SPEAKER_07:Well, I think that before you come out, it's it's hard to relate to these terms and see them as anything other than pejorative or an insult because it's just there was no positive term to use at all.
SPEAKER_06:But you know, I'm glad to see because a lot of times you'll see different cultures take terminology or words that are once negative and and take them to identify their own community and take the power out of it, take it back for themselves. And I think that's what we've done with this term. Well, and good thing.
SPEAKER_07:You mentioned the 1930s, right? Yeah, which was uh some really funny words for that, obviously. Nancy, yes. Yes, Nancy. Again, a girl name, but not Mary yet. So fruit cake. Yeah. I think that was the first time that they started using dyke for women. For women, yep. Yep. And then we had light in the loafers and continued to use lavender relationships. Yeah. Seems to be a common thread in historical looking at gay and the word. And we really wanted to bring all of this up just because October is gay history month, yes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Queer history month.
SPEAKER_07:Yes. So we just thought, gay, the word gay. And it comes up in so many things. I mean, I don't know. I mean, of course, there are more slanderous words, and we're not going to mention some of them because obviously they're they're not appropriate to you right now. I'm thinking of the F word. I think that that one got thrown around a lot when I was growing up. I heard that constantly. Me too. That was just the absolute, you heard that on the playground, you heard that everywhere you went. I mean, that was what I got taunted with all of the time. And I don't hear that word as much anymore. I mean, do you? No, I don't. Yeah. I mean, I hear it used in a comical way almost sometimes within our own community and things like that. Yeah, yeah. But what do you call yourself?
SPEAKER_06:I mean, what do you think? I refer to myself as gay. So if you know if somebody needs a descriptor in that area, then yeah, that's that's what I call myself as gay.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. So you're basically the cis gay man, I guess. No, that's correct. Okay. That would be our terms. And of course, we have evolved. I mean, it was um gay used to even include the women. Yeah. In fact, you always talked about yeah, Marion Coleman.
SPEAKER_06:I mean, a dear friend, and she has said that she she always called herself and considered herself gay. And the last time I talked to her, we talked about that again, and she still says, you know, I'm gay. I always was gay, and that's the term that I've used to identify myself. So, and you know, that I'm I'm not so wrapped up in the terms as I am about the how we feel ours about ourselves as a community, and you know, where we came from. Often, if you know where you came from, then you can better plan on where to go or how to get to where you're going. So, yeah.
SPEAKER_07:Well, lesbian came about, and it refers to the Greek island of Lesbos, which was home to an ancient poet named Sappho. And that was basically love poems written between women. So Sappho or Sapphic, you hear that a lot. And of course, we've got other lesbian terms. Of course, we've we've mentioned all of them already, I think. There is, I've never heard this, but a chapstick lesbian. Yeah, I haven't heard chapstick, I've heard of lipstick lesbians, but not chapstick. Well, chapstick is the opposite of lipstick, it's the more casual, understated, comfortable style. It's a lady that likes a good plaid shirt and some comfortable shoes, okay? But then we also talk about Hi Femme, which is a queer woman who is extremely feminine.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_07:Which I think I've always thought of as a lipstick lesbian.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, me too. Yeah.
SPEAKER_07:Me too.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_07:And then of course we've heard Butch, which is a bit I feel like that that's derogatory.
SPEAKER_06:Uh, I I don't know. I mean, um, I don't necessarily see it that way. I mean, I've known a lot of women. I you know, I played pool in a pool league for years, and a lot of the women that played there were, you know, they embraced their more masculine side, and they were so endearing and so loving, and I don't see that as a negative.
SPEAKER_07:Well, I don't, I I just wouldn't use the word necessarily unless I knew that somebody was comfortable with it, I think. Yeah.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_07:I don't think that I would go out of my way to use that word, although we used it, you know, back in the day, as usual. It got flung around a lot.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_07:So it was interesting, but a whole bunch of different terms and things like that that our community uses. Can you think of anything else that you use or or that you've seen use commonly?
SPEAKER_06:No, I think that kind of covers all the terms that I've used or heard used. And of course, we did so the research to find out what was actually being used during the time of, like I said, my grandfather's brother, just to make sure that we understood. And was there any positive identifier? And according to what we read, there is none.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. Well, it wasn't really it really did all revolve around Stonewall and the gay liberation movement and a bunch of things that were happened.
SPEAKER_06:Going back to my grandfather's brother for just a second, the reason I keep going back to him is he was out and proud at a time where it was not normal. He also, with his brothers, my grandfather and their other two brothers, enlisted, or not enlisted, but signed up for registered for the service in World War I and World War II when he was in his 40s. So he did the he did the right thing by our society uh in both cases, but he was also one of those people who didn't care if you knew that he was more interested in men than he was in women.
SPEAKER_07:And that would be unusual for back then. I mean, absolutely pioneer in that way. Yes. Because basically a lot of people kept it under wraps. And we don't we know from doing this historical research that a lot of times it's hard to identify people that are gay back in the day because they didn't necessarily have their histories preserved in any way.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, well, exactly. And uh, even with him, it my family didn't make a a planned effort to erase that part of him, they just never talked about it. So, unless people like me and my brother Brad, we we talk about it openly. That's who he was, and that was part of who he was, and he would certainly want to be remembered that way. So uh, but there are other parts of the family that one well talked about it and two didn't know.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. Well, now we've got an easy term. We've got gay, and it's gay history month. So happy gay history month, everybody. And you can now use the word, and everybody knows what you're talking about. Or actually, now you have to use the the letters LGBTQIA plus is what I use. There's an even longer version from academic circles and things like that.
SPEAKER_06:You're better about that than I am. I won't say that in all honesty. All right, well then let's go. History month. Before we get into trouble.
SPEAKER_04:Thank you, Brett and Lee. Wow, I I definitely learned a lot today. I hope y'all did too. But before we wrap up our episode, I want to share my review of the very queer-affirming and inclusive music festival in Austin last month, Levitation Festival. Levitation isn't just another lineup of psych rock and experimental bands, it's an immersive, often surreal celebration of sound, visuals, and community. And this year that sense of community felt more intentional than ever. Not just musically, but socially, politically, and spiritually. My weekend kicked off with a band called Castlerat. Honestly, what a way to start. It felt like stepping into a medieval fever dream, intricate costumes with sword choreography, and a literal crowdsurfing astronaut. Every inch of the venue was wrapped in 360-degree projections, creating this total sensory takeover. Beyond the spectacle, their message hit hard. Inclusivity, resistance, and vanishing those who seek to oppress us. It was art with armor. But actually, I'm getting ahead of myself. My weekend actually kicked off with a late night set from the hypnotic, synth-soaked duo Boy Harsher. Their set was dark, seductive, pulsing, like being pulled into a neon dream that you didn't want to wake up from. The room was packed with queer fans, goth kids, and night owls who all seemed to know that they were witnessing something almost ritualistic. It was a perfect way to open Levitation. Late at night, loud, and unapologetically queer. Also on Friday, the day after Boy Harsher performed, The Armed completely stole my heart. Their set was a full-body experience. Multiple crowdsurfing moments, band members performing from the audience, on top of the audience, within the audience, they were all over the place. And I also really loved someone wearing a shirt that read, The only wall I want to build is a wall of death, which is a reference to a type of mosh bit. The whole set was chaotic in the best way possible. Community through catharsis. Heavy metal band Mastodon was another highlight. Model actress the next day on Saturday brought the queer joy and a bit of the chaos we all needed. Just got back from overseas. Frontman Cole Hayden was electric, seductive, dancing, playful ribbing, calling us U B-words, and a fearless presence that made the whole crowd feel sane. There's something so freeing about an artist who performs like they're both possessed, but also in on the joke. One thing I noticed and loved is that Levitation decenters the stage. You don't have to push your way to the front. The visuals are all around you. Projections, wrapping the walls and parts of the ceiling, so wherever you stand, you're part of the show. It's a full-body 360-degree experience that almost retrains and re-imagines the whole concert experience. Reminding you that connection doesn't always mean proximity to the front where the stage is. Somewhere in the crowd, someone yelled, There are two kinds of people at a music festival. You either push or you get pushed. But Levitation seems to challenge that. It's not about pushing, it's about participating. The Black Angels, the festival founders, summed it up perfectly. This is your fest, they said. And there were also these moments of punk rock truth telling. Frankie and the witch shouting, F ice, F the police. So punk rock, right? TV on the radio, interrupting their set to say F Stephen Miller, F Ice, and F Genocide, Free Palestine. And these weren't performative statements, they were raw, urgent, and rooted in solidarity. Consistent with the energy of a festival that's always been about defying the mainstream and uplifting the marginalized. Built to spill on the last day Sunday, gifted a set full of nostalgia and quiet power, while pavement closed the weekend with slacker, mystique, and real edge, also using their platform to speak truth to power. Levitation reminded me that a festival like this isn't passive. It's alive. It's a living affirmation that we all have room here. Queer, weird, angry, hopeful. Levitation 2025 wasn't just a festival. It was reclamation of space, bodies, music, stories. I walked away feeling seen, energized, baptized, and sound. I can't wait till levitate again next year. Thank you for listening to Queer Voices. I'm Davis Mendoza DeRuzman. Until next week, y'all.
SPEAKER_02:This has been Queer Voices, heard on KPFT Houston, and as a podcast available from several podcasting sources. Check our webpage queervoices.org for more information. Queer Voices executive producer is Brian Lavinka. Deborah Moncreef Bell is co-producer. Rick Hellum and David Mendoza Christmas are contributors.
