45 - Pride 'Til The Cows Come Home

Wow you did it ya’ll, made it through Pride 2026. Tune in as Ariel, Tyler, and Isaac discuss their experiences at Missoula Pride and feature several interviews that took place. Happy Pride ya’ll!!!

Join us on all major socials @nogaysinmontana for exclusive content!

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:10

If I gave you one year and you were just locked in a white padded room, the only way you could get out was guessing what song I listened to on the car right here. Do you think you could guess it?

SPEAKER_06 0:19

Do we get any clue or no? No. No time. One year. I think we could guess it in a year. But would we know we had no, we have no, we're getting closer, warmer, colder. We just have to go through and say every single song we can do.

SPEAKER_03 0:31

Every song you know, basically.

SPEAKER_06 0:32

Like every day do you get one chance a day, one song?

SPEAKER_03 0:34

Just limitless.

SPEAKER_06 0:35

Do you know that we know the song? Yes. Okay. Okay, I think we could get it.

SPEAKER_03 0:38

Let's just do that today for the recording.

SPEAKER_06 0:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:05

Okay. The song was Frank Sinatra's My Way.

SPEAKER_06 1:09

Oh. Along with that's making you. Honestly, I thought that was way older than that. I don't think I would have gotten there because I can't tell you what my way is.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

Really?

SPEAKER_06 1:16

Sing it. Everyone does.

SPEAKER_03 1:20

What has he got? You've got to get a brush for that.

SPEAKER_06 1:26

Welcome to You cannot record.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

Welcome to.

SPEAKER_06 1:31

Welcome to. There are no gays in Montana, the podcast where we talk about summer allergies. And also growing up gay in rural Montana. Okay. How's how's your week been? What did you do today?

SPEAKER_03 1:40

I worked. Microbladed my face, cut my nose open. And that's why I'm sitting this way so that the camera can't see the left side of my face since I have a scab on my nose.

SPEAKER_06 1:48

It's like this big. I'm not like that. Like you would not even see. I'm not putting that on YouTube. You do have to be careful on those microblades all day. What are they gonna do to you for on YouTube? What are they gonna do? I can't see.

SPEAKER_03 1:59

What's that on Ariel's nose? Did anybody notice that?

SPEAKER_06 2:01

I took Tanny to the vet.

SPEAKER_03 2:02

Yeah, how's the vet? How's she doing?

SPEAKER_06 2:04

The vet was good. So for those of you who don't know, we used to go to the vet up north and now we go to Ariel's recommended vet for the first time today because I can no longer go from downtown Seattle down to White Center to up Northgate or Roosevelt and then back down to take her back down. It was literally like a two-hour adventure every time. And guess what? Surprise, surprise, everyone. I was late, am late, always late. How late were you? Every time. Today I was only three minutes late, but I am gonna blame it on the vet office because there's like four parking spaces total. Anyways, needless to say, I drove down this alley and there's a big empty lot with a taco truck at the end. And I parked there, not a single person in the lot. You can tell they're opening up for the day. And I walk by the window, and the guy, nicely, taco man, goes, How long are you gonna be there? And I was like, me in a hurry. I've got Chandler. I'm late. I go, just two minutes. What vet appointment in the history has ever taken two minutes.

SPEAKER_03 2:52

Even just a walk from where I know you were to the vet is more than two minutes.

SPEAKER_06 2:56

Pretty much. So then I go to the vet and the vet appointment was probably an hour.

SPEAKER_03 3:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 3:00

So then on the way back, I was like, well, either my car is gonna get towed or I'm gonna buy tacos. So I bought two tacos and a diet coke.

SPEAKER_03 3:08

Yeah, I'm they good.

SPEAKER_06 3:09

And that paid for my parking. Holy fucking shit. They were so good.

SPEAKER_03 3:13

I walked there from my place.

SPEAKER_06 3:14

I had the Carnitas tacos. Now I gotta find the name. It was honestly so good.

SPEAKER_03 3:18

So good. But tell me about the vet and what you thought of her.

SPEAKER_06 3:22

Kook.

SPEAKER_03 3:22

She's kooky.

SPEAKER_06 3:23

Like in the best way, she was like a lovable.

SPEAKER_03 3:25

She was like she has ADHD.

SPEAKER_06 3:27

Absolutely. I'm like, you'd like her. I was watching her and I'm like, maybe I'm okay. You two can be like this. She was all two kooks in a can. You all over. I know all about her. What she calls free $10,000 dog. She told me all about her pit bull, her pocket pity. What's a pocket pity? Small pit bull?

SPEAKER_03 3:44

It's a small pit bull. If you ever see pit bull that's super low to the ground, like a low racker. Oh, a little short legs. Lots of health issues.

SPEAKER_06 3:50

Yeah, and she said they're always like they walk like a monster. She said allergic to everything. Yep. Yep. Anyway, she was funny. So she puts Chandler on the table and she was kind of like a just like Kate McKinnon, like kind of, and she was all over. She was telling me every about like every ingredient and every medicine, like did not stop for like.

SPEAKER_03 4:07

Did you tell her I recommended?

SPEAKER_06 4:08

I said friends did. And then I thought she'd ask but Shtenet. She throws her on the table and she goes, All right, let's see what this little guy's got going on. And then I'm like, Yeah, yeah, she's like really good at the vet. And she's because she was like worried if she could stick anything in her ears. And she goes, Let's see if we can. She was like, How does he do with his ears? And I'm like, Oh, she doesn't usually mind it, but like one time they put a note in there. And then Wade goes, Ah, I'm so sorry. Yeah, yeah. I know sometimes I'm not even kidding. I will literally be looking at a dog's penis and I will call it a girl. Does she have a southern accent? No. Okay. In my mind. I love her. And that was her for an hour.

SPEAKER_07 4:44

Like just I know.

SPEAKER_06 4:45

Yeah, I hon I wanted to record it because then they also go in the back with your dog. Yeah. Because they like trained your ear and everything, and you can hear them the whole time and just zany.

SPEAKER_03 4:55

She's cool.

SPEAKER_06 4:55

Well, I have to meet her.

SPEAKER_03 4:57

I feel like she plays DD.

SPEAKER_06 4:58

Yeah. I'll go in and meet her, just no appointment. No, you've got to I'm here just to do it. No, you've got one in two weeks, Wednesday, July 8th. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 5:06

Do you have anything to share about your day, Tyler?

SPEAKER_06 5:09

I just got a pretty healthy scolding from my haircut person. Really?

SPEAKER_03 5:14

Oh, from chewing up your bangs.

SPEAKER_06 5:16

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 5:17

Okay, what did she say?

SPEAKER_06 5:18

So I, as you the listener doesn't know yet, but you will know. I took the fiskers to my hair.

SPEAKER_03 5:24

What's a fisker?

SPEAKER_06 5:25

Approximately a week ago. Fiskers, how is this the first time everybody's fiskers?

SPEAKER_03 5:29

I know what it is, but everyone, when you tell this story, is like, what's a fisker? I know.

SPEAKER_06 5:32

What's a fisker? It's people be out there not paying attention. Fisker is like the quintessential classroom scissor brand. Yeah. Every single one on the blade says fiskers.

SPEAKER_03 5:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 5:42

So my hair got too long, was getting too long. I'd waited too long to get a cut. So I went and I cut what I thought was a short amount off of it. And it was pretty short. However, it did not look anything of the sort. For those you can still see we're working through it. There's some baby bang situation. My haircut person called it Jimmy Neutron curl today. But I sat down and I said the same hair person. Yes. And it's been the same one for a while. We've been working on my hair trying to get it to a certain spot. And I fucked it all up and back to square one. Yeah. So I sat down and I said, I have to be honest with you, I did something really bad. And she was like, No, what happened? And I said, I let it get too long and I didn't come to you. And so I tried to cut a little bit off the top myself about a week ago, and it it's it didn't go very well. And she was like, Cool. Okay. So she's like, Take your hat off. I take my hat off. She didn't react too badly. And then part way through, I just because I had to know, I was like, So can you tell where I cut it? And she's like, Absolutely, yes, I can. Yeah. And I said, I know, I know. And she said, Have you ever heard about shrinkage? Boy, have I. And I said, Yeah, it normally has to do with a cold body water for me. But she goes, usually when people's hair is curly or wavy, you want to leave at least at half an inch longer than you actually think because it's going to naturally get way shorter. Right. She said, in a case like yours, I like to leave, I like to leave about an inch. And I said, Thank you so much for letting me know. So we're doing what we can to fix it. It'll be about three or six weeks.

SPEAKER_03 7:04

I'm sure it's fine. I'm sure she when you left today. When you left today, was it in a better spot?

unknown 7:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 7:09

Take your hand.

SPEAKER_03 7:09

I'm imagining your shave bald. It looks good. I like the uh I like the sides. That's just the most melody you've gotten so far. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 7:16

Well, we don't really have much of a choice this time. I also did tell her, I like in the back right now, it's long enough that it's kind of swoopy. Yeah. And even like when I wear a hat, it kind of I said, I like this. She said, Okay, I will not touch that. She said, like, I wish you wouldn't have touched the top of your head. And I said, I know. I'm sorry. I won't do it again. She said, Well, now we know.

SPEAKER_03 7:33

Now you know. What are we talking about today, boys?

SPEAKER_06 7:35

Sorry, I will do that in three seconds.

SPEAKER_03 7:37

Yeah. Here, let me get a cream.

SPEAKER_06 7:39

It's driving me nuts. For those of you who don't know, I apparently have summer allergies and the roof of my mouth is itching and it's driving me nuts. But, anyways, welcome to There Are No Gaze in Montana, the podcast where we talk about uh queer pride in Missoula. That's what we're gonna talk about today. So I'm gonna try to get to that again. I'm Isaac. I'm Tyler.

SPEAKER_03 7:55

I'm Ariel.

SPEAKER_06 7:57

Okay, so I think we get right into it. Ariel, you just got back from I wouldn't say your first trip to Montana, but would you say it was your most what's the word? Memorable?

SPEAKER_03 8:05

No, your wedding was really memorable.

SPEAKER_06 8:06

Impactful. Oh, I didn't even think about that. I was thinking your visit to the University of Montana.

SPEAKER_03 8:11

I liked that too. This was my third time in Montana. It was lovely. I knew, I already knew I loved Montana. Like part of me very much wants to do a small stint in Montana where I do three or four years. Like You should.

SPEAKER_06 8:21

I could so see that to live with my mom.

SPEAKER_03 8:24

When I think of Montana, I think of moving to Missoula and nowhere else. Like I can't imagine living in a city smaller than that. How how many is Missoula, do you think?

SPEAKER_06 8:32

Missoula's about a I think it's probably 90k. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:34

So it's a little smaller than Bellingham. Yeah. I think I could do that.

SPEAKER_06 8:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:38

Moving to Stevensville would be rough for me. 2200. It's not enough. There's just not enough shops. Also, I need something walkable.

SPEAKER_06 8:46

Yeah, you're not gonna find that anywhere in Montana.

SPEAKER_03 8:48

I think if I live in downtown Missoula, yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_06 8:51

Yeah. It's not any different than being in at the junction.

SPEAKER_03 8:54

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 8:55

And walking like downtown Missoula. I take a walk every day. Like the similar amount of shops and restaurants, I would say. Gorgeous, gorgeous.

SPEAKER_03 9:02

Anyways, it was amazing. Grand overview. We did.

SPEAKER_06 9:05

How many times did you cry?

SPEAKER_03 9:06

Once.

SPEAKER_06 9:07

Oh, okay. I didn't know that. When did you cry?

SPEAKER_03 9:09

At the chick's concert.

SPEAKER_06 9:10

Hell yeah. What song?

SPEAKER_03 9:11

I think I cried literally just like when they first came out. You know, and just hearing them and being like, wow, this is it.

SPEAKER_06 9:16

First time seeing them, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:18

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 9:18

Bucket list moment for me. Same for Lex. Same for Reed. Totally. For listeners, part of that. We were always going for Missoula Pride, but then I worked out that they moved Zoo Town Fest to the same weekend. And so we also got tickets to the Chicks and we went to the Chicks concert on Saturday.

SPEAKER_03 9:34

It was incredible. Incredible weekend. We really packed a lot into two full days and one little evening. Did it all.

SPEAKER_06 9:40

What's something that surprised you about Montana that you weren't expecting?

SPEAKER_03 9:43

Shields was incredible. I loved Shields.

SPEAKER_06 9:48

Oh my god, I forgot about that. That was surprisingly a highlight of the trip. Could have stayed there for another hour. I know, and we thought we were just popping in to grab a tube.

SPEAKER_03 9:55

No.

SPEAKER_06 9:56

And spatula for the barbecue. You can get it all there.

SPEAKER_03 9:59

You can. You can have it all, ladies. You can go to Shields.

SPEAKER_06 10:02

Yeah, we you guys were enamored. There's a little game.

SPEAKER_03 10:06

There's I know I need to go to the other one.

SPEAKER_06 10:08

You gotta go to Billings. Yeah. Ferris wheels.

SPEAKER_03 10:10

I know I have the Shields, Ferris wheel.

SPEAKER_06 10:12

Ferris wheel, Aquarium. Yeah, there's an aquarium when you walk in. The big tubes.

SPEAKER_03 10:17

Hell yeah. That was that was a surprising thing.

SPEAKER_06 10:19

Yeah, you guys played the little boop-poop. Honestly, that was hunting type game. That was kind of a let down.

SPEAKER_03 10:24

Yeah, my gun didn't work.

SPEAKER_06 10:25

Well, it just kind of like was very sound focused. Like nothing, the trigger didn't pull, you didn't even like cock it. Like big game hunter was more exciting. Two better shields. Yeah. That's our only call out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

But they had all the dead animals lined up. Everything you can think of.

SPEAKER_06 10:42

Word of the word of the trip was pronghorn.

SPEAKER_03 10:44

Pronghorn was our word of the trip. Set five times a day.

SPEAKER_06 10:46

Oh yeah. At least.

SPEAKER_03 10:48

At least. We had a cow experience. It was amazing.

SPEAKER_06 10:51

It was amazing.

SPEAKER_03 10:52

I really want a donkey experience, but a cow experience was equally excellent, I feel like. The only thing is that we couldn't touch them.

SPEAKER_06 10:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:59

Because they were wild.

SPEAKER_06 11:00

You're a pretty excitable person, but I would say there's probably a handful of times every year that I feel me personally viewing you, I feel like you're losing your mind. And when we got to the field of cows, I feel like you were you losing your mind.

SPEAKER_03 11:12

Everyone was.

SPEAKER_06 11:13

Screaming. You were screaming, Tyler, Tyler, this is your in-laws. Tyler, these are your cousins. These are your cousins, meaning the cows.

SPEAKER_03 11:19

Well, they are.

SPEAKER_06 11:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:20

It's Isaac's sister's cows. So it's kind of like your nieces and nephews, really. Right.

SPEAKER_06 11:25

Exactly. Right. Yeah. But you were just scream screaming it.

SPEAKER_03 11:28

I know. It was so funny.

SPEAKER_06 11:32

Yeah, blasting what Lacey calls the song Small Town Girl. But it's living on Living Girls. One time we were at a wedding and my sister just kept going, play Small Town Girl. DJ, Small Town Girl. And the guy's like, I don't know that song. And repeatedly she's like, Yes, everyone knows this song. Small Town Girl. Isn't that funny? It's really funny. And lo and behold, we got of that ranger. And you know what she did? She put on Small Town Girl. Yeah, she did. Right away. Oh, yeah. It was the first song we were doing.

SPEAKER_03 11:58

But it was such a vibe. It was. It was such a vibe.

SPEAKER_06 12:00

Screaming down the highway, windows down.

SPEAKER_03 12:02

Mind you, I have no voice at this point the whole weekend. I'm sorry if you met me. I was not at my best vocally. I sounded like a casino person. Like I had no voice.

SPEAKER_06 12:11

No judgment. We love to do this.

SPEAKER_03 12:13

And of course, screaming every night of the weekend did nothing to better my voice. It was worse every day.

SPEAKER_06 12:19

And driving down the highway, not in a car or a truck, you were in a side-by-side.

SPEAKER_03 12:23

Side by side. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 12:25

Have you thought about have you put together why it's called that?

SPEAKER_03 12:27

Because the wheels go side by side.

SPEAKER_06 12:28

No, that's how you would think. Well, I think you can sit in it side by side, whereas all other ATVs, all terrain vehicles, it's one singular seat. Oh, so people are side by side. People can sit side by side in that vehicle.

SPEAKER_03 12:39

That makes sense.

SPEAKER_06 12:40

Mm-hmm. Also, I just said small town girl living on a prayer. It's not.

SPEAKER_03 12:43

It's not living on a prayer. Living in a prayer.

SPEAKER_06 12:46

Yeah. Whoops. Don't stop. I was just like, we were just making fun of Lacey about having the wrong song title. And I completely botched it with the wrong song title. This one does have to be your clip, in one of your clips for sure. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:59

Anyways, cow experience was a huge highlight.

SPEAKER_06 13:01

Your pictures were amazing.

SPEAKER_03 13:02

Oh.

SPEAKER_06 13:03

I actually wasn't with them because I had to go to a funeral. It's your background.

SPEAKER_03 13:08

It's a moving background.

SPEAKER_06 13:09

No, really. Moving? Oh my god. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 13:12

They were so cute. All these little babies and teenagers came up to us and they were just standing there and they were all moving in chorus. I wanted to get up close to them, but I was kind of worried they would charge.

SPEAKER_06 13:21

Yeah, I don't think they won't. Anyways, Montana was a good one. It was awesome. It was really fun to have you guys there because stuff every time I go back, I have a little bit of like, whoa, I cannot believe I like am from here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:32

Reverse culture shock.

SPEAKER_06 13:33

Yes, and just like how like gorgeous it is and how nice everyone is, all that kind of stuff. Yeah. But then I think not only like having that realization again, but also watching people experience for the first time, like you guys were losing your mind, and that was so cool. Even Lacey turned to me when they were all like, just like could not get over the couch and she's like, I guess it is pretty cool, huh? I kind of forget. I'm like, yeah, it's really cool. It is gorgeous. Yeah. So come back in January when we preg check in the middle of the night. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:00

What's that?

SPEAKER_06 14:00

Well, not preg check, I guess it's actually calving. So calving happens in like January to March. It's the coldest time of the year. Oh yeah. So you have to go out in the middle of the night and check for all the little babies. What did you think about the food? And you have to be honest.

SPEAKER_03 14:12

It was just standard.

SPEAKER_06 14:14

We are gonna talk about this.

SPEAKER_03 14:15

It was just standard. It wasn't like mind-blowing, but it wasn't bad at all.

SPEAKER_06 14:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 14:20

Under no circumstances.

SPEAKER_06 14:21

Honestly, you're also not really a steak eater.

SPEAKER_03 14:23

The best, no, I'm not. I'm not a big eater, yeah. But that burger that your mom and Lacey cooked was great. I cooked it.

SPEAKER_06 14:29

Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

Sorry, they made the patties.

SPEAKER_06 14:31

Yeah, thank you. Um what was the best salad?

SPEAKER_03 14:33

I didn't have any of the salads, not a single shitty burger.

SPEAKER_06 14:36

You didn't have the cookie snicker, the apple Snicker salad.

SPEAKER_03 14:41

It was good.

SPEAKER_06 14:41

I will say one thing. My mother-in-law and sisters-in-law know their way around a side dish. They do. They know their way around a side dish.

SPEAKER_03 14:50

Not a salad, a side dish. Yes, everybody called a salad. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 14:54

Not a leafy green, not a leafy green within a half a mile, but it is called a salad, even though it has whipped cream, Snickers, caramel, and apples. Anything. And it was, it's so good. I probably had 14 chunks out of it. But I do think we also did learn McKinsey River Pizza Company. Oh. One of Isaac and I's favorite. Yes, I think what we're learning is that it's a little bit of a nostalgia thing. Not necessarily fine dining cuisine. Which I never claimed it was fine dining. I didn't either, but we were looking for somewhere to eat before the concert that would be easy to get into. And I would say elevated.

SPEAKER_03 15:27

I don't think it was elevated. It's kind of like CC's pizza is what it was giving.

SPEAKER_06 15:30

That's a fucking $5 buffet. Shut the fuck up. Are you kidding me? It was a little bit more than a lot of things. There was one thing. So it I am I'm okay with that. I can't remember how it was the best pizza. Not altogether, but the best specific type of pizza, which is called the Thai pie. And it was it's like a peanut sauce-based chicken, peppers, changes, mandarin, oranges, dried out nuts. Sounds crazy, and peanuts.

SPEAKER_03 15:55

And cilantro.

SPEAKER_06 15:56

And cilantro. And it is so good. It isn't bad. And the crust is so good. But I think taste-wise, maybe it lights it up too much. Well, I think our level is like we see it as a 10 because we're also just like we know we can't get it right now. I couldn't get it right now if I wanted. Yeah. You know what I mean? That is part of it. Like I can't get it today. Right. And it's nostalgic. Yeah, we just had it so much being like, this is so good when we're young. So I think that's that's kind of what I learned on this one. Yeah. But also, you don't really like pizza either. Right. Don't actually fuck off. You don't like steak, you don't like salads. I like salads. You shouldn't move there. So I don't Oh, you like a leafy salad. Well, go fuck yourself because we don't have those in Montana.

SPEAKER_03 16:33

I think I would absolutely I mean Mont Missoula specifically seems to have a crunchy vein of vegans running around. So I think I would do just fine.

SPEAKER_06 16:41

Big time, big time.

SPEAKER_03 16:42

And I think it's a good combo of I like I do eat meat, but I prefer it to be locally sourced always.

SPEAKER_06 16:47

That's probably where it's in Montana, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:49

Yeah, that's where I'm gonna get it. I'm gonna get like the crunchiness of it all, but also when I eat meat, I know it'll be a family farm.

SPEAKER_06 16:54

Well, those burgers burgers were alive that day.

SPEAKER_03 16:57

I know. No way.

SPEAKER_06 16:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:58

That day.

SPEAKER_06 16:59

We wanted to tell you after. You pet them like this, and then they went.

SPEAKER_03 17:02

They went to they.

SPEAKER_06 17:03

It's on your phone.

SPEAKER_03 17:04

They were not.

SPEAKER_06 17:04

It's on your phone background.

SPEAKER_03 17:05

We ate the burgers before we saw it. In your mouth in your mouth.

SPEAKER_06 17:09

Just kidding. Okay, so let's get into Missoula Pride of it all.

SPEAKER_03 17:12

Yeah, that was a great day.

SPEAKER_06 17:14

It was really fun. Last year we didn't get to dive in as much as we did this year because first off, it was rainy Friday when we were there, and then we had to go to a wedding on Saturday, so we missed both the parade and the block party. But it was so fun this year, and it was so hot.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

It was really hot.

SPEAKER_06 17:27

Yeah, but that was the first time I'd ever seen the actual Missoula Pride Parade, which was really cool to see. And it was a big deal. I was like kind of told our friends of like, I think it's pretty big. Yeah. And then I saw it and I was like, no, it's huge. Okay, welcome everyone. I've got longtime listeners and longtime guests. We've got Phil. Hi, happy to be here and Reed. And just fun fact since the last time they're on the show, they're now dating. So everyone clap and they live together. Okay, boys. So it's your first time in Montana, first time in Missoula, first time in Missoula Pride. So quite talking Montana. What have you noticed?

SPEAKER_05 18:06

First thoughts. Lots of wide open spaces.

SPEAKER_06 18:09

Lot of space.

SPEAKER_05 18:10

A lot of mountains. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 18:14

They had a spiritual moment last night where they went to my sister's ranch. And then we'll we'll put some pics up, but I think everyone had a really deep spiritual religious experience.

SPEAKER_04 18:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 18:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:26

I will say this might just be a Seattle thing, but like going somewhere else that's like kind of small tonight where people smile at you on the street and just are like, hi, how's it going? We're not used to that, and it's really refreshing. And it's like, oh yeah, I used to be good at social interaction, and now we're back in a community.

SPEAKER_06 18:41

He's always like walking around, and he's like, I become this cold-hearted bitch walking around Seattle where I'm just like, I know, yeah, doors get held open.

SPEAKER_04 18:50

Yeah, not his lower.

SPEAKER_06 18:52

Yeah, exactly. Okay, so we just finished the Missoula Pride Parade. Honestly, huge parade. This is really long. Yeah. And so, what were some of your favorite things that you saw? We're moving this way.

SPEAKER_05 19:05

I loved the Queer Farmers. That was incredible. Um, always loved the motorcycle games that come through. So fun. Um Roller Derby.

SPEAKER_06 19:16

I think my favorite one I saw was uh maybe the Maggots, the rugby team, Missoula Maggot.

SPEAKER_05 19:21

Yes. We're big fans of queer sports teams. Of course. That's part of one. Okay, well thanks, boys. We're gonna be doing more interviews. Do you guys feel like I'd put you to work today? Do you feel like you're at work? I think so. We've had a lot of people come up and like ask about the t-shirts, ask about the pod. So yeah. Handing out buttons. I was born for this. Excellent. So we'll be handing out swag today. We all round Missoula Pride, so please, please come say hi.

SPEAKER_03 19:44

It was great. It was like over 30 minutes of us standing there seeing like the cutest local orgs coming by, the rugby team, every single queer nonprofit allied organization.

SPEAKER_06 19:57

Firefighters. Yeah, the clinics. Pet bus. What's that pet bus? Oh I'd never heard of that before. It's the bus that you see videos of where like it's like a repurposed small bus, and they go to your door, and it's the videos you see all the dogs like getting on the bus and pick up their dog for the day and take it to daycare. Yeah, there was one of those. Not your dog, not our dog. And our friend Sam that was with us, she was like, Hannibal after the scout's gone to that place, but he can't ride the bus.

SPEAKER_05 20:21

Sweetie.

SPEAKER_06 20:22

Yeah. But it was great, it was awesome. Incredible. The parade specifically was like way more than I thought, too. Yeah, and it was really great too because we we it was kind of when we first showed up too with our shirts. I would say our I never I kind of forget this until I go to Pride every year in person with like our merch and our shirts of just saying like there are no gays in Montana, and we definitely get a lot of looks. And so I think it is a really good like conversation starter because it has There are no gays in Montana on the front, and then on the back it says a queer podcast for your homophobic ant. So I think as soon as people read the back, they like kind of get it. But it's we just had a lot of people approach us and ask questions and talk to us, and we had a lot of really, really good, deeply meaningful conversations.

SPEAKER_03 21:02

Yeah, people over that I was not expecting. So sweet.

SPEAKER_06 21:05

That happened, yeah. That gets me every time because I mean, within minutes of getting to the parade, we had somebody up come up and talk to us and like asking about the podcast, how can they find us, and then kind of just telling us their story of why they're there at the parade that day, yes, exactly. Why they're like why they're there and just like so appreciative that we are doing something like this because I think they're in a spot where they're looking for resources or looking for connection or a sense of belonging. And it's just every time I get in those conversations, I have to like really try to lock in because in my mind I'm spinning, being like, I cannot believe that I know this is happening. You know what I mean? Yeah, and then also I can't believe that like they're in the spot where they just are needing it so much. Yeah, Tyler and I kind of talked about how like we just met so many people and a lot of parents that were just all like starving for help and resources. Yeah. In a really like open way of being like, what can I do? How do I be more empathetic towards children? children to my kids and how do I like ask the right questions and how to like it was just really good. We had one woman come talk to us to talk about their daughter who came out as trans within the last like few years and is moving away and stuff too, I think. But just we talked through her journey of like completely and she said like she very much is Christian and like this like blindsided her when it all happened. But at the same time she's sitting there with her daughter at Pride like very like I want to learn more. I want to know more I want to be exposed to more and I think that's like the number one thing that anyone could do. So it was great it was just great to talk to people like that.

SPEAKER_03 22:32

It was beautiful. It was really meaningful.

SPEAKER_06 22:34

We also had two people see our shirts and ask us where it was from because they very much thought we were like taking a phrase from some sort of like speech from an ignorant politician or like the phrase there are no gays in Montana we had two separate people two separate instances be like where is that from like is it satirical like they thought we took a phrase from a politician and turned it into podcast name. Which is satirical it's just that they thought there was like a specific moment that we pulled it from and it was fun to just tell our story again and again and being like no this is like exactly how we grew up thinking there are no gays in Montana and like you can insert anything into Montana and it's like there are no gays in Arkansas there's no gays you know there's no gays at my job there's no gay and there just there just are.

SPEAKER_03 23:17

So we're everywhere.

SPEAKER_06 23:18

We're everywhere.

SPEAKER_03 23:19

Maybe like one of the most shocking moments was having someone recognize us in the wild come up to us say oh my God I love your work. I love the podcast I'm so glad you're here know all of our names and I said I said probably three minutes before this happened.

SPEAKER_06 23:35

We just got out of the car it was the first night we were there and we were at Karis Park because they did like a little uh dinner yeah situation carnival it's called downtown tonight and it's downtown truck party is also a little dinner um white market yeah big market right by the river watch the surfing that was when I was like fuck I've got to figure out how to live here for a second so nice right there. Anyways I asked her I was going what are you gonna do when somebody recognizes you I think I blew you off I was like that's just not gonna happen. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 24:03

Walk up five minutes haven't even entered the event hi I know I don't think she'll mind if we shout her out right no she'll be stuck. Okay so this sweetie's name is Iris she came up she said that she was particularly glad that I was there and I was like girl me too I'm so glad I'm here and then we proceeded to run into her like three more times that weekend at different events different places in Missoula which was hilarious. Yeah but I could just tell she was such a free spirit good vibe sweetheart I felt so connected to her within minutes loved she was so polite when she first came up I for a second I was like I thought it was like a sign up petition.

SPEAKER_06 24:40

It's so sweet yeah that always catches me off guard too because I've I you speak into this microphone and you don't think about the fact that everybody's listening and remembering and so even her saying like it feels so odd because I've heard you guys' voices so much to hear you say my name she was like that isn't that weird she's like it's crazy to be sitting here having you guys say my name and I was like yeah that's true. Love but love you Iris big shout out yeah I hope we see you again hit us up if you're in Seattle man for sure we'll have you on okay so then we definitely did a lot of interviews as well throughout Missoula Pride so we're gonna do some snippets in the episode of just the multiple people we talked to so many cool people.

SPEAKER_03 25:17

So many it just felt like a really engaged community and like super Seattle's so different because we have so many prides going on with different themes on different days. This was Missoula's main pride and it felt so obviously focused on people celebrating themselves but also like so much of it was just like here are our community orgs doing the work for our community right now. And I loved that it felt so grassroots. Yes and I love talking to all the people at the booths what do you do tell me about your clinic that was so fun. I could have done that for another hour.

SPEAKER_06 25:47

Yeah people very engaged I think because it it just is evident and we mentioned this in the last year's it's just evident that the stakes are there. Yeah totally the the being proud of yourself and being like okay and being like outwardly LGBTQIA plus the stakes are like high just feel higher. And so I think that definitely shows in a pride celebration like that. And it was just like it's very queer pride um which was great to see and I just feel like there's a ton of allyship. Like I just saw like whole families walking around the um booths and the parade and people walking in the parade and it just was like a level of diversity that I don't think we always see at Seattle which is kind of funny because you think it would be the opposite but a very different like kind of diversity but just felt like of all ages family demographics everything. This is Lex's first time in Montana um what do you think so far?

SPEAKER_00 26:38

Beautiful gorgeous I had no idea what to expect truly truly stunning I think the boys already talked about this but we had a religious experience with the cows throughout fields I'm from Rhode Island and I feel like the whole state of Rhode Island was bit where you were last yes exactly it was sunning gorgeous beautiful no notes absolutely absolutely okay so you went to the parade this morning where we thought some brain I felt like previous prides I've been to which were like New York City DC and no slamming to them but you're very focused on gay men this felt very queer like I felt like we saw a lot of women a lot of non-binary people a lot of trans people and I felt like it was I just didn't expect it very queer focused and I was really impressed. Yeah bigger than I expected I know what I thought Montana my God I know beautiful stunning okay what would you tell someone who is maybe like not out or budding out and they're maybe living in conservative Montana or they're just in a smaller town what would you tell them I think there's community here. I think there's people here and I think to try to find those people and try to find who yourself along with other people who have done that.

SPEAKER_03 27:51

White gay men in speedos or harnesses was not the focus. Correct and that was fucking refreshing. Yeah period period I have to shout out there was three separate repro abortion related groups there including a um family medicine clinic that does gender affirming health care, abortion care, all sorts of just like primary care. Yep. Oh my gosh I love them and it just reminded me that like queerness overlaps so it's a it's a circle. The Venn diagram is a circle between like queerness and bodily autonomy. Yep. And that's why you have all these health organizations there. And it's like second nature for all these clinics and health orgs and abortion funds to be at pride because bodily autonomy is innate to queerness and of course abortion. Oh loved it.

SPEAKER_06 28:36

Yeah I would loved it all the orgs we interact with and walked around to the booths was one of my favorite parts too talk about the bar fairies. Yeah so we is it just bar fairies I'm missing a month Montana Bar fairies Montana Bar fairies which I'd heard of the Montana Bar fairies before and I just felt started following them on TikTok but it's this really awesome org. So I think Montana is like number one if not number two for either DUI deaths or just highest number of DUIs or just like it's a very drinking and driving culture.

SPEAKER_03 29:03

Yeah. Prevalent thing very well also I'm sure very normalized Uber is not a thing in a small town yeah and you're also just driving 10 minutes to your closest bar down a back road. Yeah right yeah and so it's kind of baked into the it's culture. And so these folks are trying to truly promote a cultural shift.

SPEAKER_06 29:21

Yeah in a very like positive reinforcement way. So what they do is they go around and I'm sure they do many things but the one that they really highlight or that I always see on TikTok is they go around the next morning on like a Saturday morning and any cars that are in the bar parking lot of people that obviously chose not to drive, they insert like little coffee cards. So they give little like five dollar cards as just like a positive reward for finding a different way home. So yeah huge shout out to the Montana Bar fairies um it was so great talking to them.

SPEAKER_03 29:46

On Instagram they're the bar fairies the underscore bar fairies we give copies to sober drivers who left their car at the bar here to spread awareness of drunk driving and make change in the culture.

SPEAKER_06 29:56

And the two that we met were Ashley and Carly shout out Ashley and Carly Yeah they were just such a good vibe too everyone was a great vibe the whole day. So okay and then we met with the organizers of Queer Prom, which we've shout out on the podcast before but it was great to meet them in person. We went to their booth and actually chatted with Stacy for a bit everyone we're back again. I'm Isaac is in Montana we're out here at Missoula's ride and I don't know if you remember before but we've promoted Queer Prom becore in Montana and I'm here with Stacy one of the organizers for Queer Prom.

SPEAKER_04 30:25

And Stacy can you give us like a quick overview of what prom is in Montana kind of like it's mission goal.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

So Queer Prom has been around for five years now this was our birthday and our mission is to create and foster safe enjoyful spaces for queer youth in Missoula and also western Montana recently western Montana so we are not just a prom although we are overwhelmingly latched. Every April we take over the Western Montana fairgrounds the commercial building for a full weekend of celebration joy and authenticity and showing up just how we are so we have our first night is an adult night this year we have more than 400 attendees we have more than 75 sponsors in Pine continuous community resource works. Yes and all of that makes the second night which is our teen night totally free we have more than 300 attendees so that's kids ages 13 through 18. And this year we had our second family dance party we had almost 100 family staff also completely agree and I think what people don't realize about Beer Pra Montana is that it doesn't stop in April perhaps we're year round. So every month we have two events for teens ages 13 through 18 um so we have cafe queer so exactly what it sounds like kids get together we're and I like kids ages 13, 18 just hang out, have coffee and enjoy each other's company. And we knew another big event so like we've done Wooler Derby we do volunteer stuff we do all kinds of things. I've loved it and we also have a winter normal now so this we are special that's amazing. And our teens our teen committee which we're run by we are led by teens and adults of course um but the team committee was like it's really boring and kind of cold in Zulu in the winter and we'd like to dance and because park community we were able to say yep. So more than a hundred teenagers had our snowball last year at maybe December 12th this upcoming year.

SPEAKER_06 32:15

I love that's so awesome because kind of the bowl too is like especially for adult prom what you're trying to do is like people that just didn't have like a queer experience or a queer prom it's like I'm gonna come back and like have that experience.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

Yeah I never went to prom. I wouldn't have gone to prom um it was it is not a safe for joyful speech exactly and so my first prom was actually last year. I didn't actually so I attended but I worked was first prom for me.

SPEAKER_05 32:39

Tyler the cameraman and my husband he was prom king for uh Billings Catholic high school and look at him now professional cameraman I was like yes we were all we were all doing a little bit performing in high school our proms I would say as well so um are you from Missoula or where from no I've been in Missoula for 18 years.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

I'm Pittsburgh Pennsylvania hell yeah well welcome Missoula is my community and I am delighted to be able to be part of the way to our thanks so much Cece Hilton like we're so excited to promote prom and such a fun like and this next year April 16th through 70 but 2027 and then so many 2027 we'll see you there.

SPEAKER_06 33:21

It's also cool one thing just this is anecdotal but they all they're all very integrated with each other. Yeah like they we had a conversation with Stacey about Karen the realtor that we had on the pod like they're all very on the same teams yes and work and working toward like obviously the same goal. Yeah and so they all know each other and they're all like prominent people they're all in like a coalition in that way totally yeah okay um we this was it crazy so we're standing live for drinks in the middle of the block party and there's a drag queen behind me like three people and she's reading my shirt and she I just tell me about your shirt like she was ready like fists she was ready to have a debate she was just stand up it was a calm tone yeah but you could tell she was waiting for Isaac to enter and as soon as Isaac entered with the wrong foot forward she was going to tell you what was up yeah she was ready she was cocked yeah any anyways we met the famous Diana Bourgeois who fun fact and twist on the whole entire thing went to Stevensville High School class of 1993. My dad yeah it was crazy because like she like like I said she came like this and then she was like tell me about your shirt I don't know if I understand your shirt I'm gay and I live in Montana also southern also does just any imitation I do has a southern accent you're gonna have to accept it. So I'm like oh it's about me and my husband and I'm originally from Stevensville she goes hold up I'm from Stevensville and it turns out she was graduating class of 1995 and we had a great conversation highly entertaining she was born ready okay we go and the rest is drag baby okay so again everyone we're here at Missoula Pride I just met a local a classmate to be honest um what you're what year did you grade 2009 yeah okay I I already had children at 2009.

SPEAKER_05 35:06

So everyone I'm here with Diana Boubois uh also a Stevensville grad of 95.

SPEAKER_02 35:10

Yes out of Stevensville Montana um live for Montana I m I joined the military and then left and came back and found community in the state of Montana as a queer person and I was a Marine I joined right out of high school and stuff like that and then I came back and I found the Imperial Centerport state of Montana and I found places where I felt safe where I felt like I was home and where I didn't feel like I was always an imposter. I had really bad imposter syndrome at the time and and doing drag and living my best fulfilled life and and I'll be 50 this year. Hell yeah I didn't start dragging until I was in my 40s. I didn't find my com I didn't find my community. So it doesn't matter how old you are you can always find your community because the community is very accepting so you saw our shirt so tell me about like the first other ones is I'm gonna beat these motherfuckers up because I was like motherfucker somebody needs better money because I'm like because I looked at the back so if you turn around and I said uh it says pro podcast your homosexual aunt no gays to be homosexual sorry to be homosexual I like to auto correct okay um no gays in Montana and I was like motherfucker what the fuck is I'm like you have pride and you're telling me I'm not gay I'm gonna beat somebody's ass I'm like okay I'm gonna be found out we went to the same high school right and I had your dad as a teacher um I was like okay I'm gonna I'm gonna center I'm not that bitch anymore I'm like okay tell me about this and then you guys tell me about your podcast and I'm super excited because we have a huge community in the state of Montana um and if you don't know uh one of the oldest communities in the state of Montana is the Imperial the Imperial Sovereign Court of the state of Montana which is the second oldest LGBQIA plus or I call it legibitiqua um organization state of Montana um where we raise money for other nonprofits to through the art of drag making safe spaces and really bringing community together so that we can all be together and we don't have to worry about the haters, the the people who shun us. It's a safe space and um that's what the IACSM does and we've been doing forever the only other organization state of Montana that's been a lot around longer than us is actually Lambda in the universities. Okay. They are the oldest organization but we are the oldest drag organization. And um we've been doing it for years and years and years and we we do these space spaces these safe spaces so you can come and you can be your authentic self. That's what's really important especially in this state where we have a lot of red um our concern right now is our brothers and sisters and our siblings who aren't in bigger cities like the seven cities if you don't know what that is that's the seven cities of Montana um look it up that's what Google is for. But we have smaller towns like Libby we have Stevensville we have Hamilton we have those small towns where trans people, queer people don't have a space and we try to make those spaces whether it's through virtual or whether we try to make drag shows so that those people still feel comfortable they still have a place to be loved in Holy I love that you don't even need a host you have your own podcast you better get ready. It's called breakdown with bourgeois and I interview people for for candidacy um but I've been doing this almost 10 years. Yeah and I'm a big advocate that drag is the front run of queer faces because we allow um our big mouth our big hair and all the things and our big jewelry to be as the distraction so that people can come together and make those face faces. That's really important. You know um and the thing that I really want to point out for this ride is the thing we have to be aware of in the state of Montana that a lot of states don't know about is we have a giant bill that's sitting on top of the Supreme Court about drag. Montana Supreme Court yes and they are trying to ban drag in the state of Montana yeah it's gross it's disgusting um and I stood at legislation I to the House I to the Senate and got a bit three o'clock in the morning got in my whore drag and stood in front of them and said hey we aren't like other places we believe that Montana can parents can make decisions for themselves we are very G-rated we are very it's not about it's not about queerness it's not about sex about love when we come with our story out freedom of expression it's expression of loving yourself um and accepting others. Do you think that's one of the miscon the biggest misconceptions about drag is that it's not for I think that's the biggest misconception about queer people okay yeah is that we are sexualize and we are a kink I sit in front of the Capitol I stood in front of these legislations and I said and and in trixie Matella attire blots big ass hair and they sexualized me. There was nothing sexual about me exactly and that is that is that's your kink that's not about me. Yeah I love that and I stood up there and said we as Montanans we respect parents we want them to have a wholesome show when we do all show and we in Montana we do that that's worse we we are like G rated G performances G costumes we go above and beyond to do that because we think that we should respect everybody and drag and that's for everyone it's for everyone in a way of like um different kinds like there's so many different kinds of dragons and if that's not your master jam don't be at my G-rated shows. Exactly um and we have so many people that are very artistic and their drag is very controversial in a way makes you thought provoking it's not what we're doing on main stage is when we do children feel uplifting inspiring love yourself love others and those kind of things. Yes and if we don't do that then we they're not gonna get the message anyways because we have to be very broad with those kind of messages and if we don't support the regular like our regular crew community and our regular ally community and we expose them to things that you wouldn't expose your own children to it's deficit breast and we don't do that in Montana we respect parents we respect what we think we should do and that's what we do and that's that why we're fighting this bill and the ICSM is the actually if you look at the bill ICS the Imperial Montana is actually the first person the first group listed on that as lawsuit. And we want to be we want it to be known that we believe that queer children we believe that queer families should have the right to be able to expose their children to anything based on being a parent. Exactly and um and taking those parental rights away from them causes so many issues that we that it just snowbots. Unfortunately because you you open that door where's the next thing gonna be exactly so well Diana Bruge thank you so much for joining us I'm so happy with Matt have you stopped that I know it's so real it's so you didn't get to see the fun side you just got to see the slide so please join us on the main stage at Mozilla Pride and at the Zach at 630 that's when our doors open and then we're going to the Golden Rose after that and we're gonna have double coverage. So please join me.

SPEAKER_06 43:00

Yes of course go yellow jackets I guess oh my god I'm sold oh my god go yellow jackets okay so y'all you met my fellow classmate Dana Bourjois and she was a hoot she was really good but yeah we also just want to shout out the Imperial Sovereign Court of the state of Montana they're doing a lot of amazing work to get grants to people it sounded like and also to keep drag legal yeah and also I loved what she said about just like the relationship between kids and drag and how that can be positive and expression. Yeah it was so good.

SPEAKER_03 43:33

She'll say it better. She yeah she for sure will she's very connected to some of the local drag here in Seattle too it was fun to hear girls get shouted at someone that I've previously worked with.

SPEAKER_06 43:43

Yeah shouted in my like regular day jobs now why just gone yeah so yeah that was a great that was fun. We also had a great lunch at Top Hat. Good yeah no it was fun it's f it was fun that we all had there was eight of us and we all had shirts on they forgot my pickles. No gave much shouted

SPEAKER_03 44:00

You forgot my fried pickles I got for the table. Let me was fucked up on that day.

SPEAKER_06 44:04

We did. I so I did learn right at that moment, and I was telling Ariel later, me and you in shirt matching shirts, year one. People paid attention. Six of us in matching shirts, powerful. Rolling made a scene. Powerful. And a lot of people ask, and a lot of people you can like see their eyes when you're walking in a group. Yeah. Because you wear one screen print t-shirt, and someone may be like, oh, what does that say as they pass by you? Yeah. And you got a whole group coming towards you. It's like, what do these people but what are they saying? What are they saying? What are they saying?

SPEAKER_03 44:28

Um someone did pass by us and went. I just don't get it. Right when we got there.

SPEAKER_06 44:32

Right when we got there. So the Westboro Baptists are here. Literally, we were I was paying for parking on the car. I said, guys, don't let that discourage you. We're gonna have a great day. Confidence, confidence. Yeah, yeah. No, our friends were great. They were such allies and troopers and ambassadors for the brand. So, anyways, we went to Top Hat, and that was really fun because again, when you have all those shirts, it was it was just like a scene in a really good way. So it was really fun. We had three groups, at least four. I can count. There was the woman who walked up that they were from Colorado and they were going to the chicks that night. Another woman came up to us and said, You guys just look fucking awesome. You like this? I knew you want a picture. She did, we didn't know, but she had back channeled with me earlier and was like, Let me get a picture of you all later on. So then randomly she came up to what seemed as randomly came up to our table and went, You guys want that picture? And everyone was like, What? Sure. Yeah. Um, and then the other, the last people we met. The podcasters. Yes. Yeah. So we met some people that are starting a podcast. His name was Zayn, he's from Helena, and he's starting a podcast called Shit Talk Corner. And I'm excited to hear it. He was gonna reach out. He said it was maybe like I think he said the fall. But it's gonna exchange info, so more to come watch. Yep. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:36

Good luck, Zayn.

SPEAKER_06 45:37

So yeah, I would say overall, full success weekend on all fronts. Yeah, we were. No hiccups. So exciting, right?

SPEAKER_03 45:44

Hell yeah. I love it. I want to move back there. I want to go back to school there. Badly. We hiked the M too. We did all the things.

SPEAKER_06 45:50

It was, yeah. Oh, we did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was fun. Next year, we're gonna do an afloat.

SPEAKER_03 45:54

Oh, yeah, we are gonna do a float.

SPEAKER_06 45:56

Next year we're doing a float. Ariel and I are gonna go go.

SPEAKER_03 45:57

Grandma Karen's coming up with us.

SPEAKER_06 45:59

I know. I had that thought in the middle of the day. I was like, I should have had them come down. Why did I why did we not do that? Let's mark it now. Let's do a float. We're gonna do listeners that want to participate. Uh-huh. Walk in the parade with us. Yep. Oh, God, that's good. Let's do it all. Yeah. Lacey, we need a truck. Actually, a side by side. We're gonna do a little parade of side by sides. Yeah, that'll come up. Yeah, we'll bring Rose.

SPEAKER_03 46:20

Needs to have a little uh my god, let's bring Rose. I thought I didn't get to meet her.

SPEAKER_06 46:24

Anyway, great success. To close out, Isaac, I think you have something for us, right? I do. Okay. So on our way to Missoula, we did get a letter from a listener, which was really fun for Tyler and I to read in the car. And so I'm gonna read it. So it goes, hey, my name is Ren, and I just randomly found your podcast on Instagram about a week ago, and I haven't been able to stop listening. And I'm already on episode 18. Similar to Isaac, I'm a 6'5 gay and bald Montanan. So close. Similar to us. You have everything correct except for the 6'5 part. I wish you got one on me. I wanted to email you all because this podcast has actually been so healing and encouraging as someone who also grew up queer and closeted, came out fully at 28 and left Montana that same year to eventually find my home in Oakland, California.

SPEAKER_07 47:04

Wow.

SPEAKER_06 47:04

It's been so interesting hearing your experiences that are both similar and so different than mine. I was homeschooled on the mountains near Whitehall in a very religious community and family. I unfortunately don't yeah, I know. I got cousins in Whitehall.

unknown 47:15

Wow.

SPEAKER_06 47:16

Yep. Do do do. I unfortunately don't have the most affirming family and was heavily involved with the church when I came out and was essentially encouraged to leave that church. Most of my memories in Montana were in a negative light, but hearing about the things you loved, about our home state, and the people you still have in your lives has really been shifting my perspective. And I wanted to thank you for that. I also lived in Bozeman from 2017 to 2022. So I've been trying to discover if we were all in the same place at one point. LOL. We did, I we we were out back and we just were ships in the night. Because I left in 2017. And so did Tyler right at the beginning of the year. So um it does bring so many memories. When you mentioned the bars and streets, I used to call home. Thank you for starting this podcast. I know it's definitely been a help to me and so many others. I've been sharing it with other queer folks I knew in Montana. Keep up the important work and happy pride.

SPEAKER_03 47:59

Thank you, Ren. I would love to know more, honestly.

SPEAKER_06 48:03

Yeah, about the about that experience. I mean too. I feel like that too. Yeah. And I feel as somebody who also came out like I think I was 26.

SPEAKER_03 48:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 48:12

Kind of similar, like moved and then came out kind of right before I was moving a little bit and right after. Like, I feel like there's a lot of things that we really connected on. You kind of use it moving as a little bit of a cutover. Yeah. So, yeah. But, anyways, thanks so much for writing in, Ren. And we hope to hear more and keep listening. Let us know your thoughts. If you're online episode 18, much to go. So all right. I think that's it for our Pride episode this year. Uh, we're headed to Seattle Pride this weekend. What's everyone looking forward to the most?

SPEAKER_03 48:38

Water skiing on Saturday. Is it just gonna be us three?

SPEAKER_06 48:42

I think so, yeah. Period. I kind of like that. It's intimate.

SPEAKER_03 48:44

Well, you get more time on the water too. Oh, I also like can I drive the boat? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_06 48:49

I'm looking forward to I think Isaac and I just talked about today. We're gonna wear our Tan Gim stuff. Because why not? Like to the parade or like to the Broadway, though that area. And we have stickers that we have to get rid of. I think we can wear the merch and give some stuff out. We really haven't done that in Seattle.

SPEAKER_03 49:03

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_06 49:04

So it's more purposeful of a pride when we do that kind of stuff. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:07

Yeah, it totally does. Of course. It totally does.

SPEAKER_06 49:09

Anyway, my song of the week. Probably at this point of recording, two hours ago, my girl released a single. No, Katy Perry. Oh.

SPEAKER_03 49:19

So is she gonna release an album?

SPEAKER_06 49:21

I don't know. She's kind of said that it's not part of an album. It's just like I think it's like truly she's written songs about breaking up with Orlando and she wants to release them. Well, she's got that fire, you know, that dog in her. And so she released a song called Watch It Burn a couple weeks, a couple hours ago. So that's gonna be my song of the week. I think you guys should do your.

SPEAKER_03 49:39

Of course. What is it? Is it good or it's good? Okay. It's good. I like bands. Is it better than Band Aids?

SPEAKER_06 49:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 49:43

Band-Aids wasn't good.

SPEAKER_06 49:44

Better than Band Aids, and I thought it wasn't bad. I liked Band Aids too. And I would say I'm pretty as you like to say. Pretty neutral on Katie Perry. Do you want to do your song of the week? Yeah, my. You got your big one. Yeah, my big one, number one. They didn't play it. It's totally fine, but it is the number one greatest song ever made by the chicks, and it is Tonight the Heartache on me. Isaac's favorite chick song. And we can't I'm still waiting for your post. I personally wrote and thanked every one of our friends. I said, Thank you for not using this song. I don't fucking have enough any photos, and don't worry, I already have a plan for it for Sunday Pride. So don't perfect. Can't wait to see you do your big one with that song.

SPEAKER_03 50:16

He's Isaac's doing his big one, Sunday Pride. Look out, everybody. Can I do two songs? Of course. Yeah, we can do whatever we want here. My song of the week is gay, capital G-A-Y by Meg Stalter. Incredible song. We did listen to it as a community and by the community. And then my second song is My Way by Frank Sinatra. Has it another amazing queer artist from the 60s?

SPEAKER_06 50:38

Why are you listening to it? Yeah, did it just kind of resurface?

SPEAKER_03 50:41

It was it's just on my liked songs playlist and it started playing today and just on the drive here. And I was just like it's just good. I feel like that happens. It's freeing.

SPEAKER_06 50:51

I feel like that happens to you a lot where like a throwback, throwback, throwback song really hooks you. And we're yep. That happens to you a lot. In a good way. Well, everyone, thanks for joining us for our Pride episode. And as always, we love you, Montana. Thank you for hosting us. Thank you to my sister for taking all my friends out on the ranch. They had the best, literally the best time there. Still talking about the show that night. Still the show. Yeah. Talk about talk about an ally. Yeah. Thank you to everyone that participated in the parade, everything. Like it was so good. The poor any waiter or waitress or any wait staff that had to wait on our group. We just want to give a big shout out and thank you to the Us and managing the eight of us, all in matching shirts, screaming. So hey, here we are. Rolling eight deep. First time in Montana. Do you have us? Can you see us all?

SPEAKER_03 51:37

Is everybody here? Oh, yeah, everyone's here. One person shows up 30 minutes later. The other one shows up 30 minutes later.

SPEAKER_06 51:42

Yeah, I know we said eight, but there's actually 14. Yeah. We'll just pull up a few chairs. By that I mean six to nine chairs. Yeah. I do love that part about Montana. They're usually pretty accommodating in that way. That's true. They do make it work really fast. We're in Seattle. People are they really put out one more person? Seattle will be like, go fuck yourself. Yeah. And charge double.

SPEAKER_03 52:00

Fuck Seattle.

SPEAKER_06 52:02

As always, please let us know your pride stories. We want to hear about everything that happened this Pride. Um, you can send us an email at no gays in Montana at gml.com, or of course you can find us on all socials at No Gaze in Montana. All right. Bye. Happy Pride.

SPEAKER_03 52:16

Happy Pride.