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Marni and I spoke about pronouns and how you are showing respect to someone by using them. But, also the importance of everyone sharing their pronouns. Marni Panas leads the Diversity and Inclusion team with one of Canada's largest employers. She holds a degree in Health Administration and a Canadian Certified Inclusion Professional designation. Marni has contributed to legislation and policy protecting human rights for individuals at the provincial and federal levels in Canada. She was a member of the Advisory Committee that helped draft the apology that Prime Minister Justine Trudeau delivered to LGBTQ2S+ people in Canada in the House of Commons in November 2017. Marni is also a transgender woman, who has been very transparent throughout her journey in the hopes of fostering acceptance through education and respectful dialogue. You can hear Marni in local and national media and she has made appearances on CNN and the BBC. You can also learn more about Marni in her TEDxYYC talk called “Finding Courage, Conquering Fear”. You can find Marni here: Twitter: @marnipanas Marni’s Tedx talk “Finding Courage, Conquering Fear” https://youtu.be/vSAk32W_wg0 International Court System https://internationalcourtsystem.org/ International Pronoun Day This year was yesterday October 20th International Pronouns Day seeks to make respecting, sharing, and educating about personal pronouns commonplace. Referring to people by the pronouns they determine for themselves is basic to human dignity. Being referred to by the wrong pronouns particularly affects transgender and gender-nonconforming people. Together, we can transform society to celebrate people’s multiple, intersecting identities. International Pronouns Day began in 2018 and takes place on the 3rd Wednesday of October each year. Individuals and groups will participate in grassroots activities that they determine at the local level. https://pronounsday.org/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/queervoicez/support

Jesse and I spoke about stereotypes and not fitting them, and about how having a supportive family doesn’t necessarily make it easier to come out. We also talked about being comfortable being who you are. Jesse Ringer is a gay man living in Vancouver, BC with his husband. He runs a successful digital marketing agency, which he launched in 2017 called Method and Metric, an SEO agency that helps organizations turn their website into a powerful revenue-generating tool. Having bootstrapped his business from the ground up, Jesse and his team have built up a roster of international clients. You can find Jesse here: https://methodandmetric.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/methodandmetric Rainbow Connect was mentioned and you can find them here: If you sign up please use code YEGQUEERVZ https://www.rainbowconnect.ca/ www.QueerVoicez.org --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/queervoicez/support

Lee and I spoke of Queer History and his books sharing the history of some very famous people who were gay.  Lee has an amazing site full of books and resources that he never had growing up. Lee Wind’s superpower is stories – true and fictional – that center marginalized kids and teens and celebrate their power to change the world. Closeted until his 20s, Lee writes the books that would have changed his life as a young Gay kid. His latest book is the nonfiction “No Way, They Were Gay? Hidden Lives and Secret Loves” for readers age 11 and up, honored as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection. Lee's award-winning blog, I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? highlights books, culture, and politics for LGBTQ youth and their allies. Check out Lee’s website https://www.leewind.org and you can even take a quiz to find out a secret about Michael Angelo’s ‘David’ https://www.leewind.org/quiz/ You can find Lee’s books here: No Way, They Were Gay?: Hidden Lives and Secret Loves (Queer History Project) https://amzn.to/3ifo01e Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill https://amzn.to/3kRHb2y Red and Green and Blue and White https://amzn.to/3EZ2QOF October is LGBT History Month About LGBT History Month How It Works Each year LGBT History Month celebrates the achievements of 31 lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender Icons. Each day in October, a new LGBT Icon is featured with a video, bio, bibliography, downloadable images, and other resources. LGBT History Is History “LGBT History Month sends an important message to our nation’s teachers, school boards, community leaders, and youth about the vital importance of recognizing and exploring the role of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in American history." Background In 1994, Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher, believed a month should be dedicated to the celebration and teaching of gay and lesbian history, and gathered other teachers and community leaders. They selected October because public schools are in session and existing traditions, such as Coming Out Day (October 11), occur that month. Celebrate Our Heritage The LGBT community is the only community worldwide that is not taught its history at home, in public schools, or in religious institutions. LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community, and makes the civil rights statement about our extraordinary national and international contributions. https://lgbthistorymonth.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/queervoicez/support

Melissa spoke of trans awareness and training as well as the mental health needs of our community and first responders. End the stigma! Melissa is a therapist, career coach, author, podcast host, and artist. She started her career in social work, focusing on children and wellness in her community. Over the years, she’s found countless ways to help others thrive through therapy, coaching, and a dedication to spreading information and resources to LGBTQ+ individuals. You can find Melissa here: www.melissadasilva.com @realmelissadasilva --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/queervoicez/support

Nicky and I had a great discussion about growing up in an LGBT+ home and the bullying and harassment he received from people who did not understand Nicky Scorpio is a senior songwriter and producer. He was raised in an LGBTQ+ home. Raised by two lesbians and losing a gay birth father to AIDS while living in a rough part of town opened Nicky’s eyes to injustice. Nicky’s main agenda is sharing his story to encourage people who identify as LGBTQ+ to share their stories and celebrate life. Nicky just released his debut single IRREGULAR which has all 9 solfeggio healing frequencies in it. You can find Nicky here: www.Yonickyscorpio.com http://www.instagram.com/yonickyscorpio http://waw.tiktok.com/yonickyscorpio http://www.twitter.com/yonickyscorpio www.thesophisticatedpsychos.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/queervoicez/support

Tammy and I spoke about her children, and the real emotions and processing time you need as a parent. Although she speaks of that processing being very separate from the acceptance of your child. One does not exclude the other. Tammy Plunkett left her career as a registered nurse to stay home and raise her four children. It turned out that she could only take so much Sesame Street and returned to her first love—writing. Tammy spent a few years working solely in fiction then switched gears to non-fiction while she practiced as a life coach and writing coach. After her third child came out as transgender, she focused her work on helping parents of transgender kids. She is contracted to Jessica Kingsley Publishers for her next book Beyond Pronouns: The Essential Guide for Parents of Trans Kids releasing in the summer of 2022. You can find Tammy here: https://www.tammyplunkett.com/defining-transgender August 27 is Wear it Purple Day Wear It Purple strives to foster supportive, safe, empowering, and inclusive environments for rainbow young people. Wear it Purple was founded in 2010 in response to global stories of real teenagers, real heartache, and their very real responses. In 2010, several rainbow young people took their own lives following bullying and harassment resulting from the lack of acceptance of their sexuality or gender identity. https://www.wearitpurple.org/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/queervoicez/support

Caterina and I had a great conversation about coming out late in life and being fully unapologetically herself. Caterina Snyder is a newly out and proud queer woman who transformed herself from a traumatized child victim to an untamed woman and rebel entrepreneur. She's a body and sex-positive activist, artist, and business coach, whose purpose in life is to inspire and empower others to be their weird and wonderful selves and to live on their own terms instead of everyone else's. You can find Caterina here; Instagram @caterina.snyder Website https://caterinasnyder.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/queervoicez/support

Harker and I had a great conversation about growing up shy and finding the confidence to live his best life being authentic in who he is. Harker Jones holds a degree in written communication and literature from Eastern Michigan University. He has written seven screenplays and two novels, including the Amazon #1 best-selling love story “Until September.” His short thriller “Cole & Colette” won the Get It Made Short-Form Screenplay Competition and was subsequently produced and accepted into thirty-two film festivals, garnering several awards. He loves cats and carbs, would like to be a pop star and is a member of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle and a card-carrying member of Mensa. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/queervoicez/support

Mike and I spoke about his life-altering illness and how he stepped into a relationship with his male caretaker. Plus his engagement story full of mishaps. Mike Iamele thought he was straight his entire life. But a life-changing illness forced him to challenge that notion head-on when he fell in love with his male caretaker. And the two of them went on a years-long journey to explore sexuality and fluidity to figure out if the relationship could work. When he chose to blog about his relationship, he had no idea that 100,000 people would share the post overnight, and he’d wake up to millions of people talking about his sex life. You can find Mike here; Website: www.mikeiamele.com Instagram: instagram.com/mikeiamele --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/queervoicez/support

Savannah and I had a great conversation about cross-dressing vs drag and how important it is to be yourself in the world. Savannah Hauk is a lifelong dual-gender biological male who uses the art of male-to-female crossdressing to create her feminine identity and presentation. She is the author of two books in her “Living with Crossdressing” series. She is also a social media and conference advocate, and co-host of “The Fox and the Phoenix Podcast” a resource on demystifying what crossdressing is. You can find Savannah here: www.livingwithcrossdressing.com The Fox and the Phoenix Podcast The "Living with Crossdressing" book series (two books) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/queervoicez/support

Lexa and I had a great conversation about growing up in a loving family and acceptance and her position in Drag Taste. Lexa Black is a 23-year-old, African queen from Cape Verde, a professional actor that fell in love with Drag art. Lexa is now a member of the drag team Drag Taste in Lisbon. You can find Lexa here: https://www.dragtaste.com/ Instagram @dragtaste Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dragtaste You can find your host Larissa Russell here: Website: www.queervoicez.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/QueerVoicez Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queervoicez/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/queervoicez/support

Finn and I had a great conversation about trans-masculine clothing and catching the online entrepreneurial bug, as well as how blessed he feels to have grown up in their family of love and acceptance. Finnegan is a trans author, classicist, and entrepreneur with 1/3 of a PhD in philosophy from the University of Cambridge and 3/4s of an MFA in fiction from the University of New Mexico. He caught the bug for the start-up world and left academia for the final time in mid-2018 to (attempt to) cofound an online philosophy platform. He has since worked on numerous start-ups while writing a novella and a short story collection, founding Both&, and launching Limns, a monthly newsletter in collaboration with artist Mischa de Stroumillo. You can Find Finn here: www.finneganshepard.com https://www.bothandapparel.com/ Instagram @finneganshepard You can find your host Larissa Russell here: Website: www.queervoicez.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/QueerVoicez Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queervoicez/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/queervoicez/support