Bonus: An Announcement from Afterlives!

Host Raquel Willis takes a moment to check in on the state of the world and our community. Plus, some exciting news about next season! Make sure you and your friends are subscribed because the stakes could not be higher. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Oh Bodies Are Gonja by Our Bodies Are. This is
a recording of me with over two dozen transactivists and
allies chanting in a bathroom on Capitol Hill. It was
at the top of December twenty twenty four when we
turned the space between a few stalls and sinks into

(00:28):
the site of a sit in. Shortly after this video
was taken, I got arrested, and if I may say
so myself, I was looking fierce as hell in my
black beret. We went to the Capitol Building to fight
back against Representative Nancy Mace and House Speaker Mike Johnson,

(00:50):
who wants to use bathrooms to target the only trans
member of Congress. I'm proud that we, as a new
group called Gender Liberation Movement stage this protest. When we did,
it set a tone of radical defiance just a month
before the United States entered a new era of restriction
for trans folks. I'm Raquel Willis and this is Afterlives,

(01:18):
a podcast series exploring the lives and legacies of trans
legends lost too soon. I wanted to take a moment
and reach out to you, our listeners. It's a critical
time to tell trans stories, and I have an exciting
announcement about the next season, but first we need to

(01:40):
talk about the state of the world and our community.
Donald Trump's campaign spent millions attacking trans rites in the
twenty twenty four election, and since entering office, he has
ushered in an era of heightened depression for all people
on the margins. For trans, it's, non binary, and intersect folks,

(02:02):
he's trying to erase our existence entirely. Executive orders narrowly
defining gender and sex are blocking participation in sports, preventing
folks from getting passports that match their true identities, and
literally writing trans people out of history. Other executive orders

(02:23):
have temporarily halted gender firm and care for trans youth,
which we know saves lives. For some of these executive actions,
their fate is still being decided by the courts, But
in the meantime, we're in the streets. Trans kids are
run your attack? What do we do? Trans kids all

(02:45):
run your attack? What do we do? Last season on Afterlives,
we centered the story of Leileen Polanco. Leilein loved to dance,
she loved to sing. She was just happy to be alive.

(03:07):
Layleen was an Afro Latina trans woman in New York City.
She loved animals and going out dancing. She was close
with her family of origin, a support of sister and
a loving aunt. She found community in New York's ballroom scene,
but at the young age of twenty seven, she tragically

(03:27):
passed away in Riker's Island, New York City's notorious Gail Complex.
We looked at the systems that led to her demise
and trace the movements that demanded justice for her and
for others. Was her transness actually a cause of her death?

(03:48):
We found out that the answer was yes, it absolutely was.
Leilean Polanco became a rallying cry for the movement. I
am coming for writers. Yeah, right now. It is essential

(04:09):
to continue the fight for trans lives. And that's why
we're back with a whole new season of Afterlives, and
this time we're going way back to look at a
mother of our movement. We're going to hear from queer elders.
I came out at a time when you know, being
gay was just unthinkable. You know, it was still behind

(04:34):
the barrel, and I still believe in inviting for our
right and remember where we came from. I started banging
on the door of the storm were like one boom
boom boom. But most importantly, we're going to explore the
life and legends of an icon in the LGBTQ plus movement.

(05:00):
Oh my goodness, she's strutting up there waving to the
policeman in the cars, and then you could get arrested,
but had no mind. I'm a woman, a real woman.
Let's say I went to heavens Marsha, I'd say, Marsha,
what's amazing. You became very famous. You were on the

(05:21):
cover of Time magazine one hundred Most Important People of
the Century. Marcia is the saint of Gibbe. Marsha is
gonna make sure that you're taken care of. Russia's gonna
give you the shirt up her back. Whysha's gonna feed you,
Gonna take her last food and give it to you

(05:41):
none other than Marcia P. Johnson. They called me a
legend in my own time, because there's so many queens
gone that I'm one of the few queens is still
let from the seventies, in the sixties and now is
gentlemen the play of the hot. In the decades since

(06:12):
her death, she's become an icon to generations of trans
and queer people and understanding her as more than a
myth can help us understand our history, express who we are,
and stand up for the future we believe in. I
have an important thing to ask you. Please, please please

(06:35):
tell your friends that Afterlives is coming back for season two.
I mean, if you know them like that, literally grab
their phones and follow the show because they're not going
to want to miss it, and neither are you. We
have so much in store for this season and the
stakes could not be higher. Listen to trans stories like ours.

(06:58):
Be part of the resistance to those who want to
erase us. Listen to Afterlives on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts. Our first episode drops
June tenth. See you then,