June 21, 2025 • 45 mins
In this "quick and dirty" Pride MINIsode, Charles & Martha discuss Martha's powerful keynote speech at Pitman Pride, which you'll get to hear in its entirety!
They also talk about:
- Nobody showed up to Baby-Man's wittle burfday parade because...
- NO KINGS!
- Why Martha embraces her new title as a "Dangerous Woman"
- ...and more!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Coming to you from the dining room table at East
Barbary Lane. Welcome to a Quick and Dirty Pride episode
of Full Circle the Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I am your host, Charles Dyson.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Junior, and I'm your host Martha Mandregal. Welcome to the
Full Circle Table.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Quick and Dirty Pride episode. I know I'm all here.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Hey, well, so we're recording on June fifteenth. Yesterday, June fourteenth,
I think forever more will be known as No King's Day.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Chaw.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Yeah, the pictures are astounding. Of all of the places
in all fifty states, it's where people gathered that.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Were not the happy, Happy, Joy Joy birthday parade for
the man.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Baby new It makes one scratch one's head as to
how he even got back in. But that aside, the
pictures from Washington, d C. On the same day are pathetic. Shaw. Yeah,
we already had a commitment. Yes, we did four June fourteenth.
(01:27):
As I've mentioned, you know, we table for my program
all throughout Pride. That's my day job where I actually
make money. And I was asked to give a keynote
to the Small and Wonderful Pride celebration in Pittman, New Jersey,
(01:50):
years which is it's right here, and it's the next
town over. But when I grew up, it was kind
of our town center, you know, because this is all
just residential where we live, right and so our parish
church and our library and our movie theater and barbershop
(02:15):
and all bank and we're all there in Pittman. So
I our fireworks on the fourth of July. So I
grew up going there and being there. And it was
an honor to be asked to give a keynote this year. Yeah,
when transficts are under attack. So I did, you did,
(02:39):
and it was wonderful. It happened. It was very powerful.
Thank you, and I wanted to share that, you know,
other and that is what this episode actually is. We're
not going to get into the news because but you know,
on No King's Day, across this country and around this world,
a lot of people stood up and said what's happening
(03:02):
is not okay, not okay, and that's what needs to happen.
It does, sadly in Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Two shootings, yeah to Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
I want to say representatives or one was a rep
and one was a senator. One couple died a representative
and her husband and then a representative and his wife
are right now in I believe critical condition. And that's
(03:39):
the story where mom, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Left in front of her daughter.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Her twenty year old daughter, to child her from the gunfire.
You know, once again, a white terrorist yep that you know,
we won't call that, but we should. We will, we will, Yeah, yeah,
once again, a deranged MAGA cultist who thinks they're doing
(04:14):
you know, the work of their overlord, who does call.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
For violence, A radicalized Trump supporter.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Yeah, that's just saying. I mean, aren't they all at
this point because you know.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Well, we're not going to say terrorists. That's the next thing.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Well, that's what the January sixth pardons said to the
world is, you know, we hold no one accountable as
long as they cheer for me. And the photos from
DC at the Military Pride, I mean right, empty stands,
(04:53):
empty streets.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Through a big, expensive party for.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
You forty five million dollars, I think is you know
and nobody. Yeah, an incredible waste of taxpayer money. But
that's what this president is and has been on his
golfing expeditions.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Including the electricity that it took to write the Craigslist
ad looking for seat fillers.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
I know, right, everything that they accused us of they do. Yeah,
that's how this entire nonsense works. Yeah, they were offering
to pay seat fillers.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
One thousand dollars in crypto.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
I don't even know how much money that actually is.
Is that a dollar? I don't know.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Well, I think it's his own crypto, so negative, three
pieces of belly button lint.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
I have no idea, but yeah, that was that happened,
and it was documented, and you know whatever. But of
course everything they accused us of is what they're actually doing,
and their followers parrot it. And the fun thing I
guess out the talk speech address, what do I call
(06:07):
it the keynote I just gave is the protesters in
the background, they were not shouting. They had been there
through most of the morning. We started around ten.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Look at my instagram and you can see the leader.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yeah, yeah, fucked with him. And they were not loud.
And they actually weren't loud while miss Pittman spoke, which
is good because she's she's a senior in high school
who also is bisexual, and she gave a wonderful, powerful speech,
(06:49):
and you know, then I came up and they got
loud on the street. They really fucking loud.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, they tried to drown you out.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
And yeah they were trying to You.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Had supporters that were not trying to let them.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Right, you'll hear whistling in the background, and that's actually
our supporters who were kind of at the edge, so
you know where we were. You know, there were chairs
and seats, and kids were sitting on little carpets in
front of the seats, and then we had a big
standing room crowd and they went all the way to
(07:25):
the sidewalk and they were whistling and trying to drown
out the three I think it was three protesters who
were trying to be obnoxiously loud because apparently I am
a dangerous woman.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yes you are.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
I love that they properly gendered me as they talked
about me. Right, thank y'all.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I mean they got it, rad you are a dangerous woman.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
This is not a dangerous speech, or at least shouldn't
be right.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
If you consider this speech to be dangerous, then you
are part of the problem.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Allegedly, the folks screaming in the background labeled me a
dangerous woman, and I want a T shirt now, right,
You know, it's just like every time you fuck with us,
we add a letter to our acronym. I want a
T shirt.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Okay, So what we're going to be lgbtq IA D plus.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Dangerous.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Yeah. I didn't think this was a dangerous speech, you know,
I wrote it and rewrote it a few times because.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
It was powerful. It was uplifting, it was motivating, it
was it was invigorating.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
It's hard to keep up.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I mean, it's dangerous in that you are an intelligent, literate,
forward thinking, progressive minded woman.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
So I was so tired of your shit that I
am not I am not the one.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
So to the fragile, sis hed male mind, that is dangerous.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
I'm sure it is. But yeah, fine, fine anytime anywhere
boys come on phrasing anytime anywhere in the dash the
dude with the biggest sign was totally checking you out
(09:30):
while you were like So at one point I said
to you, he was getting dangerously close to people, like
not dangerous, like annoyingly close to people, and it wasn't okay,
like invading their personal space, kind of blocking their exit,
you know, because you kind of walk out on the
sidewalk to walk around to the other side of the
(09:51):
building where your bride was taking place, and your response
was to go over and start taking some with him
in the background, and he backed up really far and
really fast, and you kept taking pictures, which I adore,
and you did post them. I did, and in one
of them it's clear he's also checking you out, which
(10:17):
is part of what I loved about the day, because like, baby,
you have gay face, and we all see it exactly well,
that you keep protesting.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Someone said, they're over there screaming at us to follow
the path of Jesus, while meanwhile he is the least Jesus,
like I said, Well, I mean he's Jesus like in
the sense that I can see him like putting on
a gown and having twelve guys around him on their knees,
begging for forgiveness and giving thanks.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
But you know, other than that, other than that well,
and he tries to have these conversations that he the
one dude with the big sign protests church services at
that particular church because they have pride banners up all
year round.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Which is giving like Fred phelps light.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
So a fun moment was when Pastor Randy, who is
the pastor of that church, was trying to have a
conversation with someone, and dude kept saying Randy, Randy, Randy, Randy,
because he kept acting like he wanted to talk to Randy,
and they had already closed that loop when he said
(11:32):
I want to talk to you, and Randy said, I
don't want to talk to you. And he said, well,
why no, and Randy said, because you never listen oop,
you only speak, and he walked away. And so he
was talking to one of the vendors and dude kept
saying Randy, rand Randy, Randy, Randy, and the vendor was like,
(11:57):
clearly he wants to say something, and Randy said, he's
just three living his night. He dreams about me at
night and he says rand oh oh oh right, and
dude like it was like the blood drained from it.
I cannot believe a pastor is mocking me with homosexual
(12:21):
fantasy whatever, like baby, no, first of all, you can't,
I think this is I think he just captioned what
Yeah probably did.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, no one said homosexual, but you baby pop.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Anyway, they're always out there. I guess it's an honor
when they try to scream louder than you. But I
had a fantastic sound system you did, and multiple recordings happening,
and this was my offering for Pride.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Yes, And so we're gonna take a quick break and
we're going to come back with that fabulous beach in
its entirety.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
I want to say good afternoon, Pittman. Happy cried. It's
an honor to be here today, right back where I
grew up. As a child, my father used to bribe
me with breakfast from the Glassboro McDonald's to attend CCD
(13:45):
at what is now Pittman Elementary School. CCD is Catholic
for missing your Saturday morning cartoons. He also dragged me
to get a regular haircut at Joe's Barbershow on Broadway.
For me, that was torture. My indignance was briefly noted
(14:07):
and then ignored. Pittman is very much a part of
my hometown. I grew up a few minutes up the
road in what my parents would call school proper. I
saw my first movie in a theater at the Broadway
Theater in Pittman in the late nineteen sixties. Our Lady
(14:30):
Queen of Peace was our parish and if you can
call the Catholic Church on Pittman Avenue by whatever this
sign says. Now, congratulations, you know how to use a
chosen name. Kudos. Yeah. I got my very first library
card at the Pittman Library, and Bob's hobby Shop was
(14:53):
about the coolest place on the planet, and every Fourth
of July growing up, we never missed watching the fireworks
over Elsion Lake. In June of twenty twenty one, my
life had been forever changed by COVID and my future
was entirely uncertain. After nearly thirty five years in Philadelphia,
(15:15):
with half of them spent in service to my various communities,
I returned to my ancestral home just up the road.
I'd lost my business, my savings, and my sense of
place in this world. Seeing those rainbow banners up and
(15:35):
down Broadway with so many of the storefronts decorated with
gorgeous rainbow display as I turned to my husband, Charles,
and I said, how lovely clearly they know I'm back.
I never thought i'd see such affirmation in this part
of my hometown. Now I get to say thank you
(15:58):
to those of you who've insisted on love and inclusion
right here in my backyard. That year and every year since.
Happy fifth Anniversary, Pride Alliance of Pitman. I'm gonna say
it's disheartening to see the rainbow banners gone in a
(16:22):
year when I believe, I know we need them the most.
The store friends have not disappointed this year, and you
cannot remove our pride, our grit, or our determination by
outlawing fabric. You can't. You can't take away what we
(16:47):
carry inside. They can only show us how they feel
about we already know. With due respect to this year's
entire graduating class, my heart is with the probably ten
or so graduates who were also like Meghan, represented by
(17:10):
those rainbow banners. Yeah. Imagine having your picture on a
banner and still being erased at the same time. I
had to get used to that when I was young.
Here too, I'm not here just to talk about irony
(17:32):
and unintended consequences. I am here to celebrate pride and maybe,
just maybe we can recognize some common ground in the process.
Today I earn my living as an addictions and cocar
and counselor specializing in the unique needs and experiences of
the LGBTQIA plus community, Together with my amazing therapy partner
(17:57):
Nicole mckenry. Please, we've built an award winning treatment program
that is fast becoming a national model. It's right up
the road at Maryville and Turnersville. We've got a table
full of tatchkas and information right out there in the
parking lot. We've seen outcomes never thought possible because we
(18:20):
work from the simple premise that representation matters, and everyone
deserves to achieve recovery with dignity and respect to their
full humanity naturally, including their sexual orientation and their gender identity.
Like everyone else's orientation and gender identity have always been
(18:40):
respected and affirmed in treatment. It's somehow innovative to finally
also notice ours. When our world feels like it's falling apart,
Queer and trans people lifting one another up is an
act of resistance. I am a parent, a wife, an auntie,
(19:13):
and a sister. I'm a published writer, a member of
the Association of LGBTQ plus Journalists, and, as Patrick mentioned,
the co host of top rated podcast called Full Circle.
The podcast for now in our fourth season with about
one hundred and forty five episodes of me running my
mouth about whatever's going on. They're low. I'm trying. I'm
(19:45):
also the chapter vice president and co facilitator of p
FLIG Collingswood and the co facilitator and administrator for Transway,
a peer discussion support group for the trans and non
binary community, and I've done that work since twenty twenty.
And i am a woman of trans experience who apologizes
to no one for existence. I set all that part
(20:13):
to say that until unless I am disappeared, I'll use
every available platform to tell my young siblings to square
your shoulders, hold your heads high, and hold on tight
to knowing exactly who you are, because who and what
you are isn't weird, it isn't sinful, and it isn't wrong.
(20:40):
It is beautiful and important and most of all rare.
Never allow others to define you. That is perhaps the
greatest time waster of all. Never allow others to diminish
you or dim your light. And never for a moment
let a lie overshadow the truth you know. Go and live.
(21:02):
We need you bold and alive in times like these.
Queer and transjoy is an act of resistance. I spend
(21:25):
a lot of my week talking with groups of people,
groups who are struggling to find recovery from addiction, Groups
who are struggling to accept and embrace their identity in
a world telling them they don't or shouldn't exist. Groups
grasping to understand what is sometimes overwhelming new information about
their loved ones. I begin each and every group reminding
(21:48):
myself to lead these important conversations with love and with grace.
In all of these groups, I ask participants to agree
to two things, confidentiality and civility. I believe these two
things are the bare minimum when we talk about hard
(22:10):
things together. Agreeing not to weaponize the words that come
from us when we are broken open, when we are terrified,
or when we are trying desperately to hold on, that's essential.
We promise one another not to not to turn someone
else's pain into gossip. That simple agreement softens an entire room.
(22:34):
It says, I will honor you as you honor me.
When we promise civility, what we promise to one another
is respect in our time together. It's a reminder that
we all want exactly that, to be seen and heard
(22:54):
and to have our very humanity respected. Mutual respect says
live and love live. Mutual respect leads to finding common ground.
Respect says that even if I cannot understand you. If
we come together face to face in good faith, we
are less likely to leave that room and work to
(23:18):
cause one another harm. When I insist on civility, what
I am asking is that each of us bring our
highest and best selves to our time together. We cannot
do that in a shelting match. We cannot do that
if our pockets are full of fearful eyes and half truth,
(23:39):
overflowing with opinions on things that are literally none of
our business. In a time devoid of leadership, community building
is an act of resistance. I'm trans Did I mention
(24:03):
that I am not a problem to be solved or
something to be eliminated. I like to believe that I
add some value in this world. Time will tell my story,
just as it will for those who would see me
go on here and now. At this point in our history,
my existence is being politicized as a distraction. The rhetoric
(24:28):
surrounding me and mine is meant to confuse and divide.
It's meant to instill fear.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Because when we are afraid, we do not make good decisions,
especially about people we've seldom or never bothered to call
human in the first place.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
When we are fearful and distracted, it is impossible to
summon our best selves. When fear takes hold, kindness is
an act of resistance. Anyone who says they come from
a place where there are no trans people comes from
a place where we are oppressed and fear for our lives.
(25:17):
The fact that safety might require us to hide is
no measure of our existence. Our stories matter, and I,
for one, will hide from no one, not anymore, Not anymore.
When the rhetoric gets so far out of hand, humans
hide in fear for their lives. Solidarity is an act
(25:38):
of resistance here in twenty twenty five, executive orders prohibit
federal recognition of trans people in any aspect of civic life.
I find that childish, churlish, and chilling. The history, somewhat
erase tells us you cannot order people from exist distance.
(26:01):
You know, resistance doesn't always carry a bullhorn. In twenty
twenty five, existing openly as a transgender, expansive person is
an act of resistance. Supporting us with your entire voice
is an act of resistance. I'd like to say, We're
all still here, in every color, shape, size, origin, and
(26:25):
all the beautiful intersections. Queer, trans, black, brown, butch fem
all the glorious and valid expressions in between, speaking every
language and raised in every culture. I'd like to say,
all of the people my government is telling you to
fear are still here, but some have already been gathered up,
(26:50):
So only some of the people my government is telling
you to fear are still right here. Boo. We are
born into every type of family, regardless of the beliefs
of our parents. Prayer has never once altered the sexuality
(27:12):
or gender identity of a human being, no matter who
does the praying, not once every family comes to know
the fact of us through acceptance or a commitment to
ignorance when they cannot will us away. If you ever
(27:33):
want to know what courage and determination really look like,
I will introduce you to trans people who started fending
for themselves before they were fifteen years old. Many, not all,
are still here in a time when too few seek truth.
Truth telling is an act of resistance. I believe each
(27:57):
of us is called to find the place where we
can acknowledge that every life is sacred. When they orchestrate division,
standing together is an act of resistance. There's plenty of
history for us to look at whether they burn those
books or not. History is imprinted on too many souls
(28:19):
to exist only as long as paper survives. When young
Nazi sympathizers burn doctor Magnus Hirschfeld's library in nineteen thirty three,
queer and trans people did not cease to exist, nor
did we stop knowing. We have a rich history in
this world, and the inhuman ugliness being legislated against us
(28:44):
right now in our nation will not eliminate us either.
Trans children exist. I was one. These politicians are grotesquely
attacking Kans children with phrases like protect the children, and
(29:04):
my question to that is always which ones? They aren't
protecting anyone? And we're all less safe with folks making
uninformed decisions about our lives. History will not be any
kinder to the present day folks.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
Running books in times of chaos.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
Peace is an act of resistance. For too long, it
has been the job of the oppressed to ensure the
oppressor's comfort. Growing up around here, I was taught that
you were rights, and at my nose yours end where
mine begin, and so on. I learned to live and
(29:51):
let live. When this agreement is out of balance, and
right now, folks, it's way out of balance. The oppressor
has a little cause to expect peace, and their legacy,
like those who went before them, will be one of shame. Well,
I believe in redemption for a living. I'm afraid they
(30:15):
will never correct course until it cost them the only
things they seem to care about money and power. I
believe America at her best is supposed to be able
to be about our collective power, not the power of
the wealthy view telling us who to hate from one
(30:36):
high dry you know, when hate is the order of
the day, love is an act of resistance. Shortly before
his murder in nineteen seventy eight, Navy veteran Harvey Milk
(30:58):
famously said, come out. I'll come out wherever you are,
because the theory is that when they hate us, when
they know us, when they know they know us personally,
it's harder to hate us. It's not impossible. They've recently
scraped Harvey's name from a Navy ship that was christened
(31:20):
to honor his legacy, but his legacy remains in the
face of their ugliness. It lives within us, in our bones.
Harvey Milk was murdered by someone with whom he tried
to find common grunt if none of us is willing
to continue that work, the work of finding grace despite
(31:43):
the fear in the hearts of others. I don't know
a way forward when minds are closed and hearts are hardened. Hope,
my friends, is an act of resistance. I don't know
that many of you can fat them having the intimate
details of your entire existence debated and dissected on national
(32:05):
television with the only goal being to demoralize and demean
you for wanting to live authentically in a largely inauthentic world.
Trans children are living that every day, and their only
goal is authenticity. There is power in authenticity. From Dewey's
(32:29):
Coffee Shop in nineteen sixty five, to Compton's Cafeteria in
nineteen sixty six, to Stonewall in nineteen sixty nine to
our fifteen plus years of the AIDS pandemic when I
came of age, terrified, queer and trans people have been
tested with literal fire for generations. What we have done,
(32:54):
time after imperfect time is stand together on whatever sliver
of common ground we can find, and together we've educated,
We've rallied, and we've advocated. We've nursed our own wounds.
We have buried our own dead, and our authentic love
(33:16):
has become a beacon of light to open one another's
hearts throughout time, and that'll happen again when misinformation is common.
Education is an act of resistance. We celebrate pride to
remember to remind one another of our rich history of
(33:39):
collective resilience. Our resilience is an act of resistance, and
we have the audacity to say we belong here with
as much right to take up space as anyone else.
We have as much right to a peaceful and dignified
(34:00):
life as anyone else, and we do not require anyone's
permission to exist. That is not how rights are supposed
to work. There is a difference between arrogance and audacity.
Assuming that you could possibly know me better than I
know myself, that is arrogance. Knowing I have as much
(34:25):
right to stand here among you and breathe this air,
regardless of what you may think of me, that is audacity,
And to my mind, that right is sacred. It belongs
to all of us. No one can take away what
we carry inside. When they even try, they should expect
(34:50):
our resistance in all of its forms, coming together and
celebrating pride with or without the lampos. That is most
definitely an act of resistance.
Speaker 5 (35:09):
Happy pride, pitman, and thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
M m h, We're back.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
That was that was very powerful.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Yeah you you did that. Baby.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Huh tried, No, you.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Did not try. You succeeded. I think you uh touched
a lot of hearts and minds. I think you lifted
more than a few spirits that need lifting. I think
you put a bit of a brace in some spines.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
It is so hard because literally, this is the work
I do. This really is my every day, all day,
and you know, it's an honor to be able to
talk about it. This is not just rhetoric for me,
So I take it really seriously and it shows try
(36:29):
to engage everyone present without losing sight of what's happening,
you know, or what we as trans people need to
steal our spines. Yeah, so it was an honor to
(36:51):
be asked. It was a challenge because this is my hometown. Yeah,
you know, my bully some of my bullies still live, right,
Fuck them because I will disregard them because the person
that they bullied is not the person that.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
You are now.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Well, yes, and no.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
You are so much strong. I mean, you've always been
stronger than them.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
But the person I am now was trying to be
me then, and they did their best to tell me
how awful they thought that was.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
And they're wrong. Everything they tried to do they failed at.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
Because look at you, still here, exactly still here, but
you know left the mark for sure.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Did I mean, one could argue that if it were
not for them, you might not be the totality of
the woman that you are right now. So for that,
I guess we should thank them to some degree.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
Well I'll do that because you know, thanks bitches. I'm
not afraid of them. I'm not afraid of them, and
I'm not I'm not going to do that anymore. I
won't know what should you good because I'm not. And
(38:17):
sadly some of them now run our government cho not well,
of course, not well. They can't do anything well because
they're stuck and they're stuck in eighth grade. I have
moved on.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
It's one thing to peak in high school, but to
peak in the eighth grade.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
Mind, No, I feel like they did. I mean I
can't say that for sure because I left at the
end of eighth grade. But I assume you know, the
proceeding years were not better. I don't say much enlightenment
from the ones who were the worst. I think that
(38:58):
was their peak. Who knows, who knows, And I hope
if they're queer children or grandchildren, you know where them
queer got to hear me, they got something out of it.
Because I'm done thinking about them. I'm done, you know whatever.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
You got too much good shit on your horizons and
currently on your plate. So next the plate is full,
plate is full.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
So apologies that this is not a full episode, but
we wanted to share this with you.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
This is the first minisode where we're actually together. I know,
normally I'm doing minisods because you're not here. I know,
Oh my god, this is historic or her historic or something.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
I'll take it. I'll take it, but but I mean,
this is you know, this is a chunk of what
I've been working on at a point where my job
is so full and there's so much going on, and
my volunteer work is soul full, and there's so much
going on. Right, you know, writing this was kind of
(40:07):
in fits and starts and thoughts, and I don't know,
I felt right the night before and I said, okay,
I'm done, and then I edited it three or more
times before I did it.
Speaker 3 (40:20):
No.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
My favorite is when you were like, here, read this
and tell me if it's okay. And then I'm sitting
there trying to read it and the screen keeps jumping around,
and I'm like, are you editing while I'm reading? And
you were like, sorry, it was said, I'll wait till
you're done. No, no, no, no, I'm done. I'm like, all right.
Five minutes later it jumps again.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Uh huh.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
It's you're like, I had a thought. But that's why
it was so good.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
Thank you. It's an enormous thing to know. We don't
get a chance to talk very often. We get talked
about on the.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
Daily more than we're talking too.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
Yeah, but trans people in particular, right now, right now,
don't get to speak for ourselves. We're seldom asked about
what's being said about us. We're seldom even asked away
in and you know, they keep telling stories and they
(41:22):
keep coming to conclusions. And the sickest, saddest part is
that people who I thought were my friends will sit
and tell me, now, maybe you all shouldn't play sports.
Maybe there's something to that without a conversation, because they
(41:44):
heard a snippet that somehow resonated with common sense, except
there's no common sense in it. There are no facts
involved in forming that opinion. And that is the exhausting part.
Not the chuckleheads. I mean, I expect them to be chuckleheads,
(42:04):
and they show up every time. It's chuckleheads. It's the
people who I know know better who show up going well,
but what about this part.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
They're showing their ignorance. That's all they're doing. Blind spot.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Honey, if you love me, if you love us, assume
it's asked and answered before you ask.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
Me the question.
Speaker 1 (42:30):
I mean, like, I'm happy to talk to people I
love and clarify and discuss. But here's the thing, show
some grace and assume assume you are being told a
lie about trans people unless it came out of the
mouths of trans people or the experts who care for us.
(42:55):
Anyone else doesn't bear listening to right now, Right, not
the pundits, not the politicians, not the jackasses who happen
to have a microphone. Listen to us, right.
Speaker 2 (43:13):
And Luckily there's more and more trans folks that have
their own platforms.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
You know, we're getting there slow, but we're not mainstream.
We're not breaking into the mainstream. We've been making noise.
You know, we make noise where we can. But you
know it's seldom one.
Speaker 3 (43:39):
Of us.
Speaker 1 (43:41):
Talks to the likes of the people have an audience
and guts listen to. So I will take every platform,
small as it may be, to talk to the folks
around me and say we need you alive exactly. That's
what this is and it was an honor to do it.
(44:06):
I'll be speaking in Woodbury, New Jersey, which is on
the other side of my hometown, in two weeks, so
we'll go work on that.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
Back to the drawing board.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
Back to the drawing board.
Speaker 1 (44:17):
I'm gonna try to have smart ship to say.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
Or that I think you'll be fine.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
I'll try. In the meantime, you've been listening to Full
Circle the podcast. I am Martha Madrigal and.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
I am Charles Tyson Jr.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Have a good mate, bye everyone.
Speaker 2 (44:37):
Full Circle is a Never Skured Productions podcast hosted by
Charles Tyson Junior and Martha Madrigal, produced and edited by
Never Scurred Executive Produced by Charles Tyson Junior and Martha madrigal.
Our theme in music is by the Jingleberrys. All names, pictures, music, audio,
and video clips are registered trademarks and or copyrights of
their respective copyright holders. What of that app
Coming to you from the dining room table at East
Barbary Lane. Welcome to a Quick and Dirty Pride episode
of Full Circle the Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I am your host, Charles Dyson.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Junior, and I'm your host Martha Mandregal. Welcome to the
Full Circle Table.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Quick and Dirty Pride episode. I know I'm all here.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Hey, well, so we're recording on June fifteenth. Yesterday, June fourteenth,
I think forever more will be known as No King's Day.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Chaw.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Yeah, the pictures are astounding. Of all of the places
in all fifty states, it's where people gathered that.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Were not the happy, Happy, Joy Joy birthday parade for
the man.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Baby new It makes one scratch one's head as to
how he even got back in. But that aside, the
pictures from Washington, d C. On the same day are pathetic. Shaw. Yeah,
we already had a commitment. Yes, we did four June fourteenth.
(01:27):
As I've mentioned, you know, we table for my program
all throughout Pride. That's my day job where I actually
make money. And I was asked to give a keynote
to the Small and Wonderful Pride celebration in Pittman, New Jersey,
(01:50):
years which is it's right here, and it's the next
town over. But when I grew up, it was kind
of our town center, you know, because this is all
just residential where we live, right and so our parish
church and our library and our movie theater and barbershop
(02:15):
and all bank and we're all there in Pittman. So
I our fireworks on the fourth of July. So I
grew up going there and being there. And it was
an honor to be asked to give a keynote this year. Yeah,
when transficts are under attack. So I did, you did,
(02:39):
and it was wonderful. It happened. It was very powerful.
Thank you, and I wanted to share that, you know,
other and that is what this episode actually is. We're
not going to get into the news because but you know,
on No King's Day, across this country and around this world,
a lot of people stood up and said what's happening
(03:02):
is not okay, not okay, and that's what needs to happen.
It does, sadly in Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Two shootings, yeah to Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
I want to say representatives or one was a rep
and one was a senator. One couple died a representative
and her husband and then a representative and his wife
are right now in I believe critical condition. And that's
(03:39):
the story where mom, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Left in front of her daughter.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Her twenty year old daughter, to child her from the gunfire.
You know, once again, a white terrorist yep that you know,
we won't call that, but we should. We will, we will, Yeah, yeah,
once again, a deranged MAGA cultist who thinks they're doing
(04:14):
you know, the work of their overlord, who does call.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
For violence, A radicalized Trump supporter.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Yeah, that's just saying. I mean, aren't they all at
this point because you know.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Well, we're not going to say terrorists. That's the next thing.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Well, that's what the January sixth pardons said to the
world is, you know, we hold no one accountable as
long as they cheer for me. And the photos from
DC at the Military Pride, I mean right, empty stands,
(04:53):
empty streets.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Through a big, expensive party for.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
You forty five million dollars, I think is you know
and nobody. Yeah, an incredible waste of taxpayer money. But
that's what this president is and has been on his
golfing expeditions.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Including the electricity that it took to write the Craigslist
ad looking for seat fillers.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
I know, right, everything that they accused us of they do. Yeah,
that's how this entire nonsense works. Yeah, they were offering
to pay seat fillers.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
One thousand dollars in crypto.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
I don't even know how much money that actually is.
Is that a dollar? I don't know.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Well, I think it's his own crypto, so negative, three
pieces of belly button lint.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
I have no idea, but yeah, that was that happened,
and it was documented, and you know whatever. But of
course everything they accused us of is what they're actually doing,
and their followers parrot it. And the fun thing I
guess out the talk speech address, what do I call
(06:07):
it the keynote I just gave is the protesters in
the background, they were not shouting. They had been there
through most of the morning. We started around ten.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Look at my instagram and you can see the leader.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yeah, yeah, fucked with him. And they were not loud.
And they actually weren't loud while miss Pittman spoke, which
is good because she's she's a senior in high school
who also is bisexual, and she gave a wonderful, powerful speech,
(06:49):
and you know, then I came up and they got
loud on the street. They really fucking loud.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, they tried to drown you out.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
And yeah they were trying to You.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Had supporters that were not trying to let them.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Right, you'll hear whistling in the background, and that's actually
our supporters who were kind of at the edge, so
you know where we were. You know, there were chairs
and seats, and kids were sitting on little carpets in
front of the seats, and then we had a big
standing room crowd and they went all the way to
(07:25):
the sidewalk and they were whistling and trying to drown
out the three I think it was three protesters who
were trying to be obnoxiously loud because apparently I am
a dangerous woman.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yes you are.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
I love that they properly gendered me as they talked
about me. Right, thank y'all.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I mean they got it, rad you are a dangerous woman.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
This is not a dangerous speech, or at least shouldn't
be right.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
If you consider this speech to be dangerous, then you
are part of the problem.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Allegedly, the folks screaming in the background labeled me a
dangerous woman, and I want a T shirt now, right,
You know, it's just like every time you fuck with us,
we add a letter to our acronym. I want a
T shirt.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Okay, So what we're going to be lgbtq IA D plus.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Dangerous.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Yeah. I didn't think this was a dangerous speech, you know,
I wrote it and rewrote it a few times because.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
It was powerful. It was uplifting, it was motivating, it
was it was invigorating.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
It's hard to keep up.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I mean, it's dangerous in that you are an intelligent, literate,
forward thinking, progressive minded woman.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
So I was so tired of your shit that I
am not I am not the one.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
So to the fragile, sis hed male mind, that is dangerous.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
I'm sure it is. But yeah, fine, fine anytime anywhere
boys come on phrasing anytime anywhere in the dash the
dude with the biggest sign was totally checking you out
(09:30):
while you were like So at one point I said
to you, he was getting dangerously close to people, like
not dangerous, like annoyingly close to people, and it wasn't okay,
like invading their personal space, kind of blocking their exit,
you know, because you kind of walk out on the
sidewalk to walk around to the other side of the
(09:51):
building where your bride was taking place, and your response
was to go over and start taking some with him
in the background, and he backed up really far and
really fast, and you kept taking pictures, which I adore,
and you did post them. I did, and in one
of them it's clear he's also checking you out, which
(10:17):
is part of what I loved about the day, because like, baby,
you have gay face, and we all see it exactly well,
that you keep protesting.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Someone said, they're over there screaming at us to follow
the path of Jesus, while meanwhile he is the least Jesus,
like I said, Well, I mean he's Jesus like in
the sense that I can see him like putting on
a gown and having twelve guys around him on their knees,
begging for forgiveness and giving thanks.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
But you know, other than that, other than that well,
and he tries to have these conversations that he the
one dude with the big sign protests church services at
that particular church because they have pride banners up all
year round.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Which is giving like Fred phelps light.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
So a fun moment was when Pastor Randy, who is
the pastor of that church, was trying to have a
conversation with someone, and dude kept saying Randy, Randy, Randy, Randy,
because he kept acting like he wanted to talk to Randy,
and they had already closed that loop when he said
(11:32):
I want to talk to you, and Randy said, I
don't want to talk to you. And he said, well,
why no, and Randy said, because you never listen oop,
you only speak, and he walked away. And so he
was talking to one of the vendors and dude kept
saying Randy, rand Randy, Randy, Randy, and the vendor was like,
(11:57):
clearly he wants to say something, and Randy said, he's
just three living his night. He dreams about me at
night and he says rand oh oh oh right, and
dude like it was like the blood drained from it.
I cannot believe a pastor is mocking me with homosexual
(12:21):
fantasy whatever, like baby, no, first of all, you can't,
I think this is I think he just captioned what
Yeah probably did.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, no one said homosexual, but you baby pop.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Anyway, they're always out there. I guess it's an honor
when they try to scream louder than you. But I
had a fantastic sound system you did, and multiple recordings happening,
and this was my offering for Pride.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Yes, And so we're gonna take a quick break and
we're going to come back with that fabulous beach in
its entirety.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
I want to say good afternoon, Pittman. Happy cried. It's
an honor to be here today, right back where I
grew up. As a child, my father used to bribe
me with breakfast from the Glassboro McDonald's to attend CCD
(13:45):
at what is now Pittman Elementary School. CCD is Catholic
for missing your Saturday morning cartoons. He also dragged me
to get a regular haircut at Joe's Barbershow on Broadway.
For me, that was torture. My indignance was briefly noted
(14:07):
and then ignored. Pittman is very much a part of
my hometown. I grew up a few minutes up the
road in what my parents would call school proper. I
saw my first movie in a theater at the Broadway
Theater in Pittman in the late nineteen sixties. Our Lady
(14:30):
Queen of Peace was our parish and if you can
call the Catholic Church on Pittman Avenue by whatever this
sign says. Now, congratulations, you know how to use a
chosen name. Kudos. Yeah. I got my very first library
card at the Pittman Library, and Bob's hobby Shop was
(14:53):
about the coolest place on the planet, and every Fourth
of July growing up, we never missed watching the fireworks
over Elsion Lake. In June of twenty twenty one, my
life had been forever changed by COVID and my future
was entirely uncertain. After nearly thirty five years in Philadelphia,
(15:15):
with half of them spent in service to my various communities,
I returned to my ancestral home just up the road.
I'd lost my business, my savings, and my sense of
place in this world. Seeing those rainbow banners up and
(15:35):
down Broadway with so many of the storefronts decorated with
gorgeous rainbow display as I turned to my husband, Charles,
and I said, how lovely clearly they know I'm back.
I never thought i'd see such affirmation in this part
of my hometown. Now I get to say thank you
(15:58):
to those of you who've insisted on love and inclusion
right here in my backyard. That year and every year since.
Happy fifth Anniversary, Pride Alliance of Pitman. I'm gonna say
it's disheartening to see the rainbow banners gone in a
(16:22):
year when I believe, I know we need them the most.
The store friends have not disappointed this year, and you
cannot remove our pride, our grit, or our determination by
outlawing fabric. You can't. You can't take away what we
(16:47):
carry inside. They can only show us how they feel
about we already know. With due respect to this year's
entire graduating class, my heart is with the probably ten
or so graduates who were also like Meghan, represented by
(17:10):
those rainbow banners. Yeah. Imagine having your picture on a
banner and still being erased at the same time. I
had to get used to that when I was young.
Here too, I'm not here just to talk about irony
(17:32):
and unintended consequences. I am here to celebrate pride and maybe,
just maybe we can recognize some common ground in the process.
Today I earn my living as an addictions and cocar
and counselor specializing in the unique needs and experiences of
the LGBTQIA plus community, Together with my amazing therapy partner
(17:57):
Nicole mckenry. Please, we've built an award winning treatment program
that is fast becoming a national model. It's right up
the road at Maryville and Turnersville. We've got a table
full of tatchkas and information right out there in the
parking lot. We've seen outcomes never thought possible because we
(18:20):
work from the simple premise that representation matters, and everyone
deserves to achieve recovery with dignity and respect to their
full humanity naturally, including their sexual orientation and their gender identity.
Like everyone else's orientation and gender identity have always been
(18:40):
respected and affirmed in treatment. It's somehow innovative to finally
also notice ours. When our world feels like it's falling apart,
Queer and trans people lifting one another up is an
act of resistance. I am a parent, a wife, an auntie,
(19:13):
and a sister. I'm a published writer, a member of
the Association of LGBTQ plus Journalists, and, as Patrick mentioned,
the co host of top rated podcast called Full Circle.
The podcast for now in our fourth season with about
one hundred and forty five episodes of me running my
mouth about whatever's going on. They're low. I'm trying. I'm
(19:45):
also the chapter vice president and co facilitator of p
FLIG Collingswood and the co facilitator and administrator for Transway,
a peer discussion support group for the trans and non
binary community, and I've done that work since twenty twenty.
And i am a woman of trans experience who apologizes
to no one for existence. I set all that part
(20:13):
to say that until unless I am disappeared, I'll use
every available platform to tell my young siblings to square
your shoulders, hold your heads high, and hold on tight
to knowing exactly who you are, because who and what
you are isn't weird, it isn't sinful, and it isn't wrong.
(20:40):
It is beautiful and important and most of all rare.
Never allow others to define you. That is perhaps the
greatest time waster of all. Never allow others to diminish
you or dim your light. And never for a moment
let a lie overshadow the truth you know. Go and live.
(21:02):
We need you bold and alive in times like these.
Queer and transjoy is an act of resistance. I spend
(21:25):
a lot of my week talking with groups of people,
groups who are struggling to find recovery from addiction, Groups
who are struggling to accept and embrace their identity in
a world telling them they don't or shouldn't exist. Groups
grasping to understand what is sometimes overwhelming new information about
their loved ones. I begin each and every group reminding
(21:48):
myself to lead these important conversations with love and with grace.
In all of these groups, I ask participants to agree
to two things, confidentiality and civility. I believe these two
things are the bare minimum when we talk about hard
(22:10):
things together. Agreeing not to weaponize the words that come
from us when we are broken open, when we are terrified,
or when we are trying desperately to hold on, that's essential.
We promise one another not to not to turn someone
else's pain into gossip. That simple agreement softens an entire room.
(22:34):
It says, I will honor you as you honor me.
When we promise civility, what we promise to one another
is respect in our time together. It's a reminder that
we all want exactly that, to be seen and heard
(22:54):
and to have our very humanity respected. Mutual respect says
live and love live. Mutual respect leads to finding common ground.
Respect says that even if I cannot understand you. If
we come together face to face in good faith, we
are less likely to leave that room and work to
(23:18):
cause one another harm. When I insist on civility, what
I am asking is that each of us bring our
highest and best selves to our time together. We cannot
do that in a shelting match. We cannot do that
if our pockets are full of fearful eyes and half truth,
(23:39):
overflowing with opinions on things that are literally none of
our business. In a time devoid of leadership, community building
is an act of resistance. I'm trans Did I mention
(24:03):
that I am not a problem to be solved or
something to be eliminated. I like to believe that I
add some value in this world. Time will tell my story,
just as it will for those who would see me
go on here and now. At this point in our history,
my existence is being politicized as a distraction. The rhetoric
(24:28):
surrounding me and mine is meant to confuse and divide.
It's meant to instill fear.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Because when we are afraid, we do not make good decisions,
especially about people we've seldom or never bothered to call
human in the first place.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
When we are fearful and distracted, it is impossible to
summon our best selves. When fear takes hold, kindness is
an act of resistance. Anyone who says they come from
a place where there are no trans people comes from
a place where we are oppressed and fear for our lives.
(25:17):
The fact that safety might require us to hide is
no measure of our existence. Our stories matter, and I,
for one, will hide from no one, not anymore, Not anymore.
When the rhetoric gets so far out of hand, humans
hide in fear for their lives. Solidarity is an act
(25:38):
of resistance here in twenty twenty five, executive orders prohibit
federal recognition of trans people in any aspect of civic life.
I find that childish, churlish, and chilling. The history, somewhat
erase tells us you cannot order people from exist distance.
(26:01):
You know, resistance doesn't always carry a bullhorn. In twenty
twenty five, existing openly as a transgender, expansive person is
an act of resistance. Supporting us with your entire voice
is an act of resistance. I'd like to say, We're
all still here, in every color, shape, size, origin, and
(26:25):
all the beautiful intersections. Queer, trans, black, brown, butch fem
all the glorious and valid expressions in between, speaking every
language and raised in every culture. I'd like to say,
all of the people my government is telling you to
fear are still here, but some have already been gathered up,
(26:50):
So only some of the people my government is telling
you to fear are still right here. Boo. We are
born into every type of family, regardless of the beliefs
of our parents. Prayer has never once altered the sexuality
(27:12):
or gender identity of a human being, no matter who
does the praying, not once every family comes to know
the fact of us through acceptance or a commitment to
ignorance when they cannot will us away. If you ever
(27:33):
want to know what courage and determination really look like,
I will introduce you to trans people who started fending
for themselves before they were fifteen years old. Many, not all,
are still here in a time when too few seek truth.
Truth telling is an act of resistance. I believe each
(27:57):
of us is called to find the place where we
can acknowledge that every life is sacred. When they orchestrate division,
standing together is an act of resistance. There's plenty of
history for us to look at whether they burn those
books or not. History is imprinted on too many souls
(28:19):
to exist only as long as paper survives. When young
Nazi sympathizers burn doctor Magnus Hirschfeld's library in nineteen thirty three,
queer and trans people did not cease to exist, nor
did we stop knowing. We have a rich history in
this world, and the inhuman ugliness being legislated against us
(28:44):
right now in our nation will not eliminate us either.
Trans children exist. I was one. These politicians are grotesquely
attacking Kans children with phrases like protect the children, and
(29:04):
my question to that is always which ones? They aren't
protecting anyone? And we're all less safe with folks making
uninformed decisions about our lives. History will not be any
kinder to the present day folks.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
Running books in times of chaos.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
Peace is an act of resistance. For too long, it
has been the job of the oppressed to ensure the
oppressor's comfort. Growing up around here, I was taught that
you were rights, and at my nose yours end where
mine begin, and so on. I learned to live and
(29:51):
let live. When this agreement is out of balance, and
right now, folks, it's way out of balance. The oppressor
has a little cause to expect peace, and their legacy,
like those who went before them, will be one of shame. Well,
I believe in redemption for a living. I'm afraid they
(30:15):
will never correct course until it cost them the only
things they seem to care about money and power. I
believe America at her best is supposed to be able
to be about our collective power, not the power of
the wealthy view telling us who to hate from one
(30:36):
high dry you know, when hate is the order of
the day, love is an act of resistance. Shortly before
his murder in nineteen seventy eight, Navy veteran Harvey Milk
(30:58):
famously said, come out. I'll come out wherever you are,
because the theory is that when they hate us, when
they know us, when they know they know us personally,
it's harder to hate us. It's not impossible. They've recently
scraped Harvey's name from a Navy ship that was christened
(31:20):
to honor his legacy, but his legacy remains in the
face of their ugliness. It lives within us, in our bones.
Harvey Milk was murdered by someone with whom he tried
to find common grunt if none of us is willing
to continue that work, the work of finding grace despite
(31:43):
the fear in the hearts of others. I don't know
a way forward when minds are closed and hearts are hardened. Hope,
my friends, is an act of resistance. I don't know
that many of you can fat them having the intimate
details of your entire existence debated and dissected on national
(32:05):
television with the only goal being to demoralize and demean
you for wanting to live authentically in a largely inauthentic world.
Trans children are living that every day, and their only
goal is authenticity. There is power in authenticity. From Dewey's
(32:29):
Coffee Shop in nineteen sixty five, to Compton's Cafeteria in
nineteen sixty six, to Stonewall in nineteen sixty nine to
our fifteen plus years of the AIDS pandemic when I
came of age, terrified, queer and trans people have been
tested with literal fire for generations. What we have done,
(32:54):
time after imperfect time is stand together on whatever sliver
of common ground we can find, and together we've educated,
We've rallied, and we've advocated. We've nursed our own wounds.
We have buried our own dead, and our authentic love
(33:16):
has become a beacon of light to open one another's
hearts throughout time, and that'll happen again when misinformation is common.
Education is an act of resistance. We celebrate pride to
remember to remind one another of our rich history of
(33:39):
collective resilience. Our resilience is an act of resistance, and
we have the audacity to say we belong here with
as much right to take up space as anyone else.
We have as much right to a peaceful and dignified
(34:00):
life as anyone else, and we do not require anyone's
permission to exist. That is not how rights are supposed
to work. There is a difference between arrogance and audacity.
Assuming that you could possibly know me better than I
know myself, that is arrogance. Knowing I have as much
(34:25):
right to stand here among you and breathe this air,
regardless of what you may think of me, that is audacity,
And to my mind, that right is sacred. It belongs
to all of us. No one can take away what
we carry inside. When they even try, they should expect
(34:50):
our resistance in all of its forms, coming together and
celebrating pride with or without the lampos. That is most
definitely an act of resistance.
Speaker 5 (35:09):
Happy pride, pitman, and thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
M m h, We're back.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
That was that was very powerful.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Yeah you you did that. Baby.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Huh tried, No, you.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Did not try. You succeeded. I think you uh touched
a lot of hearts and minds. I think you lifted
more than a few spirits that need lifting. I think
you put a bit of a brace in some spines.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
It is so hard because literally, this is the work
I do. This really is my every day, all day,
and you know, it's an honor to be able to
talk about it. This is not just rhetoric for me,
So I take it really seriously and it shows try
(36:29):
to engage everyone present without losing sight of what's happening,
you know, or what we as trans people need to
steal our spines. Yeah, so it was an honor to
(36:51):
be asked. It was a challenge because this is my hometown. Yeah,
you know, my bully some of my bullies still live, right,
Fuck them because I will disregard them because the person
that they bullied is not the person that.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
You are now.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Well, yes, and no.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
You are so much strong. I mean, you've always been
stronger than them.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
But the person I am now was trying to be
me then, and they did their best to tell me
how awful they thought that was.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
And they're wrong. Everything they tried to do they failed at.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
Because look at you, still here, exactly still here, but
you know left the mark for sure.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Did I mean, one could argue that if it were
not for them, you might not be the totality of
the woman that you are right now. So for that,
I guess we should thank them to some degree.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
Well I'll do that because you know, thanks bitches. I'm
not afraid of them. I'm not afraid of them, and
I'm not I'm not going to do that anymore. I
won't know what should you good because I'm not. And
(38:17):
sadly some of them now run our government cho not well,
of course, not well. They can't do anything well because
they're stuck and they're stuck in eighth grade. I have
moved on.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
It's one thing to peak in high school, but to
peak in the eighth grade.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
Mind, No, I feel like they did. I mean I
can't say that for sure because I left at the
end of eighth grade. But I assume you know, the
proceeding years were not better. I don't say much enlightenment
from the ones who were the worst. I think that
(38:58):
was their peak. Who knows, who knows, And I hope
if they're queer children or grandchildren, you know where them
queer got to hear me, they got something out of it.
Because I'm done thinking about them. I'm done, you know whatever.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
You got too much good shit on your horizons and
currently on your plate. So next the plate is full,
plate is full.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
So apologies that this is not a full episode, but
we wanted to share this with you.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
This is the first minisode where we're actually together. I know,
normally I'm doing minisods because you're not here. I know,
Oh my god, this is historic or her historic or something.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
I'll take it. I'll take it, but but I mean,
this is you know, this is a chunk of what
I've been working on at a point where my job
is so full and there's so much going on, and
my volunteer work is soul full, and there's so much
going on. Right, you know, writing this was kind of
(40:07):
in fits and starts and thoughts, and I don't know,
I felt right the night before and I said, okay,
I'm done, and then I edited it three or more
times before I did it.
Speaker 3 (40:20):
No.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
My favorite is when you were like, here, read this
and tell me if it's okay. And then I'm sitting
there trying to read it and the screen keeps jumping around,
and I'm like, are you editing while I'm reading? And
you were like, sorry, it was said, I'll wait till
you're done. No, no, no, no, I'm done. I'm like, all right.
Five minutes later it jumps again.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Uh huh.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
It's you're like, I had a thought. But that's why
it was so good.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
Thank you. It's an enormous thing to know. We don't
get a chance to talk very often. We get talked
about on the.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
Daily more than we're talking too.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
Yeah, but trans people in particular, right now, right now,
don't get to speak for ourselves. We're seldom asked about
what's being said about us. We're seldom even asked away
in and you know, they keep telling stories and they
(41:22):
keep coming to conclusions. And the sickest, saddest part is
that people who I thought were my friends will sit
and tell me, now, maybe you all shouldn't play sports.
Maybe there's something to that without a conversation, because they
(41:44):
heard a snippet that somehow resonated with common sense, except
there's no common sense in it. There are no facts
involved in forming that opinion. And that is the exhausting part.
Not the chuckleheads. I mean, I expect them to be chuckleheads,
(42:04):
and they show up every time. It's chuckleheads. It's the
people who I know know better who show up going well,
but what about this part.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
They're showing their ignorance. That's all they're doing. Blind spot.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Honey, if you love me, if you love us, assume
it's asked and answered before you ask.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
Me the question.
Speaker 1 (42:30):
I mean, like, I'm happy to talk to people I
love and clarify and discuss. But here's the thing, show
some grace and assume assume you are being told a
lie about trans people unless it came out of the
mouths of trans people or the experts who care for us.
(42:55):
Anyone else doesn't bear listening to right now, Right, not
the pundits, not the politicians, not the jackasses who happen
to have a microphone. Listen to us, right.
Speaker 2 (43:13):
And Luckily there's more and more trans folks that have
their own platforms.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
You know, we're getting there slow, but we're not mainstream.
We're not breaking into the mainstream. We've been making noise.
You know, we make noise where we can. But you
know it's seldom one.
Speaker 3 (43:39):
Of us.
Speaker 1 (43:41):
Talks to the likes of the people have an audience
and guts listen to. So I will take every platform,
small as it may be, to talk to the folks
around me and say we need you alive exactly. That's
what this is and it was an honor to do it.
(44:06):
I'll be speaking in Woodbury, New Jersey, which is on
the other side of my hometown, in two weeks, so
we'll go work on that.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
Back to the drawing board.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
Back to the drawing board.
Speaker 1 (44:17):
I'm gonna try to have smart ship to say.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
Or that I think you'll be fine.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
I'll try. In the meantime, you've been listening to Full
Circle the podcast. I am Martha Madrigal and.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
I am Charles Tyson Jr.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Have a good mate, bye everyone.
Speaker 2 (44:37):
Full Circle is a Never Skured Productions podcast hosted by
Charles Tyson Junior and Martha Madrigal, produced and edited by
Never Scurred Executive Produced by Charles Tyson Junior and Martha madrigal.
Our theme in music is by the Jingleberrys. All names, pictures, music, audio,
and video clips are registered trademarks and or copyrights of
their respective copyright holders. What of that app
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