Isn't It Queer

A story has been making the rounds recently about the Illinois High School Association supporting the rights of transgender athletes to compete on teams as the gender they know themselves to be [ Source ]. Of course, state Republicans protest this policy is in defiance of President Trump’s anti-trans executive orders. This is why Republicans exploit transphobia: their constituents fall for fear-mongering that has nothing to do with reality. Show ONE case where someone changed their gender to win a trophy!  The IHSA estimates three (!) high school AMAB and 25-30 AFAB athletes competing in gender segregated sports that don’t match what they were designated at birth in the last year in the entire state, out of over 320,000 HS athletes (133,000+ AFAB athletes). [ Source ]. Most transphobes stress out about so called “biological male” athletes competing with girls while ignoring the greater prevalence of AFAB athletes choosing to compete with boys.  Meanwhile, several republicans g...

It is with a deep sense of honor and gratitude that I receive the 2025 Lindell W. Sturgis Award from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Details of why I am the recipient of the award are included in local media stories, such as this one at The Southern Illinoisan .  The award recognizes outstanding community service provided by an SIUC employee. I am involved in a number community advocacy initiatives, but the ones principally recognized by this award include: producing the community radio broadcast/podcast Isn’t it Queer ; being a founding member and current treasurer of the SOIL Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence ; being a founding member and workshop facilitator of The Beloved Puppetistas and the annual All Species Parade on Earth Day; leadership and convener roles for Gay Spirit Visions . To be honest, given the current political climate and the Federal turn against DEI, particularly queer and trans people, I thought the nomination for the award was a long shot. Southe...

This Friday (4/4) marked the opening reception of the installation, “Queer Stories/Queer Spaces: Southern Illinois Histories and Queertographies” in the Sharp Museum on the SIU Campus. A reception was held at 4:30 to celebrate the opening. Due to recent storms and other technical difficulties, many of the acoustic and projection elements were not yet functional. Even so, many of the elements of the installation were in place enough for the local LGBTQ+ Community to get a preview of the installation which should be fully operational within the next week.  Isn’t It Queer contributed to this installation by participating in the collection and editing of oral histories included in it and sharing some of those by way promotion on this week’s episode , especially stories about local LGBTQ+ swimming hole, “The Pit.” The project was made in collaboration with Golden Rainbows of Illinois South (GRIS), ACORN Equality Illinois, The SIU Paulette Curkin Pride Resource Center, the SOIL Sisters ...

In Carbondale, we are experiencing a bit of a storm, and not just the typical tornado kind that blew through in the wee hours of yesterday morning. On Wednesday, March 12, Libs of Tik Tok posted screen shots from social media platforms of what it claimed were SIUC School of Medicine research professor, Dr. Kyle Miller, masturbating alone in public sites around the SIU Carbondale Campus. The Daily Egyptian reported the story on Thursday, March 13 here .  In our upcoming episode of Isn’t It Queer on Wednesday, March 19, we will not be discussing or going into details on this breaking story. Instead, we will continue with our planned interviews with members of two LGBTQ advocating organizations in Southern Illinois. We consider the Miller story on-going and more of a disturbing and deliberate distraction than something worthy, at this point, of on-air commentary. What is emerging appears to be a concerted effort by right-wing operatives to use this story to focus criticism on SIUC...

Times are rough. There is an inclination to turn away from the danger, to isolate. Association with some may feel like an invitation to risk, to danger, to harm. This is an understandable reaction to fear. But the truth is that the only safety is in numbers, in standing firm and together . There is no advantage in turning our back on our allies, on people who suffer as much or more than we do for their difference from the norms of dominant culture. We offer this reminder because, around the planet, we see evidence of division.  In Kenya , for example, newly state-recognized “third sex” intersex people are increasingly separating themselves from the rest of LGBT queerness in hopes that there is acceptance to be had if they don’t associate with stigmatized groups. They see and lean into their condition as medical, while the rest of the alphabet soup is a (“sinful”?) choice. In the UK, the emergence of the LGB Coalition has become the conservative wing of gay representation, offering...