Episode Notes

Tonight, Blind LGBT Pride International partners with Bold Blind Beauty to present this fascinating topic. Bold Blind Beauty is a group that strives to find the beauty of living with low or no vision.

This discussion surrounds ideas and attitudes towards LGBTQ, gender non-binary, gender fluidity and other aspects of our community.

We discuss the differences in generations on having grown up with messaging around LGBTQ community and topics. We also talked about how growing up with a new messaging has shaped different ideas towards LGBTQ topics from the community at large.

We focused on the transgender community; on how its members have become targets of violence; and how this has led to activism. In this sense, we pointed out what messaging other communities can take from this activism to help advance the rights of other marginalized groups.

The interns periences growing up with a new messaging; witnessing loved ones coming out; and how all of this has shaped their acceptance of the LGBTQ community.

Plus in a bonus segment, BPI members Chris Snyder and Byron Lee teach us the meaningful terms of the LGBTQ community. Byron also slipped in a song called Everything Possible written by Fred Small and performed by The Flirtations.

Episode Notes

Mr. Estes is one of BPI’s founding members and Pride Connection is thrilled to have him helming another musically themed show. Part 2 of this fascinating interview will air on Pride Connection after Convention.

Wayne has also given us some recordings of his talented playing that you will hear during this and the second half of the interview. Questions or comments for Pride Connection can be sent to [email protected]

A message from Dwayne Estes

This weeks Pride Connection is special for me. I get the opportunity to chat with Wayne Pearcy. Wayne is a new member of BPI, my friend and colleague, and trumpeter extraordinaire. He also is a composer, arranger, and has a passion for the natural trumpet. He is all about music played on period correct instruments.

Hear how Wayne participated in the marching band while in high school and found his way to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Completing his studies was by no means an easy feat but, his obstacles carved a path for other blind musicians.

Wayne’s parents were blind. It was their encouragement and their total belief in his talent that propels him forward as a professional musician. He survived NFB and found BPI. I met Wayne through Friends in Art.

BPI welcomes Wayne with all his skills and enthusiasm. This guy is the real deal, has lots going on, and is even willing to play music with me.

Episode Notes

Stonewall sparked the Pride Month celebrations…. However Stonewall wasn’t the prologue or even the first chapter. Join BPI and AIRA as we celebrate, experience and describe Stonewalll and the Historic NYC West Village in telling the story of Pride Before, during and after Stonewall.

Tonight on ACB Radio Mainstream and on all podcast catchers shortly after.

AIRA describes slices of my life in Pride and Beyond.

By Anthony Corona

The Iconic Stonewall in NYC’s historic West Village, the statuary that represented over a decade of advocacy to the Alice Austin House on in my hometown Staten Island Aira with Blind Pride International went on a journey that had me re-living so much of my life.

When I lost my sight 5 years ago I had not a clue about Audio Description or Visual Interpreting Services and thought life would be bleak from now on. I began to learn to live as a blind man and as I navigated services I learned so many things. One of those important discoveries was AIRA. Now a few years later they literally brought me back to so many scenes of PRIDE in NYC where I was born and spent the bulk of my life.

Jeanine Stanley with Agent Alexandra invited Myself and BPI President Gabriel Lopez Kafati to participate with NYC LGBTQ Historical Preservation Society as they walk us through the Historic sites of Stonewall and the surrounding area all while educating us all on the histories of the movement with beautiful description from Alexandra.

My mind recreated the images as the descriptions flowed. Down to using an ATM in a Bank of America at one of these historic sites the memories of my life played across the giant movie screen in my mind. Countless spring and summer afternoons reading and picnicking at the Alice Austin site and of course the many times I ordered a libation at the bar of the Historic Stonewall Inn. I can’t describe the feelings of both PRIDE and being almost able to see these sites in person again.

As an advocator for both of my intersecting communities to bee involved with this presentation means so very much to me. I am so proud to help educate and entertain our communities and beyond about all the brave persons and movements that have led to the LGBTQ community really having a place at the table of life in our great country. It is so important to know our History and to advocate for it to be a part of the national tapestry.

June is LGBTQ Pride month and as Blind Pride celebrates and educates all month long with AIRA this presentation will inspire others to document slices of their own lives and community history. Please take the virtual walk through LGBTQ history as we all virtually visit Stonewall and NYC’s West Village Thank you to Amanda Davis for the incredible lesson. Thank you to AIRA for recognizing how important it is to make our history come alive and thank you to Blind LGBT Pride for being my home and family.

Episode Notes

Please join us tonight at 10PM Eastern, 7PM Pacific on Pride Connection where guest host Chris Snyder brings you an exclusive, in-depth interview with queer author TJ Klune!

TJ Klune is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, The Extraordinaries, and more. Being queer himself, TJ believes it’s important—now more than ever—to have accurate, positive, queer representation in stories.

Visit Klune online: tjklunebooks.com Twitter: @tjklune Instagram: tjklunebooks

Episode Notes

Van Halen expressed it best. "Might as well jump!"

Sometimes,it's a gradual jump over time; in some cases, it's a dive from 14,000 feet above the ground. Whatever the height or intensity, this show is about making a leap in to the unknown. Listen to some BPI board members share stories of coming out and gaining pride in themselves as well as community in BPI. And Celebrate Pride month with Sarah Chung, Leah Gardner and Byron Lee as they take the leap of a lifetime.

Episode Notes

On this week’s show, Anthony Corona and Scott Marshall had the great opportunity to virtually sit down with Eric Marcus, journalist, network television producer, and author of the acclaimed book and podcast Making Gay History. We first met Eric last January when he shared with us and our listeners audio clips from his collection of over one hundred interviews of LGBQ pioneers and allies. A link to that presentation is in the show notes.

In today’s episode, we talked with Eric about what led him to become the chronicler of oral LGBTQ history; what were his favorite interviews; what were his most difficult interviews; the interviews he was not able to do, and who among his interviewees most impacted his own life. You will hear about the “happy warriors” Kay Tobin Lahusen and Barbara Gittings from Pennsylvania whose extraordinary advocacy was wrapped in humor, the always serious and commanding Frank Kameny an astronomer from Washington, DC who was fired by the U.S. Civil Service Commission for being gay, and what he and others did to change that discriminatory policy. You will also meet Greg Brock, the self-described “Sissy from Mississippi” who as the front page assistant managing editor of the San Francisco Examiner, was outed on the Oprah Show and later worked for the Washington Post and the New York Times – a role model for many LBGTQ journalists even today.

Finally, we were introduced to Jean and Morty Mannford whose son was badly beaten because he was gay. This led to the founding in the early 1970’s of a parents support organization (later renamed Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, AKA, “PFLAG”), which inspired our own organization within the American Council of the Blind twenty-one years ago.

Eric will be back with us during our convention in July to talk about some of his many other projects: a podcast focusing on the early years of the Aids crisis including his personal perspective, the opening of an LGTQ museum in New York City, a “Making Gay history” play first performed in New York City by high school students and his podcast focusing generally on the Holocaust. What will this incredible person do next?

Pride Connection airs on ACB Radio Mainstream Tuesdays at 10pm eastern and is broadcast soon thereafter to your favorite podcatcher app. Please join us!

Episode Notes

As Blind Pride opens the month long celebration of LGBTQ Pride we host long-time allies Terry Pacheco, Penny Reader, Paul Edwards along with ACB Leaders Ray Campbell, Jim Kracht and President Dan Spoon. 

21 years of Pride, Advocacy, education, wine events and all our social events not to mention the great social changing discussions we have brought to the table is celebrated tonight.

Let's hear what BPI means for ACB, the LGBT community and the world at large from the leaders and allies that have always supported and encouraged our intersecting communities. Look for a lot of great surprises from this PROUD AFFILIATE this month!!

Episode Notes

Pride Connection was happy to chat with Devin Fernandez founder of Third Eye Insight Fitness for the Blind. Where they offer a world of different fitness activities. Not only do they offer Marshall Arts, self-defense, mediation classes but they also set up plenty of fun activities such as horse-back riding, kayaking, fishing charters, etc. If you live near Long Island and are interested please visit them at: http://www.thirdeyeinsight.org/text-only/home-text-only.html

His bio:

Devin Fernandez was first diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa in 2000, as he wrestled with the implications of this life-altering disease, he knew, despite moments of despair, that this was an opportunity for learning and growing.

Devin Fernandez has been a practitioner of the Martial Arts specifically Ninpo Ninjutsu for over seventeen years. He has a keen sense of how vital an active lifestyle is for physical, mental and spiritual health. He also has a strong sense of service, and understands what it means to give back to his community. Navigating his way through social services for the blind, he discovered a lack of opportunities for fitness activities that engaged this underserved community that he was now a part of. Wanting to integrate his martial arts, yoga, and meditation expertise, and his experience with the gift of service; Devin Fernandez, along with Sister, Kim Fernandez, launched Third Eye Insight.

In 2010, after forming a non-profit organization to bring fitness classes to the blind and visually impaired, Third Eye Insight (TEI) opened its doors.

Episode Notes

Pride Connection invites you to take a journey with Byron Lee and Chris Snyder. Tonight, they will speak of their self-discovery, their coming out experiences, and the truth that love is patient and enduring. Also, get a taste of what’s to come at our spectacular convention this summer!

Questions or comments for the show can be sent to: [email protected]

Please Visit BlindLGBTPride.org for more information and/or to join the only organization that celebrates the intersectionality of LGBTQ  and Visual Impairment

Episode Notes

Pride Connection presents a celebratory discussion about Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month

**Content warning: gun violence, hate crimes/violence against AAPI, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, ableism, other topics that may be sensitive to some listeners  **

May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage month! This week on Pride Connection, please join Sarah Chung (moderator,) Minh Ha, Miso Kwak, Tyanne Wilmath, and Anthony Corona for a conversation exploring AAPI history, personal stories of the intersectionality of identifying as AAPI and having a disability, mental health, sexualization and fetishization of AAPI women, defining heritage, and how the pandemic has shaped their lives and the greater AAPI community at large today. Additionally, the roundtable discussion also examined the Covid 19 Hate Crimes Act (H.R. 1843) and thoughts on how this legislation will affect the AAPI community. The hour-long segment concludes with our guests answering how they will celebrate AAPI heritage month. 

Resources are listed below. 

Resources

Stop AAPI Hate: https://stopaapihate.org/

National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association: https://www.naapimha.org/

Asian Americans (on PBS): Asian Americans

Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong (Available on Bookshare and BARD)

Pachinko by Minjin Lee (Available on Bookshare and BARD)

H.R. 1843: Covid 19 Hate Crimes Act: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/hr1843 

Try Guys Anti-Asian Hate documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14WUuya94QE

Misogyny Against Asian Women - The TryPod Ep. 102: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMd3S3BOarU