Speaker 1: Good morning, peepson. Welcome to WIKA app Daily with Meet
Speaker 1: your Girl Danielle Moody. Prerecording from the Long Island Bunker. Folks,
Speaker 1: I'm really excited to bring you a little interview that
Speaker 1: I did, and I say little because it was roughly
Speaker 1: ten minutes um that I did with a young queer
Speaker 1: person who is part of the It Gets Better campaign's
Speaker 1: youth summit that happened earlier in November. And you know,
Speaker 1: for far too long, we have conversations right that are
Speaker 1: talking about LGBTQ youth as opposed to actually speaking too
Speaker 1: LBTQ youth. They have been used as political footballs. They
Speaker 1: have been used for target practice by the far right.
Speaker 1: And I don't even want to call them the far right,
Speaker 1: it's just Republicans, right, Like, if you are at this
Speaker 1: day and age, if you're still wearing the label proudly
Speaker 1: a Republican, then you are a homophobe, a transphobe, a racist,
Speaker 1: a misogynist, because that's what the Republican Party stands for.
Speaker 1: When we look around the nation right now, at the
Speaker 1: I mean, folks, the swath of anti LGBTQ legislation, all
Speaker 1: of which in very big ways are directed at LGBTQ
Speaker 1: youth or their families. You look at the legislation that
Speaker 1: was rolled out in Texas, which was an anti transpiece
Speaker 1: of legislation that was going to criminalize right parents for
Speaker 1: providing life affirming healthcare for their children. You look at
Speaker 1: the policies that are rolled out in Florida and the
Speaker 1: way that Lauren Bobert said that they should be nationalized
Speaker 1: so that we can go back to an error where
Speaker 1: we can't even utter the word gay, that we can't
Speaker 1: even say LGBTQ. There were horrific stories of teachers needing
Speaker 1: to take down They're safe space stickers in their classrooms
Speaker 1: that were rainbows that identify them as a safe haven
Speaker 1: four young people inside of that school, right, And we've
Speaker 1: seen those removed. So, you know, I think that it
Speaker 1: is really important for us to be in conversation with
Speaker 1: youth about how they are being affected by what is
Speaker 1: happening to them. So in a series of interviews that
Speaker 1: I will do over the course of this week, I
Speaker 1: will chat with two young people, one who is seventeen
Speaker 1: years old who is coming up next, Riss Robinson, who
Speaker 1: is a senior in high school at and living in Alabama,
Speaker 1: and then another interview that I will have later in
Speaker 1: the week with a fifteen year old non binary artist
Speaker 1: and then the leader, the education coordinator for the It
Speaker 1: Gets Better project to talk about why it Gets Better
Speaker 1: and our and other organizations directed at youth are so
Speaker 1: critical at this moment and this time, and I got
Speaker 1: to tell you, you know, for those folks who don't
Speaker 1: know my own personal coming out story, I came out
Speaker 1: when initially when I was twelve, to my sister, and
Speaker 1: I remember we were on a family vacation and we
Speaker 1: were sitting on the rooftop of the hotel that we
Speaker 1: were staying at, and I had been trying to work
Speaker 1: up the courage to tell my sister at this time
Speaker 1: that I thought that I was bisexual. And my sister,
Speaker 1: for folks who don't know, is five years older than me.
Speaker 1: So if I'm twelve, right, she's roughly seventeen eighteen, you know,
Speaker 1: getting ready to turn eighteen years old. And thankfully, the
Speaker 1: first person that I ever told, my sister, met my
Speaker 1: fear and anxiety with nothing but love and compassion. I
Speaker 1: remember coming out to her and I had tears in
Speaker 1: my eyes and I said, I think that I'm bisexual.
Speaker 1: I know definitely that I like girls, but I think
Speaker 1: I also still like boys. And my sister looked at
Speaker 1: me and she said, I have no idea why you're crying.
Speaker 1: Half of my friends are by, and we had a
Speaker 1: good laugh about that. That initial reaction to my truth
Speaker 1: right would be the foundation for how over the course
Speaker 1: of the next several years it wouldn't be for another
Speaker 1: nine years that I would come out to my parents,
Speaker 1: and this time say you know that I am a lesbian.
Speaker 1: I would come out to friends, you know, new friends
Speaker 1: and old friends, you know, in between that twelve year
Speaker 1: old me and then you know, young adult me that
Speaker 1: would finally come out to my parents. And you know,
Speaker 1: even when I came out to my parents, who were
Speaker 1: so beside themselves, and the only reason why they were
Speaker 1: beside themselves was because of the world that we live in,
Speaker 1: not because they didn't love me, not because I came
Speaker 1: from a religious family that was going to throw me
Speaker 1: out of the house or you know, throw the Bible
Speaker 1: at me or any of those things, but because my mother,
Speaker 1: and I've written about this and spoken about it so
Speaker 1: many times, said you're already a woman, and you're already black.
Speaker 1: What else do you want against you? Right? And you know,
Speaker 1: in hindsight and even just you know, days later, I
Speaker 1: recognize that my parents' reactions were ones that were coming
Speaker 1: from fear. They just didn't want their daughter to experience
Speaker 1: any more pain, any more sadness, loneliness, grief, depression because
Speaker 1: of wanting to live an authentic and true life and
Speaker 1: knowing that at that time this is society that we
Speaker 1: were living in was not welcoming at all. So part
Speaker 1: of me, as now a queer adult, when speaking with
Speaker 1: these young people, part of me is just so in
Speaker 1: awe of them, so in awe of their courage, their authenticity,
Speaker 1: because again, you know, I wasn't out and queer in
Speaker 1: elementary school or in high school. I think the average
Speaker 1: age now young people coming out is around twelve and
Speaker 1: thirteen years old. And I think about the uniformity, right,
Speaker 1: just the assimilation that is expected of young people just
Speaker 1: to fit in, and all the ways that we shrink
Speaker 1: ourselves in order to fit into other people's ideas of
Speaker 1: who we should be. So the fact that you can
Speaker 1: be so young and so clear about who you are
Speaker 1: and about how you want to show up in the world,
Speaker 1: I think is so critical for us to understand that
Speaker 1: when we listen to these politicians that are supposed to
Speaker 1: be the adults in the room, that are telling young
Speaker 1: people that are very clear about who they are, how
Speaker 1: they want to identify what is inside of their heart,
Speaker 1: and expressing to them that all they're looking for is
Speaker 1: dignity and respect. All they're looking for is to be
Speaker 1: able to live their lives openly and proudly without obstacle
Speaker 1: or oppression. And how dare someone tell you that you
Speaker 1: don't deserve that dignity or respect, that I'm not going
Speaker 1: to respect your pronouns, that I'm not going to respect
Speaker 1: your sexual orientation, right, Like, think about how fucking crazy
Speaker 1: it is when these idiot politicians and you know, Republican
Speaker 1: leaders come out and say and make jokes about pronouns
Speaker 1: and make jokes about who people are and how they
Speaker 1: show up. Who the fuck are you that gets to
Speaker 1: decide how other people should be able to exist. If
Speaker 1: you can be free to be a fucking bigot, right,
Speaker 1: then other people should be free to live inside of
Speaker 1: their own fucking skins. Right. So I say that to
Speaker 1: say that it was really enjoyable speaking with these young people,
Speaker 1: hearing their perspectives and understanding that I've spent and debticated
Speaker 1: a large part of my career to fighting for justice
Speaker 1: and equity for all people, but particularly BIPOP people, particularly black,
Speaker 1: Indigenous people of color LGBTQ people, people who live at
Speaker 1: the intersection of multiple identities. And to know that they
Speaker 1: are still fighting, but fighting with a strength in their back,
Speaker 1: with their heads held high, knowing definitively who they are
Speaker 1: makes me so proud, makes me so proud, and makes
Speaker 1: me feel like the work that I've done in my
Speaker 1: life hasn't been in vain. So I really hope that
Speaker 1: you all listen to these interviews and the conversations that
Speaker 1: I've had, take these young people seriously and understand that
Speaker 1: while they may be young, they know a lot more
Speaker 1: than we give them credit for. So this is my
Speaker 1: first interview with Riis Robinson, who attended It Gets Better
Speaker 1: Youth Summit earlier this month. Folks, I'm really excited to
Speaker 1: introduce you to a few young people that I have
Speaker 1: the opportunity to speak with on woke f First up
Speaker 1: is Aris Robinson, who is a black, non binary and
Speaker 1: queer activists. Their biggest passion is dedicating their life and
Speaker 1: fighting for liberation and accessibility in all areas. This led
Speaker 1: them to be the president of their high school Gender
Speaker 1: Sexuality Alliance and the group of young people that I'm
Speaker 1: going to be speaking to all participated in the youth
Speaker 1: summit for the It Gets Better Project. Aris, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for making the time to join woke F
Speaker 1: So first I just want to ask you, what was
Speaker 1: your experience at the summit, Like, how was that? I
Speaker 1: had an amazing experience at the sum It was my
Speaker 1: first time in Los Angeles and I'm from the deep
Speaker 1: South Migomery, Alabama, so going to the West Coast was
Speaker 1: something totally new for me and a really exciting experience.
Speaker 1: I got to meet so many people, especially the whole
Speaker 1: It's Better team. They were so nice and affirming and
Speaker 1: they made me feel welcome and any like room I
Speaker 1: was in m I. It was very the whole space
Speaker 1: was very sensory friendly, and as a neurodivergent person, that
Speaker 1: made me feel even more welcome that I could um
Speaker 1: like fidget and um color and not have to have
Speaker 1: like my have to have my full attention on one thing,
Speaker 1: but I could like relax and be my full self
Speaker 1: in the space. I got to do my very first
Speaker 1: in person interview and a photo shoot, and I got
Speaker 1: to meet all of the other youth voices and they
Speaker 1: were really I loved my new friends and they're really
Speaker 1: great people to work with. A main saying, so tell
Speaker 1: me what what are some of the things that you
Speaker 1: discussed that you all were discussing at the youth Summit
Speaker 1: and what was it like to be for the first
Speaker 1: time I'm assuming surrounded by like minded young people who
Speaker 1: were identify as queer or as allies. One of the
Speaker 1: one of my favorite topics that we talked about was
Speaker 1: queer Sex Said. It Says Better has a new Queer
Speaker 1: Sex Said series and we got to watch it together
Speaker 1: as a group and make this toolbox of different terms
Speaker 1: and different things that industry could improve on. And I
Speaker 1: really love being a part of that conversation because reproductive
Speaker 1: justice is one of my biggest passions to activate for
Speaker 1: advocate for. So being able to get my input on
Speaker 1: consent and contraceptives and hearing other people's perspectives, especially from
Speaker 1: different size of the world and like different opinions, it
Speaker 1: really kind of opened my eyes to different perspect is
Speaker 1: and being able to all come together and make this
Speaker 1: one big toolbox that somebody could be used, may or
Speaker 1: may not. But it was really exciting to be surrounded
Speaker 1: by all these different people and talk about something that
Speaker 1: I really like talking about. What do you think that
Speaker 1: older people get wrong when they think about queer youth
Speaker 1: and they're talking about queer youth. I think that in
Speaker 1: a lot of ways, young queer people are being used
Speaker 1: as the term that we use as a political football,
Speaker 1: not being seen as real people, and just being seen
Speaker 1: as statistics. So what do you think that older people
Speaker 1: are getting wrong? I think older people, especially people who
Speaker 1: are not in the not working constantly with lgbtqs, I
Speaker 1: think they could humanize us a little bit. I think
Speaker 1: they just kind of think we're just there and then
Speaker 1: we see then we see us in articles about advocacy.
Speaker 1: They don't see us as human they just see it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: they're they're mad about this, they're mad about that, they're
Speaker 1: mad about this, and said, but we're actually students, we
Speaker 1: are athletes, we're friends, we're peers, and we're so much
Speaker 1: more than just an activist. And I think when you
Speaker 1: think when you think about Elsbe's youth as more than
Speaker 1: a political pond, then I think, um, older, older adults
Speaker 1: would realize that they have we have needs just like
Speaker 1: everyone else, and we're not trying to be mad at
Speaker 1: every little issue. It's just this world is not made
Speaker 1: for us. And I think that once they realize, hey,
Speaker 1: these people are struggling, then I think we can probably
Speaker 1: move forward in some of the issues that we're still
Speaker 1: fighting today. You know, you mentioned that you are live
Speaker 1: in the Deep South. You are living in Alabama, and
Speaker 1: oftentimes when we when we talk about the South, we
Speaker 1: kind of blanket it with one image, one idea of
Speaker 1: what is going on there, and so tell us a
Speaker 1: bit about what it's like to be young, black and
Speaker 1: queer in Alabama. Being in Alabama was not my choice.
Speaker 1: I moved here. Um, I think seven years ago. M
Speaker 1: I came into fifth I came here in fifth grade,
Speaker 1: and now I'm in twelfth, twelfth grade. And I think
Speaker 1: I've I'm more used, I'm more used to I'm more
Speaker 1: a city person. Sorry, I'm a city person. So being
Speaker 1: in such a slower lifestyle isn't isn't my personal thing.
Speaker 1: I think that I'm not constantly getting harassed for my
Speaker 1: race or my sexuality. I think that's one of the
Speaker 1: bigger misconceptions that um, there are just people like shouting
Speaker 1: at me or this insulting me wherever I go, and
Speaker 1: that's not the truth. I've found such a beautiful queer
Speaker 1: community here in Alabama, whether it be my school GSA
Speaker 1: that I personally run and I make a space for
Speaker 1: the queer youth to feel safe, or it be up
Speaker 1: in Birmingham with the Magic City Acceptance Center that I
Speaker 1: go to at least a couple a couple of days
Speaker 1: a month to spend time with other queer youths. So
Speaker 1: I think that another miscresception is that we don't have
Speaker 1: these spaces, and I think it's important to know that
Speaker 1: we do, and that for other queer people in Alabama
Speaker 1: to know that these spaces exist so they can reach
Speaker 1: out and try to get some help and find these
Speaker 1: spaces that I have that also they can use. What
Speaker 1: advice do you have or for other young people who
Speaker 1: live in red states or who have not sought out
Speaker 1: different centers or places that they can go to find
Speaker 1: safe haven to find in community, what advice do you
Speaker 1: have for them? I think my biggest advice would be
Speaker 1: to reach out to online resources if that's available to
Speaker 1: them I think most people try to find in person spaces,
Speaker 1: but there are a lot of chat chat spaces, phone lines,
Speaker 1: zoom communities that they all get together monthly weekly that
Speaker 1: they can reach out to and have some some sort
Speaker 1: of community, whether it be even though it's not in person,
Speaker 1: it's still there for them. And I've found my um
Speaker 1: Christian queer youth community online and it's it's queer and
Speaker 1: there's all these different perspectives and they support me. And
Speaker 1: even though it's not a place where I can go
Speaker 1: in and sit down, it's still a place where I
Speaker 1: feel accepted. And I think other queer youth can go
Speaker 1: online and try to like research and find these spaces
Speaker 1: to like to participate in. And one of the things
Speaker 1: that I was reading in your bio and you just
Speaker 1: mentioned is that you are you do do Christian advocacy
Speaker 1: as a queer person. Can you also explain that and
Speaker 1: talk about the work that you do in this space,
Speaker 1: in the religious space as well as in the queer space,
Speaker 1: and how they intersect. I think a lot of people
Speaker 1: try to separate queerness and Christianity or any type of
Speaker 1: Abrahamic religion when it comes to all the BTQ people,
Speaker 1: but I think that people kind of group it into evangelism,
Speaker 1: and that's not that's not the whole of Christianity. I
Speaker 1: personally believe in like a liberation theology where we can
Speaker 1: where I connect stories from the Bible and kind of
Speaker 1: interpret it as a social justice story. And I think
Speaker 1: that's one of the things that's helped me to see
Speaker 1: Christianity in a better life when in a time where
Speaker 1: Christianity wasn't my favorite thing in the world and people
Speaker 1: were telling me, oh, this is a thing, Oh you
Speaker 1: can't do this, you can't do that. And I feel
Speaker 1: like having my own relationship with a higher like a
Speaker 1: higher power as one of the things that helped me personally.
Speaker 1: And I don't think that queer people should shy away
Speaker 1: from religion, but find out what works for them and
Speaker 1: also know that they you don't have to believe in
Speaker 1: what other people say. You should believe in and kind
Speaker 1: of seek out your own truth in a way. If
Speaker 1: you had one message to give to people to help
Speaker 1: them better understand the state of queer youth right now,
Speaker 1: what would it be. I think queer youth right now
Speaker 1: are still fighting. I don't think even though even though
Speaker 1: we do, we are humans. We are still activists and
Speaker 1: we're both and we have feelings and we have to
Speaker 1: advocate just to exist in a space. But we also
Speaker 1: have to get good. You have to keep up our
Speaker 1: grades and socialize and apply for colleges like I'm doing
Speaker 1: right now. So I think people should know that they
Speaker 1: should encourage us and be in solidariated with us and
Speaker 1: check out our mental health because there are a lot
Speaker 1: of things going on in the world right now that
Speaker 1: are not that are horrific and traumatizing, and we need
Speaker 1: that support system from everybody else who's insolidary and allying
Speaker 1: with us. Ris, thank you so much for taking the
Speaker 1: time to join Woke app. Thank you for the advocacy
Speaker 1: that you're doing in your own life, in your school
Speaker 1: and creating space for young queer people. I really appreciate you.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for having me on your podcast.
Speaker 1: That is it for me today, dear friends on woke app.
Speaker 1: As always, power to the people and to all of people. Power,
Speaker 1: get woke and stay woke as fuck.