Speaker 1: Good morning, peeps, and welcome to ok F Daily with
Speaker 1: me your Girl, Daniel Moody recording from the Home Bunker, Folks,
Speaker 1: I want to address something that I saw across social
Speaker 1: media yesterday when it came out. So the Wall Street Journal,
Speaker 1: who we know, is a conservative, right wing Republican outlet, Okay,
Speaker 1: make no bones about it. You may go there to
Speaker 1: like get you know, stock reports, business updates, blah blah,
Speaker 1: but it's coming through a white male cis conservative straight lens. Okay.
Speaker 1: So they decided to run a hit piece on Joe Biden,
Speaker 1: and everybody on social media was outrage. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: how could the Wall Street Journal bahblah blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, can we all understand why the Wall
Speaker 1: Street Journal would run a hit piece on Joe Biden?
Speaker 1: And if I were Joe Biden, I would use it
Speaker 1: and the campaign I would use it to my advantage.
Speaker 1: Wall Street doesn't want me as their president. You know why,
Speaker 1: because I'm not in the business of creating American oligarchs
Speaker 1: in the way that the Republican Party is. You see,
Speaker 1: Wall Street doesn't want me as president in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: Do you know why? Because that's when the welfare checks,
Speaker 1: the tax breaks that Donald Trump wrote in to law expire.
Speaker 1: And so what does that mean for the CEOs and shareholders,
Speaker 1: the multi billionaires and multi millionaires. Well, it means that
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five, the jig is up and we're
Speaker 1: gonna make sure that these people pay their fair share.
Speaker 1: Because if there's anyone that should be getting tax breaks,
Speaker 1: it should be hard working, everyday American people who are
Speaker 1: struggling with student loan debt, who are struggling with health
Speaker 1: care costs, who are struggling with inflation. And why are
Speaker 1: they struggling with inflation. It's not my hand that's doing it.
Speaker 1: It is greed and the Wall Street Journal, they are
Speaker 1: the purveyors of the greed is good mantra that we
Speaker 1: heard back in the eighties that was cemented by Reagan
Speaker 1: right and legitimized and immortalized by every Republican thereafter. That's
Speaker 1: how the fuck you use bad press and you spin
Speaker 1: it to your advantage. This is not fucking rocket science.
Speaker 1: Trust and believe when you see these stories that pop up,
Speaker 1: understand who the fuck is running these newsrooms and where
Speaker 1: their allegiance lies, which is to their own fucking deep,
Speaker 1: dark pockets. These motherfuckers don't want a Democrat who may,
Speaker 1: in fact have them actually pay what is owed back
Speaker 1: to this country. Let me tell you something, the Mark
Speaker 1: Cubans of the world, who will come out and say, yeah,
Speaker 1: I paid two hundred and eighty eight million dollars in
Speaker 1: taxes because like, this country has served me very well,
Speaker 1: and that is the least that I can do, because
Speaker 1: you know what, he's making multi fucking billions. Where would
Speaker 1: we be if these motherfuckers weren't able to continue getting
Speaker 1: a free goddamn ride. So don't get it twisted when
Speaker 1: you see bad press about Joe Biden and no commentary
Speaker 1: from the Wall Street Journal that is deeply criticizing Donald
Speaker 1: Trump and the fact that he's a fucking convicted felon,
Speaker 1: because at the end of the day, their whiteness and
Speaker 1: their wealth is going to protect them, or they think
Speaker 1: it's going to protect them from fascism, but you know
Speaker 1: history tells us otherwise. Coming up next, dear friends, we
Speaker 1: have brought back to the show GEO Santiago, who I
Speaker 1: interviewed back in January when I was in New Orleans
Speaker 1: at the LGBTQ Task Force Creating Change Conference, and today
Speaker 1: GEO joins us during Pride as we discuss the stories
Speaker 1: of trans people. What does it mean to tell your
Speaker 1: own story instead of one being dictated to you. That
Speaker 1: conversation with Geo is coming up next, folks. I am
Speaker 1: very excited to welcome back to WOKF Daily Geo Santiago,
Speaker 1: who you on may remember we did an interview back
Speaker 1: in January when I was at the Creating Change Conference
Speaker 1: in New Orleans that was put on by the LGBTQ
Speaker 1: Task Force and Creating Changes, a conference that happens every
Speaker 1: year to kind of look at the landscape of policies
Speaker 1: and issues that are affecting LGBTQ plus people. And this
Speaker 1: time around, we welcome Geo back to wok F Daily
Speaker 1: during Pride Month, where you are involved in a new
Speaker 1: campaign that was launched by Glad as well as ground
Speaker 1: Media entitled Here We Are. And I was going to
Speaker 1: say here we are now, but it's just here we Are,
Speaker 1: and I just want to tell folks before we jump
Speaker 1: into conversation. So Here we Are is a national storytelling
Speaker 1: campaign launched on June first, twenty twenty four, joining an
Speaker 1: ongoing campaign to build a country where transgender people can
Speaker 1: be their authentic selves and express their identity openly and
Speaker 1: free from fear. You can learn more about Here we
Speaker 1: Are Now dot com. You can learn more about the
Speaker 1: campaign there. But Geo, let's start off with why you
Speaker 1: decided to get involved with Here we Are and tell
Speaker 1: your story. Why is that important to you?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: First off, thank you for having me back. Super excited
Speaker 3: to be here, and for me, it was important because
Speaker 3: I feel like transgender people are not telling their own
Speaker 3: stories in the media. You know, our stories are being
Speaker 3: told for us, whether it is by the opposition or allies,
Speaker 3: and we need to be able to talk about ourselves
Speaker 3: for ourselves. And also, I think was extremely important to
Speaker 3: be a black Matthew and presenting transperson telling their story
Speaker 3: and talking about trans joy.
Speaker 2: I don't feel like.
Speaker 1: We see that enough, you know, And I think that
Speaker 1: that is so true. One I believe that even still.
Speaker 1: I think one of the stats on here on the
Speaker 1: website herewe Are Now dot Com says that seventy one
Speaker 1: percent of Americans claim that they've never met someone that
Speaker 1: is transgender. And so when you hear that statistic, what
Speaker 1: does that tell you, right, what does that tell you
Speaker 1: about our media, our communities. Do you think that that
Speaker 1: number is because folks don't feel safe identifying themselves outwardly
Speaker 1: as trans or why do you think that that is.
Speaker 3: I think it's a lot of different things. That's a
Speaker 3: little complex. So to the first piece, I think it
Speaker 3: definitely is a safety issue for people that they are
Speaker 3: not outing themselves as trans, so people don't know that
Speaker 3: they are trans. You know myself, if you did not
Speaker 3: know that I was trans, you would just think that
Speaker 3: I was a cist gender black man. But I also
Speaker 3: feel like it is because people think that they know
Speaker 3: what a trans person looks like, you know, so they
Speaker 3: can say, oh, I've never met a trans person because
Speaker 3: in their mind they think they know what every single
Speaker 3: trans person is supposed to look like, so they think
Speaker 3: that they can tell what a trans person is. And
Speaker 3: so I guarantee my neighbors would be people in that
Speaker 3: report to say they've never never met a transperson because
Speaker 3: they don't know that I'm trans and they don't see
Speaker 3: me that way. So I think it's a lot of
Speaker 3: different things. And I also think as far as in
Speaker 3: the media, trans people are not being shown own first off,
Speaker 3: in enough light, so shout out to glad and ground
Speaker 3: for doing this and trying to show trans people. But
Speaker 3: I also think when we're seeing trans people, we are
Speaker 3: often seeing trans people who are not esthetically passing. So
Speaker 3: people think they know, you know, okay, that trans person
Speaker 3: I can tell or are passing. But again they're not
Speaker 3: a representation of everyone, So that makes it hard and
Speaker 3: that's why these numbers are just so skewed.
Speaker 1: I want to go back to what you said about
Speaker 1: sharing stories of joy. I also think that oftentimes when
Speaker 1: we do have headlines that are telling stories about trans people,
Speaker 1: it is namely about violence, it is namely about anti
Speaker 1: trans policies, right, So it isn't coming from a place
Speaker 1: of a whole person narrative, right like look at this
Speaker 1: lovely queer family, or look at this you know, amazing
Speaker 1: queer athlete or what have you. It is always coming
Speaker 1: from the negative. So talk to us about your story
Speaker 1: and what you have shared, and we'll share with us today.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So I knew it i was five that I was different,
Speaker 3: So I've kind of always known that, And you know,
Speaker 3: I lived most of my life as a black, masculine
Speaker 3: lesbian until I was twenty seven and decided to medically transition.
Speaker 3: But you know, I come from a large family. I
Speaker 3: come from an extremely loving family. Like it was a
Speaker 3: little hard at some points for them to you know,
Speaker 3: grasp me being trans, but you know, then it came
Speaker 3: very full circle and you know they're extremely supportive.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: And when you watch the video, you'll see that my
Speaker 3: sister is alongside of me in this video. She's an
Speaker 3: amazing ally and a true advocate. And you know, it's
Speaker 3: not her being in this video with me just as
Speaker 3: my sister, it is her being in this video with
Speaker 3: me also in her role as an advocate and an ally,
Speaker 3: and I want to be able to highlight the work
Speaker 3: that she does in the community and kind of also
Speaker 3: give her that stamp of approval.
Speaker 2: But you know, I'm I'm literally just me, Like I
Speaker 2: love to, you know, play.
Speaker 3: Sports, coach sports, you know, be with my family, and
Speaker 3: I'm just a regular person. And I think being able
Speaker 3: to show that aspect is extremely important. You know, we're
Speaker 3: not seeing enough of trans people and especially trans masculine
Speaker 3: people literally just living their lives like I'm just out
Speaker 3: here thriving, you know, living my bad.
Speaker 1: I love that I.
Speaker 3: Really am. I'm like, you know, I'm obviously. I feel
Speaker 3: like the problem is every single person has issues, like yes,
Speaker 3: and some people's issues are heightened by their race. Obviously,
Speaker 3: some are you know, gender, some are gender identity. But
Speaker 3: I don't live my life in the ideology that any
Speaker 3: issue that I have is because I'm black, or any
Speaker 3: issue that I have is because I'm trans. Like, I
Speaker 3: want to relish in the joy that I have in
Speaker 3: my life, you know. And I enjoy being around my friends,
Speaker 3: being around my family, you know, I enjoy going to
Speaker 3: Disney like I am unapologetically a Disney adult, you know. Like,
Speaker 3: and people don't think about that. People see trans people
Speaker 3: and they think that being trans is our entire identity,
Speaker 3: and I'm like, no, like it is not. It is
Speaker 3: a piece of who we are.
Speaker 1: Another piece of who you are is a veteran. You
Speaker 1: served this country, and I thank you for your service.
Speaker 1: And you were serving during a time when we tell me,
Speaker 1: was it before or after? Donas dontell?
Speaker 2: It was? It was during Donas Don't tell.
Speaker 1: It was, So tell us about that experience of you
Speaker 1: serving and being a masculine trans person.
Speaker 3: So when I was serving, I had not yet started
Speaker 3: to medically transition, So I was living as a black mask,
Speaker 3: lesbian in the Air Force.
Speaker 4: Which still I'm like, okay, okay, it is like the
Speaker 4: craziest thing because people might not understand, but you know,
Speaker 4: like the Air Force is like the elitist branch, so it.
Speaker 2: You know, it was hard.
Speaker 3: You know, I was not in company with a lot
Speaker 3: of people that looked like me, whether that be those
Speaker 3: who were female identified or those who were black, and
Speaker 3: so it was one of the hardest times of my life,
Speaker 3: you know, to be able to come from a place
Speaker 3: where you're seeing all types of different people, you know, cultures,
Speaker 3: all of these things to you know, being where I
Speaker 3: was stationed in Texas and on the base that I
Speaker 3: was on, where it was like basically just mostly like
Speaker 3: a lot of white people.
Speaker 2: But what that taught.
Speaker 3: Me was, you know, to like always believe in myself,
Speaker 3: you know, and so one of the core values is
Speaker 3: you know, service to self, you know, and excellence and.
Speaker 2: All you do is integrity first. You know.
Speaker 3: These are things that I learned in the Air Force
Speaker 3: that I use in my life still.
Speaker 2: And another thing that I learned there was like.
Speaker 3: To adapt and overcome, you know, as a black person,
Speaker 3: I had to adapt and overcome every single day when
Speaker 3: I was in the military, and even more so as
Speaker 3: a black person in the LGBTQ community, because you're almost
Speaker 3: living a double life, especially during donas dontail, because I
Speaker 3: could not be on base with my girlfriend. I could
Speaker 3: not be just like out and about in the grocery
Speaker 3: store with my girlfriend, like in the same city, because
Speaker 3: anyone from Bates can see you, and now you can
Speaker 3: be in trouble, so you had to be like very careful.
Speaker 3: So I was stationed in San Antonio, so I spent
Speaker 3: a lot of time in like Austin, which was like
Speaker 3: forty five minutes way our Houston, you know, which was
Speaker 3: like three hours away. Because I was able to be
Speaker 3: my authentic self in those places with like a little
Speaker 3: less fear of someone seeing me.
Speaker 1: Can you talk more about what it felt like to
Speaker 1: live a double life in that way, and maybe even
Speaker 1: a double life in terms of the military, But then
Speaker 1: the decision to then medically transition and then I would
Speaker 1: assume that would mean in some ways then be able
Speaker 1: to integrate. So can you take us on that journey.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So being able to live a double life exhausting.
Speaker 3: Let me just it is so exhausting, and being in
Speaker 3: the military already is exhausting in itself, I think just
Speaker 3: you know, for the atmosphere for everything that is happening,
Speaker 3: especially at that time, you know, because it was just
Speaker 3: a few years after like nine to eleven, so things
Speaker 3: are still very heightened. And so that was a lot,
Speaker 3: you know and a lot of like mental turmoil to
Speaker 3: be like how do I live as my authentic self
Speaker 3: but also not jeopardize my my job, you know, my
Speaker 3: livelihood all of these things.
Speaker 1: Because I just want to say, as a service member,
Speaker 1: you wouldn't even be allowed to get mental health services,
Speaker 1: right like, so so I'm you know, I'm saying like
Speaker 1: we think, okay, well, hipA like you you can go
Speaker 1: and you can and sit down with a you know,
Speaker 1: with a therapist that can kind of you know, help
Speaker 1: you through. But you couldn't do that, could you.
Speaker 2: I could. I would have had to have a private
Speaker 2: one and the edge.
Speaker 1: Pay out of pocket.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah right, And that wasn't even just something that
Speaker 3: was really talked about or known even you know back then.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I could.
Speaker 3: Not go to the therapist on base and be like
Speaker 3: I am struggling because I'm gay, you know, like they
Speaker 3: would be like, oh, you're really out of here. You know,
Speaker 3: they were already a lot of eyes on me because,
Speaker 3: like I said, I was masculine presenting.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: I had a short haircut, like I had cut my
Speaker 3: all my hair off when I was in like my
Speaker 3: technical training. I can remember this day like it was yesterday.
Speaker 3: I graduated boot camp and I had like fairly long hair.
Speaker 3: And about two weeks into my technical training, I was
Speaker 3: with my friend who was another black masculine lesbian, and
Speaker 3: we were at the Base store and I was like,
Speaker 3: you know what, I'm gonna go to the barber shop
Speaker 3: and cut all my hair off. She's like, berdie, You're
Speaker 3: not going to do it. I was like I'm gonna.
Speaker 2: Do it, you know.
Speaker 3: And I knew that there could be consequences, but I
Speaker 3: was like I want to do this. And so we
Speaker 3: went and I sat in the barbershare and I was like,
Speaker 3: cut it all off. And he was like are you sure?
Speaker 3: And I was like yeah, cut it all off, and
Speaker 3: he cut all my hair off. I went back to
Speaker 3: the dorms with a clean fade, and people were like,
Speaker 3: you can't go in there. You can't go in there.
Speaker 3: There's a few moles doors, and I was like, I know,
Speaker 3: and they're like, okay, so you can't go in there,
Speaker 3: and I'm like, like, it's me and then people were
Speaker 3: like oh snaps like and.
Speaker 2: So then I had to have like a meeting with
Speaker 2: you know wow. Yeah.
Speaker 3: So it was it was very much because they are
Speaker 3: there standards and like I said, the Air Force is
Speaker 3: the elitist branch. So even in ways of how you
Speaker 3: could wear your hair, those types of things, it you know,
Speaker 3: when I'm like, okay, this is a piece of me
Speaker 3: that I can bring, it was still an issue. Fast
Speaker 3: forwarding to being able to transition. I didn't transition until
Speaker 3: I got out of service, got them and I was
Speaker 3: at the doctor at the VA one day and talking
Speaker 3: you know to one of the primary care physicians there,
Speaker 3: and I was just like, this is how I feel.
Speaker 3: I'm not really sure what the VA like, if there's
Speaker 3: anyone I can talk to about this. And so I
Speaker 3: started talking to a therapist because at this point, you know,
Speaker 3: I'm not in service, I don't really have to worry
Speaker 3: about don't ask, don't tell. And I started talking to
Speaker 3: my therapists about it, and she said, Hey, there's a
Speaker 3: doctor at the Cleveland VA who's like wanting to start
Speaker 3: to see patients that are OLGBTQ, maybe you can go
Speaker 3: see her. And then that's when I went to see
Speaker 3: my doctor, doctor Meghan McNamara, who is phenomenal, and we
Speaker 3: just started talking about what it will look like for
Speaker 3: me to medically transition. And to her knowledge at that time,
Speaker 3: into you know, my knowledge, she had never had another transpatient.
Speaker 3: She had never had another patient come out to her
Speaker 3: as transgender.
Speaker 2: So she was kind of learning as I was learning,
Speaker 2: and we went on this.
Speaker 3: Journey together and then ultimately we were able to kind
Speaker 3: of talk to some other people and open the very
Speaker 3: first transgender specific clinic in the entire VA system in
Speaker 3: twenty fifteen. And so this was after like three years
Speaker 3: of you know, kind of working together. But here we
Speaker 3: are now. You know, now there's sixty seventy of these
Speaker 3: types of c within the VA system, you know, where
Speaker 3: transgender veterans LGBTQ veterans are able to go and get
Speaker 3: adequate medical care. And so for me, it was I
Speaker 3: was not able to live authentically while I was in service,
Speaker 3: but I'm able to do it now as a veteran,
Speaker 3: and I was able to assist other veterans in being able.
Speaker 2: To do the same thing.
Speaker 1: I mean, that is just Geo. That is extraordinary, Like one,
Speaker 1: I just like the courage to go to the VA
Speaker 1: doctor and express your truth and then for that doctor
Speaker 1: to actually meet you where you were and be on
Speaker 1: that journey together. I just think is extraordinary. Because again,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of goes back to your original statement
Speaker 1: about thriving. We hear so many traumatic, horrible stories and
Speaker 1: not enough of the let's do this together story, right,
Speaker 1: And I just think that that is so important. I
Speaker 1: do want to, you know, again to help in terms
Speaker 1: of educating of my audience, right, which I think is
Speaker 1: really important. And again I want people to think about
Speaker 1: that seventy one percent of Americans and think of this
Speaker 1: interview as your opportunity to say, ah, i may not
Speaker 1: have met Geo in person, but I've listened to Geo's story,
Speaker 1: So let me open my mind a bit. Tell us
Speaker 1: the journey and the difference right between being and identifying
Speaker 1: as a masculine lesbian and then the transition into being
Speaker 1: a trans man and like and because I think that
Speaker 1: again it goes to the negative of well, these LGBTQ people,
Speaker 1: they just don't know who they are, what they want
Speaker 1: and blah blah. They're always changing things and changing their
Speaker 1: pronouns and this that and the other thing. And so
Speaker 1: reflect if you would for us that kind of that transition.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So I believe I said this to you in January
Speaker 3: when we spoke. But you know, living my life for
Speaker 3: almost twenty seven years as a black woman, you're virtually
Speaker 3: invisible in this world until someone needs you. Like people
Speaker 3: aren't tracking fellow black women unless they need black women.
Speaker 3: And so to leave a life as a black woman,
Speaker 3: regardless of whether it's masculine or not, and kind of
Speaker 3: be able to navigate invisibly to being a black man,
Speaker 3: a young black man, that is the highest targeted person
Speaker 3: in this country, you know.
Speaker 2: And so to.
Speaker 3: Give up basically this autonomy of freedom of self really
Speaker 3: what it is to be like every single day when
Speaker 3: I leave my house, I have to think twice about
Speaker 3: my life is a wild concept, you know. And I
Speaker 3: say to those who are like, oh, people are just
Speaker 3: you know, changing mind doing like nobody chooses to have
Speaker 3: this enormous target on their back for no reason, ye
Speaker 3: if it is not who they truly are. And so
Speaker 3: I tell people all the time, Yes, being trans is
Speaker 3: a part of who I am, and it's an important piece.
Speaker 3: But people see me as a black person before they're
Speaker 3: going to see me as a trans person. They're gonna
Speaker 3: see me black first, and they're gonna read me as
Speaker 3: a black man before, Oh, that's a black trans man,
Speaker 3: you know. And so I have to think about all
Speaker 3: of that and what those complexities are. But even the
Speaker 3: socialization of moving your life from being a black woman
Speaker 3: to a black man is different.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm.
Speaker 3: Mindful when I get in the elevator, if you know
Speaker 3: certain people are in the elevator, you know, where do
Speaker 3: I stand, or if I'm walking on the street, you know,
Speaker 3: crossing over and understanding. You know, we shouldn't have to
Speaker 3: live our lives like that, but that's what, you know,
Speaker 3: we have to do sometimes for safety.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you lifting that up again in terms of
Speaker 1: the target, nobody chooses. Nobody would willingly choose to be
Speaker 1: a target. And I think that that's something that is
Speaker 1: consistently lost in the conversations about trans people, right It's like,
Speaker 1: who would choose to be knowingly discriminated against to the
Speaker 1: points of heightened violence against you? You know, with just
Speaker 1: the minute or so that we have left, what is
Speaker 1: your hope for this project that you're involved in during
Speaker 1: this Pride? What is your hope about this this narrative
Speaker 1: storytelling project.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I hope that it shows people that trans people
Speaker 3: are just people.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: We are your brothers, we're your sisters, your nieces, your nephews,
Speaker 3: your uncles, you know, your dad's you know, and and
Speaker 3: we just want to thrive, like be ourselves, be our
Speaker 3: authentic seals. But also I hope it makes people think
Speaker 3: as this election is coming up. You know, I am
Speaker 3: in Ohio in a state that is like you know,
Speaker 3: they say it's a battleground state. You know, we know
Speaker 3: that it's still mostly read and you know we talked
Speaker 3: about this before, yep. But I hope people think about
Speaker 3: people like me when election time comes. If you love me,
Speaker 3: think about me at the polls. If you like me,
Speaker 3: think about me at the polls. Because what we're seeing
Speaker 3: is so much anti LGBTQ, specifically anti trans legislation happening.
Speaker 3: And what I want people to see is that we're.
Speaker 2: Not pawns in a game. We are literal people.
Speaker 3: And so when you're watching our stories, you know, you're
Speaker 3: seeing that Nadia is a young girl and has parents
Speaker 3: that love her, and she's a person, you know, and
Speaker 3: that Ashton is a young man with a Republican conservative
Speaker 3: dad who loves.
Speaker 2: Him, you know, and we're just people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Geo Santiago, I thank you so much for making
Speaker 1: the time for wok f again and you know, happy
Speaker 1: pride to you. I hope that you thrive all pride
Speaker 1: season long, and folks do make sure to check out
Speaker 1: Geo's story and the other stories of just trans people
Speaker 1: at here we Are now dot com. Really appreciate you.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: That is it for me today. Dear friends on wok
Speaker 1: F as always power to the people and to all
Speaker 1: the people. Power, get woke and stay woke as fuck.