Speaker 1: Good morning, peep Sen. Welcome to Okay f Daily with
Speaker 1: me your girl Danielle Moody recording from the home bunker. Folks,
Speaker 1: I'm having one of those days where I recognize that
Speaker 1: everything is just going to ship. You know, in the
Speaker 1: news you have Clarence Thomas, who we know his wife
Speaker 1: is an insurrectionist, was a part of the coup to
Speaker 1: overthrow the presidency, to overthrow the election for Donald Trump.
Speaker 1: She was asked nicely to testify before the January sixth
Speaker 1: Committee not under investigation, and lo and behold Clarence Thomas,
Speaker 1: the sole justice to block a lower court in Georgia
Speaker 1: from forcing Lindsey Graham to testify on why Lindsey Graham
Speaker 1: was on a fucking phone call with people in the
Speaker 1: state of Georgia with regard to overthrowing their election. Mind you,
Speaker 1: this isn't his fucking state, so there was no reason
Speaker 1: for Lindsey Graham to be calling anyone in Georgia except
Speaker 1: if he was doing something illegal or nefarious. But you see,
Speaker 1: when you fucking you know, have a corrupt Supreme Court,
Speaker 1: then you can do whatever you want. Laws don't matter,
Speaker 1: the courts don't matter. Nothing. Actually, fucking matters, and that's
Speaker 1: how I feel today. Then you have Merrick Garland decides
Speaker 1: that he's going to hold a press conference, and of
Speaker 1: course everyone is collectively holding their breath thinking that it's
Speaker 1: going to be an announcement about, oh, I don't know,
Speaker 1: the most corrupt person in America, the most treasonous fucking
Speaker 1: person in America, the most dangerous person in America, Donald Trump,
Speaker 1: and no, it's to talk about some double agents in China.
Speaker 1: I'm like, y'all, I'm having one of those days where
Speaker 1: I just, you know, want to head to a beach
Speaker 1: with a picture of liquor and just wait for the
Speaker 1: fucking comment to hit. Because two weeks until mid terms,
Speaker 1: I'm like, what the fuck is going on? Does anybody
Speaker 1: have any idea? You know, the polls are going in
Speaker 1: the direction of the Republicans. You know that I don't
Speaker 1: give a fuck about polls. So we'll find out on
Speaker 1: election day or who the fuck knows, maybe a week
Speaker 1: or two weeks after where the balance of power lies.
Speaker 1: Does it lie with the fascists or does it lie
Speaker 1: with the people who are trying to, you know, fight
Speaker 1: for democracy the way the fucking horse race that the
Speaker 1: news is portraying this in I can't even turn on
Speaker 1: the television because it makes me sick, and I don't
Speaker 1: want to break my television by throwing a remote at
Speaker 1: it because I paid for it. But that's the fucking
Speaker 1: mood that I'm in when I listened to them pretending
Speaker 1: this is a normal fucking election. It's not. It's America's
Speaker 1: last election. And maybe if you know, the media spoke
Speaker 1: about it in that way, then more people would be
Speaker 1: coming out to vote who the fuck knows, more people
Speaker 1: would be voting Democrat, because you know, they like nice
Speaker 1: things like freedom. I just I'm at a loss, and
Speaker 1: there are some days that are worse than others. I
Speaker 1: had a really nice weekend, right like, and I hope
Speaker 1: all of you did too. But I gotta tell you
Speaker 1: that by the time you've reached fucking Tuesday in this
Speaker 1: you know black hole that we call America, it feels
Speaker 1: like you've lived eighty seven days in one, right. The
Speaker 1: exhaustion is real. I posted, you know, several videos on
Speaker 1: TikTok where I addressed them to white America, and then
Speaker 1: I have motherfucker's coming back and telling me, oh, this
Speaker 1: isn't helpful. Do you know what's not helpful? A entire
Speaker 1: expose in the New York Times about how aggrieved white
Speaker 1: people are that they are no longer able to oppress
Speaker 1: as many people as they want, and they align themselves
Speaker 1: with Trump because they feel like they've lost their way.
Speaker 1: Why don't you actually do an article New York Times
Speaker 1: about the rise in white supremacy and racism in this
Speaker 1: country and the fact that Donald Trump didn't do anything
Speaker 1: other than reveal America to itself. Right, I don't need
Speaker 1: to have these multiple articles that are trying to do
Speaker 1: what provoke some type of empathy for white people that
Speaker 1: decided not to get an education, that decided not to
Speaker 1: compete because they thought that whiteness was enough of a
Speaker 1: currency for them to stay ahead and keep ahead. Get
Speaker 1: the fuck out of here, Like, I'm tired of the bullshit. Right,
Speaker 1: We're in this predicament because motherfuckers think that they don't
Speaker 1: have to work for shit. It's just black and brown people, right,
Speaker 1: it's just queer people, right, it's just women. Everybody else
Speaker 1: who's been doubling and tripling up on fucking degrees going
Speaker 1: into debt that now where the Republican Party has blocked
Speaker 1: relief in right, because they want people to be suffering
Speaker 1: because they're easier to control that way. Like I am
Speaker 1: just tired. And on top of that, we had another
Speaker 1: school shooting. We are the only goddamn country where school
Speaker 1: shootings are the fucking norm. We're sending your kids to
Speaker 1: school is roughly like rolling the dice hoping that you
Speaker 1: see them again. You have Texas fucking sending out DNA
Speaker 1: kids so that they can do whatever the fuck they
Speaker 1: want with that swab. I don't trust the State of
Speaker 1: Texas with anything, let alone the fucking my fucking DNA,
Speaker 1: so that'll end up in somebody's crime scene so that
Speaker 1: they can keep their you know, prison industrial complex rolling on.
Speaker 1: I just like every goddamn where that you look, everywhere
Speaker 1: you look right now, it is like one thing is
Speaker 1: worse than the next, and the week is not even
Speaker 1: halfway over. I know that the name of the game
Speaker 1: here is exhaustion, and I got to tell you today,
Speaker 1: I'm exhausted today, I really, you know, I am so
Speaker 1: grateful for my upcoming guests Ebony Munn and Doctor Lex
Speaker 1: to talk about, you know, something hopeful, like their new
Speaker 1: series Queer Sex Ad, you know, to provide some real
Speaker 1: understanding of sexuality and the body and all of these
Speaker 1: things for young queer kids who basically and not even
Speaker 1: young queer kids, let me tell you something, kids in America, gay, straight,
Speaker 1: non binary, otherwise do not receive a comprehensive sex education.
Speaker 1: They just don't, right, It is bullshit. And so what
Speaker 1: this series is trying to do Queer Sex Ad is
Speaker 1: to combat all of the myths so that you know,
Speaker 1: our kids grow up with a healthy understanding of themselves
Speaker 1: and their bodies, what they want, what they don't want,
Speaker 1: what is okay, and what is not. And some of
Speaker 1: the things that you may hear in this conversation may
Speaker 1: seem radical to you, but it shouldn't be. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm just like you know, everyone keeps saying that at
Speaker 1: some point in time, all the bad people will die
Speaker 1: and they'll make way for the new. But folks, we've
Speaker 1: been saying that for centuries, and this shit is cyclical.
Speaker 1: And where we are right now in our body politic
Speaker 1: is really about ignorance and funding ignorance, right, and the
Speaker 1: fact that we don't teach civics, the fact that we
Speaker 1: don't teach the truth about this country, which is why
Speaker 1: a whole population the large swath of white Americans believe
Speaker 1: that they are having something taken away from them that
Speaker 1: they never fucking earned in the first place. Right, But
Speaker 1: if we taught the truth about history, if we taught
Speaker 1: the truth about who were the inventors and the engineers
Speaker 1: and the architects and all of these things, then maybe
Speaker 1: they would have a better sense of fucking self. Maybe
Speaker 1: they would have decided, right in Middle America not to
Speaker 1: just rely on their father's factory and their grandfather's factory
Speaker 1: and their great grandfather's fucking coal mine as a way
Speaker 1: to provide for their families. Maybe they would have been
Speaker 1: told to fucking go to school, get an education, and
Speaker 1: then maybe then, you know, the academic industrial complex wouldn't
Speaker 1: have decided to make school so goddamn expensive, because then
Speaker 1: white people would have gotten up in arms about it. Right,
Speaker 1: But the whole point of making school expensive was then
Speaker 1: to loot black and brown people and pour people into
Speaker 1: a fucking cycle of debt that now Republicans want to
Speaker 1: keep up. Because you see, if you are not suffering,
Speaker 1: if you have more choice in your life about where
Speaker 1: you want to live and how you want to work
Speaker 1: and where you want to work, then they don't have
Speaker 1: the same amount of control. Like, that's what all of
Speaker 1: this goes back to. And it's so clear to me
Speaker 1: and so frustrating that other people just refuse to see
Speaker 1: it or do not have the same level of intellect
Speaker 1: to be able to cut through the bullshit. I don't
Speaker 1: know what it is, and maybe it's both. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't know why I'm saying that it needs to
Speaker 1: be an option, But my god, you know, we have
Speaker 1: kids that are so fucking scared of their own bodies,
Speaker 1: of themselves. We have such sexual repression in this country
Speaker 1: that you have people going on full campaigns to stop
Speaker 1: drag queens from being able to read to children. But
Speaker 1: you'll send your kids over to the Catholic priests like
Speaker 1: that's okay. Which one of them has been charged with
Speaker 1: sexual abuse over decades, not the drag queens, Folks. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I
Speaker 1: know that we have two weeks until the midterm elections.
Speaker 1: I know that early voting is starting now in many
Speaker 1: more states. Folks, Grab as many people as you can
Speaker 1: head to the polls. Make sure that you are registered,
Speaker 1: make sure you're on the roster, Make sure that you
Speaker 1: are getting at least five other people to vote, or
Speaker 1: to come up with a voting plan, take them to
Speaker 1: the polls, you know, give money, do something, because I
Speaker 1: I feel like we are losing it. I feel like
Speaker 1: we are losing it, and not just our democracy but
Speaker 1: our minds in the process. And I need us so
Speaker 1: desperately to hold it together. But some days, Volks, some
Speaker 1: days like today, I just want to scream out into
Speaker 1: the void. What in the entire fuck are people thinking?
Speaker 1: Coming up next, dear friends, my conversation which is much
Speaker 1: more up lifting than this with ebanymun who is the
Speaker 1: director of brand Marketing and content creative at that It
Speaker 1: Gets Better Project, and doctor Lex who is a PhD
Speaker 1: level sexologist and licensed marriage and family therapist who operates
Speaker 1: the Institute for Sexuality and Intimacy. She is featured within
Speaker 1: the series as one of these sex educators of queer
Speaker 1: sex ed. That conversation is coming up next, folks, I
Speaker 1: am very excited to welcome to Okay f Daily for
Speaker 1: the first time, two wonderful people to discuss where we
Speaker 1: are as it pertains to LGBTQ youth, as it pertains
Speaker 1: to how we're actually educating our young people. Ebeny Munn
Speaker 1: is director and brand marketing, brand marketer for and content
Speaker 1: and creative at that It Gets Better Project. Doctor Lex
Speaker 1: is a PhD level sexologist and license marriage and family
Speaker 1: therapists who operates the Institute for Sexuality and Intimacy. And
Speaker 1: both are a part of Queer Ed, which is a
Speaker 1: five part long form video series produced by the It
Speaker 1: Gets Better Project. UM. I want to welcome you both,
Speaker 1: uh to woke a f and I and I want
Speaker 1: to start out and I'll just you know, open open
Speaker 1: it up and we can just dive into conversation, which
Speaker 1: is UM first, you know the It Gets Better Project.
Speaker 1: For me, I remember back in the early two thousands, Um,
Speaker 1: you know the rash of suicides that were happening. UM
Speaker 1: LGBTQ youth, some as young as as as eight nine
Speaker 1: years old. Uh, we're taking their own lives because of
Speaker 1: being bullied either for actually being queer or just the
Speaker 1: perception that they were different. And I remember that It
Speaker 1: Gets Better project coming together with videos from LGBTQ, you know,
Speaker 1: adults who wanted to showcase that there is another side
Speaker 1: to this, this this torment, this bullying. UM, what you
Speaker 1: feel like is the end of your life, that there
Speaker 1: is another side that we can that we can get to.
Speaker 1: And I remember participating, uh in you know, in those videos,
Speaker 1: and so I'll do this Evany. I'll start with you,
Speaker 1: because you're the director of content and brand marketing. How
Speaker 1: has the It Gets Better Project shifted and changed from
Speaker 1: those early two thousands with this series of videos? You
Speaker 1: know that was basically an opportunity for for us to
Speaker 1: take care of us absolutely, so the It Gets Better
Speaker 1: Project our mission is to uplift in power and connect
Speaker 1: LGBT you. And so the early stages of kind of
Speaker 1: having celebrities, well known LGBT people in that space kind
Speaker 1: of speak directly to you has changed. Now we're actually
Speaker 1: talking to you directly with you and other young people
Speaker 1: who are kind of standing in that gap of creative
Speaker 1: storytelling kind of matching people and saying, hey, this is
Speaker 1: a journey, we are along with you. Here are the
Speaker 1: steps toward that journey. You can ascend up the steps
Speaker 1: you can. You know, we'll meet you where you are
Speaker 1: sort of thing and doctor Alex you are a sexologist
Speaker 1: and you know I want you to be able to
Speaker 1: a explain exactly what that exactly what your focus and
Speaker 1: discipline is. And then why it is important to have
Speaker 1: a doctor like yourself participating in conversations with the it
Speaker 1: gets better projects. Thank you so much, great questions. So,
Speaker 1: a sexologist is a person who studies sexuality. In the
Speaker 1: short run, the issue is that most people only get
Speaker 1: the first three letters. They say sex, and they only
Speaker 1: think intercourse. They don't think identity and body esteem and
Speaker 1: intimate relationships and power dynamics within all of sexuality, which
Speaker 1: every single person has from womb to tomb, every single person, right,
Speaker 1: and it may come in different aspects for ace folks,
Speaker 1: that may come for all sorts of things and results
Speaker 1: of trauma. But sexuality is an entire being. It's not
Speaker 1: just something that people do with their genitals. And so,
Speaker 1: as a PhD sexologist and a license of marriage family
Speaker 1: therapist coming to this project with an honor a and
Speaker 1: then be wanting to make sure that sexuality is something
Speaker 1: that can be talked about from multiple lenses. Right. We
Speaker 1: always hear don't go out and get pregnant, don't get
Speaker 1: an STI. But that's all we hear about. We don't
Speaker 1: talk about identity development, or it's shamed or it's written
Speaker 1: off as oh, it's just a phase, and so I
Speaker 1: wanted to bring that No, there are dynamics to sexuality
Speaker 1: that are identity making, that involve a socio emotional response,
Speaker 1: and that are completely valid in their existence, no matter
Speaker 1: how they come. What a novel concept to actually teach
Speaker 1: about entire identity as opposed to what I believe the
Speaker 1: far right has done, which is to make everything be
Speaker 1: about generals, everything be about sex as opposed to who
Speaker 1: we are as entire people. To talk to us ebony
Speaker 1: about this series and why this series is so important
Speaker 1: and what you're hoping people get from it totally. So
Speaker 1: I am the creative mind behind Course Sex It that
Speaker 1: kind of pairs sex educators with LGBT friend groups for
Speaker 1: open and honest conversations that range from how you first
Speaker 1: experience some pleasure, how you set boundaries over time, and
Speaker 1: just sex and the disability community. And the concept came
Speaker 1: from I remember when I was young, I didn't have
Speaker 1: those conversations with my parents, with anyone. It was kind
Speaker 1: of taboo. It was hush hush, But I did have
Speaker 1: those conversations with my friend groups, and there were a
Speaker 1: lot of conversations. Some of that information was very accurate
Speaker 1: other parts of that conversation not so much. We needed
Speaker 1: a second opinion. And so bringing this uh, you know,
Speaker 1: sex d series and focusing on friend groups, also allowing
Speaker 1: sex educators to kind of come in and debunk myths,
Speaker 1: talk about you know, what their changes are going on
Speaker 1: with your body, how you learned or relearned, pleasure, you
Speaker 1: know what you're looking forward to, just made so much
Speaker 1: sense because you know, queer kids are already having these conversations,
Speaker 1: and why not filling that gap? Hey, I'm David plots
Speaker 1: a slice Political Gapfest. As another election season accelerates, it
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Speaker 1: always agree. We definitely do not always agree, but we
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Speaker 1: a new episode. You know, there is just something that
Speaker 1: becomes so taboo when we talk about young people and pleasure,
Speaker 1: when we talk about, you know, the idea of understanding
Speaker 1: our bodies, our identities, and how we want to be
Speaker 1: in relationship and if we want to be in relationship
Speaker 1: with others, but more importantly, how we engage in relationship
Speaker 1: intimate relationship with ourselves. And so doctor lex I, you know,
Speaker 1: my work is around politics and equity and justice right
Speaker 1: and elevating conversations to the forefront that mainstream media is
Speaker 1: too chicken shit to be fair to have to have
Speaker 1: a real conversation about. Right, So I do want to
Speaker 1: how do you push back against the rhetoric that would
Speaker 1: say that by virtue of this series, by virtue of
Speaker 1: the work that you do, you are sexualizing children that
Speaker 1: in for for us to want to create healthy connections
Speaker 1: with self, body, identity, heart and with others. That this
Speaker 1: is what as as Marjorie Taylor Green, where a representative
Speaker 1: and I use that in air quotes, has said that
Speaker 1: we are sexualizing children, We are grooming children. We are
Speaker 1: the ones that are pedophiles and need to be looked after.
Speaker 1: So talk to me about how doctor Lex you push
Speaker 1: back against that type of misguided and dangerous rhetoric. So
Speaker 1: that is basically my entire platform. Right, So, I believe
Speaker 1: in raising sex positive kids, which shame pree sex it
Speaker 1: and people will see like sex positive. And remember I
Speaker 1: told you people get caught up on just amitals. We
Speaker 1: teach children to betray their bodies very early. We'll finish
Speaker 1: all the food on your plate. You only took two bites,
Speaker 1: You're still hungry, And that kid is like, no, I'm good.
Speaker 1: We're not trusting that kid We're not teaching that kid
Speaker 1: to trust their bodies. I'm also raising a five, four
Speaker 1: and three month old right now in the world, and
Speaker 1: my kids know what evolva is. My five year old
Speaker 1: came out to me as a girl, even though she
Speaker 1: was forcibly assigned girl. We went through some pronoun changes
Speaker 1: because she was still figuring out who she was, and
Speaker 1: we rolled with it. And so to those like super conservatives,
Speaker 1: which I've had run ins right when answering questions, I
Speaker 1: thought a TikTok or something I want them to expand
Speaker 1: the thing that people don't realize is the same innocence
Speaker 1: quote unquote that they're trying to protect, is the same
Speaker 1: innocence that minor attracted people are attracted to. And innocence
Speaker 1: never equals ignorant. Say that, right, So you can have
Speaker 1: knowledge and still be innocent. And because my kids have
Speaker 1: knowledge of their bodies, they know a vulva as a vulva,
Speaker 1: a penis as a penis. When somebody says, hey, let
Speaker 1: me share my penis, my kid be like, why I
Speaker 1: don't want to see your penis. I don't consent to
Speaker 1: that versus this is interesting. If somebody walks up and says,
Speaker 1: I can make your body feel good. My kid is like,
Speaker 1: I can make my body feel good. Why would I
Speaker 1: need you to do that for me? This is strange.
Speaker 1: I'm going to go talk to somebody about it. You
Speaker 1: can't shame my children with knowledge like, well, you're not
Speaker 1: supposed to say that word. Well, my mom says, there
Speaker 1: are no dirty words. There only words, right, So we're
Speaker 1: teaching them by disarming those who might try and enact
Speaker 1: power over that. You can't shame my kids into a
Speaker 1: behavior because my kids know this thing, and they know
Speaker 1: if you're trying to have them keep a secret, then
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell on you because we don't keep secrets
Speaker 1: in my house. We only do surprises. And this doesn't
Speaker 1: feel like a surprise because I trust myself to know
Speaker 1: that this doesn't feel good, because I've learned from an
Speaker 1: early age what feels good and what doesn't. And it's
Speaker 1: not just about genitals. M doctor LUs my goodness. Okay,
Speaker 1: So you're gonna be busy because we don't need to
Speaker 1: drop you in every state, in every school district, in
Speaker 1: every classroom, you know, in and out of systems. Because
Speaker 1: that was a mouthful. I want to pick I want
Speaker 1: to go back to innocence versus ignorance. I want to
Speaker 1: go back to this idea that what I what I
Speaker 1: hear from conservatives, right, and I don't even really like
Speaker 1: to use the word conservative. What I hear from people
Speaker 1: who are anti education is that the more that we
Speaker 1: are disconnected from ourselves, the easier we are to control.
Speaker 1: The more you know that we are disconnected from ourselves
Speaker 1: and wrapped up in shame, as you have said, the
Speaker 1: easier that we are to become submissive to their will.
Speaker 1: And so, you know, I want to and Ebony, I
Speaker 1: want to bring you in as well. I want to
Speaker 1: dig into this idea that LGBTQ kids should be ashamed
Speaker 1: of themselves, should be embarrassed. We are now living in
Speaker 1: a climate that says that you can't even utter the
Speaker 1: word gay. You just said, doctor lex there are no
Speaker 1: dirty words, there are just words. Well, the whole state
Speaker 1: of Florida, the whole state of Texas, the whole you know,
Speaker 1: and we can run through these red state governors that
Speaker 1: have not only said that the word gay is a
Speaker 1: bad word, right and so should not be uttered, but
Speaker 1: that we should be criminalized. So how do you balance
Speaker 1: what you just articulated as something that I see as
Speaker 1: so beautiful and so honest and so real, because I
Speaker 1: remember being young that my mother said the same thing.
Speaker 1: She's a registered nurse, and said, I don't want you
Speaker 1: and your sister to learn the baby words of your
Speaker 1: body because if somebody is touching you and we need
Speaker 1: to deal with that via police courts, via whatever, then
Speaker 1: I don't want there to be any misinterpretation. Right. And
Speaker 1: so how do we continue to want to create this
Speaker 1: kind of safe environment that is raising young people to
Speaker 1: be proud of who they are when we have entire states,
Speaker 1: leaders of entire political parties that are saying the opposite ebone,
Speaker 1: I'll go to you and then to doctor lex totally.
Speaker 1: I think once we change the mindset of saying that
Speaker 1: sexual education is actually vital to our well being and
Speaker 1: the safety of young people around the world, then we
Speaker 1: change that narrative. Because inclusive sex education is not just
Speaker 1: about the actual sexual act, right, It can be about
Speaker 1: so much more. Extends to community building, find a community
Speaker 1: in safe spaces and other people. It's about, you know,
Speaker 1: boundary setting, It's about healing self love. What do you like,
Speaker 1: what do you dislike? What's not for you, what is
Speaker 1: for you having those safe, community based conversations with people
Speaker 1: that look just like you access in your own pleasure.
Speaker 1: It's beyond sexual intimacy. It's really about what you need
Speaker 1: to know just to go forward in your daily life.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think that's a spot on, and I
Speaker 1: will add that I love your mama. Yeah, like that
Speaker 1: is exactly it. So I say, hey, I'm that being
Speaker 1: said for the Red states that are anti education, they're
Speaker 1: they're coming from a place of fear. Right, I will
Speaker 1: contend I would like to figure out how to put
Speaker 1: in legislation that all like officials have to pass a
Speaker 1: comprehensive sex education test. But outside of that, I will
Speaker 1: say that this fear of I think it's a homoerotic
Speaker 1: fear that my kid or somebody like that will be
Speaker 1: treated like I would treat them. Right, I've not yet
Speaker 1: met a parent that says I want my kid to
Speaker 1: grow up and have a shitty sex life. I've never
Speaker 1: met that parent when they are ready, they want their
Speaker 1: kids to have a fulfilling, enjoyment, pleasurable life. And so
Speaker 1: when we talk about transis when we talk about queerness,
Speaker 1: there's a level of I don't want people to treat
Speaker 1: you as poorly as I treat these people. You know.
Speaker 1: What's really interesting too that I find is that I
Speaker 1: often talk about the far right right and it's not
Speaker 1: it's just the entirety of the Republican Party that is
Speaker 1: a debt operates not only from a place of fear,
Speaker 1: but from a place of scarcity, right, Because you can't
Speaker 1: do what they are doing if you are if you
Speaker 1: are coming from a place of abundance, right, like, you
Speaker 1: would not seek to, you know, marginalize and section off
Speaker 1: and oppress people if you were coming from a place
Speaker 1: that says that you were enough. Right. So it's it's
Speaker 1: it's how do we in this climate? And this is
Speaker 1: you know, I wrote about this recently at The Daily Beast.
Speaker 1: When I'm you know, I'm asking, you know, are the
Speaker 1: kids okay? Because I don't think that they are. Because
Speaker 1: I think that when we look at the number of
Speaker 1: young people who are being prescribed antidepressants and anti anxiety medication,
Speaker 1: when we look at the fact that LGBTQ youth have
Speaker 1: always had higher than the average attempts at suicide, how
Speaker 1: were we to create this level of comfort and esteem
Speaker 1: in this climate? Like, what does that really look like, right,
Speaker 1: because you're doing an entire series that wouldn't be able
Speaker 1: to air in the state of Texas, in the state
Speaker 1: of Florida, in the state of Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee. Right. Like, So,
Speaker 1: if the idea here is that we need to get
Speaker 1: information out in order to keep these kids safe, but
Speaker 1: what the what Republicans have said is that if education
Speaker 1: and information is a problem, then how do we help
Speaker 1: young people navigate and feel seen again at a time
Speaker 1: when they're being pushed back into the shadows? And I'll
Speaker 1: let either one of you just jump in. I think
Speaker 1: that's what Ebany is doing with this creative vision. Right. So,
Speaker 1: as a person who's pan sexual who is also a
Speaker 1: recovering Baptist from the South, all right, we've always found
Speaker 1: each other. Queer folks have always found each other and
Speaker 1: built community because queerness has been since before colonization, right,
Speaker 1: and has been globally in existence before colonization, and every
Speaker 1: culture there has been queerness, and that got a race
Speaker 1: with colonization because of that shame and level of discomfort. Right.
Speaker 1: So I think by putting it out there, people will
Speaker 1: share things on their phones, people like, girl, did you
Speaker 1: see this clip, watch this TikTok, watch this Instagram real,
Speaker 1: whatever it is. So as long as we put it
Speaker 1: out there for it to be found, I am trusting
Speaker 1: that the people searching for it will find it and
Speaker 1: then they will share it amongst their communities because it
Speaker 1: says we're not alone, right, And I will say our
Speaker 1: young folks are some of the most mobilized. As young people.
Speaker 1: People always talk about them not being able to socialize.
Speaker 1: I'm like, they're talking a hundred people a day. Hundreds
Speaker 1: of people get their messages a day, right, I'd be like,
Speaker 1: O'll tap out after two conversations, I'll talk to nobody else.
Speaker 1: But they're talking to somebody and they're mobilizing. They're like,
Speaker 1: what if we have the algorithm and get all the
Speaker 1: tickets to this event so when they show up it's
Speaker 1: empty or they have to cancel it. Like they are
Speaker 1: mobilized and able to do this and they're finding so
Speaker 1: much more information. Yeah, ebany I totally agree. And just
Speaker 1: to piggyback, we do it. We produce this series in
Speaker 1: spite of, in spite of the rogue blocks, in spite of,
Speaker 1: you know, all the naysayers. We are going to get
Speaker 1: this content to gen Z and all of the young
Speaker 1: Adels who needed. My last question for you both is this,
Speaker 1: I am a person as people who know who listen
Speaker 1: to will gay up. I am ye of little faith, right,
Speaker 1: I try to carry around a mustard seed of hope,
Speaker 1: right Um? That that that I you know that I
Speaker 1: want to believe that even though the work that I
Speaker 1: am doing and others are doing, and you all are doing,
Speaker 1: we may not see the benefits of this right like
Speaker 1: what we are pushing for because we are being pushed
Speaker 1: back um, and that we're being pushed back into you know,
Speaker 1: archaic times, right. And so I want to know what
Speaker 1: keeps each of you hopeful? Right? Um? How do you
Speaker 1: remain hopeful in the work that you are doing at
Speaker 1: a time when it feels like our backs are literally
Speaker 1: being pushed back up against the wall and that we're
Speaker 1: fighting for our lives. I think what keeps me hopeful
Speaker 1: is knowing that it's not just about me. For my
Speaker 1: generation creating content, storytelling that speaks directly to gen Z,
Speaker 1: it's bigger than me. This is passien Z. This is
Speaker 1: the newer generation of someone thought enough of my generation
Speaker 1: to do something to stand in the gap of what
Speaker 1: I didn't learn as a kid or in school. And
Speaker 1: so what I think is, you know, that's our job.
Speaker 1: That is our job to educate, empower and uplift the
Speaker 1: next generation so that they have a foundation, a secure
Speaker 1: foundation to follow off. I love that of me, and
Speaker 1: so I think for me, it's one I'm passing it
Speaker 1: forward in my own seed. Right. I selfishly decided to
Speaker 1: have kids, and my kids directors caused my kids, the
Speaker 1: sex educators of the classroom. Right, So they're like, mom
Speaker 1: was pregnant. They're like, oh, you having a brother or sister.
Speaker 1: And my middle child goes, well, they haven't told us yet.
Speaker 1: We don't know, and I'm yes, amazing, right, and the
Speaker 1: oldest one does it has a paenis, Like, I don't
Speaker 1: know what else you need to know? It has a penis, right,
Speaker 1: And so we're pushing it forward that way, but also
Speaker 1: knowing that we've always been here, right, Yes, with the suicide, Yes,
Speaker 1: with the depression, Yes, with the anxiety, which since the pandemic,
Speaker 1: mental health needs to have skyrocketed. But they're also being met.
Speaker 1: People are actually reaching out to other queer therapists like myself,
Speaker 1: right to other networks as well. But We've always been here,
Speaker 1: We've always survived, and we're still doing that and we're
Speaker 1: still leading. Right, Black trans women are leading movements, Black
Speaker 1: queer women are leading movements that I'm gonna stop. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I love that that we've always been here and we're
Speaker 1: always going to be here. Lastly, I could, I could, honestly,
Speaker 1: it could talk to the both of you for another
Speaker 1: half hour. I'm so appreciative of the work that you're doing.
Speaker 1: I'm so appreciative of the spirit that you bring to
Speaker 1: the work that you're doing. And for those that want
Speaker 1: to get in connection, to get in contact to watch
Speaker 1: the series, please tell them how they can follow you
Speaker 1: and find Queer Ed. Of course, Queer sex Ed premieres
Speaker 1: on October nineteenth. You'll find it on gets Better dot
Speaker 1: org also our YouTube channels. Just type it it gets Better.
Speaker 1: We're on all the social networks that it gets Better
Speaker 1: and doctor Lex how would folks? Can you mentioned the TikTok?
Speaker 1: So I'm like, so tell us what it is? Oh
Speaker 1: so yeah, So I am Lex Ellie x x s
Speaker 1: x DC across all platforms as well, and I will
Speaker 1: be sharing out about it gets Better because I'm just
Speaker 1: I'm so proud and chiefly honored to be a part
Speaker 1: of the work and the conversations and also the little
Speaker 1: factoids that I think everybody should know. So Lex sex
Speaker 1: doc across our platforms and lexx dot dot com amazing.
Speaker 1: Thank you both doctor Lex and Ebony Mon from making
Speaker 1: the time to join woke f and drop some knowledge
Speaker 1: and hope for us. I really appreciate you both. Thank you.
Speaker 1: That is it for me today, dear friends on woke F.
Speaker 1: As always, power to the people and to all the people. Power,
Speaker 1: get woke and stay woke as fuck.