Speaker 1: It's too easy, I think, to not be accountable for
Speaker 1: the things that we share and the things that we
Speaker 1: say to each other online. It's a new bullying.
Speaker 2: LGBTQ plus adults are nearly three times more likely to
Speaker 2: experience online harassment.
Speaker 1: Don't seek external validation. If you like what you see
Speaker 1: in the mirror, that's literally all that matters.
Speaker 2: Look, I was bullied in school, I know, and to
Speaker 2: this day, you know, my parents have both said to me,
Speaker 2: you know, why didn't you feel comfortable to share? It's
Speaker 2: like I was ashamed.
Speaker 1: It's strange to me that people will stop and take
Speaker 1: even a second of their day to comment on somebody's appearance.
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't. That one for me is like
Speaker 1: goes right over my head. Like that one, I don't
Speaker 1: understand completely.
Speaker 2: I have somebody actively in my life who I have
Speaker 2: a lot of love and care for, and who I
Speaker 2: know has a lot of love and care for me,
Speaker 2: but has told me to my face with a smile,
Speaker 2: that I'm possessed by a demon and that's why I'm gay.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and no, we are the hard of health ladies, earthlings,
Speaker 1: space beings, and those hiding in the comment section welcome
Speaker 1: back to in our own world. Today, we're diving deep
Speaker 1: into the digital abyss to discuss something that's become all
Speaker 1: too common in our connected lives, cyberbullying. It's raw and
Speaker 1: real and yep, we're even pulling out some of the
Speaker 1: more ruthless, hilarious and bizarre comments that we've received. We're
Speaker 1: so happy to be back here with you and ready
Speaker 1: to get started.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Wow. Comment section is definitely a dangerous place.
Speaker 1: To be, you know, it could be a great place
Speaker 1: to be. It can be a place where conversations are had,
Speaker 1: where misinformation is debunked, where we can find similarities in
Speaker 1: comedy and find answers to our questions. Think what's actually
Speaker 1: going on in a video that you can't really properly interpret? Yeah,
Speaker 1: like what was that? What was I supposed to catch there?
Speaker 1: Or what was she wearing? Or does anybody know the
Speaker 1: name of this song?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 2: Yeah, for that, it's useful. I meant more like the
Speaker 2: more negative comments, which is a lot of what people
Speaker 2: associate when you talking about cyberbullying, because especially because you're
Speaker 2: hiding behind essentially the Internet or you know, whatever interface
Speaker 2: you're using to communicate, and honestly, like you know, I've
Speaker 2: told both you and my mom and certain other people.
Speaker 2: You know, because the people that are commenting, they want
Speaker 2: you negative things a lot of the time. They want
Speaker 2: you to respond, they want to get a rise out
Speaker 2: of you. And you have to be really careful about
Speaker 2: what you give your energy to. But it's hard. You
Speaker 2: have to develop a thick skin and try not to
Speaker 2: take certain things personally. Not only you know. Obviously, if
Speaker 2: you're in the public eye or if you have a podcast,
Speaker 2: you're kind of you know, people would say, oh, you're
Speaker 2: asking for it.
Speaker 1: You're never asking for no.
Speaker 2: But I do think that in this day and age,
Speaker 2: it should be expected. So it's important to talk about
Speaker 2: it for sure, so.
Speaker 1: That we are what's happening. I mean people, Maybe we
Speaker 1: should define cyber but yeah, looks through it. So it's
Speaker 1: defined as the use of technology to harass, threat, and
Speaker 1: embarrass or target another person. Online threats and mean, aggressive
Speaker 1: or rude text, tweets, posts, or messages all count. So
Speaker 1: it is posting personal information, pictures or videos designed to
Speaker 1: hurt or embarrass someone else.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like posting videos.
Speaker 1: I think that social media has become like a battleground
Speaker 1: in a way for a lot of things. And sometimes
Speaker 1: in a positive In a positive light, social media can
Speaker 1: illuminate certain issues that maybe we should be talking about.
Speaker 1: But I also find that people use social media as
Speaker 1: like a tool that with when used with malicious intent,
Speaker 1: can destroy lives. Oh yeah, that's a war with no regulation.
Speaker 1: But I want to talk a little bit about the
Speaker 1: statistics of cyberbullying because I think sometimes older generations are
Speaker 1: used to tolerating certain things because they were taught that
Speaker 1: tolerating those things equal strength. And thanks to psychology and
Speaker 1: the advancements in mental health, we know that that is
Speaker 1: actually a traumatic way of thinking, because there are real
Speaker 1: life consequences for these things, whether we believe they should
Speaker 1: exist or not. So twenty six point five percent of
Speaker 1: American teenagers have experienced cyber bullying within the last thirty days.
Speaker 1: Seventy three percent of girls and young women have received
Speaker 1: unwanted sexual content online. Twenty eight point six of US
Speaker 1: females aged thirteen through seventeen have been cyberbullied in the
Speaker 1: past month. Over their lifetime, fifty nine point two percent
Speaker 1: of girls and forty nine point five percent of boys
Speaker 1: age thirteen to seventeen have experienced cyber bullying. Black middle
Speaker 1: school age cyber bullying victims are one hundred and thirty
Speaker 1: five percent more likely to consider and plan suicide. Bullied
Speaker 1: LGBTQ middle and high school students are three times more
Speaker 1: likely to attempt suicide in the past year compared to
Speaker 1: non bullied peers. Seventy seven point five percent of cyber
Speaker 1: bullied students report that someone posted mean or hurtful things
Speaker 1: about them online, making it the most prevalent form of
Speaker 1: cyber bullying. Thirty percent of teens surveyed over multiple studies
Speaker 1: have reported being siluberbullied at some point in their lifetimes,
Speaker 1: and in twenty twenty three, sixteen percent of students reported
Speaker 1: being bullied electronically, according to the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior
Speaker 1: Surveillance System. So it's the new bullying. It's too easy,
Speaker 1: i think, to not be accountable for the things that
Speaker 1: we share and the things that we say to each
Speaker 1: other online. For one, you're a perfect stranger talking to
Speaker 1: a perfect stranger. You have no personal connection to that person,
Speaker 1: you have no responsibility to them whatsoever, so you think,
Speaker 1: and so it's almost like it's easier to loosen the
Speaker 1: tongue and say the thing that you would never say
Speaker 1: in person, because I think in person we have a
Speaker 1: little bit more of our politeness intact. But it's also
Speaker 1: I mean true, true, but still but still. And I
Speaker 1: think also you have the element of alternate profiles. I've
Speaker 1: seen so many people who are are ruthless in what
Speaker 1: they say and what they share, and you click on
Speaker 1: their profile and they have you know, a stock photo,
Speaker 1: zero posts, zero followers, private you know there, and and
Speaker 1: it makes you think, you're like, all right, is this
Speaker 1: a real person who maybe just doesn't use social media
Speaker 1: or are there really people out there who delight in
Speaker 1: creating a disguise and creating an account online where they
Speaker 1: can spew these hurtful things at other people, whether they
Speaker 1: know them, whether they don't, and get away with it,
Speaker 1: you know, like they almost enjoy how unchecked it is.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we are specifically talking about, you know, cyberbullying and
Speaker 2: how exacerbated bullying can be by the tool that is
Speaker 2: the internet or online, which you just touched upon. Essentially,
Speaker 2: the fact that you can hide behind something because think
Speaker 2: about it, for the longest time, you know, gossiping and
Speaker 2: all of that has been happening.
Speaker 1: I mean there are a whole multiple decade television shows.
Speaker 3: Where Shakespearean plays, It's back even more, and a lot
Speaker 3: of the time it results in people being hurt and
Speaker 3: upset at a specific person.
Speaker 2: But when you don't know where to direct the anger,
Speaker 2: why it's happening, or where it's coming from, which ultimately
Speaker 2: a lot of the time it has to do with
Speaker 2: the person that is viewing that hate, you know, whether
Speaker 2: it be online or otherwise. But I think it's also
Speaker 2: when it's online, there's an element of shame because there's
Speaker 2: a lot of you touched on the statistics. But so
Speaker 2: much of this happens to young kids and young kids
Speaker 2: doing it to each other. Let's be real. And not
Speaker 2: only that, I think that even if it's not the
Speaker 2: parent's fault at all, and I'm not a parent and
Speaker 2: I can't speak to it, I don't know.
Speaker 1: If I agree there, but please continue.
Speaker 2: I mean, I mean that it's difficult for a lot
Speaker 2: of these children to share or they don't share with
Speaker 2: their parents. This person is got it sending me in
Speaker 2: inappropriate photo. Oh, I made a friend online that seems
Speaker 2: really sweet, and all of a sudden starts speaking weird
Speaker 2: and starts scaring me and saying things that are you
Speaker 2: know what I'm saying a lot of the times that
Speaker 2: it's a difficult situation for a child to admit to
Speaker 2: the parent that they are recognizing danger because they also
Speaker 2: don't want to get in trouble and that can lead
Speaker 2: to very dangerous things happening.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, and I think that as we get older,
Speaker 1: I think it comes easier to let always like to say,
Speaker 1: drink a glass of asaline in the morning, so the
Speaker 1: things just slide off of you, even though God, I
Speaker 1: need to take that advice more because things definitely penetrate.
Speaker 2: Okay, I tell you that all the time. I'm telling
Speaker 2: you this for real. You spend a lot of time,
Speaker 2: which equals energy in my heart. I controls to people.
Speaker 1: Online, they are be so for real right now. I
Speaker 1: do not spend Okay, it is such a misrepresentation of
Speaker 1: the truth. I do not spend a lot of time.
Speaker 2: I think that a lot of the time is worth
Speaker 2: it because ultimately.
Speaker 1: Yes, but I would like for you to consider what
Speaker 1: you've just said. I do not spend a lot of
Speaker 1: time focusing on trolls.
Speaker 2: No, not focusing trying to let's say, somebody wants everything
Speaker 2: about me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess so, Okay, So this is what I
Speaker 1: want you to say. Okay, So since you're talking about me,
Speaker 1: I just want to make sure you speak clearly.
Speaker 2: I got it, and I apologize. I guess for me
Speaker 2: on every six months is not a lot of time
Speaker 2: because this is hey, this is we're keeping it real.
Speaker 2: We're keeping it real, working been, You're real, and that's fine,
Speaker 2: I hope everybody.
Speaker 1: Okay, See, so I don't spend a lot of time
Speaker 1: on trolls, but I will once in a blue.
Speaker 2: Moon, okay, and I will rephrase because for me, some apologies,
Speaker 2: thank you, jeezy, my apologies for me. Also, one second
Speaker 2: of my life and time is too much to spend.
Speaker 2: So what I mean is, oftentimes and most of the time,
Speaker 2: it's to defend me or you know, somebody you love,
Speaker 2: or a cause that you really really care about. You know,
Speaker 2: like when you were helping Cuba.
Speaker 1: And all that. Listen when that creator who has a
Speaker 1: large platform, I mean, this is not cyberbullying at all,
Speaker 1: but who has a super large platform, was educating. He's
Speaker 1: a coffee creator, and he was educating on how to
Speaker 1: make Cuban coffee and he misrepresented the whole thing. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say something and guess what happened. He did
Speaker 1: another video. I took the time, and I'm like, not
Speaker 1: only is this problematic because of this and this and
Speaker 1: this reason. You're speaking on another culture that you don't
Speaker 1: identify with, that you don't understand, that you haven't experienced.
Speaker 1: And this is a culture that if anything needs a platform.
Speaker 1: So if you're gonna do it, do it properly. And
Speaker 1: I broke down the right and at all at all.
Speaker 2: No, but there are you know, I'm talking about the
Speaker 2: people that call stupid lesbians and hope that we stop living.
Speaker 1: I think that for some people, their parents. There's there
Speaker 1: are a lot of parents that in our comments section
Speaker 1: who talk about how a shame they would be if
Speaker 1: we were their children, right, And I immediately think about
Speaker 1: their children when they say those things to me, or
Speaker 1: their grandchildren if they're older, and I almost feel like
Speaker 1: and and of course, like every situation is unique, and
Speaker 1: I and I don't contrary to what you said, I
Speaker 1: don't spend a lot of time doing this, but there
Speaker 1: have been moments where where I've intuitively sensed that perhaps
Speaker 1: a conversation where I can spin their perspective a little
Speaker 1: bit or introduce them to a new set of ideas
Speaker 1: that clearly they haven't been introduced to, and they see
Speaker 1: that this person that you're judging because of their sexuality.
Speaker 1: That uses an example, right, is a human is a
Speaker 1: human with thoughts and feelings who can level with you.
Speaker 1: Nine times out of ten, I've experienced that that person
Speaker 1: pulls back because I dive into the perspective of their
Speaker 1: child and what it would feel like for their child
Speaker 1: or their grandchild to be rejected by them, and what
Speaker 1: we're actually doing here. At the end of the day,
Speaker 1: I think every human being on earth understands love as
Speaker 1: a feeling, even that as a baseline thing. So if
Speaker 1: you can draw on those experiences and understand, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: maybe I can see it this way, but I've felt
Speaker 1: this way and I know what that was like. And
Speaker 1: so if I can, if I can attach that feeling
Speaker 1: to this thing that I've not experienced that I'm seeing
Speaker 1: in these strangers, now I can empathize with that experience. Right,
Speaker 1: And perhaps it's easier for me not to cast judgment
Speaker 1: because I understand it a little bit better. But ninety
Speaker 1: nine percent of the time I do follow my own advice,
Speaker 1: and I drink a glass of Vasoline, because we have
Speaker 1: this conversation all the time because you know, we read
Speaker 1: you and I always read comments. I think it's a
Speaker 1: habit that anybody who posts content online has developed, and
Speaker 1: maybe we should do some soul searching as to why
Speaker 1: we're even looking at them all the validation.
Speaker 2: I don't read them all the time, and if I do,
Speaker 2: I really like to which you can attest to. Like,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of value in not only people giving
Speaker 2: feed back, positive feedback, but also just feedback. That's good
Speaker 2: because we talk about it with so many in our
Speaker 2: line of work and in our life creators, entertainers. So
Speaker 2: much of what we do now is online or expected
Speaker 2: to be online, right, And it's kind of like your
Speaker 2: decision how private you want to be, how much you
Speaker 2: want to share. But fortunately and unfortunately, it's a way
Speaker 2: in which to have more people reach our reach, our work,
Speaker 2: reach what we do, you know, and that also exposes
Speaker 2: you a lot.
Speaker 1: I think social media for me is a mountaintop. It's
Speaker 1: like a place to shout your deepest desires and feelings
Speaker 1: and interest from. It's like I sometimes it's like a
Speaker 1: scream and to avoid Yeah, whether or not anyone is listening.
Speaker 2: I think, and honestly I want to hear from our
Speaker 2: listeners because I think an amazing episode which stems from this.
Speaker 2: But it's very different for you and media. The conversation
Speaker 2: to have is like the responsibility of how to use
Speaker 2: the internet, like for example, you know, like I know
Speaker 2: that in some places you and I disagree on, like, oh,
Speaker 2: what what do you think we should post? What do
Speaker 2: you think we should not post? You know, what do
Speaker 2: you think we should open up for people to comment about?
Speaker 2: You know? Do you post your kids? Do you not
Speaker 2: post your kids?
Speaker 1: Which is anything kids is a whole other.
Speaker 2: But anyway, back to my point, I think that opening
Speaker 2: up yourself online and reading comments is something that you
Speaker 2: need to be prepared for. And like you said, having
Speaker 2: the conversation of like do you do you read comments online?
Speaker 2: Are you able to read them and have them not
Speaker 2: affect you? So that's what I was getting, noticing that
Speaker 2: they're affecting you in a negative way.
Speaker 1: Right, So the the glass of Asolene thing is like
Speaker 1: me personally, I don't think I've ever left a comment
Speaker 1: on any one's social media post or anything to degrade
Speaker 1: their physical image. No, of course not, or even if
Speaker 1: it's like a fashion thing. Like if I see somebody
Speaker 1: and i'm you know me, am, I'm critical. I'm very critical,
Speaker 1: and I could be very mean.
Speaker 2: I understand.
Speaker 1: I was born to be on a roast panel like
Speaker 1: the things that the creativity behind my meanness is is grost.
Speaker 1: I'm so down, but I think I could be very
Speaker 1: creatively mean and I don't hold back. But I would
Speaker 1: never find myself even if I truly believed while that
Speaker 1: girl looks like shit, I would never say that. I
Speaker 1: would never, ever, ever ever say that. I would never
Speaker 1: ever It's not worth it to share that feeling, that emotion,
Speaker 1: to risk harming that person in that way. It's strange
Speaker 1: to me that people will stop and take even a
Speaker 1: second of their day to comment on somebody's appearance. I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't. That one for me is like goes right
Speaker 1: over my head. Like that one I don't understand completely.
Speaker 2: I think that's a really valuable point to dive a
Speaker 2: tiny bit deeper into, because I think the majority of
Speaker 2: the population or people that were around every day are
Speaker 2: not going to be those people that are putting a
Speaker 2: hateful comment boom out there. However, like for example, your sister,
Speaker 2: you know, my anybody in my family janew Like, I
Speaker 2: really don't think that there are very few people in
Speaker 2: your life that would actively be like, oh you look
Speaker 2: like shit.
Speaker 1: Girl, or like maybe they saw it, but they share.
Speaker 2: That's that's my follow up. I think that.
Speaker 1: I mean, my sister would definitely say it, Amber would
Speaker 1: definitely say it.
Speaker 2: No, But I'm saying, like, to really hurt somebody somebody's page, Like,
Speaker 2: sometimes I'll open up somebody's page that I admire and
Speaker 2: for no reason, there's people having a whole discourse under
Speaker 2: the page. And I think that also sometimes people, depending
Speaker 2: on who it is that they're commenting on, they're thinking
Speaker 2: this person isn't going to see it.
Speaker 1: Or maybe they want them to.
Speaker 2: Well, my point is that I don't think that there's
Speaker 2: a lot of people out there that are making it
Speaker 2: normal to be cyber bullying or just commenting hate online
Speaker 2: or sending hate. But the ones that do do it,
Speaker 2: they stick out a lot. Number one, And you think
Speaker 2: about it a lot, because if you took the time to,
Speaker 2: like you said, post it, think about it, type it,
Speaker 2: you know, go through with putting it online, then you
Speaker 2: really you have That's a very complex thing.
Speaker 1: Right, So I think it's I think those are easy.
Speaker 2: It's very complex thing, and some people, unfortunately are just
Speaker 2: not are just not well, And it's easy to take
Speaker 2: out your frustrations or your angers, or your issues on
Speaker 2: something completely intangible that you don't associate with being a real, living,
Speaker 2: breathing other person, even in cases of children, because now
Speaker 2: just cyber I think about the children so so much
Speaker 2: in schools. How much have we been hearing about cyber bullying,
Speaker 2: about how many children's lives are lost because instead of
Speaker 2: just look, I was bullied in school. I know, and
Speaker 2: to this day, you know, my parents have both both
Speaker 2: said to me, you know, why didn't you feel comfortable
Speaker 2: to share? It's like I was ashamed, you know, you don't.
Speaker 2: You don't want to seem like that kid that's weak
Speaker 2: and gets picked on. And then the people that you
Speaker 2: love worry about your experience in school and it was
Speaker 2: very different. You know, one time I was glued to
Speaker 2: a chair, you know, and you think about it, it's like,
Speaker 2: oh haha, but it feels terrible. I can't imagine. Now
Speaker 2: I think about the young people in our lives that
Speaker 2: I love, you know, and I think about them potentially
Speaker 2: receiving graphic information, graphic visuals that can really impact you,
Speaker 2: oh for sure, and stay with you give people PTSD
Speaker 2: you know, and gosh, even which this has happened to me,
Speaker 2: even unwanted photos from excess. In a way, your phone,
Speaker 2: your email, Instagram, that's in a way access to you.
Speaker 2: It's an extension. It is absolutely And you have the
Speaker 2: choice with some things whether to open a message or
Speaker 2: go into the DM or whatnot. But sometimes you don't
Speaker 2: have a choice, or you don't realize what the content
Speaker 2: or the material is and you open it. I'll give
Speaker 2: you an example so it's clear. One time on my
Speaker 2: Facebook there was a guy who started off just sending
Speaker 2: you know, oh you love your music, love your this.
Speaker 2: Then it turned into pictures of him. Then really quickly
Speaker 2: it turned into him pleasing himself, like videos of him
Speaker 2: pleasing himself, very graphic.
Speaker 1: And he would send them to you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I didn't know any of that was there. Actually,
Speaker 2: it wasn't me that found them. It was my mom
Speaker 2: and Heather and they're like, oh my god, and listen,
Speaker 2: that's that's jarring, that's horrible. You don't want to be
Speaker 2: faced with pornographic content. You don't want to see from
Speaker 2: somebody who's actively purposefully sending it.
Speaker 1: I think I've ever heard a single person say m
Speaker 1: yay dick pic no ever no.
Speaker 2: But also I'm saying, somebody that purposefully sends it to you,
Speaker 2: then you can imagine what the is with the intention
Speaker 2: of you or some weird.
Speaker 1: I'm sure they don't send it hoping that you'd be disgusted,
Speaker 1: but that's not I don't think that's so much the point.
Speaker 1: I think that I think some people say really mean
Speaker 1: things with the complete opposite intention, not even to actually
Speaker 1: harm you, but desperate for you to notice them. And
Speaker 1: we were talking about it the other day, and I
Speaker 1: think that probably sparked this idea that we've had people
Speaker 1: in our in our comments or in our dms say nasty,
Speaker 1: nasty shit, and then you go to respond and they're like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I can't you know, I can't believe
Speaker 1: you responded. I love your music. I didn't think that
Speaker 1: you would see this. You know, It's which one is it?
Speaker 1: Did you? Did you do it because you wanted my
Speaker 1: attention or you did it because and now you're you're
Speaker 1: back pedaling because you realize that you know there's actually
Speaker 1: a human being on the other side of your nasty words.
Speaker 2: But that's actually happened to me in person before. What Yeah,
Speaker 2: I told you that lady that saw my ID and
Speaker 2: she's like, oh, what a shame, like you look so
Speaker 2: great in your ID picture, like you really got to
Speaker 2: take care of yourself. You look like shit. Literally, I'm like, lady,
Speaker 2: lea me alone. I'm having I'm having a rough day.
Speaker 2: I'm tired you no, no, people are just And then
Speaker 2: the late this lady taps her on her shoulder and
Speaker 2: she was like, oh you know yeah, Oh my god,
Speaker 2: I'm eat that gup bana. I'm so sorry this And
Speaker 2: I'm like, no, no, girl, you tell me how you really feel,
Speaker 2: like own it. At least own it. I'll have more
Speaker 2: respect for you there, because for me, it's like shit.
Speaker 2: You know, you wonder how to really how do people really?
Speaker 2: How do people really feel? But I think in the
Speaker 2: case of cyberbuilding, a lot of it is not people's
Speaker 2: real feelings. It's actively trying to hurt an active.
Speaker 1: Or maybe it is a real feelings. And like I said,
Speaker 1: they feel protected by the by their invisible cloak, by
Speaker 1: the lack of there's it's hard to trace it back
Speaker 1: to them. If somebody tells you something to your face,
Speaker 1: you're looking at who's saying it. Right, If somebody sends
Speaker 1: something through an online private profile or a made up
Speaker 1: profile or a burner account, then they're allowed to shoot
Speaker 1: at you and you don't even know who shot from where. Right,
Speaker 1: it's just uh, you're you're You're left vulnerable, and sometimes
Speaker 1: it can be impactful, even if it doesn't really penetrate
Speaker 1: your emotions. I spent a very long time thinking about,
Speaker 1: you know, when when you and I first announced our
Speaker 1: relationship publicly, which is just like a funny thing in general,
Speaker 1: must have been a super slow news day, but you know,
Speaker 1: and and and essentially like told the world that we
Speaker 1: were a couple, which like, lol, all you had to
Speaker 1: do is pay attention for that. The year before, there
Speaker 1: were some people who said terrible things to us too,
Speaker 1: that wish that we would be raped by an infect
Speaker 1: and AIDS infected stick and died, you.
Speaker 2: Know, like splintered sticks.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that people wishing us. I mean people were genuinely
Speaker 1: with passion wishing us death.
Speaker 2: That started to become heavy energetically exactly because it is
Speaker 2: energy and we had a lot of love and support.
Speaker 1: We always have overwhelming love and supports and that I
Speaker 1: need to be honest so.
Speaker 2: Many people to this day. I mean, I got a
Speaker 2: text today that's like, hey, you know, I need your
Speaker 2: help and advice with like a gay problem, you know.
Speaker 2: And but that energy becomes very, very heavy, And I
Speaker 2: can only imagine when it's somebody in your family, like
Speaker 2: if it were my child, I would lose my mind.
Speaker 1: Yeah, my mom, I've found my mom in a couple
Speaker 1: of common sections saying well, because that's another thing. People
Speaker 1: will be like I do. My mo must be so
Speaker 1: deceived by having you as a daughter. You're so beautiful,
Speaker 1: but what a shame your game. You know that my
Speaker 1: mom I know, and my mom who really could not
Speaker 1: care less who I was with, you know, man, woman
Speaker 1: or otherwise it's just not her, not her. Mo O
Speaker 1: loves to enter those opportunities and just remind people like,
Speaker 1: I'm her mother and you don't have to speak for me,
Speaker 1: and and and she's with somebody who she loves and
Speaker 1: that's all I care about.
Speaker 2: Well, then we also have the other side of it,
Speaker 2: which is, you know, the biblical folk who ironically, you know,
Speaker 2: preach so many things and represent so many other things.
Speaker 2: And I mean, I have somebody actively in my life
Speaker 2: who I have a lot of love and care for,
Speaker 2: and who I know has a lot of love and
Speaker 2: care for me, but has told me to my face
Speaker 2: with a smile that I'm possessed by a demon and
Speaker 2: that's why I'm gay.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and no, we are the harbingers of hell. No, no,
Speaker 1: like the worst thing.
Speaker 2: That like oh yeah, like literally, I'm possessed by a demon.
Speaker 2: That's why I'm say. That's why you know I'm sick
Speaker 2: and you know, what a shame. But she understand but like,
Speaker 2: you know, in the same way that she really feels
Speaker 2: and believes that you know has love and care for
Speaker 2: me as well, and like they're not one and the same.
Speaker 1: But you can't. It's just people who think that you
Speaker 1: can love someone despite their sexuality. This message is for you.
Speaker 1: You cannot shopping kart. The people that you love, who
Speaker 1: they love and how they love is an indispensable part
Speaker 1: of who they are. You can't love them despite anything.
Speaker 1: It's because it's with it. That's part of who the
Speaker 1: person that you love, So you better love it too exactly.
Speaker 2: That makes you who you are. Yeah, So I mean,
Speaker 2: at least I have more respect for the fact that
Speaker 2: I can have a conversation face to face with her.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I've seen both of our moms in some
Speaker 2: of the comments, And yes, it became very heavy. It
Speaker 2: became very overwhelming, but the positivity was overwhelming and heavy
Speaker 2: in a good way as well.
Speaker 1: Let's not lie. You and I are perfect creatures. I'm
Speaker 1: certainly far from perfect. Sometimes it feels good to respond. Earlier,
Speaker 1: earlier we were preparing for this episode, I was reading
Speaker 1: a couple of comments with my producer from years ago
Speaker 1: where I was literally like, kiss my ass well because seriously,
Speaker 1: sometimes you know, it's probably just it's not very healed
Speaker 1: of me to engage, but sometimes it's like, you know what,
Speaker 1: fuck off.
Speaker 2: I also get really upset, like realty, when they're talking
Speaker 2: about you, or when they're talking about my family or
Speaker 2: Sasha whatnot, and when like families in the public eye
Speaker 2: and stuff too, or partners of you're an easy target,
Speaker 2: I mean easy target. It's easier for people to say
Speaker 2: things about or to you and me, And when people
Speaker 2: say things about you, I lose it. That's when it's
Speaker 2: hard for me to hold back. It's not you know,
Speaker 2: it's not helpful, but it does feel a little bit good.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna lie, yeah.
Speaker 1: And that's okay. We're human, you know. Sometimes you got
Speaker 1: to tell people to kiss your ass.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And also, if you're in a situation out there
Speaker 2: where you feel like you're in danger, doesn't matter your age,
Speaker 2: it's really important. You know. The Internet is becoming just
Speaker 2: as real of a place as any other because it
Speaker 2: leads to real consequences and real emotions that turn into
Speaker 2: real trauma. So make sure that you have a resource
Speaker 2: available or a person that you can speak to that
Speaker 2: can help you if you're in a situation that you
Speaker 2: feel unsafe about.
Speaker 1: Because and just remember that people usually just project what
Speaker 1: they're feeling internally. Anybody who has the time or even
Speaker 1: the space or the capacit city to spend their time
Speaker 1: tearing you down feels that way probably about themselves, and
Speaker 1: so it's difficult to look at it from that lens.
Speaker 1: But sometimes the best thing that you can do for
Speaker 1: you and for themselves, for whoever it is that's saying
Speaker 1: those things, is step into an understanding place and remind
Speaker 1: yourself that they must be having some trouble or lacking
Speaker 1: some love. Somebody said the other day, well, those people
Speaker 1: must not have any pets, you know, really they're they're there.
Speaker 1: They must be lacking to be to be filling their
Speaker 1: cup with that kind of thing. So you you you
Speaker 1: almost have to feel bad, feel bad, and again, drink
Speaker 1: a glass of masoline and let it slide right off
Speaker 1: of you. Because that famous Quincy quote, not one ounce
Speaker 1: of my self worth depends on your acceptance of me.
Speaker 1: Don't seek external validation. If you like what you see
Speaker 1: in the mirror, that's literally all that matters.
Speaker 2: That quote about Quincy is so true, like you need
Speaker 2: to be cool with yourself, and sometimes sometimes that's a
Speaker 2: journey that's not only really difficult, but that becomes actively
Speaker 2: more difficult when you have youth that are growing up
Speaker 2: in a world.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they don't have the defenses that somebody like
Speaker 1: me might.
Speaker 2: And the internet is fully integrated into their life. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I got bullied, but I didn't have a phone until
Speaker 2: I was seventeen. I wasn't on Instagram. No, our life
Speaker 2: was different, So even if somebody was talking shit, it
Speaker 2: wasn't like that in my comments and actively all the time,
Speaker 2: always at risk, you know, anyway, But the responsibility that
Speaker 2: I want to say is talking about the LGBTQ plus
Speaker 2: community and more specifically youth, because there's already so many
Speaker 2: tools that we're learning how to give our community and
Speaker 2: the youth in our community, and when you're trying to
Speaker 2: figure out your life or trying to figure out being
Speaker 2: transgender or being gay or bisexual or anything that the
Speaker 2: world still considers to be unique, which has been around
Speaker 2: for so long. So I really understand that. Yeah, cool,
Speaker 2: mingos or lesbians. Dolphins are by come on, now, mosquitoes
Speaker 2: are what are mosquitoes?
Speaker 1: Mosquitoes are are one of those one of those insects
Speaker 1: that I'm like, we couldn't extinct those. We had to
Speaker 1: extinct the two can, but we can't extinct mosquitos. Like,
Speaker 1: what's up with that?
Speaker 2: You know, we need mosquitos for something important to Mosquite anyway.
Speaker 2: All right, So a couple of facts just about our community.
Speaker 2: LGBTQ plus adults are nearly three times more likely to
Speaker 2: experience online harassment compared to our hetero friends. So that's
Speaker 2: a big that's a big number. It's a big number.
Speaker 2: Fifty percent of bisexual women have received unwanted behavior online.
Speaker 2: I think that's interesting. I mean, half half of the population.
Speaker 2: That's pretty. It's tough also because there's a lot of
Speaker 2: people who view certain branches of our beautiful tree, of
Speaker 2: our beautiful gay tree as a kink of theirs or whatnot,
Speaker 2: and they think that that's a past to come after.
Speaker 2: That's that's harassment. You know. Thirty five percent of transgender
Speaker 2: youth between the age of thirteen and seventeen have been
Speaker 2: victims of cyberbulling since June twenty twenty one. Again almost half.
Speaker 2: That's it's a lot. That's why, you know, you've got
Speaker 2: to be so brave these days to share certain things
Speaker 2: about your journey online.
Speaker 1: It takes a lot of courage to step into any
Speaker 1: kind of truth publicly. And I don't mean like in
Speaker 1: the in the world of like, you know, celebrity. I
Speaker 1: mean just like outside of your own mind, outside of
Speaker 1: your own maybe you know, microcosm of like you and
Speaker 1: your friends or like you know, your your safety, to
Speaker 1: be able to like walk out into the streets and
Speaker 1: announce something that you know is controversial or still look
Speaker 1: down upon or not accepted. As if you could choose tour,
Speaker 1: like I said, choose not to accept somebody.
Speaker 2: Well, holding it inside also is not an option, you know,
Speaker 2: it's an option, but amental calls it's hurtful. It builds
Speaker 2: a lot of resentment.
Speaker 1: Yeah, is it about that time?
Speaker 2: It is about that time? And let me see it
Speaker 2: is time of Arissy.
Speaker 1: Out of its network spasiness.
Speaker 2: Thank you, all right, everybody, Well I'm not everybody's favorite,
Speaker 2: out of Space News network. Let's find out what's going
Speaker 2: in the stars to what's going on in the stars today,
Speaker 2: all right, let's talk dollars and cents in space. While
Speaker 2: Starlink is becoming a big money maker for SpaceX, the
Speaker 2: company president believes the starship will have a bigger long
Speaker 2: term impact financially. Nicki Minaj, however, believes that starships are
Speaker 2: meant to fly a a aim.
Speaker 1: They're so good.
Speaker 2: It just the news Space news, all right, I read
Speaker 2: what Sorry, definitely not twenty percent, okay. Parata has teamed
Speaker 2: up with Axiom Space to design NASA's twenty twenty six
Speaker 2: spacesuit for the latest attempted mission to space. Is cool.
Speaker 1: I know.
Speaker 2: I thought that was cool too, and you would like it,
Speaker 2: I know. And it's for the missions to the Moon,
Speaker 2: which I think is super cool. Also already in the
Speaker 2: works for the sequel. Because of this incredible new feat
Speaker 2: is everybody's favorite fashion rom com, The Astronaut Wears Prada,
Speaker 2: which is said to include a bit more dramatic scenes,
Speaker 2: including one where Meryl Streep launches Anne Hathaway into deep
Speaker 2: space while she slowly suffocates in a stunning dul cha
Speaker 2: in cabana gown. It's gonna be great. The astronauts products
Speaker 2: gonna love it. It's gonna be awesome. Can't wait all
Speaker 2: these sequels. We're getting inventive. Okay, lastly, in outer space,
Speaker 2: recent extensive studies conducted by NASA have proven US humans
Speaker 2: don't have a real grasp on the scale or size
Speaker 2: of other planets and moons and stars in outer space
Speaker 2: compared to US. For example, Pluto is smaller in diameter
Speaker 2: than the United States.
Speaker 1: Is it really? Is that fake news?
Speaker 2: No, this is one hundred percent real. Look it up
Speaker 2: also one hundred percent reel. That may be true, but
Speaker 2: the US is confirmed to be more full of shit
Speaker 2: than any other known planet or star in the whole universe.
Speaker 1: And this was a great space news.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: We have to start putting out those clips, we really do.
Speaker 1: I don't know why we're not sharing space news on
Speaker 1: social media, but we're starting. I mean it's common an
Speaker 1: it's coming oh right, right right, because it's one hundred
Speaker 1: percent news NewSpace news, right right right. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Okay, Well that was a I loved having this conversation
Speaker 2: with you. Yeah.
Speaker 1: It's not the best topic, no, but it's important.
Speaker 2: Yeah, something something good to talk about.
Speaker 1: Even if it just empowers somebody to say fuck it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what was your what was your theme song?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love it. But before we sign off officially,
Speaker 1: I do want to say this. If you're experiencing cyber
Speaker 1: bullying and need immediate support, text connect to seven four
Speaker 1: one seven four one. We also have the crisis text
Speaker 1: line dot org, Stop Bullying dot gov, Do Something dot org,
Speaker 1: and Stomp out Bullying dot org. These are incredible resources.
Speaker 1: If you are experiencing cyber bullying, tell somebody, Tell a friend,
Speaker 1: tell a parent, tell the teacher, somebody that you trust.
Speaker 1: Don't don't keep it to yourself, don't deal with it alone.
Speaker 1: Who knows. If you're a victim of cyber bullying, there's
Speaker 1: probably another victim that you can help save from that
Speaker 1: by just by just speaking up about it and doing
Speaker 1: what you can to protect yourself from it. And if
Speaker 1: you can't identify who the person is. The load invented Instagram,
Speaker 1: and Instagram invented the block.
Speaker 2: Button, so use it, yes, and remember you are so
Speaker 2: much stronger and more violable and powerful than that person
Speaker 2: hurting you. Don't give them the power over your life
Speaker 2: and any more time than they need. And I know
Speaker 2: it's difficult, but it's worth it and you're worth it.
Speaker 2: So stay safe out there like that. And also, while
Speaker 2: you're blocking your haters, go ahead and follow us in
Speaker 2: our own little pod and say hello to us and
Speaker 2: send over your haters handles and we'll go after that.
Speaker 1: Online vigilant.
Speaker 2: Anyway, I love you, We will see you next time.
Speaker 2: Here your favorite space cadets flying space in our own world.
Speaker 2: Love you right.
Speaker 1: Launch. This podcast is brought to you by Moonflower Productions
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