Outbeat Radio News

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to speak at Travis Air Force Base to their new LGBT Alliance.  Just a few years ago, under “don’t ask, don’t tell,” a group like this never would have existed.  This month, active duty members of the Air Force and members of the LGBT Alliance join us to talk about life in the military being out in this post DADT world.  These men and women are now about to live their lives fully, without secrecy, while serving our country. On this month’s Outbeat Youth segment, members of Positive Images returned to finish what we started last month before being evacuated from the building because of a small fire. Learn More “Matt Shepard Is A Friend Of Mine” screening at Napa Valley College Travis Air Force Base LGBT Alliance Positive Images The post Show Notes – March 23, 2014 appeared first on Outbeat Radio News.

It was ten years ago this month that then San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome declared that California’s marriage law, that limited marriage to opposite sex couples, unconstitutional and ordered the City Clerk to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples.  It began a 9 year battle challenging a California Supreme Court decision and a voter initiative called Proposition 8 that ended up at the U.S. Supreme Court.  This month we talked to Jeff Zarrillo and Paul Katami, two of the real faces behind this case who offered themselves and their relationship to be put on trial before the highest court in the land.  They shared their journey with us and talked about the work they are still doing to fight for equality across the country. This month we scheduled a live interview with members of Positive Images.  Just after getting the interview started, the fire department arrived and order us to evacuate Studio A for a fire elsewhere in the building.  Just before our show ended, firefighters found an overloaded pl

The LGBT civil rights movement in the United States is moving quickly in a positive direction, but the tide of change in other parts of the world, such as Russia, Nigeria, and Uganda is moving just as quickly in the opposite direction.  This month we talked with our Washington DC correspondent, Ryan Olson, an LGBT activist who is doing a lot of work in Africa with HIV prevention.  He talked with us about why the anti-LGBT sentiment in African countries is growing. Religion and religious organizations can have a very powerful impact on LGBT people, both positive and negative.  The Catholic Church has been one of the most active in fighting marriage equality and its leaders have been more than out spoken against LGBT people.  But that may all be changing.  We also talked with Francis DeBernardo, the executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Catholic organization that is supportive of LGBT people.  He talked about The Advocate magazine’s man of the year for 2013, Pope Francis. The music we featured on thi

A new LGBT political group is forming in Napa and Solano County.  Craig Scott, Judith Learner, Andy Pembrook, and David Crumrine joined us to talk about this new civic organization modeled after the Stonewall Democrats.  This group is calling themselves the Bayard Rustin LGBT Political Club.  Craig told us how this group hopes to unite the LGBT communities in both Napa and Solano County by providing a regular meeting space that will provide a platform for activism as well as venue for social events. For this month’s Outbeat Youth segment, we went on location to the Napa Valley College Cooking School to meet Jermel Elliott, a student in this year’s professional culinary program.  Jermel shared his coming out story and told us about his passion for food.  He’s quite a guy! We also talked with one of his instructors, Chef Maggie, who talked about how young people interested in food can best prepare for the program at Napa Valley College.         This year seen some of the mo

This month our good friend Kinna Crocker and her colleague, Tate Birnie joined us to talk about a case they handled here in Sonoma County with two women who got married just a week before the Supreme Court ruled on Prop 8.  They married early, because one of the women was dying.  Kinna and Tate talked about the favorable ruling they got for the surviving spouse.  We also celebrated marriage equality coming to Illinois and Hawaii this month. On the Outbeat Youth segment, we introduce you to Jake Stallman, a bright high school student who survived severe bullying and a death threat.  He’s fighting back and helping others who are suffering from bullying.  Jake was this year’s recipient of the Spirit of Matthew award from the Matthew Shepard Foundation. httpv://youtu.be/DxsVzA_r5Og Learn More Crocker Family Law Birnie Law Center For Lesbian Rights Matthews Place Listen to this edition of Outbeat News In Depth here. The post Show Notes – November 24, 2013 appeared first on Outbeat Radio News.

PFLAG, the Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, is the nation’s oldest LGBT ally organization with over 200,000 members in 350 chapters.  The Napa FPLAG chapter has been revived this year by Rosemarie Vertullo.  Rosemarie joined us this month along with board members Earle Craigie and Casey McConnell-Leon.  They talked about their mission and hopes for bringing together not only parents, but also other allies and LGBT from the community.  Napa FPLAG has monthly meetings on the fourth Tuesday of every month at 7PM that include a special guest speaker and a time to check-in and get support. Rosemarie invited everyone to their holiday social that will take place on Thursday, November 21, from 7:00 to 9:00PM at the RiverPoint Napa Resort. On this month’s Outbeat Youth segment, we talked with our good friend Shane Windmeyer, the executive director of Campus Pride.  We discussed the incident at Old Miss where members of the football team hurled gay slurs at performers of that college’s presen

It was 15 years ago this October that Matthew Shepard was murdered in Laramie, Wyoming in one of the most notorious hate crimes in our nations history.  But who was Matthew Shepard, or as his friends knew him, “Matt Shepard.”  After a decade and a half, a group of Matt’s friends have come together to share their memories of the friend they lost in a new documentary, “Matt Shepard Was A Friend Of Mine.”   This new film shows never-before-seen pictures and video that show the truth about who Matt Shepard was.  Film producers Michele Josue and Liam McNiff are joined by Zeina Barkawi and Jason Marsden, who were all friends with Matt Shepard. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FR8Grb4_qE Kinna Crocker was back with the last of her four-part series on the legal aspects of LGBT relationships and we checked in with Nathan Manske, the creator of imfromdriftwood.com.  Nathan is coming to San Francisco in October and wants to meet you. Learn More Crocker Law Matt Shepard Is A Friend Of Mine M

Over 37,000 same-sex couples are likely to get married here in California over the next three years. This means a great deal of new activity for those involved in the wedding business. A group of local businesses is forming a collaborative specifically to support same-sex couples looking for a planned wedding event. Stephanie Cole and Sarah Drake of Cole Drake Events joined us to talk about their work and this new collaborative. They shared some advice for how to plan the perfect wedding. Family Law attorney Kinna Crocker was also back with part 3 of her 4-part series on the legal aspects of LGBT relationships. Are you planning to get married? Marriage equality is restored in California and we would love to marry you on the air during one of our shows! We would love to provide you with an officiant and ceremony, complete with a champagne toast, to marry you live on the air! Simply click on Submit Story Idea at the top of the page and provide some contact information. We will select one lucky couple. httpv://w

Now that same-sex marriage has been restored in California, what’s next in our fight for LGBT rights?  This month the relatively new executive director of Equality California, John O’Connor, joined us to talk about how he has helped to revitalize this organization and what issues they are now addressing.  John talked about the work they are doing to support the safe school legislation, some of the other legislation they are supporting, such as a bill that will take away tax exempt status for organizations that discriminate against LGBT youth and another that will required training for elderly care-takers.  He also explained how Equality California is supporting LGBT and LGBT friendly candidates running for office. Family law attorney Kinna Crocker returned for the second of her four-part series on the legal aspects of LGBT relationships.  This month she talked about property issues including purchasing or renting a home with a partner. On this month’s Outbeat Youth segment, meet Ted Chalfen,

This is our 2013 Pride edition of Outbeat News In Depth.  We begin by celebrating the 35th anniversary of the rainbow flag with an interview of the flag’s creator, Gilbert Baker, by long-time LGBT activist Cleve Jones.  This interview took place at the GLBT Museum last year.  They talked about why the flag was created and how it has become an international icon for gay pride and our fight for equality. The riots that took place at New York’s Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969 are often referred to as the time and place with gay pride parades began.  It was tough time for LGBT people and one of the first events when our community fought back.  Roz Katz and Carol Russell were living in New York at the time and had their first date that very night in a bar just across the street from the Stonewall Inn where it all happened.  They join us to talk about their memories of that night where it all began.  Carol talks about some advice she was given about always carrying three items of typically female clothin

We began a four-part series this month on the legal aspects of LGBT relationships with local family law attorney Kinna Crocker.  In this first segment, Kinna talks about the current laws related to domestic partnerships, marriage, and prenuptial agreements.  Future segments airing in July, August, and September will cover rental agreements, purchasing a home, adoption, and divorce. 60 years ago last month, President Eisenhower signed an executive order directing that all “sexual perverts” be discovered and removed from government jobs.  Over 5000 gay people lost their jobs, but you aren’t likely to read about this event in many history books.  “The Lavender Scare” is a documentary about this dark time in our history and Emmy-winning producer Josh Howard joined us to talk more about this time and his documentary.  He is producing this film on his own without the backing of a television network or cable channel.  Funding for the project is coming from donations and grants, but more funding is needed to finish t

LGBT youth account for a majority of the runaway and homeless youth living on the street today.  Tragically, some of these young people become victims of human trafficking as prostitutes working for organized groups that travel through Santa Rosa and the greater Bay Area.  This month, Santa Rosa Police Detective Chris Mahurin joined us to talk about this growing crime problem and how he is working with various organizations to protect these vulnerable young people. He told us about his first case involving a young girl who ran away from home here in Santa Rosa and who got connected with a prostitution network that span the entire Bay Area. She was terribly exploited until she was rescued by law enforcement. Detective Mahurin provided some valuable information about how these organized crime rings operate and what to look for if you suspect a young person is becoming involved in this kind of crime. On the Outbeat Youth segment, we talked with Samantha Logan, a transgender woman and activist who is working as a

On the eve of the United States Supreme Court hearings on Proposition 8 and the Federal Defense of Marriage Act, we talked with straight ally and marriage equality activist, Zach Wahls.  Zach earned world-wide attention after his passionate testimony before the Iowa Legislature.  Since that time, he’s become involved in the Boy Scouts discrimination controversy and continues to be an incredible ally for LGBT equality. httpv://youtu.be/FSQQK2Vuf9Q Devon Yaffe is a 17-year-old high school senior from Southern California who produced a documentary for his senior project titled, “Overcoming Adversity As A Gay Teen One Generation At A Time.”  Devon talked about his motivation for the project and what it was like talking to people between 15 and 82 years of age about their coming out stories. httpv://youtu.be/kqJFJfiXq4U Members from Sonoma County’s premier LGBT Youth Organization, Positive Images, were with us to share stories and poetry included in this year’s “Images” pu

The Advocate magazine is the oldest running LGBT print magazine in country.  Editor in Chief, Matthew Breen joined us this month to talk about how the magazine is evolving to keep up with the explosion of LGBT news and the Internet.  He talked about how the publication has diversified its content to provide on-demand and emerging news online while maintaining a bi-monthly print publication that takes a closer look at the people making LGBT news.  The Advocate continues to have great influence both politically and socially.  Matt explained how The Advocate’s new mobile app works and how listeners can stay connected to the LGBT community.  The Advocate is one of our major sources of news for our weekly Outbeat News segments. With Valentines Day this month, we explored the world of online dating with one of the original dating sites, gay.com.  Brett Edward Stout was on to talk about how gay.com recently reinvented itself.  It is now an online community offering users the chance to search for everything fro

This is our Outbeat News In Depth premier!  We began by introducing our Washington DC correspondent, Ryan Olson, who reported on last Sunday’s historic inauguration and speech by President Barack Obama.  We started with another segment from our Campus Pride National Voice In Action Spotlight series featuring JeShawna Wholley, programs and outreach associate with the National Black Justice Coalition, talked with us about the upcoming Black History Month (listen to her unedited interview below).  We also talked with Derek Nance, a former Boy Scout Camp Program Director, who last week “came out” in a YouTube video with an important message about acceptance. On the Outbeat Youth segment, members of the Maria Carrillo High School Gay-Straight Alliance join us with their faculty adviser to talk about all they are doing at their school to make it a safe place for all students. It was a packed show, but a sample of our news magazine style format that we hope will give you a more in depth look at the

This week on Outbeat Extra we take a look back at the people, events, and music that made LGBT news headlines in 2012. The Huffington Post said that it was, “the best of times and the worst of times” for the LGBT community. Celebrities and professional athletes “came out” with … Continue reading →

This is a special one-hour long Outbeat Youth segment and the last Outbeat Now! program. We welcomed back Marsha Aizumi and her transgender son Aiden who talked about Marsha’s new book “Two Spirits, One Heart.” This book tells the story of Marsha’s unconditional love for her son as he first came out as a lesbian and then transitioned to the man he is today. We also welcomed back Connor Norton who was honored this last fall by the Matthew Shepard Foundation for his activism work in his home town of Virginia Beach and at his college, Old Dominion University. He is an amazing young man who is making a real difference in his community. Learn More Two Spirits, One Heart Matthew Shepard Foundation Listen to this edition of Outbeat Youth here The post Show Notes – December 23, 2012 appeared first on Outbeat Radio News.

Our guest this month was Jason Phillips, a singer and songwriter as well as a student from the University of California at Davis. Jason talked about how he discovered his love for music and the stage. He performed two songs live for us during the show. Jason, originally from the Bay Area, is currently studying psychology at U.C. Davis. Since he was a toddler, the world has been his stage as he took every opportunity to perform for anyone that would watch. Whether it was a thanksgiving dinner or a talent show, Jason was always singing or dancing and having a good time. Since then, he’s performed musical theater and song all over the Bay Area in productions ranging from community theater to professional performances. One of his biggest passions is recording music. Jason has a home recording studio where he produces songs for his YouTube channel. Jason currently sings at a piano bar in Sacramento every week. After college, Jason plans on living in NY to pursue a career in performance. Jason is a wonderfull