Queer Voices airs in Houston Texas on 90.1FM KPFT and is heard as a podcast here. Queer Voices hopes to entertain as well as illuminate LGBTQ issues in Houston and beyond. Check out our socials at:
https://www.facebook.com/QueerVoicesKPFT/ and
https://www.instagram.com/queervoices90.1kpft/
Queer Voices airs in Houston Texas on 90.1FM KPFT and is heard as a podcast here. Queer Voices hopes to entertain as well as illuminate LGBTQ issues in Houston and beyond. Check out our socials at:
https://www.facebook.com/QueerVoicesKPFT/ and
https://www.instagram.com/queervoices90.1kpft/
This is Deborah Moncrief-Bell, and over the next few weeks we're going to be talking with all the nominees for the position of Pride Grand Marshal for Pride 365. Brandon Mack is a college admissions professional, educator, activist and entrepreneur. The endorsements of the Houston LGBTQ Political Caucus, where he serves as the head of the Elections Endorsements Committee. Brandon, you know I love you, you're my boo. But let's talk a little bit about being nominated for a Grand Marshal male identifying. So what does being nominated mean to you?
Speaker 2:Well, first, definitely want to send the love right back to you, deborah, and a huge thank you for being on Queer Voices today. This has been an incredible honor to be nominated as male identifying Grand Marshal. To feel seen by my community is incredibly affirming and is just the honor of a lifetime to be in this position, and I'm so thankful to those who nominated me for this incredible honor.
Speaker 1:And I mentioned the political caucus, but you have done a lot of other things in the community. What are some of the other activities that you've done as an LGBTQ activist?
Speaker 2:So I've been an activist in the community for almost 20 years now. My activism has ranged from being a former lead organizer with Black Lives Matter Houston to being on the inaugural Mayor Turner's LGBTQ Plus Advisory Board. I'm now one of the commissioners for the Harris County LGBTQIA Plus Commission. I have been involved in the caucus now for over eight years as the screening chair, so my activism has always been about the intersections of race, gender, sexual orientation and how can we make sure that we're being as representative of all the different intersections of the beautiful LGBTQ plus community.
Speaker 1:And you do a wonderful job of it. No one runs a meeting as well as Brandon does. Now tell me a little bit about your professional life. You worked with college admissions for a long time and you recently launched your own business.
Speaker 2:Yes, so I started as an admission counselor at my alma mater, rice University, and worked my way up to being an associate director of admissions, so I actually got to chair admission committees for all of Rice University's undergraduate schools, and I left the university two years ago and have started my own consulting business called BMAC Strategies, where I work directly with students and families on their college admission process. I also provide equity, inclusion and diversity training and education, and also dialogue and meeting facilitation services. So it's a great way for people who want to work with me in any capacity to learn about my experiences related to higher education college admissions, as well as activism.
Speaker 1:You did some research about effeminate men. Tell me about that. You actually were an award-winning journalist for that.
Speaker 2:Yes, so I worked on a project on ephemophobia, which is the negative perception of effeminate men by other gay men, and that research was used in a GLAAD Media award-winning article related to ephemophobia within the LGBTQ plus community. The reason why I engaged in that project was because of the fact of online profiles are often a way in which men are introduced into the LGBTQ plus community, and how does seeing phrases such as no fats, no fems or other things where we seem to have a negative feeling towards effeminacy, what does that do to us as a community overall, and also what does that do to us as individuals? So engaging in that research was really both from an academic standpoint, but also just to serve the community, to help us come to a better understanding of not only ourselves, but also how do we interact with each other as a community and how can we better understand and interact as a community. It is rooted in misogyny, isn't it? It is absolutely, absolutely rooted in misogyny.
Speaker 1:So you mentioned Black Lives Matter and so you've actually been a grand marshal as part of the group Black Lives Matter. Tell me, what are your other past experiences with Pride.
Speaker 2:Sure. So yes, I was a grand marshal, an honorary grand marshal, as part of Black Lives Matter Houston. I've also volunteered with Pride. I've walked in the parade every year almost for the last 15 years with various different organizations and also with Rice University. To me, pride is extremely important because it is not only a celebration of collectively who we are as an LGBTQ plus community, but it's also a way for us to celebrate individually where we have come from as individuals, and I have been very, very proud of my journey as an openly Black, queer, disabled person living in this body and living in this world and wanting to be both proud, not only for myself, but also to make spaces better for those coming behind me, because we should all feel proud of ourselves.
Speaker 1:We should all feel that we have the right to be and breathe our authentic selves in any space that we're in. For me, one of the things about being Grand Marshal is that it is highlighting the fact that we are a community of volunteers, of activists. We are kind of forced to be because we've been marginalized and discriminated against, so that's kind of how pride came about that we weren't going to act like we had a dirty little secret and that we are indeed proud of who we are as people. The theme this year is you won't break our pride. What does that mean for you.
Speaker 2:Yes, what that means to me is honoring both our past, our present and our pride. What does that mean for you? Yes, what that means to me is honoring both our past, our present and our future. In our past, we come from a very strong history of people who did not let their pride be broken. They were not going to be hidden. They were going to be out loud and proud and unapologetic. In our present, we're still doing that. We're still letting the world know that, regardless of whatever obstacles are there in front of us now, we're still not going to let that break our pride. And for the future, the next group that are coming up behind us we're making sure that they're going to also have their pride, because we're going to make the infrastructure and the world as we know it even more accepting and even more knowing that you're not going to break us. So for me, that's what this theme means is that we're honoring all elements of ourselves, both the past, the present and the future, and nobody nobody is breaking our pride.
Speaker 1:This is Deborah Moncrief-Bell. I'm talking with Brandon Mack, sorry. Brandon is a nominee for Houston Grand Marshal, for Houston Pride 365, male identifying Brandon. What would you say is your number one achievement for the queer community?
Speaker 2:I would say the number one achievement for the queer community, and that's a great question. I would definitely say it would probably be the work that I've been doing with the caucus, because to me that has been amazing work. To hold our elected officials, or, as I like to call them, our elected employees, accountable and letting them know that you're not going to use us for the resources that we're able to provide. You need to actually be attentive to our issues. So helping that process become what it is, to where we are probably the most sought after political endorsement in Houston, but also, as I would say, in the state of Texas, probably has been one of the greatest things that I can do for my community in terms of making sure that our issues are going to be attended to.
Speaker 1:Early voting is starting and the election, the primary election, is on March the 5th. How does the endorsement manifest itself?
Speaker 2:The endorsement manifests itself through literally hundreds of hours of work, from developing the questionnaires to scheduling interviews, individual interviews with every single candidate who seeks our endorsement, asking them tough questions, evaluating them, putting those out there and then going through our endorsement meeting where everyone gets a say about the endorsement If you are a member of the caucus, it literally is. When I look at that card, I am so proud of literally knowing that there are hundreds of hours that go into the work of that card and that we have thoroughly thought about who is going to be the best individuals who represent our community.
Speaker 1:Tell me what you mean when you say the card.
Speaker 2:Sure, what I mean is the Houston LGBTQ Plus Political Caucus Endorsement Card, the one that we distribute to our list endorsement card, the one that we distribute to our list. We also distribute it at polling places and it literally is regarded as the go-to progressive card, because you know that the individuals who are on that card have gone through the rigorous screening and endorsement process and are also indicative of the values of the LGBTQ plus community.
Speaker 1:And that information is also available at thecaucusorg. Brandon, thanks so much for being with us today. Is there anything that I did not ask you about that you would like folks to know?
Speaker 2:That is the reason for why I do any of the work that I do is because I love my community. I want to serve my community and give all of myself to it. I would appreciate your vote and the honor of being a male identifying grand marshal, but I will always and will continue to do this work.
Speaker 1:Thank you, you're listening to Queer Voices.