Queer Voices
Queer Voices
4/10/24 Queer Voices - Walt Zipprian, Roxanne Collins and Chris Berry
When love and human interaction get tangled in extremities, the heart yearns for a voice that dares to explore these infinite complexities. That's why we called upon Walt Zipprian, Houston's alternative theater virtuoso, to unravel the threads of Sarah Kane's "Cleansed" in its regional premiere. Alongside this deep dive into the transformative power of performance, we celebrate the sheer resilience of Houston's queer community, personified by icons like Roxanne Collins, whose journey from drag legend to a Tina Turner tribute artist encapsulates the spirit of authenticity.
The stage isn't just a platform; it's a mirror reflecting the most profound parts of our identities. This episode peels back the curtain on the self-discovery that can happen under the spotlight, as seen through Roxanne's evolution and the poignant tales from Houston's vibrant 1990s drag scene. We also step into the advocacy arena with Chris Berry, who, in the face of discrimination, remains a bastion of community-building and inclusivity in his work with the Human Rights Campaign. It's a reminder that our voices, when woven together, can create a tapestry of support and solidarity.
Wrapping up, you'll get a taste of the global stage of LGBTQIA+ rights and how local actions in Houston resonate with broader conversations, from landmark court decisions to the ongoing support for transgender student-athletes. We spotlight the collaborative efforts of our community and the allies who contribute to the rich tapestry of Queer Voices. With gratitude and humor, we extend an invitation to join in on this exploration of diversity, tenacity, and the endless pursuit of our collective rights and joys.
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/
Hello everybody, this is Queer Voices, a home-produced podcast that has grown out of a radio show that's been on the air in Houston, texas, for several decades. This week, brett Cullum talks with Walt Ziprian, who is an actor and pioneer of alternative theater in Houston.
Walt Zipprian:That's really what it's about, for me is just creating the work, whether anybody sees it or not. We did it. It would have been nice to have presented in front of an audience and the opportunity came up and they decided yeah, we are gonna put this back up next year. I was, of course, 100% invested in it and wanted to do it.
Glenn Holt:Brett also talks with Roxanne Collins, a drag legend of Houston who has recently dedicated her career to doing Tina Turner tributes, and Deborah Moncrief-Bell has an interview with Chris Berry about the Houston Gala of the Human Rights Campaign.
Chris Barry:When I was in New York I was very involved with PFLAG because I also have trans children, and when I came to Houston I was looking for another avenue that I could expand upon my experience and my knowledge and since I had friends who worked for HRC, I inquired and met many wonderful people here on the steering committee.
Glenn Holt:Queer Voices starts now.
Brett Cullum:I am Brett Cullum. Right now I am joined by Walt Ziprian. He is an actor, he's a writer. He's made short films like Walt and Tony Go to Bars, in which he starred with Anthony Berea. Walt started acting, from what I can tell, with Infernal Bridegroom Productions. He has been working with Catastrophic Theater as that company progressed towards that name. He is going to be in a new play by Sarah Kane, or at least new to us, a regional premiere of Cleansed. He's the star of it. What are you playing in Cleansed?
Walt Zipprian:Well, actually it's an ensemble piece, so there's not really a star, I wouldn't say.
Brett Cullum:I play a character named tinker tell us a little bit about cleanse, because I know sarah kane is somebody that you have some history with. You've done a couple of plays by her. I think that you were in fader's love, yes I was in fader's love.
Walt Zipprian:in fact that was my first play with jason noddler and tamry cooper an infernal bridegroom at the axiom in 2000, I think. Yeah, so I did. Fade Was Love and now I'm in Clans. I ran into Jason at a party and he asked me if I wanted to audition for it. I have only done the Tamri shows for years. That was the only thing I did. I didn't think that I would get a part in Clans, I just assumed that part would go to someone else. I went ahead and auditioned. I agreed to audition with Jason and read the script. I really wanted to do the show. What drew me to the show was what draws me to the work that Catastrophic does in general. They do work that nobody else does, work that's largely unexplored in our region or our country or whatever. And that's the kind of stuff that I'm drawn to. And Sarah Kane's got a very unique view of love and human relationships. Kind of share some of those ideas.
Brett Cullum:I guess I really do like her writing, but in my mind you're a comic actor. I mean, I'm used to you doing drag parts in the Tamariz annual shows. I've seen you as German choreographer Pina Bausch. I've seen you as Goop Mogul and actress Gwyneth Paltrow. I've seen you as Republican Barbie Ann Coulter. Do you have this dramatic side? I mean, is this something that, Because you're usually just a funny guy- I do.
Walt Zipprian:I funny guy, I do. I mean, I was in the first catastrophic show, which was a pretty serious role, where I played a traumatized war veteran who abuses his family. I did a lot of that because I've been acting since 1989. My first professional show was in 89. It was a gay pride show. I'm funny, I like funny and I've done a lot of comic roles. But I've also done you know, I've done a few serious roles. But a few years ago I quit acting for a few years and then when I came back just been doing. I don't like to audition, it just makes me nervous. I don't like it. The only person that was off for a Manny Parsons was Tamri.
Brett Cullum:This isn't your first go-round with Cleansed either. The cast actually was in rehearsals for this production about a year ago and then an actor passed away, zachariah Mustafa. You guys made the hard decision of the show's not going to't know if we were going to be able to do that. After a while, you know, we came to realize that no we do need to present this to the city.
Walt Zipprian:We do need to present this for ourselves. We were all heavily invested in it. It's a very emotional play. It's very hard to do. You reach into yourself and you find things that you maybe didn't know existed and you pull them out and once they're out, they're out. We need to express that.
Walt Zipprian:You know, I was at first of the idea that whatever happens happens, because whether we put this on in front of an audience or not, this is a work that we have created, and that's really what it's about, for me is just creating the work. Whether anybody sees it or not, we did it. It's about, for me, is just creating the work. Whether anybody sees it or not. We did it. It would have been nice to present it in front of an audience and the opportunity came up and they decided, yeah, we are gonna put this back up next year.
Walt Zipprian:I was, of course, 100 invested in it and wanted to do it, but it would have been, you know, either way would have been fine, because what we did last year was what we did last year and it was something. So we did create a work of art. Nobody saw it except us and a few other people, but we did create some. So for me personally, that's that's enough, but I'm I am glad to have another chance to do it. You know, it's a different play now, because we've all suffered this experience together and had a year for it to ferment within us, and we're different people now and we see things from a different perspective and we feel things from a different perspective and we see this work from a different perspective.
Walt Zipprian:So it was interesting to go back see scenes and go wait a minute. I don't think that I was right last year. I think this is right this year, you know, because this is a new year and this year this is right, but to do this, this and it's the same part, you know. That's, that's interesting. Have you done like the same part and different productions?
Brett Cullum:I've done the same part three times over in the same production, different years, and it was weird because I walked in knowing everything what you've gone through with this play and coming back to it. It was such an intense experience oh my god, yeah, yeah.
Walt Zipprian:And now you know, we didn't even get to the point where we put it on a stage because the set wasn't finished last year. Now it's, it's going to open up, we're on the stage. It's a trip. You know, the some theater is meant specifically and only to entertain, and some theater is meant to really make you think. And this is the thinking theater. You know it's not there to entertain you, it's there to make you think about something.
Brett Cullum:We're talking with Walt Ziprian of the Catastrophic Theater. He's going to be appearing in Cleansed, which is their play. Remind me of the dates again, you guys open April 5th.
Walt Zipprian:April 5th. I think we go to the 27th. Oh good, I got those numbers right.
Brett Cullum:Good for you. You know how long you're going to be there. I knew it was four weekends. And you guys are playing at the Match Theater, which has kind of become the de facto home of Catastrophic Lately which is obviously the Midtown Arts Theater Center, which is a great facility.
Walt Zipprian:I really theater center, which is a great facility. I really enjoy going there because it's clean, it's nice running.
Brett Cullum:You know running water all the things that most theaters do not have axiom before okay, I'm gonna get into some personal questions for you, and my most personal Syrian question is how tall are you?
Walt Zipprian:I am six foot seven.
Brett Cullum:How long have you lived in Montrose? I get a sense that you've been here a long time.
Walt Zipprian:I moved to Montrose in 1986. What is?
Walt Zipprian:different about it back then versus now well, okay, aside from the fact that all the cool buildings have been torn down, the worst thing that happened to montrose is mary's clothes. Here's the thing about montrose back in the old days we had the art festival there and all that stuff. All these people from the suburbs were like this is such a cool place, we should move here. And then they all moved here and went oh my god, I hate it like this. It's got to change. It's just not the gayborhood anymore. You know it's not. It's just a bunch of townhomes and a bunch of. I don't want to be derogatory about any demographic of people, but there are children in the streets out there now. I do not approve.
Brett Cullum:What do you think is different about being a gay man back then versus now?
Walt Zipprian:Well, first off, we had AIDS and everybody was dying. That was not fun. We don't have that now.
This Way Out:That's good.
Walt Zipprian:I'm glad for that because it's good to not get sick from sex. But I'm old, you know. I am right there with you. I don't think you're worried about that. Yeah, I'm not, you know. But I mean, everything's different as far as being a gay man then and being a gay man now. Back then I was a young gay man, now I'm an old gay man. That's the big, that's the biggest difference. I mean, age is a manageable condition now you don't necessarily have to die from it, so that's that's better. But you know, I guess back before, back in my day, as they say, we were a stigmatized group of society that kind of brought us all together. There was more of a brotherhood. But maybe there still is, and I just don't see it because I don't go out. There wasn't the digital stuff. You had to drive around to find out where your friends were, drive around bars to see whose car was parked in what parking lot. I enjoyed the old days, but the old days are gone.
Brett Cullum:One thing I wanted to ask you, walt Ziprian, is I saw a production that you did on a bus where you went through Montrose and it was a musical and it was on the top of a bus and we drove through Montrose and you pointed out all your favorite spots and saying about your experiences and things like that Is that ever coming back? No, no.
Walt Zipprian:No Art is ephemeral. Let me tell you why. Because it's very of the moment and when we did that, it was something that hadn't you know. Blah, blah, whatever. It was like flash lightning in a bottle bottle, whatever. Everybody that was there was meant to be there. Everybody enjoyed it. Somebody bought it, somebody. I called me and they were doing a charity auction for some planned parenthood thing or something like some abortion rights group, and I'm like that. They said will you offer this as an auction item? And I said, absolutely knowing for sure that nobody would do it. Well, somebody, somebody bought it, somebody bought me. I did it the original time that I did it and I'm not doing it again.
Walt Zipprian:Well, I enjoyed it Well thank you, I was your fan. Did your husband enjoy it? I think so. Yeah, all right, that makes me feel good.
Brett Cullum:I've enjoyed seeing everything that you do, whether it's catastrophic or just out and about.
Brett Cullum:There's something about Walt Zippering that is, performance art in motion at all times. I appreciate that. I try. And of course we're talking about cleansed. We went down a little bit of a rabbit hole here, but cleansed obviously the match opening up april 5th going through april 27th. It's a sarah kane play. It's hard to describe is what I'm getting, because I, we have not described it very well. It's a Sarah Kane play. It's hard to describe is what I'm getting, because I, we have not described it very well.
Walt Zipprian:It's about a group of people in a place that have a very strange way of finding love. That involves extreme measures, it's not for the weak and there's really no way to describe it, and I don't want to set up scenes and talk about what we're doing. I don't want to give anything away. Just if you're familiar with Sarah Kane, you're going to really like this play. If you're a fan of Bjork because apparently Bjork uses Sarah Kane lines from plays and some of her lyrics. I did not know that, but somebody I met a few weeks ago was familiar with Sarah Kane because of Bjork. I don't even want to say it's violent. There are violent acts in it, but in the end I think that everybody gets what they want A happy ending. Maybe not everybody. See, I don't know what I should say.
Walt Zipprian:Well you've certainly piqued my curiosity and I will be there. Of course, I wear a black trench coat and a white shirt with suspenders. All right there you are. There are non-binary people in it. There's kind of maybe, a thought that Sarah Kane was nodding to gender non-conformity in this show. There's stuff about that, and so we used a lot of non-binary cast members to fill some of those roles. It's a very inclusive cast. It's really very reflective of the queer community.
Brett Cullum:I think that's important. When I was asking you about what's different yesterday and then today, I think that's where we are. I think these actors are the future. I think that the non-binary actors and performers certainly taking center stage is something that I look forward to seeing. You guys are right there.
Walt Zipprian:Yeah, that's definitely taking place here. So I mean, as far as, yeah, this is very queer-centric, very community-oriented. It's hard to give my perspective on the play, because I'm in it. You know I can't see it. I'm in it and I've been working on it for over a year, so I'm very attached to it. So I I've been working on it for over a year, so I'm very attached to it, so I can't really give an objective view of it. Is it beautiful or is it horrible? I don't know. But you know, some things are both at the same time and I think this is one of those things. It's beautiful and horrible at the same time. Kind of like you dressed up as Pina Bausch. Oh my God, wasn't that beautiful and horrible? I mean, I didn't even have a barefoot with the size 16 feet.
Brett Cullum:Well, paul Ziprian, thank you so much for being on Queer Voices. I could not think of a voice that I would want on Queer Voices more than you, so I appreciate you taking the time. I appreciate you.
Glenn Holt:This is Glenn from Queer Voices. You're listening to KPFT. That means you're already participating just by listening, but how about doing more? Kpft is totally listener-funded, which means it's people like you who are making donations who support this community resource. Kpft has no corporate or government strings-attached funding, which means we're free to program responsibly but without outside influence. Will you participate in KPFT financially? This station needs everyone who listens to chip in a few dollars to keep the station going, because that's the way it works. Even if you're listening over the internet on another continent, you can still contribute. Please become an active member of the listener community by making a tax-deductible contribution. Please take a minute to visit kpftorg and click on the red Donate Now button. Thank you.
Brett Cullum:I'm Brett Cullum. The Hobby Center had a sold-out run of the Tina Turner musical, but here in Houston we have Tina all year long, thanks to local icon Roxanne Collins. She regularly pays tribute to Tina Turner in her shows that showed and has become the nation's premier Tina Turner impersonator. Welcome to Queer Voices, roxanne.
Roxanne Collins:Thank you for having me Good afternoon.
Brett Cullum:You know Roxanne Collins. You are a legend, you're an icon of the Houston drag scene and I have been a fan of yours ever since you were entertaining at EJ's off of Westheimer and I wanted to know how did you get into this type of performance? Where did you enter this world?
Roxanne Collins:I came to Houston in like 1990 and found the Montrose, the Westheimer area through friends and we had gone to a I don't know a street festival or a gay pride parade, I don't know what it was, but I saw this entertainer there and she was doing a show and I was just really enthralled Like oh, wow, okay. And then, like a couple of weeks later, we were at Cousins I don't know if you remember Cousins and they used to have, before there was phones, they would have flyers that they actually put on the wall. And we were sitting there in the afternoon having a couple of drinks and there was this flyer that said they were starting a talent night. And so my friend was explaining to me what talent night was, because, coming from Whistleville, georgia, I had never heard of anything like that. And so I said, oh, you can make money Very Marilyn from Gentleman Preferred Blondes. Oh, is that like money? So I said yeah, oh, is that like money? So I said yeah. He said yeah, and so I started doing it.
Roxanne Collins:I just fell in love with the stage immediately. I just it was an, it was an immediate thing. But my, I wasn't doing tina the first time I did, I did madonna. It was early, it was 1990, so everybody was in love with madonna. So so I did a madonna number and then if you won you got to go and be in the finals. So you have to sit out eight weeks and come back and compete against everybody for the big prize. And for that I did Tina Turner. And the reaction was entirely Because by then I had been going to EJs and to the outposts and any place that had a talent night by then for those eight weeks.
Roxanne Collins:And by the time we got to the Cousins finale and I did Tina, it was just something. The audience was entirely different. The energy that came through the stage was entirely different. I felt entirely different. Although I was impersonating her. Ironically, I felt more like myself than I had ever felt doing the Madonna or the Whitney or whatever I was doing. It was just something about it. And then, after the show Diane Michaels I don't know if you remember Diane Michaels and Black Velvet both they came up to me and they're like this is what you should be doing. And I said what? Because I had also done Bohemian Rhapsody for my second number. I said what? Like drag? They're like no, no, no, you are Tina, you should do Tina. Nobody's done Tina like this since Hot Chocolate, and she moved away a long time ago. You need to do this, and so I'm like, oh, so that was kind of the birth of me really delving into doing it and making it a staple in my act.
Brett Cullum:Let me ask you a little bit about growing up and when you first realized that you are a trans woman.
Roxanne Collins:I was extremely young and I was out in the country. I was from Whistleville, georgia, and there weren't to my knowledge there weren't any trans people around and I don't even know if we had any. I'm sure there were gay people in town, but we didn't live in town, we lived out in a rural area in the country and rural area people kind of stick to themselves. People I grew up with, it just wasn't a thing. But I always knew I was different with and it just wasn't a thing, but I always knew I was different. They would always ask me. You know, friends and other people would ask me if I was gay and I would always say no and I wasn't lying because I never felt like I was gay. I never did. I just knew I'm like no, I'm not gay. I couldn't put a finger on it of what I was, but I knew what I wasn't and so people always like, okay, I guess you'll be coming out of the closet one day. And I never felt like I was lying. I just knew that I wasn't gay and again, it wasn't until I was in my twenties and I got to Houston and saw my first trans woman. I'm like that's me. It was very bad. But I always knew growing up and it wasn't that I was overly effeminate or anything, I was pretty much the same way I am now. I was that way then. It was just. It really was a case of right person, right spirit, wrong body for me, because I still have the same friend from second grade. I still have the same best friends from high school. My life is still the same way.
Roxanne Collins:Why are you transitioning? It looks exactly the same. All the same people, all the same family. Nothing, literally nothing, has changed. The only thing that's changed is what I put on the outside. They will be the first ones to tell you Now that makes sense, being female, presenting. Now it's like, oh, okay, now your mannerisms do make sense, because they weren't gay mannerisms, they were just because people would always say you act like a woman. They wouldn't say that I acted gay or sissy, they would always say you act like a woman and so it just that's how it came to be. It's like, yeah, this is who I am, and so. And then Stevie Ross I don't know if you remember her from back in the day.
Roxanne Collins:She was the first trans woman I saw and I was like, oh okay, and then it's even then it took another four or five years before I could admit it to myself still, Because I don't know why there was such a stigma attached to it. You know people can't mind you being gay, but trans being a woman, what are you talking about? That was still kind of foreign in the 90s.
Brett Cullum:Well speaking of finding yourself and really establishing and being who you are. You are one of the best performers that I've seen of Tina, and she is a fierce stage performer. I mean, I've seen her live. I would be intimidated if somebody told me you know, you've got to go on as Tina Turner. How did you get the courage to say, yeah, I'm going to just do Tina.
Roxanne Collins:First of all because I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know to be intimidated, but I didn't know what drag was. I just I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know to be intimidated because I didn't know what drag was. I didn't know it was a whole industry. I didn't know there was other ones in other cities. I just thought it was something they were doing here at this place. I couldn't name you one drag queen. At the time, when I started, I didn't know anything. I showed up to the talent night with all the stuff in a Kroger bag. I knew nothing about this industry, so I didn't know to be intimidated. I just knew I could go make some money.
Roxanne Collins:It wasn't until later that I'm like okay, but once I was doing it, I was doing it, so there was no time to second guess it. When I was backstage at the Wildest Dreams concert to go meet her and she literally walked right past me, my mouth literally hit the floor. I'm like people think I look like that. Are they blind? What are they seeing that I'm not seeing Because she was like at that point she was 57 years old and I'm like she was the most incredibly beautiful woman I had seen up close. I've known some beautiful women and so it was just like and you can feel her presence into the room from the back of the every hair on my body stood up. I'm like wow. I kind of like, okay, I've been doing this all wrong. I need to pay much more respect and care to what I'm doing than just me getting up there and doing it. And that was the turn of me really putting the effort and time and care and passion into it that it deserved. It was actually meeting her that changed that for me.
Brett Cullum:Is there something physically that you go to and that makes you go? This is it.
Roxanne Collins:It just comes a spirit that just comes over. You Feel that connection and that click with the audience. It's like I'm no longer there, I am no longer present. I'm one with the music and with the people. To me, that's how I know. If I don't feel that connection, when the number is over I feel like, okay, that was a bad performance. That's when I know I've done it right, I've done it justice, if I feel that connection can't get caught up and if the shoes are right, if the wig is right, if the makeup is right, I have to have that connection. Tina isn't a look, she's a. And so they have to walk away with that feeling. And I love when people come up to me after the show and they're like oh, you took me back. I remember I went to go see her and you took me back to that time. I just had that feeling all over again. And that's really the mission statement for what I want to do with that character.
Brett Cullum:Do you think that people respond to you differently when they're younger as opposed to when they're older? Because I know a lot of the younger people, I was surprised. I've never really seen tina I'm learning to navigate that.
Roxanne Collins:It had become very frustrating because the younger kids are like do what's love got to do with it? Do proud, and they just call out the hits and I'm like, okay, these are not tina fans, these are fans of those songs and those. Those are two different types of Tina fans. And I was so glad when Kygo redid that what's Love mix and I do that often and the kids really love it. It's like they've discovered her for the first time and as soon as that beat comes on from the Kygo remix, oh, they go crazy. So I usually start a set with that and then go into something classic that they're like oh, I like this too. That's why I love barcode, because all of our people are 35 and older and they love the deep cuts of the music that you can do that you can't do at, say, any of the other places in town.
Brett Cullum:I wanted to ask you about managing her library, because her music library is huge and it spans decades. Is there a certain era that you kind of gravitate towards? Do you avoid doing certain eras or the ones that kind of fit you better?
Roxanne Collins:I grab it. It just it changes. There is an. I don't do anything from the Ike and Tina days. I like the comeback. Tina is the one that I identify with. The Tina that was the Phoenix that struck out on her own and had so much against her but was able to overcome it. So I connect with that side of her. But I go back as far back as like 83, 83 on through the 2000s. The age I am right now is the age she was when I met her, so that's very exciting. So you'll probably see a lot of wildest dreams this year.
Roxanne Collins:For me, in the last few years there have been so drag has become so saturated. There's like over 200 drag queens in every city. In order to be in demand, in order to consistently working, you have to be different, you have to have a niche, you have to have your own lane. As I had started to gravitate more and more towards my illusion work, maybe six years ago, I just started kind of put the signal light on to merge into that lane exclusively. In the last three years I merged into just if I'm not doing Tina, I'm probably doing Chopper Khan. Those are my characters. There's not too many people driving in that lane in any city Nobody's doing Tina Other than me.
Roxanne Collins:Hot Chopper, t Along, doree Saunders, blaine Monroe those are the main Tinas and even of those I'm probably one of maybe two that does her exclusively. Hot Chocolate, does other things in Vegas, but she still affects the Tina. Look, I concentrate on concert Tina, whereas they do more music video Tina being an emcee and being a hostess and working as many days a week as I do. You kind of have to have a variety, because you never knew what the audience was going to be. You never knew what it was going to do, so you always had to have songs. I have a very extensive music library up here in my head. I have a very extensive music library up here in my head. The only way to stand out is literally to be different, to do Tina. Not just do Tina, but do Tina to the extreme, best ability that I can do her. Pay attention to the details.
Brett Cullum:We're talking with Roxanne Collins. She is Houston's premier Tina Turner impersonator. I've always wondered, Roxanne Collins, where do you get these costumes? Your private dancer dress that you revealed is completely spot on. I love your outfit for Tina from the Mad Max movie. It's amazing. You do a really good job with the costuming as well. So do you make those or do you have a job now?
Roxanne Collins:I don't make them. I have a wig maker that I made all of my wigs. He put them together and I cut and styled them myself and he's out of New Mexico Singer Wigs, juan Nunez. And then I go to different costumers people that dress makers and costume makers and I work with them very closely. Do you think the Beehive is something the Tina fans are really something? They will tell you oh, that shade of lipstick is wrong. Where's your thumb ring? Where this is arriving? They pageant you every detail. I work with different local designers here in town. What do you?
Brett Cullum:think In general Tina Turner's story says to the LGBTQIA plus community is there a message from Tina that you think is for us?
Roxanne Collins:Her message, like I said, is a message that resonates with me and no matter what you go through, you just have to keep going and you just have to know that on the other side is the life that you have dreamt for yourself. If you keep going and keep pushing and do not let age, color or anything determine what you're going to do in this life. Don't let people tell you that because you're a part of the LGBT, that you can't be X, Y or Z. You can literally do anything that you want to do, and that's the bottom line of who she was and what she did. You set your own limits. It's like if you think you can do it, then go do it. She had to leave the you know vegas and the hotel than the bob mackie gown and decide she was going to be a rock and roll singer. She wasn't. It didn't want to do the ballroom stuff anymore, she was rock and roll.
Brett Cullum:she always wanted to be rock and roll well, roxanne collins, your love of tina turner is so infectious. I'm probably going to run off of here and go to youtube and watch the Nice and Rough show.
Roxanne Collins:I'm telling you I want you to watch it. It's been a minute since I've seen it. Go watch Nice and Rough. You're going to fall in love with her all over again, I promise you.
Brett Cullum:Yes, but before I do that, where can we find you every week and how do we know where Roxanne Collins is going to be you?
Roxanne Collins:can catch me on Roxanne Collins on Facebook, the post where I'm going to be for the month, usually at the beginning of the month. I'm at Rich's every Friday at eight o'clock and I'm at Marcode every Friday and Saturday at 1030 for the Stars and Legends show.
Brett Cullum:Well, thank you, Roxanne Collins.
Roxanne Collins:You've been a joy to talk about queer voices. I could talk about things for hours.
Brett Cullum:I could too. That's the bad part, well thank you.
Glenn Holt:This is Queer Voices. Well, thank you.
Deborah Moncrief Bell:This is queer voices the human rights campaign hosts galas all across the country to raise funds for their programs. There's one coming up in houston on april 6th at the mario marquee, and I'm talking with Chris Berry, who's one of the co-chairs of the Houston Gala. Chris, who is it that's your other co-chair, ray O'Connor.
Chris Barry:He's been with HRC for many years and is one of our prominent leaders here in Houston.
Deborah Moncrief Bell:What is HRC exactly?
Chris Barry:HRC is the largest and most effective mainstream advocacy organization for the LGBTQIA plus community in the country.
Deborah Moncrief Bell:And how did you get involved with it?
Chris Barry:For me. When I was in New York, I was very involved with PFLAG because I also have trans children, and when I came to Houston I was looking for another avenue that I could expand upon my experience and my knowledge. And since I had friends who worked for HRC, I inquired and met many wonderful people here on the steering committee and through talking with them I realized this was the place I was meant to be.
Deborah Moncrief Bell:And before you knew it, you were on the board yourself.
Chris Barry:Yes, I came on the board as the DEI liaison with staff in Washington, with staff in Washington and I have a history of trying to unlearn as much as I possibly can, so I thought that that would be a good fit with this steering committee and within the after a year I was asked to be a co chair for the dinners, and I also am very much involved with community engagement. Trying to find the proper way to say this the community engagement for me is really the most important aspect, because there are what I've found so many organizations within Houston itself, and to just bring us all together and to work together and to support each other to me is really the most important thing and that's what I find I get a lot of joy from is the meeting of all the rest of the community within Houston.
Deborah Moncrief Bell:You used a term that I found very interesting. You said you're trying to unlearn as much as possible. Explain further what you mean by that.
Chris Barry:One thing I realized after my first child came out to my wife and I as trans, is that many of the things that we are taught and absorb as we're growing in this country and more likely the whole world but I can speak for this country we are taught to behave, think and act in certain ways. So I realized that I was always an outsider. Because I am a part of the LGBTQIA community. I am asexual I specifically will identify as graysexual and on top of that I am also autistic. So I've always felt as if I was an outsider and I needed to adhere and I needed to learn. A person like myself, autistic it is very difficult to ingrain yourself into community because you have to think like the neurotypical people in the majority and then process as the neurodivergent person I am and going through all those steps. It's exhausting and the LGBTQIA plus community has that. The BIPOC can be has that, Everybody has that.
Chris Barry:The marginalized community has those feelings and thoughts and when you, as a parent, hear your child come out with those struggles, my first thought was why is it so hard for a child to come out and why is it so hard for so many parents or other people to hear those words.
Chris Barry:So, for me, I went on a journey, and that journey led me to undoing racism workshops led by an organization that's based out of New Orleans and dealing with local community chapters of organizations that would deal with sexism, as well as homophobia and transphobia, and just realizing that when a child is in the mother's womb, we are already placing that child into a box. We are trying to figure out what gender they are, we are trying to tell them that they're going to be a Yankee fan or an Astros fan, we are placing them on all of these boxes before they're even born. And when you start realizing, you start realizing the box that you are in and how you yourself may be placing other people into boxes. For me, unlearning is the most important thing to do to ensure that not only are you trying to break free from boxes people place you in, but also that you don't inflict that same pain onto somebody.
Deborah Moncrief Bell:When I read in Osmart the article about the hrc dinner, I read the term gray sexual and I wasn't sure what that meant. I was. I was going to joke with you and say what you like people with silver hair especially you but but you but you mean it in in the sense of you're in a gray area no, no, no, that's not.
Chris Barry:That's not true. Um, basically, asexual people are on a spectrum. They're um, race sexual is kind of in the middle. Um, asexual is on one end of it, allosexual is on the other end, and, just like autism, each one of us is different. We're all unique, and isn't that true of our entire community?
Deborah Moncrief Bell:The theme for this dinner is we belong, and it seems like what you're talking about is exactly that about finding community, feeling like you belong in community, creating community. What are some of the other things that fall along that theme?
Chris Barry:For me personally, I would go and venture to say that we belong is the heart of what we are hoping to achieve, because right now, especially right now, there is a very strong thread throughout our community that we don't belong in certain areas and in any place that most people in, especially this state.
Chris Barry:They don't want to see us there, they don't want to know about us, they would rather erase our community, especially the trans community. At this point we need to speak up, we need to gather, we need to build our own community and I think anybody who really dives into, like I said before, the unlearning aspect of anything will realize that you can be trans and still be transphobic, you can be homosexual and still be homophobic, and why that is is really important to break that down. So community building is essential and the reason for these dinners is to raise funds to fight against legislation that tries to silence us and erase us. So if we're going to win and fight these battles, we have to connect, we have to come together and we have to realize that we belong in every space and every building and every street that is available to us.
Deborah Moncrief Bell:These dinners are an opportunity to be in community and also to raise funds for projects that the Human Rights Campaign does. What are some of the ways that it uses the funds, especially locally?
Chris Barry:These funds are raised to help fight against discrimination in our community, whether it's throughout the entire country or whether it's throughout our state or whether it's locally. I can say we raise funds and a perfect example is last year for the dinner we honored Cameron Samuels. Now most people in Houston are very familiar with who Cameron is, and if you're not, cameron is a force of nature. They are amazing. When they were a student in high school, they spoke out against all the book bans. They spoke out against the legislation and they won certain rights. They were able to get their school access to the Trevor Project on their computers, where the school board had stripped the school district of having those sites available to students. And after they graduated they went away to school in Massachusetts and they were able to hook up with legislators here in Texas and create bills to fight against the discriminatory actions of certain people in power.
Chris Barry:And what we did was, you know, lift up Cameron as much as could and we offered and bought and donated a huge amount of books that were banned and gave them to Cameron and his group so that they could distribute them to other students. So that's one thing I was particularly involved with over the last year. This year coming up, we are honoring the students of Rice University. Because of the laws that were passed in the state, they have closed down the DEI centers and the community centers for LGBTQ students within state-run schools. So Rice University opened up their queer-centered doors and said anybody, any student that wishes to come here, has the right to come here, and we recognize that as a huge lift, a very great thing to do, and now we're trying to do what we did for Cameron to help the students of Rice University and raise them up and honor them, say this is community, this is how we belong and this is how we show our strength how we belong and this is how we show our strength.
Deborah Moncrief Bell:This year, I believe alexandria billings was the special celebrity. Was it host or speaker? Keynote speaker. She spoke and got uh an award to you two yes, this year you have someone who many people may know, because, if you were a Gleeker, like I, was a fan of the television show Glee. One of the actors, kevin McHale, who is a Texas native and is best known for his role as Arnie Abrams on that program, he will be at this year's dinner that that is correct and we are so looking forward to honoring them as well.
Chris Barry:It's they, if I'm correct, came out a few years ago and they are a Texas native, and to be able to bring them here and honor them is something I'm very much looking forward to. I was never I'm going to be honest, I was never a Khalid fan. I didn't watch that show. But I feel like I need to. I need to go back and revisit why I never watched that show.
Deborah Moncrief Bell:It was so fun in so many ways and amazing talent, A lot of folks with amazing talent. I really enjoyed it. Cultural phenomena yeah, I think it stems in part, well, because they did have queer characters. They dealt with some of the issues like coming out and acceptance and the communities we form in our chosen families.
Chris Barry:If I'm not mistaken. I don't want to speak for them, but I believe that after the murders of many people in our community in Orlando, kevin was one of the people who spoke out and told stories about who they knew or who was killed there, and that is again helps to spread the idea of you need to unlearn how you think about things and what you're doing and what you've been raised to think in our country, so that these things may not happen in our future or hopefully will not happen in our future, so that we can all live in a safer, more equitable society.
Deborah Moncrief Bell:The Human Rights Campaign supports volunteers so that they can do things like block walking and electioneering work and work for LGBTQ, plus supportive candidates in local and state races. And then there's money that is also used to send volunteers to DC for training to testify both in our US House of Representatives and in the Texas legislature. And then there's money that's used to support things in Pride events and the Trans Day of Remembrance and the other local prides. It's not just Houston 365 or the New Faces of Pride, but there's now Woodlands Pride, katy Pride, I think there's going to be a Brazoria County Pride. There's Galveston Pride. It's something that can take place all over. I've been very uplifted by the fact that very small communities throughout Texas are having some kind of pride event. I guess that makes me feel hopeful.
Chris Barry:I just wanted to agree with everything that you were saying.
Chris Barry:There is a wonderful sense of hope that comes from all of these organizations and all of these pride events, from all of these organizations and all of these pride events. When I first moved here to Houston three years ago, I was on a Zoom call with the leaders of the Woodlands Pride and hearing their story of how they got started and the hurdles and blockades that they had to work through to get their event off the ground. It's disheartening and it's also uplifting at the same time, because the perseverance and the dedication of this community within Houston and its surrounding areas is everything. It's everything. Speaking as a New Yorker, I came from a state where it was safer and I hate to use that word, but it's just true.
Chris Barry:There was a sense of community and there was a sense of that. There were people who wanted to see you erased or just left out, or however you want to use those phrasings, but the bottom line is, when I came here to Texas, I found a community that was threaded throughout the entire state. That wasn't something that I felt in New York. There wasn't a need for it. There is more of a need for it here, and after the pandemic and with all this and attacks that are ongoing and keep getting worse as each year passes, that sense of community throughout the entire state, that is, that's hope, that's love, that's everything that you want to see happening and to me, I couldn't be prouder for that.
Deborah Moncrief Bell:This is Deborah Moncrief-Bell. I'm talking with Chris Berry, one of the co-chairs of the Human Rights Campaign, commonly called HRC, for their gala dinner that will be held on April the 6th at the Marriott Marquis. You came to Houston. It must have been a kind of a culture shock.
Chris Barry:Yes, that's absolutely true. I had never been to Houston before I moved here. I had been to Texas Essentially I drove through it on a cross-country trip, probably 35 years ago. So for me, I was reluctant, I was scared, I didn't know where we were going and, honestly, when you're outside of the state of Texas, what you mainly see and hear from Texas is the loudest voices, and those loudest voices are not very friendly to people in the community. And I was very cognizant of how can we do this and should we do this. And I left it up to not just my decision but my wife and children's decision and we talked about it together and we came to the conclusion that this would be a wonderful thing for us. And we came and we are here and we are doing our best and we are hoping to bring as much change as we possibly can to the state and this community and hoping for the best.
Deborah Moncrief Bell:What are some of the things that surprised you when you did get to know Houston?
Chris Barry:The first thing, like I said before, was the community that is not only laced throughout the entire city here, but the entire state. I met so many wonderful, caring individuals that have lifted me up, made me realize that there is not only a ton of work still left to do, but yet there are so many wonderful connections and friends that I made easily and quickly that are all in this fight together. And it's wonderful to find that community and I found it quickly. I mean, when I moved here it was the pandemic and I wasn't even allowed into my workspace.
Chris Barry:I had to work from home and I wasn't going out, so it was incredibly difficult to even meet my colleagues at work. But yet the friendships and the relationships that I was able to build within that first six months of being here is astronomical, and that, to me, is what really surprised me. I was not expecting to find such a wonderful welcoming opening community that quickly and that fast. And then, honestly, the food down in downtown Houston. I absolutely love Every single restaurant I've ever gone to in downtown Houston. It's phenomenal.
Deborah Moncrief Bell:Will there be entertainment at the dinner, or will it just be speechifying?
Chris Barry:We will have Dana Goldberg will be there and we do have drag queens that we will have a party as soon as the actual dinner is over, where the drag queens and a DJ will be performing.
Deborah Moncrief Bell:So it sounds like a very fun evening. Again, it's on April the 6th at the Marriott Marquis in Houston, the Human Rights Campaign Annual Gala Dinner. We've been talking with Chris Berry. Chris, is there anything that I didn't ask you about that you would like to say?
Chris Barry:I really, really appreciate you all and if we ever can do this again, I'm front and center there for you.
Deborah Moncrief Bell:Well, thank you for being with us on Queer Voices.
Chris Barry:Thank you.
This Way Out:I'm Ava Davis and I'm Michael.
This Way Out:Taylor Gray, with News Wrap, a summary of some of the news in or affecting LGBTQ communities around the world for the week ending April 6, 2024. With a week ending April 6, 2024. We decline to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act in its entirety. Neither will we grant a permanent injunction against its enforcement. Deputy Chief Justice Richard Butera announced the decision of Uganda's Constitutional Court on April 4. A coalition of Ugandan queer advocacy groups quickly reacted to the ruling. Their statement acknowledges that some sections of the law were found to violate the right to health, right to privacy and right to freedom of religion. The ruling struck down the requirement that citizens report suspected LGBTQ people to the police and a provision threatening property owners with jail if they knowingly sell or rent to them. According to Mother Jones identify the numerous ways that the law violates Uganda's substantive rights to equality and dignity, speech, association, health and freedom from discrimination. The activists will almost certainly take their challenge to Uganda's Supreme Court.
This Way Out:This Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 is the latest version of what came to be known as the East African Nations Kill the Gays Bill. It punishes what's defined as aggravated homosexuality with execution. An earlier incarnation was overturned by the Constitutional Court on a technicality in 2014. The death penalty remains in the current act. It also punishes attempted homosexuality with up to 10 years in prison and the promotion of homosexuality with up to 20 years. Pride events and any other pro-queer public demonstrations are effectively banned. The court's validation of the Anti-Homosexuality Act defies warnings from the US and other Western nations. They're threatening economic sanctions if Uganda allows it to take effect, threats that likely help derail previous efforts. The World Bank announced in March that substantial international monetary fund loans have been suspended because the legislation contradicts the bank's core values against discrimination. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, volker Turk, said that the measure must be repealed in its entirety.
This Way Out:The owner of Orenburg, Russia's queer-friendly Poe's nightclub is now in jail, with the two staffers being held on charges of violating the country's no-promo-homo law and conspiratorial extremism. He was picked up at a Moscow airport this week. Pose was raided by security forces during a drag show in late March. A local ultra-nationalist group tipped off and assisted the police officers, harassing patrons and drag artists with degrading demands. The unidentified owner manager, Diana Kamilanova, and artistic director Alexander Klimov each face up to 10 years in prison. Russia's no-promo homo law makes the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations a crime. Late last year, the country's high court defined extremism as conspiring to support the international LGBTQ movement. Unfortunately, the international LGBTQ movement is only a figment of Vladimir Putin's conspiratorial imagination. Escalating security force raids on queer and queer-friendly venues across Russia since that high court ruling have had a chilling effect on both LGBTQ activism and queer-related business.
This Way Out:The United Nations Human Rights Council is specifically addressing the rights of intersex people. A first-of-its-kind resolution approved on April 4 will open discussions about discrimination and violence against people born with variant gender characteristics. It also targets medical practices considered harmful to intersex people, like surgical interventions performed on babies to make them definitively male or female. Many activists have been fighting against such non-consensual surgeries. About 1.7% of babies born around the world every year are intersex, according to Human Rights Watch. Australia, chile, finland and South Africa co-sponsored the resolution. It was narrowly approved. The Human Rights Council voted 24-0 in favor, but 23 members abstained abstained. The Office of the High Commissioner must now prepare a report on the issues for the Council's further discussion at its next session in September 2025. A coalition of more than 35 queer and human rights groups jointly praised the UN action. They say it raises awareness of the issue in a way that states can no longer ignore and will have to act upon.
This Way Out:Wisconsin's Democratic governor, tony Evers, is refusing to deny trans student-athletes the right to compete in high school sports based on their gender identity. He forcefully vetoed a bill that would have forced schools to assign each competitor to male or female teams based only on their birth certificate gender. The measure passed the Republican-controlled House strictly along party lines, with one Republican defector in the state Senate. Evers had, in his words, vowed to Veto any bill that makes Wisconsin a less safe, less inclusive and less welcoming place for LGBTQ people and kids, and I will continue to keep my promise of using every power available to me to defend them, protect their rights and keep them safe. In his veto message this week Evers wrote. Message this week Evers wrote this type of legislation and the harmful rhetoric we get by pursuing it harms LGBTQ Wisconsinites and kids' mental health, emboldens anti-LGBTQ harassment, bullying and violence and threatens the safety and dignity of LGBTQ Wisconsinites, especially our LGBTQ kids Wisconsinites, especially our LGBTQ kids. Last year, evers vetoed a Republican-led bill that would have outlawed pediatric gender-affirming healthcare.
This Way Out:Finally, florida Republican State Representative Fabian Basabi wants to be in this year's Miami Pride Parade, so much he's suing the sponsoring organization that declined his application. Bissabi's district includes the highest concentration of queer votes of any in the state and he campaigned as a pro-LGBTQ rights moderate Once in office. He vocally supported the expansion of the state's infamous Don't Say Gay law. He also backed a ban on family-friendly drag shows. Don't Say Gay Law. He also backed a ban on family-friendly drag shows.
This Way Out:A phalanx of armed guardians accompanied Basabi in last year's parade, where he was mercilessly booed and heckled for his anti-queer record. He's still determined to participate in this year's parade on April 14th. The non-profit that runs Miami Pride told him he could watch the procession from the sidelines, but he couldn't be in it. Chairperson Bruce Horwich told Basabi by text. According to the Miami Herald we can't risk having you in the parade this year. Last year you had to be surrounded by police officers in rye gear, with several more planesclothes officers surrounding your vehicle. In defending his markedly hypocritical politics, basabi is just as muddy as he is about his own sexuality. I am of an adult age, therefore entitled to live any lifestyle I choose, as is reinforced by all this legislation we passed. He told Queerty Basabi won office in his heavily LGBTQ district by a mere 240 votes. Every vote counts.
This Way Out:That's News Wrap, global queer news with attitude For the week ending April 6, 2024. Follow the news in your area and around the world. An informed community is a strong community.
This Way Out:News Wrap is written by Greg Gordon, edited by Lucia Chappell, produced by Brian DeShazer and brought to you by you.
This Way Out:Thank you. Help keep us in ears around the world at thiswayoutorg, where you can also read the text of this newscast and much more. For this Way Out, I'm Ava Davis Stay healthy, and I'm Michael Taylor Gray.
This Way Out:Stay safe.
Glenn Holt:This has been Queer Voices, which is now a home-produced podcast and available from several podcasting sources. Check our webpage queervoicesorg. For more information. Queer Voices executive producer is Brian Levinka. Andrew Edmondson and Deborah Moncrief-Bell are frequent contributors. The News Wrap segment is part of another podcast called this Way Out, which is produced in Los Angeles.
Glenn Holt:Some of the material in this program has been edited to improve clarity and runtime. This program does not endorse any political views or animal species. Views, opinions and endorsements are those of the participants and the organizations they represent. In case of death, please discontinue use and discard remaining product.
Glenn Holt:For Queer Voices. I'm Glenn Holt.
