Queer Voices
Queer Voices
November 6th 2024 Queer Voices: Equality Texas Trans day of Remembrance, Queens of Houston and Stages Theater new show
Join us for a poignant exploration of advocacy and remembrance in the transgender community across Texas. We promise to illuminate the ongoing challenges and the incredible resilience of this vibrant community. Deborah Moncrief-Bell speaks with influential voices like Gordy Carmona from Equality Texas and Austin Davis Ruiz, president of the Houston LGBTQ Plus Political Caucus. They share insights into the significance of the Trans Day of Remembrance and the urgent need for unity against stigmatizing legislation. With contributions from Atlantis Narcissus, founder of Save Our Sisters United, we underscore the power of community collaboration in addressing trans murders and creating a supportive environment for all.
Immerse yourself in the profound impact of the "Lost Faces Trans Day of Remembrance Exhibition and Vigil" in Dallas, a space offering both commemoration and a call to legislative action. This event, supported by organizations like the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, highlights the imperative of personal stories in influencing policy change. Learn how the Queens of Houston initiative strives to unify responses to violence against trans individuals, bridging gaps fragmented by racial lines, and providing a robust support system for affected families throughout Houston.
We also celebrate a transformative shift in the arts with Rose Morrigan's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in a modern, gender-reimagined production. This bold casting choice challenges traditional narratives and amplifies the evolving landscape for trans and non-binary actors. Rose's experiences shed light on the obstacles and opportunities within theater casting, enriching the stage with diverse perspectives. Her journey offers hope for a more inclusive and fluid artistic community, emphasizing the essential role of trans artists in redefining theatrical expression.
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 podcast and radio show that's been on the air for several decades as one of the oldest LGBTQ plus radio shows in the southern United States. This week, deborah Moncrief-Bell speaks with Gordy Carmona, community engagement and advocacy strategist with Equality Texas.
Speaker 2:It tries to uplift messages from trans folks across Texas and advocating on legislation and other policies that are being put forward to further stigmatize the trans community and essentially erase trans folks from existence legally.
Speaker 1:I also speak with Houston LGBTQ Plus Political Caucus president Austin Davis Ruiz and Save Our Sisters United Incorporated founder Atlantis Narcissus, who've joined forces as the co-chairs of the newly created LGBTQ Plus Coalition of Local Organizations. Queens of Houston.
Speaker 3:As you know, texas has lived sometimes with trans murders and sadly here in Houston we have seen too this year and with those we started noticing that the way that we were responding was so siloed we weren't responding as a community. It was only black trans people responding when trans people were being killed. When it was a Latinx trans person it was only the Latin community and it just did not spell community to me.
Speaker 1:Brett Cullum wraps up our show with his interview with house manager of stages, turned lead actress as Miss Sherlock Holmes in Miss Holmes and Miss Watson. Apartment 2B, Rose Morrigan.
Speaker 4:Our first day of rehearsal, it was made very clear that this is less an act of transferring Sherlock into the 21st century and into a woman, and more what if Sherlock Holmes was always in the 21st century and into a woman? And more what if Sherlock Holmes was always in the 21st century and was always a woman? So there's a nice release of like. We're not too worried about the previous versions of Sherlock. This is more of a new invention.
Speaker 1:Queer Voices starts right now.
Speaker 5:November 20th is recognized each year as the Trans Day of Remembrance. This year there's a special exhibit planned in Dallas and there are other activities around the state. With us is Gordy Cormona of Equality Texas. Gordy, first of all, explain what Equality Texas is.
Speaker 2:Equality Texas is the largest LGBT advocacy group in Texas. Gordy, first of all, explain what Equality Texas is. Equality Texas is the large LGBT advocacy group in Texas, fighting for our rights down in Austin and across the state.
Speaker 5:And what is your role there?
Speaker 2:I'm the community engagement and advocacy strategist in the North Texas region.
Speaker 5:So the Trans Day of Remembrance is a solemn occasion, although some people are now calling the time around it Trans Week, so we can talk about all issues facing the transgender community and therefore the queer community, because we are all connected. What are some of the things that are being done around trans issues with equality, texas?
Speaker 2:equality texas tries to uplift messages from trans folks across texas and advocating on the legislation and other policies that are being put forward to further stigmatize the trans community and essentially erase, in certain ways, erase trans folks from existence legally.
Speaker 5:They're very busy during the legislative session every two years and they do trainings and have other activities through the year. What is being planned in Dallas, where you're based this year, for Trans Day of Remembrance?
Speaker 2:So this year, beyond just honoring our trans siblings that we've lost to violence over the past year, we're doing an exhibition to remember the Texans that we lost over the past decade, from 2013 to 2023.
Speaker 5:And when we say those that we've lost, explain the significance of that.
Speaker 2:Considering that there isn't a set standard on how murders of trans and gender-extensive people are recorded, we don't know the exact total of individuals that we may have lost. When we refer to our Trans Day Remembrance List, it's of cases that we have information, for Oftentimes we don't learn about them until days, weeks, maybe even years later, which was kind of the reason behind doing this exhibition with the notification that Life Oak Doe, who was a Black trans woman that was murdered in South Houston, was finally identified after 35 years.
Speaker 5:That's very daunting to hear, and one of the things that happens is that individuals are misgendered at the time of their death. Misgendered at the time of their death. Their families may not recognize their transition or they may have not gone through a full transition and, just like when a child is born and they gender it male or female, that can happen at death as well, so the reality is as well. So the reality is it is a community that faces danger. It is a community where individuals are targeted. Some of them are involved in sex work. Many of them are not. If they're a trans woman, they face the added burden of the fact that they're female, because women are more in danger of being murdered. So that's just a reality as well. What are some of the things that one can expect to see at the exhibit?
Speaker 2:So we partnered with the local artist here in Dallas who is helping us create new portraits of our trans siblings that we lost, instead of using just the usual photos that we see in news articles or Facebook posts. They're usually like Facebook photos or, oftentimes, mug shots that are used from some other instance in their lives, versus any current or updated photo.
Speaker 5:And what do you think people will gain from seeing this exhibit?
Speaker 2:I would hope that they will take away the fact that this is probably Texas is leading in the number of reported cases across the United States. We have roughly 38 individuals that we have recorded within that time frame of the past decade here in Texas alone and in that same time frame across the United States there is over 340 documented cases. I don't often believe that many people do realize just the magnitude of these incidences, just like in the past three months we had at least three cases that were reported here in Texas one in Houston and one here in Dallas and one in Fort Worth.
Speaker 5:We're talking with Gordie Cremona of Equality Texas, the community engagement and advocacy strategist, and we're talking about Trans Day of Remembrance, which occurs on November 20th. There are events in most major cities around the state during that time. What are some other things about the Trans Day of Remembrance that you think is important for people to know?
Speaker 2:The important part of Trans Day of Remembrance is for everyone to take stock of all their loved ones and to realize that those individuals could have been in any of us in our lives or our immediate families or any acquaintances that we have. Yeah, trans violence affects everyone, not just trans folk. Last year there was two reported cases of cisgender folks who died because of trans violence. One black woman was attacked because of the perceived idea that she was trans, and then there was one cis white male who died after protecting a trans friend who was being verbally assaulted.
Speaker 5:You're right. The threat is real and it is widespread and has many different shapes and forms, and it behooves us as a community to be aware. A person who was really great at bringing awareness to this issue was the late Monica Roberts, who we lost far too soon and was such a tremendous loss to the community, but her legacy lives on because so many people were inspired by her and understood about this issue because of her work. Gordy, what can I expect to see? Is it just portraits or is there written word? Is there going to be any filming or an online presence for this?
Speaker 2:We will have a virtual zine that will have the names listed within the exhibit and a collage of the illustrations that were created for the exhibit, along with the names of this year's Trans Day Remembrance List, of this year's Trans Day Remembrance List. Additionally, at the exhibit we'll have an ofrenda, which is essentially a vigil honoring the folks who are on this year's Trans Day Remembrance List, as well as an installation piece memorializing Laibok Do and photo collages of all the folks from across the United States within that same time frame.
Speaker 5:It's called Lost Faces Trans Day of Remembrance Exhibition and Vigil. It's from November 1st through November 23rd, open to the public on Thursday and Friday from 4 to 7 pm or by appointment. So how does one make an appointment to see this exhibit?
Speaker 2:make an appointment to see this exhibit. They can reach out to Equality Texas at field at equalitytexasorg to schedule an opportunity to have a tour of the vigil.
Speaker 5:Say that last part again. Tour and exhibition.
Speaker 2:They can email us at field, at equalitytexasorg, to schedule a tour of the exhibition and visual.
Speaker 5:And where is it being held?
Speaker 2:We have a great community partner at the Adolphus Tower. They have an exhibition space called Space at Adolphus Tower and they're providing us the space to put this exhibition on.
Speaker 5:And for those of us who don't know Dallas very well, what is the address?
Speaker 2:The Adolphus Exhibition Space. Let me check real quick.
Speaker 5:I can tell you because I have it right in front of me.
Speaker 2:Sorry, the address is 1412 Main Street, Dallas, Texas.
Speaker 5:And I had another question and it's gone from my mind Is there going to be an opening event?
Speaker 2:Yes, we will have a grand opening on November 3rd from 4 pm to 7 pm. We'll be inviting community members, members of the media and local elected officials to attend.
Speaker 5:And this is not only being done by Equality Texas, but there's a group of partners that have joined together to be part of this.
Speaker 2:Yes, we're being joined by the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, new Trans Movement Inc. Hrc and many other community organizations across North Texas.
Speaker 5:Yes, I see GLAAD and Lambda Legal and Pride, frisco, artitude, which is a great name. So it's a community coming together in remembrance of these individuals that have been lost, and it's also a time that we can reflect and think about the issues that are involved and maybe recommit to our own advocacy. What else would you like people to know?
Speaker 2:Well, I would like people to know that we do have a legislative session coming up that I would hope they would come visit the exhibition, take stock of what it is that we're actually fighting every legislative session the rights for every Texan across the state, whether they're part of the LGBTQ community or not, submitted or making phone calls, sending emails or coming down to Austin to register a position in favor or against the piece of legislation or to take the time to give a testimony. That way the elected officials know that these pieces of legislation that are being proposed are not Texans' values.
Speaker 5:And it's also to show them real people and how our lives might be impacted, and that personal testimony, that witnessing, is the most powerful motivator for them in making their decisions, although sometimes they ignore it. So it is crucial for people to be involved and it sounds really kind of scary. Oh, I got to go to the Capitol and I got to talk to these people and, oh, my gosh, I don't know if I can do that, but what happens at Equality Texas?
Speaker 2:Well, we usually have a reserved space down in the Capitol just where our community members can join us in congregating. If they don't feel comfortable sitting in the actual chambers, wherever the meetings are taking place, they can be amongst community members, maybe share their testimony with others to get feedback on messaging that they would like to make sure that they get across with their talking points and just have a safe space to be amongst community.
Speaker 5:And Inquility, Texas provides training about how to do all of this right.
Speaker 2:Yes, we do have an advocacy day scheduled for March 24th from Dallas, houston, san Antonio and some other possible locations that are going to bus folks down to the Capitol to do a small training and then we'll all walk together down to the Capitol to do visits at legislative offices and then bring everybody back home at the end of the day. But obviously not everyone has the opportunity or capability to take off on a Monday, whether it be family obligations, job, child care. We will have regional advocacy days, but we will do the same training locally. That way they can engage elected officials in their home district offices if they're not able to make the track down to Austin, since Texas is a large state.
Speaker 5:Yes, it is, and we've got lots of good folks there at Equality Texas and in other organizations around the state. Again, we're talking about Lost Faces, the Trans Day of Remembrance Exhibition and Vigil in Dallas November 1st through the 23rd at the Adolphus Tower and for more information, Gordy, where do people find out?
Speaker 2:They can email us at field, at equalitytexasorg, to find out more information or to schedule a tour of the exhibition.
Speaker 5:I appreciate you being with us on Queer Voices to talk about this important issue.
Speaker 6:This is Queer Voices.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to Queer Voices on KPFT or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Davis Mendoza-Druizman here today with an exciting double feature interview with community leaders. Atlantis Narcissus, founder of Save Our Sisters United Inc, a Houston-based nonprofit dedicated to empowering, connecting and mobilizing trans people of color. And founder and co-chair of Queens of Houston. Founder and co-chair of Queens of Houston. That's Queer Unified Emergency and Empowerment Network of Houston, a brand new community-based coalition with local LGBTQ plus orgs like the Montrose Center, montrose Grace Place, hpd's LGBTQ plus community liaison and, of course, save Our Sisters United Inc. And more. Hey Alanis, hey Davis, thanks for having me Absolutely. And now for full transparency, I'm also a co-chair with Queens of Houston through my work with Houston in Action, but we're also joined by our third fellow Queens of Houston co-chair, austin Davis Ruiz, who is also president of the Houston LGBTQ Plus Political Caucus, the oldest LGBTQIA plus civil rights organization in the South. Welcome back to Queer Voices, austin.
Speaker 7:Thanks so much for giving me this opportunity, davis, good to be back.
Speaker 1:So glad to have y'all on Now this isn't either of y'all's first time on Queer Voices Atlantis through your Houston Pride 365 Pride Grand Marshal nomination, and Austin through your work with Houston LGBTQ plus political caucus, but this is y'all's first time here talking about Queens of Houston. So Atlantis I mentioned earlier that Queens of Houston stands for queer unified, emergency and empowerment network of Houston. But could you tell me a little bit about, like, the history of what, how it came about, why y'all believe that this is necessary and what, what the work looks like?
Speaker 3:Sure, Thanks, davis. Queens of Houston came out of the evolution of Rain in Paradise. So, as you know, texas has lived sometimes with trans murders and sadly here in Houston we have seen two this year. And with those we started noticing that the way that we were responding was so silo. We weren't responding as a community, it was only black trans people responding. When trans people were being killed, when it was a latinx trans person, it was only the latin community and it just did not spell community to me.
Speaker 3:I start seeing that there were some spots where we could be a little bit more cohesive and stand as a community and that sometimes the separation was out of respect in a sense. So it was a double-edged sword. I wanted to be able to remove that double-edged sword and bring more community into this fight. For us this is not a me fight, this is a we fight and, as we know, many trans people have stood up in front lines for everybody's rights. So why can we not do that together as a community?
Speaker 3:As far as how we navigate in the work that goes through that, we act like a supplement support for families when their love member has been taken away violently. We help navigate them through our community to get the information that they need. We help battle misinformation, as we know, a lot of times on the social media. It could be a good thing, but it also could be a bad thing. So battling and misinformation and having one voice, one message, shows the cohesiveness of the community as well, and it's not just about, like, violent crimes, it's also natural disasters, any need that the LGBT community needs. We are there as Queens of Houston to be there, to respond and to help navigate the situation. So many times we have liaisons coming from community orgs, from our allies. Why do we not have liaisons and space for us to stand up for our community?
Speaker 1:Thank you, Atlantis, Austin. Atlantis touched on community cohesiveness and bringing community together, and you are very prevalent in the community, both with the Houston LGBTQ Plus Political Caucus but also the Harris County Commissioner's Court. You work with Precinct 4, but also with the LGBTQ plus advisory board there. But could you tell me more about this need for a unified voice, a unified message?
Speaker 7:Of course. So when we think of all of the tragedies that Atlantis just touched upon, right, when we think about community being killed because of anti-trans violence, when we think about natural disasters in Houston of which there are many, right when we think about, kind of all of the things that we have to face, not just, as you know, lgbtqia plus community, but also as a greater kind of Houston, harris County, a lot of times LGBTQIA plus people are really left out of those kind of traditional social support systems. So when we think about disaster response coming from Harris County or from the city of Houston, it's typically not thought of through the lens of an LGBTQIA plus community or even just looking at the lens of how can we best serve the marginalized right, or even the hyper marginalized, those communities. And so that's really where this need for Queens, houston kind of came from, and that's why our mission is to proactively support and empower LGBTQIA plus organizations to ensure effective, inclusive and equitable emergency and crisis response strategies for the community, with a focus on the hyper-marginalized. And so really, we are trying to do the work of creating this social support system, creating this empowerment network, as we call it, to be able to take care of our own in the face of whatever disaster, tragedy kind of strikes. Right, lynn has definitely touched upon the kind of unified response in the face of anti-trans violence, of which, unfortunately, there were two murders this year but also looking at how can we take care of our community when there is another hurricane or when there's another natural disaster.
Speaker 7:Community doesn't necessarily feel safe seeking services from the city of Houston or from Harris County, or they may not even know necessarily where to go right, and our elected officials may not realize that our community members need this kind of specific care and attention.
Speaker 7:And so that's really where I think a lot of this work is kind of born from this need of our community to take care of us. And this is something that we've done historically right. When we're looking at the HIV AIDS crisis right, it was our community mostly lesbian women right that took care of gay men during this kind of epidemic. Right. Even looking at the most recent impacts health crisis right, our community really was the one kind of leading the effort to one push vaccinations for the community, for people to get vaccinated that could, but then also really fighting. I personally did this. I spoke at city council, I spoke at commissioner's court advocating for expanded vaccination guidelines to allow more of our community members to be able to get vaccinated against impacts, and so, looking at our history, this is something that we're extremely familiar with. It's something that we've always done, and so, really, this is not something new for us to do, but it is new specifically within the space of of Houston and Harris County.
Speaker 3:One thing would be identifying and navigating people to resources. As Austin mentioned a lot of times, we're not in that thought plan, right? So by us being in these spaces and reaching out to other organizations hey, what resources do you have, how do you go there? The goal is and also telling them what we need. I think a lot of times when people think about Houston's LGBT community sorry, they think about Montrose and all that. But we're no longer in the neighborhood, right? We're all around Houston. So the need is bigger and it's more stretched. The resources have to be in those spaces. So, queens of Houston is our goal is to help people get in those spaces. Our goal is help to provide emergency kits, hurricane preparation kits and all those things Like.
Speaker 3:It's hard to just say one thing, because each need is unique for different spaces. Not everybody may need a hurricane kit. Maybe someone just needs a space to cool off and be able to access the Internet, you know. So I think that is a a. It sounds like an easy answer, but sometimes it's not an easy answer. But I will say the easier answer for this is just take care of the human body.
Speaker 1:Yeah thank you, atlantis and y'all. Both of y'all also mentioned victims of acts of violence and murders in Houston and Atlantis. I'd also like to ask about the process of supporting victims family members, and you mentioned vigils, so could you kind of walk us through what happens immediately after a murder is reported and HPD is made aware. What happens like step by step, what? What happens from there?
Speaker 3:sure, no problem. Um, so normally it would just be people jumping on the mic. But this year we decided to change the process. Um, now, when a person has been, when a trans individual or a community member has been taken away from us, first thing I do is connect with our HPD liaison. They give me the information what's going on. Sometimes I may have to help identify the body or the individual, but then from there we normally would just start posting about it. But this time we're being a little bit more smart and strategic, so, and taking back some of our power and our assets. So now, when we do that, we talk with our community members, ie Queens of Houston. What's going on here, the logistics, here's the plan, and from there we make our plan. And until HPD has said it's okay to release the information, we sit on the information. But in that respect, we still find this general message to say that we're aware blah, blah, blah, yack, yack.
Speaker 3:As I said, social media could be a double edged sword and sometimes, when we get on there and we run wild with information, we're not realizing that the person who committed the crime may be watching social media also and learning how to avoid us and avoid spaces where they could be taken into custody Right. So from that we will sit and make. We have to block out time for media to speak with us. Only At this time, on this day. This is the only time to speak with us. Then we will start planning the visual. But what we ask of the media is that they, as much as they're recording and want access to our bad information, that they also support our good information, celebrate us when we're doing good things, like Black Trans Empowerment Week or the launching of Queens of Houston, anything that's positive in LGBT, houston's LGBT community. We need to start highlighting that. We don't always need to be supporting messages of trauma. So from there we would do the visual. We ask the news people not to, or media not to interview people at that moment. Let that space be a visual.
Speaker 3:But in the midst of doing that, we are speaking to the family or we have a person that is a liaison to the family. What people don't realize is that this family has lost a member of their family that they love, regardless of how we may see them as our chosen family. The biological family has the rights unless somebody, unless that person has put it in their will or written it up for us to have access to take first stand. But other than that, we work with navigating the family, make sure they're okay with the visual and this and that. Yes, we may want to celebrate them, but we have to be respectful of the family as well as the individual. We can still celebrate people and not be disrespectful. Right, and a lot of times these family members may be just the first time ever interacting with somebody outside of their individual family member. So from there, we do the visual, we navigate that, we call out media if they're misgendering, if they're not doing this. But here's the thing about this.
Speaker 3:Davis, I want to say that there is a perfect plan, traditionally that we say we walk this way. The goal wasn't to develop a perfect plan. Traditionally that we say we walk this way. The goal wasn't to develop a perfect plan. The goal was to develop a humane plan, right, that was really respectful of the human life that was taken away, especially that of an LGBT member in Houston.
Speaker 3:And to highlight that these are going on a number of times and most times we do not catch the person or catch anyone that is connected with the crime. But I am happy to say, within the past two situations that we have had this year, we have had some arrests done and I think it was because we chose to do it a different way. I just think that we chose to do it a different way. You know, getting somebody in custody and doing it a different way has shown to work for us this time, but maybe next time it may not work and we might have to change it a different way. But I think it's a plan of just having some regular foundation things and then you build on that foundation sometimes for each situation.
Speaker 7:Right, and so I think what Atlantis is talking about is really important.
Speaker 7:I think sometimes as community, whenever we are faced with a tragedy, our gut instinct, our response is to jump on social media and to start posting about it, to start talking about the person that was murdered, killed, assaulted, whatever it may be right, before really HPD or the sheriff's office or whatever law enforcement agency has been able to take the time to really do their due diligence to understand the situation Right.
Speaker 7:We've seen situations in the past, specifically in Houston, where there has been rumors or there has been misinformation about the LGBTQ plus identity of a person and specifically I remember this was an instance with the shooter at Lakewood.
Speaker 7:There was a lot of rumors going around on social media that this person was trans.
Speaker 7:People started posting about it, started running with it, ultimately turned out not to be true, right, and so I think the importance here is that when we are faced with tragedy in our community, we understand that people want to uplift that person that was taken from our community, that people want to tell their story, to really do their due diligence in identifying the victim and seeing if there is any possibility of catching the perpetrator, finding evidence right, looking at security camera footage, right, there's so many things that have to happen before we can finally talk about that person, and I think that that's really the approach that we're trying to take here, and something that we've learned this year through some of the tragedies we've experienced with our community, is really to allow law enforcement that time to do their job before we get in front of the situation and before we start posting about it, because we also have to be sensitive to the victim, to the family, to their lived experience, right, and so we we really need to be cognizant of this situation before we we really jump to any kind of conclusions.
Speaker 1:Thanks for that, austin. This ties in very well with Rain in Paradise and the Queens of Houston kickoff event on November 20th. So, alanis, could you tell me a little bit about Rain in Paradise, what it means, its history and what it will look like this year?
Speaker 3:Well, good, thank you. But before I go into Rain in Paradise, I wanted to point out something that I want everybody to take from this conversation in here. Yes, I am the founder co-chair, but I have two co-chairs, davis and Austin that we all have a sector and a knowledge that we are really good in, and I am a Hort person, but I also need a person like Austin to be there to come in and give us the details about it, like I'm community from root to root, just like everybody else on this call, but we work in different sectors right, and I think those are important, and when you bring in a group as large as ours together to make this one thing right, so I think it is important to point out the differences of it and the approach, in that this is not a pretty package. It is a package of diversity and individuality that's built towards working toward a collective message. So bringing that back about a message. It's Rain in Paradise.
Speaker 3:We have been doing for probably like four or five years now, and what it was was that I got tired of just lighting a candle and blowing it out. I thought that was not really representative of trans people that we have lost, and that when trans people have been violently taken away from us, they become their death narrative, nothing else about them but their death narrative. So what we decided to do so what we decided to do, or what we started to do, was taking these pictures of all these individuals and researching little parts of things about it, about them, and putting it under their pictures, um, and posting them, making this big um display. Sometimes we've done it in art museums and mixed in art, and sometimes we've done it for the tea party, but this year, uniquely, we're doing it different. Of course, we have the Launching a Queen social mixture that will be happening from 630 down on November the 20th at Queen Rain and Paradise installation. But this year we also have had a candle that will be curated by Black Folks Candle, where we will be dropping the names into the wax at six o'clock and that is to symbolize that, embracing our family members that we have lost, and this love and this power to know that we got you. And, sadly, we know that we can't erase trans murders. So we need to be realistic, but I want to send a message that, even in death that we are, we still have you, we hold you close to us. We embrace you, we empower you on your next journey. So we have that. Then we have an artist that is doing like two or three actual pictures that they have painted or drawn themselves. That will be added to the installation as well, as we will be starting this new tradition for Black Trans Empowerment Week having shirts of the people that we've lost in Houston there for community members to write their own love letters or their own empowering statement on that shirt for that person. I think that so many times we have had this event and it has been within the LGBTQ community, but we know these are happening.
Speaker 3:Our goal here for Rain in Paradise as well as Queens, is to push this bigger. Where Houston community people see it, like having this display up in City Hall. Our goal is putting it more public. We don't need to be just repetitive and seeing it as the LGBT community. We need to bring it out into the Houston community.
Speaker 3:We need them to see the human being that was taken away and attach them back to their humanity and let people say, hey, this is somebody who loved to do hair and was good at this, or loved to go sing and walk in the park, normalizing that they were doing that. There are human being doing regular human things, and that was their life was taken away violently. We keep looking at trans people as the deviants of society and we keep separating them, putting us on trans island, when, if you remove all these intersections about us, if you remove our gender, our race, the color of my hair, my sexual orientation, my gender identity, the one thing that we all are and will continue to be, from the moment of conception to death, is a human being, and that is what I want to bring back forth into this. I want to bring humanity back in front, in the front line of the movement, instead of it being so back in the back. No, we need to bring humanity back. I think we're missing that.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Atlantis. And my last question for both of y'all and I'll start with Austin is what does a successful year, a successful first year of Queens of Houston, right? So, rolling out November 20th, but from November 20th 2024 to 2025, what does a successful year for Queens of Houston look like? I?
Speaker 7:think a successful year for Queens of Houston honestly looks like being able to prepare our community for the next natural disaster season. Right, as you mentioned earlier, hurricane season ends on November 30th Well, it starts up in May, so that's not a whole lot of time that we have really to get these kind of emergency action plans in place. So I think that that's really the first thing looking at how we can start to create that unified community response to make sure that our community is not being left behind in the face of any kind of natural disaster. Secondly, I think it's also being able to develop and really have a solid process for how we respond to these acts of violence in our community.
Speaker 7:Unfortunately, it does not seem that anti-trans violence is going to stop anytime soon, and we continue to see murders happen throughout Texas and specifically here in Houston, texas right, we are almost one of the epicenters of anti-trans violence across the country, and so I think, making sure that we are able to take care of community, as Atlantis pointed out, through supporting their friends, their families, you know, supporting the victim's memory right through vigils, but also making sure that we are speaking as one throughout a community, which is never really something that we've been able to do successfully before, and so I think for me those two things are really going to be paramount in terms of success for the first year of Queens of Houston and hopefully we'll be able to continue to grow upon that work apply for funding to be able to fund some programs, distribution, start to bend the ear of more community members and get more people into the coalition.
Speaker 7:But I really think, with the members that we have right now in the coalition, with the ideas and the support that we have right now, I think really success had the ice storm, I mean winter storm, yuri, and then we had the power grid scenario.
Speaker 3:So this isn't something that is just seasonal. Queens is needed all season. I would say that success looks like everything Austin said, but I need the Houston community and everybody that is listening to understand that this should have been started eons ago, right, and to get to prepare for a hurricane or to prepare for natural disasters not when you think it's coming is you prepare for things when they aren't coming. So I don't want people ever to think that, oh, it's not hurricane season, so we shouldn't be thinking about this, oh, it's not winter, because it's winter and we really don't. No, we need to be thinking about what Houston needs. We need to be forward thinking. We need to think about what past experiences we have had with each season. I think what we saw this year when we had the tornado in the center of Houston to a degree we had never had, that Everything is changing of Houston to a degree we had never had, that Everything is changing. So I think that we need to understand that emergency preparations need to be considered at all times here in Houston.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you both so much for your time. Thank you, atlantis Narcissus, founder of Save Our Sisters United Inc and co-chair and founder of Queens of Houston, and Austin Davis Ruiz, president of the Houston LGBTQ Plus Political Caucus and co-chair of Queens of Houston, and Austin Davis Ruiz, president of the Houston LGBTQ plus political caucus and co-chair of Queens of Houston. Thank you both so much.
Speaker 7:Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 6:This is Queer Voices.
Speaker 8:Hey, I'm Brett Cullum and today I am talking with Rose Morrigan. She will be in the next Stages show Ms Holmes and Ms Watson, apartment 2B, which is a hilarious romp with a fresh take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Legendary Detectives. And Rose gets to play Sherlock, which is like a dream, but with a twist, gets to play Sherlock, which is like a dream, but with a twist. Now Rose has been in Houston a while and, surprise, she and I both went to Climb Forest, which is a strange coincidence, and she went on to Sam Houston and studied theater there, a place that I'm pretty familiar with as well. And Rose has worked with the Match, one of my favorite places in the world, where you can find me all the time. So I feel like I already know you, rose, but welcome to Queer Voices.
Speaker 4:Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, that's a lot of coincidences.
Speaker 8:It's a lot, uh-huh. So tell me what is it like to step into the role of Sherlock Holmes, transition him to her and do it as a woman.
Speaker 4:Yeah, first, I think what was amazing is our first day of rehearsal. It was made very clear that this is less an act of transferring Sherlock into the 21st century and into a woman, and more what if Sherlock Holmes was always in the 21st century and was always a woman? So there's a nice release of like we're not too worried about the previous versions of Sherlock. This is more of a new invention. But I think it's interesting how much of that character and their tenants line up anyway with how we're taking it. It very just the kind of meticulousness, the brashness, the otherness of Sherlock from everyone else around them. I think that translates super well into kind of being this antisocial, intense girl that she is in this show.
Speaker 8:Oh great, Well, tell me about what the show's like. I mean, you mentioned that it's a little bit more updated. Is it current day?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so it's set 2020-ish a little bit after. It's very aware of the world that we live in post pandemic, all of that stuff. Social media, the internet, is a big element of the show. So sorry, I got a little bit lost with what the original question was oh, I'm just asking what this?
Speaker 4:is like I mean basically, yeah, it's um, it's a heightened comedy set in the modern day. It's very aware that it's a play, so there's lots of moments where set pieces asides to the audience. They're all done very tongue-in-cheek. We're not pretending that. You know you're being transported into this apartment. You're kind of joining us in playing a little bit.
Speaker 8:So you break the fourth wall a little bit. Is that what you're saying?
Speaker 4:In some cheeky ways. Yes, Sometimes absolutely, the show starts with a character talking directly to the audience and once you get going, it's almost like we continue to kind of nudge you and go hey, you're here with us, we're all playing and we're all pretending at the same time, and I think that opens the show to be a lot more silly than you would expect even out of a Sherlock Holmes comedy. It's kind of a medium-sized cast right.
Speaker 4:Yeah, four people. So it's like very nice and intimate. You have Holmes and Watson and then the lovely, my lovely compatriots who are playing the other roles. Are filling in for lots of different characters all at once.
Speaker 8:Tell me a little bit about the design, if you know about it. I know the scenic designer. I know she is like an exciting voice here in Houston, so do you know what's in store for your scenic type stuff?
Speaker 4:Yes, without giving away too much of the lead. It's very ethereal in a way that I wasn't expecting, in the sense of uh, with the heightened comedy, they're going with heightened colors so many moments are monochromatic, so you start to associate different locations with a color and they're kind of taking that idea and running with it.
Speaker 4:So I think there will be lots of moments where everything is just kind of basked in a certain color or a certain vibe and I think this show just doesn't do anything half. And that goes with the scenic, it goes with the props, without giving away. There's a lovely moment where an entire bucket of blood is is poured. So there's very everything is extra, including the lights and sound and set well talking about that.
Speaker 8:I noticed that there is a fight director and there is also an intimacy director listed in this. How wild is this play?
Speaker 4:I mean with the fight direction, I can say, more wild than I even thought. My first rehearsal was two days ago and I was already swinging a sword. The fight director, funnily enough, is my old professor from Sam Houston, kevin Crouch, so he's the person that taught me how to sword fight. Yeah, the amount of which swords and other various items are being swung around and thrown, there's an entire wrestling match at some point. So with the fighting, absolutely, I think what's really interesting about intimacy directors is, no matter what show you're working on, if two people are going to be touching each other in any way, there's a kiss in here, but it's not extreme, I'd say. But it's nice that it's become commonplace now that if two actors are going to touch each other in any way, boundaries need to be talked about, wanting to make sure everyone's comfortable. Everyone knows when they can say no to certain things. You'd be surprised how many shows have intimacy directors just to. I think, a good thing to make sure their actors are safe.
Speaker 8:Absolutely. It's definitely a different era and I think that we really take these things a little bit more seriously than we used to, and it makes a safer environment, I think because, there's a lot of trauma that can be caused by that. So how did you end up getting cast? I mean, what was the audition like for this?
Speaker 4:Well, I worked at stages for several years as a house manager before this show, so I've been trying to get in with them for a while on stage. So whenever they released their new season I looked at it all and this show just kind of called out to me. I love gender bendy stuff, of course, but just the playfulness that was with the script. So I did a small audition and then that got me my callback and then that's really where it came alive. It was very fast paced. I was reading with one Watson and then another and then another. So it's that fun environment where what's being asked of you keeps you in a heightened state. And I feel like that was the fun of that audition is. I kind of felt like Sherlock up there just running around being being crazy, non-stop talking, that kind of thing what shows have you done before and like tell me some of your favorites, maybe from the past yeah, in a similar vein, my first collegiate show was Noises Off, and that was I think I will always have a love for farces.
Speaker 4:Before my curly hair went down, it used to just go up and out. So I think I was always have a love for farces before my curly hair went down, it used to just go up and out. So I think I was often chosen for kind of bouncy, energetic roles, and I love those kinds of shows just because the amount of physical prowess and like intense coordination that goes into it. It's fun not just on the acting level but on just the pure look what I just did level. And then another one that I was in was Silence by Moira Buffini, which is just a lovely quiet show. I played a priest who's kind of counseling this young Viking boy who discovers that he's not actually a boy he was just raised that way, and so that's kind of a more like intimate, quiet, thoughtful show with lots of deep discussions about religion and gender and sex, and so I think those are my two balances. I love both of those a lot.
Speaker 8:Yeah, it's a far distance between Noises Off and Silence. Physical comedy farce. Deep thinking, violent show well, can we talk a little bit about you personally? Yeah, absolutely okay, rose more again. You are an out and proud trans woman. Can you tell me a little bit about that part of your identity?
Speaker 4:what's lovely about trans people is that every single journey is so unique and different, and I find that especially to be so in my case. One of those things I always kind of knew I wasn't able to really accept myself until I was about 18 years old, when I moved out of the house and I came out as a trans woman but didn't physically transition for another six to eight years and then, when I was in my my early twenties, that's when I finally made the decision to get on hormones, and that was that was kind of empowered by all of the people around me. So I think my mind was very much a journey of knowing who. I was very early, coming out very early, but it took being especially down here in Houston, in Montrose, around so many other lovely trans people, and that's when I kind of was like finally able to fully take action and start my journey the way that I wanted to start.
Speaker 8:It Were there any challenges associated with I mean, you're an artist and you do theater and things like that. Was there any challenges associated with that and transitioning?
Speaker 4:Absolutely. I think as a performer, you always there's always a temperance of knowing that you might not get a role for so many reasons. But I think it was very difficult. I I worked very consistently throughout my college years and I think a lot of that was due to one, I think, a skill that I had worked on and honed. But also I'm 5'5", I had big curly hair and I wasn't physically transitioning. So there was a very specific kind of male role that I fit into and these past five years I graduated 2020. So that was already kind of a difficult entrance into the theater world.
Speaker 4:But I have I've run into a lot of long, deep conversations with artistic directors and casting directors. I could see the difficulty they were running into as an early transition trans woman. They could see the male roles I could fit into. I was giving a good performance in female roles and I think when you kind of live in both of those areas, it's hard for someone to pick you because there's almost always a clear choice to them. But I think, hopefully, with this show, I feel like I'm really starting to come into my own. I'm kind of discovering what kind of women I portray on stage and where I comfortably fall, but I also think it's just a matter of time with the world. I think casting trans people is not something that has been integrated into theaters. I don't think there are systems or kind of vocabulary yet that makes it easy to become commonplace.
Speaker 8:I think we're in an interesting place historically and I'm so thrilled to see you here at Stages doing a role like this because I think it's important To me. I like the idea of that. It's something that should just come natural to the theater. I mean, we have this history of gender bending that goes back to Shakespearean times. I mean there shouldn't be a limit on what you can audition for for anybody almost.
Speaker 4:Absolutely yeah, I think, especially with this show.
Speaker 4:I think it's so important because I think a lot of people are going to be coming in with expectations of oh, it's Miss Sherlock, so there's already for them, they're already preparing themselves.
Speaker 4:I think what's beautiful about the show is, if it was a cisgendered or a transgender, miss Holmes, the plot doesn't change Even the flavor. The plot doesn't change even the flavor. You know it very much just comes down to when I read the script I went oh, I know exactly what kind of girl this is and on top of that, I know exactly what kind of trans girl. You know. There's a very certain kind of energy that I'm pulling for her and I don't think that it changes the direction of the show one way or the other. I think it just colors her in a different way and I really hope a lot of theaters start to notice that when you're doing any show Cinderella, you know, a Shakespeare or a contemporary show, anything that when you cast a trans person, trans man, a trans woman, someone who's non-binary, it doesn't change the meaning of the play. I think it just alters it in a way that fits to someone else and flavors it differently. I think.
Speaker 8:Well, it's a conversation that I think is long overdue in theater. I think there's been a lot of fight over gender and what is appropriate for roles and things like that, and I think it's we're overdue to have a little bit more fluidity in theater, and I'm so glad to see it because I definitely, when I was growing up, playwrights and production companies and artistic directors really put a limit on how you could cast a show, and I'm so glad to see stages being at the forefront of this and taking that on. I mean, it's definitely. We're very proud of you for doing this and putting yourself out there, rose. I think it's amazing. You're doing amazing work for the community and we'll all be there to support you, of course. Thank you, I really appreciate that.
Speaker 8:Yeah, no, thank you Rose Morgan and Ms Holmes, Ms Watson, apartment 2B at stages October 25th through November 17th, and I will give you a pro tip. The first week is previews. You can get a little bit of a discount on tickets if you go early in the run. But, of course, please just make your reservations. Go see it. Support Rose, support trans artists, it's so important. I think you're the next voice coming up in theater and I'm excited to see it. So, and of course, just Sherlock Holmes. How am I going to skip that?
Speaker 4:No, yeah, this is one that you do not want in this, absolutely Especially this version of Holmes. She's something else.
Speaker 8:I'll say that Let me ask you just real quick before we go Do you go by Sherlock?
Speaker 4:in the show. Yes, In fact it's a very clear point which I think works fun enough with my trans identity. Her birth name is Shirley, but she will not be referred to as Shirley. She does not like that name. She does not register it. She is Sherlock and that's that, and that's something that I can very much sympathize with.
Speaker 8:Well, that's so perfect. Yes, All right. Well, thank you again, rose, and we will be, excited to see you at Stages.
Speaker 6:This has been Queer Voices, heard on KPFT Houston and as a podcast available from several podcasting sources. Check our Web page QueerVoicesorg for more information. Queer Voices executive producer is Brian Levinka, deborah Moncrief-Bell is co-producer, brett Cullum and David Mendoza-Druzman are contributors, and Brett is also our webmaster.
Speaker 9: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.
Speaker 6:For Queer Voices. I'm Glenn Holt, Thank you.
