Queer Voices
Queer Voices
February 5 2025 Queer Voices LGBT Summit 2025, Adrienne Warren in Tina on Broadway and author Greg Chapman
Join us as we welcome the dynamic siblings Ray and Sareyah Criswell, who bring an infusion of energy and commitment from Houston's LGBTQ+ community. Fresh from the LGBT Summit 2025, Ray offers insights into the world of community safety, underscoring the wisdom shared by Atlantis Narcissus and Ethan of Q Patrol on self-defense and the power of not standing idly by. Meanwhile, Sareyah's experiences in medical and gender-affirming care workshops highlight the critical need for self-advocacy and holding healthcare providers accountable. Their stories are a testament to how personal empowerment and engagement can ripple out to build stronger communities.
Discover the transformative power of advocacy as we introduce Linked, a nonprofit destined to bridge gaps for marginalized communities with vital resources. We'll explore how simple actions, like sharing your story or standing up against inadequate care, can lead to significant societal shifts. Linked isn't just about the queer community—it's about fostering inclusivity and accessibility for all marginalized groups. By focusing on building a community calendar and shared resources, Linked aims to amplify voices that often go unheard and turn activism into a collaborative and inclusive effort.
We're thrilled to feature the inspiring journeys of Adrienne Warren and Greg Chapman, each forging unique paths. Adrienne takes us from her roots in Chesapeake to her Broadway debut, sharing lessons learned from working alongside Tina Turner and her groundbreaking role as the first Black Annie. Then, Greg Chapman enters with tales of self-discovery and triumph in the realm of science fiction, revealing the creative endeavors that followed his pivotal coming-out moment. As we wrap up with discussions on the Mankind Project and the latest in gender-affirming care, this episode promises a diverse tapestry of stories and advocacy that resonate across communities.
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 version of a broadcast radio show that's been on the air in Houston Texas for several decades. This week, debra Moncrief-Bell chats with Ray Criswell and his sister, saraya Criswell, about their experience attending the LGBT Summit 2025 held last month at the Montrose Center.
Speaker 2:Advocacy doesn't have to be complex. Center advocacy doesn't have to be complex, it doesn't have to be big, it doesn't have to be financial. Sometimes it's just saying something, saying that you see a problem and making it known to other people that we're not going to just sit quiet and take it.
Speaker 1:Brett Cullum has a conversation with Adrienne Warren, who is a Broadway star who won a Tony for playing Tina Turner in the Tina musical on Broadway. Debra chats with Greg Chapman about his recently released book Star Horizon.
Speaker 3:I've been on a writing journey for 30 years, so I've gone through many iterations of trying to write the novel that I ended up writing. I started with no knowledge of the craft and it just took me a very long time to figure out what I wanted to write and to get the skill set to really execute a novel.
Speaker 1:And we have news wrap from this Way Out Queer Voices starts now this way out.
Speaker 4:Queer Voices starts now. This is Deborah Moncrief-Bell and I'm talking with Ray Criswell and Soraya Criswell, siblings who are getting involved in the Houston community and, hopefully, will soon become part of the Queer Voices crew. They went to the LGBT summit that was held at the Montrose Center, and I'm going to ask them some questions about their experiences there. So, ray, let's start with you. What drew you to attend that event?
Speaker 5:Well, mostly, I'm starting a nonprofit with my sister and a few other friends, and we've been looking to get involved in the community as much as we can. One of the great ways we thought to learn more about how to get involved in the community as much as we can One of the great ways we thought to learn more about how to get involved in the community and get in contact with other people who want to do so was the Montrose event. We heard about it on Instagram. All got together and thought it'd be a really good idea to stop by, and it definitely was. We learned a lot of great things. We talked to a lot of really great people, made so many connections, and we're really looking for a way to get ourselves into the community and get ourselves started, and that's exactly what we found.
Speaker 4:And Soraya. What was your experience?
Speaker 2:I had a really good time. I started off seeing it on Instagram just by looking for some events to go to. I really enjoyed the summit. It was really nice to meet other people who are doing really good things in the community and really looking out for LGBT people. I also enjoyed the different panels that they had. I really liked just having the different perspectives from everyone and seeing how, like their everyday life kind of played into what they had to say and how they felt like things were being handled in their community. It was really eye-opening to hear things from everyone.
Speaker 4:And this question is for both of you and we'll take it one at a time what workshops did you attend?
Speaker 5:I attended the safety workshop first in the morning. I also attended the medical care and gender affirming care workshop and I believe I also attended the civil rights workshop.
Speaker 4:Tell me what the safety workshop was about.
Speaker 5:The safety workshop was mostly about how to defend yourself and how to stay safe. As an LGBT individual in the Houston community, I know that we're facing a lot of turmoil in the community. A lot of people are concerned about how to be safe and so, having a talk to professionals in this kind of field, we talked to Atlantis Narcissus as well as Ethan. Ethan is leading the I think it's Q Patrol and they assist HDPD, or at least they used to. Now they patrol the area, helping keep LGBT people safe and teaching people self-defense techniques and whatnot, and Atlantis Narcissus specifically works with HDPD to help them be more educated on trans issues and things of that nature, and they were able to provide a lot of really useful information on how to not be a bystander and keep yourself active in situations and look out for people and stay active and stay alert, as well as making sure you're taking care of yourself and you feel protected in instances where you are under attack or under duress.
Speaker 5:It was very, very eye-opening. There were a lot of stories that were shared by queer individuals in the audience, a lot of questions that were raised about how to not be a bystander, how to feel safe walking down the street and they were able to provide a lot of great examples like carry a flashlight with you at all times, something as simple as that, shining a light, blowing a whistle, making sure your voice is heard, making sure you know that other people are aware of the duress that you're in. And if you're seeing something like that, make the diverse that you're in and if you're seeing something like that, make sure you say something, say see something, say something kind of a thing. And throughout the entire thing they were dropping wonderful, wonderful gems that I had to write down and I will keep to myself and give it and give that advice to my queer friends and community around me. So it was very, very helpful.
Speaker 4:And the medical care. What was that about?
Speaker 5:It was mostly about gender affirming care, but also about holding those who give you that care accountable, where to find that care and being educated on your own issues. A great example is I identify as male. I was born male. I grew up not knowing a lot about HPV, ks and their links to cancer and things of that nature, and that's a very, very important issue, especially for trans men and certain people in the community who have to deal with those kinds of issues. And that was something I wasn't even aware of and certain nuggets that people were dropping, such as you can kind of advocate for yourself just by being yourself.
Speaker 5:A lot of people feel that they need to have some professional education when it comes to gender-referring care in order to stand up for themselves or to have a seat at the table, and they were letting us all know that our experience just by being queer individuals in the community is enough to grant us that seat at the table and is an actual important aspect of having a seat at the table, because your past and your experiences as this queer individual inform people who are providing the medical care to you and it will allow them to learn more about your experiences and learn more about how to care for you, while also keeping in mind that you need to keep these people accountable, and if they're not able to provide you the care that you're looking for, you can always stand up for yourself and advocate for yourself with your feet, by leaving, getting out of there and making sure that people know that you are here for help, and you will not accept anything that you do not deserve.
Speaker 4:So Raya did you attend different workshops?
Speaker 2:I actually attended the safety planning in the morning with Ray. But my second workshop was different. I actually went to the supporting queer youth workshop.
Speaker 4:And what did that then tell?
Speaker 2:That one had a panel of different people from different organizations. There were a few people from Grace Place and Tony's Place. I think there's also a group of moms of trans children and they kind of would ask a question and each person gave their answer and it was basically just how we're going to make safe spaces for queer youth. I'm seeing how a lot of things are changing in their schools. Some of them don't even pertain to their gender, their queer identities. Some of them are just the whole shootings that have been going on, or like having issues with the library or like your counselor, your teacher, things like that. It was really enjoyable. Since I don't have any kids None of that really applies to me and my family, I guess, directly, but I do like to work with children and I enjoy children. I mean it was really nice to see all these people some who also do not have children who are willing to stand up for kids and advocate for safe spaces and safe practices and raising them.
Speaker 4:I think that's so important that we realize that it does take a village and in our queer village, it is upon all of us to have that empathy, to have that care, to take action, to be there for the youth, because there's just so much going on right now and it's just so important that we are there for them and help strengthen them. And it becomes such a cliche to say they are our future, but they are. So I for one, I have just a big issue with how queer youth are treated and the trans youth and what they're facing. So I think that's wonderful that you went to that. Again, a question for both of you and Ray. We'll start with you. What do you think was your biggest takeaway from the event? Or was there something that someone said that really touched you or gave you food for thought?
Speaker 5:When I was in the meeting earlier in the morning, at the safety meeting with Atlantis Narcissus, one of the things that she said was that when she's working with HPD, her goal is to be not a seat at the table but she wants to be a leg at the table.
Speaker 5:And that really stuck with me and felt really profound, because I feel like a lot of times as marginalized people we're fighting and fighting and fighting to have a seat at the table and once we're granted that seat at the table it feels amazing and then sometimes we end up being forgotten about. And Atlantis' goal of being a leg at the table instead of just a seat felt really empowering because she's approaching the situation from being a part of the table, not just being someone who's at the table, but being a foundation of the table, someone who's helping the table stand. And as a community, I personally feel that if we're not standing together, we're not standing at all. We're not standing for each other, we're not standing as a community unless we're all involved. And so that goal of being a leg at the table really symbolizes being a pillar in the community and being recognized as a pillar of the community and appreciated as such. So that definitely stuck with me.
Speaker 4:Was there anything else?
Speaker 5:really stuck with me. Was there anything else? Definitely, when Lou, during the gender affirming care session, mentioned advocating for yourself with your feet, it's one of the most simple ways I believe you can advocate for yourself and kind of get your voice out. There is by, like I mentioned before, not accepting the care that you don't deserve. It's a simple matter of just walking out of the doctor's office or out of a therapy session or holding people accountable for the care that they claim to provide is really important and a lot of times activism and community service can feel a little overwhelming and something as simple as just saying this is not for me and I'm not going to accept it can cause a lot more ripple effects than you think, than you think of in the moment, and it's really important to have that self-confidence and really advocate for yourself in that way.
Speaker 4:Soraya, how about you? What was your biggest takeaway?
Speaker 2:One of the things I like the most about the first workshop was just how inclusive it was of. One of the things that someone asked was simply just what do I do? Can anybody do? Because not everybody is meant to be a protester or to start their own nonprofit or to go out there and be in the streets. Like what can people do if they don't know what to do? And I loved their answer it was make noise. It was make noise.
Speaker 2:It sounds so simple, but really all it is is spreading the word If something is upsetting you and something is harmful to those around you, if you see something, again, like where he said say something. I really enjoyed that. It was just like I said, so simple, straight and to the point. Advocacy doesn't have to be complex, it doesn't have to be big, it doesn't have to be financial. Sometimes it's's just saying something, saying that you see a problem and making it known to other people that we're not going to just sit quiet and take it a lot of times I see people post things on facebook and I think you can put it on facebook, but don't just put it on facebook.
Speaker 4:Contact directly. If there's an agency that you're going to and they're not providing what they need to be providing, then make sure they know. Talk to the board, engage your friends. Heather Cox Richardson, who is a historian who has been using her platform on Facebook and Substack to talk about history and how it relates to what's happening now and also documenting what is happening now with a look towards the future and what historians will need to know. That was important for our times. And she says take up oxygen. Exactly that. Make your voices heard. If you have a skill or a talent, use that. Make your voices heard.
Speaker 4:If you have a skill or a talent, use that you don't necessarily are going to be doing podcasts or doing Facebook Live, but just writing letters to the editor, talking to your friends and family, letting people know not only what's important but why it's important. And those personal stories that you talked about. Some of the people in the workshops talked about their own experiences and how that impacted the work. That's very important, such as with the legislative session, when people go there to lobby and they talk about their personal stories. That's another way of being heard. So I really think that Summit it was an homage to the town meeting, one that a lot of our community organizations came out of, and it was just kind of a baby one.
Speaker 4:If anyone's ever been to Creating Change, I said it was kind of like a mini Creating Change. It was us sitting together in community and I think people really enjoyed the day, were well informed, and that it will motivate people to be more involved. I'm so glad that both of you were there, well, and Soraya Criswell, who are brothers and sister and they are new to Houston just a few years here but they've been engaged with community and they're looking to do more. I'm Deborah Mon Creek Bell. You're listening to Queer Voices and let's talk about this project that you are interested in starting. You described it as a non-profit and it has something to do with resources. So, ray, you want to tell me about Linked.
Speaker 5:Linked is an organization that we're looking to start Me, saray and a few other individuals. Our goal as a business, as a non-profit, is mainly to kind of, as it says in the title, link our community with resources that they need. Our main goal is to be a resource center for people in our community. Too often, I find people want to help out, people want to get more involved in their community, or even people are needing resources to help them out in hard situations, and they have a hard time finding those resources or accessing those resources.
Speaker 5:We are currently living through a literacy crisis, and so sometimes that information, even when it is accessed, can be a little hard to understand and not as accessible as people may want it to be or expect it to be. As an organization, our goal is to link those individuals with the resources that they're looking for and help them be easier to understand and more palatable for the average American, as well as providing the community with a means to stay in contact with each other. One of the goals that you and I never talked about at the Montrose Summit was a community calendar, and that is something that we're looking into as well A one-stop shop, if you will, for community members to see what's going on in their community, how can they get involved and where. I know that access to this information can be a little bit difficult and not as straightforward as people would like, so that is our main goal.
Speaker 4:And is this just for the queer community?
Speaker 5:Not specifically. No, the queer community will be one of our main focuses. That is our main demographic as we currently stand, but as a company we're open to all marginalized communities. Mostly we don't want to isolate anybody out. We leave our door open and welcome to anyone who wants to walk in.
Speaker 4:And Soraya. What would you say about Linked?
Speaker 2:I'm actually very proud of Linked.
Speaker 2:We did just start.
Speaker 2:In the beginning of the year, we put this together and got together and really decided to move forward with the nonprofit. Even before that, we put on an event during the Christmas time to raise money for the Mahogany Project, who was also a part of the summit that we went to a couple weeks ago. Our organization is really going to be dedicated to, as Ray said, providing resources to the community, but also one of the main things we want to do is be a fundraising pillar for our community. We've met a lot of different organizations and we can see that there are already a lot of resources that are available here in Houston, but one of the main things that we're all missing is the money, is the funds. We did a really good job of raising over $500 for the Mahogany Project for just one event that we did, and if we can continue to keep this kind of momentum, we can be able to allow other organizations to do more work, hire more people, have more effect on the community if we can get them more funds and more support.
Speaker 4:Both the county and the city have LGBTQ plus commission and on the city level, I think it's called an advisory committee. This is composed of a lot of people, such as the people that were there at the summit, to give direction in city programs and county programs and to fill in gaps for care and services. So one of the things they want is for more individuals to step forward and say yes, I'd like to serve on that. The Montrose Center also is having an advisory committee. How did this idea just come to you, ray? Was it because your own experience of when you were trying to find services and resources?
Speaker 5:It mostly came from my community members. I have a friend who was undergoing cop surgery at the end of December and luckily he had raised enough money to do so. But I know of other individuals who have gender-affirming cares and stuff like that access to things that they need in order to live a fulfilled life that they have trouble accessing. And it all kind of started with that event that Saraya mentioned that we threw in December. We were just talking to some of our community members, and especially my friend who was getting top surgery, and around the holidays, a lot of these people who live in these marginalized communities don't always have a place to go for the holidays and don't have a lot of people to spend time with.
Speaker 5:That event simply started as I just want to create a safe space for my friends, for my community, to get together and have fun during the holidays.
Speaker 5:The holidays are meant for having a good time being with friends and family and celebrating and being joyful for each other, and so I really wanted to create a space for that.
Speaker 5:And then from there it kind of snowballed into well, along with that, along with creating a safe space, what if I can help provide for these people, what if I can help solve maybe a few of their issues, make things a little bit easier, kind of like a Christmas gift to them.
Speaker 5:We partnered with the Mahogany Project, since they are focused specifically on helping trans people of color, trans and non-binary people of color in the community. It kind of snowballed into that and that was so successful and meeting more and more people at that event and events afterwards who were looking for specifically the kind of event that we were throwing and were really tied into the vision that I had for the community, it felt like a natural next step. I've been talking with my other founders, with Soraya and Daniel, and Micah are two other founding members of Link. It just kind of made sense from here to carry that momentum and really put our actions where our mouths were and stand up for something that we believe in. As young people in the community, we definitely have a voice and we just felt this is a good time to start using it.
Speaker 4:And linked is L-N-K-D, and it doesn't really stand for anything other than linking linking needs and resources, linking people to community and resources linking people to community, making connections. I know you're just at the baby steps. You don't have a website yet, do you?
Speaker 5:No, not yet. As you said, we are in our baby steps, but that is one of the main things we're working on. We will have one very soon.
Speaker 4:I've been talking with Ray Criswell and Soraya Criswell about the LGBT Summit that was held at the Montreux Center and about Link, a new community resource that they're developing. I'm Deborah Moncrief-Bell.
Speaker 1:This is Queer Voices.
Speaker 6:I am Brett Cullum and today I am joined by the luminous Broadway star, adrienne Warren. You may know Adrienne from her Tony Award winning turn as Tina Turner, both in the West End and on Broadway, or her role opposite Audra McDonald in Shuffle Along. She is coming to the Houston Hobby Center on February 1st. It's a one night only cabaret show that is part of the Beyond Broadway series. Adrienne, welcome to Queer Voices.
Speaker 7:Thank you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 6:Okay, right off the bat, because it's the elephant in the room for me. Adrienne, welcome to Queer Voices, thank you. Thanks for having me. Okay, right off the bat, because it's the elephant in the room for me, tina Turner. Oh my gosh, it says that she actually handpicked you to play her in that musical. How in the heck did that happen?
Speaker 7:I have no idea. No, they were looking for the girl to play her and I had done a very, very, very like the very first table reading the show, before they knew what it was, before any auditions took place. I was invited to read for her at a table read she actually wasn't there, but it was the director was there and the writer was there. And at a table read she actually wasn't there, but it was the director was there and the writer was there. And at that table read we weren't singing any of the music. But then I thought you know what? Why not? So one of the songs, I think it was we Don't Need Another Hero.
Speaker 7:I'm a big Tina Turner fan. So I said, you know what, I'm just going to go for it. And I just sang it at the table and I remember everyone just kind of stopping and looking at me being like what just happened, and I didn't hear anything after that. And and then, next thing I know, I was invited to do the workshop in London. So it was a. It was a long process and and they were looking everywhere and I wasn't available at the time, and then all of the planets aligned and then I was available and next thing I know I was living in london so did you get to work side by side with tina on the initial project, or I mean, how involved was she?
Speaker 7:because it feels like she was oh, she was very much so involved. Her story has been told many times in many different mediums and this was her version of her story that she wanted out in the world. And this was kind of this show. Her being a part of it was kind of like a love letter to all of her fans. It was a way Sorry, it was a way of her. It was a way of her telling a story that she wanted her way and, and so because of that, I worked very closely with her. She taught me how to chant, because she's a Buddhist and I chanted in the show. She taught me how to chant. She taught me how, why she did the things that she did in her performance and performances and how she connected with the audience. She taught me everything. So I know that that's not normal to say Tina Turner was my mentor, but she was my mentor throughout that process and I'm incredibly grateful I learned so much from her.
Speaker 6:I'm going to tell you, I feel like she's my mentor just through her music. But yeah. I am very, very envious of the fact that you got to be in that presence. I mean just, oh my gosh, I just I can't imagine. I've seen her in concert a couple of times, but I just can't imagine standing next to her and saying, hey, I'm gonna do you and I'm gonna sing your songs exactly. Yeah, so where did you?
Speaker 7:grow up. I am originally from Chesapeake Virginia, yeah, so I'm a Virginia girl and I moved to New York for college.
Speaker 6:Okay, how did you get into theater? When did you know? Oh?
Speaker 7:I fell in love with theater through the Hurrah Players in Norfolk Virginia. I was a community theater company at home and I started doing theater when I was six years old.
Speaker 7:And it was kind of just a hobby. It was probably my parents' way of, you know, sending me off to burn off some energy, because I was a very active kid and I just ended up falling in love with the community that I had there at Hurrah Players and then just love telling stories with my friends and that's where I fell in love with it. But I didn't really get serious about theater being what I wanted to do in life until I was in high school.
Speaker 6:Oh, wow, ok. And then what was that first show where you thought oh my gosh, this might actually all work out. I may have made it.
Speaker 7:Actually, I was 10 years old and I was cast as the first Black Annie girl cast Black Annie in America at the time. And that was a moment where I realized that my talents because I was first off shocked that I got the role the first place and I just wanted to be an orphan and save her life and next thing I know I was Annie. That was a moment where I realized my talents could take me farther than I could possibly imagine if I put in the work and I do my best. And that changed everything for me. From that moment on I was like all right, here we go, this is what I want to do. So let's, let's get a, let's, you know, work as hard as I can.
Speaker 6:This is so amazing. These are not the answers I was expecting.
Speaker 7:I know right.
Speaker 6:I noticed Bring it On was in your background too. Was that before, tina? Yes, bring it On, was actually my broadway debut ah, that's where it is okay, how did it feel when you got bring it on? Were you just like, oh my gosh, I'm on broadway. Was that like hard to yeah?
Speaker 7:I mean I will. I will never forget the moment when they told us we were going to broadway. I think there were like 38 broadway debuts or something in our cast. It was crazy and that whole process of creating that show, bringing it on. It was my first time doing a new musical, it was my first time creating a role and also my first time starring on Broadway. And Andy Blankenbuehler and Tom Kitts and you know everybody that worked in that show they were just legends and I got to learn so much at a very, very young age and yeah, I will. I will never forget that. And then also grateful to have my Broadway debut with all of those incredible people gosh, adrienne Warren, you sound like you just jumped right into it, you know.
Speaker 7:I did, I really did, it was quite something.
Speaker 6:Yeah, okay, so you are coming on February 1st to Houston and it's the Beyond Broadway series, and I love this series because it gives us a chance to see the stars that we've seen in shows and things like that. We've always seen you as a character.
Speaker 8:I mean whether it be Tina or Annie or yeah.
Speaker 6:So what can we expect with you solo just on a stage doing your songs?
Speaker 7:You can expect to hear my story here how I just was this girl with these big dreams from Chesapeake Virginia, and how I came to new york. And I'm telling my story through music and you will get to hear and learn about the music that inspired me to become the performer that I am today, this vocalist that I am today. You can expect to learn a little bit about, about my experience with Tina. You will get a little insight a little insight, I guess, behind the scenes of how my career has developed and become what it is today. And I always love these moments where I get to tour and you know, to your point share, who I am. There are people who love coming to shows because they love my work and being other people and they love me telling other stories. But this is my time to tell you my story and you get to. Hopefully, you'll get to learn a little bit more about me through music.
Speaker 6:Well, I'm excited. What kind of music do you listen to when you're not working? I mean, like just your personal playlist? Yeah, oh my gosh, I mean I listen to your personal playlist.
Speaker 7:Yeah, oh, my gosh, I mean I listen to everything, and that's mainly because my parents were huge music fans. I listen to everything from jazz music, like I mean Lena Horne to Ella Fitzgerald to, you know, wynton Marsalis, to Stevie wonder, to Tina Turner, to, depends on the day and the vibe, to James Taylor to yeah, I mean I kind of really listened to everything, it depends like Kendrick Lamar, hip hop.
Speaker 7:One day, you know, I listened to everything and and it really has in, I think, influence the artists that I am. I don't like to pigeonhole myself. I love singing jazz. You might hear me sing a little bit of jazz in the show as well. I mean, this is Broadway and Beyond series, so it's going to hear a little bit of Broadway and Beyond that, and that's what I love about the taste of music that I have because of my parents, because they taught me so much about music.
Speaker 6:There are no rules for this one. I mean, I've seen other people come through on this series and they let it. They do everything. I love it. Have you ever been to Houston before?
Speaker 7:I have. I actually performed for the gala for the Hobby Center. Yeah, I know so I'm I'm thrilled to come back. I wasn't expecting to come back so soon and I'm I'm so happy to be back. I love Houston. I can't wait to be back.
Speaker 6:Yeah, well, I'm glad you're back, cause I missed that one, so now I don't have to feel like I'm. One thing that I always wanted to ask you, obviously, it's just if you had one piece of advice to somebody that's trying to make it in this business, what piece of advice would you give? What little chunk of wisdom would you pass on to a young performer or somebody that says, hey, I really want to sing and act and become a triple threat, just like Adrian Warren?
Speaker 7:I would say don't be just like me. I find the things that make you you, those will be your superpowers. And I would say this journey, this career, this industry, your path in this industry is not linear and it is not a race, it's a marathon. I would say don't compare yourself to other people, let your journey be what it is and learn to appreciate the lows and the highs, because there will be a lot of both. And as long as you love it and as long as it still brings you joy to tell stories, then you're exactly where you should be. But the moment it doesn't, make sure you can find your joy somewhere, because you deserve it and life is too short very well said.
Speaker 6:Well, after this gig, somebody told me something about a Jonas brother in your future can you tell me a little bit about what's coming up next for Adrian Warren not a Jonas brother in my future.
Speaker 7:That's hilarious there is a Jonas brother in my future.
Speaker 6:Yes.
Speaker 7:His name is Nick Jonas and we will be starring in the last five years on Broadway. So I'm coming back to Broadway this spring. So Hobby Center will be one of my last concerts before I head back to Broadway. So because of that, I'm very excited to, I guess, see. It's almost like ending this concert tour that I've had this year of just doing concerts. So I'm really excited to end that with you all and then hopefully you guys can make your way to New York and come and see the last five years. Well, I will be the first Kathy on Broadway, so can't wait.
Speaker 6:Well, I can't wait either the last five years. I'm excited to see it, and especially with you up there. And I'm a little bit curious with the jonas up there too.
Speaker 7:so it's gonna be. He's amazing. Nick is a fantastic. People don't know like how much theater he did in his in his youth like he's a theater kid, so it's exciting to see him and his element in that way and I'm a big cheerleader of his. I just think he's a phenomenal talent and not only that, he's an amazing person. So I've got a great teammate and I can't wait to create this show with him.
Speaker 6:Oh, come on, bring it on cheerleader, let's let him go.
Speaker 7:I know right, it's crazy.
Speaker 6:Adrian Warren February 1st at the Hobby Center. Tickets start at only like 42.40 or something and they're available online at thehobbycenterorg. You can go in person and beg for them at the Hobby Center box office if you need to, but I am so thrilled to have spoken with you. I appreciate you giving me this time and break legs everything, and we are so honored that this is going to be one of your final appearances before you head into rehearsals for your big Broadway thing.
Speaker 7:Yeah, thank you so much for covering this. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:This is KPFT 90.1 FM Houston, 89.5 FM Galveston, 91.9 FM Huntsville, and worldwide on the internet at kpftorg.
Speaker 4:This is Deborah Moncrief-Bell and I'm talking with Greg Chapman. I know Greg from several years ago I can't even recall the year that it was but I learned about him through hearing his story on an NPR program I think it was called this. I Know For Sure and he expressed his experience with finally accepting himself as a gay man and I was very moved by it and that led to a series of me tracking him down. This, I think, was back when we still had phone books, and I actually tracked him down through his partner, tony Pryor, and then I invited him to come on to Queer Voices. Greg, a lot has happened since that time. We became friends over the years. Tony was a very special person who it's been what? Over a year now since he passed.
Speaker 3:Yes, he died in april 2023 and it was three days after our 23rd anniversary he was a very special person.
Speaker 4:He taught people about using their voice and he had sing-alongs and just was a very beloved person in the Houston community. Do you want to talk a little bit about that initial NPR program and how you came to be on it?
Speaker 3:The segment was this I Believe Way back in that day they requested people just to submit their stories and they had very famous people on and then they had people that you've never heard of before. So they really tried to mix it up between well-known people and and people whose stories you would not know anything about. So, just on a lark, I decided to, during lunch, write up my story about being gay, my struggle with being gay and and coming out, and I sent it. In a of months later I got a phone call that they wanted to put that on. I have many people who are in the community. Their stories are difficult and mine certainly falls in that category, and that was actually my official coming out, so I decided to do it on national radio.
Speaker 4:You have worked as an accountant and I believe that you recently retired.
Speaker 3:That's right, and I'm still in the glow being retired. I was the tax director for a French energy company. They're renewables, which is very important for me. They do solar farms and wind farms and all that kind of stuff. I decided I had reached a point in my life where I had enough and I wanted to write full-time because that's the calling of my heart.
Speaker 4:Have you always written.
Speaker 3:I've been on a writing journey for 30 years, so I've gone through many iterations of trying to write the novel that I ended up writing. Working full-time. I didn't have a lot of time, so I had to squeeze in time here and there. I started with no knowledge of the craft and it just took me a very long time to figure out what I wanted to write and to get the skill set to really execute a novel.
Speaker 4:The book is. Is it out now? Available now.
Speaker 3:Yes, so it came out last month and it actually I released it the day after I retired, so sort of. The timing for all of that was perfection.
Speaker 4:It all just came together at the same time the name of the book is star horizon by james gregory chapman, if you want to look it up, and it's one in the chronicles of the cosmic song. Does that mean there's going to be another book in the series?
Speaker 3:it does, and I actually finished the draft of book two a few weeks ago, so now I'm working in the edit stage and it will be called starfall and I will have that out a similar time in 2025.
Speaker 4:Tell me a little bit about Star Horizon. It's science fiction. Have you always been a fan of science fiction?
Speaker 3:I've always been a science fiction nerd so I've read thousands of science fiction novels. I was definitely a Trekkie, very much into Star Wars, farscape, babylon 5, all of that stuff has been part of my world since I was a kid and it made sense for me that when I wanted to embark on a writing journey, to do it as a science fiction novel, because that's what I know.
Speaker 4:Tell me a little bit about the plot line of Star Horizon.
Speaker 3:So there's a young bioengineered soldier. He's deemed a subset human and he rebels against an oppressive state and he travels into the most dangerous part of the Milky Way in a search to claim his humanity. The more resistance he gets to that journey, the higher the cost escalates. The emotional journey is very much around being a gay man in a straight world. In this case, the divide is between people who've been engineered in various ways they're no longer considered fully human to those that haven't been engineered, the natural born that are still considered divine. For the subset humans, their humanity's basically been taken away from them. That kind of emotional journey is what I felt like I went through and I wanted to tell that story. But I felt like that story had been told many times and told well, as a gay man struggling in a straight world, and so I wanted to do it using a different paradigm and I wanted to do it in a science fiction setting bioengineered.
Speaker 3:That's not the same thing as as an android no, no, no, they're still human, but they've been genetically modified to fit whatever purpose they were designed for. So there's in this case he's a an elite soldier. So there's elite soldiers, there's creator class, there's worker class, there's scions, caretakers, there's various engineered subclasses data angels, cybers and they are basically dedicated to fulfilling whatever their function is. It's a form of modern slavery. The mythology in my book is that the civilization realized that AI was too dangerous, so there was a whole problem with AI. So there was this need to move away from over-dependence of that kind of technology because it was too risky. That's how the engineering of humans for specific purposes came into being, a way of kind of creating the flowering of empire, but through the use of oppressive state of slavery.
Speaker 4:Set in the year 2750, so quite a ways from today. The world that you're describing reminds me a little bit of brave new world, which was one of my favorite books in high school, because there were people that were in those kind of classifications. I want to imagine that there's a love story somewhere in here oh yeah, yeah, there is.
Speaker 3:The sexual politics are complex. They're also very. For me, sexual diversity is just a norm, so it's not something I point out, it just exists. My character comes from essentially an all-male world. They were designed to be apart from civilization completely, so he has a partner that he's betrothed to. The initial energy of the story comes off of a tragedy that occurs between them. Eventually, however, during his quest, he actually starts to fall in love with a woman. She's on the other side. That journey is complicated and intense, and part of the message for me was that we're more than the labels were defined by. The world at large wants to define him and others into the specific box, and part of his journey is to claim who he is, whatever that is, apart from what the culture at large is telling him who he is, if that makes sense and what is the character's name?
Speaker 3:core k-o-r. Does that have any significance? It does, because the novel is very much about the core of who I am and so yeah, so kind of it was a little bit of a literal thing with with how I came up with his name so he's trying to find the core of who he is. He's trying to claim that core. That name just made sense for me you're listening to queer voices.
Speaker 4:I'm deborah moncrief bell talking to greg chapman, who has written a book called star horizon under the names James Gregory Chapman, and if you go to YouTube and look up Star Horizon 1, you can see a trailer for the book. It came out recently and is currently available in several places. Greg, what is your hope to have happen with this book? Do you see I don't know a television series?
Speaker 3:Well, actually, I think it would make an awesome movie. There's a lot of what I would consider iconic scenes that are part of the book. I have, as much as I can, tried to detach myself from any outcomes. I love to write, and I wanted to get this out into the world, and I'm curious at what reaction if any reaction that I get from what I've written.
Speaker 4:Whatever that is, though, I'm going to keep going right, there's a certain energy and well, it's a genesis, what I don't know quite how to describe it, but when you write and you're expressing yourself, and it also is a way of thinking as well, because, as you're working out, you've created this world, you're telling a story, there are layers. I really encourage you to keep at it. I think it's wonderful that you're doing this. It's interesting because I know several people who have been writers for 30 years but never did anything with it, who are just now beginning to have books and stories published, and there seems to be in the gay world.
Speaker 4:There is science fiction and magical elements, often in the writing. I think it goes back to, as you say, our experiences as gays and lesbians and trans folks and bisexual folks. We get labels slapped on us and we're supposed to fit in this certain definition, and we even do it to each other like well, you're a gay man, so that means X, and we know that that's not the case. We can be many different things in our lives Before we go. Is there anything else that you want folks to know that I didn't ask about?
Speaker 3:I do have a website so you can go to the website. I love the video. I had an artist who did a lot of art for me, for me to be inspired and get to know my characters at a deeper level. I had a videographer put that into the video stream on YouTube. I think it's really cool and awesome and it looks like a trailer for a TV show and awesome and it looks like a trailer for a tv show.
Speaker 3:Do you want to give us the name of the artist? His name is brad follis. He is local to houston and he's someone I've known for a long time and I think he's brilliant. He did the cover, which I really love it sounds very interesting.
Speaker 4:I'll be looking forward to diving into it and enjoying it. Another thing that you're involved with is the Mankind Project.
Speaker 3:That's right. I'm deeply involved with mankind.
Speaker 4:I know that's been part of your journey for a while now. Explain what that is and, for people who might want to know more about it, a little bit about how they can get involved mankind project is a community of men.
Speaker 3:They do these new warrior adventure weekends and it's basically a place where you go and do your work, you heal, you figure out who you are and why you are. I'm in a men's circle that meets every week. They have a women equivalent called Women Within. Probably the best way if you want to get involved is there's a website, mkp Connect, that you can go to figure out who you need to touch base with. Anyone in the project would be willing to talk to you about it. We recently had, like like last week, a weekend that was dedicated for gay, bisexual, trans, non-binary men. Most of the weekends are mixed, so straight and gay men. I find that there's a strong need to be in containers where you can be vulnerable and safe, show who you are, be seen and be heard what is the dynamic with this mixed group where it's straight men and gay men?
Speaker 4:I imagine there's a lot of growth for both in that process there is, and I will have to say so.
Speaker 3:I'm in a circle. It it's mostly straight men, but there are other gay men in there. I absolutely love all the men in there. There's tremendous diversity, both in class, political belief, sexuality very diverse. I love and trust all these men in my group because we have been vulnerable with each other.
Speaker 3:For me that's been very healing and it's very healing for me for people like outside the circle, because what it's what it tells me is that even though we have all these apparent differences about us, we may be on opposite sides of the political divide.
Speaker 3:You know, our sexual preferences may be better, someone may be very rich or not hardly have any money at all, but we have a lot of shared humanity and being in these circles week after week, I get to see that and I kind of get to see the lie that I I'll speak for myself that I have walked around with on how much division I think there is between us. But I can see that you know what, at the end of the day we're all human and our stories, although they look a lot different, at the end of the day they're very much the same. For me, it's very healthy for everyone to be in a circle a women's circle and a men's circle and then I'm actually in a co-ed circle. That's also really good and very healing for both the men and the women in different ways. It's really a way for you to be heard and seen and for you to see and hear other people.
Speaker 4:We've been talking with Greg Chapman about his book Star Horizon, written under the names James Gregory Chapman, and his other activities since we first met him decades ago. You're listening to Queer Voices.
Speaker 8:I'm Tanya Kane Perry and I'm Joe Bainline With News Wrap, a summary of some of the news in or affecting LGBTQ communities around the world for the week ending February 1st 2025. Gender-affirming health care for Australia's trans and gender-diverse young people is under review. The National Health and Medical Research Council will conduct the study, which will include the efficacy of hormone treatments and puberty blockers. Queensland's January 29th announcement of its own review moved the federal government to take action. Two days later moved the federal government to take action. Two days later, the state plans to pause access to all gender-affirming health care for new patients under the age of 18. Australian Health Minister, mark Butler urged Queensland officials to yield to the federal review and allow treatment to continue for the state's current young trans patients. Pending those results, he wants treatment guidelines to be nationally consistent. Butler says the committee of experts conducting the review will look at treatment guidelines in other countries. It will include public consultation and, importantly, the lived experiences of young trans and gender diverse patients. An interim report on the specific use of puberty blockers for young people with gender dysphoria is expected by the middle of 2026. There are no time projections for reports regarding other forms of pediatric gender-affirming care. Of pediatric gender-affirming care.
Speaker 8:The antagonistic, grassroots Australian Christian lobby is urging the government to ensure that the review is truly independent, free from activist influence and grounded in medical evidence, not ideology. Meanwhile, most LGBTQ advocacy groups are cautiously optimistic about the national review. Equality Australia vows its participation in the process and urges Queensland officials to abandon their temporary pause so pediatric gender-affirming care continues to be delivered to patients across the country. Ceo Anna Brown said. Delivered to patients across the country. Ceo Anna Brown said politicians should not be in the business of making medical decisions for young people and families they have never met and whose experience of life are unimaginable to most of them. Transcend Australia CEO Jeremy Wiggins expressed the fears of parents in his organization about the review, but hopes If this federal process remains ethical, draws on evidence and the right people, including those with lived experience, we are confident the outcome will be positive for trans children and young people.
Speaker 9:US President Donald Trump has blood on his hands. In the words of Advocates for Trans Equality Executive Director Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen. Trump's latest and perhaps most egregious anti-transgender executive order restrict necessary gender-affirming care, endangering tens of thousands of transgender adolescents. The fallacy-ridden screed reads in part it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist or support the so-called transition of a child from one sex to another. Assist or support the so-called transition of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.
Speaker 9:The ban includes hormone therapies and puberty blockers, both of which are reversible. It prohibits pediatric gender-affirming surgery, which is rarely a recommended treatment option. The order halts funding through federally-run insurance programs such as Medicaid and the military family's TRICARE. Lgbtq policy analysts from the Williams Institute at UCLA issued a brief saying that Trump's order requires further administrative rulemaking. Therefore, it will not take effect immediately. Like many of Trump's shock-and-awe flurry of edicts, the legality of his ban on gender-affirming care for young people will almost certainly be challenged in court.
Speaker 8:One Trump executive order is already on its way to court. The Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal are taking on the new ban on service in the US military by transgender and gender-diverse enlistees. The same two national queer rights groups successfully blocked the first Trump administration's attempted military service ban in the 2017 Karnofsky v Trump case. Trump reversed a Biden administration order that had open service to qualified trans people, then specifically excluded them with another. It affects new recruits, but it could also impact currently serving trans and gender diverse personnel. In the words of Lambda Legal Counsel Sasha Burkett, thousands of current service members are transgender and many have been serving openly, courageously and successfully in the US military for more than eight years.
Speaker 9:HRC Vice President of Legal, sarah Warbelow says the order insults their service and puts our national security at risk. The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear tales of a family attending an LGBTQ pride event, a girl meeting her uncle's husband-to-be and a prince's love for a knight as they battle a dragon together. A group of parents in Montgomery County, maryland, want the right to pull their children from elementary school classes that include such storybooks. They claim that their religious beliefs are being violated if they cannot shield their kids from LGBTQ content. They've already lost in an appeals court.
Speaker 9:Lawyers for the Washington DC suburb school system had asked the high court to reject the case. They argued that the storybooks being challenged touch on themes of adventure, confronting new emotions and making oneself heard, just like the classics Snow White, cinderella and Peter Pan. The district wrote parents who chose to send their children to public schools are not deprived of their right to freely exercise their religion simply because their children are exposed to curricular material. The parents find offensive. The parents are being represented by Eric Baxter, senior counsel at the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty. He insists that the school district is cramming down controversial gender ideology on three-year-olds. It's unclear if the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case before its new term begins in October.
Speaker 8:According to the Associated Press. That's News Wrap, global queer news with attitude for the week ending February 1st 2025. Follow the news in your area and around the world. An informed community is a strong community.
Speaker 9:News Wrap is written by Greg Gordon and Lucia Chappell, produced by Brian DeShazer, brought to you by you.
Speaker 8: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 Tanya Cain Perry. Stay healthy.
Speaker 1:And I'm Joe bainline, stay safe this has been queer voices, heard on kpft houston and as a podcast available from several podcasting sources. Check our web page queerorg for more information. Queer Voices executive producer is Brian Levinka, debra Moncrief-Bell is co-producer, brett Cullum and David Mendoza-Druzman are contributors, and Brett is also our webmaster. The News Wrap segment is part of another podcast called this Way Out, which is produced in Los Angeles.
Speaker 10: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 products.
Speaker 1:For Queer Voices. I'm Glenn Holt.
