Queer Voices
Queer Voices
March 5th 2025 Queer Voices Alley Theater "The Glass Menagerie", Ajana Therapy and Comedian Janan Araujo-Siam
We speak with Dylan Godwin, an Alley Theater resident actor starring in "The Glass Menagerie". We discuss his role and motivations "The Glass Menagerie" is a timeless classic that continues to resonate with audiences today. The podcast episode delves into the depths of this powerful play through the insights of Dylan Godwin, who passionately takes on the role of Tom Wingfield, a character often viewed as the epitome of Tennessee Williams' own struggles. The conversation begins with an exploration of how Godwin became attached to the role, noting his early memories of performing monologues from the play at age eleven. This anecdote reveals a long-standing admiration for Williams and his distinctive voice, which has shaped Godwin's approach to the character.
We speak with Suzanne Senn and Josh Baird of Ajana Therapy. Ajana Therapy & Clinical Services is an affirmative therapeutic space that embraces diversity. People of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community seeking LGBTQ+ counseling and/or other therapeutic services are welcome to explore all aspects of their overall mental health, identity, and well-being.
Then talk with comic Janan Araujo-Siam, a Houston based comic who recently opened for Kristin Key at the Houston Improv and will be part of "Girls Night Out", a show at The Coronation Theater.
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, Brett Cullum talks with Dylan Godwin, one of the resident company members of the Alley Theater in Houston. Dylan is in the cast of the Glass Menagerie, running until March 16th. Dylan plays the part of Tom in the play.
Speaker 2:It had always been something that was in my mind and a role that I've always wanted to do, because Tom is kind of widely known as being the most sort of Tennessee Williams-like character in all of Tennessee Williams' plays. There's a sort of a loosely autobiographical thing about this play C.
Speaker 1:Williams plays. There's a sort of a loosely autobiographical thing about this play. Davis Mendoza-Duruzman speaks with two mental health professionals with Houston-based Ajana Therapy. Then Deborah Moncrief-Bell has a conversation with a queer cis woman comedian who has defied societal expectations to forge her own path towards personal freedom and enlightenment.
Speaker 3:Since I grew up so religiously, it's taken me a long time to tease apart the truths, the deep spiritual truths that are taught in Islam and other religions, from the dogma that actually is. I would predict is a man-made and meant to control rather than inspire and help and support.
Speaker 1:And we have news wrap from this way out we're Voices starts now.
Speaker 4:I am Brett Cullum and today I am joined by Dylan Godwin, one of the resident company members of the Alley Theater. Dylan has just opened the Glass Menagerie and it runs at the Alley through March 16th. From what I've heard, this is one of his dream roles playing Tom in the Glass Menagerie so let's just get right into it. Hey Dylan, welcome to Queer Voices.
Speaker 2:Hey Brett, thanks for having me. Did I get this right? You're playing Tom. Yes, that's correct, I'm playing Tom, so the brother, yes.
Speaker 4:I's correct, I'm playing Tom, so the brother. Yes, I'm making sure I'm not talking to the gentleman caller.
Speaker 2:No, not today, or not You'd have to call Luis for that.
Speaker 4:Well, what is it about Tom? I mean the Glass Menagerie classic by Tennessee Williams. But what is it about this role that you just were like, oh my gosh, this is a dream. I really want to do this.
Speaker 2:Well, I had a mentor all through my childhood that ran our community theater in the town where I grew up. He introduced me to this play when I was, I think, 11 years old. He gave me a monologue from it and just asked me to memorize it. And so I did and what does an 11-year-old know about the complexities of Tennessee Williams? But he sort of planted a seed in my brain and I read the play and, as with many works of great literature, at every juncture that you read it at your life, you get something new from it, and it's always been a play that has been sort of in my consciousness. And this mentor that I'm talking about we lost him in 2020.
Speaker 2:It had always been something that was in my mind and a role that I've always wanted to do, because Tom is kind of widely known as being the most sort of Tennessee Williams-like character in all of Tennessee Williams' plays. There's a sort of a loosely autobiographical thing about this play. It's just always been in my head and when the opportunity came up to do it, it just felt like this wonderfully synchronistic sort of set of events. Here we are, in the middle of it and I couldn't be happier.
Speaker 4:I think the Tennessee Williams and particularly the Glass Menagerie. It's something that I think actors just grow up with, no matter who you are. In a weird way, it's one of those Hallmark plays that they make you read. I remember in school and I think I actually chose to read it. I think it wasn't like bobbed off on me or anything, but it's a very interesting premise and obviously Tennessee Williams identified later in life as gay, basically, and then Tom is kind of hiding that in his character.
Speaker 2:Some productions you really can latch onto that. In other productions they don't quite focus on it so heavily, but as a gay person myself, it was one of the things that really kind of stuck out to me as a younger adult when I first started reading it. With that in mind and to me it's such a huge part of Tom's journey in the play Well, it's so cloaked.
Speaker 4:I mean, by the time that it was written, it's very much of its time. Yeah, 1944,. Yeah, and this is something that when you play, I mean how do you approach it from your modern eyes and kind of get back there? How do you establish this character and bring to life that, because obviously you and I we're in a a different world, and how do you prepare for this kind of a role?
Speaker 2:not to go off on too much of a tangent about it, but I sort of came up. I mean, I went to school for musical theater and often when they were training us to sort of be able to fit into any role, you oftentimes heard much of the detriment of a lot of people for the gay guys. You need to learn to butch it up. You need to butch it up and play this role or that role. And for a lot of years and a lot of approaches that was always in the back of my mind and then I kind of had a revelation five or six years ago that I was like gay people have always existed, queer people have always existed and some are better at butching it up than others are.
Speaker 2:It's not out of the realm of possibility to think that in these great works of literature that there are characters like that at varying degrees of cloaking it or hiding it or really not being so good at it.
Speaker 2:And kind of realizing that in my work has sort of freed me up in a lot of ways to feel like these characteristics, these people do exist in this literature, particularly in Tennessee Williams literature, who was sort of an anomaly at the time for being able to be a very kind of out and proud gay man at a time where there weren't very many people in the zeitgeist that could hold that title.
Speaker 2:I approach it like any other play, like you sort of. You think about the given circumstance of who he is and the world that he's living in, and most of the play takes place in their apartment with just his mother and his sister, and a person can be a little more themselves in that regard and a little more free with how they are. I think that Tom's journey is one that is sort of about that, and everyone always talks about Tom and thinks of Tom as needing to escape this world. But when you attach to it the identity of who he is and how his identity probably couldn't exist in that world, it really kind of gives you a real understanding of why it was so important for him to be able to get out and find some air, to be who he really truly was or is, rather.
Speaker 4:What is it about the glass Menagerie and Tennessee Williams that makes it still relevant today? I mean because it gets produced again and again, and again and it never goes away. It's always there, it's always at the forefront of theater. So I was just wondering what is your take on why it's so universal?
Speaker 2:It's a story of family. Family is not always nuclear and perfect, but the thing about this text, I think, that endures. Sally Winger is playing Amanda. Being on stage with her is like being next to a force of nature. She is so skilled and so honest and the work is so deep that even the first time that we read those mother and son scenes together you come to understand how these scenes whether they take place in the 30s or now he has written the most honest and true relationship between a mother and a son and I think it's that kind of quality that allows this play to sort of endure the test of time, because anybody in the audience gay, straight, indifferent can look at that relationship and see something of their own relationships with their parents or the people that they're closest to.
Speaker 2:My therapist one time told me your parents will never give you the keys to leave the nest. You have to steal the keys and you have to sort of leave the nest on your own because they'll never agree to it. And I think there's a core of that at the center of this play is that his mother can't allow him to leave, so he has to find some way out of it himself. That's kind of a little sentiment that's been going through my head as we've been rehearsing this play a lot.
Speaker 4:How long did you guys rehearse this for? We rehearsed for three weeks and you've been a company member for the Alley since when? Because three weeks? And you've been a company member for the Alley since when?
Speaker 2:Because it feels like you've always been here. I have been officially in the company for six years. I've been working at the Alley for oh my God, brett, it's either 15 or 16 years now.
Speaker 4:What is it like being in the company as opposed to not being in the company? What is the difference there?
Speaker 2:It's wonderful this mentor that I was speaking about when I was a kid.
Speaker 2:He would always say because so many people that go into theater get the idea of I need to be in this place to do theater New York or LA or whatever and he always instilled in me he was like the real action of what's happening in the American theater is happening at regional theaters. But when you work at regional theaters you have the opportunity to play things that are not just relegated to your specific type. Being in the company at the Alley, we are able to know at the beginning of the year what our whole season is for the year. So it just has for me and I can't speak for anybody else. It's allowed me to really refocus my energies on the work that I'm doing and not have to be worried about what the next thing is, and to divide that kind of that energetic poise that you have when you're working on a play, when you get to work with peers that you admire and that you trust. It allows your work to kind of go a couple pegs higher than it would when you weren't.
Speaker 4:Do you know the characters that you're going to play? Do they make you go through a process where you audition for specific roles, or do they just say, hey, Dylan, this is yours.
Speaker 2:Generally we have a meeting at the beginning of the year and we have what we call our season track and you find out then what roles in what plays that you're doing. When they do the planning process, they're planning the season around the company and you find out then what roles in what plays that you're doing. When they do the planning process they're planning the season around the company of actors that are at the center of our company and our mission statement. Now there are of course exceptions to that. When we did Little Comedies last year, which Richard Nelson came in to adapt and direct for us because he hadn't worked with the company before, we had kind of a short little process where we read for him and then they kind of decided how we would fall out in the roles that were allocated to us. But generally we find out as the season is being announced to the public what our roles or our tracks are going to be in it for that year.
Speaker 4:So you get the advantage of if a play is later in the season. You can live with that play for a little while and really do some deep analysis.
Speaker 2:In my view, that only deepens the work. It only allows you to. And the other prong of that with being in a company is is that when you're freelancing or you're coming into a contract somewhere else, oftentimes you will meet the company that you're working with on the first day of rehearsal. You have to build that intense trust and intense connection on the spot. The people that I work with at the Alley we have been working with each other for years, so we have a shared vocabulary. We all are very familiar with each other's processes. We know how to kind of pull those things together and get to the meat of the play faster, because a lot of that work has already been done for us because we've been together for so long but do you ever get to the point where you're like, hey, I want to try something different?
Speaker 4:do you actually go to the artistic director or whoever is the society, and say, hey, could I try this new thing?
Speaker 2:well, the fact that there's a tangible connection between the audience and what we're doing on stage and a recognition of that is really it's just a really good feeling to know that people pick up on that In terms of ever asking or wanting to do something different.
Speaker 2:One of the wonderful things about Rob, our artistic director, is that Rob is one of the most collaborative, open-hearted, kind people that you will ever meet open-hearted, kind people that you will ever meet.
Speaker 2:And when he came in and he transitioned into the role of artistic director, he asked everyone in the company to email him five roles that we would love to play in our career at some point, and they could be roles that we feel like are outside of what we usually play you know, close to what we usually play but he gave us that opportunity to explain to him and to say to him what things we would like to do, and Tom was the top of my list.
Speaker 2:Rob is just that kind of giving person that really is invested in what the people that are collaborating with him want to do and what makes them passionate, because he knows that that kind of passion only breeds better work. So I know that if there were ever something that I would want to try differently. I feel completely comfortable enough with Rob to sit down and have a meeting with him and be like, hey, could you see me doing this? And not just could you see me doing this, but could you help me figure out how to do this. And that's the kind of organization that we are. It's about figuring out what people want to do and what places they would fit best in and really kind of coming all hands to the pump and making that happen for them.
Speaker 4:That's amazing to hear and Rob Melrose definitely is an artistic director Just incredible. I really like the way that he balances popular material along with world premieres, because the Glass Menagerie, it's well known. It's really neat to kind of track the company and the development of all of that. And I wanted to ask, just because I'm curious okay, so Tom, obviously at the top of your list of roles, are there any others that are on there that you haven't done yet?
Speaker 2:I'm trying to even remember what was on that five list because it was, I mean, that was pre-pandemic, and one of them was I was a musical theater guy for a long time. I guess I still am. I've always wanted to play the emcee in Cabaret. That would be a dream to do that. To me that's a real kind of actor's musical that you can kind of dig into.
Speaker 2:There are roles that I have played while Rob has been in his tenure that I never thought I would. When we did Sweat I played Jason, which is he's a sort of a steel worker turned skinhead, and that couldn't be further outside of what most people would think the roles or the range of things that I would play is. But because Rob put that on me and gave me the confidence to do it, I learned something about myself that this thing, that sometimes the things that you fear the most playing and doing are the ones that kind of open you up the most and make space for other things to start happening. And especially when it's something like Tennessee Williams, where everyone, everyone has a conception whether they realize it or not, if they're at all familiar with the play of what the play should be or how the play should sound or how the play should look, and so it's like taking all that into consideration, honoring it and then figuring out how to leave it at home so you can go and do work that you're proud of.
Speaker 4:You brought up the MCN Cabaret. It is so hard to do that show without being haunted by Joel Grey or Alan Cumming. You have to approach that role. You have to figure out oh my gosh, I can't compete with these two gentlemen that stamped this thing. I have to figure out this unique way to stamp it with Dylan Godwin. The good news is I'm not reviewing it.
Speaker 2:Oh good, Then we can really be honest and be nice with each other right now then. Yeah, I know.
Speaker 4:I mean absolutely. I always have this policy of if I talk to somebody and I interview them, I don't want to review them in a show, because then I have an insight into you already and sometimes I go in with preconceived bias towards you maybe. And I'm such a fan, I mean I've loved your work, so it'll be really fun to see oh, you're so kind.
Speaker 4:And I appreciate you taking this time with me today to talk about all of it. Certainly, glass Menagerie running at the alley through March 16th, so we've got a pretty good run here. Do we know what night the out night is for that?
Speaker 2:Caroline, do you know March 6th.
Speaker 4:March 6th, that's a Thursday right, always Thursdays for that.
Speaker 2:Those are my favorite nights of our run. Truly, I mean it really is.
Speaker 4:I mean it feels like a theater full of family on those nights it does, and I get to see a lot of people that I don't get to see a lot. Rick leg, and we'll talk to you again soon, wonderful lovely speaking with you did you know that kpft is completely listener funded.
Speaker 1:There are no underwriters, so it's up to all of us to pay for the freedom to say what you hear here on queer voices and on this station in general. That means you participate in our programming just by listening and also by pledging your support. Please do that now by going to the KPFT website and clicking on the red Donate Now button, and please mention Queer Voices when you do do.
Speaker 7:Thank you I'm davis mendoza de ruzman he him pronouns and today I'm speaking with two mental health professionals, with houston's own ajana therapy, including suzanne sen. She holds a master's of science degree in clinical psychology. We're also joined by josh baird, a, a Houston native currently pursuing his Master of Education degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Houston. Susanna, I'll start with you. Why is it so important for LGBTQ plus individuals to speak with mental health professionals like yourselves?
Speaker 6:Well, because mental health does not discriminate against or for any particular group and I think there are some unique challenges in the LGBTQ plus community, things that have to be dealt with. I do a lot of family therapy so I find that I'm often called on to assist with that component of being LGBTQ coming out or transitioning with family or maybe creating healthy boundaries with an affirming family.
Speaker 7:How about you, josh? Do you experience similar kind of patterns or trends?
Speaker 8:subject matters we offer a safe and protected space where any individual can speak freely without fear of judgment or consequence. So for so many in this community it can be difficult to find a safe and accepting place to let the raw emotions be fleshed out. So to offer that space where vulnerability can exist is very important.
Speaker 6:I would like to destigmatize the whole conversation around therapy and I might have already turned some people off by saying mental health. But working on your mental health doesn't have to mean that you're a mess. It can just mean that you want to do better, you want to function better, you want to thrive more. Sometimes people just need a tune-up. It's not that there's something pathologically wrong with them.
Speaker 8:Yeah, I completely agree with that. You know, I I like to think in analogies, and in this one I'm thinking about someone who is not overweight but they want to work on their body a little bit and in doing so they decide to go to the gym or take some extra walks around the park. Doesn't mean that they're unhealthy because they want to go do that. It just means that they want to take a little bit of extra time to, like Suzanne said, get a little tune up and find that extra balance.
Speaker 7:Whenever you speak with queer clients, are there any patterns that seem to come up often when speaking with them that might speak to what our community is experiencing, either locally or even nationally? Suzanne.
Speaker 6:Well, I mean obviously the political climate has been very tenacious ever since the orange cheetah got elected the first time.
Speaker 7:Are you seeing the same thing, Josh?
Speaker 8:the first time. Are you seeing the same thing, josh? I am and I'm seeing, with a continuation of the polarizing nature that politics has, as well as the divisiveness it really can create, feelings of isolation or a lack of strong support for the LGBTQ plus community Really goes back to kind of my first statement and saying that's why I pride myself in working with all communities, but especially the LGBTQ plus community, and providing a space that they feel comfortable and secure in sharing their true feelings and knowing that they'll be listened to and just passionately cared for Josh.
Speaker 7:I'm wondering how can LGBTQ plus individuals preserve and protect our mental well-being in the face of hate in seemingly almost every corner?
Speaker 8:troubling time such as this one is just having the necessary support and finding the systems in which you can find empowerment and be empowered by others who can support and care for you in a time of loneliness or feeling isolated Because having empowered individuals around them to assist in nurturing those hurt by dangerous rhetoric, by employing yourself with truthful statements rather than latching on to untrue stories that you may see online and headlines that may bring pain or defeating thoughts.
Speaker 7:Suzanne, how about you? What do you think that queer individuals can do to preserve and protect our mental well-being?
Speaker 6:I absolutely agree with Josh that the support system is vital and if you don't have a healthy support system, working on seeking one out. And then also I encourage a lot of my clients to do kind of a reality check on what is actually directly affecting their day-to-day life and what do they actually have control over. Of course, we all have control over going out to vote, but we aren't in office actually making and passing these laws. We can all make phone calls and write letters trying to differentiate what is a futile concern because it's out of our control and what is a real thing that you can take action on. So I like to encourage my clients to have affirmations about themselves so they can remind themselves of their own value in the face of any alienation that's coming from society.
Speaker 7:Could you speak a bit more about affirmations Like what could that look like?
Speaker 6:Affirmations are statements. I mean, it's probably out of your generation. There used to be this guy on SNL called Stuart Smalley or something, and he would say in the mirror like I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and gosh darn it, people like me. Real affirmations would be things that you create for yourself I'm a good person, I'm a good friend, I caring. Things that you create for yourself I'm a good person, I'm a good friend, I'm caring like personality traits generally, and that you're willing to actually say these things to yourself multiple times a day to remind yourself of your own value, even if other people seem to be trying to tear you down.
Speaker 7:That component that you mentioned of other people trying to tear you down, I think is very prevalent, especially on social media, formerly known as Twitter, josh, doom scrolling. Doom scrolling is something that I call the self-inflicted mental anguish of scrolling through the dark corners of social media and depressing news stories. Do you have any advice on how to combat doom scrolling, josh?
Speaker 8:Young. So it's difficult, right? Because we, for the most part, love to be online. That's where we get our information, that's where we get our entertainment, that's where we get our dopamine hits, that's how we are stimulated for the most part, and it can be hard to get away from. It can really be viewed as an addiction way to label it, but in reality, having a hard time getting away from your phone, even though you realize, especially with social media, it can be bringing down your emotions and putting you in a negative space.
Speaker 8:A few things that I've personally equipped in my own life that might be beneficial for others to hear really setting boundaries for myself and how I use my phone, utilizing the clock app on my phone and setting timers and holding myself accountable to when that timer goes off, saying, okay, I told myself that this was the plan that I was going to go by and I'm going to follow that and set my phone down even for a little bit to try to get back to what's in front of me rather than looking down onto what is out there.
Speaker 8:Another thing that I really appreciate personally and I think would be beneficial is getting outside, taking a break from being on the phone and trying to go for a walk, or sitting outside and sipping an ice cold glass of iced tea and trying to stay in the shade and trying to get back to the roots of maybe finding a good book or reaching out to a friend to see if they'd like to do something that's not technology related. Let's go for a walk together, let's get dinner and just catch up, because sometimes getting back to your roots when it comes to just normal face-to-face human interaction can provide very beneficial results and really bring you back to a sense of stability rather than everything is crashing down around us online.
Speaker 7:Dan, I'm curious do you also have clients that experience doom-scrolling or cell phone social media addiction, and do you also have any tips on how to combat that?
Speaker 6:Absolutely. I want to piggyback on what Josh said. I mean, I liken it to picking at a scab, like why are we doing that? You're getting some kind of chemical reaction in your brain, some kind of dopamine hit, and you have to counteract that with other things that provide the same stimulation in a different way. It's important to, just like Josh said, engage in other activities. I also have clients that will set an alarm for themselves. They'll use the phone apps, but also maybe, if they tend to do it at night, they'll set an alarm that like okay, at 1030, it's time to put the phone down and go to bed. And also, I asked them to make sure are you looking at an equal number of positive things online as you are negative things online? You can find inspirational material online and supportive material online If you make an effort. I like to validate that it's serving a purpose. But what purpose is it serving and how could you serve that purpose for yourself in a healthier way?
Speaker 7:I really appreciate both of y'all's time and, lastly, I don't think this is a question that's ever asked enough of mental health professionals, but I just wanted to check in with y'all to see how are you doing? Are y'all doing all right, josh Are you okay.
Speaker 8:Yes, thank you so much for asking. I really appreciate that I'm doing well.
Speaker 7:And how about you, Susanne? Are you doing all right?
Speaker 6:Thank you, davis. Yeah, we don't get asked that enough, but that's okay because that's not our client's job. Some of us have our own therapists, which I highly encourage, and there's jokes about that with our clients that they have a grand therapist Just the government overall. I know it's going to take probably decades to undo some of this damage, but I just need to know that it's going to be undone.
Speaker 7:And I'm just really thankful that we have people like y'all to speak with. Whenever everything around us is just too overwhelming and depressing, we have y'all to help process and guide us through it.
Speaker 6:We're honored when people invite us into their lives as facilitators.
Speaker 7:Thank you so much, Suzanne Senn and Josh Baird with Ajana Therapy.
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 9:This is Deborah Moncrief-Bell and I'm delighted today to be talking to Janan. Janan is a comic based in Houston and has quite an interesting background from her early beginnings. She is a native born Texas, born in Austin, spent a lot of time in Dallas and then ended up in Houston. Janan, I caught your act when you opened for Christian Key at the Houston Improv and I was really tickled by your set because you do have a very interesting background, especially for someone, I think, who has gone into comedy. So talk a little bit about what your background is.
Speaker 3:My name is Janan. That is an Arabic name. It's actually mispronounced Arabic because I'm'm half white, so Jinan is how you would say it, with an Arabic accent. And, as you mentioned, I was born in Austin, lived all over Texas. I'm half Palestinian, half white. The white side of me is pretty southern, if you can't tell by the little bit of twang in my accent. And and even though I grew up here in the South in Texas, I mostly went to Islamic school for most of my life as a kid, really kind of dancing between two worlds the Islamic community here in Texas and then just general American society. I spent my teenage years in Dallas, which doesn't hold the best memories for me, so I'm not a huge Dallas fan. And when I moved to Houston I was like, wow, I really love Houston, but if you're in Dallas, no offense.
Speaker 3:I was in Islamic high school in Dallas. I ended up getting expelled. It was a very religious. There's so many Muslims on the planet. Of course, not all Muslims are the same, so anything I say is not like I'm speaking for the entire population, of anyone who's Muslim. But the community that I was in at the time was very, very, very conservative. You know how any community can go. There's gossip, there's this clique versus that clique. So I ended up getting expelled for seeming gay, but then also for passing a note to a boy asking him to the mall. So, yeah, I just was not allowed back in the school after the freshman year, so I started college early.
Speaker 3:I started college at 15 and um did dual credit, my um regular high school courses. I did um self-taught, so I taught myself high school. Uh, yeah, I had a kind of a troubled teenage years then. You know I I for a time was, uh, using all kinds of drugs and luckily never got in that much trouble other than damaging my mental health. I ended up in Austin in my early 20s and I was an unhoused person. I did not have a place to stay for a while. So I had that experience under my belt. So I had that experience under my belt and then I ended up back in Dallas to come back home and just put my head down and get through college.
Speaker 3:I ended up meeting my wife in Dallas. I ended up beginning a yoga practice then as well, and I attribute that to one of the things that's really helped save my life, and I attribute that to one of the things that's really helped save my life, as stereotypical as it sounds. I immediately started doing yoga teacher training and became a yoga teacher. My wife and I ended up moving to Houston. I have been teaching yoga here since, so I've been teaching yoga for about 11 years now. I started stand-up comedy about seven years ago because I could not stop from making jokes all the time while I taught yoga and it seemed like a natural extension of something I wanted to do. And I perform comedy, I teach yoga, I own a business and I have a daughter now.
Speaker 9:I was listening to your guest spot on 10 Years Out podcast. You are very serious and I have found that to be true of many of the comedians that I've known over the years. Anybody that is interested in learning more can go to 10 Years Out podcast and the episode six, heaven on Earth. Explain a little bit about what you mean by heaven on earth.
Speaker 3:One of my teachers says this, and we live by it is you got to be light enough to go the distance, because existence is kind of a wild ride and a lot of stuff happens to a human a lot of it not that great. When I'm off stage, I mean, maybe I'm, maybe serious is not the right word, but definitely, uh, I think a lot. I, I, I would love um to help be someone who uplifts the world, uh, from some of the definitely like the serious issues that we have. So, so, heaven on earth, I have, over my life, which is now 37 years, discovered that, as much as I wanted to run from it and not think about it and live without it, that spirituality is a very important part of what it is to be human and a very essential part of someone's healing journey. And that can look different for everybody.
Speaker 3:I'm not saying any specific kind of religion or belief system.
Speaker 3:We have such I keep saying the word journey, and that's really what it is such an immense journey on this planet as humans and given that there's so many of us, so many different lives, so much going on and the human race has such a big past.
Speaker 3:I mean the cycles of violence are present and happening and as someone who's experienced a good amount of trauma and then known others who have, and especially being a part of the queer community and the Muslim community and everything in between that some days it can really feel like there's hell on earth, like walking through hell has been my experience some years and I could just have let it be that way and live my life and just did some things in the middle and then died. But I one day realized that if there is any purpose to this life, if there is any point, it is to do my best in whatever smaller big ways that I can to help bring more heaven on earth, because I think that's where those dogmatic religions miss, as they talk about it like it's something far away that you'll get to eventually. It's things that apply now, not later. And in a roundabout way I think I'm answering your question, but it is a very deep topic that we could probably talk about for hours.
Speaker 9:It seems like you developed this philosophy about life that has served you because, like you said, you could have gone in many different directions. It could have gotten very, very dark, dark and the fact that you have moved on to have this very special kind of life where you are doing things that you love doing and that you bring that heaven on earth into your daily practice, and that's not just from the yoga. I believe I heard somewhere you said that in some aspects people look at yoga as a religious thing and it can be and is, and I know a lot of people get a spiritual component to it. But are there elements from being brought up Muslim that also inform?
Speaker 3:you Totally. I'm in such an exploration right now. Actually, now that I have my daughter and she's still a little baby, you know I went through a whole existential crisis of, oh my gosh, like what is the purpose of life? What will I teach my daughter? What is the best way?
Speaker 3:Since I grew up so religiously, it's taken me a long time to tease apart the truths, the deep spiritual truths that are taught in Islam and other religions, from the dogma that actually is, I would predict, is a man-made and meant to control rather than inspire and help and support. I grew up praying five times a day in the. I wouldn't even say it's traditional. That's just like a main part of the religion to pray five times a day. I grew up fasting during the month of Ramadan and a lot, a lot of other different religious practices, and for a long time I just went a 180. I was like I'm not going to do anything that looks like anything religious at all.
Speaker 3:Yoga is an exercise and it's. I was kind of lying to myself, not thinking it was spiritual. It was deeply spiritual. So now in this part of my life where I'm bringing various things that I've grown up with to like what I practice now, like the praying five times a day. I don't necessarily do that in the typical way. You would see a Muslim doing it. I've seen that it's helpful to ground myself multiple times a day in a quiet moment to regulate my breath and remember to be thankful, like to have gratitude, and to remember that, like, I'm not alone.
Speaker 9:As you said, you went to Islamic school. You wore a hijab, you had a very conservative surroundings, your mother from the deep South and your dad, who was actually a Palestinian refugee. He ended up being born in Kuwait, not Palestine, because of the conflicts over there. Something kind of interesting happened when you came out to your mom.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so my parents are. They're divorced and my mom is queer. And that all happened when I was man. I don't even remember the exact age I was. I know I was maybe 20, so, like almost an adult, I have a queer mom, my dad. He's very religious and it was a big shock. So they divorced.
Speaker 3:And it's so interesting how things end up working out, because I didn't talk to my dad for like a little while after the divorce happened and I was really in my survival mode too. This was like when I was still using drugs and really not very present and living a fairly unhealthy lifestyle. So it's a little foggy to me, honestly. But after a while my dad reached out to me and my siblings and asked if we would take a yoga class with him, which I was like I didn't even know what it was. I had no idea what yoga was. I honestly thought it was going to be like Taibo or some sort of Jane Fonda, like jazzercise business or maybe martial arts.
Speaker 3:So he eventually got me to go to a yoga class with him and I didn't know what the heck was happening, but I just really liked it and I just kept going to yoga with my dad. We did yoga teacher training together and then I came out to my dad because it was in that environment where there was a community support to be able to do it, but then also the most connection I had with my dad up until that moment and he was great at the time. We've gone through kind of an up and down journey of him being religious and accepting the lifestyle that he's not used to accepting. And that was 10, that was, oh my gosh, like 12, 13 years ago now. And so, yeah, my mom has a long time partner that she's with.
Speaker 9:I tell you this should be a sitcom. I don't think my family would like that very much. Well, speaking of that, one of the people that you've opened for is Houston's own Mo Amir. You share the Palestinian heritage. What has it been like knowing him and being around him?
Speaker 3:Oh, mo's a great, great guy. I got to work closely with him Was it late last year or something like that, as he was beginning to film season two of his show and I'm just so proud to have a fellow Palestinian especially here in the South, not in LA like a person I know that has just done so much for the cause and bringing awareness and doing it in a way that's as a fellow comedian is really inspiring for me. I didn't know that being a comedian was a form of being an activist until I've met folks like Mo. So, yeah, he's been great and he's a really good guy.
Speaker 9:That second season is just wonderful. I mean, there's so many messages in there and so many truths and I just highly recommend it. It's called Mo. He grew up in A-Leaf. It's really a great show and he seems like a really great person and it's filmed in Houston. Oh yeah, it was great seeing all those Houston landmarks and things Say a little bit about your mother's. I guess it's your mother's mother, your grandmother.
Speaker 3:I miss my grandma. She passed away gosh three, four years ago and lived to an old age of 90. We weren't really too sure actually how old, but 92, 93, something like that. Grandma is just how I know her First name, vera, and that is my daughter's middle name, so she passed along that name.
Speaker 3:When I was growing up, my grandma lived with us most of the time and so she helped raise me. She was born in Weatherford, texas, so my grandma had the thickest country accent you did ever hear. She just was like a third parent for me. Honestly, anyone out there who has a grandparent that you love you just know exactly what I'm talking about. And my grandma was just so great Like. She had her quirkiness, she was so silly and weird and she loved like. Her favorite person on the planet was Ellen DeGeneres, which you know. She just was like such an ally from the beginning, never had a prejudiced bone in her body Like. I've had friends of all colors, sizes and shapes and I'd just come over to Grandma's house and she'd make us some iced tea and hang out and it was a highlight, a big highlight of my childhood to have my grandma in my life.
Speaker 9:Yeah, it sounds like she was a very impactful influence on you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and the interesting thing was my grandma was quiet and shy and didn't stir the pot. She would probably not say that she thinks she was significant in any way, shape or form and she's kind of a homebody, stayed home a lot. If you love someone and just show them love, that is one of the biggest transformational experiences that we can do as humans. So, like I don't need to be a big, loud, famous person to make a change, my grandma showed me it just happens in the small moments of your relationships.
Speaker 9:What has been a special moment for you in your career?
Speaker 3:I've been doing comedy almost eight years now and I still feel in the beginning stages of it, which I guess is a good thing. It means I'm not arrogant yet, I guess and it's every day still feels pretty special. I do a lot of local shows, anywhere from like one person in the audience to when I did the improv with either Maria Bamford or Kristen it was sold out. So I think it's like 500 or something. I mean, those moments really stand out is when I get to work with someone I really, really admire. So working with Kristen was just fantastic A few months ago. Maria Bamford is someone who's inspired me to be a comedian because I got introduced to her comedy by my now late cousin. I had the opportunity to feature for her last year and that was like wow, I could never do comedy again and I've made it. This is it. So I got to meet her and it was one of the situations where you do want to meet your heroes because Maria Bamford is awesome. So those are big highlights is when I've gotten to work with folks that I've seen from afar for so long and then I meet them in the flesh and I say something that makes them laugh. That's heaven on earth.
Speaker 3:Right there you have your own podcast. Yeah, I have taken a huge hiatus from my wife being pregnant to my daughter being born. There has been, like oh my gosh, over a year since I put out an episode and I do intend to continue it. It's called See Paradox. That's see, like seeing with your eyes and then a colon, and then paradox, and it definitely is. On the more serious side you mentioned earlier about comedians being serious it's a philosophy podcast. It's just little bite-sized episodes, like about 10 minutes-ish each, because something that I have really looked toward for a lot of wisdom has been Taoism, which is an Eastern religion and philosophy. It's spelled T-A-O the Tao. You've probably seen it written. The philosophy is all about paradoxes and how we can hold two opposite truths at once. That is like an ultimate truth. So every episode I go over how living from the principle of paradox can help up, level and support your life.
Speaker 9:You do have material on YouTube, and where else can people catch you?
Speaker 3:I'm working on a small tour later this year likely it'll be'll be local, like all the Texas cities, maybe go over to Louisiana and I'll be putting that on my website. That is still under construction, but you could go and favorite it if you want. And it's JananSiamcom J-A-N-A-N-S-I-A-M.
Speaker 3:I've been putting a lot of my energy in the past few months on teaching yoga at a yoga studio that I own in the East End and we just opened three weeks ago, so that's been a lot of my focus now, and so folks could take my classes online if you want, because we do live stream the classes. And the other place where you might find my content is just simply following me on Instagram. I plan to maybe do stuff on TikTok that whole thing where they were going to take it away and then brought it back. I kind of like put a pause on TikTok, but my Instagram is my first name and my maiden name, so same as my website, janan Siam J-A-N-A-N-S-I-A-M, and that's where most folks can catch me. Oh, and if you wanted to take my online class, you can see. I post about it on my Instagram as well.
Speaker 9:Well, thanks for being with us today on Queer Voices.
Speaker 10:I'm Ava Davis 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 March 1st 2025. Two young men in the Indonesian province of Aceh are to be publicly beaten with a cane for having gay sex. They were arrested on November 7th after anti-queer vigilantes broke into their rented room and discovered them naked and hugging each other. Under Islamic law, they were tried for morality offenses. The 18 and 24-year-old college students were sentenced to 80 and 85 lashes respectively. Sakawana is the single name of the judge overseeing the trial. That's a custom for many Indonesians Is the single name of the judge overseeing the trial. That's a custom for many Indonesians. Her ruling found During the trial it was proven that the defendants committed illicit acts, including kissing and having sex, while the maximum penalty is 100 lashings in public and up to 8 years in prison.
Speaker 10:Sakawana lessened the sentences because neither had a police record. Both were polite in court and they are otherwise considered to be outstanding students. The older of the two will be flogged the most. The pair accepted their sentences without appeal. Sharia has been the law in Aceh province since a 2006 dispute with federal authorities allowed it to adopt Islamic legal practice. The rest of Indonesia is governed by secular laws. More than 100 people each year in the province have been publicly caned for various morality offenses. The scheduled public caning in Aceh comes on the heels of last week's raid on what authorities called a gay sex party in Jakarta, 56 men were arrested in a private hotel room and charged with violating the country's secular laws against obscenity and pornography.
Speaker 11:British law does not recognize non-binary as a gender, according to the United Kingdom Court of Appeal. Cybersecurity expert Ryan Castellucci moved from Los Angeles in 2019. They obtained legal recognition as non-binary in California in 2021 and were issued a US passport listing their gender as X. The following year they tried to have their gender recorded as non-binary on a UK UK gender recognition certificate, a document which changes someone's legal sex. They lost the bid in an earlier High Court challenge. Meanwhile, a Trump administration executive order has eliminated the ex-gender passport option. Lord Justice Singh deferred to Parliament in dismissing the appeal, saying that the UK's two-gender policy was up to lawmakers to address, not the judiciary. Castellucci called their efforts to be legally recognized as non-binary an ordeal, but their lawyers say they are considering a further appeal At 30-something. They're looking ahead saying I plan to live the rest of my life here and eventually die here. Something. They're looking ahead saying I plan to live the rest of my life here and eventually die here. Being denied the dignity of knowing my death certificate will be correct makes my stomach turn.
Speaker 10:Iowa's transgender people are no longer protected from discrimination. Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has signed a bill that revokes the addition of gender identity to the Iowa Civil Rights Act in 2007. Thus, the current Republican-dominated state legislature has undone the statute by the previous Democratic administration and affirmed by the state Supreme Court in 2022. Hundreds of people rallied at the state capitol building to protest the bill's imminent passage.
Speaker 2:We are trans-Live here together. State.
Speaker 4:Capitol building to protest the voices of the people.
Speaker 10:The Republicans argued that revoking gender identity protections in civil rights laws will make it easier for the state to defend its other anti-trans laws, such as the ban on trans student competitors in female sports. That's already being challenged in court. Iowa is now the first state in US history to excise a class originally granted civil rights protection. Max Mowitz of Queer Advocacy Group 1 Iowa told the Des Moines Register this law will cause real harm, making daily life harder and more uncertain for countless Iowans who simply want to live openly and authentically.
Speaker 11:History will not look kindly on this moment. Two executive orders by US President Donald Trump that threatened the civil rights of LGBTQ people and other US citizens are already being roadblocked in court, and inclusion programs in higher education and the private sector were impermissibly vague and threatened to chill constitutionally protected speech and activity. Abelson issued a preliminary injunction this week blocking their enforcement. The ruling noted that the administration's effort to uproot DEI programs failed to define key terms such as equity-related and illegal DEI. Abelson was not convinced that the order was necessary to root out illegal discrimination. This challenge is being led by national education groups and the City of Baltimore. At least one other lawsuit against the anti-diversity order has been filed by Lambda Legal and the Legal Defense Fund on behalf of the National Urban League, the National Fair Housing Alliance and AIDS Foundation Chicago.
Speaker 10:The block on a second Trump order is keeping transgender women in US women's prisons from being transferred to men's prisons.
Speaker 10:That action was to comply with the Trump decree that US law recognizes only two genders male and female. Washington DC-based US District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that the move would violate trans women's constitutional rights and put them in jeopardy of serious harm. Lamberth had previously issued an order to protect three trans women inmates from imminent transfer. The latest ruling expands that protection to nine additional plaintiffs who were rounded up by Bureau of Prison Officials and told they would be immediately transferred to men's prisons. According to court filings, the Trump order also terminates current gender-affirming health care for trans inmates. The judge believes the lawsuit challenging the Trump anti-trans order is likely to be overturned. On Eighth Amendment protections against imposing excessive bail, excessive fines or cruel and unusual punishments, Judge Lamberth questioned the Trump administration's motives. He wrote that the order would exacerbate the symptoms of their gender dysphoria, even if they are not subject to physical or sexual violence in their new facility, whether because they will be subject to searches by male correctional officers, made to shower in the company of men referred to as men.
Speaker 11:The US Supreme Court is letting Tennessee's virtual ban on drag performances stand. On February 24th, it decided not to hear a case challenging the law. The legislation was enacted by the Republican-controlled state in 2023. It was ruled unconstitutionally, vague and substantially overbroad by a judge on the US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. However, last July the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision on a technicality. The top court has now let stand its finding that the complainant, friends of George Incorporated Drag Theater Company of Memphis. Friends of George Incorporated Drag Theater Company of Memphis, lacked the legal standing to sue. Another lawsuit challenging Tennessee's drag ban is still working its way through the US judicial system. The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit on behalf of Blount County Pride organizers because the law threatened prosecution of any violators during its 2023 Pride Festival. Prosecution of any violators during its 2023.
Speaker 10:Pride Festival. Finally, however, there was one hearing the US High Court did hold this week the reverse discrimination case of a straight, white, cisgender woman who claims that she was denied a promotion and demoted after allegedly less qualified queer colleagues gained positions ahead of her. 60-year-old Marlene Ames worked for years for the Ohio Department of Youth Services, the state's juvenile justice system. A lower appeals court ruled in her case that a so-called majority group plaintiff must meet a higher evidentiary standard than plaintiffs in other biased cases, must meet a higher evidentiary standard than plaintiffs in other bias cases. In other words, it's harder for heterosexual workers to prove discrimination based on sexual orientation or for white employees claiming racial bias. The Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling before the current term ends, in late June. Ruling before the current term ends in late June. A number of civil rights groups are deeply concerned that a win for Ames could open a Pandora's box of countless reverse discrimination cases, and that could be especially dangerous in the current climate against diversity, equity and inclusion.
Speaker 11:That's News Wrap, global Queer News news with attitude for the week ending March 1st 2025. Follow the news in your area and around the world. An informed community is a strong community.
Speaker 10:News Wrap is written by Greg Gordon and Lucia Chappell, produced by Brian Shazor and brought to you by you.
Speaker 11: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 Joe Bainline. Stay healthy.
Speaker 10:And I'm Ava Davis. Stay safe.
Speaker 1:This has been Queer Voices, heard on KPFT Houston and as a podcast available from several podcasting sources. Check our webpage 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. The News Wrap segment is part of another podcast called this Way Out, which is produced in Los Angeles.
Speaker 5: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 1:For Queer Voices. I'm Glenn Holt, Thank you.
