February 11 - Jack Berger On Building Community Power, Tribute to Carl Han and Kennedy Loftin

In this episode, author R. Lee Ingalls speaks in depth with Jack Berger about his life and legacy as a community leader. Jack has just been named Institutional Giving Officer at the Montrose Center. Lee talks to him about coming out, his career in sports, and how he affects change in any organization he enters. Then the whole QUEER VOICES team assembles to honor Carl Han and Kenney Loftin, two men we recently lost at the end of January. We also reveal the candidates for Grand Marshals of PRIDE HOUSTON 2026's parade. 

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:

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Transcript

Show Open & Episode Roadmap

SPEAKER_03 0:02

This is KPFT 90.1 FM Houston, 89.5 FM Galveston, 91.9 FM Huntsville, and worldwide on the internet at KPF.org.

Brett 0:24

You are listening to Queer Voices, a radio show on KPFT and a podcast wherever you get yours. This show has been around for over five decades, and we're here to talk to the LGBTQIA Plus community and our friends. This episode starts with an interview with Jack Berger. He has been recently named the Institutional Giving Officer for the Montrose Center. Author Arlie Ingalls does a deep dive with Jack about coming out later in life, his career, and how he became such an influential member of our community. Then we assemble our team of Queer Voices contributors and producers to discuss the legacies of two LGBTQIA Plus legends here in Houston who recently passed, Carl Hahn and Kennedy Lofton. Carl and Kennedy both helped the Montreux Center in unique ways, touching so many lives along the way. Also, we get to talk about who was recently nominated for the race of Pride Grand Marshals here in Houston for the 2026 Pride season. Queer Voices starts now.

unknown 1:36

R.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Lee Ingalls here, and I am so happy to be joined by one of our community leaders, Jack Berger. Jack and I haven't known each other but just a few years, but I can tell you the longer I've gotten to know him, the more impressed I am with uh not only what he does, but the uh how he contributes to our community. So I thought that his message was a good one and that we should all learn from what he's been doing. So, Jack, thank you for joining me and welcome to Queer Voices.

SPEAKER_08 2:03

Thank you so much. It's good to be back on. I've uh been on a few times over the years, but always good to uh to talk to you.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

We appreciate all your all your input. So, Jack, today I wanted to talk to you a little bit about you and to get that started, just give our listeners a background on who you are, where you came from, how you got here.

Coming Out And Sports Career

SPEAKER_08 2:22

My name is Jack Berger. My pronouns are he, him, his. And I have been part of Houston's LGBTQ plus community since about 2005. My coming out story is um uh hopefully unique, but uh I have the honor of being uh father of two amazing sons, one fabulous granddaughter. I grew up in upstate New York. Came to Houston in 1986 with the U.S. Olympic Committee to work on a very special event that they were hosting at that time. I made a good impression. So when they decided to create a full-time office to bring sporting events into the city, I was chosen to be the first uh executive director of the Greater Houston Sports Foundation, which is still involved, and that's why you see the World Cups and World Baseball Championships. I am a sporty gay. I spent the first 25 plus years of my career in the sports world. Was very fortunate though, coinciding with coming out, uh going to work for OutSmart magazine. And that sort of dropped me into the deep end of the community pool, and the rest has been a great ride of adventure and fun and volunteering and a variety of different organizations, but here we are today.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

I know that your work in different organizations has been very impressive. And yes, I did want to touch on the OutSmart because that kind of gave you access to knowing the different organizations in the city and those that piqued your interest. I know that you were president of Bunnies on the Bayou for a while. And how how long were you with them and what was your goal when you joined them?

OutSmart Magazine & Community Entry

SPEAKER_08 4:02

So when I first joined Bunnies, you had to be invited in by an existing host. And I was fortunate enough to meet some folks through OutSmart, and it was a good opportunity for me as a uh new member of the community to be part of an organization that was doing really great work. So even in the early 2004, 5-6 era, we were raising about$40,000 to$50,000 that was being distributed to uh several different LGBT locally based uh nonprofits. And I really was impressed by what I saw because these folks were true volunteers. Literally, Bunnies has a P.O. box, a storage unit, and uh and a website, basically. Nobody is paid, everything is raised in advance so that everything on the day of Bunnies on Easter Sunday goes to the the nonprofit beneficiaries. And I just really thought that this organization captured everything that I wanted to be a part of. It was across the board, probably the most diverse group in terms of funding that I had seen. So happy to be a part of it. I started really just to have something to do and use my time well, and it sort of rolled into a leadership role. I'm a big fan of if you have a complaint or you think it can be better, you better be part of the solution. So uh was happy to donate some time. Bunnies started to grow during that particular time in terms of upping the amount donated, the size of the events grew. We started to bring in nationally recognized DJs and talent. But hats off to all the folks, uh the late Dan Metter, Tad Dvorak, all the local DJs that worked for a dollar uh so that we could raise more money for the beneficiaries. It was just an amazing uh time. You saw people volunteer to set up tents, VIP tents, bartend. It was just, it was just a terrific coming together of the community. You know, a lot of people always thought, oh, bunnies, that's that's a big sex party, you know, not where I was sitting. So, and the work was so important. The great thing about being part of the organization, I don't know that there's a better day than when you distribute the checks because the beneficiaries will find out well in advance, but they don't know how much they're gonna get. So they know they're gonna get something. And to see grown adults crying, because their organizations can keep the lights on or do a better job or do more, that's an amazing feeling. I would love to be individually philanthropic. My career path and family life doesn't necessarily allow for me to be a big contributor, but if I can sign a check that is substantial through an organization, sign me up all day long. I'm happy to volunteer my time and and and and make things work. So Bunny's was really the biggest catapult um for me uh and catalyst, so that I could jump in and and and make make a difference early.

Bunnies On The Bayou: Mission & Growth

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Yeah, and you make two points that I want to really come back to to make sure that they um hit home correctly. And one is the uh you talked about the writing the checks, et cetera. And and in the past, I've heard you say um you're that's not necessarily your gift is to write those checks personally, but you can uh uh donate your time and energy uh to make the organization more successful. And that's just as important, if not more important.

SPEAKER_08 7:50

Absolutely. And I think everybody has superpowers. Me, I'm kind of an organizer in a loudmouth. Um, you know, I like to get people organized, I like to connect dots. I also feel like this community is very, very generous. And there are ways that help elevate events and elevate uh organizations that may not just be a check. Check writers are great. We love people who can write checks, but not everyone can do that. But if you've got a couple of hours of time every month or once in a while, or you know, I highly recommend it because it's so fulfilling. It's such a great opportunity to be part of something larger. And, you know, I I think you only have a couple of shots to do some good stuff. So you gotta you gotta make make good use of your time.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Yeah, yeah, no, I absolutely agree. And point well made. The other point that I wanted to to make that we kind of uh skimmed over was the growth of that organization during the time that you were in the leadership was more than uh twice what it had been.

SPEAKER_08 8:55

Yeah, uh, we were the first uh group, it almost seems like a graduating class every year, but um, you know, we were the first ones to get it up over$100,000. And, you know, again, when you look at it without a full-time staff, without an office, with you know, folks that do this for a living, quite frankly. We had people from all walks of life, whether they were um software folks from Continental Airlines or uh, you know, bar owners or or ad salespeople, uh, you know, we all came together uh for the common good. And we relied on the community to host events, whether they were at bars or clothing stores in Montrose to help us sell tickets, different events. So bunnies started to grow without just an Easter Sunday event. We added um an event called Snow Bunnies in the middle of winter. We also added bunnies in heat, partially tongue in cheek, but that's what bunnies do well. So again, that just helped make it such that when we did host the major event on Easter Sunday, everything was already paid for. All of the commitments that we had were taken care of. And that was especially important because it's an outdoor event. If it rains, people might not show up. And when I was president, online payments and things like that were just sort of starting. Most of what we did was cash. It would not be unusual to have uh$100,000 in cash on Easter Sunday in a big red igloo cooler waiting to go to the bank the next day when it opens. So um it was a lot of fun. And it's a little maybe it's a little easier now that everybody can prepay online with their Apple Pay and whatever and and and make it cashless. But um, that's the best we had. And and I think there are a whole lot of nonprofits that would agree that uh it was important to have bunnies as a big presence at the time.

SPEAKER_00 10:53

Yeah, yeah. No, they did great work, and I used to go for years. The heat now kind of gets me, but yeah, uh it's a great organization. I'm not surprised at what you did for them. But you have really volunteered your time and effort in a wide variety of organizations. Tell me what it is that causes you to look at an organization and then decide to step in.

Volunteering Versus Check Writing

SPEAKER_08 11:15

Well, I think it's sort of a combination of things. I think I look at the makeup first, and a lot of times it's been a form of peer pressure, or you know, you just have a good friend like Gary Wood who says, You're gonna be on my board of directors. And I'm like, okay, sign me up. How do you know what does that entail? Uh other organizations like uh EPA, the Executive Professional Association of Houston, which is Houston's longest-running professional uh networking group, has been around for I think 47 years. Uh when I first got involved, that was more of a business networking opportunity. And I saw that as a chance to represent OutSmart and maybe meet some other business owners in a more casual setting. And that organization has a little more social side to it. It does have some philanthropy, at least one big project a year. But for me, again, I just enjoy being part of the leadership and being part of the steering mechanism that helps organizations grow. That group now, I'm still currently involved as the past president after seven individual one-year terms through the pandemic and beyond, but uh now has uh 200 members. That's that's grown greatly. Again, much more diverse. One of the things I wanted to do was get more women involved and and and be more representative of the community. I think what we have now is as diverse from an age standpoint, whether it's gender, sexuality, whatever. It's it's much more representative of our community. And I'm really proud of the growth and how that organization has continued to change itself up a little bit, has has pivoted a little bit. Last year we raised over$50,000 that went to Lazarus House. We'll be going there next week to see the fruits of the labor because they needed some renovations. And they do amazing work in the community. And not a lot of folks know that. You know, Apple picks one fabulous charity every year. Uh, this year they're going to do the Montrose Center. In years past, we helped out uh Omega House. We redid the kitchens and painted the rooms over there. So the ability, again, to make a difference and help the folks that are on the ground helping our community. Sandy and the folks over at Omega House, they're just amazing. They're they're the work that they're doing to help folks that are in hospice care. Hopefully, some of them still have family members that you know are available and around. But if not, they fill in and they're the folks that people see on the way out. It's just, it's just, it's real easy to do that. So if I'm at a meeting and I've got two dozen extra cupcakes, I'm gonna drop them off on the next morning for the folks that are doing the work over at uh Avenue 360 and the people that are taking advantage of their services. So there's so many opportunities to get involved. And I think for me, it's just try to figure out what it is that makes sense for you or things that you like the best, whether it's cultural, if it's music, if it's theater, we have so much good stuff going on, and people can get in on a ground floor and and and really make a difference.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Yeah, yeah, very interesting. And uh interesting enough that Omega House, when it was first being um conceptualized, even before they owned the property here in Montrose and uh before they had even gotten their original grant, I was uh on their fundraising committee. Oh great. So yeah, some of the very, very early days. So I had the great honor of meeting Eleanor Munger many times. So yeah, or being in her presence. We've talked about the fundraising uh organizations, but there are other organizations that you were either a member of or served in. One of them that you mentioned was one that I found unique and didn't uh know about because I probably wouldn't need to, not being a father, but it's one that's uh a support group.

Scaling Impact & Year-Round Events

SPEAKER_08 15:11

Um it's it's called Fathers First. Um, I'm not sure that it exists now, but that was super important to me and a very wonderful group of guys that were faced with an interesting situation where they were somewhere in the coming out process or not yet ready, but had had children, what we always said was the old-fashioned way, that they had actual actual childbirth that they they participated in. Uh, it wasn't a surrogate, it was not a donation situation, but most of these guys uh were either married in the process of separating or divorced. And somewhere along that journey, uh the support group became super important because we would see uh a handful uh of new folks every month that needed the support. And it was really hard because most of these um guys had some level of guilt or shame or just it was just really hard to take that first step. And we had a few people, you know, they would they'd sort of walk by the room before they would come in, uh thank uh Bering Methodist Church. They they allowed us the space. They did not support or sponsor the organization, but they gave us the space so we could meet. And I think it helped push the process a little further. And in my situation, I got very lucky. My ex-wife didn't hate me, she didn't hinder me from seeing my kids. Some of these challenges the other folks had, and it really made it easy, easier to be able to provide resources because when you first are contemplating getting out of your situation, you think you're the Lone Ranger, you're the only guy going through it, and it's that's just not the case. And luckily, there's enough folks that are somewhere also in the process that can share their experiences and either provide connections or resources or opportunities because just being gay is not grounds for divorce. Um there's a it was a great network for me to be part of. I enjoyed again somehow being the facilitator for a little while, um, because that's kind of what I do. So yeah, Fathers First will always uh have a very big uh piece of my heart. It's you know, it's it's not something like like a board position or anything like that. It's just it's it's kind of a one-off in that it was, you know, it was a support group, but it was so important in my process because as I was coming out, it just gave me a lot of strength and positivity and introduced me to some amazing people. And then again, when you expand your social group and your network, you get introduced to more folks. And uh, you know, if that's how I got to bunnies, possibly, uh, but also some other opportunities came out of those connections. And those guys, 20 years later, are still friends of mine.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

Yeah, yeah. Well, thank you for sharing that. That's an important, important item, one that I wouldn't mind dedicating uh a segment to, because it's you're right. I mean, it's it's it's a little bit different in a community that's full of we are all different. Yeah, yeah. Um I appreciate that. Thank you. Um, and then one of the other organizations that actually uh you are the reason that Brett and I joined the chamber. Um, and not because you brave us or any of that kind of stuff. It was just that you were there, you were present, and you talked about it and piqued our interest and we joined. So yeah.

Choosing Where To Serve

Fathers First: Support For Dads Coming Out

SPEAKER_08 18:45

Yeah, you know, when when when I first started at OutSmart, there was an another iteration of the chamber. And while it was kind of social, we had quarterly meetings at JRs for a happy hour, there wasn't a lot of business being done. So when co-founders Tammy Wallace and Gary Woods started what we now know as the Greater Houston LGBTQ plus chamber of commerce, they'll be celebrating 10 years in February. So umsmart was a founding member. Again, I had the opportunity to be the Outsmart rep, uh, basically, be the OutSmart representative. Uh, got involved basically from day one, started attending the events, became one of their volunteers, may have won the Volunteer of the Year award because I tend to show up a lot, and then was asked to be on the board. And then three years ago, I was asked to uh turn in my board hat and become part of the team that actually runs the programs and special events. So I was thinking it was a perfect job uh for me. I again, I love to connect dots, I love to put people together, self-proclaimed myself the director of fun because I firmly believe that if you're gonna do something, you might as well make it fun. And if not in our community, then where? So I always tried to make sure that we had way too many door prizes, auction items, raffles, just little things that might make a difference. So, you know, on the Pride Breakfast Day, we had multicolor streamers that you walk through like you were walking into Studio 54 or something just totally different. I don't always have a good filter when I'm on the microphone. So again, I might have thrown a couple of quick, hopefully witty remarks out. But again, I I want folks to enjoy their time. And I think what we, if you're gonna wake up at 6 or 6 30 to be at breakfast at eight o'clock and be on target, one of the things I'm most proud of in my chamber days was that we never had to rely on an icebreaker to get people talking at one of those events. They show up at eight and they just boom, they're just talking away. They are ready to engage. And you can see actual business being done. And that's from where I stand, a lot of times when you're in the nonprofit world, you may not see a grant come in for six months. But, you know, if you put two business people together and they're spending money with each other or one versus, you know, boom, that happens right away. And that tangible results are uh enough to keep you going. And again, the chamber went basically from a startup of 20 or so plus founding members to um, you know, now well over uh 570 or so. The Pride in Business Awards this year will have over a thousand people, hopefully twelve hundred. So just a lot of growth, a lot of solid connections. I think that's the best thing. I think when people join the chamber, they tend to stay because they get involved. They see value, and we need to be intentional. Our community needs to support each other. Let's start with us first. So I'm always the guy on the phone talking to the organizations, especially the other nonprofits. Have your event at an LGBT-owned restaurant or owned bar or at least ally that you know that they support the community and they're part of the chamber or they're they're involved with other organizations like the Montreal Center or Lazarus House. And that's not hard to find. I mean, the chamber directory, you don't have to be a member to find out who is a member. And so if you need a doctor, a dentist, a tax attorney, anything, fill in the blank, iDoctor. We got it all. This community has a ton of folks. Let's do business with each other first. And look, I always tell people, you know, if my if the t-shirt guy that's in the directory isn't the best price or gets you them, you know, the stuff that you want on a certain date, that's fine. But get you gave him a chance. Uh you know, we're not going to win 100% of the battles. Unfortunately, you miss every shot you don't take. So if we don't, if we don't have people to help us and support the community, then you know, I think that then the marks missed. And the chamber does a super, super job of getting those people together and at the same table. And and also one of the other huge things that they do is have programs that are of interest to the whole community. You know, we've uh we've, I'm still part of the chamber. The boards and commission folks for Harris County and the city of Houston come to the chamber every year to present basically the how-to get involved, whether it's with your neighborhood tier or you know, everybody wants, I want to be on the port of Houston or the Houston Zoo, or what you got to start in the community first, work your way up. Um, and and you know, there's both Harris County and the city have uh LGBT community organization, you know, committees and and commissions. So again, if you're politically motivated or just give a darn about your community, that's a great way to get involved as well. So there's no shortage of opportunities.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

And I can say with uh from my own experience, I have yet to go to a chamber meeting that I didn't meet new people, we didn't discuss uh business opportunities. Um, yeah, so I I can I absolutely confirm that. Um that was yeah, another step. And then now you have decided to join the uh team at Montro Center.

SPEAKER_08 24:32

Yeah, um, an opportunity came up, and again, and it it it sort of came around full circle this week with the passing of Kennedy Lofton, who was a really good friend. You know, you cannot be in this community, especially for as long as I've been involved with it, and not have some connection to Montrose Center. Well, Bunnies used to have our meetings there, had our board meetings there. There's always been something going on. When the chance came up to sort of join, um it's it's really an all-star team over there. Avery Bellew and Kelly Nichols and the folks over there just are starting to put together a group that is doing amazing work. Their fundraising efforts are growing. So to be able to join them and bring again my corporate connections and dot connecting today. I mean, there the Mantra Center has about five or six decent sized fundraising events a year, two big galas. That's that's in my wheelhouse. I love helping with things like that, but also some smaller uh grants that are out there, just some connections. Um, we're trying to grow the mantra society, which is more of an individual kind of thing, you know, that there's a way, again, for almost everyone to get involved, whether you, if it's not money, please volunteer. If it's not, you know, if you do have the ability to do that, or if you want to put the mantra center in your estate on, you know, as you're leaving Earth, that's okay too. But again, with programs from um, you know, for the youth like Hatch to the Law Harrington Center, you know, we a lot of times we keep taking all this stuff for granted that we have a citizen's residence hall that almost every other city doesn't have. So, you know, we're fortunate enough to have that and and to have to have great programming within those programs. And then that doesn't even start with what the Mantra Center does on a day-to-day basis with mental health and substance abuse and anti-violence and and just boom, it's across the board. I highly recommend some light reading on the on the Mantra Center website to see what what all's involved.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

Yeah, they're a remarkable organization and they are absolutely lucky to have you for sure.

SPEAKER_08 26:51

It's funny because they kept saying, Um, we're so glad you picked us. And I'm like, Okay, okay, I think you picked me, but I'm very excited to be there.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

Yeah, well, it doesn't take long or take much time to spend with you to realize just what uh how valuable your gifts are to uh the community. So appreciated for sure. So anything that you would say to people that are looking to spend some energy, some time, dollars, how would they go about deciding where and what?

Chamber Of Commerce: Connection & Growth

SPEAKER_08 27:19

So I I think I think it's either a combination of things. See where your cohorts, your friends, your social group, are they involved in anything? Across the board, I think for me, I got involved with the Houston Tennis Club because I was a tennis player. Um, and and even in social settings, there are philanthropic opportunities. And so, you know, they have a tennis tournament that's part of a national tour, and they raise somewhere between$10,000 and$20,000 every year. And if you join one of those organizations and either run for office or get appointed, you get a say in where those monies are being spent, where those dollars are going in the community. The Houston Bears just picked the Montreal Center to be the beneficiary for the upcoming year. And a lot of uh a lot of companies now have employee resource groups or ERGs or BRGs. Uh, can you get involved through work? Do they do volunteer work? Do they do days of service? Help steer those. Almost every major company in Houston has something involved. All the 67 or eight companies that are part of the chamber, the big corporate impact partners, have an employee resource group. You can get involved through work and sort of get credit for what it is you're doing. Let's spend their money so you don't just spend your own. But if you do have an interest, let's say the Houston Pride Band, if you played an instrument in high school, if you sang in the choir or you just sang in the shower, the, you know, the Pride Chorus always is looking for new voices. You know, they might not put you front and center with a solo right off the bat, but again, get involved. You know, they do some fun things. They sing the national anthem like Pride Nights at the Astros or the Sugarland Space Cowboys or the start of the AIDS walk. I'm sorry, walk to end HIV. Um, you know, figure out what it is. Is it a cause? Is it an organization? You know, our trans communities have been under attack really bad lately. You know, get involved if that's something that that hits home for you. So I think for from where I'm at, just pick up an outsmour, pick up something, you know, talk to people, find out where where their the needs are the greatest. We're not always really good at asking, but I think we're getting better. The more information that we can get out into the community and people can see the needs, and just I would say be a pest, just kind of show up, see if it's something that you want to participate in. Most of these organizations, whether it's EPA or other, you know, you can go to your first three events as a guest. You don't have to join right away. Kick the tires, see what works. Is it a cultural thing? Again, just figure out what you're passionate about, spend some time with it. Can always change. For me, it's see one thing sort of has led to another. And every couple of years, you do something different.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

Yeah, yeah. Well, thank you. That's very well said. And yeah, uh appreciated. I do know that yes, every organization that you've been involved in has done remarkably well, and you've been a true asset to all of them. So, and I I expect you will be there at Montreal Center as well. So, any any final thoughts?

SPEAKER_08 30:32

You know, I just want to say thank you, I think, to the community. I really um I didn't have any roots um in 2005 when I came in. I I remember getting a call from Tom Fricky, who was the assistant publisher of OutSmart, and he said, Um, I have your resume here. Um, I know you sent it in a year ago, but uh and is there any way you still might be interested in in working for us? And I was working for the Houston Dynamo doing some group ticket sales and VIP stuff, and I was like, you know what, let's take a look. And and I made the jump. So, so glad I did. It was a leap of faith. I have a great support network that made sure my uh rent was paid and my uh child support was paid. And eventually I was able to sort of pay back the community, I feel like. But it's been a very rewarding uh 20 years, and I I really just look forward to the future. I just think once we get the Austin, Washington, DC thing figured out, it can only be better if this is the worst and our community is still this strong, whether they take away a crosswalk or whatever, that's not gonna stop us. We're we're not we're in it for the long haul. And I think you've got some amazing people in this community that will continue the fight. And I think the future looks pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 31:57

Good. Good. Well, thank you. Thank you again, and uh thank you for joining us today.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

My pleasure. This radio program, Clear Voices, has existed since the 1970s on KPFT. We have this little crew of folks working every week to produce what's no longer unique because we're almost mainstream now, but we're still an important voice that might not otherwise get heard because it's not on that many places. So KPFT is very important to give voices to those who might not otherwise have voices. So as Glenn always says, you participate by listening, you should also participate by supporting the station. So please go to kpft.org and make your donation right away.

Brett 33:01

Hi there, this is Brett Cullum, and I am joined by all of the queer voices as far as contributors, most of them anyway. We have uh Brian Plavinka, Deborah Moncreek Bell, Jacob Newsome, and right next to me, Arlie Ingalls. Uh, we all wanted to gather about because we're our community has really lost two huge figures in it with Kennedy Lofton and Carl Hahn. They really brought a lot to our community and they were very strong, queer voices. We really wanted to talk about that loss and and talk about them together. In a weird way, I associate them together. I mean, don't you guys? It's things like that happens.

SPEAKER_01 33:35

Well, they both were closely associated with the Montrose Center. And if you look online, you'll see lots of pictures of them together at various uh events. Uh, Carl often DJ'd at events that the Montrose Center has, and Kennedy had been the development director, and so he was always attending those events.

Brett 33:57

Carl passed first on January 26th. He was 60 years old, and he had gone to the No Kings March protest in New Orleans, where he contracted an RNA virus and it escalated in his system, and it kind of became a heart infection and a stroke. So he he was not sick very long, uh, but he passed away on an operating table. They were trying to give uh cure out some brain fluid, I believe, was what the complication was. Kennedy passed away three days later, January 29th. Uh so January was a rough, rough month. He was only 44 years old and passed away from brain cancer. So they both had issues with the brain. So it's a very sad three-day period.

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SPEAKER_01 34:40

The virus that Carl contracted, apparently there was already an issue there with his heart, but the virus hit him and caused complications, whereas I believe it was two other friends that he was with, they were sick, but they were just sick for a little while and recovered. So whatever happens, sometimes there's just something there and people can't really recover from it. Uh and in the way that I knew Carl, I first met him because he was part of the Walk for Mental Health Awareness and was very open about his own struggles with depression and anxiety. And so he was part of the public service announcements that we would have to remove the stigma and to put a face into people who are dealing with mental illness and just bring a consciousness to it, a true awareness. You can wear all the ribbons you want, you can make all the posts about something that you want, but someone who's actually living it and and when it's close to home. So I really respected that about him. But there were so many other things. I mean, he was an immigrant from Vietnam. Uh, he, I think he was on one of the last helicopters out to come to this country. He had worked very hard. He had been very obese and he he worked very hard to lose weight. He was diabetic, he worked very hard to stay healthy while having a chronic disease. And he, you know, he was just a really interesting person in so many ways. Uh world traveler. And and he was so funny. Being on Facebook with him, his his posts were often very delightful and humorous. Sometimes he would accuse the space aliens of coming and uh moving uh a cooking utensils that he liked, but now he can't find it. So it was the space aliens that came and took it.

Brett 36:44

Yeah, it was basically they stole hats, they stole jackets, they stole cooking utensils, they stole everything. I think Lee and I primarily knew him through Outreach United, right?

SPEAKER_00 36:53

Yeah, yeah. We used to host uh Outreach United uh fundraisers, and you you know, you can't really talk about Carl that we don't mention Gary Giddings, his best friend. The two of them did a lot of the work together and where Carl was kind of at the forefront and the the one that you interfaced with and talked to, uh, Gary was always there as well. Um, and Gary now is handling his uh memorial services. They did a lot of work, uh volunteered it always. They were quick to to uh throw themselves in uh as volunteers and work those parties. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:22

Yeah, raised a lot of money for the Montreal Center, been part of creating the group Asians and Friends. You know, it's sad because sometimes you don't know really all that a person has done while you know them. Then they pass and you read stuff in the obituary and you realize just the significance of um what they have done in their lives beyond the way maybe that you initially knew them.

SPEAKER_00 37:49

Yeah, right, right. And that's a sad truth, but you're right, you're absolutely right. It unfortunately we find out a lot about them as we're reading through their life once they passed.

Brett 37:58

Well, I always felt like he was just uh the center of the party. He was always the DJ, had a stage named Diva Lotus Blossom. I think that he DJ'd all of the hatch proms. I mean, that was one of his things. He would do all this stuff for free. Gary and him would just show up with their equipment and just set it up and make everything happen. And Carl was a big uh music fan, you know, we used to go back and forth about uh his favorite musicians and he really liked Sandra, who was the voice of Enigma, if anybody remembers that from the 90s. But she had a solo career too that was really great. But he definitely loved a lot of things. Uh I always think of him as party and food. But um Kennedy Lofton was a really interesting uh nonprofit leader, obviously. I mean, you Deb, you mentioned that he was in development for the Montreux Center.

SPEAKER_01 38:43

Yeah, he was the lead developmental officer. I'm not really sure what title they use over there.

SPEAKER_04 38:50

I think it was the chief development officer, actually.

SPEAKER_01 38:53

Okay, chief it um the way I first knew him was when they were building Law Harrington, and he was very integral to helping raise the funds and the whole project that actually got senior housing that was LGBTQIA affirming here in the city of Houston. And he was extremely proud of that. He would come over to Law Harrington when we had events and we I got to know him a little bit. And actually, yeah, and and and unfortunately, well, uh I guess fortunately in a way, we had an interview with Kennedy, Brian and I did. I don't know, maybe you were interviewing him, Brian, but when we were off air, Kennedy mentioned that he was having really bad headaches. And so we had a conversation about that.

SPEAKER_04 39:45

That's how it all starts.

SPEAKER_01 39:46

Right. And I said, well, and and Brian is speaking also as a survivor of brain cancer. Anyway, I said, well, you know, you can be dehydrated, you can this thing. There's all these things that can be reasons for why people get headaches. And I was a long time migraine sufferer, so I'm pretty knowledgeable on the subject. But I said, but you absolutely should go to the doctor and get checked out because in fact, headaches can be a symptom of something much worse. And he he did that. He went to the doctor, and that's when he got diagnosed with the brain cancer. And his progressed pretty quickly, actually, from the time of his diagnosis. And and he, even though he had surgery and everything, he did become terminal. But I tell you what, Kenendi lived as much as he could live. He made a trip across the world. He rode every roller coaster that he possibly could find. He lived as full as he could and and and was enjoying life right up until the end.

Joining The Montrose Center

Brett 40:52

Yeah. Well, one of his big achievements was that when he started his eight-year tenure at the center, the annual average for raising donations is about 300,000, and he got it up to about two million. Um that's kind of crazy in eight years. Yeah, he always the private philanthropy part of it.

SPEAKER_04 41:11

Right. He always would reach out to me because I'm on the board of Legacy Community Health, and he was always asking how we did it, and he always admired Shri Boydston, who's the chief development development officer of Legacy. And he always says that he wanted to be like her. And I think he not only did that, but he surpassed Shri and what he's raised for the Mantra Center.

Brett 41:29

Wow. Yeah, and just what a shame. 44, you know, it just it doesn't seem long enough. And same thing with Carl passing away at 60.

SPEAKER_01 41:40

Yeah, they they were very uh fondly thought of in the community, very much respected, and it is a big loss. And something I I think I've mentioned this to Brian and maybe to you, Brett, before is um okay, I just turned 76 years old. And what I am seeing are so many of my peers are now passing. And it's a little bit like it was when the AIDS epidemic was raging, and we would lose two, three, four people a week. It's not quite that bad, but this past year was really hard. And it wasn't just people in my peer group, it it was also these younger people as well. And then we also have had you know celebrities that were part of our lives growing up or whatever, and we see them saying, I mean, Catherine O'Hare, good grief, you know, just a few years younger than me, and someone that I, you know, I so loved. And this is something that happens when someone passes. You start nowadays, the way that I usually find out about someone's passing is because it's posted on Facebook. Sometimes you like just have to like take a moment and like, no, no, this can't be. And then and then you start seeing people making comments. And this especially happened for me with um Andrew Edmondson, which was that I realized people loved him the way I loved him. And I think that's true for Carl and Kennedy. As you you see the comments people are making, and you go, wow, you know, there's a reason that I thought of them the way that I thought of them, because all these other people think of them that way. And I think that's a wonderful legacy to have.

SPEAKER_04 43:32

And I think it just reminds us that life is precious and you don't know when your time is going to come up and that you should live every day as much as you can, not knowing the end is could be around the corner. I hate to be grim, but you never know.

SPEAKER_01 43:44

Yeah. Well, I think if if you can look back, if some you say they had a good life, you know, you know, they had a good experience, however long their life was. Just most of us we want to die very healthy of old age. In our sleep. And not everybody is fortunate enough to have that experience.

Brett 44:05

Yeah. Hard to lose somebody, and it's it's hard to watch a community grieve. Do we want to switch over to the Pride nominations or lighter notes to talk about that? That happened?

SPEAKER_04 44:16

Yeah, let's let's switch from death to life and celebrate people's achievements. We recently had the uh Grand Marshal nominations. The process is that the community uh elects the grand marshals, but before that happens, the previous grand marshals finalize the uh the entries to become the finalists.

SPEAKER_01 44:35

Nominations come from the community. And uh sometimes we don't have enough nominations in a particular category. And what what I refer to as the Grand Marshall Advisory Committee uh uh will look at who has been nominated and cut them. We look at how long they've been involved and what they have done. And w we're a little picky about it because uh as former grand marshals, and I guess we just have to say both Brian and I have been grand marshals.

SPEAKER_04 45:07

How was 2011? What year were you, Deb? 1997.

How To Pick Your Cause

SPEAKER_01 45:12

Yeah. And and so we look at it and we're saying, okay, these are people that we want in our club because we're the former grand marshals, and we want to hope that we are of the same caliber of folks as this, because these are the people that are really serving the community and doing things that I guess make it all happen. The room where it happens is in our community. And uh our community thrives on volunteers and the people that show up and the worker bees. And you know, sometimes we know of somebody because they're out front and very visible, but there's a lot of people doing a lot of stuff that sometimes are in the background. So it's always exciting for me to see what all people are doing. Some of the people I know or know of, and some of them I don't, but now I'm learning about them and I'm like, wow, these people, man, they're really doing it. They're doing a great job. They're they're you know, things are happening because of these folks. And so I think that that is very exciting. We try to get three people in each category, and uh they had the announcement on February 5th. Is that correct? Yeah, that was birthday. And remember, Pride is going to be earlier this year because of the World Cup coming to Houston earlier in June instead of like the 20-something, the 24th, 26th uh of June. It will be June 6th, 26th, uh, which is kind of a cool date.

SPEAKER_04 46:54

Two six.

SPEAKER_01 46:55

Yeah.

Brett 46:56

Yeah. And what's interesting is Dallas Pride is gonna be the same uh date as well. So that's kind of interesting that they're we're gonna be together on a single day. But uh run through the names of the people that were nominated. I think that's what we're curious about, right?

SPEAKER_04 47:10

Okay, so for the finalists for female presenting grand marshals, we have Ashley Barnes, a public health leader and HIV advocate. Brandi Lira, who we've had on the show, she's an educator and president of Out for Education, and Gianna Cristina Ramirez, who's a trans activist artist, and community caretaker. For male, we have Roy Rivera, who is a healthcare entrepreneur and has been busy with the uh Chamber of Commerce. Ray Aconias, he is a financial executive and big with HRC and uh the different uh galas. And finally, Javon Martin, a trans activist, cultural historian, and founder of the Monica Roberts Resource Center. Also included in this is Davis Mendoza Jerusman. You may know him from Queer Voices.

Brett 47:55

Yeah, we're familiar with him. Yes. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 47:57

And moving on to the gender non-conforming non-binary grandmarshals, we have Reggie Stevenson, the founder of the Authenticity Dance Company, Flawless Oz, and Becca Kosoka Keyo, who does a lot in social work, I believe. And then let's move to Ally. Mandy Giles, the founder of the Parents of Trans Youth and Advocacy Group, Judge Lena Hidalgo, Harris County Judge, we know her. Perla Lugo is an ally mom in Miss Houston, Texas United World. And finally, the organizational Grand Marshals. The finalists are Alpha Capit Alpha Kappa Theta, Heavy Hitters Pride, Floss, FLAS, Trans Legal Aid Clinic, and Tent, the Transgender Education Network of Texas.

Brett 48:40

Well, there you are. And voting on that starts. So, Jacob, do you have any thoughts about what you like to see in Pride Grand Marshal nominees or what you'd like to see in the community?

SPEAKER_06 48:50

Um This is a good question. I think I like to see a continue to focus community organizers as well. Like we have some pretty brave people um that are on the front lines fighting. Well, I'm not I was gonna say nothing's political, but everything's political. And we also have everyday citizens doing that work too that may not be super famous right now. So I don't know. I think I think for me it would just be centering everyday people like Davis running for office. Amazing. And yeah, those those are my thoughts. I'm I'm also just feeling like recovering from the death talk, how it's it may really reflect on what kind of legacy we all leave behind, which I think queer voice is a part of that too.

Brett 49:33

Yeah, and uh definitely, and it's important for all of us to have that voice out there. And you know, Kennedy and Carl had theirs. I wish that they could be the honorary bride grand marshals this year, but these people that are coming up are the people that we're going to remember later and that they are gonna take the places of the Kennedys and the Carls of the world. And that's what gives me a lot of hope is at least we've got leaders that are coming up and replacing the ones that we lose along the way.

SPEAKER_04 49:59

You know what I would like to see is more diversity in our grand marshal nominees. I mean, Houston is the most diverse city in the country, and we need our community representatives to represent that. It's always a struggle to kind of mirror the community that we live in to the people that represent us at the parade.

Gratitude, Resilience & Closing

SPEAKER_01 50:15

That is one of the things that we look at as we go through the nominees to try to make sure that it's kind of equaled out. And of course, it depends on how many people from the community nominate other people. Some people may have five or six people nominate them, other people have one person, some people have self-nominated, but the and I and you know, I like I like that for them, that they have the confidence to nominate themselves. But it is something that is an honor from the community to recognize the work that people do that really is what makes us a community, and and and these are folks we can be really proud of. And then as you express, knowing there's younger folks coming up, for a while there it seemed like, where are these young people? But now I'm seeing more and more young people become more and more engaged, and we have young leaders coming up, and they're questioning it, they're doing a great job. So yeah, this the cycle of life, uh the as we as we lose folks, but also to see younger folks come along and do the work. Uh because you know what? We we all want to not be doing the work. We want the work to have been done.

SPEAKER_04 51:38

Or not even needing that the work be done because it's already we have equality or we have, you know, what have you. Our rights.

Brett 51:47

No, don't fall into that one because that's definitely something we still gotta fight. There's a lot happening. I think it's interesting that the theme this year is limitless, and that is what they are uh focusing on. What do you think that that means to you when you think about limitless?

SPEAKER_04 52:00

I think that it means that our power is only defined by how much we're willing to put out there and it's limitless when we come together and act as one community, and we can fight any uh attack on our community if we come together as a community.

SPEAKER_01 52:14

We like to interview the nominees, and one of the things we ask is what does the theme mean to you? So that will be a question uh that people can uh look forward to hearing the answer to and to get to know these people a little a little better, and then as the uh voting process, I'm not sure if they've opened it up for voting yet, but that's Pride Houston 360. You go to the website, you can find out the information about how to vote.

SPEAKER_04 52:43

Yeah, I don't see it on the website yet, so maybe it's coming soon.

SPEAKER_01 52:46

And one thing we can be sure June in Houston, it will be hot. That's my forecast.

SPEAKER_04 52:52

Mark it down, it's gonna be bad.

SPEAKER_01 52:54

And hopefully we will continue the tradition of not having it rain on our parade.

SPEAKER_04 53:00

True. God doesn't allow it to rain on the Prime Parade.

SPEAKER_01 53:03

Well, there have been a few times when it beforehand, before the parade or like that, but so far we've been very fortunate not to have so knock on wood or whatever you knock on for luck.

Brett 53:16

Jacob Lee, any final thoughts?

SPEAKER_00 53:18

From the Grand Marshall perspective, I think you know, I agree with everything that's been said. You know, one of the things that we should I would like to see us do better and more of is actually coming together as a community. Recognize our differences, I respect the fact that we all have built a community that we are comfortable in. And but there are areas where those communities overlap and we should take advantage of those and strengthen our own community at large. And that's for me, that's what I kind of look for when people uh donate their time and effort, that that's what is accomplished as a result of what they're doing.

SPEAKER_05 53:52

Very well said, Lee. And I'll say limitless means to me that no matter what situation that threatens anyone in our community occurs, that we have to remember that our power is greater than any hate.

SPEAKER_00 54:06

I agree.

Station Support Message

SPEAKER_01 54:08

That counters the hate for sure. And it's uh a sense of security. We I always thought of it as the queer nation, the Houston tribe. And when pride goes on, you're with your tribe, and it's a wonderful feeling. We also have uh over at the caucus uh with Brandon Mack now, the new president. Uh, we've got the primary season in endorsements. There's an energetic new board at the caucus. I'm expecting really great things, and they also are talking in those terms of who's coming up, who who's doing what, who is what, how do we get to know each other, how do we put that unity in community? So it seems like there's a convergence of people, the minds coming together in many ways to to figure this all out and you know do do it the best we can.

SPEAKER_04 55:06

You know, and that's a great segue into a upcoming set of interviews we have with two LGBT candidates for District C in City Council in Houston. So uh stay tuned for those interviews coming up.

Panel Remembers Carl Hahn & Kennedy Lofton

SPEAKER_01 55:19

And anyone who is a candidate, if you want to be interviewed on Queer Voices, you can contact us and we will talk about having you on. How do we contact? How do we get in contact with us?

SPEAKER_04 55:30

Uh you can contact me directly, Brian, at queervoices.org, B-R-Y-A-N.

Brett 55:35

Yeah, you got that Y spelling.

SPEAKER_04 55:37

Yeah. That's the proper spelling.

Brett 55:40

All right.

SPEAKER_01 55:41

That's what I always say about my name, Deborah. It's like, don't give me that sh bra. Don't give me that short one. I I think you called me Debbie earlier, Brett. I'm like, Brett, you probably are one of the few people that can get away with calling me Debbie. Well, I'm glad to know that.

Brett 55:58

Jacob, Lee, and Brett. You just can't mess those up, can you?

SPEAKER_04 56:01

Well, you think Brian would be easy, but nobody can spell it.

Brett 56:38

Go to KPFT.org and click on the donate button. Our executive producer is Brian Flavinka, Deborah Moncrief Bell and Brett Cullum are producers, Jacob Newsom, Arlie Ingalls, and Joel Tatum are frequent contributors. And I want to give a special thank you to Jack Berger for being a guest this week. Remember, you can make a difference wherever you are.

SPEAKER_03 57:09

This has been Queer Voices, heard on KPFT Houston and as a podcast available from several podcasting sources. Check our webpage queervoices.org for more information.

Ghost of Glenn 57:24

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. Used opinions and endorsements for those of the participants and the organizations they represent. In case of death, please continue to use the discovery remaining products.