In this episode of Queers & Co., I’m joined by Dr. Charlotte Cooper, psychotherapist, cultural worker and the author of Fat Activism: A Radical Social Movement and the newly updated Fat Activist Vernacular.

We chat about what it means to be a good ally, how climate activism is yet to get its act together around fat, what it means to be queer, punks who hate “normals”, the role of dance in exploring your body as a fat person and Charlotte’s encounter with a fat femme tomato lady doing a high-kick.

If you haven't already, be sure to join our Facebook community to connect with other like-minded queer folks and allies.

Find out more about Gem Kennedy and Queers & Co.

Podcast Artwork by Gemma D'Souza

Resources

In this episode, we mentioned the following resources:

• Dr. Charlotte Cooper’s website
• Fat Activism: A Radical Social Movement by Dr. Charlotte Cooper
• Fat Activist Vernacular by Dr. Charlotte Cooper. Also available here (some of the proceeds go towards supporting live art in the UK) or other main ebook retailers
• Fat and Proud: The Politics of Size. Available here
• The ebook launch of the Fat Activist Vernacular on 29th January 2020 at the Live Art Development Agency. Get your free ticket here
• No Lose
• Dr. Charlotte Cooper’s Twitter account
• Alice Coltrane’s Journey in Satchidananda is available here
• Fat Cabaret's Facebook page
• Photo of Charlotte on a motorcycle by Substantia Jones. Check out the Adipositivity Project

In this episode of Queers & Co., I'm joined by dancer, choreographer, dynamic relationship facilitator and heart centred dance & embodiment educator, Rachel Sparks.

We chat about gender-neutral partner dancing, the importance of consent, the experience of making the short film, Swivel, as well as the lack of representation of LGBTQ+ folks in mainstream shows like Strictly Come Dancing.

If you haven't already, be sure to join our Facebook community to connect with other like-minded queer folks and allies.

Find out more about Gem Kennedy and Queers & Co.

Podcast Artwork by Gemma D'Souza

Resources

In this episode, we mentioned the following resources:

• Rachel and Henri's dance duo, Iron&Sparks
• You can follow Rachel's work on Instagram and Facebook and Twitter
• Rachel holds Sunday Afternoon Tea Dances throughout the year. The next one is on 2nd Feb 2020
• Rachel recommends the dance duo, Thick and Tight
• Find out more about Swivel, the short film starring Iron&Sparks here
• Catch an upcoming screening of Swivel at the Love Story Film Festival on 20th Feb 2020
• Photo of Rachel at the Royal Opera House by Laura Aziz

Full Transcription

Full Transcriptions of every episode are available here.

Gem: Hi Rachel. Thanks so much for joining me. How are you?

Rachel: Yeah, no problem. I'm great. I'm feeling good today. Having had a nice workout this morning, I'm feeling really kind of full of energy.

Gem: Awesome. so there were quite a few things that I'd love to chat to you about particularly around your work with gender neutral dancing. But for anyone who doesn't know your work, I wonder if you could just tell us a bit more about what it is that you do before we start?

Rachel: Yeah, sure. So most of my business is teaching people to dance. And my focus has always been on how to make dance a safe place for more people. And in particular, I, as part of the queer community, I saw that there was a need for a safer space, particularly for partner dancing. As I was a Latin and ballroom dancer,

In this episode of Queers & Co., I’m joined by Sophie Christophy, feminist, children’s rights activist and co-founder of a self-directed, consent and rights based education setting called the Cabin.

We chat about children’s rights and how the dominant parent culture is a representation of patriarchy, how schooling is not designed to allow for individuality, queering education and the importance of ed positivity.

If you haven't already, be sure to join our Facebook community to connect with other like-minded queer folks and allies.

Find out more about Gem Kennedy and Queers & Co.

Podcast Artwork by Gemma D’Souza

Resources

Sophie’s website: https://sophiechristophy.wordpress.com/

Twitter: @schristophy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/schristophy

The Cabin: https://www.downatthecabin.com/

The Phoenix Education Trust: https://www.phoenixeducation.co.uk/

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC): https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/

Ban the Booths campaign: https://banthebooths.co.uk/

bell hooks: http://www.bellhooksinstitute.com/

bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teaching-Transgress-Education-Practice-Translation/dp/0415908086/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=53999208955&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI56Som4S45wIVTLDtCh0Ylg6YEAAYAiAAEgISDvD_BwE&hvadid=259061695134&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1006984&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t2&hvqmt=e&hvrand=5078044356646694407&hvtargid=kwd-299674323339&hydadcr=10364_1752646&keywords=teaching+to+transgress&qid=1580823978&sr=8-1

Full Transcription:

Gem: Hi Sophie.

Sophie: Hi Gem. How are you?

Gem: I'm good, thank you. How are you?

Sophie: I'm fine, thank you. I'm fine.

Gem: Good and so I'm really excited to talk to you and it feels a bit weird because we're friends in real life. It would be really great for other people than me if you could introduce yourself.

Sophie: Yeah, sure. Okay. So I'm Sophie. I have a few hats. I'm a children's rights activist fundamentally but I am also the Co-Director of a consent-based self-directed education setting called The Cabin. And I'm a trustee for an education charity called the Phoenix Education Trust as well as being a parent to two children who are unschooled and yeah, living life basically. I'd say that's probably a summary for the moment.

Gem: There's lots to explore there. I guess lots of new terms that people might not have come across if they're not...

In this episode of Queers & Co., I’m joined by Chiron Stamp, trans artist, writer, facilitator and femmboy alien.

We chat about non-binary thinking beyond gender, intersectional collective care in practice, navigating the brutal legal system, neurodiversity as being like biodiversity, how capitalism tells us to move really fast, the difference between boundaries and limits and whether all queers are from another planet. Plus, an incredible and rare performance of Chiron’s work, “A Love Poem to my Transness”.

If you haven't already, be sure to join our Facebook community to connect with other like-minded queer folks and allies.

Find out more about Gem Kennedy and Queers & Co.

Podcast Artwork by Gemma D’Souza

Resources

Chiron Stamp's website

Chiron's Instagram: @stampchiron

Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy is available here

Rhys’ Pieces / Queefy

Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds, Adrienne Maree Brown, is available here

Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good, Adrienne Maree Brown is available here

Photo of Chiron by Paul Samuel White

Full Transcription

Gem: Hey Chiron. So we've been chatting a bit before, but we decided to switch the recording on because we're getting really into it and it would be great to share this rather than have to repeat it again. So first of all, thank you so much for joining me. I'm really excited.

Chiron: Thanks for having me. I'm excited and nervous, but in an excited way. They're quite similar feelings. Maybe they're the same.

Gem: As we talked about before, we've kind of agreed some of the things we wanted to talk about, but I wondered if we should jump straight in with what we were talking about just before we started to record.

Chiron: Yeah. Oh, I was talking about how I'd seen this thing on Instagram, which was andI can't cite it. I'm really bad at that anyway, remembering the names of people, but on Instagram, someone had done some medical research into the link between people who identify as non-binary or trans in some way and being on the autistic spectrum and I haven't read...

In this episode of Queers & Co., I’m joined by Lady Blue Phoenix, burlesque performer and member of the Rock with the Foxes troupe. When on stage, she's been described as a force of nature!

We chat about Columbia - the long-forgotten personification of the USA, our power to make social change, creating safer spaces in burlesque, learning to live with mental ill-health and what happens when we can no longer vault our pain away, embracing our shadow side and her experience of coming out as bisexual.

CW: This episode contains a description of a racist incident.

If you haven't already, be sure to join our Facebook community to connect with other like-minded queer folks and allies.

Find out more about Gem Kennedy and Queers & Co.

Podcast Artwork by Gemma D’Souza

Image by V’s Anchor Studio

Resources

Follow Lady Blue Phoenix on Facebook and Instagram

Rock with the Foxes Troupe

Lady Blue Phoenix will be performing at the following events:

• 29th Feb 2020: Lift Every Voice - Black History Month, Gothenburg, Sweden
• 25th March 2020: The Yes Yes Yes Showcase, Royal Vauxhall Tavern, London, UK
• 11th July 2020: Woodstock Freedom Festival, Hipley, near Portsmouth, UK

Full Transcription

Gem: Hi Lady Blue.

Lady Blue Phoenix: Hello.

Gem: How are you today?

Lady Blue Phoenix: I'm good. I'm just relaxing after a busy week at work.

Gem: So, we've just been chatting about quite a lot of interesting stuff already actually, so we haven't recorded it. But I've got a few things that I am keen to ask you, but it'd be really cool first if you could introduce yourself so we can learn a bit more about you.

Lady Blue Phoenix: Okay. Well firstly, my name is Lady Blue Phoenix. I originate from Seattle, Washington in America. I've lived abroad now since 2008 - five years in Japan and Oh God… eight years here. I did a lot of dance in the States, so fire belly dance, things like that. I've always loved the dance industry. I'm never actually majored in it, but I just loved that freedom. So when I came to England, after living in Japan for five years, I got into burlesque. Me and my partner went to a show. I saw these amazing people on stage bearing their souls, baring their bodies to the world....

In this episode of Queers & Co., I’m joined by autism and neurodiversity support specialist, speaker, writer and creator of inTune Families, Kristy Forbes.

We chat about embracing autism as an identity and culture rather than a disorder, moving away from pathologising behaviour, the importance of being able to self-identify as neurodivergent, the deeply problematic nature of compliance therapies and radical honesty as a form of self-care.

CW: This episode contains talk of ABA and compliance therapy

If you haven't already, be sure to join our Facebook community to connect with other like-minded queer folks and allies.

Find out more about Gem Kennedy and Queers & Co.

Podcast Artwork by Gemma D’Souza

Resources

Follow Kristy on Facebook and Instagram

Find out more about Kristy and her work through her website inTune Pathways

Find out more about Amy Sequenzia via her blog and at Ollibean

Kieran Rose aka The Autistic Advocate’s blog

Tickets for Kristy’s upcoming PDA Perspectives tour are available here

Full Transcription

Gem: Hi Kristy, how are you?

Kristy: I'm great. Thank you so much for having me.

Gem: Thank you for being here. I'm really excited. So we've known each other for about 18 months because my family did some work with you. And, and I guess it would be really cool if you could introduce yourself and what kind of work it is that you do?

Kristy: Yeah, sure. So I'm Kristy Forbes. I am an autistic person. I support neurodivergent people and their family. I work in private consultation online, with families because some of them are at crisis point and can't leave their homes. I offer education around the lived experience of autism to allied health professionals, educators, parents. And I also write and I speak about autism.

Gem: Great and what has your journey been to get to doing all these things? I know you say in your work that you were diagnosed at 33 as being autistic but obviously it's been quite a journey to get to the point of actually being a full-time advocate and doing that as your main focus.

Kristy: Yeah. Oh gosh, what a huge question. It's been one hell of a ride really. When I came into this work, I already had a background as working as an educator in early childhood and primary and secondary schools. And having no clue I was autistic, knowing I was different but thinking there was something wrong with me. So I knew something was going on. I worked in the field because I worked with families, with children who had social emotional and behavioural challenges. So when I came into business for myself because I have four autistic...

In this episode of Queers & Co., I’m joined by Imogen Fox, a queer Disabled femme who serves up radical body politics, anti-diet talk and non-judgemental compassion.

We chat about Imogen’s first foray into disability rights activism as a teen, the trauma of eating rice cakes and cottage cheese and being indoctrinated into diet culture by those closest to us. We also talk about radical Disability politics, the co-opting and white-washing of movements and whether it’s really possible to use your privilege for good.

If you haven't already, be sure to join our Facebook community to connect with other like-minded queer folks and allies.

Find out more about Gem Kennedy and Queers & Co.

Podcast Artwork by Gemma D’Souza

Resources

Follow Imogen on Instagram

Read Imogen’s self-proclaimed ‘dusty’ blog here

Watch You on Netflix here

Full Transcription

Gem: Hi Imogen.

Imogen: Hello my lovely! Yeah, I’m not too bad, thank you. I was just saying to you I’ve got a really bad tummy ache, so I’m like in a massive jumper with a big hot water bottle… and a kitten actually, just curled up on the sofa, nursing myself.

Gem: I’m sorry that you’re not well. But that sounds like a really lovely place to be in to recover.

Imogen: It’s not not wellness. The annoying bit about it is that it can be quite a regular occurrence. It’s just that my tummy is part of my impairment. So, things like this are kind of, sort of normal. And my go-to coping strategy is to—especially when it’s cold. Just to huddle up and nest myself a little bit…

Gem: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I think I came across your work maybe a couple of years ago. I’ve definitely been following you for quite a while…

Imogen: We’ve been in touch for a while.

Gem: Yeah! And we met at Body Kind last year.

Imogen: Yeah, yeah…

Gem: So, I’m really excited to get the chance to ask you all my questions. And I guess what I generally start off with when I’m chatting to people is just asking them to introduce how they identify, and I guess what different intersections play a role in them as a person.

Imogen: Yeah, okay. I would say I’m a queer disabled femme. I haven’t really kind of started using the term non-binary, but I don’t really identify as being part of a gender binary particularly. I still use the pronouns she/her although they’re not particularly comfortable. But then I don’t find they/them any more comfortable. So, I tend to use a mixture of both of those things.

I live in Bristol in the UK. And I have been a disability rights activist for most of my life actually. But I found an online community through Instagram a few years ago. So, I’ve just been writing and sharing stuff there for a while.

Gem: Yeah. And I’m really interested in how that came about. You...