Welcome to today's episode of Queer PoliFaith. Today, we are talking about 2 redistricting cases: Cooper v Harris (2017) and Alexander v NAACP (2024). Although only a few years apart, these cases show how important Supreme Court nominations can be because a change of 3 seats allowed Alito to turn his 2017 dissent into a majority opinion in 2024. I …

Welcome to Queer PoliFaith. Today, I am going to talk about ideological purity and voting. I was inspired by a friend's Twitter post (which I read without naming them) as well as my own feelings about the subject. I talk about how ideology has damaged the Republican party and why we cannot let it damage the Democratic party and the nation as a whol…

Today's episode is on the shorter side. I decided to illuminate my process of choosing who I vote for in the primaries. I talk about how I winnow down my options, words or phrases I look out for, and how I make my final choice. I also talk about my vote in the presidential primary and why I made the choice I did. I also talk about anti-Semitism on …

Welcome to today's episode of Queer PoliFaith. Today we are talking about the recently released document Dignitas Infinita (On Infinite Dignity) which is about the Catholic Church's view on human dignity and some current threats to that dignity. I start off explaining why I talk about documents from the Catholic Church and then look at the document…

Welcome to today's episode of Queer PoliFaith. Today, we are going to talk about Christian hegemony and political tactics of the right using 2 recent pieces from Aaron Rupar's Substack, entitled Public Notice. The articles are from April 2nd and April 3rd. I've talked extensively in the past about how right-wing religion has affected the GOP and he…

In today's episode, we are going to look at the 14th Amendment and how it is affecting the 2024 election via the case Trump v. Anderson. In addition to briefly looking at the 14th Amendment itself, we break down the decision with the help of Steve Vladeck, or more specifically, an article he published on his Substack page entitled: "70. The Shoddy …

Welcome to today's episode of Queer Polifaith! Today, we are looking at the Alabama Supreme Court decision saying that eggs which have been fertilized for IVF implantation are children even if not implanted in a woman's uterus and the pope's statement regarding surrogacy that was a part of a larger speech to ambassadors to the Holy See. I place the…

Welcome to today's episode of Queer PoliFaith. Today, I decided to just talk about some things I have seen that disturb me that we need to deal with, particularly on the political left. To sum it up, I make three points: Words mean things Obsession with ideological purity is a very bad thing We need to be willing to take what we can get now and com…

Welcome back to season 3 of Queer PoliFaith! We start off with a discussion about the future of the podcast. Then we start talking about the theme of the season: elections. We discuss the differences between primary and general elections and types of primary elections (including correcting a couple of errors I made on my voting episode!). I then ta…

Welcome to this episode of Queer PoliFaith. Today, we will be talking about the declaration Fiducia Supplicans put out by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith from the Roman Catholic Church. There have been a lot of articles and people saying that this is a massive and good thing or that it is the first step for the church to become fully we…

Today, we have Part 2 of my conversation with Billie Hoard about fascism and Christian Nationalism. We bring queerness into the conversation and talk about how queerness and fascism use each other, how fascism and fascistic ideas have roots in the early US (and even before), fascism in different countries, how the Weimar Republic was friendly to qu…

Today's episode is part 1 of an interview with Billie Hoard about fascism and Christian Nationalism in the United States. We talked about how and why they are intertwined, pick up on some threads from her first interview, and more. Our next episode will be part 2 of the interview. After that episode the podcast will be going on an indefinite hiatus…

Welcome to today's episode of Queer PoliFaith. Today we are talking all about voting. We talk about why it's important to vote, some myths around voting, some ways votes are suppressed, the importance of being an informed voter, and more. This really is an important topic and I hope you get a lot out of this. Our next episode will be an interview w…

Today history was made when Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives. The reason he was ousted was the Demorcats voted as a bloc for the motion. I think that this was a massive tactical blunder. In this episode, I talk about how we got here and why I think the Democrats vote was a mistake. Our next episod…

Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Queer PoliFaith. I am calling this a Grabbag episode because I talk about a few different topics, all of which are important, but none of which would make a whole episode alone. So we are hitting a few things in one fell swoop. First up, we have a personal update followed by an update about the podcast an…

Today's episode is an interview with Billie Hoard. Billie is a trans woman, wife, and father. She is a high school teacher, an author, and something of an Anabaptist radical. A consummate generalist, she holds an MA in the liberal arts from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland and she writes on topics ranging from fairy tales and C.S. Lewis to…

Today, I am very proud to share my conversation with Jeff P. Crim about how churches and cishet pastors can support and wirk with marginalized people. It is a companion to the interview I had with Jenny a few months ago. Jeff is a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the ELCA, a Hospital chaplain after 12 years as a pastor at the same parish (had been…

In today's episode, we will be talking about Groff v. DeJoy, a case decided in 2023 that dealt with the threshold for employers to achieve while providing accomadations for their employees' religion. Since this decision was short and not particularly meaty (29 pages in total), I also decided to talk about how the current court has damaged the separ…

Today's episode is about the 2023 decision 303 Creative v. Elenis, a case out of Colorado where a website designer claimed that she wanted to branch out into wedding announcements but that the wanted to post a notice that she wouldn't work with same-sex couples since marriage is (according to her religion) "between one man and one woman". We talk a…

Welcome to today's episode of Queer PoliFaith. Today we will talk about some technical aspects to the interviews, wrap-up the interviews in general, give some fun stats about the interviews (the most listened to episode blew the others out of the water in terms of numbers of downloads), and then I talk about the anti-trans laws that have been sweep…

This is a bonus episode of Queer PoliFaith. In this episode, I have decided to share the sermon I gave at my church for our Pride Prayer Service. In addition to the sermon, you will hear the reading the sermon was based on (Matthew 25: 31-46) as well as a letter that Bishop Leila Ortiz, the bishop of the Metro DC Synod of the ELCA, released regardi…

Today's episode is an interview with a friend of mine named Jenny. Jenny is an ELCA Seminarian, writer, public theologian, Awen of Stories (wait until you hear this one explained! it's fascinating!), Enneagram 2, Follower of the Way, and Nonbinary trans woman whose pronouns are She/Ella (pronounced eh-yah, Spanish for "she")/They. Jenny is a friend…

Today's episode is an interview with Ross Murray, a Vice President at the GLAAD Media Institute, which provides activist, spokesperson, and media engagement training and education for LGBTQ and allied community members, the media industry and advocacy organizations desiring to deepen their media impact. Ross uses the best practices perfected by GLA…

Today's episode is the final episode in our series interviewing activists and how faith affects their activism. Today's guests are Brian G, Murphy and Fr. Shannon TL Kearns of queertheology.com and hosts of the Queer Theology podcast. Brian and Fr. Shay met in New York in one of those friend of a friend serendipitous moments. Through a couple years…

Today, we have an interview with independent journalist and trans activist Erin Reed. Erin reports on legislation across the United States that affects queer and trans people. In this conversation we talk about her work, what keeps her grounded, and so much more. Her TikToks and tweets are very informative and well worth the follow. You can follow …

Today, we have an interview with Cynthia Vacca Davis, author of Intersexion: A Story of Faith, Identity, and Authenticity. We talk about the book, why she wrote it, and how her faith journey has impacted and been impacted by the book and here experiences. This was a really fun interview and we both really enjoyed ourselves. I really hope that you'l…

Tonight, we have a special epsiode about what President Biden should do when a court makes an illegitimate decision, as happened last week in Texas. I have been making this argument for some time (as have others) and it is nice to see more people realizing that something has to be done. We talk about how the courts get their power, why there is a l…

Today, we have an interview with Lee Blinder. Lee Blinder (they/them) is the executive director of Trans Maryland, and a co-founder of the Maryland Trans Resilience Conference. Lee is an Maryland State LGBTQ+ Commissioner, and they sit on LGBTQIA+ advisory boards around the state. They are an openly nonbinary transgender and queer Marylander. They …

In our seccond interview episode, we are talking with Robin Lombard about her work with youth, how we can help youth, the effect people coming out can have on youth (including people beiong thrown out of the closet), and much more. Robin (she/her) works with the MoCo Pride Center and Montgomery Country Public Schools. She visits GSAs in Montgomery …

Today we have the first interview in a series of interviews with activists about how their faith has influenced their activism. Today's guest is Mycroft Masada (they/them). Mycroft is a nonbinary trans and queer Jewish and interfaith leader with more than 30 years of experience, particularly called to pursue LGBTQ+, fat and illness/disability justi…

Today we talk more about how faith and politics affect each other, focusing mainly on the more progressive form of Christianity and left-wing politics. We do some compare and contrast with more conservative forms of Christianity and also talk about a few Biblical stories. I also explain why the podcast focuses more on Christianity than other religi…

Welcome back to season 2 of Queer PoliFaith! I am really excited to be back and hope you enjoy the show as it evolves. Today, I talk a little about how the show came to be and what to expect from Season 2 up until June. Then, we talk about how right-wing politics and faith have affected each other for centuries and how that has morphed into a mergi…

Today, we are looking at the 2018 case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission as well as anti-queer laws and actions. We also talk about what is comung up for season 2 and how the show is going to be reimagined. I've been really excited to share everything with you. I hope you've been enjoying this journey with me and hope you'll …

Today we are talking about the Respect for Marriage Act, what it does/doesn't do, what cloture is, why the bill is important, and my thoughts about the bill. I definitely find myself agreeing with people who argue that the bill, though flawed in many respects, is worth working on and passing. What we cannot do, however, is give up after passing it …

By Mychel Vandover

Today, we look at 3 different cases: Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc, and Bostock v. Clayton County. We talk about what each of the cases established, what makes a work environment hostile, and how the law evolved to start protecting queer people based of the fact that they are queer. If you are enjoying t…

Today we will be discussing three cases which had an imoact on same-sex marriages: Hollingsworth v. Perry, United States v. Windsor, and Obergefell v. Hodges. The first two were decided in 2013 and the last in 2015. Please note that I do not talk about marriage equality. That is because there are people who cannot get married to those whom they mig…

Today we are talking about 2 cases: Griswold v. Connecticut and Romer v. Evans. Griswold established the right to marital privacy that proved foundational to several other cases and Romer ruled that a Colorado constitutional amendment passed by the voters of Colorado (53% to 47%) was unconstiutional because it was based on animus. Both cases laid t…

Today we look at 2 cases, Bowers v. Hardwick and Lawrence v. Texas. This is a situation where one case directly overruled anothe case, in this case Lawrence overruled Bowers. We look at the cases, how Bowers almost had a different result, why Bowers was overruled, and more. Lawrence was one of the first cases to rely on a case we'll look at on Octo…

Today we talk about 3 court cases: Boutilier v. Immigration and Naturalization Service, National Gay Task Force v. Board of Education, Oklahoma City, and Boy Scouts v. Dale. All three cases were blows to queer rights. We also discuss McCarthyism and its impact on queer people as well as parallels between Joseph McCarthy and a certain other modern p…

Today we discuss the 3 major decisions regarding abortion: Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and Dobbs v. Jackson Whole Women's Health. I do also discuss my personal views about abortion as well as a couple of brief discussions of other abortion cases. Given that this is a very controversial topic, I wanted to make sure that my biases were …

Today we will be talking about the judicial branch of the United States government: the courts. We will discuss the different types of courts, types of jurisdiction, the case Marbury v. Madison, how the Supreme Court decides to hear cases, and more. Starting next episode, we'll be talking about different Supreme Court decisions. Here's the schedule…

Today we talk about the executive branch of government: the president, vice-president, and various executive departments. We talk about elections, presidential powers, the presidential succession, a few Constitutional amendments (including a doozy about what happens if the President cannot discharge their duties), what a President can do with laws …

In today's episode, we'll look at Congress, the legislative powers, how each house operates, how a bill becomes law, and limits on governmental power. This is the first in a series of three episodes about the US government and the branches of government. Next episode, we will look at the exedcutive branch and after that we'll look at the judicial b…

Today we talk about gender identity, gender expression, and some things to say or not say when talking to or about someone who is queer. We cover some basic vocabulary, descriptors around gender identity, why to *NEVER* use the phrase "preferred" pronouns or to *NEVER* add "-ed" to the end of transgender, among other things. Here are a couple of li…

Today we talk about some basic terminology, different types of sexual orientation with a focus on asexual and aromantic terms, and some basics about being intersex. A couple of notes. First, I am not asexual or aromantic. All the information I got about asexuality is from https://taaap.org/learn/identity-terminology/. Second, I am also not intersex…

This episode discusses the Texas GOP party platform, how religion and politics mix to make something horrific, how "concern" for women and children is used as a cover for transphobia, and the transphobic new rules from FINA. Just a warning, there are a few curse words in here. Not a lot, but they are there, and no, I am not going to apologize. I fe…

This week we talk about my post-college life including my coming out stories (particularly with my mom and dad), my shifting identiy labels, changing churches, and changing political parties. The LWBAT for this week is the same as the last couple of weeks: to understand how I developed over time which should help you understand how I view and under…

Today we discuss my college years. Topics include my descent into traditional Catholicism, nearly falling into a second cult, a brief period of almost atheism coupled with a not great mental period. There is also discussion of my relationship with queerness and the only person I have dated to this point. Here are some links to Wikipedia articles ab…

Welcome to the first full length episode of Queer PoliFaith! Here's what we cover today: What a LWBAT is and how we’ll be using it About my early life If you want to learn more about the Mother of God Community, click here to read the series from the Washington Post or here for the Wikipedia page. For more about the Catholic Charismatic movement, c…