It Could Happen Here - The Tenacious Unicorn Ranch: How to Build a Haven, Part Four: A Queer Microcosm

Episode Date: December 16, 2022

We talk about the future of the Ranch, and the role of Queer Havens in a world of increasing hostility against Trans and queer people.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You should probably keep your lights on for Nocturnal Tales from the Shadowbride. Join me, Danny Trejo, and step into the flames of fright. An anthology podcast of modern-day horror stories inspired by the most terrifying legends and lore of Latin America. Listen to Nocturnal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons?

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or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming. This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking. It's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards.

That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. On our drive down from Denver to Westcliff, we were first going to meet up with the unicorns in Colorado Springs for a little birthday dinner. James and I arrived a few hours early, so I had the bright idea to stop at the headquarters of the evangelical media organization Focus on the Family. I hadn't been there since I was a little Christian kid, so I was curious what it would be like for me to walk through now.

What was it like walking through their little headquarters and welcome center? What were the general vibes? That was fucking bonkers. So we went in initially, and we've gone into the bookshop. And I found a book that told me that holding hands is foreplay that was called sex in marriage. I've seen a book with a pink triangle on the cover that is about LGBTQ people, which is deeply troubling. Well, it's about men struggling with their sexual identity. I see. And the way to stop that struggling is genocide. Queer eliminationist rhetoric hasn't just been confined to Christian bookstores or the internet. In November of 2022, it once again became very clear how this kind of nonstop 24-7 hate speech being beamed into everyone's homes impacts them.

them. On the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance, as Club Q, a gay bar in Colorado Springs, was preparing for an all-ages drag show, a 22-year-old shooter walked in and killed five people, leaving 25 more injured. The shooter was ultimately tackled and pistol-whipped by a U.S. Army veteran, Richard Fierro, and stomped in the face by an unidentified trans woman. A few days after the Club Q shooting on so-called Thanksgiving, the focus on the family headquarters was defaced, leaving behind a graffiti message pointing out the organization's culpability from pioneering the kind of gay exterminationist propaganda that the modern conservative right is embracing. The message left on the property that James and I visited just a few months prior read, quote, their blood is on your hands. Five lives taken.

Way back in 2020, I put together a Behind the Bastards on Focus on the Family and their founder, James Dobson, and I've covered Focus on the Family's increase in anti-trans propaganda earlier this year on this very show. After the graffiti was left on their headquarters on Thanksgiving, a statement was released by the Colorado People's Press, and I'm going to read a few parts of that. Quote, it is no accident that the Club Q shooting happened in Colorado Springs, a city steeped in homophobia, transphobia, and white supremacy. It is no surprise that somebody did this in the city that is home to such a hateful organization as Focus on the Family. If you visit their website, you will see them eagerly display their desire to rid the world

of all queer people. It is important to us that you understand why Focus on the Family must be held accountable for the ramifications of their hateful theology. You have likely seen the onslaught of anti-trans legislation, of which Focus on the Family is a huge proponent, both in funding and propaganda. Focus on the Family's goal is to eradicate queerness, unquote. Two of the five people killed in the Club Q shooting were trans people, and in the days after the attack, figures on the right continued to call for attacks on trans people and drag queens, using their familiar language of groomers and grooming, while of course completely ignoring multiple figures within their

own midst who have very well-documented relationships with people convicted or suspected of sex crimes. But obviously, evidence or logic doesn't really make a difference in these types of situations. What's happened is that a handful of figures on the right have decided that they can gain power, influence, and money by whipping up hatred towards queer people. With this hate has come an uptick in violence, and this only makes queer havens like the Tenacious Unicorn Ranch more important. Last month in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after a donut shop hosted a drag queen and queer art event, a man in a MAGA hat smashed the windows of the store with a baseball bat and threw in a Molotov cocktail. The attacker also taped a note with Bible verses and homophobic and

transphobic slurs on the window of a neighboring shop. This wasn't the first time the store had been targeted, and this attack happened a day before the shop was set to host another drag art event. On December 3rd, a right-wing activist and former U.S. Army psychological operations officer claimed on Facebook that God had caused a power outage in Moore County, North Carolina, in an effort to shut down a drag show that was currently taking place in a local theater. holiday-themed drag show in Columbus, Ohio, hosted by a Unitarian Universalist church, was cancelled due to threats and protests outside by Proud Boys, Patriot Front, and a number of unidentified armed men in camo. Patriot Front chanted, blood, liberty, and victory, while the Proud Boys chanted, fed, Feds, Feds back at them. Despite their disagreements, the two groups seemed perfectly fine working together to shut down

the drag event. The Nazi group White Lives Matter Ohio was set up a few blocks away in their skull masks and were Sieg Heil-ing to drivers passing by. After it became clear the drag show was not going to take place, the groups moved to a busier, more visible street to wave their groomer signs. moved to a busier, more visible street to wave their groomer signs. A few dozen Patriot Front members stood chanting outside of a Chipotle as a Christian Dominionist flag flew behind them. On December 7th, someone fired a gun through the window of a bar in Renton, Washington, after threats against the bar were posted online for hosting a drag queen story time. against the bar were posted online for hosting a drag queen story time. Just a few days ago, on December 13th, the FBI-designated extremist militia group named This Is Texas Freedom Force showed up armed with guns outside of a Christmas-themed drag show in San Antonio, Texas.

Other right-wing groups like the San Antonio Family Association and the Fascist Patriot Front also had members present. By the end, the crowd protesting the drag show was greatly outnumbered by people showing up to support and defend the queer event, some of whom also showed up armed. Our streets! Our streets! When trans lives are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back! When trans lives are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back! Something that was mentioned across the multiple interviews we did while visiting the ranch is the idea of microcosm and macrocosm. The Tenacious Unicorn Ranch story and the threats of violence that they have faced

really does embody a microcosm version of the transphobic and queer eliminationist rhetoric and genocide campaign that the country as a whole is experiencing. It's just that this local manifestation of it happened to be on an alpaca farm, as odd as that may be. They're animals straight out of a Ghibli film, you know. They really are, yeah. Designed by Kimiki. They have the same amount of magic. Yeah, just driving up here, seeing them. Yeah, I was like, wow. Right? They do inspire that.

Yeah. They are like unicorns. They're like mythical. Yeah, they're just kind of like, wow, is this real? It's like a fucking Tauntaun. What's going on here? They just look so snuggable. Yeah. I just want to snuggle them. The way they walk like that, they're like...

Here I come. Yeah. When they do a trot, like in their head goes... This is clown face. He's an asshole, but he's a really good dad. Yeah. Welcome. I'm Danny Thrill. Won't you join me at the fire and dare enter Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows presented by

iHeart and Sonora. An anthology of modern-day horror stories inspired by the legends of Latin America. From ghastly encounters with shapeshifters to bone-chilling brushes with supernatural creatures. I know you. Take a trip and experience the horrors that have haunted Latin America

since the beginning of time. Listen to Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows as part of My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons? Hit play on the sex-positive and deeply entertaining podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions.

Join hosts Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Patterson Rosso as they explore queer sex, cruising, relationships, and culture in the new iHeart podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Sniffy's Cruising Confessions will broaden minds and help you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions,

sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming. This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey,

you've been doing all that talking. It's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. For this last episode of the series, we want to give you a sense of what regular life is like at the ranch. Now that it's been almost two years since the siege and people have had time to process grow and adapt one thing that's growing is the number of alpacas

we have 186 196 something like that with the with the recent kriya's born we have 196 so about 196 alpaca um let's talk a little bit about alpaca because I think they're interesting, right? You came into Moetia alpaca as rescues. Yeah. Yeah. So at the original ranch, we purchased 10 alpaca,

but it was like a rescue purchase. The only way that we could get them to give them up was if we paid money for them, but they were like, they needed new homes. That was all from really lovely people. It was just like, these weren't alpaca they wanted. And then we learned really quickly that there is a, that there's a problem in America with alpaca ranchers aging out of being able to take care of these really massive herds that they've built and either euthanizing or splitting up herds, which is both things are not great for the health of the alpaca.

Especially euthanizing. Yeah, for sure. Documented. That ends that story. But so we found really quickly that there is a uh as a rescue we were able to help more animals and afford animals you know like uh because and because we were on the acreage that we're on we could take in entire herds and not break them up which is a big deal. And so our first intake of rescues was 76 alpaca

from a really great couple in Horsetooth that was retiring. Really great animals, hardy, really quality fiber. And we just kind of have been with that model ever since as a rescue. The way you are sustainable as a ranch is in addition to working outside is selling the fiber right the fiber from the animals yeah both sheep and the alpaca uh provide fiber that we then turn into really what we do is turn it into yarn and then sell the yarn we've never uh needed to go beyond that because we've always sold out of our yarn almost immediately.

Speaking of sheep, here's a nice little clip of James fawning over some of the door sets. There's a deer. Nice looking sheep. Right? Little baby door sets. What are you doing, loves?

And there's some of them that are mixed with... I don't remember what the blackface... Scotch blackface? Yeah. And they're a really lovely mix. Yeah, that's a nice combination actually. Pretty rugged sheep. Nice and big and just rugged, like they put up with everything.

Yeah. You can see their coats are just like bread. They're just...'re just doughy yeah i love it yeah the door suits have like a nice thick fleece and they're like well fleece on the head and the neck yeah yeah and they make really good we mixed it with our uh alpaca yarn this year and it's a wonderful yarn it's really rough thinking that there's people that are just like alpaca farmers like what what's gone wrong in your life that you're so angry at someone for looking after these floofy animals yeah like the big thing was

there was that moment where like they had the nazi parade in town and that's what really like we call them out on it and that's what started the animosity. But like, it was a parade of Nazis. Like, I don't like, I don't feel bad. Like, you know what I mean? Like,

it's weird that they took it to the level of, Oh yeah, well, we're going to burn down your house and kill you all. That'll show you. It's like, yeah, it'll show us that you're Nazis.

In our conversation with Jordan from the Tribune, as somebody who was born and raised in this area, he gave us his perspective on why people may have thought they could get away with attacking the ranch and how there has been this cultural shift in recent years to allow this kind of reactionary militancy. You know, again, I don't think it was anything super organized other than a bunch of these individuals that had already been sort of organized, um, deciding to do something really stupid. Yeah. Incredibly stupid. And knowing that the sheriff and a lot of other people wouldn't take it that seriously. That's what I wondered. Yeah. They thought they could get away with it. And has there been a history of that? wouldn't take it that seriously. That's what I wondered. Yeah, they thought they could get away with it.

And has there been a history of that? Like, have they done, has that sort of thing happened in the Valley? In the past, I mean, there's been plenty of just, as I said, you know, but usually that stuff wasn't condoned. So eventually they get caught. You mean like in terms of like pressuring gay people out? Or minorities, you know, in the past there was always some of those types of things, but it also wasn't condoned or even excused, even against most, if it came out, then those people were shunned and shamed even by Republicans.

But these days, it's much more like, well, we'll look the other way, you know. Now it's tipped the other direction. Thankfully, so far, the efforts of these few individuals to harm or pressure the unicorns out of the community have unequivocally failed, and in some ways, just made stronger bonds. Yeah, they wanted you to leave. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, all of it was designed to make you so afraid

you would go away. Yeah. Like, yeah. Terrorism. Terrorism. And that hasn't happened, right right so you're a year and change near a year and a half almost yeah two two two years in this location yeah two years and change and a year plus since since the harassment peak yeah and how are things now great i think at this

point people legitimately love us like locals like, people call us the unicorns, and everybody knows who we are, and not in a bad way. Like, it's really, we feel at home here. Because of the timing of their initial move over to Westcliff, it made local community building kind of challenging. And little did they know that they would crucially need community and support in the months to come so because it was during the pandemic uh and everything was on lockdown we didn't establish a lot of community we uh um annie moved in uh who was somebody we knew down in berthed which was very close to us. And so she moved up here at the exact same time we were moving up here.

So we did have like somebody that we could like talk to and interact with, but they were just as new to the area as we were. And I mean, honestly, setting up a ranch and moving from one location to another, when you're talking about like multiple hundreds of animals. And at that point we were six people. We were very self-focused for the first six months we were up here. So our general sweep was they have Shakespeare in the park and it's a tourist town. So it seems great. We moved here because we could afford this house and no other house in Colorado. And then it slowly started to become apparent that we'd moved into a very red area.

But again, there wasn't any overt signs upon arrival. Like, everybody was cool. And honestly, like, people are still pretty cool, mostly. 99% of people are cool. Yeah, it's the 1% of people that suck. As things have steadily stabilized and settled into a version of normal, the unicorns have been getting more involved throughout the local community. A little while back, they stepped up to assist with recycling for the county.

We stepped up for a small period of time when the recycling company that was handling the county. We stepped up for a small period of time when the recycling company that was handling the county's recycling folded. We stepped up with our horse trailers and just collected recycling and drove it to a facility. Now there's actually a facility in the Westcliff landfill that does recycling for this county and the neighboring three counties. And that was a building that we designed. And the person who's running it, Rocky Mountain Recycling, Joni's her name, amazing people. They're doing great things.

And we're glad that we could help in whatever we could. It just became a government project. And that's when we stepped out because that's not really what we're about. But yeah. And as socialization has been able to get more possible since the pandemic the unicorns have developed ways to connect with the existing community of queers and weirdos in the area jen put together like a weekly game night and it's like slowly growing and we're bringing in queer people to play board games and stuff. Yeah, we've got

four different people from in town who otherwise don't really have a connection to their ranch coming in to play a board game or maybe magic tonight. And I have a slight suspicion that's going to keep growing. What are we playing tonight? It might be Arkham Horror

3rd Edition or it might be Mysterium or it might be magic., or it might be Magic. Okay. My favorite is Magic. Because I would love to beat everyone here in a game. Oh my gosh, you should play with us. Yes, that'd be so fun. That'd be super fun, right?

But yeah, even little things like that. It's just small ways to build community. Yeah, it's important because we need to be here if it gets really bad. On the macrocosm scale, things do seem to be here when like, if it gets really bad. On the macrocosm scale, things do seem to be getting bad. When we talked with Jordan about how George from the Sentinel was targeting the unicorns, the conversation segued into how there's been this shift from economic conservatism to this rising brand of far-right Christian vanguardism?

I think if I was to classify some of the movement you see in conservative America right now, where it all starts to make sense, is that in the past, conservatism was always trying to push against sort of this idea of revolution or progress or too fast. You know, they always go back to the French Revolution. That's where the left and right kind of started. Saying, hey, if you move too quickly with progress, everybody gets their heads chopped off. So that was kind of conservatism, which is we don't really believe in anything necessarily. We're just going to hold the tradition and just kind of be saying no a lot.

But at the same time, that's how conservatism was here until the Soviet Union fell. And then all of a sudden something switched, which is we have the system that won. Our system should spread across the world because if everybody did American-style capitalist democracy, we would enter this weird Ayn Randian utopia. A free markets tree. Yeah, we'll end a history, but on a conservative side. Yeah, exactly. That's exactly what it was. But the problem is, is 2001, particularly here, pushed it over. It went from like, okay, maybe we're actually going to try to push this on other countries. And really what I call the alt-right or the conservative right now,

they got bit by the utopian bug, which is if everybody's armed to the teeth, if everybody lives the way that they dictate they should live, which is some weird Ayn Randian version of life and morality, then we'll enter a utopia. If anybody stands against you as that prophet, you are

the enemy. That's why the right now turns on themselves all the time. Anybody that stands against them is the enemy. A liberal stops utopia is their definition. A liberal stops utopia is their definite. Anybody that stops utopia is liberal or communist. And I think if you look at it in that lens, the world makes a lot more sense.

I don't see very much utopianism at all on the left anymore, whereas on the right, it's everywhere. So it's one of those weird political things that's flopped the other direction. Now, just in different words, different ways ways utopianism is on the right now they also need to have some type of conflict they need to have a purging episode you have to purge everybody that's on the other side to enter utopia and that that's why christians are really into it they read the book of revelation we have to have the civil war we have to purge all the leftists because on the other side we enter the kingdom of god it's the millenarianism it's yeah exactly

it's absolute millenarianism and that's what we're facing here if i was to sum it up that's how i'd say it was it's definitely millenarianism in the local form local farm. Welcome. I'm Danny Threl. Won't you join me at the fire and dare enter Nocturnum Tales from the Shadows, presented by iHeart and Sonora. An anthology

of modern day horror stories inspired by the legends of Latin America. From ghastly encounters with shapeshifters to bone-chilling brushes with supernatural creatures. I know you. Take a trip and experience the horrors that have haunted Latin America since the beginning of time. Listen to Nocturne Tales from the Shadows as part of my Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons?

Hit play on the sex-positive and deeply entertaining podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Join hosts Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Patterson Rosso as they explore queer sex, cruising, relationships, and culture in the new iHeart podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Sniffy's Cruising Confessions will broaden minds and help you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming. This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry,

submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking. It's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. If we are going to look at the Tenacious Unicorn Ranch story as a microcosm of transphobic violence, then I think it should also be seen as a case study of the invaluable role solidarity and community have in resisting the concerted effort to harm queer people. Back when the siege was just starting, simply feeling able to go to sleep because people were willing to show up for you is just one example from this story that's a powerful display of the values many

people claim to have, but seldom implement it. We were exhausted. And so to have people show up and be like, you like you, you will be safe tonight, lay down, get sleep and trusted enough to sleep. Like, cause it was incredible. It was incredible it was incredible as the unicorns continue to make connections and become a known staple of the larger local community it's made organizing any harassment against them more difficult i bet a bunch of those people who hate us have tested the waters with their friends like all those unicorns and they're like what they're cool and oh yeah that's what that's what i meant because we keep making friends um but that's been our ongoing precautions because it hasn't the animosity from that group hasn't gone away and it does resurface every once in a

while like some people threaten to kill our dogs a little while back and things like that so the same people we're not sure possibly yeah no way of confirming or denying that yes nowadays some security measures have been integrated into their everyday lives thanks to support they've gotten from strangers uh we definitely we have cameras so uh we we had a gofundMe where people amazingly kind of like threw a large amount of money at us, which afforded a better fence and cameras everywhere on property. So that,

and things like gear, yeah, better gear and upgrades and stuff like that. So, um, we, we kind of are in an ongoing, keep us safe mode,

but like cameras and guns, that's how we do it. And I do, i really do think like we showed the shitty people of this town like don't fucking mess with us well we showed reason to mess with us well what we showed was that uh community matters and if you aren't a shit heel community will show up for you the day after the club Q shooting, once again, the ranch posted a tweet asking for people to come. This time, they didn't need help, they wanted to offer it. They're only an hour or so away from Colorado Springs, and they wanted to offer their home as a place to heal, to talk, and to begin moving forward as a part of the community struck by violence and hate.

In addition to a home for the ranchers and the animals, the ranch also provides emergency housing for queer people who aren't safe wherever they currently are. There have been lots of residents at the ranch in the four years they've been operating. Some of them come briefly and use the stability to get set up with a fresh start in some place. Some others intend to stay, but find the country life isn't for them. And some, like Jay, become permanent fixtures on the ranch. The term you've kind of used a lot to describe this place

is like a queer haven. Yeah. And the past year definitely there's been a pretty volatile increase in transphobia and queer phobia even like a resurgence of homophobia so as this type of stuff is happening as we're seeing more kind of rhetoric around like queer genocide or queer exterminationism how do you see this place and you know possible places like it fitting in to kind of how we how the world seems to be going yeah so what we've seen aside from people wanting to come up here and live permanently that uh we've put that on hold right now because we're

just kind of we need more space like yeah we don't have the space to like facilitate but what we have found is something that we are as a Haven. What the thing that we do that's most important is groups of queer people will come here for a recharge and to feel like it is recharging to spend a week up here in community with other queer people, with no burden from the outside and just being yourself building connections and network yeah and like kind of reigniting your fire for revolution and for your in kind of i don't know like i don't know like touching base and realizing that like the community is still big

it is still growing people are still strong, being able to come up here and really in vibe that for a week or two has been from the letters I get really important to people. And so that, that is what we like deliver routinely. Um, we do also like emergency, like save people when we can, like, if you're just got kicked out on the street, you don't know what to do, but you can kind of like, you have somewhere to go, but you can't get there yet. We are a really good way station for people in that position. You come up, you know,

touch grass for a week and then go back out into the world. And given, you know, climate collapse and encroaching fascism, like and given you know climate collapse and encroaching fascism um which if you don't get then you need to probably study your history listen to this podcast more often probably yeah probably uh they're they're you know there's gonna be rainbow railroads um there's gonna be a lot of bad things happening it And it's going to happen quickly. We'll still be here. We're trying to grow to a size that can help people more directly. But we're still here.

Even if we didn't grow, we'd still be here, and you could count on us. You know what I mean? But the networks that are set up, like being able to quickly get people out of the country, being able to quickly get people to safety from anywhere in the country. That's what we have been focusing on. Much like we started in response to the violence that was ratcheting because of the Trump administration, we haven't lessened that, right? We haven't lessened that, right?

Like we're setting up networks and possibilities to get people safe from very unsafe situations in this country. And that's kind of where it's going fucking everywhere right now. So that kind of networking has, we've found, not only bolstered people, but is really important. The need for places like these is growing just as quickly as the manufactured panic around drag shows. In response, the unicorns have decided to expand to another property in the valley and one in Boulder County. These properties will allow them to serve a larger community, to grow crops, have horses, and increase the amount of emergency housing they can provide. The Unicorns have launched a new GoFundMe to help cover some of the starting costs to get the new locations up and running and begin farming operations.

The additions would not only be providing more housing and income, but also add the ability to offer support groups and host queer events that are safe and accessible to folks in and around Boulder County, Colorado. You know, we've had some really intimate conversations with some queer people that are like, you know, like what you're doing is kind of keeping me going. So it's, it's, we take that responsibility pretty fucking seriously because, uh, it's... We take that responsibility pretty fucking seriously. Because... It's why we weigh everything so heavily. Because it's like, look, we can't fail.

Yeah. Like, people put that much faith and belief in what you're doing. You can't let them down. Yeah. Like we've said from the beginning, this project isn't about us. This project is about the community and giving us a stronghold of just fucking hope. Instead of walking away from this series thinking, oh, I'm going to go move to the ranch,

because I guarantee there's not enough room for everybody listening, even with the ongoing expansion. But people should take what we've learned from the Tenacious Unicorn Ranch and apply it elsewhere. Wherever you are, you can apply this example with all of its ups and downs to prospective havens across the continent, whether in cities or in the country. Building queer zones doesn't need to take form as a completely isolated, closed-off commune. As we've seen here, having connections and fostering community with those around you is a crucial part of maintaining a livelihood beyond just mere survival.

While this has been a story about the internet and how it provides both positive connections and a medium for some of the worst bigoted hatred, and a story about guns, both how they have been used as a tool to protect trans people in rural Colorado, as well as being part of the original threat to trans lives, and now a seemingly increasing one. But if there's one thing that I hope people can take away from this story, it's how all of these positive aspects are meaningless unless people are willing to demonstrate solidarity and work towards building a community that's capable of ensuring a queer haven like the Tenacious Unicorn Ranch is able to continue despite threats from queer exterminationists.

If you want to keep up with the ranch, you can find them at tenaciousunicornranch.com, where you can also find their Patreon and the GoFundMe page for their expansion. You can find James at James Stout, and you can find me at Hungry Bowtie. See you on the other side. It Could Happen Here is a production of Cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from Cool Zone Media, visit our website, coolzonemedia.com,

or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources for It Could Happen Here updated monthly at coolzonemedia.com slash sources. Thanks for listening. You should probably keep your lights on for Nocturnal Tales from the Shadow. Join me, Danny Trejo,

and step into the flames of fright. An anthology podcast of modern day horror stories inspired by the most terrifying legends and lore of Latin America. Listen to Nocturno on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Podcasts, or help you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming.

This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking. It's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards.