What A Day - No Cops At Pride

Episode Date: June 25, 2021

President Biden announced a new $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package that will be primarily funded through heightened IRS efforts to reduce tax evasion by corporations and the wealthy. Human infrastructure spending, which covers things like childcare, education, and clean energy, is missing from the deal and would need to be part of a second bill passed through reconciliation without Republican support.Pride events this weekend in cities like New York, Denver, and Seattle have banned out LGBTQ police officers from participating in marches if they're in uniform. We spoke with Chris Roney, an organizer of the Queer Liberation Movement, about the history of police resistance in the queer community and what's motivating people to ban cops at pride.Plus, we're joined for headlines by special guest Margaret Cho: New York suspends Giuliani’s law license, EU leaders condemn anti-queer Hungarian bill, and chaos at a Redneck Rave.Show Notes:Search and Rescue Underway After Partial Collapse of Surfside Condo Building – https://www.nbcmiami.com/Chris Roney: "In Honor of Pride, Let’s Put Our Privilege to Work For Black Lives Matter" – https://yhoo.it/3zWcVt3Queer Liberation March – https://reclaimpridenyc.org/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday.

It's Friday, June 25th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Rensnick, and this is What A Day, where we are preparing ourselves for live concerts by standing in one spot for three hours and bouncing up and down every few minutes. Yeah, I mean, it's kind of depending on what concerts you go to. I'm usually moving around a little bit more than that. I only attend live performances of ambient music to do homework to. Yeah, those moving around a little bit more than that. I only attend live performances of ambient music to do homework too. Yeah, those lo-fi beats do slap. On today's show, why some pride marches this weekend have banned LGBTQ police officers from

participating if they're in uniform. Then we'll have headlines with a special guest, Margaret Cho. But first, a quick update here. We are following the story of a partially collapsed residential building in Surfside, Florida, just north of Miami Beach. So part of the 12-story building gave way early Thursday morning while most residents inside were asleep. As of our recording yesterday night, officials confirmed at least one death with 99 people unaccounted for. And the cause of the collapse is not yet known at this point. We're going to have a link in our show notes so you can catch up on the story. And now to the latest out of DC on infrastructure. We had a really good meeting

and answer your direct question. We have a deal. And I think it's really important. We've all agreed that none of us got what we all wanted. I clearly didn't get all I wanted. They gave more than I think maybe they were inclined to give in the first place. But this reminds me of the days we used to get an awful lot done up in the United States Congress. Wow. So it is always infrastructure week. We are just in a groundhog's day of infrastructure week. Okay. So this announcement by President Biden yesterday is coming after months of negotiating a sort of performative circus of bipartisanship, pitches, counter pitches, etc.

So what's actually in the deal? Yeah. Before we go there, I just think none of us got all that we wanted. An incredible motto for the administration. The country as well. Yes, and the time that we live in. Dear Lord. Okay, so this bipartisan package significantly whittles down what Biden first proposed, which had a $2.2 trillion price tag over eight years. This one is just about $1.2 trillion instead and has some of the following. There's about $115 billion with a B for public transit and rail projects,

about $109 billion for roads and bridges, $65 billion for more broadband infrastructure, $73 billion for improvements to power grids, etc., etc., and so forth. All right, so we know that there's a catch here. What ended up getting stripped during the negotiations? Well, for one thing, some of the ways that this would actually get paid for. So the Trump administration tax cuts are not getting rolled back in this. And the promised tax hikes on the wealthy and corporations are not in this either. One of the major funding avenues is apparently going to be through more IRS enforcement, which is supposed to crack down on evasion by big companies and names like Jeff Bezos that we all know and love.

And then more importantly, what's missing in the deal so far is what had been referred to as, quote unquote, human infrastructure spending. No, we are not being turned into roads and bridges just yet. That is for a later date. This is for things like child care, education, some of the bigger climate priorities that the original Biden plan had. For example, things like a national quote unquote, clean electricity standard for power companies, or major tax incentives on clean energy. The idea as it stands right now, though, is that those are going to go into a second bill that is passed through reconciliation without needing Republican support. Again, it really does just feel like we're going in circles. Yeah, like why do we why do we do this over and over again? Just get what we want.

All right. Well, that's the bipartisan deal. But is it a done deal yet, Gideon? And what's the word on how that second bill might go? I don't know. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are saying that they're going to try to do both of these bills in tandem. They seem to think that's, you know, the best for everybody involved. Biden basically said as much to threatening to not sign the bipartisan deal if something else doesn't go through as well, namely this other bill with the other priorities, which, by the way, led some Republicans like Senator Lindsey Graham to say they were mad, which makes you scratch your head about negotiating yet again. Yeah. Yeah. Like what if they're always going to stay mad, then like, let's just get what we want out of it. I don't really understand who we're placating. Yeah, that is the dependent variable in the science experiment.

So as we mentioned before, too, there was a well-deserved revolt among some Democrats about voting for anything that doesn't address the fact that the planet is at extinction risk. Some have begun saying the very same thing about any sort of reconciliation deal that could emerge here. And if anybody listening needs another reason why there are no other options, it is supposed to be around 110 degrees in Portland, Oregon this weekend, a place where many people do not have air conditioning. So we are living through a planet effectively on fire right this very minute. Turning now to Pride Month, it wraps up this weekend with some cities around the world throwing big celebrations and marches tomorrow and Sunday. But Akilah, some people are not invited to those parties. Yeah, so out LGBTQ police officers are who you are referring to. This year, organizers in cities like New York, Denver, and Seattle have banned

out and proud cops from participating in events and exhibitions if they're in uniform. The reasoning touches on the history of violence by police against LGBTQ people and trying to show solidarity with BIPOCs who are protesting police violence today. So to tell us more, we have with us journalist Chris Roney. He wrote the InStyle article in honor of Pride, Let's Put Our Privilege to Work for Black Lives Matter. Plus, he's helped to organize an alternative pride march in New York City that already excluded uniformed officers called the Queer Liberation March. Chris, welcome to WOD. Thank you for having me. It's an honor to be on the podcast. That's on every great playlist at Pride events. I did my homework.

Wow, thank you so, so much. Many of the decisions about banning uniformed police participation started happening in May, as you know, and the arguments in different cities can be tied to the Black Lives Matter protests of last year and Pride last year. So can you explain more about what those arguments are? I think when we were looking at queer organizations and we were looking at who's actually out in the streets with us after the death, the murder of George Floyd, who is actually showing up for our community when it's not June, and who actually understands our community as more than the corporate interests of white queer men,

especially. I want to organize around all people. I want to be in solidarity with all movements. I don't want to just show up for myself. You know, how can we be in solidarity with our neighbors? How can we be better neighbors to not only queer people, but how can we be better, you know, in solidarity with other movements? Our march, for example, has been in solidarity, you know, with Black Lives Matter, you know, organizing together, but then also working, you know, to get people vaccinated, to have larger conversations around access and healthcare and housing and food insecurity. And you alluded to sort of the historical side of this, but, you know, from raids on queer clubs to laws like stop and frisk, police have had this long track record of targeting and criminalizing queer and trans people across the United States and the world. Can you tell us more

about that history with some examples? So when we talk, at least in the past year, walking while trans was a giant effort last year to eradicate that here in New York City. But even looking back to stop and frisk, talking about, you know, when we are penalizing people for loitering, trans women, you know, cannot exist in the street with three condoms in their pocket and not be arrested. We see how a police presence at our pride events, but just in general in our queer spaces over the course of the last 50, 60 years and onward, has always been at the detriment of queer people of color, of people of color, especially trans women. And so that's why it's been so heartening to see our march and our organization center the experiences of queer people of color specifically and prioritize their safety, because it's not a grace that we see extended in, you know,

these predominantly white, cis, gay male spaces, or we haven't historically. Yeah. And have relations between police departments and the LGBT community writ large evolved or changed at all over time? And if so, how? It's interesting. I think we've seen some symbolic victories. We obviously have seen historically, you know, at the Corporate Pride, we see gold, the gay officers, Action League, you know, walking in those parades, we see videos of, you know, gay officers, straight officers dancing and people, their hearts are warmed. But we have also noticed how gold, when push comes to shove, does not show up for queer people of color in any of these officers dancing and people, their hearts are warmed. But we have also noticed how in goal,

when push comes to shove does not show up for queer people of color in any of these conversations, we don't see a real change coming out of police departments in the way they actually deal with and, you know, respect the dignity of queer people of color. And that's really a change that we just have not seen beyond, you know, those viral moments and kind of more symbolic victories. So in New York, you know, officers won't just be barred from this Sunday's march, but from future events all the way up to 2025. And in response, the Gay Officers Action League said in a statement that it was, quote, disheartened by the decision to ban our group from participating in New York City Pride. The group also said that the march organizers, quote, abrupt about face in order to placate some of the activists in our

community is shameful. How do you feel about responses like that? I feel what's shameful is not showing up for all queer people. I think something I've noticed, you know, as an organizer is, you know, a lot of white queer people, if I can speak openly, are always white before they're queer. They're not in solidarity with queer people of color. We've seen so many, you know, we've seen COVID-19 act as kind of an accelerator for so many social wars, be it housing insecurity in the Bronx. We've seen just so much to organise and activate around. And that has fallen on deaf ears with so many queer organisations. It's really kind of separated the wheat from the chaff. Who is actually showing up for all of our community and those who need it the most? And who is showing up, you know, for a fat paycheck from, you know, a vodka brand or, you know, a Chase bank.

Yeah. Any affiliation with Chase? We're raising our collective eyebrows. So beyond this particular issue with, you know, LGBTQ cops participating in Pride, there's been a long running tension about those events themselves. We were talking a bit about this, but can you talk about that tension over what Pride actually represents and who it should include? I feel like that's sort of the broad conversation that we are having. The history of Pride, you know, is radical. You know, it was a protest, you know, it stood for actual human rights, material reality changes for queer people. It's become so sanitized over the years. And so many of the organizers that created Reclaim Pride Coalition, which puts on Queer Liberation March, do come from like those old ways.

They come from ACT UP. They actually come from Heritage of Pride. They were the separatists who said, we have strayed so far from the original mission of showing up for our community en masse that, you know, we don't want to take part, you know, in this anymore. We want to actually center the experiences of those in our community who need centering right now, because the fight is not over. The fight did not end after Obergefell v. Hodges. It continues for so many folks. It continues this month. We see so many anti-trans bills. We see, you know, the proliferation of assaults and violence against Black trans women.

There is no lack of things to show up for today. And, you know, it's not over. We need way more than a Macy's Day parade. You know, they already have the Macy's parade. Why do they need another one? You know, let's start making people's lives better. Well, we really appreciate you taking the time to talk, Chris. Thank you so much. Absolutely. Thank you. And in our show notes, we'll link to Chris's article and info about the Queer Liberation March that he helped organize so you can learn more too. Have an amazing and safe Pride this weekend, WOD Squad. And if you missed yesterday's Love It or Leave It extravaganza out of the closets into

the streets, check it out at crooked.com slash pride. And that's the latest for now. We'll be back after some ads with Headlines and Margaret Cho. Let's wrap up with some Headlines. Headlines. Today, we've got a very special guest with us. I am psyched. It is comedian, actress, and musician Margaret Cho. Margaret, we could not be more honored to have you on Headlines.

Thank you so much. I'm so excited. This is great. This is going to be the best. All right, Gideon, kick us off. All right. America's courtrooms just got significantly drier because former New York City Mayor, Trump lawyer, and wet-headed man about town, Rudy Giuliani's law license was suspended yesterday for falsely claiming that the 2020 election was

stolen from Donald Trump. The state court pointed to the Capitol riots as a direct result of Giuliani's false statements, which eroded the public's trust in elections and the government. Giuliani crossed the line from funny voting machine conspiracies into voting machine conspiracies that provoked mass violence, which is something you learn not to do in law school. It's like one of the first things they say. Trump railed against yesterday's decision and described Giuliani as, quote, one of the greatest crime fighters our country has ever known, indicating a total lack of familiarity with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Giuliani will fight the suspension in disciplinary hearings on the grounds that he is not a danger to the public interest. Only a danger to four seasons landscaping.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is celebrating pride in a way toxic males are extremely skilled at by being afraid of gay people. Orban's right wing government passed a law last week that makes it illegal to feature same-sex couples in educational materials or TV shows for people under 18. Presumably, it's based on the idea that kids will only have gay crushes if they get the idea from Kimmy

Schmidt's roommate. Yesterday, EU leaders from 17 countries published a letter condemning laws like Hungary's. That was ahead of a summit in Brussels where members of the EU were expected to confront Orban over the law, hopefully by having him arrested by a hot fake

cop whose clothes are flying off at high speeds. I mean, honestly, if that's what the police were, maybe people would be happy with that. I mean, I hope so. All right. Well, if you want a preview of what music festivals will look like once the sun burns out and our society goes full mad max look no further

than kentucky's redneck rave the event oh god uh the event was held earlier this month and led to 48 people being charged by police for common offenses like drug possession, as well as content warning, one incidence of throat slashing. Geez. The lineup consisted mostly of people playing country rap or crap, I guess. It's a genre of music we need to keep the CIA from finding out about so it doesn't become part of the enhanced interrogations at Guantanamo Bay. Police officers in Kentucky's Edmondson County said that they knew they were in for a rough weekend when they found meth, weed, open alcohol containers and a person with two active warrants in the first car that they pulled over at a traffic stop. It gets worse from there, I guess. The Redneck Rave organizers said the reports of chaos at their event will only make people buy tickets to their next one in October. Who are they talking about?

At which time I'll be in a secure location with a panic room 100 miles underground. That's so scary. One time I accidentally went to a Lynyrd Skynyrd kid rock show and in the audience I saw seven people bleeding, but they were all bleeding from different areas. Some were from the mouth, some were from the eyes, some were bleeding internally. You could just tell. I could just tell. In a stirring tale of the resilience of the cow spirit, at least 34 cows banded together this week to escape an LA slaughterhouse, stampede

through a suburban neighborhood, and essentially do a Pixar movie in real life. The cows cut through yards and spent some time loitering in front of someone's garage, indicating they were cow teenagers. Sadly, one person was injured and a cow was shot by police because he allegedly was about to run over a baby.

It took the sheriff's department about two hours to move the cows into trailers, at which point they were delivered back to the slaughterhouse where they hopefully know about some secret tunnel that's exactly the size of a cow oh wow i mean i love i love them and i'm sorry for them and i don't believe that a cow would run over a baby that seems fake yeah i mean it's just it's it's really sad but it's it is like you, we're so removed from the reality of meat and dairy, you know, and you know, they're, they're sentient beings and it's very, it's very sad and they've got to know when they're in slaughterhouse that they're, you know, what's going to happen.

They know that's what's next. I mean, Giddy and I were saying earlier, you know, like if they get out, they should be allowed to stay out. I think that should be the rule. You can't just bring them back in. It's not real. It's so sad. But, you know, at least they had that momentary breath of freedom. Yeah.

I mean, truthfully, that's what we all want and good for them. Margaret, you are incredible. Is there anything that you would like to plug? Yes. I have a movie out today on Netflix. It's called Good on Paper. It was number three in the country or not. I guess the three in the country, three in the three in the Netflix. It's number three universe.

And the Netflix numbers are taking over. That's huge. So it's very exciting. So it's a, it's a great comedy. And so, yes, I'm in that. Oh, well, congratulations. everybody go check that out this weekend I'm hype about it this is great thank you so much for being here thank you thank you Margaret thank you

and those are the headlines that is all for today if you like the show make sure you subscribe leave a review keep country rap a secret and tell your friends to listen and if you're into reading and not just spec scripts for cow prison break movies like me what a day is also a nightly newsletter check it out subscribe at crooked.com subscribe and i will see you all after the july 4th weekend they're going to be nicer and smarter people taking my place. So have fun. Goodbye. Oh, my God.

I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And keep practicing for concerts. You know, I think if you just bent your knees and moved your hips a little bit, you would hear the music better even. You should practice what it feels like to be very thirsty. That will help you. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media.

It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tun and Jazzy Marine are our associate producers. Our head writer is John Milstein, and our executive producers are Leo Duran, Akilah Hughes, and me. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.