Rated LGBT Radio

Minnesota Mean Director Dawn Mikkelson and the World of Women’s Roller Derby

Today is everything you did not know about women's Roller Derby through the eyes of six powerful players.  We discuss their stories told in the new documentary Minnesota Mean by Dawn Mikkelson.
“Minnesota Mean” follows a tumultuous year in the lives of the six core members of the Minnesota RollerGirls, one of the most competitive roller derby teams in the world, as they strive to win the Hydra, the top prize in Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby. In the film, the star of the team gets injured, and the film shows how her teammates find their own power. “Minnesota Mean” is not just a riveting human drama about the pounding heart of roller derby, but about the spirit of powerful, self-sufficient women from all walks of life and identity (straight, gay, trans, etc.). It’s a vital and relevant story of triumph, loss, strength, determination, and a search for balance between individuality and community. 
 Dawn is our guest today and is an extraordinary LGBTQ director, editor & producer, who embraces stories and voices that are often not amplified and often marginalized. A steady theme in her work is the power and strength of community made family. With an incredible background in broadcast, Dawn also recently co-directed, edited & produced our Rated LGBT Radio spotlighted film from last week, the acclaimed "Finding Her Beat,” made by a predominantly female/nonbinary, largely Asian-American and LGBTQ filmmaking team, and cast.
 
With co-host Brody Levesque

Taiko Rock Star Jennifer Weir and the Film FINDING HER BEAT is in the House!

Taiko is a rich and varied form of drumming that is part of Japan's cultural heritage. While it originally started in other parts of Asia, it emerged in Japan over 2000 years ago. It became a powerful motivator in military preparations and evolved into Japanese Buddhist and Shinto religions as a sacred instrument. Taiko literally means "drum" in Japanese, and the musical discipline of Taiko takes that instrument to its most impactful limits.
Because of its origins in patriarcal warfare and religious traditions, Taiko has been done for centuries only by men. Forty years ago, women musicians around the world became enthralled with the art form and have individually created their own Taiko compositions and disciplines. None of their efforts were collaborative or integrated -- each artist created and performed on her own.
Until now. 
Jennifer Weir, our guest today, is the Executive Director of TaikoArts Midwest. She decided to create the very first concert that would bring together all the female, and nonbinary, Taiko superstars to perform together on one stage in one mind-blowing performance. While doing so, she collaborated with a film team to make the documentary Finding Her Beat to tell the story of how the concert came together, and more broadly, spotlighting the evolution of an art form that now can belong to women artists as well as men.
With co-host Brody Levesque

Sasha Korbut, Dancer, Director, Film Producer, is Our Center Stage Today!

Our guest today brings a unique blends of talent and perspective. Sasha Korbut is a Russian-American dancer, actor, writer, and producer based in New York City.
Sasha began his career as a journalist, TV host, and producer at National Television in Russia and later contributed to numerous print and online magazines. A graduate of the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, he has been dancing and acting professionally for more than two decades and has worked for dance companies in Russia, South Korea, Spain, China, and the United States.
Today we will be discussing his debut as a film director and his new film Incomplete. Dance movement plays an intrigal part of the film's emotion and impact. Of the film, Sasha has said, "I wanted to focus on the sense of isolation and loneliness within the LGBTQIA+ community. But these issues are universal and while filming in 2022, I strongly felt the echoes of all the sadly lost connections we experienced during the COVID-19 worldwide lockdown."
With co-host Brody Levesque

How the Horrible Tennessee Shootings are Fueling Anti-Trans Rhetoric & Hatred

Americans sat back in horror on March 27, 2023, as news of a mass shooting hit the airwaves and social media. The shooting occurred at The Covenant School, a private Presbyterian parochial school in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee. Six people—three children and three staff members—were killed.
First reports indicated that the shooter was "a woman."  Further investigation indicates that the shooter was trans or non-binary. 
While most sane people are reacting to America's seemingly inability to solve the rising gun violence crisis, right wing voices from Marjorie Taylor Greene, to the New York Post, to Tucker Carlson are using the killings to raise ire against the transgender "community."  Carlson has elevated the murders to being a hatred and a war declared against Christians by transgender people.
Today we discuss the escalating attacks on transgenderr people with award winning, premier civil rights attorney Shannon Minter. Shannon serves as the legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Shannon was lead counsel for same-sex couples in the landmark California marriage equality case which held that same-sex couples have the fundamental right to marry and that laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation are inherently discriminatory and subject to the highest level of constitutional scrutiny. 
We will also be discussing the 303 Creative LGBTQ discrimination case in front of the Supreme Court and the dangerous ruling that could result from that.
With co-host Brody Levesque

”How We Won the War for LGBTQ Equality” Author and Editor Kevin Naff

Washington Blade Editor, Kevin Naff is known for best-in-class journalism and coverage of LGBTQ people and issues. He has been with the Blade since 2002, when he took the helm of the nation's oldest LGBTQ news organization. Previous to that, he spent four years at The Baltimore Sun, helping launch the paper's web site in
1996. He has worked as a financial reporter for Reuters, edited a national business trade journal and spent a year in the communications office of a U.S. senator. He graduated from Penn State University with a bachelor's degree in journalism and holds a master's certificate in public policy.
He has written a poignant memoir leveraging his birds-eye view of LGBTQ history through the marriage equality, hate crimes legislation, and  defeat of DADT fights. The memoir is boldly titled "How We Won the War for LGBTQ Equality", but its subtitle is the one to which we all need to pay attention: 
"And How Our Enemies Could Take it All Away".
Fear not, this is no dry telling of gay history, however.  While unlike the bestseller Spare , there were no penises frozen in the writing of How We Won, but there is still plenty of  "T". From the outing of a prominent Fox News Host, to frantically crawling under tables at the Washington Correspondents Dinner with Laverne Cox looking for diamonds --there are stories to talk about!  And we do!
With co-host Brody Levesque 

”The Swearing Jar’ Casting Director Matthew Lessall is in the House!

We look at the art of film and television casting today with acclaimed casting director, and gay man, Matthew Lessall. Matthew's latest accolade is an Achievement in Casting nomination for a Canadian "Oscar" bestowed by the Canadian Screen and Television Academy.  The nomination recoginizes his work on The Swearing Jar,  Described as "intelligent, hopeful and heartbreaking", Michael casted  Patrick J. Adams, Adelaide Clemmons, Douglas Smith, and Kathleen Turner as its stars. 
A romantic musical, the film is about a music teacher who both loves her husband, and falls in love with another musician.
A two-term former Casting Society of America (CSA) president, Matthew was born in London and raised in New York.  After graduating from DePauw University, with a degree in Communications, Lessall moved to London to study acting at LAMDA, but ended up finding his niche in Casting.  With his prophetic eye for great talent, Matthew cast Anna Kendrick in her first major film role, having done the same for many other now-celebrated actors.  His resume includes casts for productions and co-productions for Australia, Canada, Dominican Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, and the UK. Most of his projects have earned Official Selection laurels – and numerous wins - at Cannes, TIFF, Venice, Sundance, San Sebastian, Tribeca, Outfest, SXSW, and a host of other significant festivals, oftentimes securing immediate distribution deals. 
With co-host Brody Levesque

Singer/songwriter Sonia Leigh and Her New Rock Anthem THIN ICE !

Here with the launch of the fantastic new rock anthem Thin Ice, we talk to singer/songwriter Sonia Leigh.
'Thin Ice' is a hard hitting anthem fueled with pure rock and roll energy. With nods to The Killers, Bruce Springsteen, and Joan Jett, its growl calls for burning down the barriers around one’s self to realize full potential. It highlights the feeling of walking a tightrope of self-doubt that can keep you in a self-created prison. ‘Thin Ice’ emulates the courage to step into your power and soar.
At 17, Sonia left home due to her family's issues with her sexuality. Hers is a story of owning her true self and finding the artistry to express it.
Sonia Leigh’s musical style cannot be put in a box. From Hip-Hop to Country to Pop and Rock and Roll. Her Southern Ground debut album, 1978 December, was where Sonia made her country catapult. The first single off the album "My Name Is Money," hit Top 40 at US Country Radio. She also co-wrote the Zac Brown Band #1 singles "Goodbye in Her Eyes" and "Sweet Annie". She canopies several projects to umbrella her different styles, such as hip hop/rock duo TYGR TYGR AKA ELYVN: ELYVN with Daphne Willis (Position Music). Other projects include low-fi 90’s hip-hop duo Indica Girlz, and the mysterious grunge-pop project Rob The Man, all pending follow-up releases in 2023. Sonia has toured the world with the Zac Brown Band, Blackberry Smoke, Amos Lee, Melissa Etheridge, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, Joan Jett, and many more.

The Black and Queer on Campus Experience with Author Michael P, Jeffries

Today we talk about the black queer experience on college campuses with author Michael P. Jeffries.  His new book Black and Queer on Campus challenges stereotypes regarding black culture and LGBTQ+ people.
Michael chronicles how black LGBTQ+ students face particular challenges, including dealing with lack of understanding or outright rejection from their birth and home families while struggling to find mentors they can trust and spaces on campus where they can be themselves and feel safe. The book draws on in-depth interviews with 65 Black LGBTQ+ students—40 from nine different historically black colleges/universities and another 25 from seven predominately white institutions.
Michael is Dean of Academic Affairs, Class of 1949 Professor in Ethics, and Professor of American Studies at Wellesley College. He holds a PhD from Harvard University and is the author of three previous books on race and American culture: Thug Life: Race, Gender, and the Meaning of Hip Hop, Paint the White House Black: Barack Obama and the Meaning of Race in America, and Behind the Laughs: Community and Inequality in Comedy. He has published dozens of essays and works of criticism in the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Guardian, and the Boston Globe, and has been interviewed by the Washington Post, the New York Times, and NPR.
 
With co-host Brody Levesque 

The Amazing Desmond Napoles , the 15-Year Old Drag Star and LGBTQ Hero

Desmond Napoles is the drag queen teenager who is changing the world. They are a multi-awarded LGBTQ+ advocate, genderfluid editorial and runway model, motivational public speaker, performer, clothing designer, actor, singer, host, social media influencer and published author.
Desmond has been showered with praise and admiration, however, all that has come at a huge cost. They and their family has also been harassed, threatened and publicly abused. Recently, a book  reading that Desmond was headlining at a public library was shut down by a bigot who threatened physical violcence.  Spcecifically, the troll threatened “I’m going to that library, I’m going with a bucked of dog shit and I’m pouring it on your parents and rubbing it into their eyes.” 
Desmond has been featured in major outlets such as The New York Times, NBC News, Teen Vogue, OUT Magazine, among many others. They use their voice and visibility to help break down barriers and create a more inclusive society for LGBTQ+ people everywhere.
Today we talk to them about being amazing, how to rise above the hate and what their generation needs to survive, thrive and overcome. We will also be playing Desmond's first released single, We Are Amazing .
 
With co-host Brody Levesque
 

Filmmaker Jeffrey Schwartz Returns to Our Show with ”Commitment to Life” !

Telling the story of the AIDS epidemic from the AIDS Project Los Angeles perspective, filmmaker Jeffrey Schwartz joins us again on RATED LGBT RADIO. We spoke to Jeffrey a few months ago about his gay love story film, "Boulevard".
Stories of the AIDS crisis have been widely told with New York City or San Francisco as the backdrop. Jeffrey's new film Commitment to Life focuses on the emergence of AIDS Project LA,, its founders, and how it awakened Hollywood to challenge the inertia of the public in its response to AIDS.
AIDS Project Los Angeles stepped into the center of the AIDS storm through a committed group of activists who helped care for the sick and dying, while at the same time lobbied those in Hollywood to contribute to the fight. APLA brought together A-list stars like Elizabeth Taylor, who used her celebrity to advocate for people with AIDS and inspired the Hollywood community to do the same.  The film covers and features  Nancy Cole, one of the founders of AIDS Project Los Angeles, one of the first women in LA to go public about having AIDS, Phill Wilson,an activist, Prop 64 which would have placed people with HIV in internment camps,  Brenda Frieberg, who when both of her sons were diagnosed with AIDS, traveled to Washington to lobby for access to drugs that could save their lives and Jewel Thais-Williams, owner of Catch One disco, who helped start the Minority AIDS Project .
 
With Brody Levesque