Available episodes

Ash Bray with Morgantown Pride

I spoke with Ash Bray again. Since the last time we talked, they have been extremely busy with putting together Morgantown’s first official Pride event. We had a great discussion on what to expect from the upcoming festivities, as well as why it’s important to have events like Pride.

Jodi Hollingshead

I sat down with Jodi Hollingshead. She’s one of the founding members of the Morgantown chapter of Boss Babes, a photographer for As You Are Boudoir, and a podcast host and producer of the upcoming sex positivity podcast “Dirty, Dry, Wet.”

We talked about sex positivity and the importance of inclusive sex education.

You can follow Jodi’s work with “As You Are Boudoir” here: http://asyouareboudoir.com/

Krizia Berg

I met with Krizia Berg, who’s a member of the LGBTQ+ Center’s Speaker’s Bureau. We discussed the importance of LGBTQ+ education, as well as the differences of being queer in different states.

Jessica Durann

I sat down with Jessica Durann, a member of WVU’s chapter of Planned Parenthood Generation Action. She identifies as pansexual, and we discussed what that means, as well as the importance of education when it comes to LGBTQ+ identities and sexual and reproductive health.

Barry Wendell

This week, I sat down again with Barry Wendell, an openly gay Morgantown city council member. He and I spoke about his reelection campaign, as well as his experience as being a city councilor and some of the recent news in West Virginia politics. 

Barry’s blog- http://themorgantowner.blogspot.com/

Chris Mullett

I sat down with Chris Mullett, the president of PFLAG Morgantown. We talked about the importance of PFLAG in West Virginia, as well as allyship and what the group hopes to accomplish.

More information on PFLAG- https://pflag.org/

Catch up episode

The first episode of 2019! Thank you for your patience and support. This isn’t going to be an episode with my typical Q & A format, because there is simply too much to talk about that’s happened recently with LGBTQ+ rights in West Virginia.

The following episode does contain homophobic language, and mentions of violent hate crimes, which may be triggering for some. The views expressed here are not representative of WVU, the Reed College of Media, or the Media Innovation Center.

Audio from February 7th meeting- https://www.facebook.com/WVhousedems/videos/2018407954934652/
NowThis Story- https://nowthisnews.com/videos/politics/lawmaker-eric-porterfield-likens-lgbtq-activists-to-kkk
ACLU of West Virginia- https://acluwv.org/
Fairness West Virginia- https://fairnesswv.org/our-work/

Barry Wendell

For this episode, I met with Barry Wendell, an openly gay city councilor for Morgantown. He spoke about his personal history and how he got to Morgantown. He shared a variety of personal experiences about being gay during the AIDS crisis and his own self-acceptance.

Brian Kotson

I spoke with Brian Kotson, a WVU student who identifies as asexual. He is super passionate about ace representation and education, and we had a great conversation on an orientation that isn’t often talked about.

Here’s more information on asexuality- https://www.glaad.org/blog/its-asexualawarenessweek

Special Episode Amendment 1 and Planned Parenthood

This episode focuses on Amendment 1, an important issue on the ballot for the West Virginia election, as well as Planned Parenthood and the many services it offers. Thank you so much, Emily Thompson from Planned Parenthood South Atlantic for sharing information about this issue.

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic- https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-south-atlantic
Vote No on Amendment 1- https://www.votenoon1wv.org/

Mike Hamrick

I sat down with Mike Hamrick, an openly gay and genderqueer senator in WVU’s student government. We spoke about representation in student organizations on campus, as well as why it’s important to speak up and tell your story.

Julie Jenkins

I talked with Julie Jenkins, a WVU student and cosplayer. We talked about their experiences in cosplay, as well as the queer community within cosplay and advice for getting started.

Ash Bray

For this episode, I talked to Ash Bray, a nonbinary Morgantown resident. They are also a meteorologist and a passionate advocate for queer representation, especially in the STEM field. We discussed growing up queer in West Virginia, as well as queer visibility in the workforce.

Erica Kushner

Erica Kushner is a student at West Virginia University who started a student group last year for people of different gender identities called Genderwhat. We discussed pronouns, as well as representation of marginalized groups in popular media.

Cris Mayo

Cris Mayo is the director of the LGBTQ+ Center at West Virginia University, as well as a professor of Women’s and Gender Studies. We discussed what the center has to offer, as well as LGBTQ+ issues on a state level.

Introduction to the show

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for tuning in. I’m Kayla Gagnon, the producer and host of “Queer Mountaineers.” Here’s a mini- episode about what to expect from this podcast as well as why I’m doing this.

 

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