32 min listen
Strange Fruit #59: Going Home Gay for the Holidays
FromStrange Fruit
ratings:
Length:
15 minutes
Released:
Dec 23, 2013
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Even under the best of circumstances, the holidays can be stressful. For some LGBTQ people, Christmas also means deciding whether to go home to a family who doesn't fully embrace them.
This week, we're re-posting a conversation we had around this time last year, with Dr. Stephanie Budge from UofL, who teaches workshops on coping with the holidays as an LGBTQ person.
She said while some families do overtly antagonistic things (like using the wrong pronoun for trans folks, yelling, or refusing to let their LGBTQ family member bring a partner to holiday functions), what she hears about the most is simply ignoring. A person might come out as queer to their family, only for the response to be silence, and an unwillingness to acknowledge their identity.
Dr. Budge gave us some coping strategies we can all use during moments of holiday stress and family conflict, how to take full advantage of your chosen family's love when your family of origin doesn't support you, and how to tell when things are so unhealthy or unsafe it might be better to skip going home altogether.
If you find yourself in crisis mode over the holidays (or any time!): Dr. Budge recommends The Trevor Project's hotline. Their marketing is youth-oriented, but they provide support for LGBTQ folks of any age. You can reach them any time at 1-866-488-7386. Stay safe this holiday season, fruitcakes, and we'll see you in 2013!
This week, we're re-posting a conversation we had around this time last year, with Dr. Stephanie Budge from UofL, who teaches workshops on coping with the holidays as an LGBTQ person.
She said while some families do overtly antagonistic things (like using the wrong pronoun for trans folks, yelling, or refusing to let their LGBTQ family member bring a partner to holiday functions), what she hears about the most is simply ignoring. A person might come out as queer to their family, only for the response to be silence, and an unwillingness to acknowledge their identity.
Dr. Budge gave us some coping strategies we can all use during moments of holiday stress and family conflict, how to take full advantage of your chosen family's love when your family of origin doesn't support you, and how to tell when things are so unhealthy or unsafe it might be better to skip going home altogether.
If you find yourself in crisis mode over the holidays (or any time!): Dr. Budge recommends The Trevor Project's hotline. Their marketing is youth-oriented, but they provide support for LGBTQ folks of any age. You can reach them any time at 1-866-488-7386. Stay safe this holiday season, fruitcakes, and we'll see you in 2013!
Released:
Dec 23, 2013
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Strange Fruit #40: Don Lemon Says Don't Litter!: While we spent the week celebrating Jai's birthday and recovering from [EOY](http://www.eoy.net/), CNN's Don Lemon was busy making people mad and [agreeing with Bill O'Reilly](http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2013/07/27/nr-lemon-no-talking-points.cnn.html). In our Juicy Fruit segment this week, we deconstruct his list of advice for black folks. The video is worth a watch, but if you're pressed for time, it boils down to pulling up your pants and not having babies out of wedlock. It was a disappointing reminder that just because someone's family doesn't make them immune to the lure of respectability politics. But as Doc said, he's certainly no [Boykin](http://keithboykin.com/) (and we did agree with him that littering is gross). Also this week we bring you part two of our chat with Louisville activist Carla Wallace, and author Chris Crass. Chris was in town recently to celebrate the release of his book, [Towards Collective by Strange Fruit