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Community, Courage, and Humanism with Court Byer #51
42 Plays1 month ago
Court Byer( she/they) joins Mattie and Shane bringing both heart and strategy to a conversation about queerness, humanism, and the power of community care. They reflect on growing up feeling “different,” navigating political spaces that felt transactional, and ultimately redefining their values outside traditional systems. The episode highlights the importance of mutual aid, moral courage, and creating spaces that include both faith and non-faith perspectives. Listeners will hear how the Empathy Project is lowering barriers to activism by offering funding and tools for grassroots service work. The takeaway is clear: meaningful change starts small, grows through connection, and is sustained by people who show up for one another.
Guest descriptors:
Insightful, Grounded, Provocative
Episode tags:
#humanism #queeridentity #activism #communitybuilding #empathyproject #secularism #politics #mutualaid #LGBTQ #socialchange
Tags again:
#humanism #queeridentity #activism #communitybuilding #empathyprojec #secularism #politics #mutualaid #LGBTQ #socialchange
Tags again (tab-separated):
#humanism #queeridentity #activism #communitybuilding #empathyproject #secularism #politics #mutualaid #LGBTQ #socialchange
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Hosts
00:00:00
Speaker
I think the biggest misconception about our movement is just that we're anti-religion. i think something that the secular movement has realized is that there are a lot of positive aspects to organized religion as far as like social infrastructure goes. so it It gives people a place to come together in community.
00:00:19
Speaker
It encourages people to take acts of service. And that's really that the empathy project. and We are hoping that this is really for folks who want to organize around a service project, but don't haven't really done this before or don't know where to start.
Guest Introduction: Court Beyer
00:00:35
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Power Beyond Pride, weekly queer change-making podcast bringing you voices and ideas from across our fierce and fabulous spectrum to transform our world. I am Maddie Bynum, one of the hostess of Power Beyond Pride. I am always the loudest in the room, whether I am laughing, talking, or just standing in my presence has to be made.
00:00:56
Speaker
That is me. And I am partnered tonight with one of my favorite co-hosts, Mr. Shane himself, and I'll let him introduce himself. That'd be me. I'm Shane Lucas, he, him, his, and I am a lifelong harm reductionist, bodily autonomy activist, as well as probably the gayest man at your dream wedding.
00:01:14
Speaker
I'm telling you, like, I'm going to bring out, I'm going to break that dance floor, is what I'm saying. Like, I am just going to, I'm going to break that dance floor. And we are going to, we are going to, we're going to jam out. We're going do some rolls. We're going to do some disco stuff. And honestly, I'm going to get that locomotion because then no one brings that back.
00:01:31
Speaker
I think we need So, right? Am I right? I'm right. We need some dancing. You are not wrong. We need dancing in this current moment. I'm telling you, everybody, this is a moment where we need to get more dance floor time. And that's the thing, because we're doing so much hard work, and today's guest is no stranger to
American Humanist Association Overview
00:01:47
Speaker
putting in the hard work.
00:01:47
Speaker
Our guest today is Court Beyer. They are the communications director at the American Humanist Association, senior editor of The Humanist, and the former Democratic Party insider. They know where all those bodies are buried. um So welcome, Court. We want to dig in. We want some secrets. We want some fun. we want some excitement.
00:02:06
Speaker
And we are so delighted to have you here. It's great to be here. I hope I can indulge a little bit. We are but delighted to have you with joining us today. So I want to jump right on in and just start asking questions and let's get the conversation moving. Court, now that you are currently working with the American Humanist Movement and Association, can you give us a little background? Explain to us what the organization is. What do y'all stand for?
'Crisis of Cruelty' and Humanism's Role
00:02:33
Speaker
Yeah, so the American Humanist Association as an organization has been around for almost 85 years and we exist to represent the humanist movement in America. What's a humanist is a great follow-up question that many folks have. And really, humanism is a non-theistic religion or belief system that basically puts moral agency in the hands of humans. It says that we don't need a higher authority to tell us what is right. Humanism as a movement has been very associated with atheism and agnosticism, the secular movement as a whole. We're really trying to give people something to believe in and fight for.
00:03:14
Speaker
Humanism as a tradition ah dates back really all the way to this country's founding, but we signed, our founders signed manifestos in the early 20th century back when that was a cool thing to do and not. so Who doesn't love a little manifesto?
00:03:29
Speaker
A watch list. Yeah. So the humanist movement has really been on the right side of history as long as humanists are organized for political change.
Personal Journey towards Humanism
00:03:39
Speaker
You know, something that we as an organization have been paying a lot of attention to is what we like to refer to as the crisis of cruelty, which is, i think, pretty self-evident as to what it's describing, but really the environment we're in right now as a nation and as a people with our neighbors being abducted deported in the middle of the night and in broad daylight.
00:04:02
Speaker
And just like the attack on social safety net, I think people everywhere are seeing costs rising. but It's just a very vulnerable time for a lot of people and something that humanism is a belief system and academic tradition that's been around for a while, but it's also there are humanist communities around the country. And I think that is like the direction we're trying to move humanism is to get people involved in their communities, getting to know their neighbors, and what's a better way to do that than through service?
00:04:35
Speaker
And that's, sorry, I'm trying to get around to the new thing my organization is doing, another thing I'm supposed to plug. um But in response to this crisis of cruelty, we sort of talked as a teen and thought, how can we meet this moment?
00:04:50
Speaker
How can we make people feel empowered, take one step forward in combating or addressing the harm that a lot of our neighbors are
Intersection of Queerness and Non-religion
00:04:58
Speaker
feeling? And so It's wonderful, again, what you're what you're sharing, because in all, to to be transparent, as many people may have heard on this show, I identify as a humanist. And and certainly, i know Maddie's heard me use the term before, and it's something that I've identified with for several decades. So I'm excited to have you here, because i think it's really a great conversation to have at this particular cultural moment, like you said, at a time where people's values and their morals are being put in the spotlight. And they're being really forced to reconcile their own relationship with decisions that are being made, either nationally on their behalf or locally on their behalf, and really where they're going to where they're going to stand and in and in and an environment that is looking to dehumanize and actively dehumanize other people.
00:05:37
Speaker
And so I appreciate you sharing around around what it means to be a humanist. And and I'm excited to talk about project. So those of you listening, you're going to be excited about this too. So we are going to we are going to get to that in a minute.
00:05:48
Speaker
I want to step back a little bit, though, before we get there, because core I'd love to hear about your journey. Your journey and and you grew up like me in the Midwest, right? And so, like, how did you come to the idea of humanism? Did it feel like it was ah an easy one? Like, you heard it like, hey, that's the yeah me. Or did you, like me, grow up in a very religious environment where you're like, hey, I'm i'm i'm really in conflict with this experience, with what what people are sharing. So I'd love to hear a little bit about your journey.
00:06:17
Speaker
Yeah, so i would say like humanism as a term, like I don't really think I came back to it until the last year or so. But like my non-religious identity, i think it's been ah an important part of my life and like my just like self-discovery and actualization as a person.
00:06:35
Speaker
I knew but my parents were raised in Christian traditions. They didn't really push it on us as kids. And I'm very, very grateful for that. But i it's
Humanism as a Lifestyle Philosophy
00:06:45
Speaker
it's funny, like i kind of came to this moment when I was in like eighth grade where I just...
00:06:50
Speaker
was realizing there was something so different about me from my friends and my classmates. And part of that was being queer, but not realizing it at the time. But something legible that I could point to that made me different was like, i I just didn't believe in God. i don't like It wasn't something that I spent a lot of time thinking about.
00:07:09
Speaker
But like my my extended family was pretty religious. And so the fact that like we hadn't gone through confirmation, was kind of like a big deal. love my grandma, so I don't want cast aspersions, but we were kind of lower on the grandchildren favorite ranking because we had a participation. Now want to see this ranking system. Do grandparents sit there and have that? Do you get like, is it like a competition? So every year you like to see where they're like... All parents need to have a ranking system, Shane. They may not say it out loud, but think all parents have a ranking system.
00:07:45
Speaker
If I were a grandparent, you'd be number one for me, Courtney. yeah That's funny. Thank you. I actually think I have ascended in the ranks since being a child. Yeah. So actually, the religion stuff really doesn't matter to her anymore. She's grown quite a bit as a person.
00:08:00
Speaker
But yeah, so that when I was a teen, that was something that felt me made me different than everyone. and And I did grow up in a pretty religious conservative area. And so Anytime I heard my friends talking about gay people, it was like that they were going to burn and hell. And so that was just in combination with these other kind of like unidentified feelings and identities at the time. Like this was the thing that made me feel like, oh, i I'm different because of this.
00:08:29
Speaker
But as an identity, i like I think I went through like my little angry atheist phase, you know, maybe like in that time where I was like losing my friends because of this. But then I think my like just world kind of grew when I like found my people, my queer community and went to college and diversified my world a bit. Like it stopped being like a part of my identity, I guess, because I didn't feel like needed did something to say, oh, I'm like, it just like religion wasn't, religion wasn't important to either of my parents. And so I just didn't have this like need to feel like, oh, I have something.
00:09:03
Speaker
But how this connects to humanism, I'm getting there. ah but yeah Like I see it as a bit of a political label or maybe that's kind of what I aspire to turn it into because as you hinted at, my background is in democratic politics.
Family Dynamics and Humanism
00:09:21
Speaker
That's kind of like where I cut my teeth as like professional. And i I put so much hope into that institution to do the things that would secure rights for everyone and working on the inside it just became very clear how transactional some of these coalitions are or just the relationships that make them up and I really really radical I mean radicalized me against kind of the like using electoral politics specifically as a means of
00:09:52
Speaker
ah fulfilling change, but also i think my identity was too wrapped up in it too. I don't want to call myself a Democrat anymore. I don't know many people who do, honestly, they vote for the Democrats, but is that, is that how you identify yourself? Like, no, you say you're a progressive or whatever on the left.
00:10:08
Speaker
So I was leaving, leaving like consulting work on the left and feeling, feeling pretty cynical. And so I, and I saw that the American Humanist Association was under new leadership and was trying to do some really bold and exciting things. And I was like, I have never seen like a ah job out there like this to like try to popularize like a lifestyle philosophy. Like what, what an interesting challenge.
00:10:34
Speaker
Fuck yeah, let's do it. And so that's kind of how I got here, honestly. Well, can I ask, how does the your upbringing and, as we were talking a while ago your earlier part of your life, how does that show up in you as a humanist today and in the work that you do with the organization?
00:10:52
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's funny. I I grew. So something I guess else important about my upbringing is just that I i had ah I have a my dad voted for Trump three times and my mom is is a lib. We have our issues. She's like a classic dem. And i so I grew up around them having these political arguments all the time in front of me and they're they're now divorced. So it's like we're all good.
00:11:16
Speaker
That's not important to to mention. I'm sorry. Just for everyone's context, they're still not married. They're not married anymore. but But I don't know. I guess I, my family, my dad lives in Northern Wisconsin and my extended family is up there. It's very rural part of the country. It just, sometimes it feels like they have a very limited worldview and I've had to kind of, I've had to stretch and grow myself to be able to communicate with them and have a relationship with them. And I know like a lot of queer people like have had to,
00:11:46
Speaker
ah do that like approximating and figuring out what kind of relationship they can have. But I think something that I pride myself on, like from, i guess, those relationships is like being able to, i think i've I've developed a thick skin or a tolerance for just like the language and Republican messaging, like or at least i I maybe understand where some of it is coming from. I don't I taught politics, I mean, up until recently,
The Empathy Project Initiative
00:12:11
Speaker
honestly, I had been able to talk politics with my dad in a pretty like clear and level-headed like frame.
00:12:18
Speaker
But yeah I mean, that's a longer story. But I do think like having grown up in that world, like it gives you a good perspective, especially like a lot of our audience is people leaving religion.
00:12:30
Speaker
And while I didn't like kind of go through the same like deconstruction journey, like i I'm very familiar with the soup that you're you're raised in with that being your environment. I wanted to ask you, because you made a comment of how you had to stretch yourself and you had to lean in.
00:12:46
Speaker
How does that make you feel? Because that's a conversation I have with some of my friends a lot of times. And they're like, I think people should meet me where I'm at. And then sometimes I'm like, but sometimes we have to go to them too. So how did that make you feel having to lean into that?
00:13:00
Speaker
Yeah, some some days I do feel a bit resentful about it. i think it's it's an it's on an individual level. While I understand where people are coming from and that it's not it's not on me to educate you, i i like i believe that and I i agree with that in spirit. it And yet like i I do think like we can challenge we can grow by challenging ourselves and it doesn't have to be in big ways, but like you know kind of challenging that zone of comfort that you're in, it can...
00:13:29
Speaker
it can lead to some really beautiful personal growth and people can surprise you. i just, I i know people people who have worked on coming out to their parents and they, it it starts small and then they surprise themselves with the amount of candor they're able to have with. the parent Challenging people to growth is, I think, a brilliant, it's a brilliant idea. And I want to dig more into that after we come back from a break. We're going to take a quick little break right now and come back with Court Beyer, who's really sharing such an an amazing insight into basically what is the largest population in America, in many cases, growing, which is the nuns, the people who are unfathed you're not faith affiliated, and really talking about the American humanist movement, which is a relatively, in many cases, especially among young people, not as well known. So I'm excited to share to hear more about that and also the Empathy Project. We're going to come back right after the break and have that conversation. So stay with us.
00:14:26
Speaker
Welcome back. This is Power Beyond Proud, a Queer Change Making Podcast. And I am Maddie Bynum, your hostess with the Moses. Sitting here tonight with my best friend Shane, having a wonderful conversation with Cord.
00:14:37
Speaker
And Cord, we were talking before we went to the break about growing through challenge. And I know we were... um drifting towards is the empathy project that American Humanist Association is working on. And so I definitely want to get into that. But I did have another quick question right before that. but And I wanted to know, what are some of the biggest misconceptions people have about about secular and humanistic advocacy?
00:15:03
Speaker
And then how does the empathy project bring light to the... Yeah, I think the biggest misconception about our movement is just that we're anti-religion.
00:15:14
Speaker
i think that has some basis in some real things that happened, but I think that doesn't represent where the movement wants to go. i think something that the secular movement has realized is that there are a lot of positive aspects to organized religion as far as like social infrastructure goes. no it It gives people a place to come together in community.
00:15:36
Speaker
It encourages people to take acts of service. Obviously, the caveat that comes with religion of all the other bad things it does, but that's, there there's something to learn from organized religion is is what kind of where we've landed as a movement.
00:15:49
Speaker
And that's really that the empathy project. ah We are hoping that but this is really for folks who who want to organize around a service project but don't haven't really done this before or don't know where to start.
00:16:03
Speaker
We're giving out at least $100,000
Intersections of Queerness and Non-faith
00:16:06
Speaker
in grants to changemakers around the country. And basically, if you don't even know where to start but know that you want to help out your neighbors in some way, we've got different project guides that are like pre-templated kind of projects to get you started, get you thinking.
00:16:21
Speaker
If you have an idea bigger than that, we're open to funding that as well. so it's It's really a big mutual aid project and something that, you know, as humanists, we really, we want to show humanism in action. We want to show that this is a movement where you can find people who you connect with and who have similar feelings and values as you do.
00:16:45
Speaker
But we feel better about ourselves and like more firm in our identities when we kind of act on our values and and put them into motion. And that's really kind of what we're trying to do with this project donna on a small scale. $100,000 isn't going to change the world.
00:17:01
Speaker
But it's really about kind of planting that seed of inspiration in and folks' minds and like getting them thinking about how how how they can take those steps in their community to to make their neighbors' lives easier.
00:17:15
Speaker
I think it's really powerful to really also bring around the conversation that a lot of times as somebody who I consider myself a non-faith participant. So i always call i call, I consider faith participation, meaning that you become a participant, you invest in in the story, it becomes part of your cultural traditions. And like you said, Court, there's a lot of incredible value in that, in that there are enormous legacies and familial traditions and pieces of heritage that really honor ancestors, that honor honor different components
00:17:46
Speaker
But it's also a case, like you said, where religion can be used as a politic itself. And being able to separate that out, decide to find a faith participation from how I want to be in the world, how i want to be in my among my neighbors, among my neighborhoods.
00:17:59
Speaker
And that really, you know a lot of those of us who identify as non-faith participants or nones or humanists, We still live in a world where we believe our moral selves, our good selves can take action, can be part of these communities, be connected. So I do really love the idea that you're bringing that in a conversation. I'm curious on your own journey. know when you shared a little bit of that path about coming to, or at least understanding your own, at the time, atheism, again, I know that there's Certainly, it brought a range of names and communities around non-faith participation, and I appreciated learning about humanism because it helped me contextualize my own.
00:18:36
Speaker
But I realized also, like, my queerness also kind of made sense. So I'm curious what your thoughts are, because you talk about them a little bit. I'd love to hear about your also your queer journey and how that influences also your sense of things, like how you also came to understand your own identity and then the ways that you're seeing as you're having conversations with other humans, humanists, but also across faiths, the way that they're looking at queerness in relationship to those faith traditions, and then where there is potential partnership that can be done across multi-faith or non-faith partnerships, or however we want to look at that that language. I'd love to hear your thoughts around that, because I know for a lot of us in our queer journeys, um there is something about the way we see ourselves in the world, our mortality, our morality, and I can't imagine that they're that separate from any of us.
00:19:25
Speaker
Oh, totally. and i I talk to people a lot about this when it relates my own like gender and sexuality. like Even though my parents were not religious, they still had been raised in that like very socially conservative, puritanical, for lack a better word.
00:19:47
Speaker
Yeah, it just, i I felt like very repressed in that way. And it was funny in high school when I felt like I found my people, all my friends were queer. And I like my roommate in college is trans was trans, it's trans. And I didn't really think anything of it. I just always thought, oh, I'm an ally. I'm probably bisexual, but who's counting? I've kind of always been like, I think for the longest time i was really allergic or averse to labels and I if I'm being kind to myself that's that was out of a place of fear of what I would discover about myself if I chose to take a like label like non-binary or like queer i think but all my friends at the time were exploring and so college for me was still like felt a pretty like in the closet time it wasn't until I like
00:20:42
Speaker
honestly began working in democratic politics and meeting more queer people that I felt like comfortable taking on those identities. i have friends who grew up in kind of high control religion and, and, and described times in their life when they were homophobic. Um, and like, I just, I can't say that I personally have had that.
00:21:01
Speaker
Um, and I guess I, to degree feel lucky in that sense, like not having to unlearn all of that because I know how like toxic that can be and, just not a place you want your head to be.
00:21:13
Speaker
As I was like learning about my gender identity and like feeling more comfortable identifying as trans, like I was seeing like where the party was standing on the issue too. And I was like, like Joe Biden famously said, there are at least three genders. And and that's like the most like affirming thing, I guess any presidential candidate that has ever first said. That was his last coherent thought. So there we go. and That was the, shock that was the,
00:21:41
Speaker
End of that. yeah Exactly. But yeah, you guys, you originally asked about religion and I'm thinking this about the party, but it's, it's, it's hard to,
00:21:54
Speaker
not think about religion and it's just the harm it's done to the queer community. I just, I guess so many of my friends, like that's, they're unlearning, deconstructing. And like, I honestly, I don't personally know a ton of queer or trans people who have found like community in a Christian or theistic setting. I mean, most of us, I feel like, see, this is the thing too. It's like it's how do people identify versus what are their actual beliefs or habits? Right. Cause like, i I, don't think I would have actively identified as an atheist like five years ago. I would say, yeah, i happen to be an atheist, but it's not something I spend a lot of time
00:22:39
Speaker
thinking about you know
Challenges for the Trans Community
00:22:41
Speaker
and so I would say for I would imagine that a lot of queer are people who are leaving religion like kind of feel a similar way where it's or just they don't they don't know that but like I think the narrative is you leave religion then you're without religion and it's now what like we were talking about earlier like there's it's like my therapist said about any kind of like crutch you might use like if you if you remove it you're still going to have the need for whatever you were using that crutch for. And I think this applies here. And that's why people are so afraid to leave religion, right? It's because like their entire community is there.
00:23:17
Speaker
It's how they learned what was right and wrong. I'd love to again, I appreciate you sharing that because it it is one of the things I feel like as an activist, I i i feel competing narratives. And I know, Maddie, you shared about your faith and and how important that is to you and your story. I've certainly run across in movements a lot of faith participants who are doing incredible work who identify in the queer community.
00:23:37
Speaker
and And I do that there's been a reinvention of some areas that there are different faith communities who are having a reckoning. um But to that end, it's an important thing. and i and i and And Maddie, I'm sure you have some, some i certainly I would love to hear your thoughts on that. Because I actually ah like a lot of what Court said, and i agree with you. I think there's a difference, but we have to first establish there's a difference between religion and spirituality.
00:24:02
Speaker
Because I consider myself very spiritual. i have a relationship with God. However, I do agree the construct of religion is persecution, and I don't agree. with So I do agree that there is a difference.
00:24:15
Speaker
Between the two, but we also have to recognize that in our communities, we have to stop using religion as a way of persecuting people. We have to. Like, I just, I don't understand the whole need of making people feel they're wrong or they're bad or they're going to hell because I don't breathe the same way you breathe or i don't agree with everything that you say you agree with. yeah i get you on that one. I think a lot of times, too, we have to remind ourselves, like you said, when you remove religion,
00:24:43
Speaker
And i like I like spirituality because spirituality doesn't just exist on one plane. Spirituality encompasses really everything that we know as one higher being, spiritual presence, or just your place in the universe, in the space, and in the world.
00:25:02
Speaker
I agree with you. Definitely. i understand what you mean by there are a lot because I do notice as I get older and change that as an activist, I know people who are in our community that are still religious, quote unquote, but I am finding more spiritual people than I am religious people in our community than the the other. Yeah.
00:25:25
Speaker
Well, and and ah we're going to take a break here in a minute, but when we come back, I'd love to step a little bit back from this only to talk a little bit about something you hinted at, Court, which is for especially trans community members right now, we're seeing a reduction in support.
00:25:41
Speaker
from some of the same communities, some of the same adjacent communities and queer communities. And so i think some of this is being fueled through some faith communities. There's certainly some of that narrative that's in there. um and And so I'm wondering, and when we get back from break, I'd love to maybe we can hear some ideas or we could talk through some ideas on strategies organizers can use to think about how do we how do we really push back against the pushback, if
Creating Inclusive Activist Spaces
00:26:03
Speaker
you will. but I'm here. i'm i'm i'm I am so lucky to be in community here today with my amazing co-host, Maddie Bynum, with Court Beyer, who is just a phenomenal talent and communications, just a leader in and encouraging people and challenging people to live into their better selves through their current work with the American Humanist Association, as well as your work through the Democratic, we're going to hope we can save them party. and and And we will connect with all of you right after this break.
00:26:36
Speaker
Welcome back to Power Beyond Pride. I'm Shane Lucas here with my amazing co-host, Maddie Bynum. And our guest today is Korpire. And they work with the American Humanist Association. they have a history of political organizing. And before the break, we were talking about something really powerful, which is When you look at the progressive politics, and obviously the Democratic Party for many people represents the the largest power within that conversation, you're really talking about a party that has for many people of trans experience, for many of our queer community members, been the closest thing to having access to power and support.
00:27:10
Speaker
over these last several years. And and what's what's, I think, interesting in the current moment and and really frustrating is that we're seeing this repeal, even just an attitude, like this reduction in support, this quieting of a conversation and confidence around trans support for our community members. And I think what I'd love to hear from you, Court, in in is your thoughts, because the humanists are really committed to social social justice and and and in all of its, really the humanity of all people and elevating that humanity.
00:27:41
Speaker
And now we're kind of in this point where there is a national conversation that is incredibly full of vitriol and hostility. How do we start to bring or or bring communities together? and And are there ideas on how we can we can work across faith communities so that people of non-faith and faith can work together so that we can think about progressive politics in a way that makes sure we don't lose sight?
Faith, Politics, and Organizing Strategies
00:28:04
Speaker
of our trans community members and how important that gender spectrum is to our to our strength. Yeah. I wish I knew all the answers off the top of my head and I and i wish I had some some billionaires' contact information and start pitching them, start you know funding this project on ah how how do we get the world not to to hate trans people so much. i please fund that project immediately. But no, I think there i think there there has been a a bit of a backslide or a pushback and it it is a scary time, I think, for trans people, queer people, anyone who just doesn't doesn't fit the the white cishet model of being.
00:28:44
Speaker
I think there's there's no reason that faith organizations can't be a a part of, you know, the movement for trans rights. I think I know that there are some trans people who feel there actually is like an affirming God out there that like, why wouldn't God want us to become our true selves? Like God wants us to participate in the act of creation. That's why God gave us grapes instead of wine. Like that kind of thinking. I didn't read the Bible, so know. I love that actually. And now paraphrasing. I love this analogy. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. My butchered synopsis there. But I think there's trans people have always been here and will continue to be here. And so there's no reason that there's no reason not to include us in public discourse and in decision making. Do you think that there's room?
00:29:40
Speaker
was one of the things that I think about as an organizer, because as somebody who's a non-faith participant, I go to a lot of events and the The thing that I think is interesting is like there's not a lot of space made for people not of faith.
00:29:53
Speaker
And I think I wonder if there is more interest in multi-faith partners who recognize that the people in the room who share that common interest. who are interested in addressing housing, food, because again, queer rights are certainly something all of us in this conversation certainly see ourselves invested in, but we're also invested in our neighbors. We're invested in um in making sure that we're combating ICE and ICE raids and making sure we support our immigrant refugee neighbors, that we're supporting all of our communities in different ways, ah housing, food, all all these areas, that we are part of those conversations, including many who don't see themselves as being aligned with any particular traditional faith tradition.
00:30:30
Speaker
And so i do i do encourage if those who are activists out there, really thinking about how you're creating space to make sure that, you know, it is it is it is open and accepting in the way that it is. I love going to faith services. I love faith organizations who do see that value that they are looking to address in themselves around the the well-being of all individuals, wherever wherever they come from and however they exist this world, because they see them as humans.
00:30:57
Speaker
But I wonder if if if there's things that, if there's things they can do to make it more open and opening the door for those who are non-faith. Two organizations like AHA, two organizations like American Atheists and other other organizations that generally have just felt there is no welcome here and and that yeah ends up stopping the conversation. Yeah, well we definitely need to have a welcome mat of sorts. it It has to, it comes down to leading with some moral courage and I think that's Why lot of people feel ah disillusioned with democrat the Democratic Party specifically right now is like there's no affirmative message.
00:31:36
Speaker
Just because you don't say something negative doesn't mean you are supportive of my right to navigate the world as who I am.
Finding Supportive Communities
00:31:44
Speaker
So I think it's like saying something, is it's a really low bar, like showing up on the issues ah when when they're in front of the Supreme Court.
00:31:56
Speaker
ah calling out transphobia when it's happening in your community, which is something the American Humanist Association did several years back. I won't get into it now because I don't know the depths of the lore, but like we took an award away from Richard Dawkins, who fancies himself to be a very important scientist because he is a transphobic piece of shit. And we once called him humanist of the year and well,
00:32:18
Speaker
That's only an award we can give out. And we're no longer humanists of the year, Richard Dawkins. Like, whereas're we we're such a small movement, the secular movement. And so it's what I'm learning is that the politics, there's a ah always internal politics to movements. And I think,
00:32:35
Speaker
not and not i don't I don't want to say clean house, but like we we need to do some like self-hygiene and naming where we're falling short on our values.
00:32:47
Speaker
I definitely agree with you. i think I think as a whole, the Democratic Party itself needs to restructure and redress because i think we have a very poor leadership currently. I think there's too many chiefs and not enough Indians, one. And two, I think the direction that should be going is horrible because...
00:33:06
Speaker
I'm sorry, I still get stuck with the whole idea of, is this a popularity contest or are yall actually doing your job? I see more Democratic representatives on social media being catchy, funny, and pop cultured more than I actually see y'all doing what needs to be done for us as a group of people.
00:33:27
Speaker
and And I would say, again, one of the things that's really powerful is that on the national stage a lot that can be done on platforms. But at the grassroots, at people's events, at the at the events you go to, there are different ways to show and make sure that you're listening for conversations on how do you just, like you know, Ted Kort, how do you make a shift in language to make sure that when you're talking and in the room where there is gendered language, making sure that we're still attentive to those conversations.
00:33:50
Speaker
ah Sometimes that's hard because there are people who are stuck in traditions and you're like, okay, yeah. Can we find some other ways around this? Can we refer can we refer to our community members in ways that feels like everybody is seen and included in this conversation? And I think it's, it's I would say it's the same when we talk about non-faith participants is that, and I remember there was one one point, I think it was, well i think it was the State of the Union and I think it might've even been Biden, honestly.
00:34:12
Speaker
So I guess kudos to the first term or some level. But there was some, it might be, yeah i can't remember who it was, but it was somebody who basically said those of faith in those and included that those not of faith. Like that there is just a recognition that not everyone, and I think it's it's really important in an era where Christian fascism feels slightly hyperbolic, but also at the doorstep at some level of institutionalizing some of these practices, that it's really important that we acknowledge that it is not a universal part of everybody's identity in terms of their faith alignment and and how important that is. And and that can be done at at simple levels. And there was, whether at county meetings or or organizational meetings, it's just asking the question, like, is everybody in the room?
00:34:55
Speaker
Are we really making a space that feels like it lives into that multiplicity? Because that's that's really a critical thing to think about in this current moment. And, Cor, I do want to ask as we get ready to and move into our speed round question time, which is always my favorite time because that's when we get to get a little risque and a little fun. I do want to ask one more question, and this is more so to just leave a lasting impression. But what do you see as we go in the future for young for the younger generation of the LGBT community? If they are going through whatever in life, what are some words of advice that you can give them to continue to keep their hope alive and to strive to to keep moving forward?
Speed Round: Personal Insights from Court Beyer
00:35:31
Speaker
Yeah. Find your people. I know that's like really vague, but show up for your people and they'll show up for you. i i think that has been like the biggest source of resilience for me in my life is just having people in my life, like having a support network. I know that's like a very tangible, like the European piece of advice, but like think about your support network. It's only going get harder as you get older and you are and and get away from the institution of college.
00:35:59
Speaker
And see, so like, pay attention to to where and when you like show up as your like best and true self and stick around those people, people who make you feel like yourself and make you feel good.
00:36:11
Speaker
That's that's it advice I would give. I love that. And I love that Maddie, knowingly or unknowingly, we got to also channel a little bit of Reverend Jesse Jackson, who we just passed away recently yeah with Keep Hope Alive. and just coming I just wanted to welcome i welcome welcome welcome his memory and his history. I think um that's also really important. So thank you, Court. It's really time to get to know you even better, as Maddie said. This is our speed round. This is where we ok bring you some questions. you We try not to, don't think about them too much. Just kind of give us the first one that shot you know comes to the top of your head. And then I'm sure we'll dig into it because that's what we do every time. Even though we say we're never going to, totally do. but Are you ready for our speed round question? Yeah, so ready. As ready as I'll ever be.
00:36:56
Speaker
All right. So your first question is going to be Wisconsin winters or D.C. politics, which is the coldest? Oh, D.C. politics. They're a different breed.
00:37:09
Speaker
couldn't know. Everyone's out the thermometer at points, I'm sure. Which is more powerful, faith or facts? Oh, facts. I love, I love, I love that. That feels the keeping that hope alive. We are keeping that hope alive. So thank you for that. love the uh into it. It was like a slide into the facts. You know, like my, my heart wants to say faith, but my head wants to say facts. And so that's where we're in. get that. I get that.
00:37:37
Speaker
So what's your toxic trait during election season? Oh, I'm on Twitter way too much. There was, and I can justify this, this is partially for work, but there was a period where I was getting every single Donald Trump tweet pushed to my phone. Like I would get a notification. And that was what before he was banned.
00:37:58
Speaker
ah Sorry, Axe is what it's what's actually called these days. But yeah, that's when it was toxic. Are there any of these? Okay, so for those of us who, I don't even follow Twitter anymore. mean, again, we have it for our clients now and again, we certainly keep it where we need, but I don't personally want to be on there so much. Are there channels that you think, just for people's mental health, that you enjoy the social interaction of?
00:38:19
Speaker
No. On Twitter, no. Like, i I follow journalists and reporters on there. i would recommend staying away. Blue Sky, I think, is a much better, healthier community.
00:38:31
Speaker
and can find a lot more activists on there. But honestly, Twitter is just, that it's it's a platform that I've been on since I was a teenager. And so I just, it's it's like a part of me. i Like, I don't know that I can leave it, which is kind of scary.
00:38:43
Speaker
like lot And Twitter also, i like Twitter because it does have more of a political, to me, it's more of a journalistic political. At one point it was. And so I'm not going to, don't really actively use Twitter that much anymore, but that was one the draws to me for Twitter. It was more yeah political. It was more news more so than anything else.
00:39:04
Speaker
Well, it's become more political, less journalistic. I think when it was at one point, it had more journalism that was political. Now it's more political and less journalism. And that's where I think we're all kind of hunting for where's a better place for us to look into. And there's certainly a few options out there. Go outside and get active. That's all you got to Oh, go outside. Actually, talk to people. That's good, too. Touch grass. Yeah.
00:39:27
Speaker
Court, be honest. Do you secretly love a good political debate or is it not a secret at all? um It's not a secret. I mean, that's what I grew up with. I grew up with a political debate every morning at breakfast.
00:39:38
Speaker
So in in a way, it feels like home. Not you got prepared while eating your eggos in the morning. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so if democracy had a love language, what would it be? Acts of service. Because democracy, right, is all about, like, you don't get paid to vote, even though maybe there's an argument you should be paid to vote.
00:40:00
Speaker
um Like, it's This is acts acts of will from within. ah like how you turned that around. At first, I was like, acts of service. What are the Democrat Party doing right now? It's service. But I see what you're saying. They ask us to volunteer our services. Yeah, no one's required. All right, I got to ask, because ah if court had a soundtrack, what's your banger to get you moving, to get you motivated? Like on the hard days, what's the one what's the song you throw on volume 12?
00:40:32
Speaker
I don't know why, but Ape Shit by the Carters just came to mind. That random collaboration that Beyonce did with her husband. um it's It was a weird album, but Ape Shit, they filmed that music video like at the Louvre. i don't know. Just sometimes Ape Shit. That's just kind of like, you need to break some shit. That's what I'm listening to. Exactly. Yes. No, that sounds, I love it. I love it. I love it.
00:40:57
Speaker
Okay, so I will ask this question. Mornings or nights, which is your best time? Oh, I'm a morning person for sure. Oh, yes. I love it. We rarely get early. early, early morning or 8 a.m. morning?
00:41:08
Speaker
oh I'm definitely up by 8 a.m. naturally. Like I willingly work Eastern time hours because that's just like where my internal clock is. You know, it's like an hour difference.
00:41:19
Speaker
All right. so are you a dinner date out or a dinner date in? Mmm, dinner date out. Yeah. I don't know. I live in Chicago. There's so many good restaurants.
00:41:30
Speaker
Yes, it is. That's true. We eat in every other night. Yes, it is. Our last question will be, what does Power be Beyond Pride mean to you? what I feel like Power Beyond Pride is us. I don't want to ever get rid of pride, but like us even having to make a conscious effort to include our stories. I just want to be ah a part of an accepted part of American life that queer and trans people are just, we there's not this like heteronormativity or whatever that it is just an accepted way of being that people do not shudder at.
00:42:03
Speaker
today Sorry, that wasn't a great answer. don just I love it. No, I think it's great because again, it's it's it's it's it's what I'm hearing you say is that it is something bigger. It is bigger than the pride conversation that we have most of the time. yeah yeah And it's something that sees our queer community as something bigger, which I think is important, especially in this current moment, as we talked about before, it's just important that we continue to bring that
Podcast Conclusion and Follow-up Information
00:42:28
Speaker
back.
00:42:28
Speaker
Where can people follow you and your work? That's a great question. I would recommend they check out the American Humanist Association's handles. I think we're at American Humanist. I used to have ah a public Twitter page, but that is no longer a requirement of my job, so I'm a little under the radar these days.
00:42:47
Speaker
Absolutely. and and And the American Empathy Project, that people should really check that out as well. And again, if you want to be ah considered for the grant, there is ah there is a deadline for that. But you don't have to get the grant to participate in the American Empathy Project. So think that's really important also for people to know is that what's the date on the American Empathy Project? yeah we so Yeah, we're building towards a big day of action on May 2nd. We, in years past, have done the secular week of action during that time. And so we just turned it into a big day of service.
00:43:14
Speaker
So yes, May 2nd. Awesome. May 2nd. all right. Thank you so much for being here, Court. Again, I'm i'm so glad you took the time to to to join us. It's wonderful to hear about the work you're doing with AHA, the incredible work they're doing to build community and strengthen community across faith identities as well. So again, really trying to create a big space for people come together, really about humanizing our all all of our different communities. And I think that's so critical. We are out of time for this podcast, but I'm hoping you will join us again. As Maddie said during the break, we have so much to talk about when it comes to these conversations, because this is really a ah point in America where people are really figuring out where they're going to fall in terms of their value systems, in terms of how they want to be in the world, from their from their religious base all the way to their to their political and national and and sensibility. So I think just really, we would love to have you back and share more of your thoughts.
00:44:04
Speaker
I think we would definitely love to have you back. I definitely am grateful for learning about the humanist and not the humane group tonight, because I will say... Yeah, well, who else are humane? they We're humane, too. So we should, just a quick side note for listeners. Maddie, when she first learned about this conversation, Maddie, do you want to do you want to share what you thought initially, what you read with the first run? I will. ah So as y'all know, I am the the script writer, the project developer. So when I read it, I thought it said the American Humane Society. Now, keep in mind, I am dyslexic. So I do see multiple different things 24-7 and think I'm reading stuff is not there.
00:44:46
Speaker
But it was funny because for the longest time, I really thought you were worked with, I'm caught you work with the Humane Society until like halfway. I don't think I was probably on the last question that it hit me. And I was like, humanist.
00:45:01
Speaker
Now understand why we're talking about faith and religion. Like all of it was so oblivious to me in the beginning of me writing a script because in my mind, I kept thinking humane society versus humanist society. And we do all have dogs. So all of us who are on today's podcast today.
00:45:17
Speaker
I'm happy to represent the human society too, if that's if that's what they want. We do appreciate the Humane Society too. So if you're out there in the Humane Society, we do appreciate it. But and we are talking about the Humanist Society. We love you. Adopt. ah Adopt, don't shop.
00:45:31
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. do Don't shop. There we go. that's i love it. I love it. And I am your other co-host, Shane Lucas, here again. So grateful for you to be here, course. So grateful to be here with my co-host, Maddie. You can follow me at shanelucas.com or at agreatidea.com. I am a lifelong you harm reductionist, bodily autonomy activist, and the owner a great idea.
00:45:51
Speaker
And I'm so glad to be here with my amazing co-hosts. And we have co-hosts from all across the country. And you have to remember to subscribe and get your friends to subscribe at Power Beyond Pride on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:46:04
Speaker
Check out our site at PowerBeyondPride.com. And keep in mind that Power Beyond Pride is a project of a great idea, a queer-owned design and content agency that is ran by none other than Shane Lucas. And you can learn more about it a greatidea.com.
00:46:21
Speaker
ah This episode is produced by me, and I couldn't do it without Maddie, who's our project developer. Our editor is Jared Redding with support from the amazing Wilson. Me and Shane are just a part of the awesome host team here at Power Beyond Pride, but we invite you to always send in your questions, comments to powerbeyondpride.com so we can always answer those and stay in and out.
00:46:43
Speaker
And you can check out new episodes each week where you get to meet amazing changemakers like Court and many others from across the country. We look forward to career changemaking with you next time. Thank you from all of us at Power Beyond beyond