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Running, Writing, and Becoming with Simran Chigani #67
25 Plays1 day ago
Description:
Simran Chigani brings a powerful conversation about what it means to live authentically while navigating athletics, art, activism, and political hostility. They explain how running helped them connect with their body and build confidence, while poetry gave them the freedom to explore identity and tell the truth more honestly. Simran pushes back on the narratives used to target transgender people and offers a broader understanding of gender-affirming care. The episode closes with practical wisdom about rest, community, collective care, and learning to treat yourself with more beauty and grace.
Guest descriptors:
Enduring
Poetic
Visionary
Episode tags:
#SimranChigani #TransgenderAdvocacy #nonbinaryidentity #queercommunity #endurancerunning #gender-affirmingcare #poetry #collectiveaid #healthcareaccess #Florida
Recommended
Transcript
Public Servants and Scapegoating
00:00:00
Speaker
There are millions of Americans who are dealing with everyday issues such as food insecurity, housing insecurity, everyday questions around basic human needs. You are focusing on less than 1% of the population and using transgender people as your political scapegoat.
00:00:21
Speaker
That is not the job of a public servant. The job of a public servant is to actually serve the people and you are failing on every single account.
Podcast Introduction: Power Beyond Pride
00:00:35
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Power Beyond Pride, a weekly queer change making podcast bringing you voices and ideas from across our fears and fabulous spectrum to transform our world.
00:00:47
Speaker
I am Sean Aaron. He hit his. is I'm a nonprofit leader and podcast host. And I'm Kenyon Farrell, a writer, activist, media strategist. We are your co-hosts on today's Queercast journey.
00:01:02
Speaker
Today we're joined by someone who was running literally and figuratively toward liberation. Simran Chagani is an activist, athlete, and author whose work stretches from the page to the pavement.
Simran Chugani's Journey to Liberation
00:01:15
Speaker
Whether they are writing books or preparing for their next New York Marathon to raise money for gender affirming care, their story, their art and their advocacy have touched communities far beyond our own, reminding us all that authenticity is a kind of endurance board and liberation is a team effort.
00:01:35
Speaker
Welcome, Simran Chagani. Thank you so much for that kind introduction and for having me. I'm so excited for today's discussion and to talk through the crazy journey that has been the last couple of months and what I plan to do going forward, too. Nice. Yes. Thank you so much for joining us in Power Beyond Pride. Simran, we're so happy to have you. And so you've worn so many hats, activists, athletes, storyteller.
00:02:02
Speaker
Which part of your identity showed up first and which part of your identity is the loudest? i I love my many hats in my hat collection, and I don't think that I would be who I am without each and every one of them.
00:02:16
Speaker
That question is a little tricky for me to answer because I think some showed up earlier than others, but I named some in different orders.
Evolving Identities and Expression
00:02:24
Speaker
So in terms of my identity, I think my gender identity showed up really early in my life, and there were a lot of points growing up where i didn't quite feel feel connected to girlhood, for example.
00:02:39
Speaker
But that took me decades to realize and and to really name. My identity as an artist showed up in my fourth grade classroom, where I really fell in love with writing and with poetry.
00:02:52
Speaker
um But it wasn't really until after college that I took initiative in pursuing this and thinking like, it might be really cool if I could put my work out there and publish it.
00:03:05
Speaker
And as as a runner, that's never a label that I i put on myself growing up. i was an athlete. I was kind of the master of ah of the jack of all trades, master of none, where I was a track athlete. I played basketball. I played tennis. And i even when I was a track athlete, I was a sprinter.
00:03:27
Speaker
I was like, let's get this over with. We don't have time for this one mile, two mile races. I'm here for 15 seconds and then I want my after school snacks. And it was really during the COVID pandemic where everyone and their moms started doing some long distance running. And for me, it was this great way to get out of the house, get some fresh air, and then just kind of mentally recharge.
00:03:49
Speaker
And during that time, too, i was coming to terms with different facets of my identity, of my sexuality, of my gender identity. And I think there's there is just so much freedom in being able to move my body and to do so with the agency that comes with running.
00:04:07
Speaker
That kind of was not only meditative, but the endurance aspect of it was like, hey, if I can do this, if I can run 12 miles, then I can deal with this other thing that I'm going through right now, too. So we're just kind of like this confidence boost and this validation of what it is just me and the road.
00:04:25
Speaker
And if in that battle I can win, i can also kind of think through strategically what is going on in these other areas of my life. So that was a very long-winded answer to your question, but I would say different parts of my identity showed up in different at different times, and they showed up in different intensities, and the way that I named them was also just kind of all over the place.
00:04:47
Speaker
And the more that i learned about the queer community, the more that I learned about ah the Asian American community, the more i found myself putting out language that associates my belonging to these queer communities.
00:05:00
Speaker
Want to follow that question up with you talking about just your journey of of transitioning and kind of thinking about transitioning in a lot of different ways, both obviously in terms of gender, but just even discovering your own kind of like desires and talents, right? And and where you want to take those things.
00:05:17
Speaker
So when you were going kind of through your transition that you kind of mentioned, understanding early on that girlhood wasn't really important in terms of your gender expression, speaking to you as such.
00:05:29
Speaker
When did you realize that that sort of personal journey wasn't just something personal, but actually a part of a political process and kind of finding community in that journey as well? Yeah. Yeah.
Transitioning and Self-Acceptance
00:05:42
Speaker
i so the first thing that I'll say, too, is i I don't think about my quote unquote transition in the past tense. I think there's so much beauty in the transitioning and the process of becoming.
00:05:56
Speaker
One of the conversations that I had as I was raising money for a Point of Pride this year was talking with I think that a middle school, high school student applied and they were saying, i have this very close friend who's transitioning and I just wish more people knew how beautiful bodies in transition are.
00:06:17
Speaker
And i just want to amplify that too. And when she said that to me, i started to kind of see myself as more beautiful too. and I think i will...
00:06:29
Speaker
continuously for the rest of my life till the day I die, be in this process of transitioning and becoming more and more myself. And I think through the last couple of months, especially, it's been this really gorgeous journey of just seeing myself as beautiful, even if I'm not in my final form.
00:06:49
Speaker
So as it relates to my own identity, this thing that helped me come to terms with both my gender identity, my sexuality, and also feeling pride in my racial and ethnic identities were to go through this exercise of, hey, if I am alone in an island, I'm how would I identify or what would give me the most freedom?
00:07:14
Speaker
And that to me, that that whole exercise kind of removes this outside perception of what is everyone else saying? How is everyone else defining labels like transgender and non-binary?
00:07:28
Speaker
And so it really then, like all of my identities are defined and lived out as what I could see within myself. And I think the process of defining that and refining that definition is is also a crucial part of my transition.
00:07:48
Speaker
And so to answer the first part of your question, I try to not associate my identity with politics because I think there's so much vehement rhetoric around transgender folks around queer folks in general and the more i get to define who I am on my own terms the more ah the more pride the more resilience the more agency I feel I have to live out my values
00:08:19
Speaker
And so i i can see my work as living out my values rather than trying to live out some version of imperfect politics.
00:08:32
Speaker
As it relates to the second part of your question, I'll say that being able to be comfortable with who I am and just have this greater sense of awareness of who I am, how I take up space, has facilitated being able to find community.
00:08:50
Speaker
I think the more you see yourself as a beautiful, transitioning, becoming figure, the more you can see that in others and the more i think you can let yourself, at least for me, and the more I've been able to let myself freely connect with others beyond small talk. I think it's so much easier now to kind of cut through the BS and like really get to what matters and how people are are really doing in their hearts.
00:09:18
Speaker
And I think being able to just have that greater sense of self has really facilitated that type of community building for me. So I attribute that the whole journey of finding the beauty within myself and getting to define who I am on my own terms.
00:09:35
Speaker
All of that has just helped with the community building. I think that it was really a beautiful thing that you said earlier about beautiful, how beautiful trans bodies are within their transition as they're transitioning. that's That's so beautiful to me. And just to know that you are a runner and I'm interviewing a runner is exciting for me because i used to be a runner. not any Not anymore much because of of cu injuries and and things like that, but...
00:10:05
Speaker
as a trans mass identified person, I don't think that I carry my trans identity and runner in the same thing. I tried to keep them separate, right? And so running for me was a healing spot of like being able to run and kind of figure myself out within running, right? But I didn't mesh the two together. And so that brings me to my next question of,
00:10:25
Speaker
there's There's power in using your body and endurance sports as a form of activism. And so how has running helped you connect or reclaim your body as a trans person?
00:10:37
Speaker
And also, how do you feel your athletic journey and your gender journey mirror each other in a way?
Running and Freedom from Dysphoria
00:10:43
Speaker
So to answer your first question, I think when I run, i' feel the most free in my body.
00:10:51
Speaker
I feel disconnected from all of those thoughts around what are other people thinking about me? Are people viewing me differently? All of those kind of toxic ways of thinking are just, they've been harmful for me.
00:11:06
Speaker
When i'm done I run, feel like I can kind of put those to the wayside and put them in a box and it is just me and I can i can focus on the good. And I think that's what running has done.
00:11:20
Speaker
The physicality aside, I think just the mental aspect of it has really helped me filter out what has been harmful and really focus on all of the good that is going on and kind of defining the narrative for myself. And like I was explaining earlier too, the thing that I really love about endurance running and marathons specifically is that after mile 20, it is just you in the pavement.
00:11:51
Speaker
You are so physically vulnerable and hurting so bad at that point. And there is nothing for you to hide behind. And so it is just you and the truth.
00:12:03
Speaker
And running has made me so much more comfortable with the truth. But more than comfortable, I think running has made me so proud of the truth. Because if I can do that, if I can cross the finish line of a marathon, or if I can do a really hard workout, or even if I can get a run in when I'm really not feeling like it one morning,
00:12:26
Speaker
If I can do the hard thing, i feel so proud of my abilities as a human being. I feel so proud of my body. And so some of that gender dysphoria also goes away because it's evidence of, hey, I can do the really hard thing despite all of the currents against me.
00:12:52
Speaker
So I'll say that in terms of my personal journey. i will also say that i I moved to Orlando three years ago after having been raised in Minneapolis.
00:13:06
Speaker
And I was at first very scared to move down to Orlando because my little bubble in Minneapolis created and perpetuated a lot of stereotypes about people in the South and how the very loud minority treats transgender folks specifically.
00:13:27
Speaker
And so I moved to Florida with a very... incorrect assumption that there are no trans people here and that further there are no supports for trans people here and what I found was very wrong and what I found was that well i I should say what I found was that I was wrong and what i found here is that the transgender community is so vast and so diverse and so when I think about farming and community am
00:14:01
Speaker
When I moved down here and when I was seeking community, I sought community with trans folks. And when we were thinking about what are fun things to do, we would go for runs.
00:14:13
Speaker
And so I found a community of three or four folks. And at the time, there were those folks were also just starting HRT. So it was especially emphasized to them that physical activity is going to be really important over the next coming months.
00:14:27
Speaker
And so... we we kind of built on that foundation and we went for once. And that became one of my first communities here in Florida.
00:14:38
Speaker
And so in my mind, for that reason, running and gender identity and community, all intersects for me. it's It's time to take a very short break, but please stay tuned to this episode of Power Beyond Pride, where we are in conversation with Simran Chugani.
Political Misuse of Resources
00:15:01
Speaker
Welcome back. This is Power Beyond Pride, a queer change-making podcast. I and i am Sean Aaron, he, him, his, is here with my co-host Kenyon, and we are enjoying our conversation with Sinron Chugani.
00:15:15
Speaker
We all know that the current president and the administration is trying to keep men out of women's sports. is that's well what That's what they're saying. And so as an athlete who happens to be a beautiful trans person, what would you like to say to the administration about the comment and why it is complete ludicrous to think that a person who has transitioned to another gender would be competing as the opposite gender? isn simple
00:15:43
Speaker
Number one.
00:15:46
Speaker
There are millions of Americans who are dealing with everyday issues such as food insecurity, housing insecurity, uncertainty around their jobs, everyday questions around basic human needs.
00:16:05
Speaker
And you are focusing on on 1% of the population, share less than 1% of the population, if you're thinking about NCAA athletes, if you think about professional athletes, you are focusing on less than 1% of the population and using transgender people as your political scapegoat.
00:16:25
Speaker
That is not the job of a public servant. The job of a public servant is to actually serve the people and you failing on every single account.
00:16:38
Speaker
Second, this is ludicrous because no one goes through the physical pain of transition because it is a very tough process.
00:16:50
Speaker
No one goes through the physical pain oh transition to harm other people. We are doing it to live out our truths so that we can exude the most beautiful parts of ourselves in an effort to make the world a little bit kinder.
00:17:10
Speaker
And if you are weaponizing our attempts at kindness, that is one of the most malicious things that and you can do, not only to individuals and a community of people, but to every single person you serve because it is inhibiting the world from being a better place.
00:17:36
Speaker
So, ludicrous on multiple hands. Thank you for that. Such an eloquent response to that very annoying political situation that we find ourselves in. but i want to switch topics for a second and really talk about your writing.
Poetry as Self-Exploration
00:17:51
Speaker
i think some of which this eloquence in that response is reflective of just in terms of your style of voice. So I want to ask you, your writing, think, read a couple pieces online and things. It's very bold.
00:18:05
Speaker
you're poetic, and and it's deeply intimate. intimate How has writing helped you process the world around you as well as process the world inside you? I was talking with Sean during the break about how running has made me more honest.
00:18:24
Speaker
And I think art does the same thing. And i think the other thing that we were talking about is how sometimes language can be limiting. But the thing that really love about poetry is that you have the ability to break the rules of the English language.
00:18:44
Speaker
And in doing so, it makes language itself so much more expansive. And that gives me the tools to define who I am, to explore my different identities and explore how I want to make a positive impact on this world, given everything that I am.
00:19:08
Speaker
I think also poetry is one of my truest forms of expression. And when I work through difficult things in my life or when I am coming up to myself or when I am trying to think about how I want to wield power for good All of those things, when I process that in my poetry, the poetic mode and the poetic medium pushes me to be more honest with myself.
00:19:44
Speaker
And if I am lucky enough to have an audience for my work, I feel the the least I can do as an artist is to be authentic and honest for my listeners, for my readers, and for anyone who stumbles across my work.
00:20:03
Speaker
So your your book entitled Florida is a collection of poetry, which has been described as a love letter to the queer and trans communities exploring themes of love, resistance and healing in the face of social hostility.
00:20:17
Speaker
What part of yourself did you have to confront or discover while writing such a collection? phenomenal question. The title of the book is Florida, I Love You Violent. And it's a love letter to the state of Florida.
00:20:31
Speaker
And i i think one of the things that the book really pushed me to do, i mean, at the time of writing the book, I had come to terms with my gender identity, my sexuality. I found a lot of pride already.
00:20:49
Speaker
But I think one of the reasons why I really wanted to write that book is because i really wanted to I really wanted to celebrate all of my identities. I think it and I say the word celebrate because it's not only a personal small joy, but it's like a sharing of joy.
00:21:12
Speaker
And that's not something that I was very familiar with before. And the process of writing the book really pushed me to do that. I got the idea to write the book at 2023 Orlando Pride.
00:21:28
Speaker
And it was my first pride that I've gone to since moving to Florida. And I was still kind of in that boat of I'm really not sure if there are safe communities here. i don't really know what to feel about this place. I just moved like five months prior.
00:21:44
Speaker
And i went to the drag show that they have annually. And ah but at the climax of the drag show, it was this really amazing, incredible drag group performance.
00:21:58
Speaker
And as So this performance always happens at the A-Lift Mater at Lake Eula. So that's it's a big theater. And then behind the stage is this like visual, obvious animation.
00:22:10
Speaker
Like you you can kind of like project things on the back. So there's a screen to project. so And on like at the at the climax of that song, there was a picture of Ron DeSantis in heels.
00:22:21
Speaker
And and the the crowd just went crazy at that moment. And all of that entire vibe made me feel so comforted. And I was like...
00:22:35
Speaker
if If we can protest and if we can celebrate and if those two things can coexist in this drag performance, where in the background, Ron DeSantis is wearing heels, how bizarre and how weird and how cool and how freakish and how wonderful is all of that, that it can coexist and that coexisting of things.
00:23:01
Speaker
made me feel so at home and at peace where I could say, hey, there's all of this bad and there's all of this and good too.
00:23:12
Speaker
There's this really good quote by Dan Savage that I think about a lot. And I'm going to misremember the quote, but it's something along the lines of, at the height of the AIDS crisis, we buried our friends in the morning, protested in the afternoon and danced at night.
Inspiration from Orlando Pride
00:23:26
Speaker
And that experience of being at Orlando Pride 2023 was that whole package, everything that Dan Savage was saying in one moment.
00:23:38
Speaker
And that felt so energizing to me. So I really wanted to to package it and then use that, ah you use all of my poetry to really celebrate all of the good here. And so that collective celebration, to answer your question, is but something that was new territory for me.
00:23:55
Speaker
So one of the things that strikes me about you, Simran, in this conversation is you're so, you just exude so much positivity. and I don't know if it's not first five planets in Scorpio, Capable, or Rising. I'm a little bit...
00:24:09
Speaker
just i don't I don't quite always exude such optimism in how I see the world, but it's completely lovely. it's i and I actually really admire it. have question, given you navigate kind of athletics, right, the arts, activism, political spaces. And all three of these spaces can at times have their various kinds of of of antagonism towards trans folks and obviously as folks of color as well.
00:24:44
Speaker
And so I'm curious to know kind of like how do you kind of navigate those spaces that can exude varying levels of yeah of racism, of transphobia, et cetera,
00:24:55
Speaker
and still hold and maintain your peace and also still exude such kind of positive energy in your your daily life? Well, the first thing that I'll say is, I think the first thing that I noticed in my mind is safety. Is this a safe place to be in? and And not only for me to be in, because I think, like, when people look at me, they don't b think non-binary.
00:25:16
Speaker
And so i think it's like safety both in the sense of, like, If I don't say anything, will I be safe here? But also if I am visible and if I am outspoken, will I be safe here?
00:25:28
Speaker
And finding those places in Florida was difficult at first because, again, I had i held a lot of preconceived notions around if i'm going to go do spoken word at this random bar at 11 p.m. on a Tuesday, will that be safe?
00:25:44
Speaker
That said, so like I consider safety first and I feel very privileged to have since found very safe and very supportive communities. That said, when I am in these safe and supportive communities, sure, there are like very layered comments that are transphobic or they'll say things that I don't want to feel supported.
00:26:08
Speaker
And at those times when physical safety is not an issue, For me, it's, again, going back to I am here to share a piece of art that I'm very proud of.
00:26:23
Speaker
And I'm here to get something off my chest. And I'm here to be as honest and as authentic as possible. And when I go into a performance or when I go into an athletic space, even, the thing that I am concerned about is Am I doing my 15-year-old self, my 10-year-old self, my 5-year-old self?
00:26:45
Speaker
Am I making them? And if I can do that, then that that is my number one concern and not what other people are saying or thinking or all of that. So I'm like more concerned about my childhood self and trying to make them proud than any anybody else, which is like then that makes it a lot easier for me to kind of like filter out the negativity and focus on some of that good
Misconceptions about Gender-Affirming Care
00:27:10
Speaker
too.
00:27:10
Speaker
So earlier you mentioned being with Point of Pride or kind of like assisting Point of Pride. And so as a person raising money for gender affirming care, what's one misconception about gender affirming care that frustrates you the most?
00:27:27
Speaker
So over the course of the last few months in Raising Mindful.5, I had a lot of really long, really difficult conversations with folks. And I think out of those conversations, I tried to quell two misconceptions. So I'll answer it all lights are two misconceptions.
00:27:46
Speaker
And so the first of which is that there was a lot of conversation around gender-affirming care being called quote-unquote mutilation.
00:28:00
Speaker
And I think a lot of that is due to the political rhetoric here in Florida in 2023. There was a state bill, SB-254, that was signed by more of the centrist.
00:28:10
Speaker
more placeinas And in that bill, they refer to gender-affirming care as mutilation. The second big misconception that I had a lot of discussions about was that gender-affirming care only applies to folks.
00:28:27
Speaker
And I think what I tried to do in those conversations, because both of those frustrate me and anger me to no end, what I tried to do in conversations is to explain gender-affirming care as it is, which is care that is literally affirming of one's gender. It could be providers using the right pronouns.
00:28:50
Speaker
It could be HRT prescriptions. It could be talking with your mental health counselor about your gender identity. ah And all of those three things encompass gender-forming care.
00:29:02
Speaker
Other things that encompass gender-forming care are receiving HRT for menopausal care. growing up beards for cisgender men that's also gender-friendly care and so providing those examples has also just kind of helped me gain the vocabulary to share with other folks about hey this is a misconception less aggressive so i think dealing with some of the political rhetoric around gender-refiring care with the truth, with examples, with facts and figures, is something that I've found that I've had to do a lot over the last couple of months.
00:29:40
Speaker
But I think to answer your question, it's like really those two misconceptions and then just trying to be as understanding and as fact-forward as I can in conversations about it.
00:29:51
Speaker
Great. Thank you. So let's take a short break here and stay with us because we will be back with a speed round of questions to get to know Simran just a little bit better.
00:30:07
Speaker
Welcome to Power Beyond Pride. I'm Kenyon and I'm here with my co-host Sean and we're having a very interesting conversation with Simran Chagani. All right. Simran, so just one question before we get into our lightning round. So, heres question is, what are you dreaming into existence next, whether as an artist, an athlete, or an activist?
Community-Based Healthcare Initiatives
00:30:30
Speaker
I am dreaming about collective aid and community-based care. I think if there's anything that Plum Racing for a Point of Pride has taught me, well, i'll I'll say too, like, at the beginning of Plum Racing Initiative, day at the beginning of this marathon block, the big the big language we're putting out into the world as a team is, hey, let's show people that trans people belong at the starting line of one of the biggest stages in this sport.
00:31:00
Speaker
And we did that. But I think that's not where the work ended. For me, I think one of the biggest lessons learned is that we should have faith in collective aid.
00:31:14
Speaker
Seeing how many people donated to our fundraisers And thinking about the fact that we raised close to $30,000 as a teen to just receiving messages throughout the marathon bill, the folks accepting their love, their support, their their good wishes, like all of that good that came out of the last four months helped believe that we can go so far if we are able to keep care of each other.
00:31:44
Speaker
And so what I'm dreaming into existence is amplifying this work, really thinking about what does collective aid look like for me in the coming months as a marathoner? And then also, what does it look like long term?
00:31:57
Speaker
I really want to make a dent in improving access to gender-affirming care, to health care in general, for the gender diverse, as well as the immigrant communities here in Florida.
00:32:08
Speaker
And to me, that community-based care looks like creating clinics in rural areas of Florida so that everyone has access to care. It means creating and mobilizing community-based care for mobile clinics that can go out to neighborhoods. It means informing people about vaccines and making sure that there's transportation to and from primary care appointments, specialty care appointments, that type of thing. It also means making sure that there are translation services so that everyone knows what their prescription regimens should look like. So it's doing all of these things, but it's doing it in a way that one is community driven so that we're being responsive to the needs of the community.
00:32:53
Speaker
But it's also doing it in a way that is community-based. So it's not that all of the responsibility or the accountability for doing this work is on one person. I really want to avoid some of that burnout that the healthcare care system is facing today and and really think, work how can we work together to sustain some of these really good public health activities and make Florida and and the communities of Florida and just really improve their well-being? So that's what I'm dreaming into existence. this community-centric, community-based community.
00:33:24
Speaker
Wow. That's beautiful. I feel like it's it's here now, just the way you speak so eloquently about it. It's here. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. So time for our speed question round where we get to know you just a little bit better.
00:33:39
Speaker
This is where we ask you some questions and you don't get any time to think about it. You just need to give us the first answer that comes to your mind. Are you ready to do this? Yeah. I feel like I've been doing it already. Okay. All right. So first question, what's the song that gets you into marathon mode?
00:33:56
Speaker
Oh, Seize the Power by Nuna. All right. It was it was on AOC's playlist and I am the same thing to it ever since she shared it in 2020. Nice.
00:34:07
Speaker
Nice. So are you a morning runner or a midnight runner? Morning. 100%. I'm out at 530 and I love it. What's the one book you wish you could read again for the first time?
00:34:20
Speaker
Tuesdays with Maurice. It's such an innocent book. And i think there's so much humanity captured within it that I hope we can all just get a little glimpse of and remember on a day-to-day basis.
00:34:32
Speaker
If your life was a genre, what would it be? Drama, comedy, poetry, thriller, It's like comedy. I feel like, well, honestly, I feel like my life is a little bit like a puppet show.
00:34:46
Speaker
Sometimes I'm controlling it, sometimes I'm not. But either way, I'm putting on a good show and I have a smile on my face, or at least I try to. And it's like a kind of like but a circus things that are going on.
00:34:58
Speaker
It's a little bit of everything.
00:35:01
Speaker
What's one small practice that always makes you feel grounded? Learning. that Not not a small practice to me. i like i don't take morning for granted. i was dealing with an injury at the beginning block. And I think mentally that was a little hard to to go through.
00:35:18
Speaker
But a little big thing, I think, is just my morning rock re ritual. What is the favorite place that your feet have ever taken you? Oh, I love this question. The woods outside of my house.
00:35:30
Speaker
And it's one of those things that is so simple, yet it fills my heart with so much joy And every time I run past, I think, wow, I am meant to be doing this. And this is also one of the reasons I love morning and running is getting to wake up and see the sunrise near the woods and just admire the beauty of it.
00:35:52
Speaker
It makes me feel so appreciative of the sun's ability to rise. It makes me so appreciative that there's so much beautiful nature that is around me and that we need to conserve. And it just makes me really happy. And so it sets the whole day on and a really positive note.
00:36:11
Speaker
What's the one food you must eat after a long run? Okay. This is a very, I love this question and i love this food very much. So I'll give you my detailed response and I'll try not to get into a recipe. Okay. It's chocolate, no butter, banana, protein pancakes.
00:36:31
Speaker
Oatmeal is involved. Chocolate protein powder is involved. Bananas are involved. Honestly, the main ingredient is peanut butter. But I love all of that after a run. Oh my goodness. I love that too. I've had that. That is amazing.
00:36:46
Speaker
Yeah. It's such a running answer. Like all those things. sounds Yes. claim ah I love oatmeal so much. I have an o no ti to and i'm and very oatmeal tattoo Tattoo.
Self-Love and Balance
00:37:02
Speaker
Beautiful. If you could rewrite the narrative around trans lives and the media, what's the first sentence? What a gift it is to be trans.
00:37:13
Speaker
What's the one thing you're learning to love about yourself right now? I am currently working on loving the version of myself that takes adequate rest and prioritizes doing things like puzzling, like sleeping eight hours a night, like making sure my body is fueled properly.
00:37:35
Speaker
um One thing that have done a lot growing up is overworking myself to the point of burnout and I found that finding some balance and finding some rest opens up a lot of doors and seeing myself with a lot of beauty and grace. So I'm trying to work on that a little bit.
00:37:58
Speaker
So Simran, what does power beyond pride mean to you? For me, it means that if we are able to support and amplify the work of queer folks of queer folks of color, we are able to support everyone.
00:38:20
Speaker
I will talk about healthcare care because that's where my experience lies. But when I think about gender-affirming care, for example, if we're able to improve accesss to gender-affirming care, if we're able to improve the quality and the options around gender-affirming care, then I think we improve the healthcare care system for everyone.
00:38:41
Speaker
And that is what Power Beyond Pride needs to mean. I think with healthcare, care marginalized folks have been the voice of what reform needs to look like, often because that's out of necessity.
00:38:55
Speaker
Not only do we have to advocate for our own care, but we have to advocate for the equitable infrastructure that shapes it. And that to me is power beyond pride of as a queer community, we often have to be leaders and take the initiative to make the changes that need to be made that should have been made in the first place.
00:39:19
Speaker
And if we can do that as a community, there is nothing stopping us regarding achieving any of our goals. So that is power beyond.
00:39:30
Speaker
Beautiful, beautiful answer.
Following Simran's Work
00:39:32
Speaker
And so where can folks find out more about you and your work? You can find me on Instagram at at Simran.Chugani. You can also find my book on Bottle Cap Press.
00:39:44
Speaker
ah It's called Florida, I Love New Island. And for any of my Orlando friends this night, I am a regular at the Timucua Arts Foundation beach Open Mic Nights, as well as the Wednesday Open Mic for Queer Folks at Savoy Orlando. thank you.
00:40:01
Speaker
I hope to see you there if you're ever visiting Orlando or if you live in Orlando. Nice. Thank you so much for being here. We really appreciate you.
00:40:11
Speaker
We're out of time right now. And so, um yeah, we we would love to have you back to join us. Thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed this discussion. I'm very nervous when but I have to do podcasts, but y'all are fantastic hosts.
00:40:25
Speaker
So thank you. Oh, no, thank you. And so, again, everyone, you should follow Simran at all of the social media that they mentioned. And ah i am your co-host, Kenyon Farrell. And you can follow me on social media.
00:40:41
Speaker
Just add my name. Nothing fancy. Just add Kenyon Farrell at all the things. And maybe I'll see you there. And I am your co-host, Sean Aaron, he, him, his. And you can follow me on Instagram at themboysinc, also on YouTube at themboysinc. My personal profile is on Instagram is seanaron81.
00:41:03
Speaker
And remember to subscribe and get your friends to subscribe to Power Beyond Pride on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And check out our site at powerbeyondpride.com.
00:41:16
Speaker
Power Beyond Pride is a project of A Great Idea, queer-owned design and content agency. Learn more about them at agreatidea.com. This episode is produced by Shane Lucas.
00:41:29
Speaker
Maddie Bynum is the project developer. Our editor is Jared Redding with support from Ian Wilson. We are both a part of this podcast awesome host team, and we invite you to send in your questions and comments at powerbeyondpride.com.
00:41:46
Speaker
Check out our new episodes each week and we look forward to queer change making with you next time. Thank you from all of us here at Power Beyond Pride.