Transcript
Speaker: Suicide is the third leading cause of death for LGBTQ 18 to 24 year olds right now. Every 45 seconds an LGBTQ young person attempts to take their life, where the BQC comes in, is that suicide rates cut in half when a person has a community of peers around them. So we are simply delivering that community of peers.
Speaker: Hello and welcome to Power Beyond Pride, a weekly change -making podcast bringing you voices and ideas from across our fierce and fabulous spectrum to transform our world. I'm Shane Lucas, he, him, his. I am the owner of A Great Idea, a lifelong harm reductionist.
Speaker: And don what else am I? i'm I'm a ginger. So I'm going to go with that today. that's I'm going to live into my gingerness and and and love it. and i'm And I'm joined by an amazing co -host. Well, don't forget, before you bring me up, you also are a shower singer and you also dance quietly. to your own private disco.
Speaker: It's not always that quiet, to be honest. I i like the volume. This is a complaint in the household. I like my volume at a good 12. I really do. I like it loud. I like Lost in the Beats. I'm all into it. How else are people going to hear you?
Speaker: Hello?
Speaker: Because I keep on going. I must be an old person. that If loud is 12 for you, I want a 56 so I can just hear it. I like to feel the boom and the bass and the thump in and out my body. But as I'm talking about my body, my name is Maddie Bynum. I am your other co -host for this afternoon. And I am always the loudest one in the room, whether it is my mouth or just my presence. I will always let it be known.
Speaker: Thank you for coming on this queer journey with us. And today. We have the honor of talking to the Boston Queer. Love. founder.
Speaker: Boston Queer Club is the first hub for queer young adult social life in the greater Boston area. you think It's the founder of the club, and this club has been founded to help the LGBTQ plus individual ages, individuals aging between 18 and 24.
Speaker: find their people, build their friendships, and feel a true sense of belonging. And that's something that we all want. So welcome, Ethan. It is truly an honor to have you here today.
Speaker: thank you thanks for having me i'm super excited Thank you for joining us, Ethan. It's wonderful to to meet you. i have As somebody who formerly lived in Boston, it's always nice to it's nice to to feel a little bit of that Boston energy in the mix. And so really love you being here today. It's amazing. Anybody who begins something, anybody who starts something.
Speaker: is really, I'm always amazed by the courage and the energy that it takes to do that. So so being a founder is a thing, right? So it's senior year, first semester, and you are, right now, you're you're getting ready for graduation coming up next year. um And so.
Speaker: How are you managing founding something, creating something, and then like also getting your college experience? See ya. That's a fantastic question. I would say it's managing me at this point.
Speaker: Uh, I... So I... i I'm originally from Los Angeles, California. I was born and raised there Love l LA. It'll always be my home. I, when I was looking for colleges, I knew I wanted three things. I wanted to get out of LA just to experience living on my own.
Speaker: I wanted to be in or close to a big city, and then I wanted to study entrepreneurship. and which is how I found the school that I'm currently at, Babson College. And I had no idea what Babson was before.
Speaker: I started looking for schools. What I did is... I was 17 or whatever, or 18, looking for colleges. And I went online and I searched best undergrad schools for entrepreneurship in the country. Babson came up one on every list.
Speaker: I told my friends about it. They had never heard of it. Told my parents about it. They never heard of it. But then we toured as a family and and each of us fell in love with it. Because. Babson is has been ranked the number one school for entrepreneurship in the country for the last 28 years.
Speaker: And this. Like two weeks ago. We were ranked the second best college in the country by the Wall Street Journal for the second year in a row. So we are a... small but super mighty powerhouse. for innovation and entrepreneurship that. You can't. fully understand until you get here so to finally answer your question. ah the The school sets us up for success in...
Speaker: In our own own entrepreneurial journeys, like they understand that a lot of learning happens outside of. the classroom and lectures so they give us the time and resources to explore our own.
Speaker: ah Passions. And. it's It's definitely been rocky. I mean, I'm ah i'm a super... stubborn person. So when I got here, and had the idea for the boston queer club like the only option was to Do it.
Speaker: And. Do it till it's a success. So I ended up starting it my freshman year. And again, no. no experience in starting a business, no experience in business, in many of the LGBTQ spaces. Like I'm, I'm gay.
Speaker: And I kind of just figured that would be enough. With time, I've discovered that there's a lot more to it. I appreciate that.
Speaker: You are more than enough. All right, honey. I appreciate that. ah But I've discovered there's a lot more nuance to the LGBTQ community than the cisgender. Gay white. Male.
Speaker: So that's been that's been a. ah journey in itself. But the balance between school and the startup. i My first year, like I didn't really know what I wanted to do.
Speaker: And then when I had the idea for the Boston Queer Club, suddenly... I approached all my classes. through the lens of the Boston Queer Club. so In my accounting class, I would learn how to balance a balance sheet and then directly apply it to the Boston Queer Club. or In my business law class, I learned how to draft a contract. And then the next day.
Speaker: it's in the boston queer club so that's the the boston queer club has has been a really ah Nice. Lens To -to... Look at my academics.
Speaker: through. Hmm? Okay. Well, and it's interesting that you even rap. But the Boston Queer Club answered that answer because the next question would be.
Speaker: What made you start the Boston Queer Club? What what prompted internally in you letting you know that that was a space that needed to be filled? Yeah, I think the better question is what didn't. Prompt it.
Speaker: For me. I grew up in Los Angeles to a perfectly affirming family. city, friend group. church community. It was all like very.
Speaker: picturesque, which is a lot different than the majority of people out there. But. I still... It didn't have... queer friends around me who i could relate to like there was Nobody in my friend group who was my age, who looked like me, talked like me, and liked the things that I liked. so i i felt Pretty lonely.
Speaker: And then... It wasn't until I was 18. and I'll I'll never forget the day. It was January 18th. 2020. Cheers. Two.
Speaker: and When I downloaded Tinder for the very first time. And... And that that set in motion a journey for sure. But what it did for me is it exposed the depth of the LGBTQ community. like All of a sudden, there were all these people who looked like me, talked like me, liked the things that I liked, like just out there in masses. And I'd never seen anything like it.
Speaker: And as I started to... Meet people and go on dates. It turned more into ah like a... like a friend app than a dating app. but Some of my best friends to this day I've met on Tinder and Hinge.
Speaker: and But as I kept meeting people for the year or so after downloading it for the first time, like I would hear the same stories. from Everybody, pretty much. they were They would hear about the success that I've had with dating apps and finding my people and my friends.
Speaker: And... But they would come to me and be like, Ethan, I'm not like you. I i can't make friends as easily as you you. You don't understand. To the point where they're like crying in my arms, telling me that. that they don't know how to how to make. gay friends And. But I... did understand because I've gone through that same journey.
Speaker: And... like Yeah, really explored my... queer identity and how it plays into my social life which i've discovered that a lot of people Don't. They don't mix. the two, especially in New England.
Speaker: So the the Boston Queer Club. is a ah purely social hub for... LGBTQ college kids. Yeah. And with the goal of many goals, but one is exposing the depth of the community. queer community. Like I.
Speaker: found through your dating apps. Well, I love you sharing, Ethan, these dating apps, which I relate to. I am old enough to remember IRC. I'm old enough to remember gay .com. These probably precede your existence. The AOL chat rooms, the varying functions in there. I'm really interested. One thing you shared was that, hey, it's been a journey, not just learning about the spectrum I have across my communities, but really thinking about like as a cisgendered white. male, right? Like what that means.
Speaker: Can you explain a little bit bit more how that journey, because, you know, again, starting something, having the courage to bring something out there, using your expertise, your your desire to want to build something. I think that's amazing, right? As somebody who's also certainly had my own business, all that kind of stuff. So I get, I get what that, what that means.
Speaker: But I'm curious about your journey as you hate. You're coming in to encounter different parts of our queer community, different ways in which privilege is is exercised. I'd love for you to share a little bit about that journey and kind of maybe some of that experience you've had as, hey, I wouldn't do this very much either.
Speaker: with this vision of what I wanted to do. And then I was like, oh. Well, I'm wondering, there are different moments. Do you mind sharing a little bit of that journey with us? Yeah. I'll start by saying I'm still in this journey and I'm going to be in it for the rest of my life.
Speaker: there I do recognize my privilege with my identity. And I recognize that there's a lot I don't know about the career community in general. ah So the stance I've taken. is I have privilege. I'm gonna use it.
Speaker: to better this community. this unfair privilege. that I have. and And it's the privilege has helped. like it's to be to be honest it's it's open doors with people that wouldn't have been opened otherwise, I think.
Speaker: And then I would say the other part of. of the Mixing in other identities. into the Boston Queer Club has been... Just... Keyword, representation. within the Boston Queer Club.
Speaker: If it was... Only me doing the BQC. it The BQC would only serve me. or people like me. but And so from a...
Speaker: not just an ethical standpoint, but from like like a business perspective, like it makes complete sense to bring in other people of other. Identities. to to help rebuild this and grow this to reach more people. And most of the time, the people who need it more than people like me.
Speaker: So i I heavily lean on the BQC crew and my advisors when it comes to reaching. the other parts of the LGBTQ community. Yeah.
Speaker: that's That's what I have to say about that. Has that changed your thinking about, oh, sorry, I just have a ah quick ah question. Has that also changed your sense about entrepreneurship? As you look at business, has that also changed the way that you think about? business. Is it giving you a different insight into like, Hey,
Speaker: This is how I'm also thinking about how I exercise myself in capitalism, too. 100%. I mean, it it's all... All areas of business. um the biggest asset is going to be the people involved. and they're the the strongest links they're the ones who need to be invested in the most ah to feel empowered to go out and and turn this or whatever project they're working on into their own. And so, yeah, that's what's going to make a successful company is.
Speaker: The diversity. both physical and and the diversity of backgrounds and thought. Because that debt. is arguably one of the most important pieces of a business. That is true. And I do want to back up just a little bit to what you were saying, Longa, about having the representation. And I think that's a beautiful thing with the BQC is because a lot of people want to just lump all LGBT into one factor, and you can't. The beautiful thing about our community is we have multifaceted spectrum of...
Speaker: That was the spectrum of... We really, that's why we're the rainbow. Like you can see a red, a blue, a yellow and green and real life. And pink as well, because I do want to uphold my pinky pink promise. I'm going to get my pink. Thank you. I got you. I got you. And our light blues. Yes. Yes.
Speaker: Our yellows, we got everything. But we are about to go to a quick break because we have to. But i won't I want to ask the question before we go to break. So when we come back, we can go into this conversation. but
Speaker: Even with the multifacetedness of our community, I think a lot of people don't understand. And I love that you use your privilege to to champion for this. But just thinking about the mental health of our community, because there's one thing for a young LGBT person to be LGBT or to be gay.
Speaker: But then it's to be a young gay Black man or to be a young trans Latino woman or different things. And I don't think people really understand the magnitude of mental health and how it affects our young.
Speaker: LGBT community as well as our older LGBT community. So... When we come back from break. I definitely want to continue the conversation. about Oh, yeah.
Speaker: BQC about Mr. Ethan. and how we are just a beautiful community. We'll be back with Power Beyond Prime. We'll be right back.
Speaker: Welcome back. This is Power Beyond Pride, a queer change -making podcast. And I am Shane Lucas here with my gorgeous co -host, Maddie Bynum. And we are talking with the student organizer.
Speaker: Founder, creator. I love that there's so many. Entrepreneur, Ethan Eady, who's there in Boston, in the Boston area, New England, doing amazing things with young people with the Boston Queer Club, BQC. I can't even say it right now. The BQC. That sounds right. yeah I love it. It's very fun to say. Nice ring, right?
Speaker: So before break, Matty was asking ah ah a bit, and I know we were both thinking about different ways that young people today are processing, certainly a climate that feels very hostile. And certainly we have some questions to ask about that. but What do you think in terms of the the ways that BQC is it impacting the the mental health? is that part of the Is that part of your motivation to create not just a space to connect, but really address some of the challenges? or or some of the some of the concerns that young people are having right now.
Speaker: Yeah. So the stat that we're built on. A couple of them. Well, suicide is the third leading cause of death for LGBTQ 18 to 24 year olds right now. Every 45 seconds, an LGBTQ young person attempts to take their life. And then 41 % of LGBTQ young people seriously considered suicide in 2023.
Speaker: But. Where the BQC comes in is that suicide rates cut in half when a person has a community of peers around them. So we are simply delivering that community. of peers which then bleeds into all other aspects of mental health and all other aspects of that individual's life.
Speaker: That's awesome. That's great. I mean, definitely it's important, again, to have those connections. And I think, as you mentioned. There's been cuts at the federal level. And I think those are things that we're we're certainly paying attention to.
Speaker: And since you said that, it's good to know that no camera i mean not no problem but California did just sign in a law last week where they will have the Trevor Project, the Suicide Hotline, posted on all me middle school, high school, and college -age student IDs. Because like you were saying, I think.
Speaker: Mental health is something that is very much overlooked. and understated and that's not just in our community but just in general. And so, especially with everything being thrown at our youth today, not just their own personal, like, what am I, who am I, where I'm going. but even social media to down to politics and trying to understand what all is really happening. So that's a lot on our young kids. And I think especially for our young queer youth, especially for the LGBT community. it's even more detrimental.
Speaker: And so, Ethan, I know you have said in one of your past questions, I mean, your answers about why you started the... b q c But I would be interested to know a little bit more about your journey of how you became Ethan today. so And how do you use that?
Speaker: journey to reach other people. Yeah. ah Well, to sum up 21 years of my life and how that made me who I am today, it was definitely growing up in Los Angeles that had a big part on who I am today. And I think that taught me to...
Speaker: Be ambitious. ah It was I went through my own mental health crisis my sophomore year of college and ended up in the hospital and and all that, which.
Speaker: but Definitely, it forced me to change my perspective on life and the world. And what that did is it showed me how many more options there are. out there in everything that we do.
Speaker: I think we tend to think very black and white. When it comes to identity. careers, mental health. relationships. But. Like, human...
Speaker: Human nature is to... compartmentalize and categorize everything in our life it's it's why there's like red yellow blue or we have names or like we this is big this is small and we apply that to identity too and give labels to Okay, you're either gay, lesbian, bisexual. Trans. Like these are your options you choose, but.
Speaker: Identity is not. that at all like it's it is 100 a spectrum that in every state or stage can't be labeled so i think What I don't know my past few years of being in college has taught me is that is to give up on the black and white and the categories and live into.
Speaker: the one specific kind of person that i am and that's the same message we are instilling in people at the boston queer club it's it's bringing queerness back to the ah individual. rather than like forcing people into these. different boxes.
Speaker: When I love that because I came to queer in college again many many years ago And I'm curious because I love among young people, I love you you talk about that. that
Speaker: being identified in the LGBTQ plus community isn't just about that single identity, but really think about it as layers, right? There's our gender presentation. There's our gender identities. There's our, ah what we consider our romantic identities. There's what we consider our connection. There's different identities that can live within the spectrum. I'm curious as you navigate these, because I i teach a a workshop about speaking queer. And part of what I love about queer is that it interrogates the norm. It interrogates the predictable and sort of says, hey, like this is what we've come to understand, but we are complicated. all human beings live in this sort of gray space our queerness is temporal meaning in the sense that like who you are now is not who you're going to be in 10 years it's not who you were 10 years ago and that young people have come to adopt and understand this fluidity or this sense of like hey
Speaker: i I don't know where my life experience is going to yield, what it's going to yield, but I do know that I want to be connected to good people. And I'm really interested in in connecting to people who share my values and share what I want to do. How do you as an organizer and as a young organizer.
Speaker: like One of the hardest things that I find among organizing when we talk about queer liberation is. It's so much easier to have a fixed point to say, okay, here's some clarity about gayness. Here's some clarity about what it means to be a trans experience, right? But younger generations are recognizing, and I love it.
Speaker: but also this conflict that exists. between the things that we can try to identify very solidly and the things that are going to feel much more fluid, much more. a much more, i again, gray, I say gray in the sense of somebody today is going to come in and be like, hey, I'm gender fluid, but I'm also a romantic.
Speaker: in this particular way. And then next week they might be like, actually, I'm dating somebody now. So I don't know. It's going to work in the same way. How are you navigating these this this sort of exploration of identities? and And are you thinking about that as you as you build? BQC.
Speaker: And. Definitely. I will say that... a big part of the Boston Queer Club and its founding. It started with this big round of market research that I did, right? I interviewed students.
Speaker: LGBTQ students from 21 different colleges and universities across the country to ask them about their sexuality and how it plays into their Was this on or off the Tinder or Hinge date? and We just want to know. This? Okay. Because I did my honors thesis on public sex and I will tell you right now.
Speaker: It was both on and off the clock. Okay. So fun fact, I'm always on the clock. Everything I do, i'm I'm... thinking about the Boston Queer Club. But these interviews were like formal sit -down Zoom calls with people. A third of them?
Speaker: I had met on Data Gaps. ah Some of that third were my best friends already. Some of that third were guys I had met a week before and was like, hey, do you want to tell me about your sexuality on this call?
Speaker: That's got to mean that's going to be a good, that's a pickup line that I think you should employ. Would you like to tell me just about your sexuality? Yeah. so a bit Let's talk about it. Let's do an interview. You're the best. Yeah.
Speaker: So navigating the the the idea of queerness means that it's ever changing, right? So how do you form something that is going to be able to be somewhat predictable as an organization, as a company, as in the way that you're trying to build up this the system while recognizing it's it's evolving? under our feet right it is evolving in the current moment So our approach to it. is to...
Speaker: Take the queerness out. Love it. We... We don't. What I found in that market research round is that. Young people are intimidated by queerness right now. They oftentimes don't participate in the community and the culture because they don't feel like they are.
Speaker: queer enough or gay enough or lesbian enough to to be there. And. So with the Boston Queer Club, we have tried to take a lot of the LGBTQ. stereotypes and practices out. of what we do and bring it back. to the individual?
Speaker: ah So really the only thing queer about us is. the name the queer in the boston queer club and this mutual unspoken understanding that everybody in this room with you is also queer So. We're not like the singers aren't getting on stage and singing and and being asked to sing about their LGBTQ identities. And we're not the comedians aren't telling queer jokes.
Speaker: necessarily like they might opt to but ah But we've we've tried to. take ourselves out of that box and not... put that kind of pressure on people to try to understand themselves or the other people in the room.
Speaker: And we found that that it... It. works Like it it takes the pressure off of people. Yeah, so it's ah it's a queer space without... queer. No, like themes to it.
Speaker: it there's There's a better way to put it. but Well, it's it's it's interesting because, i again again, I think about Stonewall or I think about other organizations that have sort of grown over the last several years, and many years in the case of Stonewall, but hiking clubs, run clubs, other other things that have found. This connection that says, hey, you may be.
Speaker: a person who identifies across this queer identity spectrum. but we're going to go run. And this is an affirming space to do that. Why I bring that up, and it's something I know we talk about even among those of us on the show here, because we think about, hey, what does it mean to have somebody come in and and be a queer guest versus an ally?
Speaker: And so how do we define that if the if those borders start to get more fuzzy? In other words, like if everybody's queer, is anybody queer? And then what does that mean then when you have a political climate that is hostile to the idea of queerness?
Speaker: And that can kind of exercise its way to do harm to people. who identify across some of the spectrum. Mm hmm. Yeah, I mean, that's a great question. my my immediate entrepreneurial.
Speaker: like response to that is why. Why do we have to? Define it. ah For our own. mental well -being, but for the purposes of organizing and in our current political. obs steer I think.
Speaker: i think it I think the definition is is important, but... I don't have a clear answer for you. It's okay. is a We're all learning. So this is not, we'd only be on the spot in terms of learning. It's just a question around what it means to create that. that relationship to organize.
Speaker: And then also recognize the moment, Maddie. But I was going to say, I actually, I agree a lot with Ethan in a sense, taking the queer out of it, because I think I became a better friend when I wasn't trying to be the gay best friend.
Speaker: I think I became a better person when I stopped trying to emulate what I thought people wanted to see me as, as an LGBT person. I think once I decided to, instead of being...
Speaker: a trans woman or an intersex woman. I just became a woman in general. my life got easier. my journey got easier and my story started reaching more people.
Speaker: Because I agree with you. I think a lot of times we put so much pressure on the label. of queer or LGBTQ. And it's like, well, I want this to be a queer club. Okay, but what is queer? Can we define that word first? Because if if nobody knows truly what that word means, or if my interpretation is different from Shane's and Shane's different from Ethan, then how do we create?
Speaker: a queer club when we all have different interpretations. So I can respect that. I think taking... that out actually gives the community a little bit more power.
Speaker: To be able to fight harder because we're not just. living. fighting and dying for a title, but we're living and fighting and dying to represent lives and lived experience lived experiences.
Speaker: And. With my experience, too. it it's It's easier to organize. when you go to sympathy rather than empathy. I think I think a lot of organizations Start with empathy where.
Speaker: This is who we are. This is our experience that may not be the same from yours, but we need you to understand. our experience but I've always turned to sympathy where i I connect on the feelings. these shared feelings that we all have and we all can relate to, especially within the queer community. like I don't understand the experience of a trans woman, but I understand the experience of feeling lonely and feeling like I don't have a a place.
Speaker: in a community so if we can relate on that level then we can work our way up to the the empathy part with under understanding the the more superficial identities and that also helps with bringing people into the organizations. or government organizations like...
Speaker: Speaking into the stories and these feelings that... all of us can relate to on some level and then Working now. to the nuances from there. I think you were sharing that. Yeah. Again, I i think I wrestle with.
Speaker: That when you intersect with privilege, I think it becomes easier to step away from some of the identities that are most. contentious, right? So being being being gay or being queer. and being white and and and educated and middle class and these things, which I i recognize that are part of my my narrative, my my experience.
Speaker: Like that affords me sometimes more social capital to do some of the things I want to do. We talked about earlier, Ethan, kind of how you've employed this. And there are great ways to employ those in the mix. But then the urgency also shifts a little bit about the the movement.
Speaker: Because when, for example, people of trans experience are are targeted in the current moment, right? I want to be very thoughtful about, well, what does that mean? If I'm passing, if I'm not passing, if I'm in a moment where I can, I can exercise my, my ability to control the scenario, scenario, the situation. And sometimes I cannot. For example, I might choose to leave the country.
Speaker: Some people cannot choose to delete the information, right? There are things, there are different ways that I can exercise my response. So as a community, I think about, well, what is it like, what is that balance? And I don't know what that is either. That's why I appreciate this conversation and what you're trying to do is like, how do you navigate that?
Speaker: in this moment because you want to build community. We don't want people to necessarily feel limited. by that component, because that's one part of themselves, right? Like you're a Los Angelino. Combined with you know your relationship, your family, combined with your faith, combined with your education. Your queerness is a component of a of a of a many layered part of self. Right.
Speaker: And so. as we organize and as we think about activism. Like we oftentimes have to pick a layer that we're gonna go in and have a conversation about because that's what we're we're trying to address a wrong or an injustice in society.
Speaker: And so we have to, by by proxy, kind of have that element. called out. But that also creates a a space where, as you said, like maybe a tension. Because how do i how do I do that without sort of saying this is...
Speaker: This is the thing I'm going to elevate of my experience. And I'm going to ignore that I may have grown up in North Carolina. I'm going to ignore that I did these, these other parts of my identity for a minute. he's not I do it. So I don't know. I'm just curious as young people start to again, navigate these different identities.
Speaker: and bring them into the room to sort of say, hey, we collectively share something in common. But it's very amorphous. which I really both appreciate. and probably see as challenging. And I'm kind of excited about the way that you're... building this social club.
Speaker: And I wonder like how you're how you're building that space and then also like having to sit back and go. It might change over the next year, a year and a half because our own language around it. credit change over the next year, a year and a half.
Speaker: How do we do that in such a way as to still make sure that it's an affirming forum and and and wrestle any of the tension that that comes from? it's so When I was doing the market research with all the students, I asked everyone.
Speaker: Um, like How important. Is your LGBTQ identity? to you or or some form of that question. And everybody approached it as a percentage of their identity. Like they almost ranked it. where They they would like put other things ahead of each other. and Was Taylor Swiftiness like definitely higher than everything else?
Speaker: ah Yes. Yes, it was. That, think yeah. we and not Good Lord. Hey, look here. Stay off that topic. We are not swipping. Yeah. Come on. Thank you. We can do another episode on that. But... Yeah. Peace. I have many opinions on this 15 nation.
Speaker: But a percent of themselves, you said. Yeah. it Yes. So, okay, they're they're ranking at their identities based on percentages, where I i think we need to...
Speaker: and they need to see them all as Equally. Valuable. to themselves and E. and equal to each other and and not. like suppressing or Okay. Yeah, not suppressing. parts of our identities so that when we have to.
Speaker: talk about, have a conversation about one or put one on display. but We can still... rely on the other facets, if that makes sense. like it It's these other pieces that give us comfort when we are Pudding won.
Speaker: on the line and i i think that's ah That's especially important when talking about defining queer identity and leaning into it. in in organizing. Well, let's take a quick... break here and we invite you to stay with us. Ethan, we are excited because when we get back, we'll get to know you even more. So that's exciting. Yeah. I mean, we have so many questions. as' It's almost impossible for us to get to everything today. yeah and I'm excited for us to kick off that speed round right after this break.
Speaker: Welcome back to Power Beyond Pride. We are talking with the beautiful Ethan Eadie, just like the beautiful ice cream. That's how I remember Ethan, because back in the day, we're not going to waste your time, but I remember the conversation back in the day. I'm not like Eadie's ice cream. I'm just going to be honest with you.
Speaker: The upper epsilon. So you are upper epsilon, baby. I love it. Thank you. Happy to be here. Happy to be up. Oh, now we got to ask one speed round question that i' I'm going to throw one in. Okay, go ahead. and that We are going into our speed round. In this moment, I will tell you, Ethan, don't think, just respond. to This might be a bad thing because you're a college student. So I'm going to tell you, try and this not to think. Don't over process and it. Don't overthink it. Okay.
Speaker: First thing that pops into your mind. They probably will be some funny questions, some good questions, off the wall questions, but. Here we go. when Shane has the first one. What has been your favorite event thus far for the BQC?
Speaker: Our open mic night this past summer. I was. really behind on planning a normal concert. And the week before the the date, I didn't have an artist. So I figured let's just make it an open mic night. And we had. About 20 queer artists show up and the energy in the room was insane because everybody was more inclined to cheer the other people on. And.
Speaker: This past Friday... I ran into one of the artists from that night who came to me on Friday and said that they formed the artists formed a.
Speaker: LGBTQ songwriting group right after that show. And they've met every other week since that show. I love it. Yeah, so that's been my favorite event. Did you perform on the open mic? No.
Speaker: I've... It's... It's been a dream to perform at the BQC. I have not done it yet. I need to write a song first. And then I will. You're going to write a song? If I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it right.
Speaker: That's how you come back next year. And you do it next year as the former president, the founder, of the star. And now I am the opening act, the entertainment. I am all.
Speaker: That's how you come back. That's how you stay relevant. All right. I love this. so So you're a singer. So you just told us that you're a singer. So that's good. ah I can play some instruments and want to throw in the vocals.
Speaker: That works like most of the pop chart today. So perfect. Okay, so your next question. And this is actually a good question of mine. I really am interested. What is the best thing offered in the cafeteria?
Speaker: The drinks. I think people underestimate the... But... the power of options when it comes to beverages. Hmm. beverage options that that's a very formal answer i am so beverage options meaning like sodas like obscure sodas or just kind of soda mixes or Just a simple, yeah, fountain machine.
Speaker: Where you can choose what you want and you can get different things when you go back to refill. I think yeah that's a luxury that we take for granted. and other places. Well, speaking of flavors, Ethan. Since Maddie brought up eating ice cream, now I have to ask you.
Speaker: If you were a flavor. Ethan? What flavor would you be? I love you. I would. Beep. I would be...
Speaker: There's a flavor at an ice cream place close to campus called... Oh, no, I know what it is. It's it's ah Brambleberry. It's Brambleberry Crisp. from jenny's which is this like bougie ice cream place and i love it because it's super chunky But it's fruity, too, which I think... and like finish Encapulates me very well. So you're both chunky and fruity, is what you're saying? Yes, correct.
Speaker: yeah Awesome. I love it. No, you were like, it's a bougie ice cream store. It's a little crunchy. Big little trick. Yeah. nation Sounds good. What is a brambleberry?
Speaker: yeah I think they made it up. It doesn't exist. Just that's just like me. i ah You just up here. I love it. One a kind. Like magic. You are you are the mold breaker. so So now that you have spent some time on the East Coast, let me ask this question. East Coast or West Coast, which is better?
Speaker: West Coast, best coast. Really? Oh, yeah. So what's your favorite part of l LA? Are we talking like metaphor, like neighborhood or like metaphor? neighborhood Well, name neighbor get your mind out of the gutter. Well, maybe I don't know.
Speaker: Who's your favorite part of LA? No, what's your favorite part of LA?
Speaker: Yeah. I'm going with... I'm going with West Hollywood. Wow. Like the Abbey or what? Yeah, like Santa Monica Boulevard.
Speaker: That's I grew up going there. Sort of. And it's my happy place now. so It's your hat. Do we get all the cars that go by? is that Is that part of the happy face? Yeah, I don't mind. Like those those little tour buses that go through, like I'll i'll cover my face or or wave or something.
Speaker: I love it. You're like, I'm part of this show. I'm part of it.
Speaker: I love it. What's a funny memory that you love to share? When I... I went to a private. elementary school. And. where you had to be interviewed when you were entering kindergarten.
Speaker: And. I walked in. And... The first thing I said to the teacher was, Hey pretty lady. and And I was admitted.
Speaker: Whoa, misogyny rewarded at a young age. Look at that. Misogyny rewarded at a young... Wow. Wow <unk> Well, so back back in the 1960s when you started elementary school, apparently. Before we take a break. Before we took on any any sort of, we took out that language out of the out of the workplace. Yeah. And then 10 years later, I came out, so.
Speaker: Was it with a song in advance? There you go. I'm about to say that wasn't necessarily a reference, more of a compliment. Hello there, pretty lady. There you go. Uh -huh, yeah, right. Get beauty record recognizes beauty. There you go. It only works there. Like we are not suggesting any adults do this on a regular basis. So we do want to acknowledge.
Speaker: that perhaps there is a age limit at which this time's out. Yeah. Thank you for the disclaimer. Yeah, that's a whole different conversation. So let me ask this question. If you could be any fictional character.
Speaker: Who would you be? Bye. and I definitely. I've had good answers to this. I'd want to be Fat Amy from Pitch Perfect, probably.
Speaker: Yes!
Speaker: Okay. Yeah, I hope it's okay that I call her Fat Amy on here. She's not Fat Patricia, but you can call her Fat Amy. She's not Fat Patricia. But we.
Speaker: Yeah, but i love I love her energy and her ability to match a pitch. ah And. How she, even when she... Flashes the president. on national television. She gets right back up.
Speaker: and keeps going. And that's the kind of mindset I want to have. Let's still burn. We keep coming back here to songs. So I have to ask, what is the song that you throw out the most when you are by yourself?
Speaker: What's the one you belt when you're like... I need this song today. it's always a the well It's always the pitch perfect. Rendition of Lollipop I can do thing all parts.
Speaker: and I can do them well. too. I don't want to put you on the spot and ask for it now. It's best that you don't because. You know, as a BQC, if you're listening to this episode, if you ever want to know what your believer leader sounds like singing, now you know what song to request.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, perfect. that'll that Perfect. On that sweet note, I have one more question for you. What does power beyond pride mean to you? Power beyond pride, as we've talked about.
Speaker: Cheers. I think it's going beyond one facet of your identity. it's It's finding power in the whole self. all aspects of identity.
Speaker: And letting yourself be proud, too. Too many people are like push down pride and. and Yeah, don't let themselves like get excited about who they are. And...
Speaker: And yeah, how many opportunities they're going to have. as they go through life Yeah. I like that. I like that. Ethan, I wanna say thank you for coming on the show. Thank you. Thank you. And here we have truly.
Speaker: just This has been an amazing conversation. I have laughed. I have cried. I have laughed. I haven't eaten ice cream. And. Delicious. We're in a maze. conversation.
Speaker: when already We're going to have a Sunday party over here. Thank you. Thank you both for having me. Yeah, this is the first podcast I've ever done. And this was a lot a lot more fun than... I was expecting the podcast experience to be.
Speaker: Well, I'm glad we were your first and we made it very enjoyable. Yeah. It's been a while since Maddie's had somebody's first. shes crazy i but I said it.
Speaker: I said it I'm not mad about it yeah then it It is a joy. Again, it it it is always ah it is always a joy to be connecting people who are organizing in varying ways and really thinking innovatively about what it means to bring core people together. So we really appreciate you being here today. And where can people ah follow you? Where can people follow BQC?
Speaker: Follow us on Instagram at Boston Queer Club, on TikTok at Boston Queer Club. And then check out our website too. I'm the one who updates the website and I'm very, I'm very proud of it. So please.
Speaker: Look at it and give me some kudos. All the kudos. yeah all up it I love it. Well, I am one of your beautiful, fearless hosts here at Power Beyond Pride. and Like I said, again, thank you again. I am Maddie Bynum. You can find me at...
Speaker: My socials are going to be Instagram, Maddie Simone 737. My Facebook is Maddie Bynum. And if you look closely from now on, you will see me wearing a pink pinky.
Speaker: And honor. Mm -hmm. The BQC, I think that is the most beautiful place that you have ever created, ever. And yes. Love it. I'm your co -host, Shane Lucas, harm reductionist, lifelong harm reductionist, owner of A Great Idea, and now a big fan of of of going back to watch the Pitch Perfect movies. So I can catch up here on.
Speaker: but Lollipop, and I'm going to do it while eating some eaties right here. Perfect. but That sounds delicious. You can follow me at shanelucas .com or at agreatidea .com or any of the associated social media channels there. Remember to subscribe and get your friends to subscribe to Power Beyond Pride on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts, and check out the so site at powerbeyondpride .com.
Speaker: and Empower Beyond Pride is a project from A Great Idea, which is a queer -owned design and content agency. Learn more about them at agreatidea .com. This episode is produced by Shane Lucas That'd be me. And Maddy Bynum is the project developer. And that'd be her.
Speaker: And then our editor is Jared Redding, who's listening to this right now. Hi, Jared. And with support from Ian Wilson, also listening right now. Hi, Ian. And we are both part of the Podcast Awesome hosting. We invite you to send in your questions and commentsists the power p onpro dot com Check out our new episodes each week, including our special monthly Reply All episode where you get to meet many of our different hosts talking about the latest in headlines. And we look forward to Queer Changemaking with you next time. Thank you from all of us at Power Beyond Pride.
