All works in these collections are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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05/25/2020 OUT cast
Sive Neilan and Steve Bull
Join us Monday, May 25th from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. on OUT Cast for Part 1 of a conversation with Dr. Lani Graham and Dale McCormick. This show will launch a series of shows called "Deja Vu? The COVID Pandemic and the AIDS Crisis". Sive and Steve will be interviewing activists, medical professionals and others who were heavily engaged in the fight against AIDS here in Maine and elsewhere. While the current pandemic has haunting echoes of AIDS, there are also important differences that we will delve into. Part 2 will air on June 1st.
Lani Graham A family physician, Lani Graham, MD, MPH, has devoted her career to addressing not only the health of individual patients, but also the health of the wider human community—here in Maine, and across the nation. Dr. Graham is a Maine native, but obtained her education and began work out of state. She returned to Maine in December of 1985 and began work as Director of Disease Control for the state. It was in that role that she was asked to take charge of the government side of Maine’s response to the HIV epidemic. For her work in that role she was acknowledged with an award by the MPGPA in 1987. In 1990 she became Public Health Director for Maine, and continued her work to address the on-going HIV epidemic as well as a variety of other public health issues. After leaving her position as Health Director, Dr. Graham continued her advocacy for the public health. She became Chair of Citizens for a Healthy Portland, a coalition that lead the effort in Portland to ban smoking in restaurants, and subsequently lead to a statewide ban, thus protecting wait staff and customers alike from a class A carcinogen. Working with colleagues in Physicians for Social Responsibility, Dr. Graham published a report, Death by Degrees, in the year 2000 about the dangers of climate change for Maine and in 2015 collaborated on an update of that report. Up until November 2017, Dr, Graham was Director of the Medical Professionals Health Program, helping colleagues with substance use disorders or mental health problems. Dr. Graham currently serves as a member of the Public Health Committee of the Maine Medical Association, is an active member of multiple public health organizations.
Dale McCormick Dale is a lover of justice and a player of music. Dale co-founded and was the first president of the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance, the precursor to EqualityMaine, I n 1984. She was the first open lesbian State Senator elected in the US and became Maine’s first female Constitutional Officer when she was elected State Treasurer in 1996. Dale is a carpenter, cellist has three daughters, and lives on an urban farm in Augusta.
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05/18/2020 OUT cast
Tamara Torres McGovern and Marvin Ellison
TUNE IN May 18 at 1:00 p.m., for OUT Cast on WMPG community radio (90.9 FM, Portland ME) to hear PART 2 of our interview with Samaa Abdurraqib on Queer Spirit, a series of conversations exploring explore queer life and the power of the Sacred, hosted by Tamara Torres McGovern and Marvin Ellison. Both Part 1 and 2 can also be found archived in the near future on the WMPG website at www.WMPG.org. Samaa Abdurraqib, a queer African American Muslim feminist, was born in New York, grew up in Ohio, and earned her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Samaa came to Maine in 2010 as an assistant professor at Bowdoin College. Currently, she’s the Community Engagement Coordinator for the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence. In that role, she shares information with immigrants and others regarding the programs and resources available to people experiencing intimate partner violence. Samaa’s writings and public talks include these titles: “On Being Black and Muslim: Eclipsed Identities in the Classroom,” I Speak for Myself: American Women on Being Muslim, “The Sacred and the Sexual,” and “My Faith, My Feminism: How Islam Has Shaped My Activism.”
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05/11/2020 OUT cast
Marvin Ellison
Please tune into OUT Cast on WMPG community radio (90.9 FM, Portland ME) from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. on Monday, May 11 (Part 1) and again Monday, May 18 (Part 2) for our interview with Samaa Abdurraqib on Queer Spirit, a series of conversations exploring explore queer life and the power of the Sacred. Samaa Abdurraqib, an African American Muslim feminist, was born in New York, grew up in Ohio, and earned her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Samaa came to Maine in 2010 as an assistant professor at Bowdoin College. Currently, she’s the Community Engagement Coordinator for the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence. In that role, she shares information with immigrants and others regarding the programs and resources available to people experiencing intimate partner violence. Samaa’s writings and public talks include these titles: “On Being Black and Muslim: Eclipsed Identities in the Classroom,” I Speak for Myself: American Women on Being Muslim, “The Sacred and the Sexual,” and “My Faith, My Feminism: How Islam Has Shaped My Activism.” Queer Spirit is co-hosted by Marvin Ellison and Tamara Torres McGovern.
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02/24/2020 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG
A dialogue with 2 members of the Southern Maine gender non-binary community.
Rook - Rook Hine is a Crisis Call Specialist for the Maine Crisis Line, an attorney licensed in New York, a performer active in Maine theater, and an At Large member of Maine Transgender Network's Steering Committee where their current focus is best practices standards for working with transgender and nonbinary clients. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Brooklyn Law School, Rook first came out as genderqueer and nonbinary as an undergraduate, but didn't come out as transgender and begin their transition until they were in their 40s
Lucy - “Lucy is a thirty-something massage therapist working in South Portland. They have a degree in theatre and are planning to start med school next year but their real passion is in staying cozy at home with their cats or playing D&D with friends.”
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02/17/2020 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG
A discussion moderated by Tahj Hebert and Sive Neilan, of significant political issues in the upcoming elections. The opinions of both young and older political activists are represented.
Tahj Hebert (they/them/theirs) is a young adult, born and raised around the Greater Portland area. They discovered radio their sophomore year of high school with WMPG's Blunt Youth Radio, where they have been an active member for going on three years. They became involved with Outcast after meeting Steve Bull, who was presenting at EQMaine's New Leaders Camp. In the fall they will be attending SMCC.
Sive (Sadhbh) Neilan (she, her, hers) moved to Maine in 1978 and has lived here ever since, first in the mid-coast and now in Portland. Sive emigrated to the US from Ireland at the age of 22 and now considers herself to be virtually a Mainer. She lives on Munjoy Hill with her partner of 20 plus years, two cats and a dog. Regardless of where she has lived she has always been politically active! The two employment constants in her life have been IT and books. Back in 1980 she started and ran New Leaf Books, a feminist / alternative (read gay!) bookstore, in Rockport and then in Rockland for seven years. Sive was active in the early days of Equality Maine (then named the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance) serving many years on the board, then briefly as president. A co-founder of New Hope for Women, the domestic violence organization in Rockland, she was also Democratic town Chair of Camden and later served in the same capacity for four years in Portland. Radio is a new departure, Sive is loving being a member of the OUT Cast collective!
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02/03/2020 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG
Part 2 of Marvin Ellison and Tamara Torres McGovern's Queer Spirit series on OUT Cast.
Rev. Tamara Torres McGovern experiences God in a great many places, but she is particularly interested in how the Divine expresses itself in and through our embodiment. As a massage therapist, yoga instructor, ritual weaver and ordained minister in the United Church of Christ she has had the opportunity to work with people at all ages and stages of life. Through these diverse modalities Rev. Tamara seeks justice in the body-- both at an individual and collective level. A native Spanish speaker, during her time as a student at Union Theological Seminary, Rev. Tamara spent time on the U.S./Mexico border exploring the theology embedded in people's border crossing narratives. Since then she has pastored in several communities including her current role at Woodfords Congregational Church. Rev. Tamara also serves as a Community Spiritual Advisor for Arise Portland, an emergent inter-spiritual community. She lives in Portland, Maine with her wonderful partner, their full-of-feelings toddler, and their neurotic-but-lovable dog.
Marvin Ellison, a scholar-activist and educator for justice, is an ordained Presbyterian minister who taught Christian social ethics for more than three decades at Bangor Theological Seminary. He founded Maine's Religious Coalition Against Discrimination and also the Maine Interfaith Council for Reproductive Choices. Currently, he serves as a volunteer chaplain at Planned Parenthood and as a board member of the Eleanor Humes Haney Fund, which supports grassroots social justice initiatives throughout Maine.
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01/27/2020 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG
Part 1 of Marvin Ellison and Tamara Torres McGovern's Queer Spirit series on OUT Cast.
Rev. Tamara Torres McGovern experiences God in a great many places, but she is particularly interested in how the Divine expresses itself in and through our embodiment. As a massage therapist, yoga instructor, ritual weaver and ordained minister in the United Church of Christ she has had the opportunity to work with people at all ages and stages of life. Through these diverse modalities Rev. Tamara seeks justice in the body-- both at an individual and collective level. A native Spanish speaker, during her time as a student at Union Theological Seminary, Rev. Tamara spent time on the U.S./Mexico border exploring the theology embedded in people's border crossing narratives. Since then she has pastored in several communities including her current role at Woodfords Congregational Church. Rev. Tamara also serves as a Community Spiritual Advisor for Arise Portland, an emergent inter-spiritual community. She lives in Portland, Maine with her wonderful partner, their full-of-feelings toddler, and their neurotic-but-lovable dog.
Marvin Ellison, a scholar-activist and educator for justice, is an ordained Presbyterian minister who taught Christian social ethics for more than three decades at Bangor Theological Seminary. He founded Maine's Religious Coalition Against Discrimination and also the Maine Interfaith Council for Reproductive Choices. Currently, he serves as a volunteer chaplain at Planned Parenthood and as a board member of the Eleanor Humes Haney Fund, which supports grassroots social justice initiatives throughout Maine.
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01/20/2020 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG
A conversation with Pastor Judy Hanlon and Al Green about their pioneering work with the LGBT Asylum Task Force in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Rev. Judith Hanlon is the senior pastor at Hadwen Park Congregational Church, UCC in Worcester and the co-founder of the LGBT Asylum Task Force. She is passionate about justice as a Christ-follower whom she sees as a freedom fighter in first-century Palestine. Pastor Judy has two daughters and two grandchildren. She loves music and loves to play the old gospel songs on the piano.
Al Green is the Ministry Director of the LGBT Asylum Task Force. As a gay asylum seeker from Jamaica and a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester, MA), he has a unique perspective on the differences and similarities between the LGBTQ communities in both countries. He is also an avid swimmer and a lover of all things food.
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01/13/2020 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG
Members of the OUT Cast collective chat about our inaugural year and our plans for 2020.
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01/06/2020 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG
A show on poetry crafted by OUT Cast collective members Sylvie and Tahj.
Alice Persons enjoys being editor and publisher of Moon Pie Press, established in 2003. The catalog is up to 112 books as of the end of 2019 and includes poetry by poets from all over the country. Her first full length poetry collection was Thank Your Lucky Stars, published in 2011; her second collection was Fancy Meeting You Here (2015). A third book called Be There Or Be Square was published in October 2018. Eight of her poems were read on Minnesota Public Radio's The Writer's Almanac and she has had poems published in books, journals and anthologies. Alice moved to Maine in 1983; she lives in Westbrook with two cats and a dog, all rescues. Alice volunteers for the nonprofit MSSPA, New England’s largest horse rescue, based in Windham, and serves on the Westbrook library board. She teaches part time at the University of Southern Maine. Alice loves painting, writing, walking her dog, holidays, travel, baking, and Maine in all seasons.
Maya Williams (she/hers & they/them) is a mixed race black queer suicide survivor and writer residing in Portland. She has published poetry in spaces such as glitterMOB, The Occulum Journal, Portland Press Herald, Black Table Arts, Homology Lit, and more. They have published essays in spaces such as The Tempest, Black Youth Project, and The Trill Project. They were also a semi-finalist for Nimrod International Journal's 2018 Francine Ringold Award for New Writers, received a Best of the Net nomination in 2019, and won a Patron’s Choice Award for their spoken word showcase at the PortFringe theater festival, “When Speaking to an Extraterrestrial.” Maya hosts open mic nights Tuesdays with Port Veritas at Bull Feeney’s in Portland and facilitates writing workshops Sunday mornings at Quill Books & Beverage in Westbrook.
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12/30/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG
The third of a three-part conversation with Lois Reckitt. Lois has been a fighter for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights both nationally and here in Maine for nearly 50 years.
Lois Galgay Reckitt graduated from Brandeis University in the midst of the turbulent 60’s with a degree in biology. In 1968, she moved to Maine and took her first job at SMVTI teaching marine science. She spent the decade of the 70’s at the YWCA in Portland where her day job was directing the operations of the swimming program. It was then that she discovered her passion for activism – both in the feminist – and then the LGBT movements. By the 80’s she was director of Family Crisis Services where she served for 37 years abused women and their children. In this same period, she co-founded the Maine Women’s Lobby, lobbied for passage of Maine’s first civil rights law for the LGBT community. Nationally, she co-founded The Human Rights Campaign Fund and served two terms as Executive Vice President of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Now that she is purportedly retired, Lois represents the ocean end of South Portland in the Maine State Legislature and has since 2016.
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12/23/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG
The second of a three-part conversation with Lois Reckitt. Lois has been a fighter for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights both nationally and here in Maine for nearly 50 years.
Lois Galgay Reckitt graduated from Brandeis University in the midst of the turbulent 60’s with a degree in biology. In 1968, she moved to Maine and took her first job at SMVTI teaching marine science. She spent the decade of the 70’s at the YWCA in Portland where her day job was directing the operations of the swimming program. It was then that she discovered her passion for activism – both in the feminist – and then the LGBT movements. By the 80’s she was director of Family Crisis Services where she served for 37 years abused women and their children. In this same period, she co-founded the Maine Women’s Lobby, lobbied for passage of Maine’s first civil rights law for the LGBT community. Nationally, she co-founded The Human Rights Campaign Fund and served two terms as Executive Vice President of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Now that she is purportedly retired, Lois represents the ocean end of South Portland in the Maine State Legislature and has since 2016.
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12/09/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG
A conversation with Debra Fowler. Deb is Executive Director of History UnErased and co-author of Intersections and Connections Curriculum. Intersections and Connections is the first and only LGBT+ inclusive U.S. history curriculum aligned with state and national standards, integrated literacy approaches, and contextualized pedagogy.
Debra's path to the education profession began with her service in the United States Army as a Korean linguist, prior to the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. (Her story is featured in Vincent Cianni’s award-winning book Gays in the Military). After teaching English at a private academy on the outskirts of Ulsan, South Korea, she returned to the United States in 2004 and spent the next decade teaching English and a variety of humanities courses to new immigrants and refugees at a large, urban, truly diverse high school. During that time, she produced two documentary films, Hard Truth, Levity and Hope (2011) and Through Gay Eyes (2013) to promote awareness of individuals who are ignored, marginalized or excluded within the public school system.
The personal and professional experiences of being a U.S. Army veteran, author, documentary filmmaker, veteran (former) classroom teacher, public speaker, and wife of a behavior analyst are woven into her approach to advance History UnErased's mission, putting LGBT+ history in its rightful place -- the classroom. Since 2014, Debra has been providing professional development training in a variety of contexts on the inclusion of LGBT+ history, speaking at various conferences and public events, and developing and co-authoring Intersections and Connections Curriculum and complementing instructional resources.
Debra has authored LGBT+ inclusive supplemental resources for New York City public schools in partnership with Making Gay History - The Podcast, participated in the most recent revision of the Massachusetts History and Social Sciences Curriculum Framework as the LGBT+ history Content Advisor, and co-authored the first National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Position Statement on LGBT+ history with Dr. Steven LaBounty-McNair. Debra was NBC Out’s PRIDE 30 honoree in 2017, is an Advisory Board member with ONE Archives Foundation and the Smithsonian Museum of American History LGBTQ Digital Archives Project, and a member of the Queer History South Consortium.
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11/25/2019 OUT cast
WMPG 90.0 FM
A conversation with Larry Jackson, Artistic Director & Steve Floyd, President of the Board of Directors of the Maine Gay Men’s Chorus. We discussed their upcoming holiday concert and future plans.
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11/18/2019 OUT cast
WMPG 90.9 FM
Our guests are Rainbow Business Professional Association (RBPA) Board Members Mitch, Michael, and Katie.
Mitch is a Financial Advisor and Vice President of Wealth Management with UBS Financial Services, Inc. Mitch became Co-Chair of the Scholarship Committee in June of 2013 and Treasurer in November 2013 and is the current President of RBPA. Mitch graduated from Syracuse University in 1990, and promptly moved to NYC. While living in NYC he did volunteer work for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. In 1998 Mitch relocated to Los Angeles where he spent a large portion of his free time working for MZA Events which puts together the LA AIDS Walk. In February of 2004 he moved to Vermont for a career opportunity and to supervise the continuing health of his parents who retired to Vermont in 1989. Mitch moved from Vermont to Maine in June of 2014.
Michael is a true New Englander. Born and raised in Lexington Massachusetts, he has also resided in Connecticut and New Hampshire before relocating to Maine in 2004. Michael is an Associate Broker for Excellence Realty in Portland and a licensed massage therapist with a private practice in Portland, Integrity Bodyworks.
Michael resides in Portland with his husband, Steven. Michael & Steven were the first same sex couple to be legally married in Maine in December of 2012. Michael is passionately involved in the LGBTQIA community in Portland. He was a founding member of Pride Portland and the Pride Parade Chairperson from 2014 to 2016. He joined RBPA in 2017 and is currently the Vice President; he is also an active volunteer for Equality Maine. In his down time you will find Michael cooking, entertaining, camping, gardening, and spending time with his husband Steven; and his daughters, Katie and Carolyn.Katie is a bookkeeper and tax preparer with Integrated Tax Consultants in Portland. She joined the RBPA Board in 2015 as the Auction Co-Chair, eventually taking over as full Chairperson. Katie graduated Westfield State University in 2007 with a B.A. in Mathematics, and the ability to solve a Rubik’s Cube, both of which make her parents very proud. A Massachusetts native, she moved to Maine in 2014 seeking a change of pace and new adventures. Now, when not sorting through numbers, she is trying some new recipe in her kitchen, visiting family all over New England, plotting her next big trip, or at home with a ball of yarn and her cat. Her local claim to fame is being the daughter of Michael Snell and Steven Bridges, the first same-sex couple married in Maine.
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11/11/2019 OUT cast
WMPG 90.9 FM
Part two of our tribute to Betsy Parsons. We spoke with colleagues and students of Betsy about her ground-breaking work establishing a supportive and nurturing environment for LGBTQ+ students in public schools across the state of Maine. Betsy played a key leading role over two decades in establishing 70 Gay-Straight-Trans Alliances in high schools.
Betsy was a public school teacher in Portland for 30 years and a pioneer founder of the group GLSEN. Betsy’s sisters, Susan and Sarah, joined the show to talk about this remarkable woman who passed away on September 5th, 2019.
USM Betsy Parsons Collection: https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/betsy_parsons/
Betsy Parsons Querying the Past Oral History Interview: https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/querying_ohproject/5/
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11/04/2019 OUT cast
WMPG 90.9 FM
The first of a two-part tribute to Betsy Parsons. Betsy was a public school teacher in Portland for 30 years and a pioneer founder of the group GLSEN.
Betsy criss-crossed the state for decades creating an affirming learning environment for LGBTQ youth. Betsy’s sisters, Susan and Sarah, joined the show to talk about this remarkable woman who passed away on September 5th, 2019.
USM Betsy Parsons Collection: https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/betsy_parsons/
Betsy Parsons Querying the Past Oral History Interview: https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/querying_ohproject/5/
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10/28/2019 OUT cast
WMPG 90.9 FM
Wendy Chapkis discusses her book, Dying To Get High: Marijuana as Medicine (2008) New York University Press (co-authored with Richard J. Webb).
Wendy Chapkis has taught sociology and gender studies at USM since 1995. From 2016 - 2019 she has served as the Faculty Scholar for the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine working with the LGBTQ+ Collection. In that capacity, she created the “Querying the Past: Maine LGBTQ Oral History Project” which now includes life history interviews with dozens of Mainers. She is the author of numerous articles and three books: Beauty Secrets: Women and the Politics of Appearance (South End Press); Live Sex Acts: Women Performing Erotic Labor (Routledge); and Dying to Get High: Marijuana as Medicine (co-authored with Richard J. Webb, New York University Press).
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10/14/2019 OUT cast
WMPG 90.9 FM
In celebration of National Coming Out Day, hosts chatted with Joe Chandler who shared his unique story of personal liberation.
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10/07/2019 OUT cast
WMPG 90.9 FM
A conversation with Kate Manahan. Kate is a social worker in Portland, ME and host of the radio show New Mainers Speak at WMPG.
The mission of New Mainers Speak is threefold: WITNESS: to listen to the stories of the individuals who have had unique journeys on their way to me. CONNECT: to raise awareness throughout mean about the lives hopes dreams of some of our newest residents. WELCOME: to invite New Mainers to be active contributors to the community radio at WMPG.
She has worked with new Mainers in a number of different capacities over the last 18 years. Her life has been greatly enriched by the global connections made with people from all over the planet right here in Portland Maine.
Kate recently won second place in the Public Affairs category at the 2019 Maine Association of Broadcasters awards ceremony which took place in Augusta.
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09/30/2019 OUT cast
WMPG 90.9 FM
A conversation with Matt Moonen, Executive Director of Equality Maine. In addition to his work with EQME, Matt currently represents part of Portland in the Maine House of Representatives, where he serves as the House Majority Leader.
Pronouns: He, Him, His
Matt Moonen joined the staff of Equality Maine in July of 2015 and is the current Executive Director. This is Matt’s second time on the EqualityMaine team; he was previously on staff from 2007-2010, serving as Political Director and one of the senior strategists in the successful passage of the 2009 marriage equality bill and the historic No on 1: Protect Maine Equality campaign.
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09/23/2019 WMPG
WMPG 90.9 FM
Join Steve and members of the OUT Cast Collective as we discuss local LGBTQ events and topics of the day to raise awareness at the same time we help raise money for WMPG during the Fall 2019 WMPG Beg-A-Thon!
All of us at OUT Cast want to hear from our listeners. Help support programming like ours by contributing to community radio. When we approached WMPG last year about doing a show about LGBTQ+ issues, we were warmly embraced and given a prime time slot as soon as we went through the training program.
Join the effort and call (207) 874-3000 next Monday between 1:00 and 1:30 p.m. to make your donation. Last week was our 45th show and there is much, much more to come! Stand up and be counted as a supporter of OUT Cast and WMPG! -
09/16/2019 OUT cast
WMPG 90.9 FM
A conversation with Michael Tobin.
MICHAEL J. TOBIN has been a professional actor, director, playwright, educator, theatre administrator and all-around designer and techie in over 350+ shows in theaters all over the country- including Off-Broadway, National Tours, Regional Theaters, Dinner Theaters, Summerstock. Michael is the Executive Artistic Director of the The Footlights Theatre in Falmouth, Maine.
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09/09/2019 OUT cast
WMPG 90.9 FM
A conversation with Benn Marine about his podcast for progressives, Ocean of Organization, and a look at social activism going on today.
Benn Marine he | him | his
A former professional photographer, he is an enthusiastic outdoors person, surfer, dog dad, trans man, political organizer and field strategist. He worked on the ground on marriage equality and LGBTQ non-discrimination campaigns in Maine, Rhode Island, Oregon, New Jersey, Indiana, Utah, and Idaho. He then came home to Maine and worked on other issues including ranked choice voting, universal healthcare, and gun violence prevention. He’s led and managed teams from 4 to 100+ people in size, trained/supported organizers, volunteers, paid canvassers, and more. Currently he does consulting for issues he cares about while working to finish his BA in Political Science at the age of 34. He was also the main character in a book about trans men written by Arlene Stein titled Unbound: Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity.