All works in these collections are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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06/29/2020 OUT cast
Sive Neilan and Steve Bull
Tune in to OUTcast on Monday, June 29 from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. as Sive and Steve continue their series: "Deja Vu? The Covid Pandemic and the AIDS Crisis" Part 3 Guests: Diane Elze and Skip Brushaber will discuss their work in the '80's as well as their takes on today's fight against COVID and the nationwide mobilizations against racist cop terror. OUT Cast is a half hour radio show dedicated to LGBTQ+ news and issues of interest to the local community. OUT Cast is broadcast every Monday, 1-1:30 PM, 90.9 FM, WMPG, community radio from the University of Southern Maine. EMAIL: OUTCastmaine@gmail.com
DIANE ELZE is currently an Associate Professor and former MSW Program Director at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work. She is on the Board of Directors of Gay and Lesbian Youth Services of Western New York, and is involved in several racial justice initiative, including the Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition as a board member, Showing Up for Racial Justice, the Fair Fines & Fees Coalition, and the UB Health Equity Research Institute as a member of the Steering Committee. Elze lived in Maine from 1973 to 1992. She was a Case Manager for The AIDS Project from 1988 to 1991; a founder, with Charles Dwyer and Tom Haggerty, of OUTRIGHT: The Portland Alliance of Gay and Lesbian Youth, and an Outright advisor from 1987 to 1992; a co-founder and Board member of MLGPA, 1984-1992; MLGPA Treasurer, 1984-1988; MLGPA President, 1989-1991; MLGPA’s representative to Consumers for Affordable Health Care, 1989-1992; co-founder and co-coordinator with the Portland Police Department of the Community Task Force on Bias Crime, 1989-1992; member of the Our Paper Collective, 1983-1988; member of Portland’s first era of ACT-UP; and Board Member of the Maine Health Foundation, 1987-1988, resigning when hired by The AIDS Project, as the MHF was a TAP funder. Elze may best be remembered as the convener of the group that wrote and produced the 1983 production of Gay Side Story in which she played Diesel, the leader of the Queers. Her other stage credits include Han Solo in Star Gays (1980 in Portland), and the leader of Dyke Patrol, which made a cameo appearance in Oklahomo! (1978 in Bangor). Prior to leaving Maine to pursue advanced education, Elze received a Human Rights Award from The Maine Progressive (1991), the Larry P. Connolly Award for Community Service and Organizing from the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance (1992), a Proclamation of Honor from the City of Portland orchestrated by Barb Wood (1992), and an Official Expression of Sentiment from the Maine Senate and House of Representatives orchestrated by Susan Farnsworth.
SKIP BRUSHABER is a retired nurse/social worker who lives with his spouse in Westbrook, ME. He was a founding member of the Our Paper Collective and The AIDS Project. He is a board member and volunteer of The Westbrook Food Pantry. He is a writer and artist.
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07/13/2020 OUT cast
Sive Neilan and Steve Bull
Tune in to OUT Cast on Monday, July 13th from 1 to 1:30 p.m. as Sive and Steve continue their series, "Deja Vu? the COVID Pandemic and the AIDS Crisis". This week we interview Rich Waitzkin and learn about his pioneer work here in Maine as the first few cases appeared in the early '80's. Rich Waitzkin is an educator and clinical social worker in Maine for the past 45 years. He served on the front lines of the AIDS crisis in southern Maine, participating in the first training for HIV/AIDS educators and counselors who provided counseling and testing in those early days. He also served on the Governor’s Council for AIDS when John McKernan was in office. Historically, Rich has served on numerous, non-profit boards and most recently, helped establish Portland’s Equality Community Center and now, serves as its board secretary.
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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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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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12/30/2019 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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01/07/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
OUT cast co-hosts Steve and Stan interview guest Donna Galluzzo, Executive Director of the Frannie Peabody Center.
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01/14/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
OUT cast co-hosts Steve, Madeline, and Stan discuss the history of conversion therapy, the APA.
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01/21/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
OUT cast co-hosts Steve, Madeline, and Stan interview guest Frank Brooks discuss issues of mental health.
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02/04/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
OUT cast co-hosts Steve, Madeline, and Stan talk Pride Portland 2019 with Sebastiane Sacerdoti-Ravenscroft and Ren Morrill.
- Plans for the parade and related events.
For more information, visit prideportland.org/
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02/11/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
OUT cast co-hosts Steve, Madeline, and Stan interview Matthew R. Dubois, Esq and discuss elder law and care.
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02/18/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
OUT cast co-hosts Steve and Madeline interview noted activist John Kyper about the history of the Gay Liberation Movement.
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02/25/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
Weekly Pride Update
OUT cast co-hosts Steve, Madeline, and Stan discuss the massacre at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh with guest Howard M. Solomon.
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03/04/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
Weekly Pride 2019 update
OUT cast co-hosts Steve and Madeline brave the snow to talk to guest Ruby Parker about death, dying and living.
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03/11/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
OUT cast co-hosts Steve, Madeline, and Stan talk about the Equality Community Center with Rich Waitkkin and Betsy Smith.
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03/18/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
Weekly Pride Update
OUT cast co-hosts Madeline and Stan interview guest Gia Drew and Chris O'Connor about Equality Maine.
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03/25/2018 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
Weekly Pride Update
OUT cast co-hosts Steve, Madeline, and Stan interview guest Wendy Chapkis about Querying the Past.
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04/01/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
OUT cast co-hosts Steve and Stan talk to guest Dick Harrison about the founding and history of Northern Lambda Nord.
For further information see
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04/08/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
Begathon Edition!
OUT cast co-hosts Steve, Madeline, and Stan join engineer Dal Maxwel engage in a fast paced discussion of queer issues, both local and international.
Please note that the Begathon is currently over, but you can learn more about how you can support WMPG by visiting WMPG.org
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04/15/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
Weekly Pride Update.
OUT cast co-hosts Steve, Dal, and Stan talk to guest Allen Young about his book Left, Gay, and Green: A Writer's Life.
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04/22/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
OUT cast co-hosts Steve, Stan, and Madeline interview Mark Fairman and Mikayla Reynolds of Out & Allied Youth Theatre in Waterville.
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04/29/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
OUT cast co-hosts Steve, Stan, and Dal interview Donna Galluzzo, executive director of the Frannie Peabody Center; they discuss the Frannie Peabody Center's annual fundraiser, held May 4, 2019 in Ogunquit.
More information on Frannie Peabody can be found here.
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05/06/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
OUT cast co-hosts Steve, Madeline, and Dal interview Bishop McKechnie about the River of Pride flag.
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05/13/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
OUT cast co-hosts Steve and Dal interview Susan Maasch, founder and director of the Trans Youth Equality Foundation.
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05/20/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
OUT cast co-hosts Steve and Dal interview Kelly, Ann, and Lisa from Dykes on Bikes about the history and present of the organization.
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05/27/2019 OUT cast
90.9 WMPG FM
OUT cast co-hosts Steve and Dal interview Ren and Sebastian from Portland Pride about the plans for the 2019 celebration.
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06/03/2019 OUT cast
WMPG
Hosts: Steve and Dal
Pre-recorded interview by Steve and Stan with Larry and Steve from the Maine Gay Men's Chorus.
Episode highlights include a discussion of local news and upcoming local Pride 2019 events
For more about the history of the Maine Gay Men's Chorus, please visit Special Collections.
This episode also mentions Querying the Past Oral History Project. For more information, please click HERE.
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06/10/2019 OUT cast
WMPG
Hosts: Steve, Stan & Dal
Guests: Carolyn Gage and Elizabeth Freeman discuss Carolyn's play Lighting Martha about innovative queer theatrical lighting designer Jean Rosenthal. The play was featured during the annual PortFringe Festival.
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06/17/2019 OUT cast
WMPG
Hosts: Steve, Stan & Dal
The guest this week is "YOU"! Steve, Stan & Dal talk Pride 2019 and take calls from listeners to learn more about how people celebrated Pride.
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06/24/2019 OUT cast
WMPG
Hosts: Steve, Stan & Dal
Guest Lisa Bunker returns to talk about her latest middle-grade novel Zenobia July.
You can hear a longer interview with Ms. Bunker which was part of the Querying the Past Oral History Project HERE.
You can find her previous appearance on OUT cast HERE.
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07/01/2019 OUT cast
WMPG
Hosts: Steve, Stan & Dal
Guest Rev. Cindy Maddox discusses religion and the LGBTQ+ community.
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07/08/2019 OUT cast
WMPG
Hosts: Steve, Stan & Dal
Guests Bishop and David talk about the River of Pride flag, and Pride 2019.
To see a video of the River of Pride flag in action (as discussed in this episode) click HERE.
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07/15/2019 OUT cast
WMPG
Hosts: Steve & Dal
Guests Diane Elze and Barb Wood talk about the history of the LGBTQ+ movement in Maine.
For more information on topics discussed in this interview, you can...
Hear Diane Elze's interview for Querying the Past (be sure to check out Ms. Elze's MLGPA timeline while you're there)
Hear Barb Wood's interview for Querying the Past
Hear host Steve Bull's interview for Querying the Past
Brouse digitized issues from the full run of Our Paper...
as well as periodicals published by the MLGPA.
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07/22/2019 OUT cast
WMPG
Hosts Steve and Dal interview Mary Bonauto, a lawyer working with GLAD (GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders) on current U.S. Supreme court cases of interest to the LGBTQ+ community. She successfully argued the historic 2015 Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, which established the freedom to marry for same-sex couples nationwide.
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07/29/2019 OUT cast
WMPG
Hosts Steve, Stan & Dal talk sheep, carpentry, and feminism with guest Dale McCormick.
Dale was the first openly gay member of the Maine State Legislature, having been elected in 1990 to the first of three terms in the Maine Senate. A Democrat, she represented a largely rural district that included her then-residence in Hallowell. After narrowly losing a congressional bid, she served as state treasurer and as director of the Maine State Housing Authority.
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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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08/05/2019 OUT cast
WMPG 90.9 FM
Part two of interview with Dale McCormick, the first open lesbian elected to a State Senate in the United States.
Dale was the first openly gay member of the Maine State Legislature, having been elected in 1990 to the first of three terms in the Maine Senate. A Democrat, she represented a largely rural district that included her then-residence in Hallowell. After narrowly losing a congressional bid, she served as state treasurer and as director of the Maine State Housing Authority.
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08/12/2019 OUT cast
WMPG 90.9 FM
A conversation with Lois Johnson and Sheri Barden, co-presidents of the Boston chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis for twenty years.
Lois and Sheri were featured in the Stu Maddux groundbreaking 2010 documentary, Gen Silent, about LGBTQ+ elders. Lois and Sheri’s more than 50 years of activism includes work with the Boston Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance, Gay Community News and the Gay Speakers Bureau. They led workshops at the first Maine Gay Symposium in 1974 and have had a lifetime love affair with the state of Maine. Don’t miss this edition of OUT Cast with this devoted couple of 56 years.
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08/19/2019 OUT cast
WMPG 90.9 FM
A conversation with Muriel Pierce, president of PFLAG Portland.
Muriel grew up in a small town in Western Washington State and attended the University of Washington. She worked as a Reading Specialist during her time as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Turkey and she lived in Berlin, Germany for 3 1/2 years during the time that the Berlin Wall was torn down.
She is the mother of 3 adult children, the youngest of whom is transgender.
Muriel currently tutors a Syrian woman through Learning Works and she is in awe of the good fortune she has of spending time with her grandchildren.
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09/02/20119 OUT cast
WMPG 90.9 FM
A conversation with Maine-born Eric Scharf, co-founder of Center Global, a program of the DC Center for the LGBT Community which welcomes and supports LGBT asylum-seekers in the Washington DC area. Can this groundbreaking work inspire a similar effort by our community here in Maine?
Eric Scharf is the retired President of Kelsey Consulting, which focused on assisting nonprofit organizations with issues of business process improvement and governance issues. He has more than thirty years of experience in association management and a background in health policy and human rights advocacy. During his career he served as Executive Director of five professional and trade associations addressing issues in substance abuse addiction, maritime transportation, international trade facilitation, nursing profession and financial services. In this retirement Eric has maintained an active schedule of volunteer commitments on both the local and national levels. He is a co-founder of Center Global, a program of the DC Center for the LGBT community which welcomes and supports LGBT asylum seekers in the Washington, DC area and the Treasurer of the LGBT-Freedom and Asylum Network. He is active in the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance National Capital Area Chapter and serves as Advocacy Advisor for the DBSA National Office. Additionally, Eric serves on the Board of Capitol Clubhouse, a mental health clubhouse; Vice Chair of and recently stepped down as Vice President of both the Mt. Pleasant Library Friends and the Federation of Friends of the DC Library. A Washington, DC resident, Eric currently lives in Columbia Heights. He is native of Maine, having grown up in Yarmouth and graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a degree in Political Science. While at USM he was the Chairman of the Student Senate and served as a student representative of the University of Maine Board of Trustees.
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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.
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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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09/23/2019 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! -
09/30/2019 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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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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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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10/28/2019 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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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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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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11/18/2019 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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08/28/2019 OUT cast
WMPG 90 FM
A discussion with Skip Brushaber and Jamie Melanson, about their years with Our Paper; our community’s newspaper for most of the 1980’s.
Skip Brushaber is retired a nurse/social worker who is political activist committed to social change. He was one of the founding members of the Our Paper Collective and The AIDS Project in Portland. He is currently on the Board of Directors of the Westbrook Food Pantry which supplies food to 90 to 100 households every Tuesday. Skip is a published writer and artist who lives in Westbrook with his husband, two rescue canines and one enormous cat.
Jamie Melanson is a Maine native, and they have worked and volunteered extensively here as a political activist. Among their various political endeavors over the years, Jamie worked as a co-facilitator and peer counselor at the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Alliance at USM; volunteered as a writer for Portland's queer newspaper "Our Paper"; and co-founded ACT UP Portland, Queer Nation, and Feminists Against Rape. Jamie has also volunteered for SARSSM, and after returning to USM to finish their degree, proudly graduated with a Women's Studies Degree. This past year, Jamie volunteered with Pride Portland, to help with Pride's celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion. Jamie lives with Peter, their partner in crime for 31 years, and with their two beloved cat babies, Dolly and Boo.
