I normally don’t get to break the fourth wall like this, but in this case I made an exception and I’m glad I did.
Earlier this month, I had the distinct pleasure of venturing out to Germantown to talk with the personalities involved with “Queer 2 the T,” a radio show airing on G-town Radio, a 24-hour Internet station. “Queer 2 the T” is a forum for queer-identified, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and straight allies to discuss news, concerns and pop culture, as well as play music and get into whatever else comes to mind.
The show is hosted by creator and producer TS Hawkins, an author and poet, as well as co-hosts Z Morris and M Diggs.
They quickly pointed out that, collectively, they are “TMZ,” but they didn’t plan it that way. (Thank goodness because they are far more entertaining and relevant than that popular piece of tabloid television.)
The dynamic among the three was apparent early on. Hawkins is the sunniest and bubbliest of the trio and usually the calm center that steers the show. Morris, a self-described “female-bodied/gender non-conforming New Orleans-reared poet and spoken-word artist” is the conscience of the group, seeing the underlying social and political ramifications no matter what direction the conversation veers off into. Diggs, a Philadelphia native and artist, listens intently and gets her commentary jabs in, which are often profound and darkly comical at the same time.
Since there wasn’t a scheduled guest for the show the week I showed up, I got invited to sit in. And why not? I’ve done radio before. Plus I have a voice that was made for radio — and probably a face for it too.
Anyway, things kicked off on a socially conscious note as we discussed Janet Jackson producing a film about transgender people. Morris seemed to think it was not a good thing and was really giving Ms. Jackson the mental stink-eye about it. It took us a minute to hash it out, but we got Morris to come around on the issue once we all understood that Jackson wasn’t directing the project, just getting financial support for it. Then we steered into a deep discussion about the lack of diversity in film and our collective disdain for Tyler Perry films.
Halfway through the show, the silliness started percolating to the surface. I’m partly responsible. But we really tried to get intellectual about issues like the recent “zombie attacks” (I blamed the phenomenon on gluten-free diets), the anthropological appeal of red beverages and the beef between 50 Cent and Oprah.
No, really. There were some strange tangents but it got deep.
Hawkins and company are on a mission to spread the word about “Queer 2 the T” nationwide, if not worldwide, via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
“Queer 2 the T” airs live 8 p.m. Mondays on www.gtownradio.com. Rebroadcasts (including the one with yours truly) are available at queer2thet.blogspot.com.