Hi, and welcome KCIW listeners at one hundred
point seven FM or online at kciw.org,
Brookings, Oregon. Hi to our syndicated listeners at
KZZH
ninety six point seven FM, access Humboldt, Eureka,
California,
And a special welcome to our new listeners
going for a month now, KSKQ
eighty nine point five FM Ashland and ninety
four point one FM Medford.
Yes. It is so good to be with
you. This is me, radio with joyously free,
Joni Lindenmayer, the best selling author of none
better, an amazing love story, and coauthor of
joyously free and healing religious hurts. I'm so
glad that you are tuning in today. Thank
you. I'm a resident of Harbor, Oregon, a
retired high school teacher, a recent author who
has published three books in two years, created
an audiobook, and with friend and film producer
Michael Gorse, created a short film called Wowzer.
We are just excited about life. But most
of all, today's the day. I love being
with you. I love being the producer and
host of this high energy, joyously free radio
gadio show as my good friends Will and
Viv say. So this show talks about LGBTQ
plus stories and tips along with church, religion,
faith, spirituality,
and joy, the joy and freedom that is
abundant for all of us. Hence, that's the
second book I wrote, Joyously Free, and that's
what this radio show is, is joyously free.
In this radio broadcast,
just as in my everyday life, there will
be no hate speech,
no hate behaviors, and no bullying. It will
be blasted what I call the three c's,
courage, confidence, and collaboration.
Together, let's sparkle, let's seek understanding,
think out of a box or no boxes
at all, and be open as an open
parachute.
So let's begin with our morning salutation.
I'll say it's a brand new day, and
your response is it's never been lived before.
Here we go. It's a brand new day.
It's never been lived before.
Woo hoo. Oh my gosh. Our guest today
is right on it, and some of you
are gonna probably know who this is. So
just hang on to your hats. So before
we get into that, let's, of course, do
our morning prayer.
Let's open our hearts as we ask the
divine to shine light on our community and
our world.
I excitedly believe in hope, in the power
of the spiritual, and that Jesus, God's spirit,
whatever
name you put on a higher being, is
always with me and always with you.
So be not afraid or troubled,
saddened or depressed.
Joy and peace are an internal expression of
love and harmony that is already within us,
and we only have to reach deep
and let it out.
Let's center ourselves for a second.
Calmly, take a deep breath in with the
good,
and out with any doubt.
Again,
breathe in through your nose with hope,
and out from your mouth with fears.
Last one.
Take a big deep breath in with joy
and out with worry or despair.
In the name of mother Earth, creator God,
Jesus redeemer, and the blowing winds of the
Holy Spirit, we say, hi, light. Hi, love.
Hi, Jesus. Hi, spirit. Hi, God. Thanks for
being with us on this beautiful day.
The quote I chose for today came about
when I was looking at my calendar
as I was praying this morning, and the
quote is very simple. It says, you're the
best.
You're the best.
And when I read that from my calendar,
I thought, that is the truth. How many
times do we not think about that about
ourselves or about somebody else? But to look
at everybody in the light that they are
the best, they are doing the very best
that they can on this day at this
time and to encourage people to be their
best, to to reach for stars, to have
dreams, to have,
people in their life that love them unconditionally.
So I guess those are my
quick, short, and sweet reflections that you're the
best.
Let us end
this loving prayer by lifting up our friends
and our family.
May you and I find divine guidance and
healing
in this one little message that you're the
best.
Thank you, holy one, for hearing us. Thank
you for making us who we are and
that we praise and worship you, lord, in
being our best.
Oh, boy. Okay. So it's exciting times. It's
time to see and hear from our wonderful
guest today.
Let me introduce you to
Bianca Fox Bellaro.
But,
Fox, I'm gonna call
call her Fox because that's what she goes
by. She's the project guide for Pride in
Numbers.
Today, we're gonna take a look at stories
and data and ways that we can improve
the resources and the meaningful life for all
LGBTQ people.
Welcome, Fox. Glad you're here.
Oh, I've got goosebumps, Joanie.
Boo boo. I I hope that's a good
one. Oh, yeah.
Thank you, creator. Wow.
Oh. This was such a wonderful, lovely prayer.
I'm so excited to be here on Radio
Gaydio with you, Joanie. Oh my gosh. It's
such a treat. Thank you, Fox. Thank you
so much. Thank you so much. And, yes.
And and so how are you doing today?
I'm doing so super. So I was just
actually starting to tell you that I live
in Cave Junction, and it is a beautiful
day out here today. The sun is shining.
The flowers are starting to bloom,
and I've got a smile on my face
partly thanks to you. Oh, thank you. Thank
you. Thank you. And it's beautiful over here
too. And wherever you happen to be listening
or or reading this on a podcast or
watching it, you know, I hope it's a
good weather for you too. Hey, Fox. Before
we jump into a whole lot of of
what we're really gonna talk about today, can
you talk a little bit about who you
are?
You bet. So my name is Bianca Fox
Bayada, and
lots of folks, neighbors, friends, family know me
as Fox.
I have
lived out here in the Rogue Valley around
Grants Pass, Murphy, Wolf Creek,
and now Cave Junction
for, let's say, like, fourteen years. Oh.
I am,
born in Miami, Florida. I'm actually first generation
immigrant from Cuban parents. I'm descendant of the
Taino tribe, and I carry that very proudly.
I,
let's see. I have been in the nonprofit
world for over ten years. I've just always
been really focused on serving community, serving this
world, trying to make the world a better
place,
leave it better than I found it. And
that's part of my indigenous values that I
was raised with is to always
give more than we take and make sure
that we are,
just being the best human stewards that we
can of this gorgeous garden and of this
gorgeous family that we get to be a
part of.
So
I have and I happen to be queer
too and two spirit.
So I just love I love my life,
actually, and I love getting to serve the
environment, getting to serve my rainbow family,
getting to serve all people,
getting to serve communities of color and culture.
That's just what makes my heart beat.
Wow. I love it. I love it. I
think we are kindred souls.
You know, I know we haven't personally met,
but I just love your description of everything
you just said, and I'm right there with
you with all of it. And I'll even
go to the Cuban part where one of
my favorite foods are Cuban food. So wow.
I know. I I love being Cuban too.
And, actually, you know, speaking of Cuba, like,
there's just
I just I wanna say, I wanna extend
that prayer out to the Cuban people right
now because of I know that there's a
little bit of a humanitarian crisis going on
there. And, anyway, my heart goes out to
them, and I wish I could be there
to help support on the ground.
Right. And if we cannot be there, then,
you know, we rely on the spirit. We
rely on some divinity that can take the
place of that being in in the present
there. So definitely. Definitely. You know, you talk
about serving all people, the rainbow people, the,
the indigenous people, everybody, all people.
As a queer person and a two spirit
person, have you always been that way in
all of your life, that kind of a
person?
I really have. Yeah. Since I was a
child, I remember,
just
wanting the Earth wanting to do everything to
I could to protect the Earth. And when
I say the Earth, I mean all my
relatives, all the people.
That means the the water people, the cloud
people, the tree people, the fish people,
the four leggeds, the green bloods. That's what
we call the the plants. Mhmm. And,
and and I've just always been just so
kind of horrified,
that we have moved into this direction of
imbalance.
And I truly, truly believe that
especially with the,
with the in leadership of indigenous tribes
and,
the solidarity with indigenous solidarity Mhmm. I think
that we can move back into a greater
form of balance by
following the lead of those tribes and those
peoples that have
stewarded this planet since time immemorial and for
thousands and thousands of years because nobody knows
the particular ecosystem
as well as people who have lived there
a very long time. Right. Right. Right. And
our ancestors matter.
You know? And what has come before us
matters, and what we can do now matters,
and what we can do in the future
matters. And if you put the past, the
present, and the future altogether, that that's where
we're going and that's who we are. So,
you know, one of the things that people
often ask me, Fox, is what is a
two spirit person? They don't quite understand that.
Before we jump into pride in numbers, can
you describe that personally for us, your queer
two spirit
identity? Happily, and thanks for asking. So two
spirit is not a traditional term for indigiqueer
queer indigenous folks. It's more of like a
modern umbrella term that a lot of tribes
are using across,
Turtle Island or what we call the so
called United States now.
And it's like a catch all because tribes
actually all
many, you know, had their own traditional terms
for what it was to be this third
gender or this alternative gender person. But what
the what the two spiritness
catches is that across all these tribes,
what us, you know, our queer beings had
in common is that we were often healers.
We were considered
sacred, we were considered
a blessing to the tribe
because we were able to be two spiritedness.
That means that we were able to offer
masculine and feminine skills and attributes, that we
were able to,
move forward and be of service in a
variety of different ways according to what it
is that the tribe needed. There was a
certain special kind of magic, if you will,
or ability, you know, that two spirit people
were able to offer because of their differentness.
A lot of times, we were peacemakers
and bridge builders
and communicators
between the realms or even in conflicts, you
know, just being able to see multiple sides.
Mhmm. Oh, and what a gift that is.
What a gift that is. You know? And
and I so believe that creator, god, makes
everybody for a a bigger reason. And for
you to be two spirit, to be a
healer, to be a peacemaker, to be masculine
and feminine, and can see and experience so
many things from different angles. I just love
that. That is a true gift. True gift.
Yep. Yep. Yeah. Well, you know, I wanna
give a shout out to Rose King, and
Rose was the person that introduced me to
you, Fox.
And Rose said, you need to talk to
Fox.
Fox is the person that knows what's going
on in rural America
in terms of data and resources
to help the queer community.
Can you jump in and describe what you're
involved with with Pride in Numbers, please?
100%.
So Pride in Numbers
is an awesome opportunity really to capture as
many voices,
stories,
data,
the presence of two spirit and LGBTQIA
plus people in Oregon
in a very intersectional,
very intentionally diverse way. We are really trying
to show
that we are here. We've always been here,
you know, starting with indigenous queer people. And
also for decades, you know, lots of queer
and trans and two spirit and whole spectrum
people have been coming to Oregon
because it is such a friendly progressive state,
and we have quite the population.
That being said, just because we have been
friendly as a state here in Oregon doesn't
mean that people
of the LGBTQIA
and two spirit variety living in, like, rural
parts of Oregon are getting the same kind
of treatment, representation,
feelings of safety and belonging
as those living in the cities. So it's
really important more than ever that we really
showcase who's here, where we are, what we
need,
where we're living, what our lived experiences are
life so we can leave a legacy
for greater advocacy and community care and hopefully
even better policies in the future. Right on.
Right on. You know? And and simply put
that I love how you articulated that. And
simply put, I think of it as Oregon
is just one of the largest LGBTQQI
plus populations
per capita
in the nation.
Absolutely. That was actually in a study from
the Williams Institute. It is.
And
lots of people are navigating multiple overlapping identities,
and we just we're set we have such
a rich culture. And that's part of the
reason when you go to pride in numbers
dot org,
you can see that you can either take
the survey or even submit your art to
the art project
because we wanted to make sure that we
were really capturing how diverse, how cultural, how
cool, how magical,
how expressive our community is, not just through
data and numbers, but really through our stories,
through our multimedia
art, through, any way that we really wanna
be participating in this. We really wanna show,
like, hey. We are not just here, but
we are a vibrant people. Right on. Right
on. And I think the more that,
we use our voice in art and or
in words that people understand
us more, and we also become bonded and
more excited to be in our own culture,
which is beautiful.
Do you agree with that?
Oh, yeah. And also, we get to really
show our humanity.
Because I think that a lot of the
times, the kind of discrimination
or, you know,
concerns that we get from folks who are
not two spirit and LGBTQIA
plus
is because they might not actually know many
of us.
They probably do, but we might not be
out, you know, in their circles. Right. And
they might not realize that we are queer
and trans and so on.
So I think that it's really important that
our humanity gets to be really showcased so
that it's understood that we are we are
just as human. We are just as normalized,
as anybody else. Yes. Yes. You know? So
so my my understanding is pride in numbers.
It's a it's a research project. That's really
what it is, and you produce a survey
as one of your tools. I completed that
survey. And what I loved about the first
couple questions on the survey was, are you
out?
Are you an out LGBTQ person or not?
Why would that be important for a rural
community to have that information?
Oh, yeah. Because rural communities
and black indigenous and people of color and
culture have been historically underrepresented
in the two spirit and LGBTQIA
plus data. And part of the reason is
because they might not experience the same feelings
of
safety, belonging, and acceptance
in their cultures and in their neighborhoods
as everybody else. So we really wanna capture
that. That's, like, the number one important thing
is, like, do you feel safe Yes. To
be out in your life?
Yes. It's 2026.
Do you feel safe to be out? Right.
Right. You know? Every morning, I I raise
a flag on my my front porch. And
on one side of the flag is are
these great big rainbow hearts. That's my rainbow
flag. And then on the other side, I
have the USA American flag. And I do
that back to back because I I am
I am proud to be,
in one sense, a United States citizen. There
are times where I totally, totally disagree with
so many things going on. But at the
same time, the freedoms that we do have,
I acknowledge and I appreciate. And, of course,
my rainbow colors are are out there. And
many people say, Joni, aren't you scared to
put that flag up? Because they may be
out to themselves, but they're not out in
their neighborhood or their community.
And that's why I think what you're doing
with this project data and stories
will help people to
own who they are and for the community
to recognize that. Can you talk more about
the survey, please?
Absolutely.
Well, I do also wanna say, like, that's
what's so cool about being in Oregon and
why it's so important that we have pride
in numbers. We have this project in Oregon
because
we are such a progressive,
lucky, and privileged state, you know, in terms
of the rights and the benefits that we
have compared to many other states.
And
we need to really
set the bar for other states, if you
will. You know what I mean? I like
that.
Not just, like, say that we support two
spirit and LGBTQIA
plus people, but really actually seal the deal,
support it, showcase it, wave that flag, wave
that banner,
and really just create a sea change across
all of Oregon as far as LGBTQIA
friendliness and safety so we can showcase how
it's done for other states. There's so many
other states that I feel like would be
right behind us. So a little bit more
about Pride in Numbers.
This is truly a by us for us
project. I've actually gotten to be a part
of it since the early creation in 2023
that was phase one. And I think what's
awesome to me about being a part of
this project is that
from the beginning,
there was an intention to recruit leadership
such as myself
from across
Oregon,
from across racial
identities,
geographical
identities,
you know, disabled
intersectional,
you know, queer identities
too. So it was so cool to me
that I was reached out to as a
rural
BIPOC,
two spirit,
Latine person,
you know, who otherwise doesn't really get to
often be a part of these kind of
larger statewide,
projects. Usually, they're very Portland centric, maybe Eugene
centric, but this one really made an effort
every stage of the way to make sure
that we were representing all the different people
that we need to reach. So we really
made sure that we were representing
the Oregon tribes. We were making sure we
were representing
coastal communities.
We were making sure we got Eastern Oregon
on the map and so forth. Mhmm. And
from the beginning,
we made it such a point to make
sure that
all of the design, the vision for the
the project was informed by all these different
people, by all these different identities, by all
these different cultures
to make sure that this was gonna be
accessible to all the people that we need
to reach. Awesome. Awesome. You know? And and
related to that, I know the survey was
totally confidential,
and and it related to so many things.
It had housing and health care and,
connection and belonging, and those are all part
of what you just described as safety and
friendliness. You know? Do you wanna comment on
some of that, please?
Yeah. Could you rephrase that question? Yes. Yes.
So the the survey was confidential, and I
know it it, asked me questions about health
care, housing, safety.
And so with that information, with that storytelling,
what where does it go from there, I
guess, is the question.
Yeah. That's a great point. So, yes, it's
really important to note that the survey is
absolutely anonymous. You can share as much information
as you want to or not.
We are all about centering consent in this
process,
and we do ask a lot of questions
about your overall
life experience across different sectors, including, yeah, your
access to housing, your access to employment.
And that's all really important because we wanna
see across as many different cultural and geographical
communities in Oregon
what the relative access is to these basic
human needs. Right? Like, a good job,
good housing, you know, secure housing,
and so forth, you know, health care.
And so
you if you go to pride in numbers
dot org, you can find our data privacy
policy. It's like a good six pages. We
have put so much effort into making sure
that this data is as private and secure
as possible.
And at the end of it, we're gonna
make sure that the findings go back to
community.
Pride and Numbers commits to sharing what we
learned directly back with two spirit and LGBTQIA
organizations and people across Oregon
in formats
designed to support better advocacy and organizing. There's
gonna be beautiful or, infographics. There's gonna be
a beautiful report, and we just wanna make
sure that this goes back into community hands,
organizations
to support the resources, the advocacy, and hopefully
better policy that we all deserve and need.
You betcha. You betcha. I think that's awesome.
And when you say it goes back to
the community,
does that mean it goes back to, like,
in my area, Southern Oregon Coast Pride? Does
it go to my city? Does it go
to my county? Who all receives this this
information in this beautiful
presentation?
So we have dozens of partners across Oregon.
That's one of the cool things that Pride
in Number is building. We're building this web
of mutual aid and support and care.
A lot of other research projects tend to
have a history of maybe being extractive. Maybe
that's not their intention, but they ask a
lot, and they don't necessarily always offer the
same back.
However, we've been reaching out to
LGBTQIA
plus organizations
across the state as well as cultural organizations
that represent black, brown, and indigenous communities,
and we have been making sure to offer
them support in return. So making sure that,
like, if they need access to help with
fundraising, that we connect them with other fundraisers
or we connect Awesome. Urban organizations with rural
organizations
or you know, that we're just making sure
that we ask folks, like, what do you
need on the ground, and how can we
help since we're right now feeling so connected
to all these different partners? And so it's
those same partners that have been helping pride
in numbers along the way that we're gonna
be making sure get that report back so
they can use the data, the statistics, the
stories to uplift their own communities
and ask for the resources they need. Awesome.
Awesome. You know? And and I know it
only took me, like, twenty minutes to complete.
I I picked English. That's that's my language,
but it was also available in Spanish. And
so I can just see great things happening
within communities because of this. I know we're
gonna be down to just a few minutes.
Fox, what would you say would be, like,
the biggest tips for our listeners today regarding
Pride in Numbers?
I just wanna say for queer and two
spirit people being represented and heard matters.
Pride in Numbers is a powerful opportunity
to participate and show that we exist, especially
in rural and frontier communities.
Let's show that we are here. We've always
been here. Let's leave a legacy
of our voice and our story.
Oh, I love that. Leave a legacy
of our voice and our story. Oh my
gosh. That that is, like, the biggest tip
ever that we all get to do that.
We're all a part of that. Everybody's a
part of that. Leave a legacy. Wow. Unbelievable.
Oh, I I wanna pride in number I
just wanna, like, repeat the website in case
people are interested. Please. You can find more
information on Instagram at prideinnumbersoregon.
Also, visit prideinnumbers.org
and just take the survey. Like Joanie said,
it takes, like, twenty minutes. And, also, please
feel inclined to submit your art. We wanna
see your gorgeous
fabrics, textiles,
beadwork,
your photography,
your paintings, and so forth. There's so many
different kinds of art you can submit. Yep.
I keep thinking of the song, Getting to
Know You. That's what this is doing. Getting
to Know You. Yes. Mhmm. Getting to know
us. Yes. Getting to know us. Absolutely.
Absolutely. Gee, I wanna thank you so much,
Fox. You know, you've been phenomenal on this.
I know it's a quick show, but you
know what? You've instilled and put a lot
of hopes and joys in people's lives just
by explaining what is going on in the
in the connection with all of us. I
wanna thank you, the beautiful listeners on the
gorgeous coast of Southern Oregon and Northern California,
and, of course, the majestic Rogue Valley for
being with us today in a joyously free
manner because that's what we've been talking about
is joyously free. Again, I wanna give high
tens, big hugs, all kinds of accolades to
Fox for for being with us. You you
were just phenomenal. So articulate. So articulate.
We also wanna thank, so thank you. Thank
you so much, Fox. Thank you.
Hey, Joanie. It's such a pleasure to be
here. It's been such a treat, and those
hugs are received and returned. Oh, I love
it. I love it. Fantastic. And let's give
a hug over to Mike Gorse on sound
and, of course, all the people that run
KCIW one hundred point seven FM, Tom and
Candice and Rose. We wanna thank, you know,
KZZH
in Humboldt and KSKQ
over in Medford and Ashland. We wanna give
a shout out to to the people that
sponsor joyously free this radio show, Steve Van
Cleve, Sally and Todd Roy. It's teamwork that
really makes the dream work. I know that's
repetition for many manifests, but teamwork does make
the dream work. So we wanna say thank
you to everybody. We wanna say have a
great day, and as usual, smile big and
wear bright colors. And once again, big, big
hug to you, Fox. I hope I get
to meet you personally really soon.
I feel like it's gonna happen. I think
so too. Thanks, Fox. Have a great day.
Have a great day, Joni. Bye, everybody.