LGBTQ+ youth

Arkansas and national LGBTQ+ organizations are reckoning with executive orders issued by the Trump administration that erase decades of LGBTQ+ civil rights achievements.

"TEA: the Transgender Experience in Arkansas," filmed in KUAF's Listening Lab, profiles the lives of seven trans youth, women and men. In episode two, host Taylor Johnson talks with 17-year-old trans woman June Simmons. Ozarks at Large has included an excerpt of the long-form interview.

Makenna Cofer made a pair of short documentaries while attending John Brown University. One was called “Part of the Kingdom” and shared the stories of queer students attending southern religious schools. Now based in New York, Cofer is creating a feature-length film of the same name. She spoke with Ozarks at Large's Kyle Kellams about how old projects are informing her new film.

On today's show, a rooftop garden is in the works at Baptist Health Fort Smith. Also, a documentary filmmaker expands on two short films made while at John Brown University in Siloam Springs. Plus, a shared Shakespearean universe.

LGBTQ+ young adults are finding refuge and life resources inside “Jessi’s House," a secure long-term transitional living facility in Fort Smith for gender and sexual minorities struggling with homelessness.

Today, LGBTQ+ young adults experiencing homelessness in Arkansas are finding refuge at a transitional home in Fort Smith. Plus, remembering the September 11th attacks and how the day unfolded for Arkansans. Also, the challenge of being any one of three wives of Henry the 8th in “Six: the Musical.”

This year's Pride in Northwest Arkansas will be different. NWA Pride organizers and the Walton Arts Center will not be working together for 2023 Pride events.

As the Conservative-majority Arkansas legislature continues to churn out bills seeking to erase the identities of transgender youth, advocates continue to provide crucial support. We visit a church-based free store that supplies gender-confirming clothing, and hear from a physician who provides gender-affirming medical care, still practicing under threat of a state-wide ban.

On today's show, artwork made through the Fenix Youth Refuge Experience will be displayed this Saturday at Mt. Sequoyah Center Hall. Also, preventing land loss through the Keeping it in the Family Program. Plus, the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, remembering Brenda Blagg, local music and more.

An exhibition of artworks created by LGBTQ+ youth participating in F.Y.R.E. — Fenix Youth Refuge Experience — an after-school arts program sponsored by Mt. Sequoyah Center and hosted by Fenix Art gallery, will take place this Saturday December 17 from 5 to 7pm in Mt. Sequoyah Center Hall.