Episode #158: Cultivating Queer Community with Rainn Thomas

Live Your F*ck Yes Life

This is my fifth pride out as a queer person, and I would be lying if I said that I haven’t felt at a loss on how to being to find queer community. Part of queer-ness isn’t just going from thinking you’re straight to knowing you’re queer and then voila, you’ve got the queer life of your dreams. It’s a whirlwind of unpacking comp het, going through queer puberty (I used to scoff at the idea of this but it’s a thing), and finding where you feel the most at home and yourself in your queerness.

Not to mention getting your brain unf*cked from the patriarchy.

These are conversations I have in my own circles, often, and I’m so grateful to have someone like Rainn in my own life to learn from and converse with. And I’m even more stoked that they agreed to come on the pod for us to have one of these conversations with all of you.

If you aren’t familiar with Rainn (She/They), she is a Black lesbian artist and writer living in Chicago. She’s the Host and Co-Organizer of Fruit Salad, a monthly queer open mic. Her writing has appeared in several online publications, and her second poetry chapbook, “In our hands, citrus” will be released later this year. Her artwork has appeared at Co-Prosperity Sphere, The Whistler, The Robin in the Martin, and The Franklin.

Things we talk about in todays episode:

how the fuck to make queer friends

their queer timeline and how she’s navigated all things non monogamy, internalized homophobia and de-escalations in their relationships

why lesbianism means so much to her

how to know where you belong

local artist & queer community, and the way she’s personally contributing to it with Fruit Salad

all things chosen family, sapphic love, power dynamics in relationships and beyond

ALL THINGS BEDUCATED:

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Rainn’s Instagram

Fruit Salad | Dorothy Downstairs | The Martin

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WORK, SUPPORT & CONNECT WITH AMANDA:

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