The Arizona Equals Conversation Equality Arizona

On today’s episode of the Arizona Equals Conversation, we’re joined by Shae from Arizona Trans Together for a wide-ranging discussion about mutual aid and community building, hormone therapy and its gatekeepers, and the overlaps between neurodivergent and trans communities.
Links
* Arizona Equals Celia
* Arizona Equals Jesse & Gabe
* Brick Road Coffee
* AZTYPO
* one-n-ten
* Erin’s Informed Consent HRT Map
Full Transcript
Jeanne
From Equality Arizona, you're listening to the Arizona Equals Conversation. I'm Jeanne Woodbury. I'm the interim executive director at Equality Arizona, and each week on the show I talk with a queer person living in Arizona about their story and their communities. Today's guest, Shae, is a friend of mine and a friend of Equality Arizona. She's also one of the founders, along with Celia, who we spoke to on a previous episode of the podcast, of a group called Arizona Trans Together, which meets at Brick Road Coffee every Friday night. As someone who grew up in Tempe and didn't have the first idea of how to find trans community, I'm constantly amazed at what that community has grown to be in honestly a really short amount of time. Shae dedicates a lot of her time to community building and to mutual aid, and it was really nice to get to know her a little bit better through this conversation. I feel like something I should preface going into this is that at a lot of points it really is a trans conversation for trans people, and we even recognized that at the time, but it was special for me and it's really cool to have that recorded here for people to listen to because it's unique and it's important and poorly understood. Something else really special was getting to reflect on both of our first days on hormones, and something that makes that extra special is, even though we recorded this conversation almost a month ago, we're releasing it on June 1st, which is actually the fifth anniversary of the first day I started taking hormones. And so that's pretty exciting for me, and it's neat how the timing lined up for this. It's also the first day of Pride Month, and that means it's a great time to support organizations like Equality Arizona and organizations like AZTYPO and one-n-ten that Shae mentions later in the interview. And beyond supporting nonprofit organizations like us, it's a time to invest in community, to invest in mutual aid and direct support. We gotta be there for each other. All right, let's roll the tape.
Shae
Hey everyone, my name is Shae. My pronouns are she or they. I don't have an official job, but I do a lot of organizing stuff with EQAZ on occasion and with something that I helped start and I help organize called Arizona Trans Together. It's a nice little community building project we've been doing for going on eight months now. Started with like 10 people and it's blown up to nearly 200. Meet up at Brick Road Coffee every Friday, 6 to 10 p.m. It's been a lot of fun.
Jeanne
Yeah, I noticed that there's been some nights at Brick Road where it's just full to the door and then people are out into the street basically. It's definitely something that has grown a lot in a short amount of time.
Shae
Yeah, it's nuts. I think on Trans Day of Visibility we had 45 people there all at once. And that's like basically at capacity for Brick Road Coffee. It's a really small space.
Jeanne
Yeah, it's a nice sized coffee shop, but it doesn't handle, you know, 100 people.
Shae
It really doesn't. I love the space though, don't get me wrong.
Jeanne
Yeah, I know, I love Brick Road, and that's where the group kind of got started, right?
Shae
Mm-hmm. It started with Celia, who was actually on this podcast a while back, and myself, we started going to the Queerizona meetups on Wednesdays. And then we started meeting other trans people there, and we decided to make a group chat on Discord. And then as soon as we hit the max limit, 10 people, we were like, "Hey, what if we start doing our own thing? And why d

On this week’s episode of the Arizona Equals Conversation, we talk with Canella Caro, a student at ASU who plan to be a history teacher, about hope in uncertain times, the process of learning empathy, and the culture of right-wing echo chambers online.
The Arizona Equals Conversation is an interview podcast collecting the stories of LGBTQ+ people living in Arizona. To listen to past episodes of the podcast, or to sign up to be a guest on a future episode of the show, visit equalityarizona.org/stories.
Full Episode Transcript
Jeanne Woodbury
From Equality Arizona, you're listening to the Arizona Equals Conversation, a podcast about queer people and queer communities in Arizona. I'm Jeanne Woodbury. I'm the interim executive director at Equality Arizona, and each week on the show, I talk with a queer person about their story. Today's interview with my guest, Canella Caro, is something really special. Early on when I was planning this series, I kind of made a promise to myself not to ask the really typical coming out questions like, what changed in your relationship to your family? What changed in your relationship to your friends? Things like that, because it falls right into the narrative that I think people project onto queer people. That it's all about this one moment. That it's all about showing the world who you've always known yourself to be and damn the consequences. And it's not to say that that isn't actually a very common part of people's experiences, but there's so much more going on. And that idea of projection is something we actually ended up talking about in a very different way in relation to Canella's experience as an immigrant and the story people expect from them because of that. But even beyond that, this isn't a story that fits an easy narrative. This is a story about radically reevaluating your relationship to queer people and queer community as part of a longer process of radically reevaluating your relationship to yourself. And it was special for me as an interviewer to hear that story because it's something that I share and it's not something I've found that I have in common with a lot of people. It's also really fascinating because we talk a lot about right-wing echo chambers and the effect that alt-right influencers like Ben Shapiro can have on very, very young people using the internet. There's a lot of complexity here, and I'm so appreciative of Canella for sharing all of that so openly on the podcast. I think that you'll all really enjoy this episode, and I want to get right into it. So let's roll the tape.
[BEEP]
[TYPING]
[CLICK]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Canella Caro
Hello, my name is Canella. I go by she/they pronouns. Yeah.
Jeanne Woodbury
Cool. Thanks for being here. While I was struggling to get this audio set up to work, You mentioned you've worked as an audio engineer before, which made me feel kind of terrible.
Canella Caro
No, don't worry, I suck.
(both laughing)
Jeanne Woodbury
— But —
Canella Caro
There's a reason I don't do sound anymore.
Jeanne Woodbury
Where were you doing that work?
Canella Caro
Oh, it was an internship for this like itty bitty venue down in like downtown Tucson.
Jeanne Woodbury
Oh, cool.
Canella Caro
Yeah, the venue used to be like this abandoned hotel that this guy turned into like a bunch of shops. They had a bunch of little artisan shops and played a bunch of live music, and I helped out the main sound guy with that.
Jeanne Woodbury
That's really cool.
Canella Caro
Yeah, it was a lot of fun.
Jeanne Woodbury
How long did you work there?
Canella Caro
I started working there in February last year and then stopped in July of the same year.
Jeanne Woodbury
Oh, okay. Yeah.
Canella Caro
Yeah.
Jeanne Woodbury
And was that to move up here to Tempe?
Canella Caro
Yeah, and also I was not being paid.
Canella Caro
(both laughing) And once I needed the internship for a project I was doing for my high school.
Jeanne Woodbury
I see, okay.
Canella Caro
And once that project per

With a busy start to the week for anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the legislature, this week’s episode, featuring Samuel Ndinjiakat Jr is coming out a little behind schedule, but it’s well worth the wait. Woven through his story of student organizing is a fascinating conversation about race and gender with a rare pairing of academic depth and personal, emotional relevance.
The Arizona Equals Conversation is an interview podcast collecting the stories of LGBTQ+ people living in Arizona. To listen to past episodes of the podcast, or to sign up to be a guest on a future episode of the show, visit equalityarizona.org/stories.
Full Episode Transcript
Jeanne Woodbury
From Equality Arizona, you're listening to the Arizona Equals Conversation. I'm Jeanne Woodbury. I'm the Interim Executive Director at Equality Arizona, and each week on the show I talk with a queer person living in Arizona about their story and their communities. Today's guest, Samuel, is a student at ASU and a relatively recent transplant to Arizona. And that means, like more than a few people I've spoken to on the podcast, he moved here during a challenging moment in the pandemic. It's something that can make it incredibly difficult to find community, but Samuel really hit the ground running when it came to some of the political organizing that they've been involved with at ASU, and I think that's really remarkable. They also share an experience I've talked about with a lot of college students of coming out during college, away from family, and navigating the tension there. But before I go on, let me take a minute to let Samuel introduce himself.
Samuel Ndinjiakat Jr
Hi, this is Samuel Ndinjiakat Jr. My pronouns are he/him and they/them.
Jeanne Woodbury
This was also just an incredibly fun conversation for me because we got to talk about gender in a in a way that I think is really rare, and I'm really excited to share that. I think that there's a chance it gets a little academic at points, but overall it really isn't. Before we start the interview, I should say that we've got some great guests lined up over the next few weeks, but we're always looking for new people to talk to, and you don't need to be in politics, and you don't need to be an academic. That's not what the podcast is about, actually. So if you'd like to share your story on a future episode of the show, just send us an email at hello@equalityarizona.org. Or you can sign up on our website at equalityarizona.org/stories. Alright, let's roll the tape.
[beep] [clicking]
[music]
[clicking]
[music]
Samuel Ndinjiakat Jr
The second she found out that I was like involved in like politics, she's just like, yeah, you should definitely be on the podcast. I was just like, okay, okay.
Jeanne Woodbury
Oh, that's great.
Samuel Ndinjiakat Jr
Like I don't have that much podcast experience, but I'll do my best.
Jeanne Woodbury
Yeah, no, most people I talked to have never been on a podcast before. The idea is just to get people's stories, figure out, you know, what's their experience been in Arizona as a queer person living here. And it's fun because sometimes I get to talk to people and they've lived here their whole lives, and so I get to talk about like, oh, how has this neighborhood changed over the past 20 years or whatever? And sometimes there's people who have moved here, you know, a lot of people moved here during the pandemic actually. And so then that's always really interesting to hear about how that went. You were saying you've lived here for two years, right?
Samuel Ndinjiakat Jr
It’ll be two years by this coming August.
Jeanne Woodbury
Oh, cool.
Samuel Ndinjiakat Jr
Yeah, still the new kid on the block.
Jeanne Woodbury
What did you move here for?
Samuel Ndinjiakat Jr
I moved here for school.
Jeanne Woodbury
Oh, okay, cool. Are you at ASU?
Samuel Ndinjiakat Jr
Mm-hmm.
Jeanne Woodbury
Okay, and you said you've done some political organizing. Is that student-led organizing?
Samuel Ndinjiakat Jr
Yeah, that's stud

On today’s episode, we’re joined by our friend Matthew Coelho to talk about the joys of family, music, and the Southern Arizona desert. This is the third in a series of three interviews recorded in Matthew’s home in Tucson, following our episodes with Juan McElroy and Matthew’s husband Blake Coelho.
The Arizona Equals Conversation is an interview podcast collecting the stories of LGBTQ+ people living in Arizona. To listen to past episodes of the podcast, or to sign up to be a guest on a future episode of the show, visit equalityarizona.org/stories.
Full Episode Transcript
Jeanne Woodbury
From Equality Arizona, you're listening to the Arizona Equals Conversation, a narrative interview podcast documenting the stories of queer people living in Arizona through the lens of community. I'm Jeanne Woodbury. I'm the interim executive director of Equality Arizona and the host of this podcast. Today I'm speaking with Matthew Coelho for the third of three Tucson-based interviews that Matthew hosted at his home. So when I mention towards the end of the episode that we're running up against a time deadline, it's because actually it was the third of three interviews we had recorded back to back at his kitchen table, and they all had to leave to get to a play, so I'm really grateful to Matthew and Blake for hosting me, and their friend Juan for agreeing to do an interview. I really enjoyed this series, and I'm excited to do more interviews in the future with people living all across the state. Matthew's story is really incredible. We got to talk through a lot of facets of the adoption process and building a family, about personal healing through music and community, and about how electric the desert can feel and how electrifying the local community in Tucson can be. I often get out of an interview and wish I could just record another entire episode with them, and this was one of those cases. so I hope you all enjoy listening to it. And if you haven't already listened to my interviews with Juan and Blake, they're the most recent two episodes in the feed. All right, let's roll the tape.
(beep) (tape crackling)
(tape crackling)
(upbeat music)
(tape deck clicks)
Matthew Coelho
My name is Matthew Coelho. My pronouns are he/him/his.
Jeanne Woodbury
Thanks for talking with me today and for setting up your home for me to talk with you and Juan and Blake.
Matthew Coelho
Absolutely.
Jeanne Woodbury
It's been a lot of fun. And I really enjoyed the tour of the new room for the twins.
Matthew Coelho
Thank you.
Jeanne Woodbury
That's exciting. And you said this is something that's pretty new.
Matthew Coelho
Yes.
Jeanne Woodbury
And so just, I don't know, tell me about that. Are you pretty excited?
Matthew Coelho
I'm very excited. We're both very excited. my husband and I, Blake, but yeah, still very new to, the situation is still very new to us and we're still kind of like wrapping our heads around it and really, it feels a little surreal just because we've been on this journey of building our family for, really pursuing it for about a full year now, but we made the decision together to start making a plan to do that about two years ago.
Jeanne Woodbury
I see. Yeah, that's a long time.
Matthew Coelho
Yes, yeah, especially when you're kind of, you know, just doing all the education and building community and finding resources. And it feels like a long time, even more, I mean, two years is a long time, but when you're like kind of going through it, it feels, I don't know.
Jeanne Woodbury
Yeah, when you're in it, I'm sure it feels even longer.
Matthew Coelho
Yeah, no, definitely. But it was such a really great experience in terms of just absorbing so much information and getting to connect with people and hear people's stories and learn about how all the different ways that families are built. And yeah, it just like really showed us that like we're making the right choice for us and for our family.
Jeanne Woodbury
I love that.
Matthew Coelho
Yeah.

On today’s episode of the Arizona Equals Conversation, Blake Coelho shares his experience growing up in Tucson, moving to LA and Nashville for his career in the music industry, and how he eventually found his way back home to Tucson. We cover the joys of collaborative creativity, the contrast between writing and performing, and how working from home has changed during the pandemic.
To listen to past episodes of the podcast, or to sign up to be a guest on a future episode of the show, visit equalityarizona.org/stories.
A full transcript of the episode will be added later. If you’d like to help us make transcripts available for our full archive, please get in touch!


Get full access to Equality Arizona at equalityarizona.substack.com/subscribe

The Arizona Equals Conversation is back, and we’ll be publishing our first three interviews from Tucson over the next few weeks! To kick things off, we have an interview with Juan McElroy, a nurse, father, and longtime Tucson resident.
To listen to past episodes of the podcast, or to sign up to be a guest on a future episode of the show, visit equalityarizona.org/stories.
A full transcript of the episode will be added later. If you’d like to help us make transcripts available for our full archive, please get in touch!


Get full access to Equality Arizona at equalityarizona.substack.com/subscribe