TW: Mentions slavery & sexual abuse.

In this vital episode, we explore the history, harm, and reclamation of Black femininity—particularly as it exists within white queer culture. From the violent myths born on the plantation to the modern dynamics of white-dominated queer spaces, we trace how Black womanhood has been distorted, denied, and policed. We center the experiences of Black queer women and femmes as we unpack the tensions, dangers, and double standards that define our interactions with systems and communities that claim to be liberatory. Finally, we uplift the work of reclamation: how Black femmes are creating spaces of tenderness, visibility, and belonging on our own terms.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• The origins of distorted Black femininity: Jezebel, Mammy, and the plantation’s racial-gender order
• How Black femininity is policed or erased in white-dominated queer spaces
• The failures of white-centered feminism to address the realities of Black womanhood
• The work of reclaiming softness, tenderness, and humanity in a world that often denies it
• The importance of intentionally curating the spaces, relationships, and media we engage with for affirmation and healing

Referenced Works & Further Reading:

• Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought (1990)
• Deborah Gray White, Ar’n’t I a Woman? (1985)
• Jacqueline Jones, Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow (1985)
• Monique Morris, Pushout (2016)
• Margaret Hunter, “If You’re Light You’re Alright” (2002)
• Bailey, M. & Trudy, “On misogynoir: citation and the epistemic violence of invisibility” (2018)

Support the Show:

Consider supporting South Sound Sapphic to help us continue producing bold, intersectional content. 🔗 https://www.southsoundsapphic.org

In this episode of South Sound Sapphic, we take you on a journey through the history of queerness—where we’ve been, who we’ve lost, how we’ve survived, and how we keep resisting. From Boston marriages and the hidden lives of sapphic ancestors, to the defiance of Compton’s Cafeteria and the terror of the Lavender Scare, to the ways queerness continues to challenge systems of power today—you’ll hear the stories that built our present and continue to shape our future.

This episode isn’t just history. It’s an invitation to learn, reflect and hopefully, connect. To honor the people who came before us and to imagine the world we are still fighting to create.

What does it mean to be queer? Where did the word come from? How has queerness shaped—and been shaped by—resistance, survival, and defiance? We explore the deep, complicated, and beautiful history of queerness. We trace its meaning from the 1500s to today. We honor the lives of sapphic people who loved in the shadows, fought back against oppression, and dared to imagine something different.

We’ll talk about:

• The hidden histories of Boston marriages and Wellesley marriages
• The riot at Compton’s Cafeteria (1966) and early trans and drag resistance
• The terror of the Lavender Scare and the cost of being queer in mid-century America
• How queer identity today resists patriarchy, white supremacy, and capitalism
• Why queer joy, mutual aid, art, and chosen family are acts of defiance

This is an episode for everyone who has felt othered. For everyone who has fought to exist. For everyone dreaming of a world where queerness is not just accepted, but celebrated.

👉 Support this work on at www.southsoundsapphic.org

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Discussion of anti-trans violence, white supremacy, emotional labor, death, and systemic neglect. Take care of your spirit.

In this searing and unflinching episode of South Sound Sapphic, we pull the mask off one of the most insidious forms of modern oppression: weaponized white incompetence—and the ways it collides with cisgender fragility, heteronormativity, and neurotypical social expectations to actively harm QTBIPOC people, especially Black, brown, disabled, neurodivergent, and sapphic trans folks.

We name the behaviors. We expose the systems. We drag the performance of helplessness into the light—and show how it’s anything but harmless.

“I don’t know what to say.” “I don’t want to get it wrong.” “I’m still learning.”

These aren’t always innocent statements. They are often stall tactics. They are how silence gets weaponized. How inaction becomes policy. How people with privilege hand off responsibility while watching others bleed for it.

In this episode, we break down:

• What weaponized incompetence actually is—and how it’s used to offload harm.
• How whiteness, cisness, straightness, and neurotypicality build the perfect shield for inaction.
• What it feels like to be on the receiving end of that silence as a marginalized trans person.
• Why “being a good person” is not enough—and never was.
• The emotional, physical, and political cost of white queer and liberal passivity.
• The only two outcomes of harm: it stops, or it continues.

We don’t offer easy answers. We don’t tone it down. This episode is an invitation—to get uncomfortable, get accountable, and get moving.

If you’re a QTBIPOC listener, this one is for you. We see you. We’re done carrying what they refuse to confront.

If you benefit from power and privilege—this is your call-in. No more hiding behind confusion. No more borrowed language. No more waiting until you're perfect.

Liberation doesn’t need your optics. It needs your action.

Resources Mentioned:

• Jared Sandberg, The Art of Showing Pure Incompetence at an Unwanted Task, The Wall Street Journal
• Cheryl Harris, Whiteness as Property, (Harvard Law Review, 1993)
• David Roediger, The Wages of Whiteness
• Nell Irvin Painter, The History of White People
• Human Rights Campaign: 2024 Legislative Roundup
• ACLU LGBTQ+ Policy Tracker
• Trevor Project Trans Youth Reports
• @critical.conscious.counseling on Instagram
• Human Rights Campaign: 2024 State Legislative Roundup
• ACLU: Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation Tracker
• Trevor Project Reports on Suicide Risk in Trans Youth

Support our work & join the community: www.southsoundsapphic.org

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