43 min listen
Strange Fruit #65: KY's Landmark Same-Sex Marriage Ruling; Essay Explores James Baldwin's Paris
FromStrange Fruit
Strange Fruit #65: KY's Landmark Same-Sex Marriage Ruling; Essay Explores James Baldwin's Paris
FromStrange Fruit
ratings:
Length:
40 minutes
Released:
Feb 18, 2014
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
As we were going into the studio to record this week's episode, news came down that a court ruling had been announced, possibly shaping the future of same-gender marriage in Kentucky: District Judge John G. Heyburn wrote that refusing to recognize same-sex marriages from outside the state violates the U.S. constitution's equal protection clause. WFPL Political Editor Phillip M. Bailey joined us to talk about what exactly the ruling said, and what it could mean for marriage equality going forward. In our feature interview this week, we spoke to author and professor Ellery Washington, who recently wrote an essay for the New York Times about his experience retracing the steps of James Baldwin in Paris. We spoke with Ellery about why James Baldwin is such an important figure in the literary world and in black history (and why he is particularly important to gay black authors!). On next week's show we'll have more about the ruling from one of the lawyers who worked on the case, who's also involved in the next legal step in the process: a lawsuit on behalf of some Kentucky couples who were denied marriage licenses. Photos: James Baldwin in 1962. Carl Mydans/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images; Kentucky graphic by American Foundation for Equal Rights
Released:
Feb 18, 2014
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Strange Fruit #31: Urmi Basu of New Light India; Kaitlyn Hunt, Statutory Rape & Queer Relationships: Activism runs in Urmi Basu's family; her grandfather was a doctor who set up a school for _dalit_ children (India's untouchable caste) in his own home. Urmi says her family "always challenged everything that's traditional in India." Thirteen years ago, she combined her passion for gender equality and her background and education in social work—along with 10,000 rupees, or $200—to found [New Light India](http://www.newlightindia.org/). New Light is non-profit organization based in the red light district of Calcutta, intended to help victims of sex trafficking and provide healthcare to people living with HIV/AIDS. With an estimated 40,000 new trafficked sex workers in the city each year, it's no small task. But Urmi is a woman of great determination. She was in Louisville recently and she sat down to talk with us about her work, and how sex trafficking in India is part of the larger globa by Strange Fruit