Send us a text

Life and parenting often feels so fraught, so overwhelming, and so frustrating. We’re navigating unprecedented attacks on queer and trans folks and youth. Of course, as parents, we stay vigilant, trying to anticipate what might come next so we can support and protect our kids. But even as we hunt for answers to all our practical questions, we still need something else to keep us going: sources of hope, grounding, and inspiration. Today, we get to offer you just that through the incredible work of BAGLY, the Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth—a youth-led, adult-supported organization that has spent nearly fifty years building safe spaces, affirming identities, and lifting up queer and trans young people. For half a century, BAGLY has been a beacon of belonging, envisioning a future where LGBTQ+ youth not only survive, but shine, shaping Boston and far beyond

Special Guest: Elliott-Timothy Viridian

Elliott-Timothy Viridian is an educator, writer, poet, and essayist from the greater US South. Viridian has written extensively about his upbringing, black feminist politics, and black masculinities within and around the Southern Black tradition. Viridian has spoken and continues to speak across the country on queer issues & rights.

Special Guest: Evander Ragsdale

Evander Ragsdale (he/they) is a freshman at Skidmore College studying English. He has been with BAGLY for over a year and spends his free time writing and playing ultimate frisbee.

Special Guest: Kris Cho

Kris Cho (any/all) is a queer Korean American poet and educator hailing from Mid-Missouri. They currently work at BAGLY as the Youth Leadership and Advocacy Coordinator. Prior to BAGLY, Kris worked as a Bargaining and Campaign Strategy Coordinator for the Massachusetts Teachers Association and a Slam Poetry Coach at John D. O'Bryant School for Mathematics and Science, where they are currently a poet-in-residence. They are a 2023 Best of the Net nominee, a 2024 RWW Poetry Fellow, and 2025 Periplus Fellow. Their debut chapbook Chosun Cowboy (Abode Press) will be published in 2026.

Links from the Show:

• Bagly website
• Join Mama Dragons today

In the Den is made possible by generous donors like you. Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today.

Support the show

Connect with Mama Dragons:
Website
Instagram
Facebook

Donate to this podcast

Send us a text

There are days when fear and grief sit heavy in our chests. The headlines, the laws, the hateful rhetoric–it can all make us wonder how to protect our children and queer loved ones. So many of us, parents and queer folks, are feeling so drained, perhaps sometimes teetering on the edge of despair. But, sometimes what we need most aren’t just plans or protests, but blessings—words that can be a balm, a reminder of queer beauty, wholeness, and love when queer and trans bodies and identities are under unprecedented attack; in this world that so often tries to break us. A new book has emerged that is not just relevant—but necessary. It’s called GlitterBlessed: Already Whole, Already Holy—a vibrant collection of blessings, poems, and spells crafted by and for queer and trans people. It’s a book to help all of us conjure courage, summon joy, and banish shame, a book that insists queerness isn’t something to be explained or defended—it’s already divine. Today In the Den, Sara meets with a couple of the creators and contributors of this book.

Special Guest: Rev. Sean Neil-Barron

Rev. Sean Neil-Barron is a queer minister, married, foster parent who lives and works in Northern Colorado and whose work centers on the proclaiming of the sacredness of every queer and trans person.

Special Guest: Silen Wellington

Silen Wellington is a sculptor of sound, an artist, storyteller, witch, and genderqueer shapeshifter, who writes about bodies as holy places of change.

Links from the Show:

• Silen’s website
• Glitter Blessed Website
• Join Mama Dragons today

In the Den is made possible by generous donors like you. Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today at www.mamadragons.org.

Support the show

Connect with Mama Dragons:
Website
Instagram
Facebook

Donate to this podcast

Send us a text

Everywhere we look, the backlash against trans lives is growing louder. We’re facing policies targeting healthcare, book bans erasing our stories, coordinated campaigns to sow fear and confusion. This backlash isn’t happening in isolation, though. It’s part of a much larger cultural and political force determined to roll back gender justice for all of us. Today In the Den, Sara and acclaimed policy analyst Julie Kohler dig into what’s beneath the backlash across America—how it formed, why it’s intensifying now, and how it’s shaping our politics, our families, and our public life. Julie weaves research, history, and storytelling to show the connective tissue between attacks on the trans community, assaults on reproductive freedom, and attempts to reassert rigid gender norms.

Special Guest: Julie Kohler

Julie Kohler is an acclaimed writer whose work has appeared in CNN, The Washington Post, MSNBC, The Daily Beast, and many other outlets. She is also the co-creator, executive producer, and host of the Wonder Media Network podcast White Picket Fence. The podcast has won multiple awards, including a 2025 Webby Award for Best News & Politics (Limited Series & Special) Podcast and a 2024 Signal Award for Best News & Politics Podcast. Julie has two decades of experience working in philanthropy, advocacy, and higher education and is a highly sought out speaker on a variety of topics pertaining to gender justice, policy, and politics. She is the president of BMK Consulting, a philanthropic and nonprofit strategy consulting firm, and a Senior Advisor at the New School's Institute for Race, Power and Political Economy. Previously, she served as Senior Vice President and Managing Director for the Democracy Alliance, a progressive donor network, and as a fellow in residence at the National Women's Law Center. She has served on the boards of many organizations working to strengthen democracy, including, currently, the Pipeline Fund. She has a Ph.D. in family social science from the University of Minnesota and lives in Washington, DC with her family.

Links from the Show:

• Julie’s podcast White Picket Fence
• Julie’s website
• Join Mama Dragons today

In the Den is made possible by generous donors like you. Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today.

Support the show

Connect with Mama Dragons:
Website
Instagram
Facebook

Donate to this podcast