In our fifth episode, we speak with the living legend, Orene Askew aka DJ O Show! DJ O Show is an Afro-Indigenous, Two-Spirited artist, activist, and motivational speaker. We talk about her identities of being Black, Indigenous, and Two-Spirit and how these identities empower her to be loud and proud for her communities. Orene's inspiring work and life journey has been made into a documentary film called The O Show releasing this Spring! Tune in to learn what inspires DJ O Show to do it all.

DJ O Show - Diversity Makes Beautiful Music

We speak with Agata Matyszczuk who works for Coast Mountain Bus Company as a transit operator and was the LGBTQ+ rep with her union UNIFOR. She was also elected to the BC Regional LGBTQ+ committee representing all BC locals. With this work, she helped organize the Pride float in Vancouver Pride and marched in many prides across BC through her union. Agata was also part of the first LGBTQ+ group to march in the Vasaikhi parade with UNIFOR. Join us to learn about Agata's advocacy work, love story, and for a special surprise towards the end to celebrate pride!

Sher Lotus is a peer support group for queer & trans women, non-binary, and two-spirited people. Agata & Jag Nagra founded this group (previously known as Sher Feline) in 2018. Join us for our monthly Sher Lotus events to meet these two lovely humans!

Agata Matyszczuk - Marching with Pride

We speak with Bianca Maieli who is a DJ/Producer born and raised in Los Angeles. She has both South Indian and Caribbean Colombian roots and uses her multiple identities to create her unique music sounds. She has worked with notable clients such as Nike, Spotify, Adidas & Samsung. Bianca Maieli represents a global dance sound, and has been making waves internationally. She is one of the co-founders of No-Nazar, a creative collective of South Asians DJs in LA, whose aim is to bring various cultures onto the dance floor. We speak with her about the joys and struggles of being a full-time DJ, No Nazar's story, and her wedding video that went viral on the internet gathering over 3 million views on YouTube.

Bianca Maieli - Culture Is What We Serve

For our Season 2 closer, we bring you a very special guest who is massively popular with over 550K  subscribers on YouTube under the name PRINCESSJOULES. Julie Vu is a transgender activist, model, content creator, and entrepreneur. She started her YouTube journey in 2013 where she became one of the first people to share her personal stories of transitioning and documented her transition from male to female. Her raw, unedited videos of her transition provided a safe haven and education for the larger community. She has been a spokesmodel for many brands like Sephora, Aritzia, Ikea, RW&CO., and much more. Julie Vu shares her story of struggle, triumphs, and helps raise awareness of trans people. Julie Vu is truly an inspiration and we highly recommend you tune in to learn more about her!

Julie Vu - Vancouver's Trans Icon

Baltej Singh Dhillon became the first turbaned Royal Canadian Mounties Officer (RCMP) officer in 1991 after a long national debate about making religious accommodations to the uniform . Being the first Sikh officer with a turban led to a long journey of being proactive and teaching others acceptance of the Sikhi faith. Baltej understands what it feels to be targeted and attacked for being himself and shares how his faith keeps him grounded and rise above it all. Baltej stands proudly as a father with his lesbian daughter and stands together with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. He wants everyone in the community to know you either choose education or ignorance during this time of misinformation and hatred towards the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Tune in to learn more about the Sikhi faith and how these teachings help Baltej responds to hatred.

Baltej Singh Dhillon - Embrace Hatred or Embrace Education

Parminder Kaur Swaich is a Punjabi writer, social activist, and poet. She is dedicated and passionate about literature and has written 5 books. She writes and directs plays about important deep rooted issues in our Punjabi culture that no one likes to talk about - rape, drugs, addictions, and female infanticide. She is a powerful, fearless, Punjabi Sikh activist who is ready to stand up for marginalized and oppressed individuals. Parminder Swaich believes we must do more for our community too, and not just for our own families.

For this special episode, Jolene Queen Sloan, desi drag queen, helped us to translate this episode from Punjabi to English. Tune into this wholesome conversation between different generations and learn about their stories.

ਪਰਮਿੰਦਰ ਸਵੈਚ ਇੱਕ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਲੇਖਕ, ਸਮਾਜਿਕ ਕਾਰਕੁਨ ਅਤੇ ਕਵੀ ਹੈ। ਉਹ ਸਾਹਿਤ ਪ੍ਰਤੀ ਸਮਰਪਿਤ ਅਤੇ ਭਾਵੁਕ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਉਸਨੇ 5 ਕਿਤਾਬਾਂ ਲਿਖੀਆਂ ਹਨ। ਉਹ ਸਾਡੇ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਸੱਭਿਆਚਾਰ ਵਿੱਚ ਅਹਿਮ ਡੂੰਘੀਆਂ ਜੜ੍ਹਾਂ ਵਾਲੇ ਮੁੱਦਿਆਂ ਬਾਰੇ ਨਾਟਕ ਲਿਖਦੀ ਅਤੇ ਨਿਰਦੇਸ਼ਤ ਕਰਦੀ ਹੈ ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਬਾਰੇ ਕੋਈ ਵੀ ਗੱਲ ਕਰਨਾ ਪਸੰਦ ਨਹੀਂ ਕਰਦਾ - ਬਲਾਤਕਾਰ, ਨਸ਼ੇ, ਅਤੇ ਕੰਨਿਆ ਭਰੂਣ ਹੱਤਿਆ। ਉਹ ਇੱਕ ਸ਼ਕਤੀਸ਼ਾਲੀ, ਨਿਡਰ, ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਸਿੱਖ ਕਾਰਕੁਨ ਹੈ ਜੋ ਹਾਸ਼ੀਏ 'ਤੇ ਅਤੇ ਦੱਬੇ-ਕੁਚਲੇ ਵਿਅਕਤੀਆਂ ਲਈ ਖੜ੍ਹੇ ਹੋਣ ਲਈ ਤਿਆਰ ਹੈ। ਪਰਮਿੰਦਰ ਸਵੈਚ ਦਾ ਮੰਨਣਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਸਾਨੂੰ ਆਪਣੇ ਭਾਈਚਾਰੇ ਲਈ ਵੀ ਬਹੁਤ ਕੁਝ ਕਰਨਾ ਚਾਹੀਦਾ ਹੈ, ਨਾ ਕਿ ਸਿਰਫ਼ ਆਪਣੇ ਪਰਿਵਾਰਾਂ ਲਈ। ਇਸ ਵਿਸ਼ੇਸ਼ ਐਪੀਸੋਡ ਨੂੰ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਤੋਂ ਅੰਗਰੇਜ਼ੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਅਨੁਵਾਦ ਕਰਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਾਡੀ ਦੇਸੀ ਡਰੈਗ ਕਵੀਨ ਜੋਲੀਨ ਕੁਈਨ ਸਲੋਅਨ ਨੇ ਮਦਦ ਕੀਤੀ।  ਇਸ ਵਧੀਆ ਐਪੀਸੋਡ ਨੂੰ ਸੁਣੋ ਅਤੇ ਉਹਨਾਂ ਦੀਆਂ ਕਹਾਣੀਆਂ ਬਾਰੇ ਜਾਣੋ।

Parminder Kaur Swaich ਪਰਮਿੰਦਰ ਕੌਰ ਸਵੈਚ - Family of Freedom Fighters ਆਜ਼ਾਦੀ ਘੁਲਾਟੀਆਂ ਦਾ ਪਰਿਵਾਰ

Rahat Saini is an actor, storyteller, and comedian. Rahat is an actor in Make Me A Match, Hallmark's very first South Asian story! This movie touches on Indian Matchmaking with a twist.  She also starred in the play Unexpecting, a production by Zee Zee Theatre, which celebrates queer love and provides insights into the realities of modern motherhood. Rahat is making herself visible and taking up space with all her identities to help empower other brown women to do just that. Tune in and leave feeling inspired for 2024!

Rahat Saini - Proud Bisexual Queen

We speak with Norma Lize, a trans activist and refugee advocate from Lebanon who has received awards for her advocacy work. We learn about refugee settlement into Canada and what that journey entails especially for LGBTQ+ individuals who are forced to leave their homes due to threats,  violence, and imprisonment. Norma shares her personal story as a refugee and her journey moving into Canada as a transwoman. Norma now helps other LGBTQ+ refugees settle in Canada and works for Rainbow Refugee. Rainbow Refugee is a Vancouver based organization whose aim is to provide safer and equitable migrations for people fleeing persecution based on sexual orientation, gender identity, sex characteristics/expressions and HIV status.

Norma Lize - Trans Activist and Refugee Advocate

Harjant Gill is an award-winning filmmaker and associate professor of anthropology at Towson University in Washington DC. Dr. Gill’s research and films explore the intersections of gender, sexuality, religion, citizenship, transnationality and notions of belonging with a particular focus on Indian and diasporic masculinities. His films on Indian masculinity have been screened at film festivals, academic conferences and on television networks worldwide including BBC, Doordarshan (Indian National TV) and PBS. Tune in to learn about how Punjab as a hyper patriarchal society generates issues of violence, addictions, and physical and sexual abuse.

Harjant Gill - The Masculinity Trap

We speak with Syd and Dee Gill, a mother-daughter duo who are on a mission to empower queer and trans individuals to be proud and live their authentic lives. Syd Gill works at Qmunity - BC’s largest Queer, Trans and Two-Spirit Resource center, as the fundraising coordinator. She is also on the board for the Vancouver Dyke March. Dee Gill is a clinical counsellor with over 30 years of experience and an inspiring mom who advocates for her two biological trans daughters. Tune in to hear these fierce women of color owning their identities.

https://ca.linkedin.com/in/syd-gill-06578b226

https://searchlightcounselling.com/about-us/

Syd & Dee Gill - Trailblazing Mother-Daughter Duo

We speak with Jason Pillay, a queer Indo-Fijian who has made his mark in the Vancouver Fashion scene. Jason Pillay is his own brand and he shares his hustle journey of attending fashion school to becoming a well-known stylist in Vancouver who got to style Ashanti in her latest movie! He has worked on many sets in Vancouver’s Hollywood and beyond. Jason’s unique approach to style has graced countless red carpets, movie sets, and TV networks, influencing the next wave of fashion trends. Tune in to learn what it takes to be a fashion stylist here in Vancouver.

Jason Pillay - Vancouver's Fashion Stylist

Welcome to the Sher Vancouver Podcast—a safe space for BIPOC LGBTQ+ individuals and allies. We are two Queer South Asian cis women who are on a mission to highlight and celebrate Queer folks in our community. Our intention is to normalize a multitude of experiences and identities, tear down societal norms, and highlight BIPOC representation. We hope to bring people together through story sharing, celebrating and highlighting experiences and learning alongside one another. It’s time to inspire more change for the better.

Join us in igniting new conversations and building on ones that have already begun.

Follow us @shervanpodcast 🌈

Sher Vancouver Podcast

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