Episodes
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James and Daniel fire up the gay time machine and bring along friend of the pod Phillip Zonkel of Q Voice News. They set the dial for the late 1960s, the coordinates for Wilmington, CA where a little bar called The Patch, run by Long Beach resident Lee Glaze, became the site of one of the earliest known gay liberation protests, pre-dating the Stonewall Riots in New York City. Buckle up for discussions on police homophobia, male-on-male dancing, and why queer bars have always been so central to LGBTQ safety, community, and activism.
Links
Long live queer media! Read and subscribe to Q Voice News for lots more news and perspectives from the queer community in Southern California.If you’re a lefty queer looking to get involved in more lefty queer organizing in Long Beach, send a DM to Queers Obliterating White Supremacy on IG.Sources
Q Voice News: Lee Glaze led early gay rights protest at The Patch 55 years agoLos Angeles Times: Fight for Gay Rights Started Early in L.A.Q Voice News: 51 years ago Lee Glaze fought police harassment & made gay historyFrom Sanctuary to Safe Space: Gay and Lesbian Police-Reform Activism in Los AngelesQ Voice News: Lee Glaze: LGBTQ pioneer blazed trails with justice, humorKCET: God Save the Queen of Angels: The Legend of the PatchOne Archives: The Patch Bar Flower Power ProtestQueer Maps: The Patch -
In 2017, parents and advocates filed a complaint alleging that the Long Beach Unified School District had misspent a vast amount of funds meant for low-income, homeless, and foster students. The math was simply not mathing. The complaint was a longshot but after a year of fighting the school district’s PR machine and high-priced lawyers, it ultimately led to a historic settlement. Follow Long Beach Chisme on IG and TikTok @lbchisme and on the website formerly known as Twitter at @LongBeachChisme. Show notes and sources here.
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Missing episodes?
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What if we told you that for four years Long Beach police officers used a secret messaging app that permanently wiped their communications? The LBPD was the only law enforcement agency in the country that widely adopted the use of this app called TigerText. In this true burn-after-reading story, James and Daniel are joined by Audrena Redmond of Black Lives Matter Long Beach to talk about how this destruction of records shows how the city will do anything to protect itself from negative press and uphold the status quo of the police department instead of addressing our over-reliance on policing and surveillance. Show notes and sources.
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This big little town ain’t big enough for both developers and poor people. Friend of the pod Stefan Borst-Censullo joins James and Daniel for a rip-roaring tale about how former City Manager now insider lobbyist Pat West turned Long Beach into a playground for developers, cops, and profiteers. Follow Long Beach Chisme on IG and TikTok @lbchisme and on Twitter at @LongBeachChisme. Show note here.
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We’re back back back again for season two! We all know the rent is too damn high so James and Daniel chisme about Better Housing for Long Beach, a political group of landlords who believe renters have too many rights and that rental property is the gateway to retiring in Appalachia. And no city or state government is going to get in their way. Show Notes.
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The season one finale of Long Beach Chisme is finally here! Our listeners have been with us through permitting schemes, pension reform, and developer scams, so what better way to end our inaugural season than with a live audience?! Join James, Daniel, and special guests as they laugh and chisme live at Plantiitas on Fourth Street about Ronald Reagan, failed “tough on crime” politics, and councilmember star charts. Follow Long Beach Chisme on IG and TikTok @lbchisme and on Twitter at @LongBeachChisme to stay tuned for updates on season 2 y más! Show notes here.
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Long Beach is home to queer icons, bars, and rainbow-colored crosswalks. But is Long Beach as queer-friendly as it makes out to be? James and Daniel are joined by Phillip Zonkel, co-founder and publisher of Q Voice News, to dig into the 100-year history of the Long Beach Police Department targeting and terrorizing gay men and what it actually took to stop them (as if we needed another reason to defund the police). Follow Long Beach Chisme on IG and TikTok @lbchisme and on Twitter at @LongBeachChisme. Show notes here.
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The votes are in! James and Daniel discuss key takeaways, power struggles, and political tomfoolery from the November 2022 election now that Long Beach and LA County are at the tailend of our midterm life crisis. thank u, next to the political ambitions of the police, NIMBYs, and Bob Foster. Follow Long Beach Chisme on IG and TikTok @lbchisme and on Twitter at @LongBeachChisme. And don’t forget Chisme is doing a LIVE season finale on Dec. 10 at Plantiitas. We have very limited space so please go smash the RSVP link in our bio. Show notes here.
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It’s time for our own Sunday Funday as we revisit Robert Garcia’s tumultuous two terms as Mayor of Long Beach! Local criminal defense attorney and former City Hall staffer Stefan Borst-Censullo returns to join James and Daniel for all the highs and lows of Robert’s time mayoring. What could possibly go wrong when a mayor prioritizes public relations, partying, and free-market economics over people? Follow Long Beach Chisme on IG and TikTok @lbchisme and on Twitter at @LongBeachChisme. Get your show notes here.
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Eat your heart out, Nancy Drew. Kevin Flores, co-founder and editor at FORTHE, is back for part two of our Long Beach housing story: Ocean-Error and the Case of the Missing Middle. This mystery is full of twists, turns, complex finance schemes, and community wine dispensers! For whom should affordable housing be prioritized and why is everyone playing dumb while developers rob the city blind? We promise you will never look at the Oceanaire building the same way again. Follow Long Beach Chisme on IG and TikTok @lbchisme and on Twitter at @LongBeachChisme. Show Notes Here.
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Tuck yourselves in to listen to the most chaotic bedtime story as Kevin Flores, co-founder and reporter with FORTHE, retells how Long Beach has repeatedly prioritized the interests of developers and the real estate industry over low-income renters. In part one, he discusses how the city's now-defunct redevelopment agency for decades shaped Long Beach by demolishing low-income housing and handing over millions of tax dollars to developers. Honestly, is it even a bedtime story if it doesn’t have sex workers, cigar-smoking cabals, and slush funds? Follow Long Beach Chisme on IG and TikTok @lbchisme and on Twitter at @LongBeachChisme. Show Notes and Sources Here.
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This week’s episode is giving extreme heat, sea level rise, and crony capitalism. James and Daniel are joined by local Sunrise Movement organizer Kenny Allen to talk about all the chisme around how Long Beach is failing to do enough to address the climate crisis. Drill in baby, drill in! Follow Long Beach Chisme on IG and TikTok @lbchisme and on Twitter at @LongBeachChisme. Show Notes Here.
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Y’all have been stopping us on the street and asking for it, so here it is: James and Daniel finally get to the bottom (or top) of Robert Garcia’s rise to political power. With the help of local criminal defense attorney and former Garcia staffer Stefan Borst-Censullo, we retell the highs and lows from Robert’s Cal State Long Beach days to his schmoozey cruise onto the City Council—plus all the chisme in between. This is a reaaaal juicy one so don’t miss it. Follow Long Beach Chisme on IG and TikTok @lbchisme and on Twitter at @LongBeachChisme. Show notes here.
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James and Daniel chisme on the question everyone is asking: How does Long Beach have a $3 billion dollar budget but still has a 16% poverty rate? Our intrepid hosts cover the ins and outs of how our local government works and who decides how we spend our tax dollars. Featuring Tom Morello, puka shell necklaces, and Osmosis Jones. Follow Long Beach Chisme on IG and TikTok @lbchisme and on Twitter at @LongBeachChisme. Show Notes Here.
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The story of regulating and fighting over cannabis is far from over--because of money, honey! James and Daniel dig into the “blood sport” of cannabis licensing, social equity, y más all while trying not to get sued. Follow Long Beach Chisme on IG and TikTok @lbchisme and on Twitter @LongBeachChisme.
LBChisme is produced and distributed by FORTHE.org.
Show Notes and Sources.
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CW: Sexual assault and violence against women.
Women of color have always been at the forefront of social change, and the fight for worker protections in Long Beach is no different—especially when the City Council refused to support them. This is the story of the time hotel workers took on the city's powerful hoteliers and political establishment... and won. From 20-year-old Renaissance Hotel worker Claudia Sanchez who suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and fell into a coma after working a 14-hour shift to the badass women who took their fight to TIME Magazine and the ballot box, our hosts are joined by local organizer Marlene Montañez who recounts the struggle to pass labor protections in the form of Measure WW in 2018.
Follow Long Beach Chisme on IG and TikTok @lbchisme and on Twitter at @LongBeachChisme.
Show Notes and Sources
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Do you know how cannabis was legalized in Long Beach? Do you have a feeling it’s a story filled with bureaucracy and political doublespeak? Well, you’d be right!
On our inaugural episode, Daniel and James trace the weird and wild history of cannabis legalization in Long Beach, involving police raids, recycle bins, ping-pong balls, ballots y más. But it all starts with a recent tweet by Mayor Robert Garcia.
Follow Long Beach Chisme on IG and TikTok @lbchisme and on Twitter at @LongBeachChisme.
Show Notes and Sources
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Chismosas, we got a little too blazed on 4/20 and forgot to drop this teaser of our first episode, which traces the history of cannabis legalization in Long Beach.
Cannabis Pt. 1: How Robert Garcia Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bong drops on May 1.
However, if you can't wait that long to get the goss you can listen to the episode now by signing up to support FORTHE on Patreon for as little as $2 a month. You'll get access to the podcast's Patreon-only feed where we'll be dropping bonus episodes and other exclusive content.
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Grab your concha and sit down for this chisme.
We’re launching a podcast that threads together the stories, politics, and people making up LA County’s biggest small town.
Long Beach Chisme will be hosted by local queer activists James Suazo and Daniel Speer. The pod will dive into local issues like labor, housing, police, environmental justice, and beyond. Get your chisme as James and Danial invite local activists and people-in-the-know to spill the frijoles.
First episode tracing the history of legalized cannabis in Long Beach drops May 1.
