Richie & John | July 8, 2025 | Fighting Bias & Celebrating Pride: Newsday Tuesday Gets Real

Richie Roy (: 00:00

Hello and welcome to another episode of Richie and John. It is Newsday Tuesday. We just had our Fourth of July weekend. For better or for worse. I don't know if your pets have emerged from under the sofa yet. Hopefully. And of course I'm here with my co-host John McMullen. John, how was your Fourth of July weekend?

John McMullen (: 00:22

Surprisingly quiet. live in a neighborhood that has a lot of Hispanic families that generally tend, I don't think they're really celebrating the independence of America, but they always love to blow off fireworks. And it's illegal to blow off any fireworks, you know, other than the ones that are in big shows that they set up from the various municipalities around here, because we're in the desert.

And, you know, it's summertime and things catch fire real easy in California, as you may have seen once or twice in your life. And it was just it was pretty freaking calm this year. And and, you know, the dog didn't get all freaked out and stuff. So that was good.

Richie Roy (: 01:06

Excellent. Well, that is great. ⁓ It was good. It was nice. There were some fun events up here in the Hudson Valley, some LGBTQ events that I went to that were really fun. So got to be around community on the 4th of July weekend.

John McMullen (: 01:09

Yeah. How is yours?

Yeah, I heard something about, you had some fun, up at Woodstock.

Richie Roy (: 01:28

Yes, there was a pool party up at Woodstock that was fun. There were hot dogs, of course, of various kinds, if you know what I mean. And there was also an orchard disco, which was at an apple cider orchard. And that was a fun time, too. So it was nice.

John McMullen (: 01:36

Knowing you, yes.

fun.

Richie Roy (: 01:47

And we have a bunch of stories for you this week, and might as well just start right in with the University of Michigan, where a lawsuit has been filed against the University of Michigan and its student-run Michigan Law Review by an anti-diversity group that claims that the journal discriminates against straight white men. The group, I know, poor straight white men.

John McMullen (: 02:07

Well...

How privileged people.

Richie Roy (: 02:11

The group's faculty,

alumni, and students opposed to racial preferences, or FASORP, alleges race and sex preferences illegally influence law review selections violating Title VI and Title IX. Quote, left-wing students and affirmative action devotees at Michigan Law School were unhappy with the merit-based selection process, the group claims in its federal complaint. Only 40 % of the members of the law review, they argue, are chosen based on scores.

The remaining 60 % go through a holistic review committee where applicants allegedly identify race, gender, and sexual orientation. Quote, the process is rigged to ensure a diverse number of women, racial minorities, and LGBTQ plus students, the group says. The university responded, quote, we remain committed to following the law and will vigorously defend against the allegations.

John McMullen (: 03:03

I have one question for you, Ritchie. Why does their acronym for their group sound like a burp?

Richie Roy (: 03:05

Mm-hmm.

Because they are, they're a burp. mean, this is, know, we've seen this before. The Trump administration has been poking around and harassing the Harvard Law Review for similar types of things. We're going to see more of this. And it's really under the current administration and the executive orders and everything else.

Anytime in any place that a straight white man is not chosen over anyone else, it is de facto suspect and is rife for a lawsuit. And essentially now, if you're hiring for a position or if you're putting together a law review, you have to assume that you're probably going to get sued.

if your choice isn't a straight white man.

John McMullen (: 03:58

What a load of bullpucky.

Richie Roy (: 04:00

Yeah. Yeah. And the presumptions on you to prove, you know, well, you know, look, we, we chose, we didn't take, cause you know, they're saying any, any consideration of race or gender or sexual orientation or anything is illegal and cannot be done at all. It can't even be a factor. can't be part of the calculus in any way. And so if you're

If you end up choosing a black woman for a job, then surely there must have been a straight white man that could have gotten it instead. So you probably were being illegal. mean, that's basically that's where it comes down to is the presumption that a straight white man should always be able to get the job or be on the law review or whatever.

John McMullen (: 04:41

Nonsense. Nonsense.

Richie Roy (: 04:45

And in.

John McMullen (: 04:46

It really makes

me mad as a white man. makes me mad.

Richie Roy (: 04:49

And it just, you know, again.

John McMullen (: 04:50

Cause I

hate to be lumped in with those knuckle dragging a-holes.

Richie Roy (: 04:55

Mm-hmm. Right. Right. And it's just, you know, it goes back to the thing where this, you know, there was the Supreme Court sort of held unanimously, you know, that discrimination claims, you know, basically I was discriminated against because I was straight as opposed to gay, are held to the same standard as those who have a minority status.

John McMullen (: 04:56

Yeah.

Richie Roy (: 05:15

But what that means is, mean, here we're just seeing this sort of weaponization of the civil rights process by people who are the demographic in power, straight white men, regardless of what they think and what their Reddit forums say and their podcasters cry about, you look at every statistic and they have the vast majority of positions at the top level of major corporations.

There's pay inequity if you aren't a straight white man. You go down the list. And so these grievances are just complete bullshit. But we're gonna see a lot more of this. This is not the last time we're gonna see one of these lawsuits.

John McMullen (: 05:55

Yeah, unfortunately. Well, you know, I consider myself something of an entrepreneur. I definitely have that entrepreneurial spirit and have had it since I was in high school, really. That was when I created my first business. And so this story kind of caught my attention. But LGBTQ plus entrepreneurs continue to face bias in venture capital, often hiding their identities just to secure funding. That was not the case for me the first time I went in front of.

venture capitalists. However, I can understand why it would be for a lot of people anyway. Seventy five percent of LGBTQ plus founders conceal who they are when pitching, according to CNBC in the award winning documentary, Show Her the Money. Half the featured founders and investors identified as LGBTQ plus women, a fact that emerged naturally. Quote, I felt.

Like I had to dress down, change my story, even my bio, one founder said. Others admitted to code switching to appear more fundable. Despite the emotional toll, these founders are building strong teams, creating jobs and outperforming expectations. Quote, backing LGBTQ plus founders isn't charity. It's good business, says Catherine Gray. She is the CEO of She Angel investors.

Still venture capital tends to reward familiarity often says straight white men and advocates are calling for change urging investors to expand their networks and support underrepresented innovators quote fund what you want the future to look like and I can tell you that was kind of part of what our pitch was when I was out pitching stellar networks back in the you know late 19

s into: 2000

Richie Roy (: 07:50

Yeah, it's the line that really stuck out to me is the rewarding familiarity. There's this, you know, idea that, well, I've been successful based on my demographics or I look around and all the rich folk I see are straight white men. So.

Obviously it's because they're straight white men that they became rich not you sort of the other way around it's this chicken and egg but yeah, I I

John McMullen (: 08:17

I tell you,

I'm sorry, I was just going to say, I remember one story in particular when we were pitching a group of venture capitalists at a investment group in New York City, actually in Rockefeller Center, and their name was Sunshine Pastore. And when I sat around this conference table with these guys, and there must have been, I don't know, six or seven of them,

who were there peppering me with questions. One of them asked me if I was crazy because I was talking with them about the fact that we created content. This is of course at an early time in streaming media for niche audiences. And they asked me, are you crazy? Because one of our concepts was doing a channel for women. And they said, that's more than half the population. That's not a niche market.

And I said, well, when you turn on talk radio, when was the last time you heard them talk about breastfeeding or going to the gym and having to be a working mom and all these other topics that I brought up to them. I'm like, this is at a time when there were a couple of relatively new websites that were really generating a lot of interest in.

you know, among women, women.com was one of them. And I forget what the other one was, but there were a couple of them that were very, very popular at the time and attracting millions of women in the United States to them. And I was like, if this is the case, then, you know, why are these sites, you know, as successful as they are? But, you know, they just they didn't get it because it wasn't them. It wasn't, you know, a reflection of what they see when they look in the mirror.

Richie Roy (: 09:57

Mm-hmm. Yeah. And, you know, I think it also goes because this is specifically an article about entrepreneurs facing bias and venture capital. And there's also venture capital is a particularly toxic place that really, I mean, I think they literally still think that like the size of your testicles determines how successful you're going to be. You know, there's this idea of kind of the alpha swagger venture capital dude.

And anyone who doesn't hew to that line is clearly not cut out to do business.

John McMullen (: 10:29

Yeah, well, I certainly met my share of them. Maybe I should have hauled my balls out.

Richie Roy (: 10:34

Yeah,

you know, and this even kind of reminds me sort of a related thing I saw on social media some

forget, a representative or someone who, you an elected official on the right, a Republican, course, a MAGA person, bemoaning the fact that ads on TV aren't white people and that they need to put ads on TV with white people in them again, because all the ads seem to have people of color and gay people in them now and real Americans are white.

ould be. And the fact that in: 2025

John McMullen (: 11:38

That is annoying. Yeah. Well, I'll tell you what, there is another story that's going to set the hair on the back of your neck on fire. And it's about a teacher who once again gets screwed over. And surprise, surprise, it's because he was teaching at a Catholic school. What's the story?

Richie Roy (: 11:42

Yeah.

Yeah, these stories. So a beloved, and it's always beloved, by the way, in these stories, a beloved Louisiana music teacher. Right, right.

John McMullen (: 12:03

Right. It's never a hated,

not a hated, lecherous old, you know, creep.

Richie Roy (: 12:12

Right, it's a beloved Louisiana music teacher who was fired after his husband's obituary revealed their marriage. Mark Richards, who taught at St. Francis Xavier for 21 years, says,

John McMullen (: 12:20

my god.

Richie Roy (: 12:24

Richards said school officials accused him of violating the morality clause in his contract.

John McMullen (: 12:30

Now wait

a minute, I thought that I had read that school officials knew pretty much all along that he was a queer.

Richie Roy (: 12:39

Right, mean, it may, that may have been the case, but again, it's once a parent flags it, then suddenly they feel a need to jump.

John McMullen (: 12:48

So were

parents up in arms about this guy and wanted him gone?

Richie Roy (: 12:52

Who knows a parent flagged the obituary? It could have just been one jerk. But I don't think it's the whole story.

John McMullen (: 12:56

not the whole school, because I think I had read that parents

and that there were more than: 1500

Richie Roy (: 13:09

Correct. Yeah, no, right. That's the majority of people, probably most of the teachers there, many of the administration, the parents, I'm sure the students who love this teacher think that this is bullshit, but it's a knee-jerk reaction based on...

John McMullen (: 13:22

It's

just like the greater America where the majority no longer rules.

Richie Roy (: 13:27

Right. You know, it's, it's, we've seen these stories for many years, you know, the, the person who works at the Catholic school before it used to be actually worked anywhere, you know, and, we may be headed back in that direction, but, know, the Catholic school teacher who didn't just sort of didn't talk about home life because they were gay or lesbian. And then someone drops the dime and the school dismisses them summarily.

I would, you know, the number of these stories that happen to be music departments or choral directors, dear Catholic churches and schools, your music people are all gay, just to let you know.

John McMullen (: 14:04

Yeah, I was just going to say, you know, like the person who's playing the organ in a church is generally somebody who is an expert at playing with organs.

Richie Roy (: 14:13

Right, well you know, you have to be lighting the loafers to tap all those little petals at the bottom so quickly.

But yeah, it's a sad story. No one wins here. Literally no one wins. The students don't have a teacher who they love for many years. The parents are upset because children's education will be made worse because a good teacher isn't teaching that anymore. That teacher is out of a job. Also, it's of shortly after losing his husband. So what a piece of shit the school administration is.

John McMullen (: 14:48

Yeah, probably 33 years ago, I actually dated a guy who was a not a school teacher, but he he did play the organ in his church. And he was telling me about he would always go to these conferences with the music directors from all these church choirs and so on, because it was always a big old gay confab. you know, and I'm just like, this is crazy. You know, I mean,

Richie Roy (: 14:58

Mm-hmm.

Right.

John McMullen (: 15:14

And they're all running around pretending to not be who they are back at that time. was, course, back in like the 1980s, 90s. it's so different than the world we live in today. And yet here we are going back into those kinds of scenarios. And I think people are...

Richie Roy (: 15:21

Mm-hmm.

John McMullen (: 15:42

going to find themselves going back into the closet again because of the fear that they have around all the shenanigans that are going on in our government and in other countries around the world as well.

Richie Roy (: 15:54

Right. speaking of which, China. Yeah. What's what's going on across the Pacific Ocean, John?

John McMullen (: 15:54

like China.

Well,

China has intensified its crackdown on female writers of gay male erotica. Yeah, they have arrested at least 30 authors, most of them women in their 20s since back in February. And the popular Dan May or boys love genre.

once a booming entertainment trend is now the focus of a government campaign to quote, clean up the internet in China. Writers are being charged under China's pornography laws for quote, producing and distributing obscene material, which includes descriptions of gay sex and lawyers say that heterosexual content rarely receives the same kind of treatment. Of course not. One author told the BBC quote,

A phone call shattered my dreams. Authorities have reportedly arrested 50 writers in one province and questioned many more. Social media posts with the hashtag, hi Tang authors arrested reached 30 million views before being censored. Critics argue that the crackdown targets women's expression and quote, it's men who make the rules in a particular society. One way bow.

user wrote, some families say that police are extorting riders for cash to avoid prosecution.

You know, it seems like we have an illness that is maybe spreading as fast as COVID did around the world with regards to all this faux BS around morality and adult content. We were just talking last week about what's going on in the crackdown in the United States towards adult content creators.

back in the, what was it, the: 1990

Richie Roy (: 18:00

Okay.

John McMullen (: 18:15

It is just one more example of hypocrites who probably are going home and pulling out the smut, but have control in their land and able to, you know, infringe on other people just so that they can exercise their control over other people. Live and let live.

Richie Roy (: 18:34

It's, mean, it is really chilling to hear this story because, you know, this is, again, this is gay male, this is story, right? These are stories, you know, this is, you know, it's fiction, writers of fiction, you know, probably I imagine posting their fiction online. You know, this is just basically, I think,

John McMullen (: 18:45

Right. It's fiction.

Richie Roy (: 18:57

the existence of a storyline that there are gay men who are either in romantic relationship or a sexual relationship, that that alone is sufficient enough for it to rise to the level of being banned. And, you know, I think that's why we have to... Right.

John McMullen (: 19:15

You can't even think it. know, eventually

they're just going to have some sort of chip that's going to read whatever's in your mind at the moment. and God help you if there's something a little freaky.

Richie Roy (: 19:28

Right, just, yeah, mean, query what would happen if we all had Elon Musk's Neuralink chips in our head already. What would that look like? But yeah, it's, and we're gonna see efforts to kind of push the envelope on this stuff in every way in this country as well. You know, we talked to...

John McMullen (: 19:44

You know what, I'd like to

see Elon Musk's head turn into a cow chip.

Richie Roy (: 19:51

couch. So the thing that this story did bring up, apart from just the sort of the chilling of speech aspect, is I will from I am from time to time a consumer of gay male fiction erotica myself. And one of the things that is interesting is a lot of it in the US and it seems like in China as well.

a lot of it is written by women and it's really it's for a an audience of women as well and it's really interesting because when you read the stories it's it's like this kind of bizarro world gay male experience because as a gay male i'm like this is really not accurate because it really focuses on some on some aspects of

of this sort of homosocial or gay relationship that I think a gay male writer would generally not focus on. A lot of it is very much about many of the stories that I've read. I not being completely universalizing here, but there will be like four chapters about longing, basically longing for the other person.

and then eventually then they will finally meet and there's a lot of tears and a lot of like, you know clothes rent, you know, rending clothes in in sorrow and in whatever and then there's this kind of like gauzy transition past the sex and then back to like more of the emotional component

John McMullen (: 21:19

Maybe we should

put on a conference for female writers of male erotic fiction.

Richie Roy (: 21:24

Maybe. But I think it's part of it's I think because in the US too, I think a lot of the audience is women who are interested in seeing men portrayed outside of the sort of heterosexual norm of, you know, an either emotionally unavailable or emotionally not interested character. And the way to do that is to import that into a gay male scenario, apparently. So.

John McMullen (: 21:48

Yeah, tell us about a story out of Florida because I understand somebody is not going to jail that the cops tried to put there.

Richie Roy (: 21:56

Mm-hmm. Which is, yeah. So we got a good story out of Florida. A Florida judge has dismissed charges against Marcy Reintgen, a 20-year-old trans woman who was arrested for using a women's restroom at the state Capitol. Reintgen was protesting Florida's 2023 law banning trans people from using restrooms that don't match their sex assigned at birth. Prosecutors missed the deadline to file formal charges, leading the Leon County judge to throw out the case.

I know that you know in your heart that this law is wrong and unjust," Reingan told lawmakers before her arrest. Quote, I know that you know that I have dignity. That's why I know you won't arrest me. But two officers did arrest her after she used the restroom, saying she was, quote, sassy and might do it again.

John McMullen (: 22:41

Ha ha ha.

Richie Roy (: 22:43

Yeah, right. And later,

John McMullen (: 22:44

And this,

this was in the legislative building, right? Yeah. So this was in Tallahassee and she did it at the legislature. She was really, you know, she was cruising for a bruising and I don't mean that in a bad way. She was definitely challenging them to go ahead and you do your best, but they still managed to F it up.

Richie Roy (: 22:48

I believe that's correct, yeah. ⁓

She was.

Yeah.

Yep, Reichen later described her time in a men's jail and the online abuse that she received. Quote, I'm somebody's child, she said in one emotional video. What's wrong with you? What's wrong with you indeed? You know, I feel like that needs to, you know, maybe on the Statue of Liberty.

Because obviously the give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses is passe because the US isn't interested in that. Maybe they should just change the etching on there to just say, what's wrong with you? Because I asked that question about this country like 700 times a day. The wanton and gleeful responses of cruelty towards other people from the right.

to me, it is both constant and it is breathtaking and it's demoralizing. ⁓

John McMullen (: 23:55

You know, it really

is. I've been thinking that a lot as I've been reading some of these responses that people have to somebody who will post, know, some tragic story about, know, another immigrant who is being, you know, maltreated or mistreated, you know, by our law enforcement, federal law enforcement people or our military in their quest to do Donald Duck's, you know,

dirty work and the fervor with which people get behind this stuff and are, you know, people who've never been impacted negatively. And really, if you look at it, probably are people who have benefited in many ways from the labors of those people who are now being terrorized.

Richie Roy (: 24:23

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, and you see it a lot in the anti-immigration stuff, again, glee over people who are innocent being sent to a jail in South America with no way to get back, people thinking that's hilarious and that that person either deserved it or, you know, even if they didn't, well, who fucking cares? You know, own the libs, cry more libs.

You know, they're down there and they're not coming back. That's really, and you see the stuff, you know, in that regard, you see things like, you know, when Biden, you know, had a diagnosis of cancer and everyone from the president on down said, well, we're not actually that sorry, you know, screw him, hope he dies from cancer soon. Like just the, the, the kind of inhumanity and sort of psychopathy that is just rampant on that side. You know, there are pictures of

people with MAGA hats standing in front of the alligator Alcatraz sign that they've put up on the highway, taking pictures because they can't wait to show that they are down there in support of a concentration camp in a swamp.

John McMullen (: 25:54

Yeah, mean, you know, I don't want to tell people who are, you know, people of faith what they should or should not believe. But I will tell you that if there is, in fact, a God and if there is, in fact, a judgment day at the end.

I can't imagine it's gonna be a great trip for some of these people.

Richie Roy (: 26:17

Right? you know, depending on how many years from now it is, but I imagine that someday there will be something akin to the Nuremberg and truth and reconciliation that took place in Germany after World War II, where a lot of these people are going to have to reckon with the fact that they, by hook or by crook, whether boiled in a pot like a frog or, you know, by choice, ended up...

John McMullen (: 26:31

Please.

Richie Roy (: 26:42

on the side of inhumanity, murder, injustice, cruelty, and just lack of humanity. So folks are going to have to deal with that at some point or another.

John McMullen (: 26:52

It's really mind boggling, especially people who claim to be pro-life people. You know, that that to me is the biggest batch of hypocrites that exist. know, as long as you're a wad of goo or, you know, a bag of baby bones coming out of the womb, we care about you until you actually get here. Once you're here, you know, you're a problem.

Richie Roy (: 26:58

Mm-hmm.

John McMullen (: 27:20

It just defies all logic.

Richie Roy (: 27:24

Yeah, it defies logic. it's just, again, it goes to this cruelty, you know, that the current budget, slashing things like SNAP or school lunches. And then again, people on social media or people on Fox News, whatever, being gleeful about it, being like, well, those kids, maybe those kids should go pick up a shift at McDonald's or, you know, well, maybe, you know, little Billy should tell his mom to get off her ass and work. You know, just...

Is there really any reason to be like that? I guess you have to because that's the only way you can justify being on the side of making kids go hungry is to make it a joke.

John McMullen (: 28:00

Yeah, I

saw a story the other day. I it was earlier today that the New York Post had published something that, you know, had people responding to it with with glee that somebody had lost their job because they had commented on a article that that the Post had done, you know, with regards to the flooding that's gone on down in Texas.

Guadalupe River and that, you know, somebody had said, you know, this is, you know, this is nature's way of, you know, kind of the karma thing. And and I know a lot of people who feel that way. And. You know, and they're happy, these people are gleeful that somebody lost their job for saying that. I'm like.

You know, why?

What are you doing? You know, it's kind of like when, you know, Donald Trump made the comment several years ago in his first administration, you know, about, well, there are some good people in that group in Charlottesville, Virginia, you know, among those racists. And it just boggles the mind. You know, just people. I don't get it. Americans.

are the worst at it, I think, but you know, it exists. The same thing exists all over the planet. it's just the fact that people root for the downfall of other people. It's an illness. It's a mental illness.

Richie Roy (: 29:28

home.

It's a mental illness and it's absolutely one that has been long stoked by the conservative flank of the Republican Party and the hard right, because it goes back to something we've talked about before, which is a very simple and incorrect way of thinking, which is zero sum. So, you know, if someone, and if you take that to its logical extension, if someone who you don't like gets hurt, then

That means you feel better. You know, it's literally that kind of that simplistic thinking. ⁓

John McMullen (: 30:02

Why does somebody

else have to lose for you to win? You know?

Richie Roy (: 30:07

It's fallacy, but it's one that they've bought into 100 % on that side.

John McMullen (: 30:12

Yeah, you can only have winners and losers. It can't be, you know, that everybody can, you know, be successful in their own right and live a happy life. By the way, I have been to prides all over the world and a lot of them, you know, working with a gay network and, you know, so on and so forth, going out to market our wares.

But one place I have never been to pride has been to a department or a big box store. And when I saw this story come across our desk, I was completely amused and I thought right on and the reaction to the retailer, I thought, or from the retailer themselves, I thought was really great as well. Tell us about that.

Richie Roy (: 31:02

Yes, so a pride parade inside of an Ikea store has gone viral on TikTok, delighting customers and drawing praise online. The video posted by user kenyavargus98 shows small floats rolling through an Ikea as people cheer and dance to Lady Gaga's Born This Way. The caption reads, quote, this caught me off guard, y'all.

The video has over a million likes and even got a reaction from Drag Race judge Michelle Visage, who commented, quote, yes. IKEA Norway responded, quote, we are proud to stand for love, equality, and being who you are always. IKEA US also reaffirmed its support, announcing pride sponsorships in DC, San Francisco, and the Twin Cities, and pledging up to $50,000 from sales of its rainbow Storstoma bag to the Trevor Project.

An Ikea spokesperson said, quote, we are proud to support the LGBTQIA plus community in an authentic way that encourages folks to embrace their space and make a difference.

John McMullen (: 32:06

Yeah, this is a feel good story, and I'm really glad this is how we're ending up this edition of Newsday Tuesday. I have to tell you that we spent a lot of time earlier this year talking about Robbie Starbuck and his behavior with regards to DEI and all the nonsense that has happened since the second Trump administration took office and their push to eliminate diversity.

equality or equity and inclusion programs in corporate America. And lately, I've been seeing a lot of posts on social media about companies that are doing just the opposite now. They're they're reiterating their support for our community and that they're not going to kowtow to this knee jerk BS that is happening as a result.

of the current U.S. administration. And that's a really good feeling. And, you know, I really I'm still disappointed that the human rights campaign, which ran the or runs the corporate equality index has not been, in my opinion anyway, has not really been out there on the front lines doing something to turn the tide on this. And I think it

it would really behoove us to ask our listeners and viewers to drop us a line. You can send it to info at richieandjohn.com. That's R-I-C-H-I-E-A-N-D-J-O-H-N dot com. Info at richieandjohn.com. And we'd like to know, do you work for a company? I don't care if it's a big company or a small company, especially if they're accessible on the internet.

and or do commerce online so that it can be, you know, beyond just the borders of your town. I'd like to hear from companies or people who work for companies that are still doing the right thing, that are giving benefits, that are that are standing up for the ideals that we hold near and dear to our heart, that we fought and worked very hard for for a long time. And I think if we could get people to

you know, send in the name of the companies that are doing this, the companies that maybe they do commerce with that they know are doing the right thing, that we should have a page on our website where we put their logo and their name and their link to their websites and so on. So it's kind of our own equality index and have that available as a resource for people who want to support those.

kinds of businesses, because I know I certainly do.

Richie Roy (: 34:46

Absolutely. I think that's a great idea. I would really like for people to let us know. Yeah, if you've felt support from the place you work, a place that you frequent. And yeah, that would be, I was just talking with someone actually at the Orchard Disco this weekend, someone who we might have on the show soon about ways to kind of leverage not only queer or LGBTQ plus owned business.

but also to tap into a really important thing, which is allyship. So again, a company does not need to be owned by a gay person to be supportive of gay people. And we need to keep track of who those companies, what those companies are. So please do write those in. And I think we'll try to start getting that information cobbled together.

John McMullen (: 35:38

Well, I hope you have a great week and I know that we're working on a number of things to fill our substantial Saturday episodes with in the weeks ahead. So I hope you'll come back and check us out online and tell your friends and family about us and invite your allies to the show as well. And we appreciate your doing your part in spreading the word so that we can get out there and

make an impact for our community. again, if you'd like to send an email to us, info at Richie and John, you could also write to either one of us individually. It's just our first names at Richie and John dot com. So Richie at Richie and John dot com or John J.O.H.N. Richie is R.I.C.H.I.E. We would love to hear from you. And I appreciate your hanging out with us today. Richie, have a great week.

Richie Roy (: 36:30

Alright, you too. Talk to you soon.

John McMullen (: 36:32

Thank you.