Episode 73: In Pursuit of Pride & Progress — An Interview with Rocky Intan (Repeat)

Dialogika Podcast

We don't have a new episode for you this week, so we are repeating one of our most popular episodes last year — our conversation with Rocky Intan on LGBTQ identity, Pride, and true progress. ------- In this episode, Stephanie is still out, so Swedian talks to a longtime friend and supporter of Dialogika, Rocky Intan, who is currently getting his Masters in Public Policy at Columbia University. This conversation was originally planned for June, as it was Pride Month, and we talk about Rocky’s experience as an out gay man living in America right now, comparing it to the experience back home in Indonesia. We talk about the power & importance of Pride, not just as a celebration of one’s identity but also as a way to make visible the marginalized LGBTQ community. Rocky shares the nuances of his coming out experience, including the financial, social, and relational implications. From there we talk about how we cannot take for granted that liberals and progressives are necessarily as open-minded about the LGBTQ community as we think they are, and that if we are true progressives we need to fight for a society that is equal, open, and just for all — not just for the heteronormative.