Podcasts

‘Queer in the Valley’: New Local LGBTQ Podcast Premieres

Virtual Pride Month Celebration kicks off with talk of Stonewall, BLM

Rebecca Mennecke, photos by Andrea Paulseth |

TAKE PRIDE. Ron Bower (left) and Breana Stanley (right) recently started a new podcast that specifically focuses on LGBTQ issues.
TAKE PRIDE. Ron Bower (left) and Breana Stanley (right) recently started a new podcast that specifically focuses on LGBTQ issues.

Breana Stanley and Ron Bower were grabbing coffee at SHIFT Cyclery & Coffee Bar, talking about their plans for this year at the Chippewa Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center – where they act as president and vice president respectively – when Bower thought of a dazzling idea: Why not start an LGBTQ podcast?

“I am a huge podcast fan,” Stanley said, “so I was instantly for it.”

That’s when a stranger politely listening into their conversation gave them a recommendation for the name – Queer in the Valley – and it stuck.

“It’s kind of a raw podcast. It’s like you’re sitting, eavesdropping on our conversation.” –Ron Bower, Queer in the Valley co-host

This new podcast, which debuts at 11am on Saturday during an 11am-4pm virtual Pride Month Celebration, explores pop culture, current events, and all things LGBTQ. Their first episode, “The First Pride was a Riot,” focuses on the Stonewall riots and their relationship to the Black Lives Matter movement, encouraging those in the LGBTQ community to better allies to people of color.

“It’s kind of a raw podcast,” Bower said. “It’s like you’re sitting, eavesdropping on our conversation.”

That conversational approach is intentional, Bower said, as they don’t want the podcast to feel manufactured. Though they’re just starting out, they hope to invest in better technology as time goes on.

“We’re not editing geniuses,” Bower said, “but it’s pretty good . . . just a good, fun podcast.”

In every episode, the duo plan to break out Golden Girls clips and talk about them in order to break up the serious matter throughout the podcast. They hope to discuss topics like the COVID-19 pandemic, trans-exclusionary radical feminists (“TERFs”), and drag kings – “usually a forgotten art,” Stanley said.

They hope to keep it tailored to the Chippewa Valley, featuring interviews with local individuals who identify as LGBTQ.

“It’s going to be quite the adventure,” Stanley said.

For folks interested in getting involved, they can reach out to Bower at media@cvlgbt.org or through Facebook. The podcast will be available on Apple Podcast and Anchor, as well as at a link through their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/QueerInTheValley.