Brendan Perperian prides himself in being the host of Wave Your Flag, a podcast he dubs the "official podcast for the LGBT twinks, icons, and divas of New York State." WAMC's Sajina Shrestha spoke with Perperian about the importance of highlighting queer voices in the Capital Region, especially in the current political climate.
Shrestha: Tell me more about how Wave Your Flag started. What's its origin story?
Perperian: Wave Your Flag started because we wanted to, my partner and I, bring more representation to the queer community throughout the capital region as well as New York state as a whole. Our main focus is the capital region, but to be on a local level, having that representation, I feel, is very important. A lot of change is usually made at the local level, on a lot of social issues, having a place where queer people, artists, business owners, drag queens, you name it, can have that voice.
Shrestha: What does that representation on the local level in Capital Region look like?
Perperian: In the Capital Region, there's a very big queer scene here, and there hasn't always been a place for that scene to have its own voice. It's been very disconnected, I would say, throughout history. And I think having a place where you can sit down with these people and have conversations so people understand that they're more than just maybe a drag queen or an artist, is very important to hear some of that backstory. Hear them talk. If you're a drag queen, lip syncing or if you're a business owner, running your business or making your art, it gives a more human side to people you might think are unapproachable, and if you are in the closet young, having that to listen to can be very important.
Shrestha: And tell me more about just creating that sense of community and creating a voice for the community. Why is it important that people look beyond just a drag queen as a performer or a business owner as just somebody who's operating their business?
Perperian: You know, as a society, I think we've lost a lot of empathy, and I think having a more human understanding that everyone's a person is very important nowadays, especially with all of the attacks and laws that are anti drag going on and anti LGBT. Plus, I think it's very important to have these conversations, so maybe someone who is homophobic might listen in and realize, ‘You know what, these are people too.’
Shrestha: Do you have a favorite moment as you're interviewing someone that like, when you do it, you're like, ‘This is why I do it.’
Perperian: I think my favorite moments are the ones where it maybe, like, goes off script a little, and we're all just laughing and giggling, and we're having our little kiki moment, and maybe that's my favorite moments. I do love, I do love when Queens love to reveal stuff on the podcast, like they'll announce special announcements. And that's always exciting to have, of course. So, I love those moments as well. But, yeah, it's very fun hosting the podcast.
Shrestha: Those are all the questions I have at the moment. But is there anything else you want to bring up, or any important points you think people should know? Not just about the podcast, but also about the importance of giving a community a voice.
Perperian: Well, I think again, like in today's age, it's very important to have that voice, even at the local level, where you do see the most change happen. You can't just see stuff happening on the national level and say, ‘Oh, it's too big of an issue. I'm not going to do anything to combat the homophobic hate and vitriol that's going on.’ I think we got to look at the local level and say, ‘Hey, I can't make change federally. I can't make change nationally, but I can give people a voice, and I can give them a place to share their story and make sure that people are tuning in and listening.’ And that is the change that makes the most difference.
Shrestha: Is the show your way of creating change locally?
Perperian: Yeah, I think I use the show as my way of ‘I'm going to make a difference in the world.’ And, I don't care if five people see it, or 1000 I know that I'm getting through to someone.
That was WAMC's Sajina Shrestha in conversation with Wave Your Flag's Brendan Perperian.
