This week, a new roleplaying game gives folks in the workplace a chance to be a mythical Appalachian monster. Also, southeast Ohio’s Nelsonville Music Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary in June. We talk with the founder about what keeps people coming back. And, members of a Ukrainian Catholic church in Wheeling, West Virginia, make pierogies for their community every week. What makes them so good?
At least 20 states have laws banning transgender girls and women from competing on girls and women’s sports teams.
In this encore episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay looks at the battle over gender and sports. Kay talks with transgender athletes who say they want to be who they truly are as they compete on the playing field.
We hear from a state lawmaker who says the new laws are not anti-trans, but rather designed to protect girls and women from unfair competition playing against transgender athletes.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling allows a transgender girl in West Virginia to compete on her middle school girls team for now, while a state lawsuit continues.
This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council, The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation and the CRC Foundation.
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Taylor Edelmann was a transgender athlete when he was a student at SUNY Purchase. He played from 2009 to 2013. At first, Taylor competed on the women’s volleyball team. Then, he transitioned to the men’s squad.
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public BroadcastingNewspaper clipping of Taylor Edelmann has a high school volleyball standout.
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public BroadcastingTaylor Edelmann speaks with Us & Them host Trey Kay in the home where he grew up.
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public BroadcastingPatricia Rucker is a state senator for West Virginia’s 16th District. She co-sponsored a bill in 2021 that is now law in West Virginia. It bans transgender girls from playing on girls sports teams. Specifically, it limits girls sports to individuals “whose biological sex determined at birth is female.” The law applies to public school and collegiate athletes.
Credit: Will Price/WV Legislative PhotographyTerry Schilling is president of American Principles Project. He says they work to pass laws that “protect and strengthen families, and protect the innocence of children.” Schilling says American Principles Project has a SuperPAC that runs campaign ads for and against candidates based on their record for “protecting or hurting families.” Schilling believes there is a transgender agenda — which he calls “transgenderism” — and he believes that it’s hurting American families.
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public BroadcastingErica Smith and her Sweet Briar College field hockey and lacrosse teammate Ashley Maggiora are going through their summer workout.
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public BroadcastingErica Smith and Ashley Maggiora take a break after practicing lacrosse passing.
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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This week, a new roleplaying game gives folks in the workplace a chance to be a mythical Appalachian monster. Also, southeast Ohio’s Nelsonville Music Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary in June. We talk with the founder about what keeps people coming back. And, members of a Ukrainian Catholic church in Wheeling, West Virginia, make pierogies for their community every week. What makes them so good?
Monsters in the workplace? Maybe. Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh is developing a team building game using Appalachian cryptids like Bigfoot and the Flatwoods Monster. Inside Appalachia’s Mason Adams spoke with Jessica Hammer, associate professor and director of the university’s Center for Transformational Play, to learn more.
America’s foster care crisis is serious for nearly 400,000 kids who rely on the system. In the latest episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay looks into the shortage of licensed foster homes – and the wide range of agencies and nonprofit organizations who offer help navigating what can be a complicated system.
