Breaking Tortillas Together: Race, Racism, Gender & Community

This week on Tranzmission, we’re holding space for a powerful conversation on race, racism, gender, and community

Host: Ez (he/him) w/ Special Guests Piece Kent (he/him) and Angel Ixchel Pineda (she/her)

This week on Tranzmission, we’re holding space for a powerful conversation on race, racism, gender, and community — centering the lived experiences of CALD trans and gender diverse people. We’re joined by Pierce Kent founder of gender affirming underwear brand Dys4ick and Angel Ixchel Pineda, local burlesque performer and comic, who share their stories, cultural perspectives, and reflections on navigating identity at the intersection of race and gender. Ez also reads a poem and a short essay from When Language Broke Open: An Anthology of Queer and Trans Black Writers of Latin American Descent, bringing in additional voices that speak to culture, identity, and resistance.

Together, we unpack how racism and transphobia show up — both in broader society and within LGBTQIA+ spaces — and explore conversations around whiteness, white fragility, and accountability in community reading from “What is white fragility and why white trans women adopt it” by Tara Knight. This episode also makes space for care, cultural connection, and what it means to build solidarity and repair. This is an honest, reflective, and necessary conversation about how we show up for each other and what it takes to create communities that are truly inclusive, supportive, and accountable.

🔗 If you'd like to listen back to the unedited episode - with the music - head to our On Demand website. And don't forget to follow our socials at Facebook and Instagram.

Timestamps and Links:

00:00 - Acknowledgement of Country
00:20 - Welcome to Tranzmission
01:26 - Community News and Events
04:47 - Pierce Kent from Dys4ick: Introduction
05:10 - Dys4ick collaboration w/ Sock Draw Heros
10:14 - Navigating Race and Gender Identity: Pierce - Māhū kāne, Ez - Charrúa
12:38 - Experiences of Racism
18:58 - Community: Supportive vs Exclusionary
19:46 - Ez Reads: When Language Broke Open: An Anthology of Queer and Trans Black Writers of Latin American Descent
21:03 - Polluted Imprints In A Neurodivergent Mind by [Julia Feliz[(https://medium.com/@jd.feliz)]
26:06 - Ocean Home by Zoë Gamell Brown
27:52 - Angel Ixchel Pineda: Introduction and Journey - AM to PM by Christina Milian
32:04 - Racism and Transphobia
42:31 - White Fragility: "What is white fragility and why white trans women adopt it” by Tara Knight
44:57 - White Women's Tears: Keeping the POC community down/silent
47:08 - Advice: Empathy, Accountability, Discomfort, and Listening
52:12 - Further Reading: Links in notes
53:05 - Action Statement: What's Next? What can you do?

Community News and Events Links

Holdsworth House Brisbane Closes Its’ Doors
KIKI's Drag Night @Season Three Friday 1 May, 7-11:30pm
Shelf Lovers’ Drag Storytime - May @Shelf Lovers (GHA cottage) Saturday 2 May 2-3PM

To continue engaging with the ideas explored in this episode, here are some recommended readings:

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression, Historical Trauma, and Politicizing Your Practice by Jennifer Mullan
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements by Charlene Carruthers
Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton

Other links:

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4ZZZ's community lives and creates on Turrbal, Yuggera, and Jagera land. Sovereignty was never ceded.

Produced and recorded by Ez at 4zzz in Fortitude Valley, Meanjin/Brisbane Australia on Turrabul and Jaggera Country and audio and cover image edited by Tobi for podcast distribution for Creative Broadcasters Limited.