ILV proudly presents the first in a series of panel discussions on Queer Liberalism, cohosted by our partner organization, the online magazine Queer Majority. QM’s Editor-in-Chief Rio Veradonir will moderate. Each discussion will feature a panel of prominent and emerging thinkers with relevant experience and expertise. The goal of the series is to recenter queer discourse on liberalism, by critiquing anti-liberal trends in the movement and modeling a more moderate, reformist approach. After each discussion, there will be a live Q&A.

Panelists:

WILFRED REILLY

Wilfred Reilly is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Kentucky State University, and the author of the books Taboo: 10 Facts You Can’t Talk About, Hate Crime Hoax, and Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me. He is currently sketching out a book looking at the transgender, gender-fluid, and Otherkin communities and the idea of flexible identity.

Reilly has published pieces in Academic Questions, Commentary, Quillette, National Review, the Wall Street Journal, and a number of other journals and magazines. His research interests include international relations and the prevention of war, contemporary American race relations, and the use of modern quantitative methods to test “sacred cow” theories such as the existence of widespread white privilege. Off work, he enjoys dogs, archery, basketball, Asian cooking, and beer.

DR. IONA ITALIA

Iona Italia is Managing Editor at Quillette, where she is also a podcast host. Iona is the author of two books: Anxious Employment (a study of eighteenth-century essayists) and Our Tango World (sociological and philosophical musings on dance and life). She holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from Cambridge University and publishes weekly creative non-fiction pieces on her Substack, The Second Swim. Her background includes a decade in academe and a 12-year career as a tango dancer and teacher. Today, Iona lives with great friends in Sydney. She loves dancing, running, choral singing, chess, dogs, and sci-fi.

Ben studied creative writing at Columbia University. His first book, Cis White Gay, about his experience in LGBT activism and Ivy League academia, is forthcoming. He lives with his husband in New York. You can read more of his work at benappelwrites.com.

Jimmy Bangash is a Psychotherapist who grew up in a traditional Pashtun family in the U.K. He is a Spokesperson for the Council of ExMuslims of Britain, where he works to further the human rights of people who have left Islam.

Phil Illy is the author of Autoheterosexual: Attracted to Being the Other Sex, a book about the sexual orientation behind the most common type of transgenderism. He holds degrees in physics and mechanical engineering and lives in Portland, Oregon, where he is best known for his skill at handstand twerking and juggling hula hoops.

Moderator:

RIO VERADONIR
Rio Veradonir is a producer, writer, and community organizer. Rio is Assistant Director at The Bi Foundation, an endowed nonprofit that assists in academic and scientific research, engages in public outreach and education, produces and publishes original content, and provides tools for international community building. Rio is the creator and Editor-in-Chief of Queer Majority, an influential online magazine which takes a liberal (as opposed to critical) approach to LGBT and related issues. He is on the Advisory Board of Project Liberal, a nonpartisan PAC which supports liberal candidates and seeks to influence all political parties to liberalize. He’s also a producer at Bi.org, the world’s largest bi resource and Lead Organizer of amBi.org – an international social club with chapters on all six inhabited continents. An outspoken advocate for sexual and romantic liberty, Rio is both married to a woman (children’s lit. curator Talia Squires) and in a lifelong relationship with his boyfriend (activist and translator Damian Emba).