Assigned Sex

About Assigned Sex

Black trans and genderqueer voices on identity, bodies, faith, and the systems designed to silence us.

Publisher

Assigned Sex

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

11 Feb 2026

Latest episode

19 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

16 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   19 Aug 2026

   16: Pauli Murray, In Their Own Words

   This episode traces Pauli Murray’s work, their private search for language around gender, and the history that has repeatedly tried to reduce them to one category.

2. 

   8 Jul 2026

   15: Ancestors, Altars, and Gatekeeping

   Shaun sits down with Chris, aka Conjure Boi, for a conversation about ancestral veneration,alongside the story of Crystal LaBeija.

3. 

   23 Jun 2026

   14: Creativity vs. Capitalism

   Shaun and Nandi Kayyy both spent a decade in tech, and both walked away changed. This episode gets into the layoffs, the burnout, the imposter syndrome, and why neither of them is rushing back, alongside the story of Wilmer "Little Axe" Broadnax, a gospel quartet legend who spent fifty years guarding a secret that could have ended his career.

4. 

   12 Jun 2026

   13: The Werq of Sylvester

   Sylvester James Jr. was born in Watts, pushed out of his church, and ended up homeless on the streets of Los Angeles before he became the Queen of Disco. This Pride Month episode traces his life from The Disquotays to the birth of house music.

5. 

   29 May 2026

   12: Spicy Work

   Lady came to sex work after years of watching intimacy get taken for free. This episode gets into the safety, the shame, the emotional labor, and why she calls it empowering, alongside the story of CeCe McDonald, who survived a hate crime and built a movement from inside a men's prison.

6. 

   16 May 2026

   11: PREA, Paulina Poe v. DOJ and Dee Farmer

   Paulina Poe v. DOJ and Dee Farmer are connected by a single claim: the government knew the risk and ignored it. This episode breaks down the lawsuit, PREA protections, and the legal standard that defines what prisons owe transgender women.

7. 

   29 Apr 2026

   10: Credit Where It's Due

   Shaun pulls up a chair with the ancestors, Sylvia Rivera, Bayard Rustin, Marsha P. Johnson, and Stormé DeLarverie, and asks the question that needs to be asked: whose names stay in rotation, and whose work gets acted like it never existed? In this episode of Assigned Sex, Unarchived, Shaun traces the pattern of how movement history gets sanitized , who gets put on the poster and who gets pushed to the margins to keep the story comfortable. Using archival footage of Sylvia Rivera (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb-JIOWUw1o) being booed off her own stage at the 1973 Christopher Street Liberation Day Rally, and Bayard Rustin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbGWhBhOBog) reading the demands of the 1963 March on Washington to a quarter of a million people, Shaun makes the case that erasure isn't an accident. Shaun also centers Stormé DeLarverie (https://archive.org/details/storme), the mixed-race drag king, Jewel Box Revue performer, and self-appointed guardian of Greenwich Village, whose archival voice runs through this episode. Shaun traces what it means that her legacy keeps getting reduced to a single disputed moment  while her years of mutual aid and community protection quietly disappear underneath it. The episode closes with a look at pinkwashing, corporations and governments leaning on LGBTQ+ imagery to appear progressive while the people who did the original work get pushed to the back, and with Shaun's four-part framework for actually honoring Black trans and gender-nonconforming labor: say where you got things from, put money behind it, change who you center, and stop pretending the proof isn't there. Follow Assigned Sex on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AssignedSex/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/assignedsex/) at @assignedsex, and subscribe to the Assigned Sex newsletter on Substack (https://assignedsex.substack.com/) for episode updates and extended conversations. Credits: Host: Shaun Dawson · Audio Engineer: Aaron Freeman · Producers: Shaun Dawson & Nandikayyy · Sound Design: Nandikayyy · Music: "Soul of Orleans" by John Lopke; "Street Gospel Hip Hop Piano – 75bpm – Bbmaj" by nnaudio (licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0). Sources for archival audio: — Sylvia Rivera, "Y'all Better Quiet Down," 1973 Christopher Street Liberation Day Rally NYC. LoveTapesCollective (Original Authorized Video). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb-JIOWUw1o (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb-JIOWUw1o) — also archived at: https://archive.org/details/l020asylviariverayallbetterquietdownoriginalauthorizedvideo1973gaypriderallynycjbjiowuw1o (https://archive.org/details/l020asylviariverayallbetterquietdownoriginalauthorizedvideo1973gaypriderallynycjbjiowuw1o) —  Bayard Rustin reads the demands of the March on Washington, August 28, 1963. American Archive of Public Broadcasting / WGBH. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbGWhBhOBog (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbGWhBhOBog) — full broadcast record at: http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-9707wn83 (http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-9707wn83) —  Stormé: The Lady of the Jewel Box (1987), dir. Michelle Parkerson. Available free via Internet Archive at: https://archive.org/details/storme (https://archive.org/details/storme) —  A Stormé Life. ITL Media. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgCVNEiOwLs (%20https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgCVNEiOwLs)

8. 

   15 Apr 2026

   9: Black Trans Joy

   Shaun sits back down with Nandikayyy to talk about Black trans joy, what it looks and feels like, how it lives next to grief, and what they wish they could've seen when they were younger, framed by a lesson on Audre Lorde.

9. 

   1 Apr 2026

   8: It Be Your Own People

   In this episode of Assigned Sex, Unarchived, Shaun moves from the murder of Islan Nettles and the “real woman” trope to Lil Duval, Boosie Badazz, Dave Chappelle, and the Black church, breaking down how toxic masculinity and bioessentialism push Black trans folks to the edge while still expecting them to ride for “the culture.” Shaun also shares a history lesson on Monica Roberts, the Houston‑born journalist and creator of TransGriot (https://transgriot.blogspot.com), whose reporting shifted how media covers Black trans women’s lives and deaths, and whose insistence that “Black trans women are Black women” offers a different way to imagine Black community. Follow Assigned Sex on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AssignedSex/#)and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/assignedsex) at @assignedsex, and subscribe to the Assigned Sex newsletter on Substack (https://assignedsex.substack.com)for episode updates and extended conversations. Credits: Host: Shaun Dawson (https://www.instagram.com/iamsdawson) ·  Audio Engineer: Aaron Freeman (https://www.instagram.com/randfreeman)· Producers: Shaun Dawson & Nandikayyy · Sound Design: Nandikayyy (https://www.instagram.com/nandikayyy)· Music: “Soul of Orleans” by John Lopke; “Street Gospel Hip Hop Piano – 75bpm – Bbmaj” by nnaudio (licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0). Sources for archival audio on Monica Roberts: – Monica Roberts “Call of Service” Lecture & “Courage to Act” Panel, PBHAserves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ap2jzha7CA&t=631s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ap2jzha7CA&t=631s) – “Prominent trans rights activist and journalist Monica Roberts dies at 58,” KPRC 2 Click2Houston: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-qafUZ5Yu0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-qafUZ5Yu0) – “Monica Roberts accepts a Special Recognition Award at the 2016 GLAAD Media Awards,” GLAAD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s81wzwM_Qa4&t=247s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s81wzwM_Qa4&t=247s) – TransGriot Weekly with Monica Roberts: https://www.youtube.com/@transgriotweeklywithmonica915 (https://www.youtube.com/@transgriotweeklywithmonica915) – “Monica Roberts HERO Testimony April 30 2014,” Houston Equal Rights Ordinance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKOCv0Di4K4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKOCv0Di4K4) Additional sources for archival audio: – “Diamond Stylz on Why Black Trans Rights Are Civil Rights,” The Root: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw6psXYXw6 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw6psXYXw6) - "Candace Owens Compares Being Trans to Rachel Dolezal Being Transracial," Hollywood Unlocked: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8vaVEe2Aww (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8vaVEe2Aww) - "Dave Chappelle on Transgender for 25 Minutes straight," Laugh Up Club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUERjJCw0tE&t (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUERjJCw0tE&t) - "Boosie Praises Trump for Blocking Transgenders from Women's Sports: No More Juwanna Manns! (Part 25)," Djvlad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuT-2tvnh_0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuT-2tvnh_0) - "Lil Duval & The Breakfast Club Roast The Real Sidechicks of Charlotte," Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lItBaZ3jc_E&t=485s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lItBaZ3jc_E&t=485s)

10. 

    25 Mar 2026

    7: Pay It No Mind

    Shaun sits down with Jade, an original Assigned Sex documentary cast member, to catch up on where she is now, how community and chosen family are holding her down, and her journey toward boundaries, faith, and trans joy, framed by a brief lesson on Marsha P. Johnson and Black trans history.

11. 

    18 Mar 2026

    6: Origin Story

    Shaun Dawson revisits Assigned Sex years after the 2019 short film, exploring how their lens as a Black genderqueer storyteller has evolved. The new podcast reimagines the project as an “unarchiving” of past work, honoring Black trans and queer lives through history, reflection, and conversation.

12. 

    11 Mar 2026

    5: Polyam, Black and Still Best Friends

    Shaun sits down with producer and creative director Nandi K. to unpack eight years of love, friendship, and creative partnership built on honesty and non‑monogamy, while honoring Black trans elder Miss Major Griffin‑Gracy as a model for chosen family, care work, and survival as strategy.

13. 

    4 Mar 2026

    4: Bralettes and Bust Downs

    Shaun sits down with Southern‑raised nonbinary barber and techie Chris to talk about battling the gender binary at work, growing up “both boy and girl” in a Black church home, and outgrowing labels like “stud” while still wanting to be fine, fly, and free. The episode also weaves in the legacy of Black trans trailblazer Sweet Evening Breeze and what it means to treat gender like something “Barbie‑smooth” you can accessorize, instead of a side you have to pick.

14. 

    25 Feb 2026

    3: They Wouldn’t Support Us, So We Figured It Out

    Shaun talks with Nigerian trans activist TomKola about growing up in a rigidly gendered, religious home, building Trans Nigerian Support, and finding trans joy in a country that pretends people like him don’t exist.

15. 

    18 Feb 2026

    2: What Makes the Man?

    Shaun and Kyrie get into Black masculinity, passability, and fetishization, and talk about what it really takes to make manhood your own as a Black trans man.

16. 

    11 Feb 2026

    1: Deliver Us From Gender

    Shaun joins TJ Chester, Nandikayyy, and an anonymous guest we’re calling “Lady” to explore spirituality, religion, and faith through the eyes of Black trans and genderqueer folks who grew up in church.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Spotify

4.5 / 5

2 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.