Episode 8: Fat Trans Activist Shane Brodie’s Nude Protest of the Trump INDECLINE Installation

shanebrodie, fat, transWhat do you do when you wake up one morning to find that the whole country is mocking a body like yours? If you’re Shane Brodie, you tell people how hurt you are. And then you do something about it.

Shane Brodie is a fat trans man who lives a quiet life as an artist in Berkeley, California. That morning in August when the Trump statues showed up, Shane saw social media buzzing about the one that occupied San Francisco’s Castro district for a full day. He noticed what a public spectacle it had become—people were traveling from all over the Bay area to take selfies and make rude gestures with it—and he noticed how the features people were mocking looked remarkably like his own. So the next day Shane did something that took every ounce of his courage. He went down to the Castro, stood on the spot where the Trump effigy had been glued to the pavement, and took off his clothes.

Shane joins me on the show today to talk about his protest, the public reaction, and how one shy person can stand up and push back.

You can see photos and video from Shane’s protest on a special Fat Lip guest page at http://thefatlip.com/guests/shane-brodie/ and please, please follow Shane on social media and share his message. Find him on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sbroad.eye and on twitter: https://twitter.com/ShaneHBrodie and see the (NSFW) video of his protest here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ShaneBrodievideo1.webm

The music in this episode is by Starcrusher, whose new album, Goodbye Halcyon Days is now available! Go to http://cstarcrusher.bandcamp.com to buy your copy.