The Parent Advocate Podcast

In this episode of the Parent Advocate, Lizette Trujillo and Stephen Chukumba chop it up about b’day parties, karaoke, SXSW and Stephen losing his voice.In Today’s Topics, we cover the United Nations rejecting the US’s attempts to redefine gender, the US Senate rejecting Trump’s SAVE Act, and 72% of Americans supporting protections for LGBTQ+ people.We interview the Hell Raiser Dad and "Dadvocate," Casey Deck, and talk testifying at the state capital, standing up for trans kids, and holding space for parents.In Allies & Assholes, we celebrate librarian Luanne James for refusing to uphold book bans, and drag the Portuguese Parliament for advancing three anti-trans bills.

In this episode of the Parent Advocate podcast, Lizette and I catch up on all the partying in the street she’s been doing, my kid losing school shirts and AirPods, and my final prep for SXSW.In Today’s Topics, SCOTUS weighs in on a California lawsuit about schools outing trans students, Missouri passes three trans bathroom bans out of committee under the cover of darkness, and NY AG Letitia James orders major medical centers to resume gender affirming care for youth.In this episode we're joined by Cora Davidson, a neurodivergent queer mom of two gender expansive kids, and get her kids' origin stories, navigating queerness and neurodivergence, and finding joy in small things.Finally, in Allies & Assholes, we celebrate Lyft for helping trans and nonbinary residents get around in Kansas, and drag Joe Rogan for using his platform to spew hateful disinformation to his massive audience.Stick around to the end for a '79 throwback with our outro song, Video Killed The Radio Star by The Buggles.

In this episode of the Parent Advocate, Lizette and Stephen talk Spain’s version of Burning Man, prepping for SXSW and showing up for families in distress. In Today’s Topics we cover Kansas stripping people of their licenses, Trump targeting trans people during the last State of the Union, and a study of over 3,000 trans athletes conclusively disproves the fallacy of their physical advantage.In Allies & Assholes we celebrate Brandi Carlile for her support of Minnesota, holding a concert that raised over $600,000 for families impacted by ICE. And we drag Dennis Quaid for his full throated support of our pedophile in chief.Stay until the end to listen to Brandi Carlile's haunting and powerful single "The Story".

In this episode of the Parent Advocate podcast, Lizette and I catch up on our respective weeks - hanging with transplants from New Jersey, following EU’s support of trans women, putting the finishing touches on The Dads, and Middlesex (by Jeffrey Eugenides).In Today’s Topics, we get into mass shootings (and not talking about he-who-shall-not-be-named), the GOP co-opting immigrant gold at the Olympics all while demonizing immigrants, and the Heritage Foundation’s president Kevin Roberts talking about taking gender-affirming care away from trans adults.This week’s Allies & Assholes celebrates the city of San Antonio for painting it’s sidewalks in Pride colors, and drag Redwood High School in California’s Central Valley for holding roundtables on civility instead of holding homophobic seniors responsible for bullying gay eighth graders.Make sure to stay to the end for Lift Every Voice and Sing by Melba Moore, featuring Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Anita Baker, Bebe Winans, Freddie Jackson, the Clark Sisters, Brian McKnight, Terri Lyne Carrington, Jeffrey Osborne, Bobby Brown, and Louis Gossett, Jr.

In this episode of the Parent Advocate, we catch up on Lizette’s V-Day Wuthering Heights in Spanish, Charlie XCX, Adidas, and deep conversations with the kids. In Today’s Topics we address the removal of the Pride flag from the Stonewall Monument in New York City, the GOP rep from Tennessee seeking an investigation into “gay sex acts” in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime show, and the European Parliament overwhelmingly passing a non-binding resolution affirming the full recognition of trans women as women.This week we speak to Evanston Mayor, Congressional candidate, and father of two trans and nonbinary kids, Daniel Biss and talk public service, staring down ICE, and finding hope in difficult times.In Allies & Assholes, we celebrate the Blade Angels, the 2026 USA Women’s figure skating trio for standing with the LGBTQ community, and drag USA Hockey for quietly banning trans athletes from participating on teams that align with their gender identities.

Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussion of sexual abuse of children by a caregiver. Please take care while listening and prioritize your well-being.In this episode of the Parent Advocate podcast, we catch up on The Dads (feature) world premier at SXSW, loony siblings, and wind phobias. In Today’s Topics we discuss the AMA’s recommendation to delay gender affirming surgeries until 19, Texas A&M eliminating its women's and gender studies programs, and the Pentagon threatening the Boy Scouts funding if they don’t eliminate their DEI programs.This week we interview Minnesota retreat alumni, Stephen Leidy, and talk bodies, lived experience, loss, and the importance of self-reflection. In Allies & Assholes, we give it up to our ally, and this year’s Super Bowl halftime performer, Bad Bunny, for standing ten toes deep with the LGBTQ+ community AND for planning the gayest halftime show ever! And on the flip side, we drag this week’s assholes, the GOP, for turning a hearing about ICE abuses into another referendum on trans people.

In this episode of the Parent Advocate podcast, Lizette and Stephen get into Don Lemon being arrested by the feds, Trump deporting LGBTQ+ asylum seekers to countries where they’ll be killed, and GLAAD reporting a nearly 400 % increase in anti-LGBTQ+ attacks during Pride this year.In Allies & Assholes, we celebrate the Boss, Bruce Springsteen for holding a benefit concert for Minneapolis and for releasing a powerful new protest song titled “Streets of Minneapolis.” We drag Tennessee Republican state representative and 2026 gubernatorial candidate, Monty Fritts, for suggesting execution for parents and caregivers of transgender kids and those who care for them.

In our 100th episode of the Parent Advocate, Lizette and I bring back their our first guest, Emmy award winning director, Luchina Fisher, and talk about her upcoming feature, The Dads, what life has been like since she first appeared on our show, and advice she has for parents navigating this moment.In Today’s Topics we cover the end of Tucson Pride, Nicki Minaj going off on a homophobic tirade on Don Lemon, and the Department of Education opening a Title IX investigation into a middle school because a trans student joined the co-ed cheerleading squad.Finally, in Allies & Assholes we celebrate MacKenzie Scott for her historic $45 million donation to the Trevor Project to support LGBTQ suicide prevention. And we drag Bill Donohue, president of Catholic League, for his unhinged screed about Renee Nicole Good, the mother killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis.

In this episode of the Parent Advocate, Lizette and Stephen air it out about oral arguments before the Supreme Court in Little vs Hecox and BPJ vs West Virginia, ICE murdering people in broad daylight, and LGBTQ+ Americans increasingly retreating “back into the closet” under Donald Trump’s second term. In Allies & Assholes we celebrate the Gender Liberation Movement for its amazing activism on their one year anniversary, and drag the University of Arkansas for rescinding its offer to hire Emily Suski as dean of its law school because of her pro-trans athletes stance.

In this special edition of the Parent Advocate podcast we look back at the pivotal Allies and forgettable Assholes of 2025. Show hosts Lizette and Stephen are joined by their unofficial executive producer, third co-host and Stephen's younger brother, Anthony, to review the 12 most impactful people, institutions and events of the last year.

In this episode of the Parent Advocate podcast, Lizette and I break down BPJ v. West Virginia, the Human Rights Campaign’s class action lawsuit against the Trump administration, and revelations from a former New York Times editor confirming that the paper’s anti-trans shift was deliberate and driven from the top.In Allies & Assholes, we give snaps—again—to Marlon Wayans for publicly and unapologetically supporting his trans son, and we call out the far-right, racist group Let’s Go Washington for advancing a ballot initiative backed by 400,000 signatures that would subject children to genital inspections as a condition for playing sports.

In this episode of the Parent Advocate, Lizette and Stephen unpack bombshells from the latest Epstein dump and examine how pervasive the depravity actually was, Nicki Minaj selling her soul at TPUSA, and the 60 Minutes episode on detainees at CECOT that the administration didn't want you to see. In Allies & Assholes, we celebrate D.L. Hughley for a surprising clap back at Nicki Minaj, and drag University of Oklahoma student, Samantha Fulnecky for being a genuinely awful person (and by extension the University of Oklahoma for capitulating to said awful person).

In this episode of the Parent Advocate Lizette and Stephen interview transgender youth activist, Brett, and talk being recognized for advocacy, elevating the voice of trans youth in political discourse, and the comfort of boring echo chambers. In Today's Topics, we discuss the FBI's bounties on trans advocates issued by Pam Bondi's DOJ, the House's passage of the latest anti-trans bill criminalizing doctors for providing gender affirming care to youth, and the latest HHS rule seeking to bar Medicaid and Medicare funds to hospitals providing gender affirming care. In Allies & Assholes, we celebrate NY AG Letitia James for standing with trans people, and drag RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz for treating their HHS presser like a reality-show segment.

In this episode of the Parent Advocate podcast, Lizette and Stephen catch up on her son's advocacy award, Stephen's leadership award, and disappointing news from Sundance. In Today's Topics we discuss the city of Arlington removing anti-discrimination protections for trans people, a Trevor Project survey which showed people whose pronouns are respected are less likely to attempt suicide, and the Republican attorney in Florida filing a RICO complaint against WPATH, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Endocrine society for promoting gender affirming care as evidence based science. In Allies & Assholes we celebrate Margaret Cho for calling out Pam Bondi and the DOJ, and drag bleach blonde bad built butch body George representative Marjorie Taylor Greene for introducing an amendment to funding discussions that would criminalize medical practitioners for providing gender affirming care.

In this episode of the Parent Advocate podcast, Lizette and Stephen talk Trump tariffs, impact grants and film festival aspirations. In Today's Topics, we get into Texas’ bathroom ban which recently went into effect, and two bills for Missouri's upcoming legislative session to ban social transition in schools, and banning all gender affirming care in the state - for minors AND adults. In Allies & Assholes we celebrate Cecilia Gentili posthumously for her work on Casa Cecilia an LGBTQ center in Harlem, and we drag Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego for his transphobic, misogynistic and sexist leaked texts.

In this episode of the Parent Advocate, Lizette and Stephen catch each other up on their respective holiday shenanigans, including Lizette wandering the streets of Spain like an oblivious horror movie victim, and Stephen throwing down in the kitchen. We talk Congressional Dems asking Pam Bondi to do her job and enforce federal hate crime statutes, the federal court's smackdown of the DOJ’s request for CHOP patient’s private medical records, and the continued erasure of trans people from federal programs and websites. In Allies & Assholes we uplift New York’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani for selecting trans rabbi and activist Abby Stein to his transition team. And we drag Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy for his campaign to investigate 18 states for permitting trans athletes to participate in girls sports.

In this episode of the Parent Advocate podcast Lizette and Stephen interview Ed Diaz, the owner of a construction business in San Antonio, father of a teenage trans daughter and subject in the upcoming feature-length follow up to the Netflix short, The Dads. Ed talks about the early years supporting his daughter, anti-trans legislation in Texas and the decision to move his family to Canada to protect his daughter.In Today's Topics we cover the normalization of violence towards women and girls on the right with the Epstein dump, New Zealand banning puberty blockers for youth based on the discredited Cass report, and the 213 House Democrats demanding that Speaker Johnson restore decorum on the House floor and stop allowing members to use dehumanizing slurs to refer to trans people.Finally, in Allies & Assholes, we highlight gay representative Robert Garcia for introducing a bill to protect the human rights of trans people internationally, and drag former National gymnast Jennifer Sey for trying to bribe female soccer players to turn against trans women.

In this special episode of the Parent Advocate, occasional third co-host, self-appointed executive producer, and younger brother Anthony Chukumba turns the table on show host Stephen to talk The Dads, advocacy, and support of trans people in the age of Trump. In addition, we launch the first ever Parent Advocate Spotify Playlist! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3BB6ZBmYJoQpFokvKFqgnC?si=U4ES_dYESk6J_6wrg4Et4A

In this episode of the Parent Advocate, Lizette and I catch up after a month apart and bring each other up to speed on all things parenting, advocacy, and current events. We talk homesickness on the 7 month anniversary of Lizette’s flight from the US, and celebrate the milestone of submitting the dads documentary to the Sundance and SXSW film festivals. In Today’s Topics, we cover Democratic strategists David Axelrod, James Carville and David Plouffe throwing trans people under the bus, the Department of Health and Human Services’ refusal to permit Medicaid or Medicare coverage for gender affirming care for transgender minors, and young Republicans exposed as racists, misogynists and homophobes in text messages. Finally, in Allies & Assholes, we celebrate Robert DeNiro for supporting his trans daughter Airyn, and drag JK Rowling for her transphobic response to Glamour UK’s cover celebrating Women of the Year.