Bad Ass Babe Amy Shoemaker: Queer. Artist. Pastor.

August 13, 2019August 15, 2019Leave a comment

By Rebekah Lodos

Dancer, artist, spiritual coach, wife, pastor—the list of roles Amy Shoemaker moves in seems endless. A Kansas City native, she got her degree in theater from Drake University and attended seminary at Pacific School of Religion, Berekely, before making her home in San Francisco for 10 years. There, she worked odd jobs in tech, established a spiritual direction practice and met her wife, Carly. But her dream was always to be an artistic minister; a Christian leader who incorporates movement, dance, and improvisation into spiritual formation. She found that opportunity last year at Broadway Church, one of only 20 (out of 2,000) Kansas City churches that are affirming of queer leadership. She and Carly have been here for almost three years.

We spoke with Shoemaker about her journey, her worship, and what it’s like being a queer, female pastor in Kansas:

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Black Healthcare Coalition and Humana partner to bring healthcare access into the KC community in unlikely places

July 1, 2019January 16, 2023Leave a comment

By Emily Park

When Janice Willis first opened her beauty salon in south Kansas City over 25 years ago, she couldn’t afford health insurance. Eventually, she found a plan she could afford. But even then, Willis says she was scared to go to the doctor because she still had to pay so much out of pocket.

Today, Willis is on a better insurance plan with her now-husband, but she remembers all too well what it was like not having access to affordable healthcare. And healthcare — or rather lack of access to it — is a topic that comes up frequently as Willis gets to know her salon clients.

“When you’re not married and you’re self-employed or you’re just not able to afford [healthcare], you’re just trying to make ends meet,” Willis says. “Believe this, people want to go get checked out but they just don’t have the money to do it.”

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Is Your Child Texting About Reproductive Rights?

June 24, 2019January 16, 2023Leave a comment

By Trevan McGee

With the recent abortion bans in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Utah, and Missouri — y’know, the cool states everyone loves to visit — reproductive rights have become a popular topic of discussion, spanning generations, genders, and ethnicities. Reproductive rights are trending harder than Keanu Reeves and for all the wrong reasons, but what do the kids think? Here’s a quick guide to help decipher what your kids are saying about reproductive rights:

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Poems from the Heart

May 16, 2019January 16, 2023Leave a comment

By Lindsay Bell

Go Ahead and Leave a Bruise

help me choke
on the shame of it all
please
fill the space
between these teeth
with prying hands
and coerce these lips
to bring your grace

i am the siren
are are my muse
this place in my heart
is reserved for you

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Badass Babe Sav Rodgers: Queer Stories on Film

April 30, 2019October 10, 2020Leave a comment

By Kelcie McKenney

When Sav Rodgers walks into a room, he instantly fills it with radiating, invigorating energy. Always wearing a baseball hat—often repping KC on it—he’ll wrap you up in a rush of ideas, complex conversation, questions about who you are, how you’re feeling, what you’re thinking, and why you’re here. At 24 years old, Rodgers is a force to be reckoned with—enough so that you often forget just how young he is.