An Indiana councilman who ‘came out’ as a Native American lesbian pushes back on calls to resign. Indiana councilman Ryan Webb still uses ‘he/him’ pronouns and his given name amid reported death threats. Webb was born a Caucasian male and recently “came out” as a lesbian woman of color and is now pushing back on calls for him to resign after he also reportedly received the death threats. The Delaware County Councilman announced he is now identifying as a Native American, given he purports to have select Cherokee ancestors on both sides of his family. He also declared he is identifying as a woman – and a lesbian because he remains married to his female wife.
Jaclyn Sallee is the President and CEO of Koahnic Broadcast Corporation. It’s a nonprofit, Alaska Native-ran media center dedicated to bringing Native voices to Alaska and the nation. Broadcast on 90.3 FM, KNBA was formed in the mid 90′s at still operates today as a AAA formatted station. “KNBA was thought of to be the voice for Alaskans with an interest in Alaska Native issues,” Sallee said. According to Sallee, the mission has always been to have Indigenous people tell their own stories and to have their own narrative. There are 68 tribally-owned radio stations in the United States, with 12 of them in Alaska and one very special one in Eagle Butte, SD.
Those are your headlines at this hour. I’m Colette Keith in the KIPI News center.