Assigned Sex

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.

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.

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 pushe...

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.

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‑bo...

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.

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.

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.

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 “Barb...

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.

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.

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.