J.P. Der Boghossian

Classically trained Shakespearean actor. Assignment Editor. Adjunct Faculty. Chief Diversity Officer. These are some of the professional roles I've held in my life journey as I grew up in Michigan, studied in Los Angeles and Oxford, England, ultimately moving to Minneapolis. I identify as a Queer. I'm Armenian - American. I have dual citizenship with France and the U.S. I live with epilepsy. I've been in a loving thruple for 11 years.

I founded the Queer Armenian Library, which is the world's first library devoted to books, film, and TV made by and/or about Queer Armenians. I did it because for my entire life I had never met another Queer Armenian. It took four years to create the library, as I searched for "my people" in bookstores, website archives, online book retailers, and blogs. Through that work I connected not only to all kinds of media with Queer Armenians, but I also met so many wonderful new friends and we create spaces to uphold Queer Armenian writers.

As you can imagine, I believe in the power of Queer representation in media and the need to uplift and support Queer writers and creatives. As a guest on your program, I can speak to the power of personal LGBTQ narratives, amazing LGBTQ books that save lives, and writers you should be reading.

Things I think about professionally:

• What exactly does "LGBTQ-inclusive" mean?
• How should we create queer inclusive spaces?
• How do implicit biases function?
• What does resilience look like when healing from trauma?
• What does it meant to be Queer and Armenian?
• What's a good LGBTQ book to read?
• Why don't we need straight actors telling queer stories?
• Why does every gay movie have a water scene?

I host the podcast This Queer Book Saved My Life! which premiered June 21, 2022. I launched it partially in response to the legislative attacks against the LGBTQ+ community, including the "Don't Say Gay" bills.

The other reason is that as a Chief Diversity Officer in higher education, I became drained constantly trying to affect systemic level changes to stop the marginalization of LGBTQ people, persons of color, and people living with disabilities. I have had to wrestle with questions of what is life-giving for me? What refills my cup? I knew I loved books. But I also knew I had to do something to positively impact my communities. And I realized that there are so many life-giving books out there that LGBTQ readers haven't found yet because we constantly have to go in search of our people. And if you're looking for a new book to read, why not one that saved someone's life?

In each episode I interview a new LGBTQ guest about the queer book that saved their life. These are books that fundamentally changed who they are and how they live and love in this world. Guests come from all walks of life. They are grant writers, LGBTQ program directors, YA writers, priests, retirees, and data scientists. I also book the authors of the books to join the conversation with our guests. Authors who will be on the show include: Alison Bechdel, Carmen Maria Machado, Jennifer Finney Boylan, William Burleson, and April Daniels.