 I'm Ann Charles. I'm Keith Goslant. And I'm Linda Quinley. It's Tuesday, February 20th, 2024. Oh, very good. And we acknowledge that we're taping in Mount Pili, Vermont, which is unseated indigenous land. So welcome to the show. Ann, you have stories for us? I do. And I'm starting on an exciting note. There are only some awful stories, but they'll come up later. But let's start out with Greece approving marriage equality. The approval came despite the opposition from the Greek Orthodox Church and makes Greece the 16th country in the EU with marriage equality. It's the first Orthodox Christian country to do this. Parliament voted Thursday to legalize same sex. Marriage with 176 members in favor, 76 against and to abstaining. Pretty vague. Greece is proud to become the 16th European Union country to legislate marriage equality, said the prime minister. He tweeted this after the vote. This is a milestone for human rights, reflecting today's Greece, a progressive and democratic country, passionately committed to European values. The nation has offered civil partnerships to same sex couples for a decade, but those came with parental rights only for the biological parents of a couple's children. Now, both spouses will be legally recognized as parents, but same sex couples still won't be able to access surrogacy in Greece, although they can be legally recognized as parents of children born by surrogacy abroad. The majority of Greeks supported marriage equality, but of course, not surprising, there was strong opposition from conservative lawmakers and the Greek Orthodox Church. More than 80% of Greeks belong to the church, but its stance on marriage equality does not seem to be popular, which we like. Conservative politicians opposing marriage equality, said legalizing same sex marriage would open the gates of hell and perversion. Let them out. Too bad, friends, but there was much positive reaction to the approval. We started as an invisible marginalized community. Andrea Gilbert, a founding member of Athens Pride, said, we continue to vote, paid our taxes, campaigned. The legislation provides a legal basis to further build on. It is particularly significant for young couples. Good for Greece. I know it. I was going to ask you another true question. You? Yes. No, no. I was going to ask you another true question was, you said it's the 16th country. How many countries are there? I would guess 52, but of course, I'll look it up during somebody else's segment and inform you. But let's stay in Greece for a minute and look at a picture of Stefanos Castellakis, 35, who was the gay man elected to Greece's leftist party in an historic first. This was a stunning upset. He's a Greek-American businessman. He was elected to lead the largest opposition party in Greece, becoming the first out gay leader of a political party in the country's history. And now he's ready to become Greece's first gay prime minister, so for that. He received 56% of the vote. There were over 130,000 votes cast. So he defeated a former later minister and early favorite who positioned herself as the more experienced candidate. He's out and married to Tyler McBeth, a nurse he met while living in the US. He mentioned McBeth during his acceptance speech to supporters on Sunday. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for welcoming him and embracing him, he told the crowd. In July, he laid out a potential campaign platform in an opinion piece, adding that he was jumping into Greek national politics as a brief interlude between two chapters in his business career. He'd advocated for tax relief for ordinary workers, transparency on the finances of MPs and others, reform to civil court processes and more. Greek society wants solutions and results, he concluded in his opinion piece. And so to expats in order to return to the country. I am truly hoping this party will stand up to becoming the governing Democrats my homeland desperately needs. Experts call the novice politician's use of social media is key to his victory and Farley, the couple's Portuguese water dog became a familiar four legged social media presence for Castellakis and I looked up what a water dog is and learned it's a popular gun dog. So then a gun dog is like a bird or a hunting dog, well I didn't do that, I didn't. And I'd like to have shown a picture of Farley maybe in a future show. Anyway, he was born in Greece but came to the US to study at Phillips Academy Prep School and eventually graduate from Wharton Business School. During this period he spent time working on then Senator Joe Biden's 2008 presidential campaigns. He later worked as a trader with golden sex before founding his own shipping company. So, good question. A lot of exciting stuff happening in Greece. Greek and shipping, okay, where have I heard that before? Yeah. What's it in our nasses? Now there's more kind of exciting news from Poland although it's mixed. The Polish, let's start with, I have four Polish stories with pictures. And I think I showed you, I hope I showed you a picture of the Greek opposition leader, I'm sure I did. But now let's look at a picture of a Polish TV host, Wojciech Zellag, who apologized for the anti-LGBTQ rhetoric that it was spewed on his show. With Poland, and this is what I'm particularly excited by, Poland is now under a new, more liberal government. And so this TV host is apologizing for years of spreading homophobia. He's on state-run Polish television and said, for many years in Poland, shameful words have been directed against numerous individuals, simply because they chose to decide for themselves who they are and whom they love. And you've seen a picture of him, I'm sure. If you haven't, let's look at it now. He said this on Sunday night, people are not an ideology, but people with specific names, faces, relatives, and friends. All these people should hear the words, I am sorry, explicitly from this place. He was hosting two LGBTQ activists and he said, I'm sorry to them. Now let's look at the exciting background. Poland has recently had a change in government with the far-right anti-LGBTQ law and justice party losing its majority in parliament. There is now a governing coalition of liberal and centrist parties and Donald Tusk, a moderate, has succeeded Mateusz Morowecki as prime minister. Conservative Andrzej Duda remains president but the president has less power than the prime minister. The TV host's words were a repudiation of something Duda once said that the LGBTQ plus movement was not a people, but an ideology. Under the law and justice government, many Polish leaders claim that LGBTQ people were a threat to the so-called traditional family and we remember the LGBTQ free zones that were established. This host on your apology took me by surprise one of his LGBTQ guests said, I didn't realize how much I needed to hear it. He added noting that it feels like Poland is having a new beginning. He pointed out that there's still much work to do in Poland. The nation still does not recognize same sex unions but the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that it must. LGBTQ plus advocates are also lobbying for a new law against hate speech. On to Hungary. Yeah, Hungary. But let's take a step backward and talk about Lech Walesa who has shocked the nation with anti-gay sentiments. I'm not surprised by that. Well, he's Poland's first democratic era president and a legendary labor leader who's been lauded as a human rights activist, has made clear his support for human rights but that it also clarified that it does not extend to gay people. In an interview, he went on a homophobic rant saying gay people should not play a prominent role in politics. He said that he believes gays have no right to sit on the front benches in parliament and if represented at all, should sit in the back and even behind the wall. They have to know that they are a minority unless there's just the smaller things he told to broadcast. Russia is waiting for him. And not rise to the greatest heights, the greatest hours, the greatest provocations, spoiling these for the others and taking what they want from the majority. I don't agree to this and I will never agree to it. A minority should not impose itself on the majority. The anti-hate speech group today filed a complaint with prosecutors in his hometown of Gdansk, more about Gdansk. Saying that Lech Walesa promoted a propaganda of hate against the sexual minorities, several politicians and journalists decried his words as well. His language was appalling. A deputy speaker of parliament said it was a statement of a traglodyte. Now, in response, Poland's gay and trans MPs take a seat against bigotry. Let's look at a picture now of Anna Grodzka, Poland's first transgender lawmaker and Robert Baydron, the country's first gay lawmaker. They coordinate a protest against Walesa's stance. And so the first openly gay and transgender lawmaker is to serve in Poland. And they sat in the front row of parliament earlier this week after Walesa said they should sit behind a wall. The member's protest came after his remark, Walesa's remarks that I just told you about. Anna Grodzka, Poland's first transgender federal lawmaker and Robert Baydron, the country's first gay lawmaker, sat together in the front bench after their party's leader relinquished his seat at the front to arrange the protest. Lech Walesa is an important symbol for us and for the whole world, Baydron told the Associated Press, I respect him and I'd rather he used other words of acceptance and respect for other people. Now let's go to Gdansk, where some citizens are taking action. Let's look at a picture now of Jakub Kozinski and Dawid Majczyk, who are a gay couple handing out rainbow masks on the streets of Gdansk, Walesa's hometown. In a move that was not only charitable but courageous, a gay couple in Poland recently produced and distributed hundreds of free rainbow cute masks. Face masks, they documented their philanthropy on YouTube, highlighting the love and appreciation they received for the pride-themed personal protective equipment. The positive response was heartwarming and frankly surprising since Poland, it does have a hostile historical and recent anti-LGBTQ history. One third of the nation's, well we know about the one third of the nation's municipalities were anti-LGBT free zones. Same-sex relationships have not recognized them there and LGBTQ people are frequently used to skate boats by politicians. Two bills currently under consideration categorize homosexuality as pedophilia. But these two citizens showed no trepidation in their video, smiling and chatting up current pedestrians in Gdansk in Poland's North. Maybe some weren't familiar with the symbolism of the masks though many people, especially young women, were in on the meaning. The two citizens made approximately 300 masks with some friends and borrowed a sewing machine to distribute so that they could make them and distribute them. That's a great, good for Poland. Lot of excitement in Poland. Keith. Alrighty, so trivia and someone got it. Oh yeah. We won't say who. Out in the mountains, February 1993 front page article, and it was a tribute to Vermont's first openly LGBTQ plus elected office holder. Who was it? What was the office and why the tribute? There'll be more. So the Green Mountain Film Festival, the 23rd Green Mountain Film Festival, and we're told that this will have a very queer look to it. Yeah. And we should be ready for updates. I'm counting on Anne to feed them to me. All right. March 14th through the 17th, and you can get tickets already online. Passes, correct? Okay. So Rainbow Umbrella, same thing. The Women's Discussion Group. You're tackling not some easy topics. We're getting into it. And there's a lot being expressed. I'm really impressed with what I'm reading in your notes. It's a really powerful meeting, Chef. Hi, Chef. And then there's the book discussion. There is. If you're interested in either, you can go on to Rainbow Umbrella's Facebook page to sign up. So our friends at Fox Market, Saturday, February 27th is the queer poetry reading. I know. But keep your calendars open, because on Saturday, March 16th, at the old labor hall, it may be Foxy's Gala. This is a fundraiser for the new site that will be opening on Main Street and Berry, just down from Rainbow Bridge, who's doing phenomenal work. They are tuning this as your queer adult prom night. Come dressed to whatever nines you'd like for a night of magic, performances, music, sexy get down dancing, and community love. Tickets are a sliding scale, suggested donation of $50, which gets you a drink, some food, and a lot of fun. So get that on your calendar. A reminder, social tinkering in Rutland, they have their monthly social get-together at the Vermont Farmers Food Center on Wednesday, February 28th. Craftsbury Outdoor Center. It's an event we won't be going to because it's their pride ski day. Complementary ski rentals and trail use. This is Sunday, March 10th from 11 to 4 p.m. You can sign up on the Pride Center of Vermont's website, and it's being sponsored by the Pride Center outright Vermont, Audubon, Vermont, and the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. Now, something that we haven't promoted that actually was created during the pandemic in 2022, Dike Nike in Burlington at the Wallflower Collective, the second Monday of the month. Apparently this has been so well attended, they've had lines outside the door. We'll have to go in. And they've had to turn people away. And what they said is that this is open to Dykes of all genders and experience. So if this is how you identify second Monday of the month, Wallflower Collective in Burlington. I know where that is. You can go online and they have a Facebook page that will give you all the details. All right. So get it on your calendar. And with that, are you going to tell me happier things? No. Then we may go back to you, ma'am. All depressing. Well, we may go back to you. Oh, I know. Well, you know, there's better news in other countries than there are in this one right about now. So, anyway. I know that feeling. I know. The funeral of her renowned transgender activist Cecilia Gentile in New York Cathedral elicited a denunciation of the event by a senior church official who called to mass a scandal within one of the most prominent houses of worship in the United States, Catholicism. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York condemned the funeral of Cecilia Gentile, which was held on St. Patrick's Day in Manhattan and drew a large audience. I don't know. I think it's St. Patrick's Cathedral. Yeah. St. Patrick's Day is coming up. St. Patrick's Cathedral. Yeah, not St. Patrick's Day. Oh, St. Patrick's Cathedral. Right. In Manhattan. And drew a large audience on Thursday. In a written statement, Reverend Enrico Salvo, pastor of St. Patrick's scandalous behavior at the funeral. The cathedral only knew that the family and friends would be degraded in that, I'm sorry. The cathedral only knew that family and friends were requesting a funeral mass for a Catholic and had no idea our welcome and prayer would be degraded in such a scandalous and deceptive way. Salvo said in a statement, the Catholic, the cathedral held a mass of redemption following the funeral at the direction of Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York. So, good for the Catholic Church, right? Yeah, typical. Yeah. In Columbia, South Carolina, thousands of people in one of South Carolina's most conservative counties roared when Donald Trump promised to cut federal funding on day one for schools pushing what he called transgender insanity onto children. And I can't even believe I have to say it, but I have to say it. Trump told the crowd with this month, I will keep men out of women's sports. A member of the NCAA Committee on Infractions, a voluntary group that prescribes penalties to member schools that break association rules has resigned over NAACP's policies regarding the participation of transgender athletes. William Bach, the former general counsel of the US Anti-Doping Agency told the Associated Press on Friday that the policies permitting transgender athletes to compete against women are unfair. He submitted a letter of resignation to President Charlie Baker dated February 9th. A lot of people have known how to respond to the smoke screen that says that you can just suppress testosterone and that it's going to make the playing field level. You can't suppress testosterone, Bach said. And the policies that the NCAA and other sports organizations have come up with which supposedly favor inclusion actually discriminate. You know, it's like that all the right-wing salvos against reproductive rights, my own business, you know? I know. It's my body. And who's fact-checking their statements? I know it, I know it. Just because you saw it on social media doesn't mean that it's a truth. It isn't. You heard it here first. Baltimore County police announced February 15th. They had arrested and charged a 22-year-old man for first-degree murder, first-degree assault. Armoury and a fire related charges in addition to other offenses. According to a statement released by police, Jaylen Green was arrested in connection with the sexual assault that occurred in the 3,000 block of Putty Hill Avenue in Parkville on February 11th. At approximately 3.30 p.m., the hookup was made on a dating app. I know, there's nothing but sharing news in the country. I'm telling you, I tried to find stuff, but it was really hard. So now we have Madri Taylor-Green. She comes up every week or every, you know. When Georgia Republican U.S. Representative Madri Taylor-Green says outrageous things in committee hearings, California Representative Robert Garcia, a Democrat, rebuts and holds her accountable at every turn. His first year in office has been marked by a dedication to calling out what he sees as extremism in lies from the mega-Republicans, mainly targeting figures like Green. The noted transphobic firebrand who often spews anti-LGBTQ plus bigotry and absurd conspiracy theories. When she made a derogatory remarks about former Twitter executive Yol Roth during a hearing in which she said that he disgusts her, Garcia came back with gusto. I just want to start off by just apologizing to our witness, he said, particularly Mr. Roth, for just the homophobic rant and comments that were just made from the gentle lady from Georgia, calling her remarks shameful. He's gay. Yeah. Good for him. Yep. Stephen Miles, best known for his gay adult film persona, Sergeant Miles, was sentenced to two years in prison followed by a year of suspended release after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer during the January 6th protests and riots in Washington, D.C. Miles Foddy of Zephyr Hills, Florida, a member of the Proud Boys Group, breached protective perimeter around a Capitol building and engaged in a physical confrontation with police protecting the building. He was arrested on Tuesday, April 12th, 2022. Now here's one in which is an indication about how sometimes in our own communities, we eat our own. And, you know, and this is an example of that. Horrible story about Tuesday, the Georgia Seattle Committee on Education and Youth met to consider Senate Bill 88, a bill that would promise the forced outing of transgender youth to their parents and restrict LGBTQ topics in schools. The bill, which saw a surprise substitute with little time for review, would mandate that schools develop policies around outing transgender students to their parents and would require parents to opt into education on gender-related topics. What happened in the hearing, however, was unusual. Only those in favor of the bill were allowed to speak, leaving those against raising their hands. Immediately after the bill's sponsor spoke about the bill, he seated the floor to Jeff Clegghorn, a gay anti-trans activist who calls transgender people mentally ill sex fetishists and regularly shares content on transgender mentally ill fetishists, groups like Gays Against Groovers and Libs on TikTok. Following an incendiary speech in which he advocated for separating transgender individuals from LGBTQ community, Republicans allowed four people to speak. These included a former president of the young Republicans, a representative from Gays Against Groovers and a representative from the Georgia Log Cabin Republican, a group of gay Republican activists. Then they abruptly ended the debate preventing the dozens of attendees opposed to the bill from speaking. Beautiful. Well, let's see. We'll do this one. An inclusive celebration of faith and diversity at a Kansas university has sparked outrage in right-wing circles, including drawing ire from the hate group Libs of TikTok. I've never even seen these people. Of course, I'm not on TikTok, but Fort Hayes State University in Hayes is a center of controversy following its glitter ash Wednesday. The initiative merges traditional Christian observance with a message of inclusivity towards the LGBT community, allowing participants to choose between transitional ashes or a blend of ashes and glitter to be smeared on one's forehead. I love that. I know. The event designed to open a space of welcome and acceptance has ignited a firestorm of debate highlighting the ongoing tension between maintaining religious traditions and fostering inclusivity. So that was fun. Delightfully sacrilegious. Gotta love it, Anne. What you got? Oh, sure. I have a couple more Europe stories. This is a bad one. A teenager is in court after transgender girl 14, it was stabbed 14 times at a roller skating party. It was a birthday party in London. Four people have been arrested and one charged with the attempted murder of an 18-year-old at the leisure center. A girl has been charged with the stabbing that occurred before the one-year anniversary of the brutal stabbing of Breonna Gay, which I've been talking about at great length. And just an aside, Prime Minister Richie Sumack made a transgender joke and Breonna Gay's mother had been invited to this session where he made that joke. So the teenage girl has been charged with the stabbing. A 19-year-old girl has been arrested and charged with the attempted murder. The unidentified transgender girl at the birthday party was subjected to transphobic abuse by a group of teenagers. Police alleged that summer bets Ramsey stabbed the victim 14 times with a knife. The victim was rushed to the hospital where she was treated for her wounds and was subsequently discharged, where she remains in seclusion recovering from the attack on her wounds. Summer bets Ramsey and other individuals have been arrested in connection with the crime. A detective involved said the investigation into the roller rink stabbing continues as the public for help. Sobbing bets Ramsey did not issue a formal plea to the charges and was remanded in custody until her former plea hearing on March 12th at the Old Bailey. But on more upbeat note, transgender Irish dancers can compete in categories matching their gender identity of governing body rules. Irish dancing has ruled that transgender dancers can compete. It's called the, I won't pronounce it in Gaelic, but it's the CLRG, the ruling body, said that they considered a lot of legal opinion and the chairperson said that there've been considerable internal and external discussion on the subject. As a worldwide organization welcoming dancers from many different backgrounds, CLRG is committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment for every dancer in our community. However, we understand it's divisive. There have been calls, some parents want to withdraw dancers and this began, this discussion began after a teenage transgender girl from the US qualified for the upcoming Irish dancing world championships held in Glasgow. The new inclusivity policy to reflect the position on trans competitors will be voted on at the body's annual meeting, but they're recommending that it be included. Now let's look at a clip from a very interesting Finnish-British Greek co-production called Drift, featuring an actor I love, Cynthia Riveau. It's called Drift and the brief plot, a young Liberian refugee, Jacqueline, barely escapes her war-torn country to settle on a Greek island, Greece again. Her daily struggle for survival keeps terrible memories at bay and she becomes close to an American tour guide. So let's look at a picture of Drift, a clip. Century BC, can we take a few minutes, look around and then we'll head up? Our parents. Where are the parents? They fled. I'm Callie. Jacqueline. Don't look at my face. You're not Greek. I'm no American. When it's all over, you might. Where are you from? Liberia. Interesting. You can see it by renting or purchasing on Google Play Movies, Voodoo and Amazon Video. It looks great. Yeah. It's a, I read a review, it's a film about healing. Ooh. Let's go to Asia. Hyderabad has had its first pride march in three years. Let's take a look at a participant, celebrant. It's called the Self-Respect Pilgrimage. And it was, it's conducted once a year in most major metro cities in India and across the globe. About 600 people participated in the march. The event was conducted in the city after a three-year gap caused by COVID. And their demands are transgender queer intersex, the demands of the transgender queer and intersex transgender community were legalizing same-sex marriages, recognition in education and employment and provision of housing for members. One more Asian story, good news from Japan. Let's look at a picture now of trans man Takito Usui, who is 50. Japan court, Japan court has ruled that Takito Usui can change their gender marker without surgery. This ruling was reported. He had positioned petitions to change his legal gender in 2016, but was rejected because he had not been medically sterilized as was then required. His appeal was also rejected in 2019, but then happily, in October, Japan's court struck down the 2003 statute recording trans people to be sterilized for obtaining legal recognition. Human rights groups lauded the ruling. I wanna thank my family, I feel a new life is beginning. He's a farmer living in rural Japan. Seeing this shift in Japanese laws left me feeling society has changed and moved by the progress that has been made. He said, Japan still be in same-sex marriage, meaning that Usui will be able to marry his partner of many years. And this is the thing about intrusive laws. Although the Supreme Court ruled against the sterilization law, it left intact other parts of the 2003 law. For example, trans people must still appear to have parts that resemble the genital organs of their gender identity to be granted legal recognition. I mean, what the world does that mean? Last year, Supreme Court ruling asked other courts to revisit whether that statute should also be overturned, but it wasn't. The law also requires the trans person to be unmarried and have no children under 18. So the court found that Usui had satisfied these requirements. It's a milestone, but that's not the first time. Less than two weeks before the Supreme Court ruling last year, Jenna Suzuki also won his gender change with the ruling that it is wrong for the state to force an unwanted surgery. Good point. We have to move on, Ann. Okay, can I just do my headlines? Yeah. There, Grim. Houthi Rebels sentenced 13 to death on homosexuality charges in Yemen. A court has confirmed that. I can talk more about it maybe next time. Putin, let's look at a picture of rainbow frog earrings. Because a woman has received a jail sentence of five days for wearing these rainbow frog earrings. And I'd like to show you a picture of the pair of earrings and then a close-up of one of the earrings. And also a person, RE2P pleaded guilty to post the implant picture of a pride flag to Russian social media. So the court, they admitted guilt. Then Russian TikTok stars who kissed were forced to apologize. Duolingo faces investigation in Russia over LGBTQ content and they're sticking to their guns where an inclusive platform they're saying two miserable stories to end with. Zimbabwe's vice president says the government will block a scholarship for LGBTQ people. And in North America, St. Vincent Court rejects the challenge to colonial era, anti-gay laws. So I'm ending on a sad note, but let's cheer for Greece. Yes, Keith. Well, we're gonna go to a positive place which is Barry Vermont where someone who should be very familiar to people who watched the show, Sam Stockwell, who is currently one of the city council members has announced that she is running for mayor. Yay. The current mayor has decided not to seek re-election and actually in his announcement of not running, he gave an endorsement of Sam saying that I couldn't be happier to see Sam Stockwell announce her run for mayor. She is hardworking, kind, ethical and a true public servant for regular people. Here, here. I can't think of a more qualified and prepared person for this challenging moment and role. Barry is not doing their mayoral election on town meeting day. They're gonna be doing it on May 14th. And it's birthday. Happy birthday to you. You've got time to go out and help with this campaign. We're gonna do phone banking. I'm not gonna ask where they're hiding the bank, but there we are. So, an interesting story that's come up within the past week. The ACLU has issued a statement against the current administration and specifically the commissioner of health, Mark Levine. Yes, that's so interesting. Vermont is getting $5 million as part of an opioid settlement fund. And there was an advisory committee that was put together by legislative statute to come up with recommendations. Well, when commissioner Levine submitted the statement on behalf of the advisory committee, he is a non-voting chair, he kind of left one recommendation off. And it was that $2.6 million of the money be used to create two overdose prevention centers. This is the bill that's currently going through, has gone through the Vermont house is being debated in the Senate. This is Taylor Smalls bill. And what Levine said is, oh, well, it was very clear the legislature was looking at creating a fee schedule to fund this, so he left it off. How high handed? Well, what's also kind of interesting is the current incumbent governor has already said that if this bill were to pass creating these centers, he plans to veto it. Why? He doesn't agree with it. Why? He thinks it's the wrong strategy. We should not be encouraging by creating safe spaces. Oh, God. We should do greater penalties. It's been proven that, you know, it works. It saves lives. You think? So here's Levine saying, oh, this is not necessary because you're putting money into fees to fund this while the governor is saying I'm going to veto it. So the ACLU said that what Levine had done by changing the recommendations was in direct violation of Vermont's open meeting law. That there wasn't a chance to see the debate, contribute to the debate, and have some kind of input in the eventual outcome. So the other story that I find kind of interesting, and this was HRC, the Human Rights Campaign and Equality Federation's State Equality Index. And they have 20 states listed in the highest category working towards innovative equity. And Vermont is indeed one of those states. And on a future show, I will be saying more of what they think we're lacking, what we could do to enhance that even further. But also listed is most of New England, we're in the forefront, but New Hampshire is included. Which I think gives an indication of the incredible polarity in our political process right now because New Hampshire has four bills that they have going through their legislature, two of which have already passed the House and are over in the Senate and two in the Senate that are waiting action. And these are things that would restrict gender-affirming care for minors. It would specifically prohibit any type of surgical intervention if you're a minor. And they're also looking at extending it to include some adults that you may need to be over 25 or before you are eligible. They're also looking at imposing a ban on transgender in women's sports at both a high school and collegiate level. But here's the one that makes my little P-brain go snap, crackle, pop. The Senate Education Committee has already done public testimony on a bill restricting libraries, prohibiting material deemed harmful to minors from being allowed in the library. So who do you think is going to be making those decisions? And sort of the backdrop to this is in the past, some of these measures have been diminished by statements from the New Hampshire Attorney General saying, I think he's flying in the face of our non-discrimination statutes. And they either do not make it through or get voted down. And in the past, Nunu has been a supporter of transgender rights, but his office and administration has not issued a statement about where he stands on this or what actually he might take. And very briefly, New Hampshire as well, and we've reported on both aspects of this story in the past, Littleton, New Hampshire, where there was a great controversy about a mural on the side of a Chinese restaurant, private space, truly freedom of expression. But one of the Littleton City Council members who is also a state legislator took issue with it, saying it was a supportive LGBTQ plus. She was looking at it from a biblical perspective and that LGBTQ people are in abomination. She thought it should be taken down while that was occurring, the local art center was hosting a performance of La Cachal Fold and the council was looking at how they could pull funding from the art center because of what they did. The city manager with all of this going on said, I can no longer be the manager for this community and submitted a resignation. He then has been enduring a high degree of harassment. He had a son who came out to him when the son was 16 years old who has subsequently died of cancer. He started getting written materials, phone calls, visits with people saying your son is where he should be and hell with the devil. That's terrible. So here's New Hampshire working towards innovation. Here is the stuff going on. But in our remaining time. Yes. Well, I'm gonna do some brief stories here. This is kind of a fun one. In the Logan Circle neighborhood of Washington DC a popular gay bar celebrated unveiling of a large mural on the side of its building that celebrates the diversity of the United States and the United Kingdom communities. The vibrant, great love is for everyone mural now overlooks the bustling streets above the little gay bar. The striking piece of art by Lisa Marie Thalhammer sponsored by the British Embassy was celebrated with pink champagne and a joys ceremony on Tuesday afternoon. And you can see a picture. It looks like a British pub painting. We like pictures. I know. Now this is a really sad story because in Florida a man admitted to fatally shooting a gay man and his dog in the dog park last week and claims he was defending himself. But the victim's friends say the killer was homophobic who threatened to kill the victim one day earlier. John Walter Lay 52 was shot and killed while walking his dog in the park in Tampa. Always before he was gunned down, he sent a video to friends detailing a threat to kill him and had received that he had received that morning from the suspected gunman Gerald Declan Radford. 65 admitted he shot Lay, but claimed he didn't self-defense end of discussion. Stand your ground. And he has never been even charged with even looked into him doing this. And a 19 year old Florida man was arrested after he was caught on video defacing a rainbow crossword walk in Delray Beach. Dylan Brewer, 19 of Clearwater turned himself in when there's videos of him, you know, like trying to squeal his tires on there so he couldn't deface. The tire march. Yeah, okay. Well, let me just add there are 27 countries in the European Union during this pause. Ah, okay. I was all wrong on that one. Okay, and in the heartland of America, tragedy unfolded as next Benedict, a 16 year old non-binary Native American student lost their life in an Oklahoma high school. The circumstances surrounding the brutal killing case raised questions about LGBTQ safety in schools prompting a nationwide discussion. The article explores the events leading to Nex's death and the reactions from various sources. Next Benedict, they, them was a 16 year old non-binary youth in Oklahoma. They endured a reportedly vicious beating in a high school bathroom in Owasa High School. Nex died the next day in the hospital. They were a sophomore. This was February 7th and 8th and they were in high school. So this is a picture of Lex. So, very. Groom. Very sad story there. Columbia, South Carolina. The first federal trial over hate crime based on gender identity is set to begin Tuesday in South Carolina. Where a man faces charges that he killed a black trans gender woman and then fled to New York. Oh, so that's that story. Let's see what we have here. The Oklahoma high school student, were there not also allegations that the school administration had failed to call an ambulance or offer assistance? Yes, all of that. They didn't call an ambulance. They didn't call the parents. They didn't do anything. They did nothing to intervene or render any kind of medical assistance when this student was found. I mean, that was the part that really stuck out to me. Yeah, that was part of that story. And let's see, we have a few minutes left, so I don't know. Ann, do you have anything? Sure, I want to give you- Oh, of course she does. I think I'm kind of out of stories for today. Well, I want to give more information about this Houthi death sentence. The Houthi movement, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged in Yemen during the 1990s. Houthi militants controlled vast swaths of the country and the group's recent attacks on the Red Sea shipping has prompted retaliation from the US and the UK. I'm sure you've heard about that on the news. These 13 death sentences were handed down in an area controlled by Houthi rebels. According to reports quoting an anonymous source, three others were jailed on similar charges and another 35 people were detained in the province also for alleged homosexuality related offenses. The court findings are open to appeal. It is not clear when any of the public executions are due to be carried out, but the Houthis have sentenced 350 people to death, 11 of whom have been executed since they seized Yemen's capital Sana'a in 2014. They're ramping up their abuses at home while this Red Sea events keep occurring. They continued to target LGBTQ people with arbitrary arrest and torture, including rapes and other forms of sexual violence. In addition, the Houthis mahram agreement continues to ban women from traveling without a male guardian or written evidence of their consent. Meanwhile, increased restrictions on travel have affected women's ability to work, resulting in many being unable to access healthcare with Yemeni female humanitarian workers unable to reach them. According to Amnesty International, in 2022, a secessionist organization in South Yemen and the Houthis arrested at least five people on the basis of either their refusal to reform, to conform to either masculine or feminine presentation or their LGBTQ plus activism. So that's a chilly note to end on, but I think it's important to give a little background. Absolutely. Now we'll have trivia. So our first openly elected LGBTQ plus official was Ron Squires, who is elected to the Vermont House representing Wyndham Five, which was Guilford, Vernon, and part of Brattleboro. The trivia was because he had passed due to complications of HIV and AIDS. What I didn't fully appreciate until I was going back and looking at the article again is not only was he the first openly elected official here in Vermont, he was the first Democrat Party state executive committee member who was openly LGBTQ plus and he was one of the first openly LGBTQ plus members of the National Democratic Platform Committee. So he was in the forefront in a lot of ways. And since his passing, his mother has championed an AIDS walk in his honor each year. Nice. So with that. With that, I think we have to go. Yes. Catch y'all in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, Resist.