 Good evening, everyone. My name is Molly Martin. My pronouns are she and her, and I'm the director of New America, Indianapolis. New America is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C., but I make my home here in Indiana, and this is where I lead work on the Midwest, including on racial equity and economic progress. I want to welcome you to Transforming the Polls in Indiana, a special series that we've been doing with the ACLU of Indiana on yes, you can vote, looking at voter protections and voting rights issues that affect different groups of Hoosiers. Today we'll be discussing the work of local leaders, residents and activists to ensure that transgender Hoosiers are safe and empowered at the polls. And what we can learn about project protecting and engaging all voters and transgender voters that we can apply here in Indiana and across the country will also be hearing about how transgender leaders are influencing politics and communities across the state. We'll be starting with some stage setting and some education but tonight is meant to be conversational. So I hope you'll join us online using the hashtag transform the polls or over in the chat will where we'll be taking your questions directly to the panel. First, I want to thank my panelists tonight and also thank our partners at the ACLU of Indiana. I'm going to offer a brief introduction to my three fabulous co stars, and then we'll start off with Kit Malone for some remarks. But first I want to introduce everyone. Kimberly Aikoff is a trans woman and military veteran. She's the programming director at Indiana youth group in Indianapolis. She served 30 years with the state of Indiana working with the Department of Child Services and Family and Social Services addressing issues surrounding the care of individuals with physical and mental health disabilities. Kit Malone is an advocate and educator at the ACLU of Indiana where she organizes a statewide public outreach campaign to identify transgender activists and arm them with the tools to educate and engage their communities on the importance of passing comprehensive civil rights protections for all Hoosiers. This is after a successful career working in public education as a high school teacher. She joined Freedom Indiana in 2016 as a community organizer. You remember Freedom Indiana's work following the riffra action here in the state. Veronica Petrol is beginning her first year of service representing Green Castle Indiana she's on the city council representing the Third Ward. This is her first term it began in January. She was Indiana's first openly transgender elected official. Green Castle's Third Ward is an economically diverse place here near DePaul University where Veronica is also a professor. She works for greater access to shelter and nutrition for the city's disadvantaged populations, being an active member of the local NAACP and an alumna of Princeton's graduate school of music. She has a million credentials and is offering a lot to her community where she also is active in her church and if I'm not mistaken as a proud parent of not one but two Purdue graduates. She's lived in Green Castle for 15 years. So I'm really excited to have these three women with me tonight and I can't wait to get started. Now Kit I'm going to start with you. I'm going to have you do some stage setting for me. Tell me a little bit about yourself, a little bit about the ACLU of Indiana and why we started this conversation about yes you can vote in the first place. Kit. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for that great introduction Molly. I, I lead the LGBTQ rights project at the ACLU of Indiana, which is sort of a multi headed attempt to push the conversation forward on LGBTQ rights in Indiana. The ACLU has a long history of being a leader in that space, we were of course the organization, the broad gay marriage to Indiana before it was actually founded the Supreme Court nationwide. And we have a long history of being involved in RIFRA we were of course one of the partners of freedom Indiana what my former employer. I've done a lot of work throughout the state, organizing LGBTQ issues and I came over to the ACLU with my director Katie Blair, and she really envisioned expanding the ACLU into something that could be unlike sort of campaigns like freedom Indiana which were great but short lived because they only existed as long as there was an event that people were responding to we saw the need for there to be something that was in Indiana year round. Somebody that had the ability to for instance lobby, because we face yearly attacks in our legislature on the rights of LGBTQ Hoosiers particularly transgender people underneath that LGBTQ rights project we also have the program that I'm really sort of my, my baby, the TEAP program. It stands for Transgender Education and Advocacy Project, which is a project to identify transgender advocates throughout the state and and teach them how to really do the work of community organizing and to partner with them in order to provide them with tools and resources and to lift their microphone, you know, to increase the volume on their microphone if you will, in all the ways that we can and to prepare them and then also to bring them in and introduce them to their lawmakers and to give them the opportunity to show Indiana that trans people are not just a thing of downtown Indianapolis or the safe blue cities but that there are trans people throughout the state. In every city in town in Indiana who have interests in government have interests in their rights and have interests in being it being part of our cultural conversation in the state. So anything that we can do to lift up their voices because I think they're hidden. We hear a lot of lawmakers will still tell us well we don't have that in Indiana, and I can assure you that you have it in your town. And some of the funnest parts of my life has have been introducing a lawmaker to someone who lives in their hometown who is transgender. And that work really changes minds to that work is our is one of our most effective tools in protecting trans people in Indiana from those sorts of yearly attacks. So, last I want to talk about voting. That's what we're here to talk about. We have been for the past three years, the ACLU we have run a campaign called yes you can vote. Yes, you can vote identifies groups of Hoosiers, who may find that their voter rights are either suppressed or they may be victims of misinformation about their rights. So we chose through research, the people who we think may be most harmed by these forms of voter suppression. And the centerpiece is folks who are previously incarcerated. And you know I'm going to list some groups of people but it's important for the audience to understand, I think that those aren't distinct groups like all the groups that I'm going to list all belong to one another. So we talk about the right to the voting rights of people who are previously incarcerated in Indiana, because they do have voting rights. You do in Indiana does not strip people who have a record of incarceration of their right to vote or one of the few states that doesn't. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't know that which is either, you know purposeful misinformation or simple ignorance, and we have heard stories of even judges or parole officers telling people upon release that they had lost their right to vote when that is not in fact true. So it's really important, you know we have those billboards up around the state we've got commercials going. And we've worked with so many great community organizations to distribute literature, especially reentry organizations I'm really proud of that work. And of course incarceration is something that trans people care about because trans people in Indiana are incarcerated at higher rates than the average of the population, which is even worse for many of these, for many of these groups if you happen to be, you know, a Hoosier who is trans who is not white. We find that that even that that can that can vastly increase your risk of being a victim of things like incarceration. So we also talk about folks with disability. Lots of trans people have disability of all kinds, and it's important that people with disability know that they have the right to get assistance at the polls. They have the right to bring someone with them. If they feel like they need a helper that that is their right in Indiana. They also have the right to expect that their polling location is going to be accessible. Another thing that that we need folks to know that they have the right to that, and that they should report that if they find that their location isn't accessible because it's important that everyone get that chance to exercise their right. We talk about students, people who, for instance, may find that they're not sure where they should cast their vote do I do I cast it from from where I live, which is you know on campus. That's where I live that's the town I consider my home. Do I cast my vote there or do I have to cast my vote where my parents live. And of course the answer is you cast your vote you register to vote in the district that you consider your home. The only requirement in order to vote is that you are registered in the district that you call home. So I'm excited there for 30 days, and that you have an ID that matches the name on your voter registration. So, also with students another wonky issue is that you can register to vote when you're 17, believe it or not, as long as you will be able to vote of age to 17 by the date of the next general election. Of course the registration for this year is already passed. But in the future, like know that if you're raring to go register as soon as you can. You can register when you're 17 as long as you'll be able to vote by the next general election. And we'll also talk about recently naturalized immigrants who have the right to vote and of course we know that every citizen has the right to vote. However, there are special concerns for people who've been recently naturalized so making sure that they know that voting isn't something that can be used against them if they have family that is undocumented that as soon as they become citizens they can register to vote and get out there and vote they should do that because policies are being decided that affect them. And they have the right to do that and we should all exercise the those rights that we have. And finally, really finally this time I want to talk about trans people, which is what we're here to talk about and, you know, trans people can experience all of those issues that I mentioned in the past. We also have some special issues of our own at the polls. We talk about safety for trans people, for instance, what it might be like to be trans to vote in for instance a rural district. It might be like a state where you may have to go into a conservative church basement to cast your vote if that's the polling place. And what you can do in order to be safe. And we also talk a lot about ID and voter ID, which has been a hot topic for trans people in Indiana specifically, because we've faced several attacks on our rights to change your ID. And over the the past several years. It is important that trans people know that they have the right to vote, regardless of whether or not they've changed their ID, no matter what they look like. No matter what they think is the poll workers are going to say, you do actually have the right to vote you. All you are required by law is to have a valid ID with an expiration date, and your current name that matches what is on your voter registration matches what's on your photo ID, then yes you can vote. And you, if it doesn't, it's change it right away if you can. If your if your ID does not match you may have to find yourself casting a provisional ballot, which can complicate things so if you want to be sure your vote is counted. Make sure you have an ID that just matches whatever you're currently registered as that's the only requirement. Yeah. So, I want to thank everybody for for being part of this conversation and just plug my event transform the polls which is happening on Thursday, transform hashtag transform the polls as an ACLU of Indiana initiative to highlight the stories of trans voters. I have a bittersweet year for me because usually this is an in person event. Usually we take groups of folks all over the state and cities this year we're doing Muncie South Bend, Indianapolis, Bloomington, and Evansville think I got them all. Yeah, that's all. And we have groups of people who will be highlighting stories in outside of the time of the pandemic. And we would be taking groups of people to actually vote together as one to talk about safety and numbers and, you know, if you're nervous about voting at your local polling place. Here's a way you can, you can vote with a group of people on an early voting day. This year, it's going to be a lot more about highlighting the importance of using that vote and how you can do so safely during the time of COVID. So watch the ACLU of Indiana's social media feed on October 23. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You will see so many beautiful faces of people voting every year we have a couple of folks who is the very first year they've ever voted, either at all, or ever voted with their accurate name and gender. It always feels like that's it's such a warm fuzzy that I look forward to every year, and I'm excited about it. So that's a, that's, that's the ACLU feel for y'all. Thank you for sitting through that. You must be doing that in your sleep. I have heard there's an election coming up but that was wonderful kitten. Thank you. And thank you for highlighting the importance of feeling safe at the polls. It is one thing to know that you have a power and a right and it's another thing to feel that you will be personally safe physically safe, emotionally safe, and able to vote when you get there. So speaking of able to vote when you get there, I think something really compelling about transform the polls are voter stories, and by way of introduction to the rest of our panel, I'd love to hear a little bit about your own voting stories. So Veronica Pedro, I'm going to come to you. If you could reintroduce yourself to our audience, and share with me a voting story, especially a story about voting as you as your authentic self Veronica. Thanks Molly. I'm actually going to share two brief voting stories because I think both of them are really important right now. The first time I had the opportunity to vote as my most authentic self was back in the 2008 general election. And I had legally changed my name earlier that year. And I had, but but just thinking about some of the things that kit was mentioning regarding challenges to our identities and the authenticity of our identities, I had to visit three different locations in the state of Indiana to with with my doctor's paperwork to get my driver's license properly amended to reflect my sex. And third time was the charm there but but I had affirming ID thankfully when I went into that polling place there back in November of 2008 which many of us fondly look back on as a very consequential election in our lives. These were the days at least in my county where we were using traditional polling places which were often located in churches and schools in my precinct. The polling place of that I was to go to was a Baptist church a few blocks from where I live. And I've never been in a this was my first time in a Baptist church. And so I'm like feel awkward going in there for sure. But I've thankfully faced no challenges in that space and promptly went through the motions and cast the vote of my choice, leaving that space, what felt super empowering. I can't begin to know what what the amount of joy that that day felt like the other voting story I have to share, because I brought my sticker with me today and this is a sticker I've been holding on to since last fall, because this is the sticker that I got to bring to the polling place we use polling centers now in Putnam County here in rural Indiana. So we go to the courthouse to do early voting which I did then, but I got this sticker when I had the opportunity to vote for myself in a general election. And that for me, I think for our community here in Indiana means a whole lot and I will be holding on to this sticker for as long as I live because it reminds me of just how important that representation is, not just for people who are voting for policy change voting for the candidates of their choice, but also the the importance of the vote and and representation at at every level, including in public office. So yeah that that that's my other story. And that's a that's a smile inducing story spoiler alert in case you missed that shortly thereafter became Indiana's first openly trans elected official and we're so glad that she did. I think that sometimes people hear Indiana and they do not assume that there's this legacy of LGBTQ activism and trans activism here in the state. And certainly I'll admit and I've lived here for 20 years but even coming from red or places like West Virginia and North Carolina, I didn't think of Indiana as a place where I would find such an interesting journey and such a rich story. Speaking of interesting journeys and rich stories, I'm going to come to Kimberly and ask her to tell, tell us any voting story. But before I say that Kimberly I understand you were in the military and I want to thank you for your service what branch for you National Guard. Excellent. Well, thank you very much. Well, thank you. I'd love for you to reintroduce yourself and share with us a voting story. Thank you. I'm Kimberly a cough. I work at Indiana youth group as the director of programming there. I'm serving youth that are from the ages of 12 to 20. We advocate for them and provide services wrap around services case management and that type of thing. And my story with voting as a black woman, black trans woman. You know, 2008 like Veronica was pivotal moment for me getting not that I faced any real challenges at the polls myself, but my friends, other trans women of colors who had a color who had been incarcerated for merely trying to many times just trying to survive. And then there's these urban, what we call the urban newspaper the word of mouth, and you don't necessarily get educated on when you can or cannot vote. And you don't get the correct information. Many times they're incorrect information or only information is given, saying that you just can vote vote if you've been arrested, and convicted of and with a felony, particularly. So it's important that information is given correct information is given. And so there was friends of mine who went who thought that they couldn't vote but we went anyway. I think you have to just show up. You should exercise your right to vote. And if you're told no, try to get that provisional ballot as kids spoke up and challenge that don't take no as an answer that's my antidote for life. No cannot be the answer. We have to push forward and see if there's something be your own best advocates and then reach out to places like ACLU and say that you put in a provisional that provisional ballot so that they can tell you to the right help and resources and find out if you really can't vote vote or not because that's important. Especially for trans women of color and anything else any other any other race. It is just important for us as Americans to be to exercise that right because you know more than ever laws are being made that affects the population. And one and, you know, and the sixes are just so startling because like one in 13 people, people of color don't have the have ID don't have the proper ID so that they can vote. And, you know, and like one of it compared to 156 non black individuals. That's a disparaging number and it's concerning. So we I want to make sure that that my message is so that every, every day and average women like myself, try to find try to find out if you have the right ID. Get your voter registration card do everything that you can do pre hand so that you are lessening the chances that they're that someone's going to create problems for you remain calm and try to work through it okay. And I think if we just work together and we plan ahead, we can get through this together. That's my hope. And so to that's so important. You talk a lot about Kimberly about ID and identity and identification right are two really complicated things. In Indiana we have fairly strict voter ID laws, which is perhaps a separate webinar, but how can someone and kid I'll start with you you may be my go to on this. How can someone get an ID if they don't have one. And can they get one in time for the election if they are registered but perhaps they've lost their ID, or don't have other state issued identification. Absolutely, so the best way to do that I'm not I am not an expert at the, at the old bmv. I do what everybody else doesn't have to Google that up so feel free to correct me that but the bmv would be your best option. Because I know it costs less than $20 to get a state ID. So I would consider, if you can $20 can be a steep lift for some people which is why it's a problem that we require voter ID, you know, people in poverty deserve to vote to and to have their civil rights. So the ACLU spoke out against Indiana's voter ID law and we have a number of times. But this year of course it is what it is. And the year probably your fastest way to do it is to get a state ID from the bmv if you don't already have some kind of ID, there are other types of ID that will work. You can use a military ID if you possess a military ID that is valid voter ID if you possess a passport you can use that. If you possess a student ID at an accredited Indiana University that has a photo and an expiration date on it that meets the requirements of the Indiana Port of Elections you can use that as an ID as well so those are all possible paths. Great and Kit could you repeat the ACLU web address, because I know you have some great guidance on the website about ID. Yeah, absolutely so you can find us at www.aclu-in.org. And if you like I can throw in the chat the link to our yes you can vote website with a lot of great information and a lot of links out to even more detailed information but it's got all the basics there. Perfect. Thank you. So now that we've gotten some of the paperwork out of the way. The idea of voting and participating is, it's a right but it's also a very emotional moment we all feel a certain degree of responsibility for our communities for our country and for each other. Veronica you mentioned in your bio that Green Castle Indiana while located in a fairly rural area has some economic diversity to it has some challenges. What made you look around your community where you've now lived for 15 years and said I need to run for office, I can change this, even despite the fact that I'm sure you knew you were going to have to talk about and make vulnerable on some really key points of your identity what what prompted you to run for office. So, so making vulnerable parts of my identity, you know, like I had mentioned, you know I did my voting as my most authentic self back in 2008 so it has been over a decade that I've been living in my community here. Part part of being trans and and living as one's authentic self, it is a daily task of activism in and of itself. So I'll start with that and point out that almost as a becoming part of my community and being an active and in valued member of my community was part of my has been part of my activism so getting involved in and becoming a church pianist. Getting involved in in working for and giving time to causes in my community. These are all opportunities to increase visibility of trans folks in my community and we, I think, all three of us can affirm that simply living and being and being visible and representing in our communities is part of our activism. Going out and teaching is part of my activism. I don't do it quite as much as I do and I still but I still do it over zoom I teach piano to kids in my community and and I do it on a pretty cheap scale. So that folks in the community get an opportunity for that for their kids to have that experience right so so that was part of everything before I ever thought about getting in into politics and representation in the community here. You know, the, the, the third ward in Green Castle is a long and narrow. I won't say Jerry Mandard but it is an oddly shaped ward that extends both over an area that's densely populated by some of the pause faculty and staff, as well as a more transient community and renters community on the east side. That includes folks who and and and children who suffer from food insecurity, housing insecurity, we do have a not inconsequential homeless population here in Green Castle. We do have a women's shelter, but we do not have a homeless shelter that can take men. We are working on some of these issues here in Green Castle so there is always unfinished business to be done. And, you know, some some of the things are obvious when you look around and you see cars in in the Walmart parking lot that that are, you know, have pillows and bedding in them for from folks who have been challenged with regards to housing so so that's that but there's also other challenges that that are not quite so visible the challenges of addiction in our community, folks who are suffering from, from addiction, folks who are challenged in with mental illness in our community and during this these pandemic crisis, this is even more amplified for disadvantaged folks. So, so the, all of these sorts of things were factors that when, unfortunately, the prior counselor for the third ward announced that he was not going to be running again because he was suffering from addiction in his shelter. Folks reached out to me and asked if if I would consider running and I, you know, said I would. I was very, very thankful to have a community that stood behind me and supported me and our message of good neighborliness in Green Castle, but that's not a message that necessarily people just did on their own. It's a culture that I hope to think that by those 12 years of authentic living in my community and representing as a as a productive and valuable citizen of our town that that that that value comes back. And so I am always a big advocate of partnering with with allies who can mutually benefit from each other. So the woman who helped me the most by providing organizing space community organizing space for my election campaign last fall and and help helped with being my canvassing manager is a mom to a trans kid who at the time was seven years old. And fighting for her was a big part of reminding myself why I was doing what I was doing because her, her life is in the balance to especially with another consequential election ahead of us this year. So the work I do is for our community and for the disadvantaged folks here. You know, kids mentioned so many different tiers of folks who are marginalized with regards to voting including homeless folks and folks here in Green Castle need to know that that they can vote. It's a pretty good job of reaching out to the in car formerly incarcerated community here in Putnam County. We need to do better. Still, in terms of some of these other communities as well. So, yeah, I hope that answered your question Molly. And it's so important I think to hear that obviously, and I'm speaking a bit out of turn here. Being a trans woman is an important identity. It is kind of a political act in and of itself. You also have all kinds of political interests and passions and needs and priorities as community members and telling your story of kind of living and being an activist in a rural area is a story that I think a lot of people in rural America would find really makes so much sense. And if I can bounce back off that briefly, you know, you know, you would mentioned who would think in Indiana. It actually turns out that Illinois that are our neighbor to the west which folks generally think is a bluer place and yet elected its first transgender elected official, although we do expect that to happen with judge Jill this fall, who I'm blessed to have had an opportunity to meet this this this summer. Wonderful. That's great news. Also might I add, in your face Illinois. And number one, we're not one. We can take on Wisconsin later to I love this. So, something that Veronica said really left out to me Kimberly, she said the woman who made the biggest difference. So I don't mean to like put you on the spot here Kimberly but your name comes up a lot when people talk about someone who made a difference in their life, their political life. So I hope you know that, but I'd also love to hear from you Kimberly as you look around your community, what makes you get up every day and decide to be an advocate and ally, and kind of a dead mother and and leader for lots of young folks here in the city I'd love to hear more about that. So that's good to know. Thank you for saying that. Really, what makes me get up every day and what has made me get up for the last 30 years is the young people, because they are there. They're our future. I feel blessed to work with them every day. I feel blessed that you know they're here that they're here right in America. You know, they're going to be our future governors presidents representatives nurses doctors and caretakers. You know, frontline activists. So, educating them and lifting their voices amplifying their voices and making sure that we are building futures that are going to future that are going to, you know, better their tomorrow is gone. And it's immensely important to me. I mean, you know, as a young person so many years ago, I had a trans woman that came out and, you know, gave me shelter. When I didn't have it when I was put out. So I learned from that I learned to be caring and giving and loving and spite of what I might need on the opposite side of, you know, what of that love. And I also believe in America, I believe that I believe in the power that we can come together and find coming ground to make sure that we house the homeless we give medical care to those who are sick. And we care for our children. That's been that's been what America's been built on. And that's why I continue to fight for and, you know, it's an honor to work for Indiana youth group working for the Department of Child Service and the state of Indiana that's always been an honor. I wanted that from the time I was 10 and to actually get to live that out. Nothing better. And now to get to work with LGBTQ youth and their allies. I couldn't ask for better. I've hit the lottery, because I see young people come in with their shoulders slumped and I see them walking out the door with their shoulders held high and their heads held high, and there's some pride in that. And when they look at people like myself, kid and Veronica and allies like you, Molly, it sends a powerful message that there is hope and that's what I want them to know that hope lives. It doesn't it's not dead. It's not found in someone saying no, it's found in you saying yes to yourselves and finding someone out there who can support you and we're believing you. And I think, you know, the us coming together as advocates and speaking out and living our truth and living our authentic selves we're doing that. And so that's what I, you know, that's what I wake up for. You're going to thaw out my think tank iron heart here Kimberly that that's powerful stuff. So for folks who don't know could you tell us a little bit about Indiana youth group. I'll be glad to thank you. Any of the youth group was founded in 1986. You know, it was started out as a hotline to prevent suicide to and just for someone to be on the other end of the line for desperate for desperate youth. It has just been a lifesaver for many youth and Allen from near in Marion County, but not only that, it has spread it through virtual program to other counties, and even out of the state of Indiana. So it's that beacon of light and all the darkness that youth can LGBT youth can find themselves is saying it's kind of that lighthouse where you can come when you are able to come. When they're facing homelessness when they don't have jobs, when they are bullied in school. We are those we're the voice we're the advocate, you know, we provide wraparound services for case management, providing food to our pantry, finding housing, we are just now entering a very excited program project prison where we're finding housing for you. And we continue to advocate for you and school through our TSA programs. So it's just so much and I'm such a, I'm so excited to be a part of it. Wonderful. Thank you for walking us through. You mentioned in your work all three of you have mentioned really that transgender people sometimes have a higher incidence of some of these other social challenges. So they might be housing insecure at a higher rate, there may be problems with employment discrimination, or even accessing employment or getting equal pay. We talked about rates of maybe mental health or addiction, or even increased incarceration sometimes just by virtue of trying to survive. In an election year when you're exercising your power at the polls to make sure that you can make some big policy changes so that these general areas of tension and pain for transgender residents gets lifted a little bit. Let's say I give you a magic wand tomorrow kit and make you the governor. What is the first policy step you take that you think is going to improve the lives of transgender Hoosiers and by extension, improve all of our lives. Take that magic wand. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for making me governor. I accept. I will rule with a with an iron fist. But what I want to say is that when I think about policy change in Indiana. Of any kind. I think about how important it is to start with folks most harmed. How, how, how, you know, advancement doesn't happen. It can't happen by leaving people behind. It can't happen by being something that only benefits people who may already have a lot of benefits and privilege. And so if I were to make, if I were to, if I were to get a one shot. Change of change for Indiana one shot that I get to change something. It would be our, our, our overpopulated prison system. I would. It would be deep prison reform. I think that the way that the, you know, and I'm speaking of course is kit. I'm a transgender person. I do think that when I think of like a keystone issue that keeps the poorest people who are trans and a number of other other people, particularly people of color from building cultural wealth. It's the, the, the incredibly high rates of incarceration that you see. And I will tell you that that affects trans people really specifically because trans people are likely to experience homelessness. And I so many people on my social network, including myself, have experienced homelessness as a result of being trans. And this leads to doing work to survive that may not. And that leads to the collection of felonies, which leads to the inability to get a job, which leads to back into that cycle and feeds that cycle. So if I could do one thing, it would be to stop criminalizing so many people and to provide ways, whether it be expungement, whether it be simply decreasing their mandatory minimum sentences, whether it be decriminalizing certain kinds of certain kinds of behavior or reducing our penalties for them. I would like to see us address our prison system if you go to the ACL's website and look at our campaign for smart justice. We have identified a number of very small policy changes that could lead to a 50 cent reduction in Indiana's prison population if Indiana lawmakers have the courage to adopt them. And it would make us a wealthier, more caring and more humane state. So there we go. There's my campaign speech. Well done. We've already got someone coming in in the chat kit for governor 2024. So you've got a little bit of backup there. Well Veronica from the city council to governor for a day. What do you do. Well, you know Kim enumerated so much about focusing on the least privileged amongst us. Those of us with the least and and, you know, the incarcerated community is clearly one to identify there. I would also draw out the notion of our voter ID laws here in the state of Indiana I think that that that is an important target to put focus on in terms of voter marginalization and voter suppression within the state of Indiana and I think that any opportunity to give every Hoosier the opportunity to vote in their communities is always going to be better for for our cultural wealth as as kit put it in our community. So I would I would identify that as well. If I was, you know, there's there's only so much we can do as city counselors, but if I could put myself in the in the role of benevolent dictator rather than the iron fister. I would think that that also identifying the the challenges to access for quality mental health care and addiction recovery care for those in the least, or those who are in in marginalized communities that that those are communities that that need uplifting and need help from the state because they're not getting it from from anywhere else and it's time that we identify these communities and uplift them. Thank you so much Veronica so Kimberly Veronica's out you're in governor for a day where do you take us. It's a tough act to follow my goodness. You know, haven't come been in the military and, you know, coming from a military family, and I would look more to that area, I would let my voice to fighting against the right law that keeps us keep trans people from serving in the military, mainly because so many marginalized people don't have the means, either from their family, their parents, they, most of them, most of us, like myself, I grew up, I was a poor and my access to education home, own in a home and getting that first real job that paid anything was through the military and it is and when you know and serving as a drill sergeant. There in the military, I found out that there are a lot of stories that were like mine, poor people finding that out in the key to some form of success. So the Supreme Court has says that a job can't discriminate, but one of our biggest employers in our nation continues to discriminate. So I would advocate for that to be no more. Lofty priorities I love it these are great chewy policy points which we talk a lot about changing the world these are some specific levers that you can influence by casting your vote. So let's hope and assume that someone watching us right now on YouTube or on zoom is grappling with the idea of casting their first vote as their authentic selves. You've talked a little bit about your personal voting stories. What is an action plan that you might recommend to somebody in the audience who's getting ready to do this for the first time. I'm going to go in reverse order so Kimberly I'm coming right back to you. Give us some counsel. Where should they start. I say, prepare yourself. Make sure you have your ID together. You're pulling all that stuff together you get your voters registration card have that together. You know what, go over the issues get excited about it. Know that this is affecting you and everyone behind you and everyone in front of you that this is your voice in the community. This is your chance to say something to advocate for yourself to speak up for your community. You know, I know I've been in many march. I've been in a couple of marches I won't say many I've been in a couple of marches. I think, you know, that is a wonderful way to advocate and put your and become and get your, you know, give your input, but more than that, it takes us voting. That's the biggest muscle in our community that's going to lend itself to you to changing policies and laws. And that's what I say, get, get excited about it and get out there and vote. Great. So step one, get excited kit. What's a step to familiarize yourself with your voting options. You know how you can cast your vote. So we've talked about research, come talked about researching that candidate and getting excited about the issues, which is definitely your first step. Your second step, I say would be to choose from the multiple options that you have available to you to vote and know in advance how you're going to do it, because Indiana in Indiana we make voting harder than it needs to be. And honestly, our voting laws are stricter than many other states, despite the fact that voter fraud is vanishingly rare. I would tell you that we were disappointed that Governor Holcomb did not heed our call to extend absentee voting to all Hoosiers. We are, we've gotten a lot of we've heard a lot of questions about that and there's a lot of confusion really about how absentee voting is going to work for people who are afraid that they might contract COVID if they're going to the polls. I would tell you that considering delays in the mail considering all the things that have been in the mix and the size of the selection. It is probably, even though the official due date for ballots is the 22nd that's this Thursday. It's probably a little too late, like I would consider, unless you have already requested that absentee ballot. What I might consider instead as a safe alternative a safer alternative is an early vote. Indiana's early voting period is underway now. It's been underway since the sixth, you can simply go into a voting location and cast your vote in your district. The best way to find out where that is is to go to Indiana voters.com. And just, they've got wonderful tools for checking your voter registration to make sure you are registered to vote. And they've got tools for learning where you can vote. And so hit them up. And if you are still confused, you can always just give a ring to your county clerk's office. They'll be able to help you as well. But for most people that's probably going to be the most accessible way to find out. And that is a state run website so it's accurate. And you can count on that information. And they'll probably have the most up to date information in case in this unprecedented election, where we have so many people voting, which we're super excited about, but also so many complications because of the pandemic. Do check before you walk out the door. Make sure that you know where you're driving to, especially if you have trouble traveling lots of trans people, for instance rely on the bus system that might take an hour and a half to get across town to get to where you need to vote. And so know it right away make sure you double check that you're you're going to the right place and that they're going to be able to allow you to vote. So yeah, that's mine. That's mine is do that research first. Do your homework. Absolutely. So Veronica when I come to you I'm going to come with two questions in one. One that I just posed to kit and to Kimberly, but also especially as a local official we've been asked in the chat thank you Jason, how can poll workers make voting a safe and positive experience for folks what can they do so we want you to do two things Veronica speak to a first time voter and speak to the poll workers about making it a welcoming environment. So addressing the first question I will plus one kits uplifting of Indiana voters calm. It's a fantastic resource for every voter in Indiana. It's too late to register but for the next election. You can register where you can register if you already have a state issued ID in the state of Indiana. The other thing is what what I don't the one thing I don't like about Indiana voters calm is that the best part of it is through the voter portal, and the button is at the bottom of the page and you have to scroll down to it. The portal button should be upfront and center on that page, because that's where everyone needs to go because that's where you can see where you're pulling places, what the polling place hours are, you can see who's on your ballot right there in your web browser and you can go open up new tabs and say, which of these judges do I want to retain, or can I look at the those judges records with regards to what you've made that might be impactful on my life. So, so you're not left flat footed in when you're in the ballot area, and you're a more educated voter because an educated citizenry as they say is is the foundation of our democracy right So I'll point that out and then finally add a bit for myself and say, if you're voting for the first time is trans phone a friend. I think kit and Kimberly can probably affirm that we've all stood on the shoulders of giants to get to our, the place of comfort where we are in our lives. Someone who walked before us who we look up to as as a guiding figure and I think that all women have have that in their, their lives and men as well I think that that we all look up to mentors as as we look up our set into ourselves as we grow as adults. So, so I would say phone that friend and find somebody who's been there before and go with them if you can. Now, the second question. I was just asking you to repeat it. So, that was a, that was an unfair audible that I called. So how can a poll worker ensure that voting is safe and positive for first timers for long timers but how can pull workers contribute to trans safety. Yeah, and I see that question there from Jason now in the chat now that you mentioned it. And I think the most is to to as a poll worker is to honor the presentation of folks in front of you. If you, and this not only goes for poll workers but I think it goes for grocery store clerks and I think it goes for, you know, mail carriers, and, and everyone else who's in a point of service. And that's to be kind to people who look different than you. And just start there, right. If, if someone looks different than you and they bring an ID that might not visually match their, their, you know, it's a four year old photo and they might have made some substantive cosmetic changes to their appearance but but their name is still an older name, because they haven't been through a legal process for that yet. So I think it's important to be kind and and and honor the process I think that that that's that would be the valuable message that I would share. Thank you that's so helpful Veronica kit. Yeah, I think the workers trained I don't know to be honest I don't know if this is something the ACLU gets involved in but are they given counsel on what to do if confronted with say a mismatched ID in terms of just that visual. Yeah, so I will tell you this, the ACLU every year. So we have a lot of training and instructions for interacting with trans people at the polls to every county clerk in the state. And we get the occasional response that they appreciate the training. Of course, county clerks are sort of free to determine what the training protocols for their poll workers are. So, we don't have an official way of knowing exactly what that training looks like. We certainly, you know, having yet been asked by a poll worker by by by a by a county clerk to come in and train their workers although we would, if they asked us to. But I will say we the tips that we give them are fairly straightforward and also very easy to follow. And I think that people are often struck this. You know, maybe they hear things on the internet and they think this is all very complicated and hard but like when you look at it. The rules are pretty simple. So what we talk about is, you know, you may encounter people who their identification doesn't look exactly like who they are, who they're presenting themselves to you as and the thing that you need to follow their legal requirements are met. They are entitled to their right to vote. Just because they're wearing makeup that day and they're not wearing makeup in their photo, or vice versa, does not change their legal entitlement to vote. And, you know, lots of people who are not transgender look very different in their photo what photo IDs. And so they, they, so, and you know you may have had a bad hair day you may have had a, you know, you know, like a smudge on your nose you may have had any number of things when you went to the driver's license branch to get that photo taken. Lots of people look different in their photos and we all know that. I don't know a single person that like thinks their driver's license photo accurately accurately sort of represents what they look like. I know I never have and I still don't. So just kind of knowing that. Okay, also like a certain kind of politeness that you can have that is extendable everywhere is maybe just don't assume that someone is a man or a woman there's lots of neutral ways to refer to people, rather than like sir or ma'am. Then don't put people in that position and honestly like it's 2020. It's maybe time to read to deal with the fact that some people, of course, my poll worker tips don't seem so snarky. But I will say that it's 2020 it's time to realize that people look all kinds of ways. Hey, never use words like it, or whatever, when referring to someone is transgender, right. We've heard reports of things like that happening. And if you were concerned about like what to call somebody because it's necessary to refer to them. It's okay to ask. If you know if you don't know, and you're about to refer to them you might want to ask like what are your pronouns, you notice that we all have our pronouns right here in our zoom windows which is super convenient. Not always, you know so easy in person but you know that's something that trans people will also see as a sign that you're a safe person, which is important. Hey, you know, it's fair to use someone's first name pronouns or placeholders you can certainly just if you just don't know, know that it doesn't actually matter in terms of whether they have the right to vote. Their gender and makes no has no impact on their right to vote so don't worry about it use their first name the way you would use if you work and you know if you were confused. You can ask people what their real name is that's weird. And, and yeah, that's an old privacy last last one that I want to hit out of all of these is privacy. You know you have a risk when when a trans person hands you an ID that doesn't match how they're presenting themselves to you that is an act of trust. It's an act of, like, deep trust that they're not going to get hate crimes at that moment, and I'm not joking about that I mean that it, you know, find you know, they may when you hand over that ID, whether it's at the polls or at a bar, or in a grocery store. You know what the person holding that ID is going to do. They may say something very loud and there may be a whole line of people behind you, and who knows who those people are, and who knows what their opinions are, and who knows how they may feel about you, they may have been fed on a steady diet of hate that they've picked up from the media, they may want to do you harm. So when you announce that someone is transgender in public because their, their ID looks different, or when you make a big deal about that. You may not find that funny, or like may not see what a big deal it is, but you may actually be risking someone's safety or even their life. So, yeah, so I definitely want to raise the privacy concern for poll workers I think that's probably the most key. Lots of people make mistakes, but let's try not to put people at further risk. This is a really important point. Thank you, Jason. So I'm going to go to Kimberly here to see if she has anything to add to that we have given ourselves a little extra time tonight. So we ostensibly have some more time together if you have other questions we'd certainly love to hear them, but Kimberly I'd like to give you a chance to respond to Jason's question about being a poll worker and making things feel safe. Monica said, I would just add, reiterate, just being kind and loving to each other, and make sure and ensuring that everyone have a pleasant experience. It's a vulnerable thing to vote period it's a vulnerable thing to go into some of these spaces whether you're going to the city county building, going into maybe the basement of a church where you've never been and certainly that extension of, of risk and trust when handing someone an ID is a really important point. So I want to make sure we talk a little bit about how someone watching this from a state where there isn't a kit there isn't a Kimberly there isn't a Veronica or at least they don't think there is right because we know we have lots of partners, but maybe they don't have a role model or a direct connection. I want to know what your advice would be to someone trying to be a role model find a role model spark of movement in their own hometown might be Veronica what would you say to someone who's watching out there and and wants to find a you. You can look me up on the internet and reach out to me. And I don't care whether you're in Idaho or whether you're in Florida. I am blessed to be very well networked. I will be happy to answer questions. And so so I'll start right there. I'm happy to make myself a resource regardless of where someone lives. I'm assuming that if someone is watching this video to they have access to the interwebs, which of course is replete with misinformation, but it's also replete with great assets, and there are wonderful communities, if you can just start there, you know, not every state has a well organized transgender organizational community. Indiana has on and off at times right now we're kind of off in terms of just an umbrella trans community organization for for the state of Indiana but there are advocacy groups, surely for for the youth here in Indiana. There's more to I YG and and the the great connections that that can provide for for folks who are coming to terms with their identity as well. But I, I'll put it right out there. You know, I have a very unique last name. It's unique enough that I'm one of like five people in the nation with the this last name. My twin sons are two of those two more of those five. So Google me and get in touch with me and and I will help you. Thank you so much Veronica Kimberly Veronica teach you up a little bit to talk about you three sources but generally what would you say to someone who's watching and wants to inspire or join a network. You definitely look within your community. And one thing I always say, if there's no one be it stand up and lift your hand and people will show up, because most often if you're thinking about it someone else is thinking about it, but not everyone wants to stand up. So stand up that will encourage and give someone else the courage to stand up and speak out as well and form that form those groups and definitely look up I YG we don't care where you live we're going to help in any way that we can. So all you got to do is put in the web, I YG and it'll end in Indianapolis, and you'll find us and we are going to help you no matter what. That's a generous offer. Thank you. Get Malone. What would you say. Yeah, this is near and dear to my heart, because this is the work I do every day. And it's so possible, and like that's and I want to echo Kim and say, you know you can be that person. And it's important to me that you know I think our culture sometimes leaves us feeling helpless. And there's sort of an ingrained helplessness in sort of. I want to be nuanced here but in the narrative of us being minorities, because we are, we have challenges and they're real challenges. I don't see that every day. But I think sometimes the online culture, the discourse that we engage with when in one another can be very disempowering. And it's important to me to also say yes, this is real, but also you have power. You can make change in your community and we see that in my trans advocacy program where we have seated a number of small community groups. Shout out to queer space in Evansville, folks who have gone through our trans education advocacy program, who, you know, started doing work in their communities on their own. And that sometimes people may need a push, but what I think a lot of people who are trans who may live in a remote place or may live in a rural area, what they may think is that well it's impossible there's nobody like me here. Or I will be chased out of town. I will, you know, I don't want to glad hand to you. It is hard to be trans in America, no matter where you live. But I think that you find when you create community, when you offer an opportunity for people to come and join you. People are super excited to do it like super excited to be part of it. And that's something that's accessible as heck, you don't even need money. You can go to a public library with a rentable or excuse me with a with a with a with a meeting room you can check out, which almost everybody has. Maybe be the person who started that get so you get, you know, put a put a put a post up on Facebook, send out the call and make a space, because it may be scary. But you know, you know, you know, you might find that your life line for someone else. And you might find that the community that you help to create is your life line. And you know, you know, I cannot take credit for creating the community that I find myself in, and that I share with Veronica and camp. I'm in the exact same spaces. I've been the things that have kept me from falling off a cliff. So, hey, creating community is an act of self care and you can do it. I'll tell you, I usually am in the business of having very hopeless conversations. It's kind of, we don't like to think of think tanks that way but we talk about problems that's for a living. It's so refreshing to talk about solutions and kind of leading with love it's it's been a really special evening for me. So I've noticed that our questions and comments are starting to slow a little. I know it's a busy season for all of you it is election season so we're coming up on time. So I think it's a good time to wrap I'd love to hear a last word from all of you though you have a captive audience in the most positive way. I want to talk about how to keep transgender voters safe and engaged and how to empower our transgender neighbors to get active, whether that's politically personally religiously, just in their community. And so I'd like to come around and hear a parting message, anything you want about what we've discussed tonight. And please also accept my thanks and new America's deep thanks. On behalf of the ACLU of Indiana their deep thanks for participating tonight and I'm so thrilled. And it's so grateful to everyone who listened in Kimberly I'll start with you last word. That's what it's as it is always surround yourself with love extend love and create a safe space for everyone. But thank you Kimberly Veronica. Yeah, you know, I want to bump off the last question briefly because I think something needed to be said that didn't get said. A lot of our small rural communities actually do have pride groups. We're in Putnam County we've got Putnam pride initiative down in Owen County Spencer pride has an amazing and huge pride festival every year in, you know, they're the, the biggest little pride festival in the nation. I think, and so look in your own community and if there's not something there like it said you know make it yourself. And milk said that you've got to give them hope and I want each of us watching today, each of us thinking about, you know, maybe running for office to keep hope alive in your own heart. And, you know, if you're the parent of a transgender folk or sibling of a trans person, or a poll worker. Love your neighbor that it's so important to lead with love. And that's something that Kim had mentioned as well. And with that I'll close. I think the theme. I'm going to take off my also very like hard nosed ACLU mask. Because yeah, you know you I feel you Molly like, like it is nice. This space has been really, really, really healing for me, because you spend so much time talking about difficult policy problems and difficult community problems. But I want to raise the love and a lack of love. You know a lack of love in in America is a policy problem. And growing love as a resource is a is a problem that requires solutions it requires us to reimagine our politics. And so we're trying to get away from our culture of scarcity that we live in where we, we sort of in America, we pick our ground and we say this is our ground, and nobody, you know nobody can can share it with us and we've got to defend it. I think that's the core of a lot of the problems that we face. And the core of a lot of the problems that that anyone who seems other, who seems like an other to the people in their communities face. And some of these very difficult and thorny political problems that we face, like the way our country discriminates against transgender people but not limited to that are absolutely a failure of our culture to value love as a political statement. So I just kind of want to like Coda on that like that can be something we think about and talk about in very serious places. Thank you kid I can't think of a better way to wrap up so I will just do some housekeeping and again extend my deep thanks to Kimberly a cough Veronica Pedro and Kit Malone. Thank you to the ACLU of Indiana thank you to my colleagues at New America, some of whom are out there listening and help us helping us make this happen. So if you're out there participating in the event tonight, you will receive a message from me with a transcript of video and some takeaways from tonight's event I hope you will share them. And I hope you will spread the word about the voting resources and political participation resources that we talked about. Please also find me online at Molly G Martin on Twitter mo l l y g m a r tin, or you can email me at Martin at new america.org we'd like to hear from you and we'd like to have the opportunity to share these resources with you. Most of all, and this is not a partisan statement vote. Certainly a lot of people have laid themselves on the line to allow you to do it. And if you need resources need help or need advice you can certainly find it from the Indiana ACLU. So again with deep thanks to everyone joining us out in the audience everyone watching on YouTube, and certainly to three fabulous women who made this such a vibrant, loving conversation. Thanks. Thanks to all of you have a great night and kit I know it's election season go take a nap.