 I'm Keith Ghostland. I'm Ann Charles. I'm Linda Quinlan. It's July 14th. And we are at the studio. And we'd like to acknowledge that we are taping in Malpillia in unceded indigenous land. So Keith. Just a few headlines. But first, our trivia question. Front page, out in the mountain, July 1991. Their lead story made a reference to an action that had been taken by then-governor Richard Snowing. What action were they talking about? First thing I want to acknowledge, the death of Dervé Martinez. And Dervé Martinez was a trans woman Vermont farm worker, migrant justice activist. She was deported in March after having been stopped for DUI. And there is unusual circumstance with how ICE had been notified that she was in custody. She was detained, deported. People tried to stop it. She was in the process of filing for asylum based upon horrific and systemic violence that they had experienced as a trans person in Mexico. She died after being deported and having been exposed to infected with COVID-19. And what migrant justice was saying was that part of her lack of health care and medications while she was being detained compromised her immune system so that she was even more susceptible. Migrant justice is starting a fund drive to raise money to help pay for funeral expenses. So Canada, one of their leading swimmers who has competed in both international and Olympic games, came out. Martha McCabe. What was truly remarkable about her coming out process is she was saying that while she was a swimmer, that she knew that there were probably other LGBTQ plus people who were also swimmers, but there were no out lesbians. So she had no role models. The people I was constantly surrounded by and giving my attention to were swimmers. There was no one in that circle I could have potentially looked up to. Had there been, it would be in a bit more normalizing. And she made this statement directed to parents. I want to be an example to young female swimmers and help ones who are struggling with this so they can see it's normal. Parents also need to recognize that this needs to be normalized. Kids don't see this everywhere. And when you don't see it, it becomes this hurdle you have to get over. And what she was citing was the lack of role models within swimming delayed her own coming out process. The travel ban between the US and Canada should be expiring next week, but 40 out of 50 US states COVID is out of control. Everyone thinks this is going to be extended. So we're going to have to say that it's commerce when we go to visit our friends in Montreal. 23rd International Conference on HIV and AIDS just concluded in Oakland, San Francisco. It was a virtual conference. One of the major things coming out of it is they are tracking the progress of the vaccine. They had an experimental vaccine. They have just completed using all of the vaccine. They started that in 2017. And they're doing it women in Southern Africa because they have a higher prevalence of becoming HIV positive, more so than the men in that community. So it would be a good indicator of if the vaccine is or is not effective. And then they are looking at some very promising treatment modalities. I was going to report about the Vermont Attorney General joining 16 other states in the District of Columbia in a suit against 45's regime for their proposal to withdraw all of the visa for international students whose studies were online. They, the 45 regime withdrew it this afternoon. Really? I didn't know that. They reached a compromise. Harvard and MIT had both led the way. And there was an estimate that this was going to impact over 370,000 students and could hurt the economy by over $1.8 billion. So that might have had something to do with it. Yeah. For whatever reason, this afternoon, late notice just as I was leaving, they had withdrawn it. Want to put a plug out for the Pride Theater? They are still doing a virtual Pride Festival. It starts this Friday. If you go on to the Chandler site, you can get it online. There will be Zoom presentations. The unique quality about the Pride Theater is that they're still will be doing the talk backs following the airing of their production. Members of Rainbow Umbrella, there may be some people who have started the conversation with the new Montpelier Chief of Police. If this is something that is of interest, go on to the Rainbow Umbrella website and let people know that. Early voting. The primary, August 11th. Did you get your postcard? Did you send it in? The census, did you do it? And what we're going to be looking for in the primary to very particular races. Senator Deborah Ingram, who has been a frequent guest on this show, is one of the people running in the Democratic for Lieutenant Governor. Also, in Chittenden 6-7, which is the Winooski District, Deanna Gonzalez, who has been on this show, has chosen not to run for reelection. Taylor Small, who has also been a frequent guest, is running. And there are three candidates for two slots. So if you're in that district, please vote. Taylor. Taylor Small. Yes, four votes for Taylor. This is my personal plug. I'm not allowed to say that. Oh, well, I can. Yes, you can. The last plug is the census. Actually starting August 11th as well, the Census Bureau enumerators are actually going to start doing the physical door-to-door that people are used to with a census taker. They're going to use all of the COVID precautions. They're going to be doing it from August 11th until October 31st. So that trick-or-treater may actually be a census taker. And a plug that, in March, self-reporting in Vermont was below 32%. National average is 62% for self-response. Vermont is now at 55.5%. And again, this determines what we get in federal funding and where monies are put. And when we come back, I'm going to talk about the legislature. All right. Ann. Well, before I begin my headlines, I'd like to make another important announcement, which involves our special interview show. If you, as Keith mentioned, the Chandler Pride, they were our guests with two other illustrious figures last week. And next week, on our show airing July 25th, we're going to have three more exciting interviews with Keith's going to finish up his interview with activist Mara Iverson. I'm going to talk with filmmaker Stephen Dansky. And Linda is going to speak with the editor of Sinister Wisdom, Julie Enzer. So tune in a week from Saturday on the 25th. And you'll see that show. But now let me turn to the kind of bleak international headlines. Let's start with the bad ones. Poland. Poland, yes. Things will improve as we go along in the headlines. But the Polish president has won a second term after a bitter campaign. The LGBT constituency takes heart because it was a close race. Due to receive 51.03% of Sunday's vote, while his opponent, Raphael Traszowski, got 48.97%, according to the final results. But due to one, and it's not good news for LGBT people in Poland. More bad news from Russia. The Russian elections occurred. I put elections in quotation marks in my notes because I think they were very rigged. Russian voters supported a national referendum, defining marriage equality exclusively as a union between one man and one woman. The referendum, which included more than 200 constitutional amendments, also paves the way for Russian president Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036. If he so chooses. And somehow I think he may choose that option. More from Russia. A rainbow ice cream. Rainbow ice cream is in the spotlight as Putin calls for monitoring of gay propaganda. So I now have a picture before you of this rainbow ice cream company's product. One Russian politician said it accustomed children to the LGBTQ pride flag, so it was therefore undesirable. Putin had a conference. And at this conference, the head of Women's Union of Russia drew his attention to this ice cream brand named Rainbow. And the proprietors of this ice cream store said it's a delightfully delicious and high quality ice cream with various colors based on natural dyes. For us, the rainbow represents the sunshine after rain, the most beautiful natural phenomenon. We don't see any comparison with the LGBT movement or its symbols. So that's what Putin is up to. But on a more pernicious level, law enforcement in the far eastern city of Komsomol on Amor have launched yet another administrative case against LGBTQ activist and artist Hulia Tsvetkova for promoting nontraditional sexual relations among minors. I have a picture before you now. I remember reporting that Putin had put out an anti-LGBT tape on Facebook that Facebook finally took down about two gay parents in an orphanage and the orphanage director spitting. This artist, Hulia Tsvetkova, published drawings of LGBT people raising children on social media in the beginning of June in response to this Facebook thing that Putin put out. She's been arrested three times, and I don't know what the outcome of her. She was under house arrest until the end of November 19th, and she's been charged with violating the Russian gay propaganda law. So more bad news. The Iraqi news media is promoting hate speech against LGBTQ people. A study has occurred, and I'll tell you more about that in my individual segment. There are hopeful signs that I'll also talk to you about in Iraq. News from Africa. In Tunisia, two young men received a two-year sentence for homosexuality. What happened was they had a dispute with each other, and one of them complained to the police, and the argument was about a loan. So the police came and accused them of homosexuality. They were both arrested on June, both 26 on suspicion of same-sex conduct. They declined. Apparently, anal exams are popular in Tunisia. And in a gesture of seeming openness, the government says you can choose to have one or not, they declined the pleasure, and therefore were charged with homosexuality and have been sentenced to two years in prison. So that's like the witch trials, if you don't try. Right, right. Better news from Africa, though. In Gabon, a breakthrough has occurred. The overturning of the law that criminalized same-sex consensual relations has occurred. It was in the works, and now that's been certified. So that's very good news. Similarly in South Africa, law has been changed so that officials who were banned, officials now are banned from refusing to marry same-sex couples. I think of this as the Kim Davis case. There used to be a conscientious objection clause so that officiants couldn't perform, say you say it's marriage, if it were against their conscience. But they can't do that anymore. So if religious or personal beliefs will not prevent them from performing same-sex marriage. So good news from South Africa. Similarly in Uganda, you may recall I reported on the awful arrest of those 20 people in the homeless shelter. And the High Court of Uganda has awarded damages to them. About $1340 to the 20 homeless gay, bisexual, and transgender people who were arbitrarily detained and deprived of access to their lawyers. Now let's have some good news, some really good news. A Chinese trans woman wins a sex discrimination lawsuit against her employer in a landmark victory. She was employed since 2015 by an e-commerce company. She went to, she took time off to transition. When she got back, they said she'd taken too much time off even though they had granted it. And that she had mental health problems. So she won a lawsuit. She'll get her job back. Good news. Norway will prioritize lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender refugees in their immigration policy. This is really good news because a lot of countries in Europe are holding back on accepting LGBTQ asylum seekers. The Netherlands sees no role for gender marker on ID documents. So they've raised the question, what do we need gender markers for? On government, you know, and just to digress, I went to a diabetic health provider. And in the course of my signing up for this particular protocol, she asked me my gender. You know, I protested. And she said, well, you know, what can you do? It's not really relevant. But they're still asking this stuff in the United States as well. I have more headlines. Scotland is going to become the first country with LGBTQ inclusive school curriculum from 2021. This is very good. Odisha in southeastern India is going to the government is going to give monthly pensions to transgender people. And my last news items are as follows. Our pride is political. Thousands march in Paris for LGBT rights. The march was postponed till November 7th because of COVID. But 2,000 to 3,000 activists showed up anyway and marched. I have a picture before you now of them. The man who plotted London Gay Pride Attack gets life prison sentence. He not only was going to be head and stab and do other bad things at the Gay Pride parade. He was also going to target tourist destinations. But he was apprehended and now has been sentenced. And finally, and this is a picture I'd like you to see of Bolivia's first transgender news anchor who is going to put LGBTQ issues front and center. Her name is Leonie Dorado. She's 26. So those are my headlines. Hi, I have a few headlines. And Instagram will now block LGBTQ conversion therapy sources. Our tax dollars are supporting anti-LGBTQ organization. Amanda tax a woman in a parking lot over the way she parked. Julius, New York City, oldest gay bar, launches a GoFundMe to try to keep hanging on and not closing. I've always wanted to go to Julius. Well, you may not get a chance. Well, I hope for the best. Halle Berry apologizes for considering transgender role and vows to be an ally. Arkansas suspect has been arrested in the death of trans teen Braggla Stone. Trevon Martin Miller, 18, is charged with capital murder, which carries a death penalty or life in prison. Non-binary Black Life Matters activists killed and one injured by crazed highway driver. Anti-gay Virginia photographer sues for the right to discriminate before anyone has even asked him. Chris Herring filed a suit in federal court in Virginia. Anti-LGBTQ mayor in Atlanta resigns after denouncing Black Lives Matter. Mark Chamber got into trouble last year with a Facebook page that advocated killing LGBTQ people. That's not the Atlanta mayor, though. No, an LGBT mayor in Georgia, sorry. No, I'd love the mayor of Atlanta. No, I'm thinking, I'm sorry, it's Georgia in Georgia. I got in trouble last year for advocating killing LGBTQ people. Sorry. She's wonderful and she's cool too now. Three more transgender Americans killed and another hospitalized. Polyamorous relationships granted rights in Massachusetts. Summerville. Summerville. And used to live in Somerville. That's right. Detroit man sentenced to life in the murders of two gay men. Laverne Cox says she has finished debating with people about whether transgender is real or not. Seattle is considering renaming one of their schools after Marsha P. Johnson. Two New Yorkers are supposed to become first gay black men in Congress. Mondaire Jones and Richie Torres finished first in their primaries. Pat Robinson prophesies that God will destroy America if LGBTQ people get one more right. How do you feel about that? Sarita Lockley, a black lesbian trucker, shares her story of resilience with the world on Amazon's regular heroes show. So if you get to, if you have HBO and you would like to watch it, it's probably Amazon, sorry, it's probably a really good show. So Keith. So the city of Anuski, they're starting to talk about changing their charter to allow non-citizen voting, which made me wonder, didn't Montpelier want to amend its charter? That's House Bill 207, which was introduced by representatives, Hooper and Kitts Miller, passed the House. It is still stalled in the Senate Government Ops Committee because Jeanette White, Senator from Wyndham County, doesn't quite understand it. However, the vice chair of that committee is Anthony Polina. If you have a vested interest in seeing this bill pass and they would need to take it up when they come back August 25th, please get in touch with Anthony. The other thing we're going to be watching is all of this sort of usual political pundits are saying that when the legislature comes back in January, there's going to be history made because they're predicting that Becca Ballant will not only be the first woman pro tem of the Senate, she will be the first member of the LGBTQ plus community, an out lesbian, in a position of leadership in the chamber. That'd be great. Here, here. So there may be an interview forthcoming. So with that, Ms. Anne. Okay, let's explore in detail what's going on in Iraq. Iraqi print, online and TV have seen a large spike in largely negative coverage of LGBTQ rights and individuals, a new report said. The report was issued by Ira Queer, an Iraqi LGBT. Is that a real name? Yeah, it's an organization. The report analyzed a range of TV, print and online media outlets. The prevalence of writers and speakers, repeating tropes and misconceptions about LGBTQ people on the outlets. In the past five years, discussion of homosexuality in Iraqi media has become considerably more prominent with a particular increase, including occurring since 2019. The coverage, they found an overwhelming percentage of the coverage was biased against LGBT people. It noted that discussion of LGBT rights on TV frequently framed the content with ominous or dangerous sounding music and settings. Terminology was often abusive or suggestive of mental illness. In the 22 programs analyzed by Ira Queer, at least one negative term was effectively used every 30 seconds. Meanwhile, voices from the community were virtually absent. Additionally, out of the 777 minutes, which is the total duration of the 22 TV segments analyzed, only 103 minutes of the time was dedicated to LGBT speakers. More than half the programs did not dedicate a single minute to LGBT speakers. Ira Queer itself has been specifically targeted a number of times with one outlet referring to it as the sexual deviant organization in Iraq. 89% of LGBT respondents said that the media coverage in Iraq had negatively impacted the way they perceive their sexuality. Although homosexuality is not illegal in Iraq, LGBT people have regularly faced persecution and violence, as you can imagine. Armed groups have harassed and attacked LGBT people, or those perceived to be LGBTQ. There are hopeful signs, however, according to an LGBT activist, executive director of the organization, Ira Queer. Despite steel-grim prospects for most LGBT people, there's been a growing openness among young Iraqis, especially those who participated in the October Revolution. We use the word revolution on purpose as the majority of people who are on the streets were supporters of a secular state where all citizens are protected. This occurred in October 2019. We've actually raised the rainbow flag in Baghdad and did not find much resistance. Despite a largely negative outlook, the report noted that the very fact that there was an increasing discussion around the subject of LGBTQ rights was a sign that the topic was being taken more seriously. In addition, Ira Queer noted that the widely-watched Al-Sharia channel, while far from reaching professional standards of journalism with regards to the subject, offered LGBTQ-plus speakers the largest amount of speaking time and had a relatively more neutral coverage. The report also said a number of online outlets had begun to take a more progressive or at least neutral stance on LGBTQ rights. Some of the more progressive online platforms include Yalla, which is mainly on Facebook. They still have some work to do, but they are better than the mainstream media. So that's bleak, but kind of mixed in Iraq. They're trying to be hopeful about it. So that's my segment. I can go on, but... Do you have one more story? Oh, I'd love to talk. Let's talk about what's going on in Scotland. The classes, what are they gonna do with their LGBT-inclusive curriculum? They're gonna have classes on issues that will tackle homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia. As a survey from the British campaign group Stonewall, around 40% of LGBT students in Scotland said they hadn't been taught about sexuality issues. And just 22% had learned of safe sex in same-sex relationships. A study found that nine in 10 LGBT Scots faced homophobia in school, and 27% said they had attempted suicide after facing bullying. It was found that the school kids didn't have much of an understanding about intersex bodies and sex characteristics. In Scotland, same-sex civil partnerships has been legal, have been legal since 2005, and same-sex marriage from 2014. Same-sex couples can adopt and foster kids legally from 2009. Discrimination on the basis of gender and sexuality has been banned as per law by 2010, but this hasn't, all these progressive measures haven't filtered into the school. So they're gonna have classes on LGBT history and movement, political movements, and sexual practices. It's a really forward-looking gesture. And Scotland is the first nation which will do this nationally and will mandate it. All government school students would be mandatorily receiving classes on the problems faced by the LGBT community. So thank you for giving me the extra time to report this, this good news from Scotland. And I think California's requiring that, isn't it? State of California, LGBT. They're moving towards, they're still in the curriculum development stage. Well, would you like to know where some of our tax dollars are going? I don't know. To support LGBTQ, anti-LGBTQ organizations. The Paycheck Protection Program was intended to help small business during the epidemic. Is instead, the government is supporting religious and in some cases, funding hatred of LGBTQ people. The Catholic Church, for instance, the American Family Association and Concerned Women of America. The Catholic Church received 1.4 million dollars. And much of that money went to the dioceses that paid or sought bankruptcy because of clergy sexual abuse. 28 million went to the Archdiocese of New York led by Bishop Dolan, an outspoken anti-LGBTQ person. So that's where a lot of your tax money went. And that's gonna set back lawsuits about sexual abuse. Yeah, yeah. And if I just may inject Poland, the Catholic Church was a big supporter of this autocrat who just got elected due to. Of course they were. And a Detroit man, David Robinson, was convicted of killing two gay men and a transgender woman at a party last year. Prosecutors said the man, Devon Robinson, 19, had received oral sex from multiple people at this party and feared his family and neighbors would find out. He left the party on May 25th, 2019 on Detroit's east side and returned about an hour later wearing a ski mask and holding a handgun. Prosecutors said Mr. Robinson opened fire immediately upon entering the house killing Alante Davis 21, Timothy Blanchard 20, who were both gay and Paris Cameron 20, a transgender woman. The authority said two other people were wounded. And on another horrible note, three more transgender Americans have been murdered. Bree Black 27, a trans woman was shot to death in her hometown on Pompano Beach, Florida. In Louisiana, a black trans woman, shaky Peters 32 was found dead. Andrea McCarty, another transgender black woman was found dead in Baton Rouge. There have been 20 transgender murders this year and we're only in July. Entertainment news, any entertainment news? Now streaming its second season on Netflix and recently renewed for a third and final one, Dead To Me, is a dark comedy created by out comedian and producer Liz Feldman. The 30 minute comedy stars Christina Applegate versus Jen Harding, Inlander Cardinelli and Judy Hale. These two women meet in a grief support group that husbands have both died. Jen is dealing with the loss of her husband to a car accident and Judy says she's there because she lost her fiance to a heart attack. Anyway, it gets sexual between the two of them and romantic in season two. So and it's produced by queer producer Natalie Morales. So you might want to look at that. I looked at the, I watched a couple of them but now I may go back now that I know where this is headed. It's on Netflix? It's on Netflix. I thought you were in talk about, I think it's CW's Batwoman, which is meant to be. Oh, I already talked about that. Okay. Yeah. No, because it just rotated through again. Yeah. Okay. Now we have an interview. Yes, we have an interview and is doing an interview with artist Monica Di Giovanni. So let's see that. I'm here with Monica Di Giovanni who has studied painting and drawing at the Pacific Northwest College of Art before transferring to the Massachusetts College of Art. There she graduated in 1999 with a BFA in the studio for interrelated media with a focus on creative movement and the human body as medium, as well as a variety of other multimedia disciplines. Between 2012 and 2013, she spent four months in artist residency at Welcome Hill Studios in Westchester, New Hampshire, taking the time to reconnect with and unleash her creative spirit after many years of dormancy. In June, 2019, Monica became a formal student in the Soto Zen Order. She currently lives and works out of her apartment studio in Montpelier, Vermont. In addition to being an artist, she loves her role as yoga and meditation teacher. Welcome, Monica. Thank you. Thank you for the introduction. It's great to be here. Well, it's good to have you here. It's a very impressive resume. Oh, thank you. How long have you been painting? I have been painting on and off for about 20 years. I've been kind of painting in spurts, kind of painting around other life events. And in the last few years or so, have started to really integrate it into my life wholly as opposed to it being a secondary practice or something that else that happens besides other things that I do. So... How'd you happen to start painting? Well, when I started art school in the 90s, I focused on painting and drawing. Prior to that, as a young person in my 20s, I had spent a year living in Europe and explored a lot of the major museums throughout Europe. It was really easy to travel back then by train and was exposed to art that I had never seen before, including installation and performance art. And after two years of painting and drawing, I kept hearing the call internally to do something besides that. And I researched and at the time, there were only three performance art-based majors in the country. There was one in San Francisco. There was another one in the Midwest somewhere. I don't remember where. And then the one at MassArt. And since I was from Massachusetts and hadn't been there in many years, I decided to go there. And it was a great choice. Let me ask you, how does your Zen practice inform your painting? Well, it was an easy leap and I often say that all the years of painting helps prepare me for Zen practice because it's similar in flavor, in terms of concentration and attention and every artist paints differently. My style requires me to be fully present. It's a very highly focused, highly concentrated style. I'm very particular with my mark-making for the most part in my finished paintings. I do other art that is way more spontaneous and erratic. That's its own thing. But at this point, I've come to a place where I'm experimenting again. And I've been experimenting with Chinese calligraphy and I've always loved these intentional but yet graceful and beautiful marks. And they're blending, but I'm not quite sure how it's gonna end up yet. It's a new phase and a new mode. And yeah, they're meeting like star-crossed lovers, I think. They belong together. Who knows if they'll stay together? I don't know. I always like a Romeo and Juliet reference. Let's turn to the artwork then. Let me read your description. Your work is inspired by many years of yoga and meditation practice. Different forms of dance and movement and a love of nature. You've developed a meticulous style working with a deliberate multi-layering technique that mirrors the effects of watercolors and takes full advantage of the complex transparencies of high quality oil paints. Painting surfaces evolve and shift depending on the light from sun up to sun down. That's very interesting. Do you wanna talk a little more about your artistic credo or should we go right to the paintings? I'll just say this, that when I was studying performance art and installation at MassArt, I studied light and I was actually a lighting technician for theater. And it gave me an opportunity to work with light as a medium as well as the body. And so I've always been very curious about light itself in terms of colors of light and temperatures of light and quality of light. And without trying really, the oil paintings have evolved in that way. And it wasn't until I started, the layers started getting thinner and thinner and I was noticing that next to a window and noticing from one time of the day to the other that the different qualities of light in the day was kind of capturing what I was experimenting with in technology for all intense purposes. Let's go to the first painting. This is an example of your current work. It's Tragonoptera roquiuma. Roquiuma oil paint on canvas 2020. We'll see it on the screen now and tell us about it. Well, when I started this last round, this last body of work, I wanted to shift again. I'm always shifting in my artwork to keep it fresh and to feel like I'm evolving in my process. And I wanted to start bringing my activist mindset into my work in a more complete way. And I love nature and I love the environment. When I started painting butterflies, I thought I would just paint their wings in an abstract form because it was painting mostly in pure abstraction. And when I started to learn more about them, it was, I had to start actually reproducing their complexity and their beauty in whole form. And it also challenged me technically to work in that way. So it was a natural evolution. And they're amazing creatures. They're like, they themselves are impossible. And the little scales on their wings and scientists are now realizing that the veining is actually pumping butterfly blood through their wings that they have heat sensors in their wings. It's their amazing creatures. No kidding, you know, and the painting is very detailed. You can see it here. It's really a beautiful thing to look at and informed by scientific data. Yeah, yeah. I was visiting, there's an insect collection at the University of Vermont. And you can make it, well, I don't know if you can do it now during the pandemic but I was going there and I have a microscopic lens for my phone camera and I was taking these very detailed close up images of the butterfly to get details of their eyes and their wings and everything. And then there are insect collections all over the botanical gardens up in Montreal. There's a collection of glass butterflies at Harvard University. You don't have to look very hard to find them. Let's go on to the next painting, if we can. This is an older piece from 2003 called Uprising, Oil Paint on Masonite. Tell us about that. Well, that was kind of the first big burst of painting that came out of me when I moved to Vermont in 2002 from Massachusetts where I was really enjoying my life within the performance art community that was really rich and flourishing in the city. And eventually, as things, as happens, people started moving away, I moved to Vermont and when I came here, I didn't have a performance art community. And since that form of expression was very connected to a sense of community and I was kind of solo, then I started painting. And so that painting was out of a body of work that really, it felt very important to me because it was like I had tapped into a well of truth in myself. And that painting I had, when I was living in Boston, I came to politics kind of later in life. You know, I wasn't until my mid to late 20s that I had any awareness of politics. It was just the world that I grew up in. And during that time, there was a lot of uprising and movements focused on genetically modified organisms in food. And for me, that was my first introduction into the world of activism. And so I had been attending demonstrations and that was an experience I had never had before. And so in that painting, I tried to capture what it felt like being within an environment where people were seeking justice for injustice. Speaking of activism, let's go to your third piece, Impossible Things, 2020 Small Sculpture part of a statewide group show at the Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro. Tell us about that. That really, I think, directly speaks through an activist impulse. Yeah, yeah. So during now, today, during the pandemic, I haven't really done a lot of oil painting. I've been doing other work and I was invited by a friend to participate to be one of 60 plus artists who made these small structures that was a good challenge. It was a good framework, just like Zen. Creates a framework to work with. And they had to be under eight ounces. They had to be a certain small dimension. And that was the first sculptural thing that I've done in a really, really long time. So as an artist, it was like a great transition, a great break to express myself. And I started excited about the idea of working sculpturally. So I wanted to make paper clay, thinking that the clay would come out like porcelain because if you do it in a certain way, the clay will come out with porcelain. And my clay came out all chunky and kind of grotesque. But I was like, well, this is what I've made. I'm gonna go with that. And the piece itself was really came out of the process, which is really incredibly satisfying as an artist. I made a mold for it. There are pictures of the process on my Instagram account and people can go to that laughing underscore violet. It's my Instagram account if you wanna see more about the process. But I've been trying to, as an individual tapping into all the unrest that's going on in the world, trying to set myself in a useful way among the whole. And as that piece rose up organically, a lot of meditation practices allow the mind to get very clear and get to the heart of the matter. And with all of the unrest happening right now with people seeking justice for harm against black people, with our food systems falling apart, our healthcare system falling about, all of these things at the front line of it is the system it's working within, which is capitalism. And so my piece kind of went to the heart of the problem. And in case you get closer to it, you can see more of it. Yeah, yeah. If you look in, it's the money. Tell us about that angle. Yeah, yeah. So the piece is the room. So the show itself has like 60 pieces. It's interactive. There are haiku poems being read over speakers. There's special lighting. I really, I'm going to see it on Wednesday actually. I haven't been there yet but people have been sending me photos. My piece, you can't really see much from the outside besides this concrete looking structure, but there are little peep holes around the structure. And since you may or may not want to get close to it because of the pandemic, you can hold your phone up to one of the peep holes and take a picture and see what's on the inside. But what's on the inside are these four scrolls that I wrote in Chinese calligraphy that have the Buddhist practice of the four vows. And the four vows are a meditation on impossible things. They hang over a bed of nails, which is actually sewing pins with a dollar bill sinking in the bed of, the pins represent a bed of nails, which is an ancient Hindu practice to overcome dogma. And the money is sinking down into the pins. So we have this idea of capitalism, the our currency system that really drives most of the decisions that cause large injustices for our humanity. And our country particularly is really in a tremendous state of unrest, but with everything coming to the surface, we can see it and we can do something about it. And I'm heartened to see with all the suffering and the pain and all the injustice, there are so many people from different walks of life coming together to be active and present and to be part of a solution. So that is what I meditate on in my, when I meditate with the four vows. That's wonderful. We're almost out of time. Tell me what your current projects are. Well, we have the show up in Greensboro, which is that will be up until the August 9th. And you can go to the Highland Center of the Arts website and make a reservation. They're limiting the number of people and they're spacing out the visits so that it's as safe as possible during the pandemic. And then I'm a little hesitant to mention this because it's not totally firmed up yet, but I'm working on offering an LGBTQ community yoga class in Burlington. I'm currently offering two outdoor classes so people can be socially distant, but outdoors in Montpelier North Middlesex and practicing on these private properties with amazing views. I have a Zoom yoga class on Wednesday mornings, but I'm excited to do a particular class to cultivate a safe space for the LGBT community working on that. Wonderful, that's great, Monica. And thank you so much for coming. We'll have to have you back to talk more about what you're up to. Yeah, times are changing. Things are gonna keep changing. It's inevitable. Thank you so much, Anne. You are so right. Well, that was good, Anne. That was fun. Monica's very talented. She is. She's also a yoga teacher. And a friend. So you're gonna take us home now? What about trivia? Oh, that's right. Yes, come on now. July 1991, Governor Richard Snelling cited for an action. What did he do? The Republican Governor, Richard Snelling, citing he was the governor for all Vermonters, refused to acknowledge the liaisons representing Vermont's LGBTQ plus communities. Bad, bad, Governor. Okay, well, on that note, I will say, please resist.