 I'm Linda Quinlan. I'm Ann Charles. It's Tuesday, April 6th. We're taping from Montpelier, which is unseeded indigenous land. Welcome to All Things LGBTQ. Let's start with some local headlines from Keith. Why, thank you. And we're going to start with Trivia. Okay. And Ann pulled this one out. She was the first openly lesbian member of a Vermont governor's cabinet. Who was it? Bonus points, if you know the governor and here. So first, I want to do an acknowledgement and a sort of shout out. This is to Charlie and Richard, who live in Worcester and who tomorrow will be their 50th anniversary. Congratulations. Connecticut, they're working on a parentage bill. Oh my, it seems to be modeled off Vermont's parentage bill, and it just passed out of their Senate Judiciary Committee and Gladden Boston says it's got some momentum. It looks as though this is going to happen for them. In Maine, remember the name Craig Hitman? He, in a special election, he just became the first openly gay black male elected to their state Senate. Good. But of note, in 2012, he was their first openly black gay man elected to their legislature when he was elected to the House of Representatives. And in this election, he got 62.5% of the vote. And out of the 14 towns in his district, he won all of them with the exception of two. Not bad. Rhode Island has now put in place a protocol where you can go in and amend your birth certificates, and it includes a gender X identifier. And related here in Vermont, Glad created an executive summary for the LGBTQI Alliance of Vermont, which we have formally submitted to the current administration saying, we are asking you to make this change. So, and there's indications that the administration is supporting it. And there may be a meeting with the Department of Health coming up about how to implement it. Violence Against Women's Act has just gone through the U.S. House with a significant amendment made to it that now includes specifically transgender and gender diverse populations. And it gives grant to LGBTQ plus survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. We are specifically written into this. And this bill is significant. It was originally passed in 1994. It's what has allowed the federal funding to provide support to survivors of domestic violence. Of note, the first two lead sponsors in 1994 may have been Vermont's Patrick Leahy and then Senator Joe Biden. So, related here in Vermont, the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence had a press conference Monday, where they said that domestic violence and sexual assault cost Vermont over $111 million every year. Okay, but here's the piece that makes your little pee brain go snap or echo pop. $58 million of that, so approximately half, goes to pay for incarceration. Only $12 million goes to direct services for victims and survivors. There's something wrong with that equation. And finally, before I turn it over to Linda, and she tells us all the national gossip, Marjorie Taylor Greene. Oh, her. Well, yeah, oh her. She seems to have figured out we're here. She was tweeting out at the end of last week about Vermont doing specific vaccination clinics for the BIPOC community, saying it's blatantly racist. And she shared that with Fox News. And our governor's hotline then became inundated with calls of racism, to which the governor responded, I'm not going to be intimidated by hate speech. Good for him. Good going. Good. So what trashy gossip you got for me? Well, I don't, I have a little, not a lot, but the top news of the day is that the Arkansas governor, Vito, a bill banning gender-affirming care for trans kids calling it extreme. Asha Huntington, a Republican. Vito de Bill. Hutchinson. Asa Hutchinson. Asa Hutchinson. A Republican. Vito de Bill. That criminalizes care for trans kids, saying the bill is part of a culture war in America and a vast overreach. So that was good for him. Except. He signed anti-bills in the past. And he signed an anti-trans girls in sports bill. Yeah. So this is a little too late, Asa. I know, but you know, like to just even mention a culture war for a Republican is like. He bowed to pressure. Yeah. Not good enough, Asa. All right, you tell her. She's a tough one. She is. I'm out of the world. It's from all those video call, video conferences she goes to and gets mad. Okay, so. Virginia bans the gay transpanic defense as has Vermont, correct? No, not yet. It's in my, we will talk about it. Because we were wondering why they didn't mention Vermont when they were saying Virginia was the first. It has passed the House, but not the Senate. And I'll talk about what's going on in the Senate. That was introduced by Danica Rome. Yes. Fiery Parkcaster claims conservatives need to bash little NASX and gay people to win more elections. We'll have more on that in his Satan's shoes, Satan sneakers. So we'll have a little more about that. And wants to send the pair to Rome. Yeah, really. Formal neo-Nazi avoids prison sentence after arguing being trans is punishment enough. A powerful Christian lobbyist is demanding tax breaks for white supremacists and neo-Nazi groups. That's still life on it. LGBT students at Christian colleges file class action suit to stop religious exemption. I like that. We'll have more about that. And then there's an anti trans GOP lawmaker tried to justify himself with science. Minnesota State Representative Eric Lutero was using science that doesn't exist. He introduced a bill that would be in trans girls and women for trying out for sports. Cops compare black lesbian lawmaker arrested for knocking on the governor's door to mega rioters. State Representative Park Cannon knocked on the governor's door as he was signing a voter suppression bill behind closed doors in Georgia. Police thought a riot would take place if they didn't immediately arrest her. We all saw the clip. Trump Judge rules that a professor has a constitutional right to degrade trans students during his classes. Nicholas Meriwether, a philosophy professor at Swann University in Ohio refused to defer to a trans woman's female pronoun saying this was against his religious beliefs. I think her he's thinking of suing also. Wouldn't surprise me. This old fashioned judge said that two women can't adopt because they don't have husbands. He said same sex couples adopting is imagination station. However, the Nebraska Supreme Court eventually overturned his decision. George Langton in Albany rep says to send all gays to an island. They'll soon die out. He has since apologized. That's nice, huh? That would be nice, wouldn't it? Finance. Oh, fiance and friends mourned the loss of lesbian TikTok star Rochelle Hager. She died during a freak accident. She was an executive chef, video maker and all-around amazing person. Her loved one said of her, rise or die is a lesbian crime drama. I can't wait for this. It's a psycho thriller. This is upcoming lesbian crime drama on Netflix, which means we're going to be able to watch it. The masterpiece cake shop guy is in trouble again for refusing to make a cake for celebration of a transgender person's birthday. However, the person that they refused was trans attorney Autumn Skardina and she will be taking them to court. The Columbia School of Nursing in New York City is ready to offer a new certificate to its students for professional achievement in transgender health care. So that's good news. And the U.S. Justice Department advises agency that SCOTUS boss stock ruling extends to education and the DOJ has told federal agencies that gay and trans students are protected from discrimination under the law. That can make all those trans sports bills very interesting if the Department of Justice is saying you can't discriminate. Right. And you know the other good news we heard today, which is I thought was really, really good news. Actually yesterday was that according to the person in the Senate, they can have the parliamentarian. Yeah, they can have three more bills by majority instead of. Yeah, what do they call it? Reconciliation. So that was good news I thought for national news. It doesn't have anything to do with this particularly, but I thought it was really good. Yeah, but we may want to introduce something. So yeah. But yeah, I have a couple of unrelated comments, but I'll just go to my headlines, which are as follows. LGBT groups want equality law in Japan before the Tokyo Olympics makes sense to me. The Dutch first legalized same-sex marriage in 2001. So there's been a lot of celebration and I have two pictures before you now. The first is of Gert Castile on the left and Dolf Pasker. They are kissing after exchanging vows in Amsterdam City Hall early Sunday, April 1st, 2001. And there was a subsequent interview with them. They're very pleased. The next is of Belgians, Marion Holbrecht's right and Christel Verswell-Yaven. They're leaving the Town Hall of Copeland in North Belgium on June 6th, 2003. They became the first gay couple to marry in Belgium under laws passed earlier that year. They celebrated 16 years of partnership with official vows at a civil ceremony and now they're married. So a little show-and-tell to start off my headlines. Now I'd like to turn, if I may, to a headline called Beautiful and Fierce, Vogueing Balls Let Chinese Shine. This is a great story about vogueing in China. And because many of us have watched polls and ruled Paul's driveway race, many of us in my generation maybe, we know what vogueing is. That it began with Madonna, that it took off in the 80s in New York among LGBT, primarily Black and Latino constituents. But hundreds of young Chinese traveling far and wide to attend are pecking into a cramped venue in China for the first large-scale vogueing ball held in Beijing. And we have a vogueing performer pictured before you now. With categories including Butch Queen Realness, Drag Queen Lip Sync, and Vogueing Open to All, performers battled it out to win the judge's approval, scoring straight tens or eliminated or were eliminated cutthroat style. It's a playground for marginalized groups, a 27-year-old organizer said. Homosexuality was only declassified as a mental illness in China in 2001. Most LGBTQ people continued to lead low-key existence because it's such a conservative culture. And I have a later story to document that. But vogueing traveled to China recently after making inroads in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. It's a subculture within a subculture. Vogueing has really blossomed here in the last two years, the organizer said, a performer said. It has a tragic history in China. It's surprisingly popular with straight women who, like LGBTQ people, are extremely oppressed by the patriarchy according to this founder. So that's a lot to hear about vogueing, but it's taking off in China. In a related oppressive story, a kiss with a pilot and an elevator changed flight attendant's life and could help fight LGBTQ discrimination in China. I have a picture before you now of Chi Cheng, who's 29. He's in his flight attendant's uniform, but he wasn't going to wear it long after this incident with the kiss. He was kissing a pilot. This is so bad. It's a story about class, too. In October 2019, footage linked online of this flight attendant kissing a male pilot from the same airline, China Southern, went viral. Both men were off duty and the kiss, which has since been viewed millions of times, occurred in an elevator in a private apartment building in the southern city of Shenzhen. The clip spread online and Chi was eventually let go, unceremoniously. He's now suing the airline for lost wages and in case that will be a test for China's stance on workplace discrimination. Curiously, they didn't fire the pilot because they had invested so much in pilot training. They couldn't afford to lose him. So the flight attendant was expendable. He should have quit in protest. He's had a miserable time of it. Can't find another job. He moved. His manager told him homosexuality was against socialist core values and asked him to remain silent when he discovered he was gay, but then when this clip came out, he was fired. Homosexuality is not illegal in China and was officially removed, as I just said, of the list of mental disorders. But experts still face persistent say that LGBT people in China still face persistent discrimination in the workplace. So this will be a test case. Japan, going back to them, they've granted 93 foreigners permission to bring their same sex spouses over. So there's a lot of activism and agitation in China, in Japan. It seems like they're moving in the right direction. Slowly at a pecky-dermalike pace. But now I have a picture. I mentioned last time about the twins from Namibia. And Linda questioned me and I kind of fudged the answer. But I have a picture before you now of a demonstration in Windhoek before the Windhoek close to 100 people gathered at the National Museum of Namibia to protest for equal rights for the LGBTQ community. The march took place at the home affairs ministry to the National Museum and it was in solidarity with the Delgado-Luhi couple and the legal fight to have a family together. They're the parents of twin babies, as I said, Paula and Maya. Guillermo Delgado tried to meet them at the airport. He was accompanied by his father, but when they arrived at the High Court this morning where his Namibian husband, Philip Luhl, is currently still stuck in Turban, Durban, South Africa, with their twins. He couldn't meet them. So the surrogate mother carried Paula and Maya Delgado rule to term and gave birth in March. The parents approached the High Court Ministry of Home Affairs to issue travel documents to the twins and they were denied. According to the couple, the ministry disregarded a birth certificate. This was the question Linda asked me last time. They got a birth certificate from South Africa, but it was disregarded by Namibia identifying them as the rightful gay men, as the rightful parents. By refusing to issue travel documents to the twins, the couple further argues the Namibian government has rendered the newborns as de facto stateless persons. So there's been a demonstration in Namibia. I hope it prevails. This is a short story. Turkey, I've reported in the past about Turkey detaining students because of they have, the university has appointed an Erdogan puppet and so you'll have to bear with me. I have a double-paged, I'm adjusting to a new. So anyway, in Istanbul, police have detained dozens of people who assembled outside the courthouse in a show of solidarity with 12 students who were taken into custody after unfurling rainbow flags. The detentions came amid growing government intolerance toward the LGBTQ community and I am prepared to expatiate on another show about what's going on in Turkey, but I'll leave it there for you right now. Good news from England, which has unveiled the Bank of England, England has unveiled a new bank note celebrating WW2 code breaker Alan Turing. It has his picture, as we know Turing killed himself after being convicted for gay sex. The new note has his picture, has an example of the mathematical formula he discovered and it carries a quote from Turing, this is only a foretaste of what is to come and only the shadow of what's going to be. I heard there was some controversy about whether he committed suicide or not. Really? Yeah. Well, I can't help you there, but I can go on to the next headline, which is, involves Uzbekistan and I'd like to discuss Uzbekistan in detail during my first segment. Two other points of interest, Russia's top documentary fest pulls gay Chechen film after threats. Same old, same old story. The film is about, and I had to look up what this M.M.A. means, it's about an M.M.A. fighter, which means mixed martial arts. It's called Silence Voice, Silent Voice, tells the story of Koaji, a promising young M.M.A. fighter, who's forced to flee his home to Belgium, his home region to Belgium after his brother finds out he's gay and promises to kill him. And not only has this been banned from this film festival, but also in theaters in St. Petersburg. The homophobes are up in arms. And finally, in my last headline, I have a picture before you of a lesbian couple who wielded an axe and knives in a spree of alleged armed robberies in Sydney. Here they are, Sarah Cancery and Eleanor Ashford. They're both 23 and they robbed three service stations, one after the other, and fled in kind of an upscale car Mitsubishi Lancer. That was distinctive. So they hit up, hit over, knocked over one service station after another sequentially, stole cigarettes and cash, and they were armed. So the police found them 15 minutes after the last one. They arrested them in the car. They found knives and axe, cash and cigarettes. They appeared in court. Ashford's father is apparently a respected surgeon in the local area. And he told the court he would drive her to the police station every day if she were released on bail. Although she was granted bail, the request was then withdrawn. According to Cancery's Instagram account, the couple who were first pictured together in July of last year, that's the picture you see probably, went on a rock claiming date the same day that the robberies took place. So they have a colorful life over in Australia. Those are my headlines. Leave it to Australia. Well, it's something else. Cigarettes and cash. I mean, not even, you know. It sounds like it was like, oh, let's do this. It'll be fun. Don't you think? Yeah. We'll see how it develops. Yeah. So talking about fun, the Vermont legislature. So H177 was the bill that was introduced to amend Montpelier's Charter to include non-citizen voting past the house that's now over in the Senate government ops. Well, it's about to get a companion, H227, non-citizen voting in Winooski, which has also just passed the house and will also be going over to government ops on the Senate side. Now, as people may recall from last year, once the Charter changed from Montpelier got into the Senate government ops, it got stalled because the chair of the committee had some concerns about what this would actually do, the limitations on voting, et cetera. The house debate on the Winooski Charter change had a little strange twist to it. One of the members asked if they could interrogate, which is, you know, can I question Representative Taylor on his opinion on this bill. The person meant Taylor Small. However, the person they were referencing was Kurt Taylor, who is a white man who is the representative from Colchester. So our Taylor got misgendered at which point Speaker Kroinski immediately gabbled in and said, I think this is the representative that you mean and the pronouns are she, her. Good going speaker. S16, which is the bill on discipline, how discipline is used in Vermont public schools, the impact of race, ethnicity and disability has on how discipline is carried out, made it through the Senate. Now, I had voiced on previous shows my concern that LGBTQ plus was not being included in this bill. Senator ballot apparently did an amendment as it was passing out of the Senate saying, these are all of the demographics we want included in your review and report, and LGBTQ plus have been added into the list. So I'm going to be watching what is happening in the House Education Committee because the agency of education statistician is coming in this week to testify on the bill. And that's where we encounter difficulties with act one about ethnic and social standards in schools. The agency of education said, oh, please don't make us track anything that is not already required by the feds because it's too much work for us. So we're going to be watching what happens. Joint resolution H2 has passed the House by a 146 to zero vote. This is the resolution that was introduced by our friend John Kalaki, and it's an apology for the eugenics movement saying that what we did was inexcusable. And has come back from the impacted communities is, okay, this is the first step. You first have to acknowledge that something has happened before we can really start the healing process. H128, this is the bill that was introduced by Taylor Small that would prohibit the use of a trans or gay panic defense and Vermont criminal law or Vermont criminal cases. It has hit a bit of a roadblock in the Senate Judiciary Committee. From watching the committee hearings, they're having some difficulty tweezing out the nuances of how the ban would impact an alleged perpetrator and a victim. Oh, I couldn't mention the victim's sexual orientation or gender identity as being the motivation for the assault. They don't get it that know what this bill says is that the alleged perpetrator can't say, oh, I didn't know. And when I found out, it was so disoriented that it was an impulsive action. And they also have questions about how this actually would impact a case, you know, how it would change how a trial might get played out. So Judge Greerson, who is the Chief Superior Court Judge, is going to come in and walk the committee through this is what happens in a trial and this is how a defense is built. This is how it's presented. And this is the information that's available for the judge. So, but what was encouraging is that all of the committee members believe that this is something that they need to do and that they want to do it now. They're just trying to work out the details of how to do it. So, and just as a little side, and I need to do more research, the Office of Defender General, there they oppose this bill. And part of it is they in principle oppose anything that removes what could be used in the development of a criminal defense. You know, you can't categorically remove something. You know, a defendant is entitled to, you know, the full extent for protections and to build their case. They quoted that they have information that when a defendant tries to use a trans or gay panic defense that they actually end up getting a harsher penalty, all of the statistics that are out there show the reverse. That makes more sense. That, you know, it's mitigated or it becomes a lesser charge. And what we still don't know is how often, you know, a defendant is approached saying, you know, if you if you plead to this lesser charge, we won't pursue the bias, hate, motivated crime aspect of it. So it's going to be interesting to see what happens with this bill in the language that we ultimately end up with. The language is going to be different than the House. So there will be a conference of committee where they'll work out details. Last thing that I wanted to mention and Anne and I were both watching this, the presentation on gender bias in the media. Now, it should be noted that the original letter statement that was released included people who identify as LGBTQ plus and LGBTQ plus organizations signed on in support of there being a true gender bias and how Vermont media develops their stories and how stories are related. However, where was the original letter published? Vermont Digger, wasn't it? Or seven? Well, no, no, no. It the original letter was sent out to suppress release. So that, you know, multiple places picked it up. Vermont Digger was one of the media outlets that picked it up. They printed the letter and Anne Galloway, who was the founder of Vermont Digger, owned that she had been complicit in this, that even though she was a woman working in journalism, that she had maintained that gender bias. But what I want to point out is even though panelists talked about inclusion and representation, and if someone was not at the table, Eva, who is a reporter of color, said if she doesn't ask the race-based questions they don't get asked, to which other panelists said it should be everyone's responsibility that if there isn't a person of color in the room that they still get asked, none of these individuals identified as LGBTQ plus, none of them even use the identifier LGBTQ plus sexual orientation or gender identity. So while they were talking about inclusion and representation, we still seem to have been forgotten. Good point. Yeah, it was infuriating. Let's talk about the original letter though, if we could, because the press release, do you remember when that came out? I mean it was really a pointed press release and we all agreed with it. And I feel like I noticed a little change in the coverage that women, Becca Bellent in particular, were covered more and appeared more. Well, actually part of that is interesting because if you look at, there was the letter that came out talking about the real gender bias in reporting, and then all of a sudden all of the people who were in positions of leadership in the legislature were all women. So that, I was going to say, so even if you know your inclination is to go to the male legislator saying what do you think about this? If you want to talk to people in leadership, they're all women. So in one sense, you don't have a choice. So it wasn't a little letter, it was just circumstance, you think? I think it was circumstance and the letter enhanced the, I'm not going to go around them. I, it's a woman in a position of leadership and I'm going to respect you as such. Yeah, so. Well, we'll see how that develops. And what I was also pointed out by the panelists is that there are now women who are in the positions of leadership in media itself, such as Seven Days and Vermont Digger and VPR. So that's going to add to the shift as well. Well, I'm done. Just if I may say one more thing, Linda, I don't want to take all your time. Yeah. But it was striking if I could name names that they mentioned women of power in the media, Mika Brzezinski, in particular, who was, they quoted her as describing Elizabeth Warren as shrill and so forth. So they suggest, the suggestion was, even if you reach a point of power, you're not necessarily an ally. You have to check your own privilege too. Yep. And the way you look at things other women. So correct. So I have just a couple of stories. One that I wanted to just do a little detail about was on Little Nas X and Nick Fuentes has a tirade over Little Nas X's controversial music video and encourages black people and Republicans to bash the rapper for his sexuality. Republicans just aren't homophobic enough. He said he can't wait for the backlash from blacks over Little Nas X's sexuality. The Old Town Road artist worked with MSCHF to release Satan shoes on Monday. The sneakers are modified Nike Air Max 97, decorated with a pentagram pendant and a reference to Luke 1018, a Bible verse about Satan's fall from heaven. MSCHF, accompanying non-for-creating controversial and viral products, confirms Sunday that the shoes contained a drop of human blood inside the sole drawn from members of the MSCHF team. All 666 pairs, we know the 666, right? The 666 pairs of the modified Nike's priced at $1,018 sold out shortly after they went on sale Monday. The Old Town Road performer addressed a note to himself, a 14-year-old Monterre, using his given name, Monterre Lamar Hill. I wrote a song with our name in it. It's about a guy I met last summer, he wrote. I know we promised to never come out publicly. I know we promised to never be that type of gay person. I know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist, he continued. He admitted that coming out was difficult for him and the people accused him of pushing the agenda. So why would you put, I don't get it, with the blood? Well, the devil blood, you know, 666, could be the blood of the lamb. I mean, I don't know. It's all part of a cult for which we are not apart. Yeah, that's right, apparently. And a powerful Christian lobbyist, then we have tax breaks. Atomo Waffen is classified as a hate group by the FBI. Parker DiPopopo was a member of this group. They targeted reporters nationwide, leaving posters in blazons with swath stickers, and the message of, you have been visited by your local Nazi. Swastikas? Yeah, swastikas. And one more story I have is, in a little more detail, is the LGBT students at Christian colleges, which is kind of interesting. Religious colleges can discriminate and still receive federal funds because of this religious exemption. These students say that being gay resulted in expulsion, fines, humiliation, and conversion therapy. Danielle Powell is one of the plaintiffs. She attended Grace University in Louisiana. She's pansexual and was in her senior year when she had feelings for this other woman and came out. The school disciplined her, punished and humiliated her, and ultimately expelled her. They demanded payment for the scholarships she received. The plaintiffs in Hunter versus the Department of Education are from 18 different states and 25 colleges that are all associated with Christianity. So that's good news, I think. It'll be interesting to see. She's ruffling through her papers over there. You have a clip too, don't you? I do. You anticipate, Linda. So let me become oriented. Let's go back to, are we ready for me? Yes, we are. Let's go back to Uzbekistan, if we could. Uzbekistan, you may know, is a small Asian country. It is a former Soviet, a member of the former Soviet Socialist Republic. It's one of two of these former SSRs, two outlaw same sex relations, Tashkent. No, Tersmekistan is the other. Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan. Uh-huh. It's a current member of the United Nations and it's undertaken civil rights reforms since this current president came into power. But the criminalization of same-sex conduct remains a significant stain on Tashkent's record. Do you know if these are Muslim countries, primarily? I would imagine, but I'll get back to you on that. Article 120 of the current criminal code punishes consensual sexual conduct between men with up to three years in prison and lesbians. Lesbian sex is not illegal. Oh, there you go, because we're women. We can go there on vacation. The abuses linked to Article 120 have placed gay and bisexual men in Uzbekistan in deeply vulnerable positions. Human Rights Watch interviewed nine gay men and lesbian and gay bisexual activists and reviewed other material such as videos depicting and encouraging humiliation, insults, beating, sexual abuse of gay men that were posted online in homophobic social media groups such as Tashkent gangs. The men interviewed who asked to remain anonymous said that they faced arbitrary arrests, threats, extortion, psychological pressure, and physical attacks by both police and non-state actors because of homophobia. Article 120 is a carryover from Uzbekistan's Soviet past and is problematic because it violates fundamental rights protected under international law such as privacy and bodily autonomy. And of course, it's blatantly discriminatory. Only two states, as I said, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in the former Soviet Union still criminalize same sex conduct. Turkmenistan is reconsidering its law, while it seems that prosecutions based on Article 120 are rare. Police in Uzbekistan continue to use it against gay men. And so now I'd like to show you a clip that highlights the circumstances of gay men in Uzbekistan. In Uzbekistan, consensual same sex relationships between men are illegal. Article 120 of the criminal code punishes consensual sex between males with up to three years in prison. Gained by sexual men experience discrimination, violence, blackmail, and extortion from both state and non-state actors. They have almost no protections. Uzbekistan's president claimed respect for human rights is central in reforming Uzbekistan. As a member of the UN Human Rights Council, Uzbekistan should uphold international human rights standards and decriminalize consensual same sex conduct. I have a longer clip that I'm going to say for next time about an ally who spoke in favor of the rainbow flag who was beaten up and he is being hounded now, but we'll wait for next time for that. Do you have anything else? I have lots more, but you know, well, we have time for one more, I believe. Because all we have left is the trivia. The trivia. Yeah, okay. But there's a little backstory with the trivia, so. Yeah, we'll give it a few. Okay, we know you have a lot of stories. Yeah, but she just needs to find the one she wants. I know it. This is a great. Well, let's go back to gay marriage and the Dutch celebration. Many countries outside of Asia and Africa, opposition to marriage remains vehement. This we know. Twenty years ago, the mayor of Amsterdam married four couples. We saw two of them because the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize same sex marriage. Maybe the other couple's divorced. No, I don't think so, but some of the lesbians did. Ah, yeah, see, we had that story on lesbians and divorced. There are two reasons to rejoice, Mayor Job Cohen told the newlyweds before pink champagne and pink cake were served. You are celebrating your marriage and you are also celebrating your right to be married. This was on 2001. Same sex marriage is now legal in 28 countries worldwide, as well as self-governing island of Taiwan. That includes most of Western Europe, yet the spread has been uneven. Taiwan is the only place in Asia to take the step. South Africa is the only country in Africa to do so. That's very exciting. I was going to make a joke, but I didn't. You're probably happy. I was going to say, is it part of the EU? That's how it flummoxed me, but you already flummoxed me about the Muslim constituency. Well, I'm just not sure, you know. So, yes, trivia. She was the first openly lesbian member of the Vermont Governor's Cabinet. It was in 2011. It was the administration of Peter Shumlin, and he appointed as Chief Legal Counsel, which is a cabinet physician, Beth Robinson. Now, later on that year, Peter would go on to nominate her to the just recent vacancy on the Vermont Supreme Court. The vacancy was the retirement of Denise Johnson, who was the first woman appointed to the Vermont Supreme Court. Beth was confirmed in February of 2012 by unanimous vote of the Senate. And as people will know, in 1996, Beth Robinson and Susan Murray were the two attorneys who founded the Vermont Freedom to Marriage Task Force that resulted in the 1999 Vermont Supreme Court decision that led to the 2000 civil unions, first recognition of same-sex couples in the United States, and then 2009 full marriage equality. Yeah. Well, thank you. Thank you, Beth. Yes. So, I guess we're done. Well, I have another irrelevant point to consider. Okay, go ahead. I heard that white evangelicals are the least likely to be vaccinated. That doesn't surprise me. I also read an article about how church attendance and Christianity in the United States has plummeted by over 20% in the last five years. I'm not surprised by that. I mean, churches are closing left and right. Yeah. It's been a while. I think it's been a steady decline. So, and it doesn't surprise me because, you know, they probably feel like God will save them from getting... Well, when the Catholic Church in particular is moving steadily rightward in my view, I mean, this is my favorite. I won't go on. I do it. Worse than evangelicals? I don't know. I don't know. It's a good thing Ann doesn't have $1,000 to send a pair of sneakers overseas. I'm a little troubled by the blood in the sneakers, I gotta say. But, you know, we could put Ann on. In addition, she could cover the Vatican. No. And with that. All right. Take us home, Linda. All right. Remember to resist. Resist.