 I am Linda Krenlund. I'm Ann Charles. I'm Keith Ghostlant, and welcome to All Things LGBTQ. We are taping on Tuesday, May 31st. We tape All Things LGBTQ at Orca Media in Montpelier, Vermont, which we recognize as being unceded indigenous land. So I'm hoping you've got some really trashy celebrity stuff for me. You know, everything I have is depressing just about. Then we're moving on to Ann. I know Ann. I have a lot of optimistic stuff. Good, good. Because maybe the world's doing better than the states. OK, go for it. All right. Timothy Pawich, professor of surgery at Ohio State University, found in the research that belonging to certain groups with longstanding social and economic disadvantages increases the risk of cancer diagnosis and death. People who were non-white and LGBTQ received fewer cancer prevention services and had fewer cancer services and screenings, I know. I'm not surprised by that. Me either. Tina Kotek hopes to be America's first lesbian governor. The former Ohio House Speaker won the state's Democratic primary. So that's good. That's good news. Yeah. It doesn't get much better than that. A 25-year-old Julio Rodriguez died after leaving a gay bar in New York City. He got into a cab with three unidentified men. His bank accounts were drained of cash three days later. And they have no suspects as of now. Montana bars, birth certificate changes, even after surgery. Only Tennessee, Oklahoma, and West Virginia have similar prohibitions against changes to birth certificates. Montana Governor Craig is, how do you pronounce his name? Gia Fortes? Administration says trans people cannot change their birth certificates in defiant, even in the defiant, so he's defying a court order that temporarily blocked the Republican state's bid to restrict transgender rights. I think his name is pronounced mud. Deplorable. I know. Texas resumes some investigation into parents with trans children. The Texas Agency, tasked with investigating child abuse, claims has resumed looking into parents of trans children. Hold on to that thought for a story coming out of me. Okay. And Christian University is limiting expression of gender and sexuality, leading university in Tennessee, as proposed that students be restricted and cannot express their sexuality on campus at all. Under the proposed policy, students may not be allowed to identify or dress as gender that differs from their biological sex. And I'm gonna talk more about this, but two LGBTQ candidates face off in Alabama, creating a political rift. LGBTQ event in Florida Church ignites public anger and protest threats, controversy surrounding April's Florida Pride event for teens led the organized to request extra police protection, like that'll help, right? The Youth Conference is geared towards students between 12 and 18. The event is to be held at the Naples United Church of Christ. And the interesting thing about that is that they're really, they're mad because you can go onto this site, apparently, and go to different rooms and look for different kinds of services and help on their website. And so what the conservatives are really angry about is that you can do this without parental permission. Yeah, so. So anyway, that's the news there. LBGT students are more likely to leave home for college to more welcoming states. That makes perfect sense to me. Got to spare room. No kidding. Yeah, really. Gay students says that they're stopping him from running for a class president. We'll have more about that. And I don't know if you heard about Kevin Spacey. But he may be extradited to the UK over sexual assault charges. Oh, that's right. Yes. Spacey, 64 is being charged with four counts of assault by three men. And then there's a, this is really, I'm gonna talk more about this, but the butch pal for the straight gal pilot is here. Oh my. I'll talk more about this too. Trans, Texas trans girl is attacked. And a minister preaches that homosexuality merits the death penalty. They'll have more about that. North Carolina introduces their own don't say gay bill. The bill is going through Senate committee now and would prohibit teaching students about gender or sexuality in elementary school. And it also can require that school employees out LGBTQ students in any grade level. So I think they have a democratic governor though North Carolina. I hope he, he vetoes that. I'll have more about this Arizona Department of Education attacked for having resources for LGBTQ students. And do you know Braz dolls? Do you, does anybody know that you do? I never heard about that before. I have, I have nieces they were the right age when they were first introduced. They were the alternative to Barbies. Yeah. Oh. Well, they're having their first same sex couple dogs for pride. And the conservatives heads are spinning. Black gay candidates make history with primary win in Texas. Vinton Jones and Christian Hayes are poised to be the first black gay men in the legislature. And black lesbian Jolana Jones is likely to be reelected. So see that's good news, isn't it? Yeah. Right wing anti-vaxxer threatens to hunt LGBTQ supporters in a video. Ethan Smith for 24 says he will visit every target store in Phoenix and will hunt down LGBTQ supporters in the store. I don't know how he'll know who the supporters are. And what is he gonna do after he discovers them if he does? He wants to expose what he calls Satan. Satanistic shrines to children. And I think this probably has to do with the target came out with their new line of clothes called tomboy. And so this may have pissed him off. I have no idea, but I'm just guessing. Well, let me tell you that the North Carolina governor is Roy Cooper and indeed he is a Democrat. He is a Democrat. I thought so. So I'm hoping he will. Vito that Bill. And this is good because, and we should all be on this list, Pete Buttigieg and Rachel Levine are not welcome in Russia. Oh yes, I know. Others include Biden, Harris, and all LGBT people in Congress. There are 963 people on that list. I think if we send them a clip of our show that we're guaranteed a top spot. Oh, and Indiana lawmakers have overwritten the governor's veto to enact an anti-trans bill. So I think I will save the rest for the next segment. I think that's more than enough. Yeah. Oh, there's more pressing news. Just hang in there. I've got my own. Okay. I have two stories. One corresponds with Keith's. So maybe I'll hold that and go to my one really kind of dreary story involving Senegal. An advocacy group in Senegal demands better treatment for LGBTQ prisoners. The founder of the Cengali's Advocacy Group, collective free-do Senegal says that prisoners suffer physical and sexual abuse, especially from other inmates. He notes that prison wardens are often reluctant to respond because of the current laws in Senegal, which are same-sex relations are prohibited under the country's 1965 penal code that criminalizes so-called unnatural acts between one, so the penalty is one to five years in prison and a fine that can range between $170 and $2,580. Both men and women are criminalized under this law. And so raids occur periodically and the police beat up LGBTQ people and then put them in prison. There's no solitary confinement for LGBTQ prisoners. So they're especially vulnerable to inmate attacks. And there's a story of a 2020 raid in which one young man was roughed up in the police station and then complained of being tortured in prison and he had a pain and nobody treated it and he didn't go to the infirmary and then following his release, he shortly died. So that's the kind of thing going on in Senegal. Overcrowding has worsened the situation and increased rejection. Lesbian women are, there's less information about their treatment, but they're verbally abused and they're physically abused a little less. So anti-LGBT groups, you may recall I reported that some people in the law, in the body of law, requested that between one in five years of imprisonment for homosexuality wasn't enough, they wanted to make it 10. That law was voted down, but anti-LGBTQ groups last May burned the pride flag during a rally and demanded a new more repressive anti-LGBT law to be passed. They called for the criminalization of homosexuality to be an issue in the next presidential election in 2024. So that's my main bad news from Senegal and that's my only African story, unfortunately. Now let me go on to another continent, Australia, which has good news. Anthony Albanese wins the Australian election, who re-defeating the anti-LGBTQ plus Scott Morrison, that deplorable, I know it. It says a lot about our great country, that the son of a single mom who was a disability pensioner who grew up in public housing down the road in Camperdown can stand before you tonight as Australia's new prime minister. It marks the end of almost nine years of conservative rule by the country's liberal party. Morrison's been in office since 2017. He voted against same-sex marriage legislation, this is Morrison, against same-sex marriage legislation launched an attack on Australia's LGBTQ community. He launched and proposed and introduced his religious discrimination bill, which would have allowed the expulsion of LGBTQ students from religious schools under the guise of religious freedom. He also backed calls to ban trans women from female sports, supported a vehemently anti-trans liberal candidate who blessedly lost. Maybe there's a turn in the world. I hope so. He's commonly known as Elbow, and he campaigned on immediate action on climate change, improving free healthcare, and for LGBTQ plus rights. Just Equals, spokesman Sally Grober said, the true winners in this election have been equality, inclusion, and acceptance for LGBTQ plus Australia. So here, here. Yeah. Now let's go to Europe, where I have a lot of good news. Austria. You've been in England? Yes, yes. I have some entertainment news from England that's diverting. Yes, so let's go to Austria where it's gonna lower their hurdles for LGBTQ plus citizens to donate blood. Citizens will only be prevented if they have had sex with three different partners in the last three months, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. France, Spain, Italy, and the UK have all recently lowered their hurdles that prevent LGBTQ plus citizens from donating blood, so Austria has joined the crowd. Now let's go to England where we have some exciting news. Let me show you a picture now of the two stars of Heartstoppers. Joe Locke, who plays Charlie, and Kit Conner, who plays Nick. And Heartstoppers is gonna be renewed for two more seasons on Netflix. It's been a critical and audience hit since launching its platform on April 22nd. Does it need parental? No, reaching Netflix's top 10 list in 54 countries. And I showed you a clip on the show. That's also been, its success has also been clear on social media, where it flew to the top of Variety's trending TV chart in the week of its release with 1.05 million engagements on Twitter. Over the last four weeks, it's remained at the top of the chart. Earlier this month, Kit Conner, who plays Nick, told Variety how important the show was to him. To have a show where you see queer people being happy and being together and united as a group, I think there's something really beautiful about that, he said. I think it's really important to have a show that is just portraying queer love and queer beauty. That's wonderful. It's the youth we never had. I know it. I know it and we have yet to watch it, but I think we really should tune in. There's a related story. Now I have a picture of me for you of Yasmin Finney, who is a Heartstopper star, and she's been cast as the new Rose in Doctor Who. She's set to star as Rose in Doctor Who's 60th anniversary series next year. She was originally played Rose, was originally played by Billy Piper when the series was revived in 2005. Did you both watch it? My kids used to watch, I used to watch it with them when they were young, the very early seasons of Doctor Who. It's been around a long time. I cannot wait to begin this journey and for you all to see how Rose blossoms, get ready, she said. I'm ready. She added that if eight-year-old Yasmin could see where she is now, I would never in a million years have believed them. She's currently starring in Heartstopper as L, Charlie and Tau's friend who has transferred to Harvey Green Grammar School for Girls after coming out as transgender. Davies, this person who masterminded, the mastermind behind the Doctor Who in 2005 is from 2005 till 2010, is set to return. You'll find out in 2023, but it's an absolute joy to welcome Yasmin to the Doctor Who set. We all fell in love with her in Heartstopper. One of those shows which changes the world and now Yasmin can change the who-niverse. Yes. Who-niverse. Well, we should probably move on to Keith now if that's okay with you. Well, let me just, I have one more UK story. Okay. Involving a picture, the rainbow coin, observe it before you. Oh, I saw that, yeah. It's, well, the picture you're seeing is kind of, it's commemorative. It's the size of a 50 cent piece. I couldn't find an exact replica, so you're seeing it, but it's bigger than it normally is. It's a commemorative 50 pence coin. It's a tribute to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pride UK. State of the art printing technology embosses it with colors of the Pride progress flag. And the person who, it honors the anniversary of the first event in 1972 and is dedicated to Britain's LGBTQ plus community, it's commemorative 60 suit, it's actually worth 62 cents, but it will not enter circulation. You can buy it. How much does it cost, you know? Well, probably 0.62 cents. No, I bet they're gonna charge, it's, that's what it costs, but they're probably gonna charge 50 bucks for it. That's what it's worth. They're probably gonna charge 50 bucks for it. Well, I don't know. And some might say, critics say, this is an empty gesture, but you know, it's celebratory and commemorative. So those are my UK stories. I've got a lot more, but I'll hold them. So going through events quickly because we wanna come back so Ann and I can talk about monkeypox. First, a quick shout out. Just before I came up here, I received an email regarding Rita, our recently retired mail carrier. By the time this airs, she will have been married. And I cannot wait to meet your new wife. So trivia, May was national pet month. So please enjoy this picture of out pup, puppy on and his, and their human, George Takai. May was also Jewish American Heritage Month. Question, this was the first LGBTQ plus public official confirmed by the Senate. Who were they? So looking at events, you know, Saturday, June 11th from nine to 2 p.m. at Berry City Hall Park. This is the event we've been hearing rumors about. It's called Bake with Love. And it's a fundraiser honoring Fern Feather. And whatever is raised by, you know, all of the delicacies that we can't eat, being sold will go to the Safe Space Program at the Pride Center. And also from five to 11 at the old labor hall is the Central Vermont Drag Ball. From five o'clock on, it's the Come Get Tips. And there by donation, they will be selling things out of the drag closet. And then at seven o'clock, doors open, sliding scale, come have fun. Babes is doing the drinks and Wood Belly is doing slices of pizza. So also though, on Saturday, June 11th from 11 to 1 p.m. Pride Family Potluck, sponsored by Out in the Open, Browdeboro, it will be at the Kiwanis shelter at the top of the Living Memorial Park. They're gonna have a photo booth from Insight Photography Project to take pictures of our families. Also Saturday, June 18th, starting at 3 p.m. The St. Jay Pride Barn Dance. This is Out in the 802. I wanted to go to that, but we're gonna be out of town. Old Silo Farm, Mount Pleasant Street, which is you drive through Main Street in St. John'sburg, just keep going. So. Oh, that sounds like fun. And also keep in mind, Out in the 802 is the ones who sponsored the happy hour at Lincoln's in Burlington. Knock on the door, maybe we'll let you in. And also the happy hour at the Central Can't Fae in St. John'sbury. You can go on their Facebook page to get more details. Okay, and this was an event that brought Linda to mind for me. Saturday, June 18th, 6 to 9 p.m. Champlain Expo Center, I think the Champlain Valley Fair and Essex Junction Pride Skate with Green Mountain Roller Derby. Oh. You're so there, right? Come for a night of skate dancing and arts. They will have skates available on site, and I think they'll even do a little tutoring. And a portion of the ticket sales is going to benefit Black Trans Advocacy Coalition. So those are the quick events coming right up. Remember, there'll be more the weekend of the 24th to the 26th. Can we get a fuller dance card? I know. But back to you, because we've got monkeypox to talk about. You've got monkeypox. Yeah. All right, well, let me just tell you quickly that two LGBT candidates face off each other with each other, creating a political riff in Alabama. Britt Blabluck, who is non-binary, said she faced intent, I'm sorry, intense backlash when she announced her campaign against Representative Neil Rafferty, the only openly gay elected official. This is causing a rift within the Democratic Party because they will run against each other in November. Blabluck says, cars have been following her when she's canvassing and that she was told by the cheer that they discouraged donors from supporting her campaign. Rafferty, who she's running against, is a former Marine who worked for a nonprofit group in Birmingham and said that he would never discourage her from running. But Blabluck, when she talked to the Democratic Vice Chair, Patricia Todd Allergyd, said that she was eating her own. That's not good, is it? I know how to make you feel welcome. I know, huh? Welcome. Gay student says that his school is stopping him for a run for student leadership. And he's continuing to be punished for standing up for his identity and against widespread hatred. He said he led the protest at his high school, good for him, against Florida's, don't say, gay bill. And that the school administration is stopping him from running for class president. Pet shock is being honored with an award. This is kind of exciting for him. At the 2022 Penn American Literary Awards for organizing students to protest the flow, the Florida legislation, and for fighting book bans. Now, this is good. This is gonna be really interesting. I think we'll watch this the end, but I don't know. The Butch Pell for the straight gal. Ruko has released the first episode of this comedy makeover series by the writer, creator and actor, Allie Johnson, who said she was fired from her job on a radio station and was bored and thought up, why hasn't there been a female version of a queer eye before? Wouldn't it be cool if a bunch of lesbians were telling straight women to adopt a pit bull and go hiking? I think we can hear the pit bulls outside, giving their opinion. I know, there is a dog. Right, they said a dog in the alleyway. Well, there are several out there. Yeah. They heard it was national pet month. Texas trans girl is attacked in El Paso. And, you know, like, it was because right after the shooting in Texas, some conservative media said that it was transgender person who did the killing. And so this 18, so she was just attacked by a group of men. Her name is Tracy. They didn't give a last name. By four men, first they started to slur her and then they started blaming the trans movement for being the person who did the shooting. And then they twisted her arm. And when she reported it to the El Paso police, they refused to take and file a complaint. That sounds like Senegal. I know. Sounds like Texas. God. And a GOP politician targets Barnes and Nobles with legal action for a queer book. Good luck with that. I know. The book Gender Queer, a memoir, has been banned in a number of school libraries. But a Virginia representative is threatening legal action for carrying this book in its Virginia Beach branch. Tim Anderson, who was an attorney, wrote on Facebook saying his client is looking to seek a restraining order against Barnes and Nobles and for local schools to be in selling or lending books to minors without parental consent. Tommy Altman, his client, is a congressional candidate for the district where Barnes and Nobles is located. So no agenda there. Yeah, of course not. Brittany Gainer is finally allowed to visit. Griner? A visit. Griner. Griner is allowed to visit from U.S. diplomats in Russia. And this is interesting from New Hampshire. New Hampshire governor, Sanunu, vows to veto a bill that would force outing students. New Hampshire, and he's pledged to veto a so-called parental bill of rights that would force schools to out LGBTQ students. And he's a Republican, isn't he? Yeah, and he's pretty conservative. I disagree with him about a lot of things, but good for him on this score. And let's see, what else do we have? Oh, I just have one more story about a lesbian mom who was removed from her birth certificate and she is fighting the ruling. Apparently, Chris Williams' name was struck from her child's birth certificate because she was not the just, what do you call it? Justational parent. And they had a very contentious divorce. They were married in 2019, and apparently they had a child shortly after that through artificial insemination. But it seems like the father has showed up, I don't know how, whether it's through genetics. What state is this? I remember seeing this story. I don't know, actually. This is kind of like- You can look it up. This is like the Jenkins Miller case here in Vermont. I know. I think it's Virginia, but I'm not sure. So the judge ruled that her name should be taken off and replaced by the father's. But if it was, I mean, I don't know whether they found the father through genetics. I think he showed up. Yeah, but how would he show up from a- It's alternative insemination. We have no idea. The circumstances under- They might have done interest.com and found that he was the man. I don't know. But anyway, he's turned up. And so the judge ordered that his name be put on the birth certificate and hers taken off. So I'm sure she will continue to fight this, but I don't know. Ann? Yeah. Why don't you continue Googling that while I turn to some more European news. There are seven out of, I'm sorry, there are seven out LGBTQ plus women players in the French open and zero men. Now there's a picture before you of one of the seven out women, Greet Menon, who's 24 from Belgium. This historic nature of that many out players is not lost on Nick Wee, a former college tennis player at Vassar who was openly gay and who was instrumental in compiling this list. It's possible that there were actually this many, if not more out women playing in tournaments in recent years, he said, but there may not have been much national and international coverage. That being said, I don't think it's ever widely noted that there are seven out women currently competing in qualifiers and or the main draw of a grand slam tournament. As for the men side, there are LGBTQ plus allies among the top men's players. And you may recall, I told you about Liam Brody who had used the pride laces at the Australian Open and I showed viewers a picture of the pride laces. He's an ally and he said, I don't think it's really a taboo but I've seen questions before about why there aren't any openly gay men on the tour. And I just wanted that to kind of voice my support in that general area. Will a ranked male tennis player ever come out? It can happen if it can happen in the NFL and the NBA and pro soccer, there is hope. But for now, all the action and praise goes to the women. Yeah. And so let me... It was Oklahoma. Oklahoma, why am I not surprised? Okay, well, let's continue this sports thread and talk about soccer star Jake Daniels. There's a picture before you of him. He's 17, he came out and has become the UK's first openly gay men's player in 32 years. He's a Blackpool FC player. He came out on Monday in a statement. He's the first openly gay soccer pro since the late Justin Fashion now came out nearly 32 years ago in 1990. And I've said story about Justin Fashion now. Then I may have shared before, but it bears repeating. But let's go back to Daniels. I've been hiding the real me and who I really am. I've known my whole life that I'm gay. I now feel that I'm ready to come out and be myself. It's a step into the unknown being one of the first footballers in this country to reveal my sexuality. But I've been inspired by Josh Cavallo, Matt Morton and athletes from other sports like Tom Daly to have courage and determination who have courage and determination to drive change. There were other openly gay soccer players but they didn't come out until after their retirement. And he said he thought about waiting until retirement but that would be too long and I agree with him there. I knew that would lead to a long time of lying and not being able to be myself or lead the life I want to, he said. He said he's not gonna change all the homophobic chants and everything but he just needs to learn how not to let it affect him. And let me add a quick sad coda. Justin Fashionel revealed his sexuality in October, 1990. He was accused of sexual harassment later by a 17 year old boy in 1998. He was afraid he wouldn't get a fair trial and this is shocking because homosexuality was illegal at the time in Maryland and I looked it up, the sodomy laws were still in the books where he resided, he went back to London and died by suicide shortly afterward. So it's a sad story but Jake Daniels is changing the tune for out gay soccer players and good for him. More good news, believe it or not, from Poland. I have a picture before you now of Bartos... Yes, Bartos Stazewski, you see him posing there. He's an LGBT activist and creator of the photography LGBT Free Zones Project and here he is posing for a photo inside his home in Warsaw. A court in the Polish city of Rysus Sto has thrown out a case against him. He was being sued by the Nieblich Commune for defamation. Nieblich, a village in southeastern Poland, is home to about 10,000 people. In 2019, along with dozens of communities across Poland, it passed a resolution to stop LGBTQ ideology. In response, Stazewski designed a campaign in which he photographed himself and other LGBT people with signs reading LGBTQ Free Zone at the entrance to places that had enacted these resolutions or similarly discriminatory family charters. Three of the nearly 100 localities with these policies sued Stazewski for defamation and demanded he apologize for calling their community an LGBT Free Zone in the media, which they had already declared themselves. In a 2020 report, the Council of Europe, Commissioner for Human Rights, found that certain areas anti-LGBT policies were having a chilling effect on people who lived there and that activists working to denounce such declarations have also been subjected to specious lawsuits filed by local governments or conservative organizations like this one was. The European Commission has taken legal action against Poland for these zones. And it may be noted that the Commune withdrew its anti-LGBTQ zone designation, but the court wrote in its decision, indeed authorities cannot claim they're ashamed in order to bring disingenuous defamation charges, but they should absolutely be ashamed of their discriminatory and harmful policies. So, good news from Poland. Mixed news from Lithuania, Lithuanian lawmakers agree to consider a same sex partnership bill, although it has been revealed that 70% of the population doesn't agree with same sex marriage. Lawmakers are still agree, they've agreed to further discuss a proposal that comes after Lithuania voted down a single piece of legislation banning same sex, they voted down a same sex marriage proposal. So now they're agreeing to discuss an LGBTQ freedom bill. A bisexual actress and activist said, my feelings are mixed after the vote. On the one hand, the parliament took a step toward Europe, towards Western values, but in the other hand, there's nothing joyous about even such a restrained bill that it can't pass without a big fight with powerful homophobes, hurling insults at citizens who want equal rights. So there's gonna be fireworks, probably, in Lithuania. But it's the Catholic Church. We'll look forward to, although I think there was one country, Baltic country, that the Russian Orthodox Church went against Russia to condemn their going to Ukraine, which was kind of interesting. Oh yeah. May I just end with an upbeat European story? And what about your clip? This is my clip, it's not my clip. I think you should. This is Finland. And this is the first, first of all, this film, which is called Girl Picture, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it got an audience award. It was the first Finnish film to get an audience award. And it's almost entirely women, if not entirely women production. Everybody's very excited about it. And let me tell you about the plot. Mimi, Emma, and Ronco, are girls at the cusp of womanhood, trying to draw their own contours. In three consecutive Fridays, two of them experienced the earth-moving effects of falling in love, while the third goes on a quest to find something she's never experienced before, pleasure. Best friends, Mimi and Ronco, work after school at a food court, smoothie kiosk, frankly swapping stories of their frustrations and expectations regarding love and sex. Volatile, misfit Mimi, unexpectedly swept up in the thrill of a new romance with Emma, who is a driven skater for the European championships. Struggles to adjust to the trust and compromise required by a lasting relationship. Meanwhile, the offbeat, indefatigable Ronco hits the teen party scene, stumbling through a series of awkward encounters with members of the opposite sex, while hoping to find her own version of satisfaction. So let's take a look at the trailer for Girl Picture. Do you want to man go with me? Do you want to man go with me? Do you want to man go with me? Do you want to man go with me? I'm really excited about that. It looks like a really good film. I know, and it's just coming to festivals and I tried to see if I could pin down if I could recommend it for viewers. It's not on Netflix yet, but keep your eyes out for it. All right, Keith. So we're going to talk about politics a little bit. We just had two candidates announce the offices for which they are running and they're both members of our LGBTQ plus community. The first one is Michael Piecek, who is running for state treasurer. People may recognize him because he just stepped down as commissioner of financial regulation, and during the height of COVID, he was the administration's COVID czar. And he also has spent time working with the secretary of state's office, and Beth Pierce, who is the outgoing treasurer, personally asked him to run for office. And Mike lives in Winooski with his husband, Will, and probably more importantly, Telly, who I predict will be the star of the campaign. Telly is their setter. We've met Telly, very charming. The other candidate who's announced, and this is in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat, is Isaac Evan Frantz, and we met him at the Proposition 5 rally where he and his campaign staff were there. He is also from Brattaburra, where he currently lives with his husband. What's notable about Isaac and his sense of involvement in Vermont politics, in 2000, he was appointed by then-Governor Howard Dean to be the first high school student on the Board of Education, not as a ceremonial position. He had voting privileges. So, there we go. Following Linda's sad news coming out of Hyde Park, they had the arrangement for the assailant who's been charged with the second-degree murder of Fern Feather. And he is, again, stating that he is not guilty. And per his public defender, the alleged assailant has made a cogent, and immediate and ambiguous claim of self-defense. Yeah. Well, the LaMoya County State's attorney immediately countered with, there was nothing in the police report that supported that, requested and the judge granted that he be held without bail. But batting down the hatches, this is not going to be a fun round. And related to that, HRC and Media Matters for America released a piece of information that just makes your jaw drop. 2021 was the deadliest year in as far as the transgender community, with 57 identified transgender people having been murdered. But during all of that time, there were only 19 new segments devoted to violence against the transgender community for a total of 43 minutes. And a third of that was by MSNBC during Pride Month. Chester Vermont, talking about libraries and books, and their library director has resigned because their library trustees put a pause on the presentation that they had agreed to sponsor. The Drag Queen Story Hour. Oh, I would resign too. Well, the community showed up in force and looked at the trustees saying, what are you doing? Just because this is Drag Queen LGBTQ, you're going through websites, you're looking for stuff. They did not get a lot of community support. And one of the local restaurants stepped in and said, we're going to do it here. So it will be happening in Chester, just not at their library. Planned Parenthood. They released a statement that they were closing four of their offices. Bennington, Hyde Park, Middlebury, and St. Albans. Well, what has been shared with me by Queer Connect, which is the LGBTQ plus group in Bennington, is that the Planned Parenthood office was the primary care provider for the transgender community, so that all of the people who have been going to them for care have no resources now. And it made me wonder how many of these other communities, they were the primary. Well, it's consolidation, it's budget considerations, and it's preparing for the overturner of Roe v. Way where those clinics that offer abortion services... They'll need more because people will be coming. No, but those clinics that are licensed for that medical procedure, they're the ones that are going to need the resources. So they're preparing for that, which I kind of understand. But we need to be asking, okay, what happens with these services? And since we're on healthcare, let's talk monkey pox and the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control stepping in it yet again with the initial releases about the global spread and attributing it to the gay and bisexual male populations. They again... Well, no, what had happened is that there were several festivals and parties... LGBTQ related, and this is where there were occurrences. So rather than looking at the practice, which is prolonged body contact, sharing, bedding, et cetera, oh, they blamed the person who was infected. So, and you've... Let me chime in. UNAIDS released a statement Sunday condemning the reporting on monkey pox that includes portrayals of LGBTQIA and African people that the agency says reinforces homophobic and racist stereotypes and exacerbates stigma. Lessons from the response to AIDS show that stigma and blame directed at certain groups of people can rapidly undermine outbreak response. This group urged the media governments and communities to respond with rights-based, evidence-based approaches that avoid stigma. So a UN agency has condemned it. Talk about when you're at risk versus who you are. Right. Equality main, they're ready for the political season and they sent out a notice saying the main Republican party, they had their platform committee. People's, we, the LGBTQ plus community should be watching because they endorse an intentionally anti-LGBTQ platform and Paul LePage is coming back to Governor, so get ready. Oh, no. Part of their proposal is banning comprehensive sex education through the 12th grade, to heck with this K through three, barring transgender girls from competing in girl sports, preventing teachers from discussing gender issues in school, divisive subjects, don't say gay, defending that marriage is only between a man and a woman. They did their first attack ad, which was taking an educator who was talking about gender equity and picking out pieces and saying this is what you should be afraid of, this is the grooming and the liberal agenda in our schools. When I read this, I said, okay, let's look at their platform and their platform really does look like the template coming out of the national GOP. I looked at New Hampshire's. New Hampshire's Republican party platform is incredibly similar to Maine, it's formatted in a similar structure. It has the same theme, slightly different language. One of the things with Sununu saying in New Hampshire about he would veto the 1431, their attorney general made a statement saying, if you pass this, it is in violation of our non-discrimination statutes and therefore it is not constitutional. I looked at Vermont's. Vermont has similar things, and I'm going to use an old term, it's a kinder gentler, but it still goes in the same direction. Before I forget what equality Maine had shared to highlight the extremes to which the Maine Republican party will go, the story you were reporting about, the Uvaldi shooter was transgender and groomed by the liberal teachers, their candidates were sharing it on their Facebook pages and had to take it down. Because of course it was not accurate. Well, the person on the national level took it down saying it was incorrect, but here was the statement they put out, I let my concern and some false information get the best of me. That's hardly an apology or an acknowledgement of the damage you just did. Do we have anything else or should I go to trivia? I think you should go to trivia. I have a positive point if there's time, but do trivia first. Because you want to know who it is. Remember this is Jewish American Heritage Month. This was the first LGBTQ plus public official confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Linda asked for, so I gave her some hints. It happened in 1993, which means that it was the position appointed by Bill Clinton. This person was also a civil rights attorney. They were one of the co-founders of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and were on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. And maybe I should have said that her partner since 1981 has been Mary Morgan and they have a son, Benjamin, together. And this was Roberta Actenburg. Thank you. One positive thing I omitted from my last publishing triangle awards announcements was the Lifetime Achievement Award was won by Shari Maraga. And Sarah Schulman got a special award for that wonderful book, Let the Records Show. Let's applaud everyone. Okay. On that note, I think we're just about out of time. So remember. Resist.