 Welcome to our interview show in which we interview LGBTQ guests who are important contributors to our community. We want to acknowledge that all things LGBTQ is produced at Orca Media in Montpelier, Vermont, which is unceded Indigenous land. Enjoy the show. During the last legislative session, Vermont had a record number of out LGBTQ candidates running for office. We had 15 candidates, and of those 15, 13 got elected. A third portion of those, this is their first session. They are first-time legislators. I just thought maybe we'd start checking in with them and see how it's going. So for today, we have Representative Kate Donnelly from LaMoyle, too, which is the greater Hyde Park area. Welcome, Kate. Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be back here with you. Well it's good to see that you're still standing. It's with your first session, and I realize that because of COVID, it's sort of a little different than what most legislators encounter, but what is it that's like for you? What were some of the unexpected issues that you had to deal with as a first-time legislator? Oh man. Well, I mean, in terms of COVID, I think that it just made it really more challenging to build those connections and those relationships that are so essential to doing this work. I do, however, feel really blessed, as you said. I came in with a really incredible crew of new folks, and we actually did a lot of work during our campaigns, our respective campaigns, to build connection with each other. And so I've come in with a really great group, and we've established really strong relationships. And so it's actually kind of interesting that those relationships have been, have offered incredible guidance to me, whereas I think if I'd been in the state house, there would have been much heavier influence from folks who've been around for a long time. So it just creates an interesting dynamic where it certainly limits some of what we can learn and some of the work that we can do, and access to folks like yourself and others who have their own ideas of the work we should be doing. But in a way, it's also freed up a little bit of space for some of us newcomers to forge alliances with each other and think about what we want the work to look like. How has the remote access impacted your ability to stay connected with your constituents? Because I know I can go in and look at meetings after the fact. But I can't walk into the state house and have immediate contact with you. Yeah, I think it's a great question. And it's a question that I would love to pose to my constituents. You know, I mean, I think from my perspective, I've just been working really hard to do the best they can to be accessible. And we have been doing monthly, we being Dan Noyes is my sort of my colleague, I'm a two rep district. And we do monthly Zoom community meetings. And those have actually been really well attended. And it's just, you know, again, with these COVID dynamics, it's this sort of like double edged sword where on the one hand it limits access in certain ways, for sure. And on the other hand, I feel like it's opened up doors of access in other ways. You know, I think if we were doing Monday morning coffee at the local cafe, I don't know if we'd have 30 people show up. But we do on a Saturday on Zoom. And so, you know, we've just been trying to get creative. I will say that we're pretty excited, you know, our slate of Tuesday night live and Wednesday night live. And these things are picking back up again. And I do think there's some huge like size of relief and excitement to get back out there and just connect with people one on one. It also is starting to sound a little bit like your time as a legislator. There is there is a greater demand on your time. Is it more so than what you thought was going to be required? Oh, man, that's a great question. You know, it's funny when I was during the campaign talking to my wife, I kept being like, I know, I know. It's like a lot right now, but we're just going to get through this. And then it's going to ship and she was like, that's hilarious. That's hilarious. It's not going to like she was on it from day one. And then, of course, you know, it started and then I was like, oh, but now it's just the beginning. And so, of course, it's a lot because, you know, she's like, no, you know, I think on some level clearly she knew. And on some level, I think I knew just what a significant commitment of time this is going to be. And like, you know, like I'm saying in this story, it's not just my time, you know, it's a family commitment. It's the kids and the wife. And, you know, it's everyone really has to be invested in this work. And I feel really blessed to have such a supportive partner in this because I honestly don't know how I'd be able to do it without that support. You know, we talked about it, you know, among the again, that that crew of new legislators, we talk a lot of them are parents of young kids or are, you know, younger. And we talk about just what an incredible impact it is on our lives and thinking about it from an equity perspective and thinking about who do we want representing us and are the people that we really want representing us able to have access to this work? Because it's really difficult. It's difficult. You have to have a very flexible job. You have to have support, you know, in your home or in your community. And not everybody has this thing. And so just thinking about, you know, how do we make this work more accessible so that we can keep bringing in really solid representation? So do you feel as though you're getting the support of your community, both your geographic community and the LGBTQ plus communities? Yeah, I think I felt really supported. You know, I mean, I think I think the community I feel really grateful to live in an engaged community. I get a lot of correspondence from folks and on all sides of every issue. And I really appreciate that. I appreciate the dialogue and the engagement. And I mean, you know, the queer folks that I've come in to the legislature with have been, you know, some of hands down the people who have made this feel possible, who brought humor, who brought joy, who brought love. You know, it's been a pretty incredible thing to come in to this work. Feeling, you know, surrounded by a bunch of other really incredible queer folks. So you were assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. Was that the committee that you had hoped for? It is. Yeah, it was my number one choice. Thank you, Jill Kruinsky. So I noticed going on to the committee's page, you had 75 bills assigned to your committee just for this year. And of the 75, there were 14 that you have acted on, including both the House and what you got from the Senate that needed action. What was the committee process like deciding which of those 75 bills were going to be a priority? It's a great question. And I will just say the committee work has been hands down my favorite part of the legislative experience. You know, that's, I mean, Zoom House floor is not exactly enjoyable experience, but the committee work somehow even in Zoom land has been a really fulfilling experience. And I, you know, I give a tremendous amount of credit. And I have a tremendous amount of respect for our chair, Maxine grad. And I have, you know, in terms of how do we, how has it been decided? You know, we moved 11 bills before crossover. That's a lot. And, you know, I've reached out to Maxine and said, man, when this session is over and we have some time, like I would love to understand it's like choreography. You know, she's like a choreographer back there. And each of these bills has its own life. And you never really know what turn is going to take. And, you know, to sort of expertly maneuver 11 bills before crossover. I think it was a testament to her leadership and her understanding of the process. She's been doing this a really long time. And I also think it's a testament to the committee. I think we have a really solid group of folks, tribe, partisan representation on that committee. And I think we all, we all work really well together. Yeah, so, you know, to answer your question in terms of how is it decided? I think Maxine really set the table, but she does that collaboratively. And I think a lot of it was, you know, these are themes that have been carried through from past years. These are things a lot of in judiciary. It's a lot of like we have this broader, you know, justice initiative. And we know it's not going to, it's going to take far more than one session to do this. And so, OK, here's the first round. And then here's the second round. And then here's, you know, so I think it's really guided by the overall themes of what we're trying to work on. And she just sort of mass, you know, she's the puppet master back there making it all happen. And you can never anticipate how one phrase or one word within a bill can all of a sudden change the direction you're going in and what you thought you were doing, such as when you worked on the bias and hate crimes bill to remove the term maliciously intended. Thank you so much. But what what are the bills that you worked on in House judiciary that passed out that you're really proud of the work that you did? You know, there's I think there's so many. You know, it's funny because I've I've said to folks like I think sometimes politicians want to shy away from like a hot button, contentious issues. And I've learned that with judiciary every single bill you're working on contentious issues, which I was a love. And so from that respect, I mean, every single theme we've worked on has been really important to me. I would say collectively, one of the most powerful experiences has certainly been each one twenty eight, which is the bill that was because sponsored by Rep. Murray Cordes and Taylor Small. And that was banning the LGBTQ plus panic defense. And that was a beautiful experience for, you know, just all the way through in terms of, you know, you have you have Taylor coming in first trans legislator. This is like the first, you know, bill gets picked up by committee. And again, you know, chair grad created a really open space where Murray and Taylor really were members of the committee as we were working on this. And so there was, you know, just representation and access. And and I think that really carries through. I know it had, you know, some stumbling blocks in the Senate. But ultimately, again, you know, Taylor was welcomed to the table and just did a phenomenal job of advocacy. And and then to have it ultimately pass out of both bodies unanimously, I think is just an incredible thing. It really is a beautiful thing on so many levels. When you think about, like, how many people were involved in that process and how many, you know, I think as corny as things got it in the painful at times, as things got, I think at every turn, when it could have gone in a variety of directions, people kept choosing to, you know, validate our lives. And I think that was a pretty, pretty beautiful thing. So you said that the committee is. Just by the virtue of the issues you're dealing with, you get the hot button issues. One of the bills for which I'm getting a lot of questions about is H 145, which is the use of force bill with law enforcement. And during the last session, there was an absolute ban law enforcement using chokeholds. When this bill went through the session. This year, there was a provision put in that sort of gave an exception that in an instance where deadly force was deemed appropriate, that an officer wouldn't be prosecuted if they used to chokehold. Can you explain to people a little bit about how that happened and why the committee chose that specific language? Sure, you know, so H 145 is the bill that you're referring to. And this is another one of those that I was kind of referencing earlier, where we're talking about, you know, efforts that were made in the last session where there was, you know, finally a large sort of surge of support for some from serious law enforcement reform. And so, you know, writing that search, they passed legislation restricting use of force and a number of other things. And that moved very quickly. And so I think as part of the dynamics, as my understanding is that as part of the dynamic last year of moving this rather quickly or last biennium, you know, as always, there was some negotiation, essentially, with law enforcement who were saying, look, you know, there's some pieces of this we're really concerned about in terms of training people and also just in terms of like the sanctity of our lives and some like functional issues. And I think there was sort of this like grand barter, essentially, that was like, we're going to pass this thing through and but we're going to keep coming back to it and we're going to keep looking at it. And so H 145 was that next sort of round of coming back and saying, OK, what are the areas that you're struggling with here and how can we keep working on getting this right? And so I think, you know, the it is tricky and I understand it, but it's covered in the press as, you know, like the legislature is loosening the chokehold ban. And and and, you know, we are to some degree in the sense that we're creating a there is a carve out that was created, but I think essentially what we heard in testimony was, you know, there are moments where police officers' lives are are put at risk, where they there is a very real imminent threat of death. And the concern was that with the total ban that essentially we were removing any form of defense that a police officer could use that didn't involve their firearm. So it was sort of creating a scenario where the only way to defend your life was to use your firearm or some other form of weapon. And I think that felt like a compelling argument. We heard testimony from, you know, the NAACP. We heard testimony from a lot of advocate groups. And, you know, I think it's funny to say 145 was actually I can't say it's my favorite bill, but I would say it's a bill that in some ways I was most proud of in the sense that it was a hard bill. And we had a lot of different people involved. And it was a bill that there was a point on a Friday where we were talking about this bill and Maxine was and it was like, you know, possible vote on the agenda. And Maxine was like, we're just going to take a week. And within that week, you know, a lot of work was done. And actually on the final day of the vote, we were still like wrestling with the language around law enforcement. And they really wanted certain language put in. And we really didn't want to put that language in. And there was a moment where I was like looking at the portion of the bill they were talking about. And I was like, you know, that section is really like a lens that we're seeing this work through. What if we just moved that number five up to number one? Like, would that resolve this issue? And all of a sudden like the whole thing came together and we passed it out of committee 11-0-0. And so it was just one of these sort of, you know, I know it's a painful bill for a lot of people and I'm not trying to make light of the content of the bill, but sometimes in this work, you know, we have to make hard and somewhat incremental changes. And it takes a lot of effort and compromise. And that was one of those bills where I think people really came together and did some hard work. It truly sounds like it. So thank you. So as the session is starting to wind down, what are your hopes for next year? Since it's, you know, a bicameral system, you're gonna have year two to pick up what you couldn't really finish in year one, both in judiciary, but the legislature in general. What are you really hoping you're gonna be able to achieve in year two? Well, the most imminent issue that I think has the potential to move and I think really, really needs to move is this issue of the weighting studies within educational finance. I'm not sure how familiar you are with that, but, and I don't know how much time. I'm happy to explain it further, but essentially there's a, you know, formula that determines how money is distributed to schools around the state and it's determined by the needs of students. And what they've found is that the formula that we've been using for decades now is flawed. And so a lot of schools that have students with tremendous need have been underfunded by the formula. And we know this, it's clear. You know, I think it runs against the constitution and so there's a strong effort to change those weight and make it right. But as always, it's complicated. And I think there's a real push to make sure that happens. Something happens this year, but certainly it needs to be looked at again next year. My personal, you know, back at the beginning of session when yet another black woman stepped down from local politics in Vermont due to racist harassment and white supremacy, I came together with a group of other legislators and we wrote a letter. And within that letter, public letter, we outlined some action steps that we wanna take. And one of them was really doing some organizing internally and within our communities to work towards a systemic statewide response to white supremacist terrorism, essentially. And so this is something that I'm gonna be spending a lot of my time in between sessions looking at and talking about. And the hope is really to come back in next year with some really concrete ideas. Both have had to support our local communities where a lot of this work is gonna be happening but also legislatively, you know, what can we put forward to really start finding creative ways of addressing this because it needs to be addressed. And obviously our current laws and law enforcement are not gonna be solving this problem. We need to create some mechanisms for building safer communities for all of Vermont. And with that, I need to say thank you. And I hope this is merely the first of many years of end of session conversations with you. Thank you so much, Kate. On a recent interview show, we talked with Carly in Rutland who was talking about some exciting changes coming up and a merger between the group in Rutland and Queer Connect in Bennington. So joining me today is the board president of Queer Connect in Bennington, Jess Bouchard. Welcome, Jess. Thank you so much for having me. I'm delighted that you could make time to share with us. So Carly talked a little bit about people were looking at merging the group in Rutland and the group in Bennington so you could consolidate resources and offer more to the LGBTQ plus community and the Southwestern portion of Vermont. So can you give us a little update on what might be going on? Yeah, so exciting things. Queer Connect obviously was founded in Bennington and when you are looking at the state of Vermont, Bennington is down in the most southern part of the state on the western side and Rutland is just north of us. Well, not quite just north, but north enough that I think we have an interesting pocket of Vermont and so a lot of the LGBTQ plus resources, they benefit all of Vermont but really we're kind of the forgotten southern neighbors and so our hope was to expand and so right now we are going through a transition period in Queer Connect leadership-wise who's kind of re-shifting and we're at an interesting point in our organization that we are coming up on being three and I think this is kind of the growing pains part of an organization at like the three, right? We're like in the terrible threes stage. So with that, the expansion has been great because we have more volunteers, more interested folks and Vermont being such a rural place, I think just that expansion has been helpful. We're starting to see some really sleepy towns being interested in doing more pride oriented things and LGBTQ things and then also looking for the resources because Vermont has such a wide variety of LGBTQ plus resources in other places, it just makes our expansion I think helpful. So some of the, I guess some of maybe what you're thinking about is like, what does that mean? That means just like offering more programming. We are going to be supporting Rutland having their first pride in a few weeks here in June which is exciting. And then just thinking into the future, I think with COVID that has been an interesting challenge for us and like thinking like how can we truly offer resources? So as we're expanding, I think it's really stepping back and noticing what our community is looking for. I was gonna say, thank you for so much for identifying that you're a part of the state that traditionally can get forgotten. Talking about Southern Vermont, everyone thinks that Brattleboro is part of Massachusetts and Bennington is part of Albany, New York and people kind of forget that we actually have people living there. You referenced the Pride event and it has been a signature piece and I have been so impressed by what Queer Connect has done relative to Pride. Can you share a little bit about the Pride event that's being planned for this year? And if somebody from the Northern part of the state wanted to join in, how they might do that? Yeah, great questions. So I would say COVID, we are talking really negatively about COVID but I also wanna talk positively about the digital space. We are gonna be offering some online events and so to kick off Pride, which is June, we are gonna have three series of Story Hour which is gonna be virtual and they're all gonna have different themes. So someone up North or anywhere really, if they wanted to sign up, you can be a storyteller and what that is, we'll have a theme and these storytellers are going to be using their authentic voices to talk about the theme and be a part of the tradition of storytelling which is so rich and exciting, especially when it comes to LGBTQ plus. So we're gonna have one in June, July and August. We are actually gonna be partnering with different organizations here in Bennington to co-host. So it's gonna be two hosts so that we can show organizations that are supportive and have that blend. So the first one, I only have one organization right now but the first one we're hoping will be with the Bennington Performing Arts Center, BPAC. So then that's exciting. Well, we're hoping to have a really good turnout online and that's gonna kick off our caravan which is gonna be our, well, I'm gonna say we have two big things planned. The first one is in June, June 26, which is our caravan. We're gonna have two locations. We're gonna have the caravan starting in Rutland and Bennington and the hope is that Rutland comes south. We go north and we meet in Manchester and obviously being very socially distant and thoughtful about guidance right now. But last year it was so overwhelming to see all of the people that came out during such an intense global time that that support was just so lovely. So having the caravan which means some people on the street cheering us on but then cars being in this caravan that we can wave, show our visibility. Organizations can come in, they can have their signs on their cars, politicians, we love them, can join in. Anybody who wants to be seen as an ally or anyone who wants to participate, that is one way. So that's June 26, which is exciting. And then in August we're gonna have a drag bingo, which is awesome. So it's gonna be picnic style. You and your loved ones can come and set up a picnic spot on the Park McCullough which is in north Bennington. It's a mansion, it's really beautiful grounds. We're obviously having, we're co-hosting with them and we're gonna have some drag queens just doing their thing and it's gonna be great. Okay, so for the picnic, are you encouraging the people attending to also be in creative attire? Ooh, you know what? I welcome all of it. If we have some people who want to be in attendance in whatever they wanna wear, I think that's awesome. Which inspires me to think, like maybe we'll hold a contest, right? Like maybe it will be like bring your best persona or character or costume. I welcome all of that, I love it. Okay, so that's a special event that Queer Connect is planning between Bennington and Rutland. I love the idea of the caravan going down from Rutland and meeting in Manchester. Yeah. But you have some ongoing programming that you've been offering. As I recall, Lesbian Story Hour has been a favorite. So is that still going on? It is, it has been happening every single week for a whole year. We actually just had our year-long anniversary, so which means that we had 52 weeks that we offered this online and it is really strong. We've been partnering with lesbian authors who are published, who wanna read from their book. I actually was one of the readers. I'm a poet, I am not a fiction writer, but I had a night where I read my poetry. So yeah, it's been going really strong. Kay Acker is our lovely volunteer who has been running it. She's just fantastic. Has gotten a lot of great readers and then also a lot of people participating. We've had people from all over the world. Again, I'm just gonna like plug the digital space of like we've had people come from Europe and from Australia and different places that can attend this because what a time to be alive when you can connect in this way. So yeah, that is continuing. If anyone is interested, it is every Thursday at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. And I was gonna say going on and looking at some of the events for Queer Connect, you have a virtual healing process that you routinely offer. Could you share a little bit about that? Yeah, sure. So last fall, Lisa and I were really talking and Lisa Canton was our founder of Queer Connect. And so she and I were talking about how during COVID, LGBTQ plus people especially have been really struggling during this time, being home, being disconnected, especially youth who might be not out to their families or being out to their families and being stuck in. And so we were just thinking about what that means for people and so healing is important for all humans. We all have trauma, all of us in some way. And so we thought, what can we do to offer some type of healing? And so I stepped up and I started hosting monthly a healing circle. I'm a Reiki practitioner. So in my real life, what does that even mean? In my life, Queer Connect is my real life, but like in my other lives, with my other hats, I do Reiki, I'm also a teacher. So that's my space. And so kind of merging those two things of being a teacher and a healer, I started offering these digital virtual healing circles. And so that has been great. Again, I have gotten people from all over the earth. My favorite place was probably, we have someone come from Iceland one time. That was cool. And then a friend of mine, a childhood friend of mine jumped in who was at the time living in Australia. So we've had people from all over, actually Ireland one time too. So what I do during that time is I pick a theme of the month. Last month, I'll give you an example with self-care, self-love, self-compassion. And I write some type of guided visualization. I just kind of think about what does that theme mean to me and what exactly do other humans need from that theme that could be inclusive? And so I do a visualization. I do an opportunity to do some journal writing, opportunity to share if we want. I do distance Reiki at the end. So for about 10 to 15 minutes, I just have us meditate. And I offer just my gift of Reiki out into the world. And then we come back together at the end. And we really just hold space for each other one last time, set intentions, and then go on our way. And then we do it again the next month. And is it a particular like first Thursday of each month or a regular schedule? Or do I need to go onto the Queer Connect site to find out where it is, when it is for that month? Yeah, it is now the third Sunday of the month. However, this month, I'm pushing it to the fourth Monday. Or sorry, did I say Sunday the first time? I mean Sunday, not Monday. Third Sunday, this month, I'm pushing it to the fourth Sunday only because I feel like we have a wackadoo month with lots of Sundays. And I also need to better prepare for the circle. So I'm pushing it to the fourth. So this is the first month I've deviated. So thank you for asking that. Thank you. So you had reference that Queer Connect is in the period of transition. And you're looking at programs and the organization as a whole, if somebody who is watching this says, you know, I'd like to become more active with an organization. And I like the things I'm hearing. What make they have the opportunity to do and how would they connect with you? Yeah. So I am always looking for volunteers. I think a nonprofit really values having volunteers, but also can only work because of volunteers. And so I would say right now, because of the transition that we're going through, I think we're really thinking about our mission statement right now. And the reason we're revisiting it is because we want to make sure that we are serving our community in the right way. And so one of the, I would say, one of the biggest areas that we are always trying to grow is how we reach our youth. So I'm always looking for youth workers. I'm looking for people who are interested in supporting our youth. I came to Queer Connect because of that aspect as a teacher. I wanted to make sure that my gifts are being utilized. And also as a mom in Southern Vermont, I wanted to make sure that my children were being included in the conversation. So I'm always looking for volunteers. So people who love working with youth, I would love some leadership. I'm new to being a leader. I'm a teacher by trade. And I'm new to this. And so I'm always looking for mentors, people who are excited to be leaders and someone I can lean on to support. Like right now, we're filing our taxes. I have never done that at this level. So that's really exciting, right? So it's nobody ever. But things like that, organizational things. So if there is someone in the community who is like, Jess Bouchard, I would love to help you file taxes. Or I'd love to support you in the development side. That's great. Another skill that I personally have is I'm a grant writer. And so I am always looking for other people who just have a good eye for that, who might want to lend their gifts in that area. And then people who just want more resources. Like I want to know what does this community want? Because if you want it, we'll get it. But then sometimes I need help to get that. So if someone in the community is like, I would love to be on an LGBTQ dodgeball team, that sounds great. And I want to make that happen. But I might need someone who is a super pro at dodgeball to make that happen. So if that answers your questions, I want everybody who cares about this conversation. And then you would ask the second question of how can they be in touch. I am checking email regularly. Our email is queerconnect at yahoo.com. We also have a Facebook. We also have an Instagram, which I'm on. So I'm just keeping my eyes on those. And with that, thank you for sharing this time with us. And I think exactly what you're doing, evaluating if you're meeting the needs of your community is something that any organization should be doing on an ongoing basis. So thank you and good luck. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Most people think of Maine as that ideal place to go to a summer vacation. Think of a conquit, Arcadia. But Maine has been in the forefront of the work on LGBTQ plus equality since 1984. And today, I couldn't be happier that we're having one of those people who are currently working on protecting the rights of LGBTQ manors joining us. And this is representative Ryan Fecto of Bitterford, who also happened to be the out gay speaker of the House of Representatives and the youngest speaker in the country. Welcome, Ryan. Thanks for having me. Really pleased to be here and to have the chance to chat about what's happening here in Maine. Thank you so much because I know you're still in session. So you're sort of taking breakout from working on bills. I wanna talk first a little bit about you. And in your bio, you clearly state that you grew up in Bitterford. You grew up in subsidized housing, single mom who worked in healthcare. How did those early years influence your desire to become involved in politics and then the issues for which you advocated? So a great question. I think my first hands-on experience with politics was when I was a high school student and my superintendent had selected me to be on the school board. And I will never forget the moment in which the teacher came by the classroom saying, oh, there's this opportunity to be on the school board. And I was a very shy, not very extroverted student and certainly had no inclination about politics or anything of that nature. And for some reason I felt compelled to put my name into the superintendent's office for consideration. And we did interviews and I'm pretty sure I was chosen because I was introverted and not very outspoken and pretty shy. And they thought, oh, perfect student for the school board. And he's not gonna cause any problems. And of course I got on the school board and I began to speak out about the things that I thought the school was not doing well, particularly the fact that our school was falling apart. I mean, we had a school that was built in the 1960s. It was quite literally falling apart, as we were trying to learn. I mean, there'd be days where water infiltration would be so bad that the ceiling tiles would fill up with so much water that they'd come crashing down in the middle of a lesson. The bottom floor, which was basement level, would fill up with ankle high water and all the classes down there would have to be moved or canceled for the day. And I felt it was important that the community make a significant investment in renovating the school. And that's sort of where the activists, Amy, was ignited. But the experience I had growing up, as you mentioned Keith, my mom was raised me and my sister. She worked in healthcare. She dropped out of high school after her freshman year. So she doesn't have a nursing degree. She got into healthcare as a low-wage healthcare worker, doing the best she could to put food on the table for me and my sister, relied on what was then called food stamps. And that experience growing up really had a profound impact on, I think, my worldview and how I see issues today. I am the product of government providing that little bit of assistance for a family like mine, not leaving my family behind, believing that with that small investment, we can change the lives of young people and families across the state of Maine and across the country. And that's something that I take to heart. And I think about those kinds of things when we're interacting with all sorts of legislation, food insecurity is a really important issue to me. I'll never forget there was a night where my mom got a phone call from a family friend who said that the JJ Nissen plant was tossing expired food and you could go up and pick up the food that was expired, at least for the shelves at the grocery stores. And so we went, I don't know why we had to go at night. It was like, I remember it being dark. We drive to the plant and there's just so much food and we fill crates, milk crates up with bread and pastries and all sorts of things and we brought that home. And I'll never forget opening the fridge the next day and there were all of those hostess fruit pies in the fridge. And I just remember thinking, oh my God, we have more food than we've ever had before. We're never gonna go hungry. We are set, we are absolutely set. And of course, you look at the nutritional facts of a hostess fruit pie now and you quickly see saturated fat, sugar, calories, not the healthiest thing for a young person growing up to build a good body and for a healthy mind for learning and all those sorts of things. So when I think about those issues, like those are relatable. Like I understand childhood obesity. I understand what it means to not know when your next meal, what it will be or the every financial crisis, that might be small for the average family, for families like mine, a car breaking down. That was like world ending. That felt like a bomb being dropped on your household finances. Those are the things that I take to heart and certainly informing in the work that I'm doing in the legislature. I was gonna say looking at your legislator page, it says that the things that are important to you are affordable housing, vocational education, tax fairness, looking at dental care for low income, child care and early ed workplace workforce. But, and I'm gonna come back to that. You referenced being on the school board but you were also active when you were in college and then came back to Bitterford. And in 2014 ran for the house seat and you got 67% of the vote, Brian. That's an impressive vote count. How did you do that? Well, it's funny you should mention. So I took my activism to college as well. I went to the Catholic University of America in Washington DC, not necessarily the most welcoming place for a gay student and certainly I had put up quite a fight there trying to carve out a more welcoming space for LGBTQ students on campus. I decided to run for the legislature the summer before my senior year at Catholic. So I had the whole announcement kind of thing and then I came home pretty much every weekend my last semester at Catholic. So, and I didn't have the luxury of hopping on a plane for every flight home. So I found whatever was the cheapest means to get back home. So I took the bus from DC up to Boston and then transferred from Boston to Portland or the train, which was definitely the longest of the journeys. And then of course, plane when they were rather inexpensive flights. And I came home and I knocked doors. I mean, I was knocking doors in January in the cold which is actually not a terrible plan because most people invite you into their house and so you get a little bit more FaceTime with them. And I had real honest conversations with my neighbors folks that I grew up with or parents of those who I grew up with and Memes and Pepe's here in Bideford and just talked about why I was running which was young people were moving away. We behind me is a portrait of the mills in our downtown. They closed in the early, in the turn of the century and with it went obviously the heartbeat of our industry and our economy. And then of course a lot of families had to move away and then subsequently young people didn't see Bideford as a place where there was opportunity for them. And that's a challenge that exists across Maine where young people were either choosing to leave or they were graduating from the University of Maine system and seeking employment opportunities outside the state because they didn't see themselves as having opportunity here in Maine. And I wanted to change that because I felt like, I love the state of Maine. I loved my experience growing up here and I believe in its future and the ability for us to create a strong economy and a place where families can move here and raise their kids and really have the opportunities that Maine offers which is great recreation, all the places you can possibly dream of going during the weekend, right? Hiking and fishing and kayaking and all of those great things. The natural beauty of our state, the relaxation but we also need to make sure we have economic opportunity and so that's why I ran and I had conversations with folks who were probably 40, 50 years older than me and I heard over and over again we need young people to be in office and we need you up there and so thankful that there's a new face and obviously you said the vote count was 67% and obviously voters believed in me to be the person to represent them and obviously six years later I now have the pleasure of serving a speaker of the house. They not only invited you into their house they wanted for you to represent them in the house. So when you were first going out and going door to door being an openly gay candidate did that have any impact or was that just sort of a secondary issue for people? Yeah, that rarely ever came up. I do remember one distinct conversation I had with a very French gentleman probably in his late 60s owned a business in downtown Biddiford and he had said something to the effect of I heard you were gay and I said, yeah, I am gay. I said, is that an issue? And he said, well, no, no, it's not a big deal. I said, yeah, the issues I'm fighting for are making sure that your property taxes don't continue to go up to make sure that we can attract young people back to our state. I said, that's no more of a gay issue than it is a straight issue I would think and of course he agreed and we kind of had a chuckle. And so very rarely did that issue was it raised as a point of contention which speaks volumes I think to just how much we have how far we've come, especially if you think about Maine. In 2009, we had a people's veto on marriage equality. So overturning the law, the legislature passed to include same sex marriage in our law. So we have a people's veto, it's successful. The law is overturned. Three years later, we come back with marriage equality on the ballot again as a referendum initiated by the people and the vote count basically reverses entirely for I think it was 53% in favor of the people's veto and it reversed 53% in favor of passing marriage equality. In Bidaford, being a Franco Catholic community, I think was a real indicator of the change of people's perspectives in the, not only in their minds but also in their hearts, people began to realize they have family members who are gay and now they have a state representative who's gay. And I think we really have bridged the divide that existed in understanding and empathy. I think that's a big change has occurred but that does not mean the issues have all been addressed and I think we continue to see some of those challenges in the state legislature and we're gonna continue to fight to make things equal. So let's talk a bit about some of those challenges that your legislature is dealing with currently. And as I understand it, there are several bills that would prohibit a trans athlete from competing in sports. There is a proposal about trans women specifically being in domestic violence and homeless shelters. Can you talk a little bit about those pieces of legislation, what's happening with them? And if you think my sense from you is that these bills probably don't have a strong likelihood of passage but you're having to spend time dealing with them. Yeah, what's most disheartening is the impact it has on transgender people in the state of Maine, especially young people to hear the kind of rhetoric that was shared at the public hearing by proponents of these bills. It's just really disheartening. And I shared on social media last week when these bills were heard that I'm emphatically determined to make sure that these bills are defeated in the house and I suspect in the Senate as well and they will not find their way to the governor's desk. These bills are harmful. They are othering. They make people completely ignore the significance of who people are. It's this idea that just a complete denial that a transgender woman is in fact a woman. And here in this debate over and over again, a referral to biological, biological, biological. And it's just completely hateful rhetoric. And it's a matter of trying to divide people and to try to create that wedge. And we're seeing these bills nationwide. Why are we seeing them nationwide? Because Republicans believe that they can create a new wedge issue out of the LGBTQ community. And I think that they have got the pulse of the public wrong. I think the public doesn't want to treat people differently and they don't want to so hatred into public law. Whether it's dealing with athletes at the high school and middle school levels and elementary school or it's dealing with how we make sure that folks who are experiencing homelessness that they have access to the shelter that they need when they need it. These are just abhorrent policies and I'm disheartened that it's the kind of conversation we're having in the legislature because in the six years that I've served now we have not seen legislation that has put the LGBTQ community on the defense and just really, really disheartening. And I noticed that one of the bills that you have sponsored is actually in response to that national Republican agenda and it has to do with voting rights. You introduced a bill to make absentee ballots on ongoing process in Maine. Yeah. So I take it there's some competing bills about what happens with voting. Tell me you're the one who's gonna win. Well, we've seen the annual bill on voter IDs and trying to disenfranchise folks from voting. Those are attacks on communities of color. Those are attacks on senior citizens, persons with disabilities. They're trying to create barriers across the country where obviously we saw what happened in Georgia. They're trying to create barriers to voting. They want as few folks to be able to vote as possible. And for talking about constitutional rights, I wish they would see the constitutional right to vote in the same way that they see the constitutional right to bear arms. It's quite an interesting contrast how little that they care about making sure folks have every opportunity to cast a ballot across the country. And yeah, I have a bill that will allow for municipalities to send out ongoing absentee voter status to folks. So if I was a voter who basically pretty much every time I vote, I request an absentee ballot, I could enroll with my town and they'll automatically send my ballot to me. So I don't even have to bother picking up the phone to make the phone call. We actually had a pilot program on this back in 2009. And my hometown, Bidaford, participated in the pilot. It was incredibly successful. We had, I think around 600 people participate in the program, mainly senior citizens. And they provided remarks in a report from the Secretary of State's office back in 2009, saying how much they really enjoyed being a part of the program. Of course, the program ended, the law did not continue as permanent. And so we've been trying to make this a permanent change to the law. We also have some other great bills, online voter registration, which Maine is a little bit behind on and getting up and running. Most states have moved to permitting online voter registration. And there are a number of changes that we made during the pandemic that we now want to solidify into a state law as well. So for example, drop boxes, which was a small change, but the convenience of being able to just swing by your town office and plop your absentee ballot into the drop box versus waiting in line when I don't know how your town office is, but folks are doing other business at town offices. So you might wait in line just to hand over your absentee ballot for 15, 20 minutes, just making sure that we're not creating barriers for people to vote. That's the key. And Maine has a great tradition of having a high voter participation. And I'm not gonna settle for being one of the top states already. I wanna continue to move the needle forward so that our voter participation is as high as it possibly can be. And with that, I need to say thank you for spending this time with us. Good luck with all the work you are doing and thank you. What I didn't get a chance to talk to you about, though I may have to invite you to come back during the summer is that Maine has term limits. At the end of your two years as speaker, you cannot run again. A little bit about that. And I definitely would like to talk more about Citizens Initiatives and Referendum. Yes, definitely. And with that, thank you. Thank you. That's pancake for me. I definitely will. And I will see you soon. Thank you for joining us. We'll see you in two weeks. But in the meantime, resist.