 Ghostland. Hi, I'm Linda Quinlan. I'm Ann Charles. It's Tuesday, April 4th. Welcome to All Things LGBTQ. As you know, we're taping in Montpelier, Vermont, which is unceded Indigenous land. So let's take it away with Keith. And I'm going to start slightly differently than usual. I want to acknowledge the passing of a true Vermont legend and icon from the queer community, as people may have read Michael Hayes, who most people know as Marguerite LeMay, passed over due to a massive heart attack. What people should appreciate about Marguerite other than being bigger than life and considering that Michael was six foot four before the stilettos got put on, that's, this was the comment from Darren Perrin. Marguerite had a smile that could light up her room. She's the queen who made the queen city a lot more fabulous. What people should appreciate about Michael Hayes and Bob Bullard in Halloween 1992, they founded the House of LeMay, because they wanted to go out and have greater community involvement, and they wanted to raise funds to support our efforts. And they were later joined by Lucy Bell LeMay. They were all from Hot Dam Trailer Park and Beaver Pond, Vermont. And in their time since 1992, it is estimated they have raised well over $300,000 that have gone to charitable works, predominantly direct care services for people living with HIV. So safe journey. So this is National Poetry Month, and I'm going to say right up front, I started the clue and Professor Charles got it before I even finished it. Although an obscure poet during their lifetime, they are widely considered the most distinguished Greek poet of the 20th century. They chose to circulate their verse among friends due to the highly personal nature of many poems and the highly erotic nature that made no attempt to conceal their sexual orientation without hesitation. She got it. It was right in the tip of my tongue. Okay. First thing right up front, Salamander Alert. It is that time of year when the Salamanders and Frogs are migrating into the bogs. What Fish and Wildlife has said, rather than doing traditional traffic stops, if you happen to be driving and see Salamanders or Frogs migrating, stop, take a picture and send it to them. Better than a roadblock. So looking at events coming up, we've got Rainbow Umbrella with the Women in the Books discussion groups, and I love the notes and I love the conversations you're having. At some point, I may sneak in and hide behind the corner. Monday, April 10th, Kellogg-Harvard Library starting at 6 p.m., and this is a live event. This is a poem city LGBTQ plus poets, and it's Eve Alexandra, Allison Pine, Jay Turk, and maybe our own renowned Linda Quinlan. Isn't that Jordan Turk? Yeah, Jordan. But it was Lucidus Jay there. It was Lucidus Jay Turk. And one of them might be the, you know, Wicked Woman. So Friday, April 14th is out in Bradford, and it's from 5 to 9 p.m., and it's built as a casual hangout. And it's at Vittles House of Brew, and they're trying to get this established second Friday of each month social gathering. Mark on your calendars, and there is still time to register for Saturday, April 22nd. This is the Health Summit at Vermont Technical College, 8 to 4, sponsored by the Pride Center out in the open, outright Vermont. And if you go on to their website, they're starting to do listings of the workshops they're going to be offering. So you can look to see, ooh, I would really like to see this, or how could I miss that? Mark your calendar for upcoming event Wednesday, May 3rd. And this is, I believe this is a hybrid event, but it, you can attend it at the Kellogg Library, 7 p.m., dare not speak the campaign to silence LGBTQ plus communities. Is it a panel or a film? No, it is a presentation about the effort from the alt-right to silence and make us invisible. So I think it should be really interesting. And I just wanted to put a plug out there of, you know, going around and checking for events, looking at all of the various group support mechanisms that our organizations are offering, such as Proud and Sober, Survivors to Sexual Violence, People with Disabilities, the Momentum Group for People Over 50, the Five Friday Night Groups for our youth. Check their websites. You may find something that you didn't know was there that could actually help support you. So with that, you're not going to challenge me with bad news, aren't you? Well, Trump was indicted today, and well, we'll see how that goes. But it was nice to see his lovely face sitting on the bench in front of the judge. And see how many times you can try and score your views. No matter what happens. Okay. So we're going to start out with transgender activists and transphobic conservatives on Twitter finally agree on something. Both groups are just pleased with the social media platform for censoring in images of a poster advertising the Trans Day of Vengeance, a now canceled weekend protest against trans genocide. The protests organized by a little-known group called the Trans Radical Activist Network was set to occur outside the U.S. Supreme Court this weekend. The event would have marked the annual Transgender Day of Visibility, while also demonstrating against transphobic policies, like bans on trans students' athletes and gender-affirming care, which threatened the safety and well-being of trans people. On Tuesday, Twitter announced that it began automatically removing images of the event's poster when right-wing figures like Representative Marjorie Taylor-Green, Republican Georgia, and Senator J.D. Vance, Republican Ohio, began retweeting it as proof of a violent occasion organized by a trans-terrorist group, as Green put it. And at Donald Trump's rally in Waco, Texas, one person wearing an ultra mega t-shirt said he didn't know how many people per year Drake shows killed, but that it was definitely more than guns. Oh, that's outrageous. The Trump reclaimed that the long-term effects of Drake shows on kids are more dangerous to their lives than guns. Just the stilettos. And when the interview shared the statistic that 48,000 people die every year from gun violence, the Trump supporter responded that there's probably 100,000 that die from Drake shows. So, there you go. What a country. I know. A Louisiana library has decided to keep several LGBTQ children's books on the shelves despite heated opposition from white-wing residents. The St. Timiny Library Control Board voted this week against banning five books. Four of the books in question were children's book about gender identity, including I Am Jazz, a children's picture book by and about trans youth, activist, jazz, Jennings, and My Rainbow, a children's book about a mother's love for her trans-artistic daughter that was written by the mother-daughter duo. The library received multiple complaints about the titles claiming they violated a 2017 state law banning this distribution of material harmful to minors. But the board disagreed that the material that was challenged was harmful. Good for that. Good for Louisiana. St. Timiny. I know. An 18-year-old Black trans-artist shot to death last week outside of Maryland Bar. Tashisha Sheeha Woodland was shot multiple times in a parking lot of the Big Dogs in Paradise Bar, located in Mechanicsville, Maryland. Police did not believe her gender identity played a role in this murder. They said her shooting was an isolated incident. So we'll see about that, huh? Sounds suspicious to me. I know. Not Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Republican vetoed a bill that would have forbidden school districts from adopting any transgender inclusive polities with our first notifying parents. The bill would have outed trans students and parents if the students wanted to be addressed correctly and the state's Republican-led legislature may not have enough votes to override his veto. The answer is they didn't. They didn't. Good. All right. So that's good to know. Keys up to the minute. Yeah. Kentucky Republican-led legislature has overridden Democratic Governor Andy Beshear's veto of a sweeping anti-transgender bill in omnibus legislation covering the raft, the raft of anti-trans restrictions and bans was expanded and passed by Kentucky law makers. So that was that one. After Korea's spending six decades, Darcelle the 15th, the world's oldest working drag queen, has died at 92. And she was still working. And here's a picture. The long-time drag at us was performing in her native Portland until just days before her death from unknown causes at this time. So there's the picture. And a federal judge in Texas ruled that at least 12 books removed from public libraries by Llamo County officials, many because of their LGBT and racial content, must be placed back into shells within 24 hours, according to an order filed Thursday. Seven resident suit county officials in April claiming their first and 14th Amendment rights were violated when books deemed inappropriate by some people in the community and Republican law makers were removed from public libraries. Our access was restricted. The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court from the Western District of Texas in San Antonio claimed county officials removed books from the shells of the three-branch public library system because they disagree with the ideas that are in them and terminated access of thousands of digital books because they could not be in two specific titles. Books ordered to return to the shells include Cast, The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabelle Wilkerson. They called themselves the KKK, The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell, Barton Lutty, and Being Jazz, My Life as a Transgender Teen by Jazz Jennings. And so for my last story before we move on to Ann is country music superstar Reba McIntyre says she tries to stay out of politics but she can't help being disappointed in the anti-drag bill recently signed into law by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. The Los Angeles Times asked McIntyre what she thought of the drag law which defines male and female impersonators as adult cabaret performers and Beans adult-orientated performances that are harmful to minors. As legislation legislations tech states drag performances are being from public property and venues accessible to minors. I wish they would spend as much time she said and energy and money on feeding the homeless children and other people in our culture. And she said of the state legislators so good for you. And also take away the drag queen and she just lost her fashion tips. All right Ann what do you have exotic places we can go to? Well first we're going to go to the world because I have world news involving track bands of transgender athletes. This tightens the rule for Caster Semenya who is pictured before you now. Track and field band transgender athletes from international competition Thursday while adopting new regulations that could keep Caster Semenya and other athletes with differences in sex development from competing. A pair of decisions expected to stoke outrage according to in a pair of decisions the World Athletics Council adopted the same rules as swimming did last year to bar athletes who have transitioned from male to female and who have gone through male puberty. No such athletes currently compete at the highest levels of track. Another set of updates for athletes with differences in sex development could impact up to 13 high-level runners. W.A. President Sebastian Kosed they include Semenya a two-time Olympic champion at 800 meters who has been barred from that event since 2019. Semenya and others have been able to compete without restrictions in events outside the range of 400 meters through one mile but now still have to undergo hormone suppressing treatment for six months before competing to be eligible. Kosed conceded that there are no easy answers to this topic which has turned into social societal lightning involving advocates concerned with keeping a level playing field in women's sports and others who don't want to discriminate against transgender and DSD athletes. Athletes with sex development differences such as Semenya and Olympic 200 meter silver medalist Christine Boma of Nibibia are not transgender but the two issues share similarities when it comes to sports. Such athletes were legally identified as female at birth but have a medical condition leads to some traits including high levels of testosterone that world athletics argues gives them the same kind of unfair advantage as transgender athletes. Semenya has been running in longer events. She finished 13th in her qualifying heat at 5000 meters at world championships last year and in recent interviews she said she was aiming to run in the Olympics at a longer distance. Now in order to compete at next year's Olympics she would have to undergo hormone suppressing treatment for six months something she has said she will never do again having undergone the treatment a decade ago under previous rules. Another athlete Olympic 800 meter silver medalist Francine Neon Saba of Burundi also said she would not undergo treatment while Semenya struggled at longer distances Neon Saba had relative success winning diamond league titles at 3000 and 5000 meters and running in the 5000 running in the 5000 at the Tokyo Olympics. Under the new regulations athletes in the previously unrestricted events would have to suppress testosterone levels below a certain level per liter of blood for six months ultimately they would have to stay below those levels for two years so this is terrible legislation that's you know is par for the course these days in athletics and I have another story about that later but now let's turn to really bad kind of miserable news that I'm just going to give it to you straight and at length Uganda's parliament has passed an extremely anti-LGBTQ bill yesterday uh Ugandan lawmakers approved new legislation that entrenched the criminalization of same-sex conduct it also creates new offenses that will curtail any activism on lesbian gay bisexual and transgender issues and eradicate LGBT people from any form of social thank you American Christians huh well yeah and that's another story I didn't discuss at length but us evangelicals have been over there promoting this legislation for a long time uh the anti the 2023 anti homosexuality bill confirms an already existing public punishment of life imprisonment for same-sex conduct while also increasing to 10 years the prison sentence for an attempted same-sex conduct but one of the most egregious provisions the bill calls it aggravated homosexuality calls for the death penalty in certain circumstances including for serial offenders or for anyone having same-sex relations with a person with a disability thereby automatically denying persons with disabilities the capacity to to consent to sex the bill also outlaws the promotion of homosexuality effectively instituting a system of complete censorship of LGBT issues anyone advocating for the rights of LGBT people or providing financial support for organizations that do so could face up to 20 years imprisonment LGBTQ rights can also be deemed unable to legally operate in addition anyone who advertises publishes prints broadcasts distributes material including digitally is regarded as promoting or encouraging homosexuality and would face criminal sanction the bill also criminalizes any person who fails to report someone they suspect of participating in same sex how did they get such a foothold in the country well it's been going on for a while member they had to kill the gays bill right right but i mean they seem to have gotten a real a really big foothold and wasn't there a demonstration against them in south africa well that's what you told me yeah i was going to report on that last time next time because it's actually breaking news but there's been an inter I mean it's really important that south africa take a stand against this bill but that's outside of you yeah yeah the question is how did it get such a foothold in Uganda and it's because the christians have been you know the evangelical movement was giving them support when nobody else was so they were already are they a Protestant country I wonder you got it yeah I don't know I'll have to research that and speaking of questions that I failed to answer last time I which is you know I responded halfway to Linda's question but when we were talking about Namibia next time both of you said if the Supreme Court has ruled against those fathers what recourse do they have and I looked it up and couldn't find anything so my only belated response is that they're going to have to probably find other ways to appeal it also to the Supreme Court and my you know pie in the sky hope is that if they keep appealing the Supreme Court will get sick of their appeal as has happened in well but anyway it doesn't look great in Namibia but so the bill also criminalizes any person who fails to report someone they suspect of participating in same six days to the police which I just mentioned calling for a finer imprisonment for six months effectively supportive family members or friends of LGBTQ people could not be imprisoned could be imprisoned if they failed to report their loved ones to authorities if anyone conducts a same-sex marriage ceremony they could be imprisoned up to 10 years a provision in the bill also outlaws providing accommodation that facilitates the assent offensive homosexuality so if anyone were to rent a room to a gay couple they could go to jail for 10 years move 70 the president has 30 days to assent or reject the anti homosexuality bill if the law comes into force it will violate the rights to freedom of expression and association liberty privacy equality freedom from discrimination in human integrating treatment and a fair hearing all guaranteed under Ugandan and international law for all Ugandans now a little background more than 30 African countries including Uganda already banned same-sex relations the new law appears to be the first outlaw merely identifying as lesbian gay bisexual transgender and queer supporters of the law says it's intended to support a broader array of LGBTQ activities which they say threaten traditional values in the conservative and religious East African nation now I have a picture before you of profile encourage Frank Mugisha who is a prominent Ugandan LGBTQ activist of course he has denounced the legislation this law is very extreme and draconian it criminalizes being an LGBTQ person but also they're trying to erase the entire existence of any LGBTQ I hope he doesn't still live there I think sure he's there and a prominent activist was murdered not that a few years ago move 70 has not commented on the urgent on the current proposal but has long opposed LGBTQ rights and signed an anti LGBTQ law in 13 that western countries condemned before domestic court struck it down on procedural grounds that was the kill the gays bill in recent weeks Ugandan authorities have cracked down on LGBTQ people after religious leaders and politicians alleged students were being recruited into homosexuality in schools this month authorities arrested a secondary school teacher in the east district of ginger over accusations of grooming of the grooming of young girls into unnatural I think we should start a movement to like pay for our evangelicals to go live off of there she was subsequently charged with growth and decency and is in prison awaiting trial the police said on Monday they had arrested six people accused of running a network that was actively involved in the grooming of young boys into acts of sodomy we're gonna have to move on in you're gonna have to get to the rest of your stories after okay can I just have a related story Kamala Harris as we know went visited Ghana recently yeah and there's hope that she has softened the country stands because Ghana has an anti-LGBTQ bill that's just just as bad as this so maybe Harris was able to make inroads and I certainly hope so all right so on our Becca watch this from our us representative Becca Ballant Republicans have just introduced and passed a bill in the US House to defund public schools that allow trans children to participate in sports or that allow books on LGBTQ history in their classrooms this bill is a part of a growing movement to push transgender Americans out of public life to label LGBTQ adults as groomers and to isolate LGBTQ youth from any sense of belonging in our schools or communities this month I traveled around Vermont to speak with folks about the urgent issues people are facing housing child care and protecting social safety nets like social security and Medicare I also spoke directly with high school students about their need for additional support in schools for things like mental health not one person not one in all my travels around the state advocated for less funding for schools or for punishing and ostracizing trans children increased visibility for LGBTQ Americans over the past several decades has allowed for greater progress but today it is now being weaponized by partisan extremists across the country to target the most vulnerable in our communities LGBTQ youth and following up on that Becca and state treasurer Michael P check we're at the transgender day of visibility which was also the outright leadership summit on the state house lawn where they well I was going to say which we all attended to which the youth handed them their priorities for solidarity saying these are the things we need there were 268 youth in attendance 28 of them spoke and there were times when the youth speaking became overwhelmed and just stopped to which the people around them just yelled we love you and the youth was able to continue this was one of the comments that were made by one of our youth we need the state to act in our defense and say queer people are safe here by passing laws that protect us we deserve to live and work and play like kids we're still kids it was so encouraging to see them marching and they were coming and they just kept coming and coming and chanting well I mean it was really one of the things that just sort of from the geek perspective they had to move the leadership summit from the state house to the pavilion auditorium because they had too many people they exceeded the limit on what any of the rooms in the state house could contain so yes but related to that the house has given has passed h 483 now this is the bill that we've been talking about for a while and it would strengthen anti-discrimination measures place a moratorium on new independent school approvals and make it impossible or nearly impossible for independent schools to reject publicly tuition students and this is the part that gives clarity to it under this proposed legislation independent schools private schools would need to affirm that they would comply with state anti-discrimination rules and would be subject to more oversight from public school yes their souls all right so they've put some strong language it's now in the senate it's already in senate judiciary and i'm waiting to see when it's going to be put up and i'm going to close really quickly because i want i want time to share the yes for our trivia question but this is for for an h which no that's the wrong bill the house has passed h 230 mechanism to reduce suicide this bill includes in it a safe storage requirement if there are vulnerable adults or underage children in the household and there is a 72 hour waiting period on the purchase of a handgun yes and anybody who is selling handguns like the shop in waterbury has to post this sign and it specifies how large the sign needs to be warning access to a firearm in the home significantly increases the risk of suicide death during domestic violence disputes and the unintentional death of children household members and others if you or a loved one is experiencing distress or depression called the 988 suicide and crisis hotline or text vt to 741 741 they have to display it nice they cannot remove it good and and it isn't just this little sign that you would miss coming in the door well no and the legislation says how large the lettering needs to be so with that i'm going to move to you okay well we don't have good news around the country like this but that maybe we should go right to the palm yeah really oh i have some good news according to a texas federal judge ensuring against hiv transmission violates the religious freedom of companies that object to lgbtq plus people so insurance companies cannot be forced to cover the medicines as a result of his ruling a whole host of preventive services required to be cut by insurance part providers under the affordable care act are in doubt so that would be like prep or anything like that okay um speaker nancy well speaker america america nancy policy took the stage at the human rights campaign dinner in los angeles the esteemed congress woman to advocate oh take pride in what you have she said look at what has been done by showing our pride pat yourself on the back let's be hopeful for the sex for the success we've had and the love we have shown each other and that's what we have to do for the trans community now especially the children there's very hateful things that the other side is cooking up so beware Pelosi says texas republicans have proposed a bill to make recognizing lgbtq pride illegal in schools that's nice a wisconsin elementary school administration told the first grade teacher that her class could not sing a song by dolly potten and my my lee cyrus that's so so celebrates acceptance because it might be controversial the song's title rainbow land seems to be the source of the problem a hayer elementary teacher in is it walk ashore yeah suggested the song rainbow land for the upcoming concert so the music teacher asked the school's principal whether it was appropriate concerned enough to inquire further the principal checked with the school district about the tune's appropriateness however the district central office deemed the song too controversial after reviewing it under its district school board policy 224 oh this policy policy addresses controversial topics in the classroom this is a Sesame Street song oh my god and just quickly before I move on to Anne because we want to make sure we have enough and I'll finish these next time three-time formula one champion nelson piquette or pico was ordered to pay a fine of nearly one million dollars in moral damages for racist homophobic comments aimed at marcedes driver lewis hamilton a court ruling published um on friday said the substitute judge of the 20th civic court of brazilia sentence sentence formula one driver nelson pico to pay five million compensation for collective moral damages so is that a brazil story well not really because i think the lewis hamilton is from the united states but homegrown yeah all righty annie i have so much you have about nine minutes so let's go well i don't have bad news entirely i didn't mean to overwhelm our viewers with uganda because other things are happening around the world that aren't so bad including uh constitutional court legalizing same-sex marriage in bolivia and now before you as a picture of david aruquipa and guido montaño uh they filed a lawsuit in 2018 five years later same-sex marriage they they won the suit and same-sex marriage is legal in bolivia going that was the south american news now in asia uh following the sort of anti-transgender theme that seems to be going around uh conservatives in the liberal democratic party in japan issue they have an issue with the gender identity clause in an lgbtq bill um they're conservative lawmakers and called the liberal democratic party they have yet to begin internal discussions because they don't want to even cover even touch this uh lgbtq rights bill until april after their elections but at a thursday uh parliament committee meeting prime minister fumio kishida who is also the lgbt president only said that the party is preparing to submit the bill so they're okay apparently with lgbt rights but not they don't want to include gender identity good news from napal the supreme court has made a historic decision recognizing same-sex marriage and i've another picture before you of odd heap co-carol who is napali and german citizen towis holt's and so uh they get married i know it they a poel they applied for a tourist visa that was denied and so finally uh it has been accepted in the supreme court has issued an order of the name of the government to recognize same-sex marriage so if they can have a tourist visa why can't they get married it's the essence of the message from the supreme court now let's turn to a clip from a pakistan film called joyland uh in inner city lahore a severe patriarch is the head of the middle class rana family which includes his two sons daughters-in-law and four granddaughters he wants his children to give him a grandson and forces his daughter-in-law mumtaz to quit her job after haydair his younger son and her husband find work wait a minute and her husband finds work at an erotic dance theater but all changes when haydair falls in love with beba a transgender dancer so let's look at a clip of joyland me kind of looks intense the usual question and i could see this how or where crime video disney plus hbo max apple tv plus paramount and all streaming services you anticipated i did i get ready for your questions now let's go to um europe a ukraine soldier calls for marriage equality as the war with russia wages we could die tomorrow 30-year-old anna zaba to kova lamented and apparently marriage heterosexual marriages have skyrocketed since the war began because of the sense of urgency and she says she serves in the 47th brigade of ukraine's armed forces says that um i feel like something is taken from me every time i see one of our soldiers is getting married as i think of the fact that i can't do it if i wanted to with the woman a marriage proposal was presented to zealinski a same-sex marriage proposal and he said yes yes of course but we can't do it till after the war so um she's urging more urgency and someone has proposed a more urgent bill for same-sex marriage we must do it immediately lgbtq ukrainians deserve to have a family every day can be their last just like for any other ukrainian so let me i may have to go through quickly the rest of my european news but i do a picture the first same-sex couple to marry in northern ireland are humbled and grateful to be making history and here they are robin peoples on the left and shawnee edwards waitress shawnee edwards and senior care assistant robin peoples 26 got married on tuesday february 11th which is their sixth anniversary so um they had a little bit of a long-distance relationship um one is from brighton um shawnee is originally from brighton they moved there but she uh she was there and then they she visited her cousin in belfast and met robin then they both moved to um brighton but then got homesick and went back to belfast they became engaged in 2015 on a trip to paris to see arianda grande in concert robin had a lock engraved with their names on it when they went to the place where they to add the love lock in paris um robin got that's been just mantel hasn't it well i don't know but it when it occurred um robin got down on one knee to propose so um the following year shawnee proposed back in their house on robin's birthday i laid out loads of rose petals that spelled out will you marry me oh romantic that's very romantic um i have a few more stories i'll just do the headlines a lesbian couple from ukraine opened up about how they fled the war and got married in ireland so they were very close they've been involved for 11 years before they got married they were very closeted in ukraine moved to ireland and got married um bad news from england we have to i'm afraid england okay london and you know i defer to keith and not reporting the creepy creepy details of this story and i figured i wouldn't have time anyway the metropolitan police and report that the london police um are full of homophobic officers obsessed with gay sex and they grilled lesbian officers and this report was finally issued in red and it details chapter inverse of all the creepy things that happened in the london police department so they're taking action and finally taking action the government yeah okay or they are police officials both okay both because now the report has been made public and everybody they can't get the officers out of the public bathrooms well um let's end on a transphobic note swim england bands trans women from female competitions going along with world trekking field um so real quickly we're following up with the british police officers the two officers in vermont that were being investigated for engaging in racing and homophobic comments online game online games they were from southern vermont vermont state police police they weren't able to validate all but enough of the allegations that the commissioner said disciplinary action up to and including termination was warranted they both have resigned and they have issued a formal apology saying our actions are inexcusable we let down our fellow officers and we let down vermont good but i hope they don't get the job somehow well well i i anticipated that comment vermont still doesn't have the listing of these are the discredited officers which is is something that people are really pushing for them and looking at police reform a piece to do here so they were like five of them weren't they no they were they were a number of them engaging in the game but there were only two that engaged in the racist and homophobic comments and the the actual report lists some of the things that the two officers said and but i mean they they also went back and looked at all of their apology i did but they went back and looked at all of their reporting and there was nothing that indicated the bias in their actual policing well what was very disturbing besides the actions especially against lesbian police officers that they remain they remain silent it just took it yeah well with this it was other officers in vermont that reported them yeah so this was an outside study so since you since you're up and going the answer to the trivia question although an obscure poet during their lifetime widely considered the most distinguished greek poet kafi and this is what w.h. oddin said in a preface to a collection of poetry kafavi was a homosexual and his erotic poems made no attempt to conceal it as a witness kafavi is exceptionally honest he neither bolderizes nor glamorizes nor giggles he refuses to pretend that his memories of moments of sensual pleasure are unhappy or spoiled by feelings of guilt and this is one of his poems the afternoon sun this room how well i know it now they're renting it and the one next to it is offices the whole house has become an office building for agents businessmen companies this room how familiar it is the couch was here near the door a turkish carpet in front of it close by the shelf with two yellow vases on the right no opposite a wardrobe with a mirror in the middle the table where he wrote and the three big wicker chairs beside the window the bed where we made love so many times there must still be around somewhere those old things beside the window the bed the afternoon sun used to touch half of it one afternoon at four o'clock we separated for a week only and then that week became forever so with that with that lovely romantic do you have anything else to say oh i have plenty else to say i mean we have a few more minutes well i could see you thought the poem was larger you thought the poem was one of yours i had more verses we should have a poem on every show all right let's go back to these ukrainian this ukrainian couple they moved to ireland last st patrick's day uh their names are ulyana and alina uh they've been a couple for over a decade as i said see this goes with the poem how romantic which yeah it's a little more positive maybe um st patrick's day marks one year since they landed safely on the emerald isle they met online through a dating website called mamba where they were living when they were living in their home nation they exchanged messages and went out for tea chatting effortlessly for hours after that initial meeting they continued to meet again and again dating privately and pretending to be friends they were able to live together in kiv uh but they couldn't tell anyone they were a couple they said to everyone else we were sisters we were friends for 10 years when russia invaded ukraine in february last year they decided to move away it was very difficult to leave their families behind as they decided to remain in ukraine but living in ireland allowed them to get married in november 2022 something they had previously only dreamed of this war has brought a lot of grief to the ukrainian people and we couldn't believe that such horror could happen in the modern world but the strong spirit of ukrainian people and their desire to fight for their independence and development as well as the support of other nations gives us faith that justice will triumph and the terrorist state of the russian federation will be punished for every crime against humanity coming back to a remote story real quickly and i was going to talk with you both at dinner if you had heard about this jag productions well another theater company is coming in in being the company in residence within the opera house so they're taking up most of the time so no jag has no performance space although right now a java screen is doing a one-man show where they're there at the bridge opera house right so what are they going to do he well that's what the whole story was about is he doesn't know what he's going to do he's looking for alternative space there is some performance space uh the theater on the hill at king arthur baking company we've been there yeah but but it's limited space well and it was outside because of cofit right but what he's saying is there isn't other performance space in the area of his uh lost nation well we went well they have they have city center so they're the company in residence and they take up most of the time that that space is available yeah well there's an urban stage which is right down the block and i have to say lin and i were just at a play there last weekend we saw sweat by lin was really good and that's a nice venue but what jarvis is saying is i may have to leave for month oh that would be awful but well and but in the meantime go and see his one-man show um okay all right well on that note definitely go to the theater go to the movies listen to poetry listen to poetry and resist