 I'm Ann Charles. I'm Keith Ghostland and welcome to All Things LGBTQ. We are taping on Tuesday, the 21st of March. We tape at Orca Media, which is in Montpelier, Vermont, which we recognize as being unceded indigenous land. And speaking of indigenous land, Linda, you're going to take me across the country and show me all kinds of interesting things. Well, first we've got an interesting story about Drag Queen in Story Hour in New York City. So anti-LGBTQ protesters, including someone in Proud Boy Colors, clash with supporters outside of Drag-O-Way event in Manhattan, hosted by New York Attorney General Latitia James on Sunday. One win was arrested while another's face appeared to have been bloodied. According to the New York Post, some 40 protesters and more than 100 supporters gathered outside New York City's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community center, commonly referred to as the Center, where James was hosting the event, co-sponsored by nonprofit Drag Story Hour New York City. So that was good. Linda did a poetry reading at that center. I did. So the Proud Boys met their match, and it was with the Drag Queen? Yes. All righty. Don't mess. Exactly. And, you know, we keep kind of back to her, but I, you know, but I can't resist is Representative Mary Madri Taylor Greene, that's about it, assistant secretary of health, Admiral Rachel Levine, dead naming her the accomplished doctor on Twitter. Levine expressed hope that people would be more accepting of transgender people at a visit to Connecticut's Children's Medical Center last week. She never ceases to amaze me. After making a homophobic joke at the expense of out-secretary transportation beat Buttigieg, and then getting called off for it, Mike Pence is now using an old bullying tactic to lash out at Buttigieg instead of apologizing. He's saying Pete doesn't have a sense of humor. Two weeks ago at the, is it Gridiron Club? Gridiron. Gridiron? No, yeah. Pence joked that Buttigieg went on maternity leave in 2021. As Buttigieg took some time off to care for his premature twins. When Pete's two children were born, he took two months from maternity leave. Whereupon thousands of travelers were stopped in airports, the air traffic system shut down, aeroplanes nearly collided. Oh God. The cisgender male members of the indie rock band Yola Tango dressed in drag during the Nashville concert earlier this week to protest Tennessee's new band on obscene drag performances. During the second half of the band's show at the Basement East Live music venue, Yola Tango frontman Ira Kaplan appeared in makeup, a wig, and a sundress. While bass player James McNew appeared in Sun Hat and a knit shawl, according to photos taken at the event. So good for them. Tennessee has passed all these horrible drag queen stuff. Michigan is now the 22nd state and the U.S. to ban anti-LGB discrimination through legislation. So that's good. A local prosecutor in Michigan is threatening to use a law aimed at catching predators during sex crime stings to target public librarians. If she does not remove an LGBT-themed book from the shelves, the librarian, however, remains steadfast in her opposition to his demand. Amy Churchill, the director of the LaPair district library in a small town in Michigan, Stum, says she's undeterred by local county prosecutor John Miller's threat to charge her with a felony, Bridge Michigan, a local publication reports. Miller demands that she take the book Gender Queer, a memoir of the public library's shelves. And a county in central Georgia paid a private law for $1.2 million in legal fees rather than cover the cost of gender-affirming surgery for a decorated sheriff's deputy. Houston County Sergeant Anna Lange sued the county after she was denied coverage for the procedure. The county initially claimed including gender-affirming medical care would substantially increase its health care costs. But earlier this month, a federal court disagreed with an appeal filed by the county and ordered the county to cover the services. It was a slap in the face really to find out how much they had spent, Lange told ProPublica. They're treating it like a political issue, obviously, when it's a medical issue. So instead of paying what would have been less, they spent $1.2 million on stopping her surgery. And I'll just do this last story and we'll move to Ann. In November 2022, when a gunman opened fire on Club Q, an LGBTQ plus club in Colorado Springs, five people tragically lost their lives. Among those at the club that night was Richard Fierro, an Army veteran who tackled and disarmed the shooter. Four months later, it's still hard for Fierro to be called a hero. Everyone in there that night was a hero, he said. But Saturday, Fierro received a life-saving military hero of the year award at the American Red Cross Hero, Swaray at the Seawall Ballroom in Denver. So good for you. I know. Okay, Ian, what do you got? Well, I'd like to go to Africa. Why? Well, because I have a film. Well, in that case. But also, some news. Some of it not very good, but let's start with Burundi, which is an East African country. It charges 24 people with homosexuality in an anti-gay crackdown. Its authorities in the conservative East African nation have cracked down on same-sex relations. Burundi has criminalized homosexuality since 2009 with a prison sentence of up to two years for consensual same-sex acts. Police detained 17 men and 7 women on February 23 at a seminar in the political capital, Getega, being hosted by a non-profit organization that focuses on HIV AIDS. They were accused of promoting homosexuality and engaging in same-sex acts, both classed as crimes punishable with jail terms under Burundi Dan Law. After interrogations, which lasted about 10 days, the 24 were charged with homosexual practices and incitement to homosexual practices by the public prosecutor. They will be remanded in prison to await trial, the head of the human rights group who's been living in exile in Belgium since 2014 said. A judicial source in Burundi who asked for anonymity to discuss the case confirmed on Thursday that the accused had been charged. The 24 were arrested after neighbors alerted security officials to the alleged presence of teenage boys and girls at the office of this human rights group. Police said that condoms were found on persons at the scene and the groups were arrested and on suspicion of homosexuality, which I've just said. Earlier this month, the president of Burundi urged citizens to root out homosexuality from the country. I asked all Burundians to curse those who indulge in homosexuality because God cannot bear it, he said in this speech. They must be banished, treated as pariahs in our country, he said. Last month, Burundian intelligence agents arrested five human rights activists who were later charged with rebellion and undermining state security. So let's stay away from Burundi. Then I have spoken during many episodes about this poor Namibian couple who's trying to have their son adopted. I thought there was already a done deal. Well, no. On Monday, the Namibian Supreme Court overturned a decision by a lower court to grant citizenship to a gay couple's son who was born in neighboring South Africa through surrogacy. I mean, there's a done deal. In 2021, the High Court had granted the child citizenship after the Interior Ministry had denied it on technical grounds. The government then appealed saying the couple had failed to comply with the law by registering the birth with Namibian authorities within one year as legally required. The Paramount Court agreed saying on Monday that the High Court had misdirected itself. Since the birth was not registered in terms of the Citizenship Act, it was not competent for the High Court to grant the relief it did to the respondent. Because there was non-compliance, the minister was correct in not granting minor child citizenship by dissent. The child Yona is now four. It has the South African Birth Certificate identifying his parents as Philip Lul, a Namibian, and Guillermo Delgado, a Mexican. In its initial complaint, the Interior Ministry had demanded a DNA test to prove that one of the boy's parents was a Namibian. I mean, they've been through so much hassle. But the couple refused to do the test and the High Court accepted a birth certificate issued in South Africa. The couple said they were disappointed by the latest ruling but vowed to continue fighting for their son's right to citizenship. Rule said the ruling was just another way of frustrating people that don't have full access to equality and frustrating them with bureaucratic procedural matters. Can you believe this? The couple said the court is supposed to be the upper guardian of children, supposed to decide in the best interest of children. And here they are giving us the runaround. This is the runaround. South Africa under its liberal post-apartheid constitution is the sole African nation which allows gay marriage legalized in 2006. In Namibia, homosexuality is illegal under the 1927 sodomy law dating back to when the country was under South African rule. The law is really enforced. So what? What harassment? My question to you was going to be, you know, they're saying, you know, they're going to look at appealing but if it's their Supreme Court that's issued the ruling, did the story say what they really do have for options at this point? They're going to appeal. Doesn't it sound really trumped up to you? Yeah. They never registered the kid as a citizen in the first year. But they're going to appeal that. To who, though? Can they appeal to the Supreme Court? I thought once the Supreme Court made a decision that was it. Right. Well, they're going to appeal to whatever authority overturned. Maybe it works differently there. Overturn the ruling. So let's go to the clip. I have chosen this film to show you because it's playing at the Savoy. It's coming up very soon. It's called The Blue Kaftan. It's a 1922 Moroccan Arabic language drama directed by Maryam Tuzani. It depicts a woman and her closeted gay husband who run a kaftan store in the Medina of Saleh, Morocco and hire a young man as an apprentice. Oh, I can see where this is going. Yes. The film premiered in a certain regard section of the Khan Film Festival in 2022. So let's look at the clip from The Blue Kaftan. It's the kaftan that gets you into trouble. We know where this is going. Yes. Yes. And I read a review of it and it says it's very moving because of the intent with which this long-term heterosexual couple listened to each other. Okay. All right. So shall I continue? Yeah. Okay. Let's go to Asia. We missed women talking. We don't want to see that. I know. We can catch it. We'll find it. I have two stories from Asia, one of which is pretty good. Let's start with Iran. And I'm grateful to Linda for sending me this story. You remember I reported on the two Iranian lesbian activists who were sentenced to death? Right. Well, it turns out the international outcry has had an effect. So one LGBTQ plus activist has been freed from Iranian prison. And let's look at a picture now of her. Her name is Elham Choudbar. But another activist remains behind bars until her bail is paid. So let's take a look at her. Her name is Zara Siddiqui Hamadani. She goes by Sarah. She's an Iranian LGBTQ plus activist who's been held because she doesn't have bail. And I read two stories that say the different equivalency of the bail in U.S. dollars. Can't we send her the money? Well, that's it. I'm surprised human rights groups haven't, you know, done a fundraiser. But they were initially being sentenced to death for promoting homosexuality. In 2021, Elham Choudbar and Zara Siddiqui Hamadini were accused by the Orma Public Prosecutor's Office in January of corruption of Earth through promoting homosexuality, promoting Christianity and communicating with the media opposing the Islamic Republic. I remember reporting on this. They were sentenced to death in 2022, which led to an international campaign by activists to save their lives. So this matters. At least it worked. In January, Amnesty International reported that both women's death sentences had been overturned. And on Monday, Choudbar was released after her one billion reels, which is about $23,000, according to this report. They should be able to raise that. Sarah, however, remains imprisoned because her bail has not been paid. She was arrested in October, 2021 by intelligence forces from Iran's Islamic... Will they be re-arrested then again if they do something that... I think they need to get out of the country. So she was arrested by forces from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps while attempting to flee to Turkey. I'm journeying toward freedom now, she said in a video recorded before she tried to leave Iran. If I don't make it, I will have given my life for this cause. And I quoted this when she was arrested. She was held in solitary confinement for two months at the Intelligence Detention Center before being transferred to the Women's Ward of the Central Prison. Iran has some of the strictest anti-LGBTQ laws in the world. LGBTQ plus people have no protections and can be punished by the death penalty for being who they are. According to the World Value Survey, 90% of Iranians do not believe homosexuality is justifiable, so they've got to get out of there. So I hope maybe through... How are they going to get out? I mean, she could be killed before she gets to the borders of any place, you know. International intervention. Rainbow Railroad. I have my faith in. We're going to have to move on and... Okay. I was going to say, I was surprised by the story that Iran had reversed any action that is so out of character for... They never do that. It has to be. And at the end of the story, it's said that they're undergoing some kind of revolutionary fervor in Iran, but I couldn't find... Well, there's a whole women's movement there, too. All right. So the trivia question and Professor Charles did not let me down. This, and this is an acknowledgement of Women's History Month, this was the first published volume of openly lesbian love poetry in the U.S. And she knew the author, she had a good sense of the year and the title, so she done good. So looking at events, first thing is March 31st is International Transgender Day of Visibility. And while sort of researching that, I stumbled across where there are 471 anti-trans pieces of legislation that have been introduced into 44 states. And Vermont is included, and it's because we have a bill H183 that was introduced as a result of the House floor debate on creating the shield law for protected health care. And this was brought up by a well-known Republican representative who tried to put an amendment on the shield law for freedom of conscience for all health care providers. And you can guess what that alludes to. And as part of their narrative, it was Vermont is one of the only places that doesn't have this kind of protection or some kind of protection in place for acknowledging health care providers' beliefs. And tried to introduce it to the amendment that was soundly voted down, so they introduced it as a separate bill. It is not anticipated it's going to go anywhere. But I did a little research, and there's only two states that extend full protection, freedom of conscience to all health care providers. 45 states do it specifically for abortion-related services. And New Hampshire, New Mexico, and indeed Vermont are the only states that have nothing in statute about this. But one of the things to keep in mind is there was the UVM case, and it has to do with Medicaid Medicare regulations, that if there is a provider who says specifically they object to participating in an abortion service, the institution needs to find a replacement. So keep that in mind. And that, is it like a catchword for religious conscience, for religious freedom? Freedom of conscience is indeed, you know, alliance defending freedom. The Heritage Institute, all of those that US a provider could refuse to provide care to me because of my sexual orientation, my gender identity, disability, status, race, whatever. I mean, it's basically a carte blanche. Also happening, however, on the 31st is outright Vermont's leadership summit at the State House. And they are inviting any and all of us to show up on the steps at noon for a speak out to show support for our youth. And if you've got colorful signs, t-shirts, whatever to wear, please do that. Also starting on the 31st, and running through April 2nd, Sugarbush, they're doing their first Pride weekend. And you can go onto their website and sign up, and there's a whole list of activities they're doing. So Stowe and Mount Snow has now some competition for the queer market. Who knew we skied that much? But there we are. Just a reminder that now through April 16th at the Brattleboro Art Center is the Keith Herring exhibit. And if you go onto their website, there are some public discussions and presentations to talk about Keith's work. Mark your calendars, April 22nd, because registration is open for the LGBTQIA Plus Health Summit that will be happening at Vermont Technical College. This is being sponsored by the Pride Center outright Vermont and out in the open. It's nice to see organizations working together, collaborating on events. Sort of related safe space, part of the Pride program, Pride Center, they are starting a new survivors of sexual violence support group. And you can go onto their website and find out the information and enroll. And if you're someone who has experienced sexual violence, you know the importance of finding support. And I'm going to be reading April 4th, but I think we might be having another show before that. You're reading where? I'm reading at Community College on Elm Street. CBMC? Yeah. And then Linda has a queer poetry reading at Kellogg Hubbard. On the 10th. Not only Linda, but four poets including Linda. For Palm City. She's keeping secrets from me. I haven't seen it listed on the library website yet, so I look forward. And then the last thing before I hand it back to Linda, who knows what she's going to try and scare me with next? Food and Drug Administration. This is their open comment about finally repealing the last of the HIV related discrimination in men who have sex with men. Comment section is open until the 31st. And this would be that final step that if you're a blood donor, you're held to the same standard as everybody else. It's not about who you are. It would be about risk and practices. Oh my scientific basis. Okay, what are you going to scare me with now? You're already tied, Marjorie Taylor-Green. I know. She's the scariest of them all, almost. Snowflakes are coming alive in a mixed martial arts coach, and his trainees have offered to stand guard at a local restaurant so it can host a drag show in peace. MMA fighter Jonathan Hout made the offer in a public Facebook post after Dragbrunch was scheduled at a West Virginia restaurant was canceled due to the amount of threats the event organizers received. I'm not afraid to stand up to people and I train to fight people all day, every day. So if someone really wants to attack someone, let them attack me. Instead, Hout said, the owner of Ohio Valley MMA in Wheeling, West Virginia said, don't attack the drag queens. Snowflakes are out now. Look what happened to the proud boys. The Lonely Few is now making its world premiere at Los Angeles. Geffen Playhouse offers glimmers of what the future of musical theater you might be interested in might hold. With a book by Rachel Bonds, a score by Zoe Zarnak. Excuse me, it's a rock concert with a musical theater heart. It follows Lila, Tony winning Lauren Patton, a queer aspiring sing songwriter who feels trapped in her Kentucky hometown caring for her alcoholic older brother. When successful artist Amy, now you can tell where this is going, strolls into Lila's local bar. It sends the two of them careening into a sudden romance in office. Lila and her bandmates, best friend Dylan, Damon Dunio, new high school grad JJ Sheen, and by our owner Paul, a chance they have never dreamed of getting. By any chance is there a captain involved here? Yeah, really, really. I'm telling you, okay. And then we have the lovely governor Sarah Huckabee. Sandra. Excuse me? Yeah, Sarah Sanders Huckabee. Huckabee Sanders. Yeah, whatever. Huckabee Republican of Arkansas. Thank governor. This is what you had to say about Jill Biden giving the award to Transgender Argentinean Alba Ruada. In Argentina, Alba Ruada is a transgender woman who was kicked out of classrooms, barred for sitting for exams, refused job opportunities subjected to violence and rejected by her family. But in the face of these challenges, she worked to end violence and discrimination against the LGBTQI plus community. And so Huckabee had this to say, Democrats can't even tell you what a woman is. This was an Oscar presentation? No, it's for the International Women's Day award that Jill Biden gave at the White House. And she got this award. She's an Argentinean trailblazing transgender woman. Yeah, and she's remarkable. I mean, she was the first openly trans candidate for political office. And she, this I can't believe, she worked at this job in government service for free for two years until they got her identity document straight. But Jill Biden, these are like awards. She was one of 11 women. But she was the transgender. So New York Attorney General James, together with a broad coalition of advocacy organizations and elected leaders, today stood proudly in an unwavering support of the LGBT plus community and hosted its first of its kind drag story hour readathon for families in New York City. Nearly 200 guests enjoyed four back to back story hours hosted by drag kings, queens and royalty of drag. So that's more about what the, you know. But the proud boys were demonstrating. The proud boys were demonstrating against more snowflake action. The contestants of RuPaul's drag season 15 are confronting anti drag hate in shows. Latest episode on Friday, the Queens performed in a wig loose russical, a reimagined version of footloose, where a local teacher is attempting to be in drag as the Queens opened up about their fears of new laws with everything presently going on in the world. It feels like we're taking a giant step back. So, you know, our worlds are colliding, it seems, right? Yeah. So what do you have? And that's all I have. I have some bad news. Let me finish up my Asian stories with the note that the India government opposes same-sex marriage. What does? The Indian government of Prime Minister Modi opposes same-sex marriage. He's more conservative than the one that was before. Oh, yeah. At least 15 pleas, some by gay couples have been filed in recent months asking the court to recognize same-sex marriages, setting the stage for this legal face-off with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. And so the top court, as you know, decriminalized homosexuality in 2018 by scrapping the colonial-era ban on gay sex. The current case is being seen as a further important development on LGBTQ rights. But the court asked, cannot, the government said, the court cannot be asked to change the entire legislative policy of the countries deeply embedded in religious and societal norms. So they're a big Hindu organization also. He's pretty anti-Hindu, isn't he too? No, he's anti-Muslim. Anti-Muslim, that's right. Yeah. So this Hindu organization also opposes same-sex marriage. And as we know a little back up, Asia largely lags behind the West in accepting same-sex marriage. Taiwan was the first in the region to recognize such unions while same-sex acts are illegal in some countries such as Malaysia. Singapore last year ended a ban on gay sex but took steps to bar same-sex marriages. In India, the issue of same-sex marriage is sensitive. Speaking about homosexuality is taboo. A member of Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist party asked the government to strongly oppose petitions for same-sex marriage. The intent behind the current legal system on marriage was limited to the recognition of a legal relationship of marriage between a man and a woman. It seems like they go back and forth in India about this issue. No, I think well it seems like it was progressing for a while. Well in 2018 when they legalized same-sex. But anyway the cases are set to be heard in the Supreme Court on Monday. They bunch together all the cases. And of course we know that Japan still is holding out on same-sex marriage. And so the Japanese opposition party has submitted a bill to approve same-sex marriage but it would revise the civil code of laws. It's effectively a symbolic gesture because the ruling coalition wields a significant majority and won't do it. So it's a good thing I don't fly because the list of places that I won't be visiting keeps growing. I know it. I know it. And didn't you say at one point I think every last week or a few weeks ago that the majority of Japanese people think it's okay and they want to do this. Yeah yeah. So now let's go to Europe where I have some unpleasant news. Starting with Bosnia where the police they it starts out they prohibited an LGBTQ Pride event in Banja Luka. But then rights activists were assaulted following this ban. So this Banja Luka is in Northwestern Bosnia Herzegovina. It's prohibited prohibited this Pride event citing what it said were security concerns. A movie screening and a panel discussion about human rights organized by the activist group Bosnia Herzegovina Pride and another group. It was scheduled for March 18th. A member of the Pride March said it was disappointed with the decision. Then rights activists in the Serb run part of Bosnia were assaulted late Saturday hours after the police banned this event citing security concerns. As I said the attack took place as the activists were leaving a meeting of the offices of the Bosnian branch of the global anti-corruption group Transparency International. The meeting was organized after the event they hoped the stage was banned. The activists said a few dozen men chased them through the streets hurling insults and punches. Before police arrived on the scene several activists were hurt including one who required medical attention. The Banja Luka police said law enforcement officers had escorted the activists to the police station to take their statements and we're still looking for the perpetrators. The canceled event organized and supported by several rights organizations from across Bosnia as I said was going to be this movie screening and the announcement provoked strong homophobic backlash including from the Bosnian Serb president who said LGBTQ people were harassers and that he hoped official bodies were harassers and he hoped the official bodies will prevent them from gathering both enclosed venues and in the open. The mayor also denounced the event saying the LGBTQ community should restrict itself to Bosnia's multi-ethnic capital Sarajevo because Bosnian serves cherished patriarchal traditional families and are clear about our faith and our identity. Now you may not be surprised to learn that Bosnia remains highly conservative and torn by division. Stemming from the 1992 to 1995 ethnic war involving Bosnia Serbs Croats and Bosniaks during the breakup of Yugoslavia homophobia remains deep-seated despite some progress over the years in reducing discrimination. Since 2019 an annual pride parade has been organized regularly in Sarajevo without any notable unrest but with a large law enforcement presence. The violence in Banja Luka prompted condemnation from European Union officials several Western embassies and international organizations. Words have consequences the EU mission to Bosnia tweeted adding that regular verbal attacks by Bosnian Serb politicians against civil society activists and journalists create a climate where physical attacks can follow sounds like a certain country that we all live in. British ambassador to Bosnia Julian Rodley concurred and entweet that the shocking attack on civic activists showed the real impact of hate speech. Now in anticipation of Linda's question Bosnia is a candidate to join the EU. They should refuse them. Well I think maybe. So now more. Do we get to cast our votes? I mean you know if they're going to start out like this. Well it's just Banja Luka. Ukraine has made efforts to try to pass gay marriage and stuff like that. Well let's turn to a card carrying member of the EU. Who? Italy. So the conservative government of Giorgio Moloni has limited the parental gay rights parental rights of gay couples. Italy legalized same-sex civil unions in 2016 but did not grant them adoption adoption rights fearing that it would encourage encourage surrogate pregnancies which remain illegal in the church opposed this too. In a move that is expected to impact hundreds of families the government has told the city of Milan to stop automatically recording parents of both parents of same-sex couples and city registers. It was the last major city to continue the practice that had already been briefly adopted in Rome, Turin and Naples and elsewhere after Italy's High Court in 2016 made it easier for gays to adopt a partner's biological child. The piece of bureaucracy is key to recognizing parental rights for a range of everyday situations like authorizing medical treatment or participation in class outings. The president of Rainbow Families charged that Rome's move ordering Milan to stop automatically registering both parents and same-sex households exposed the government's homophobia that's the truth. This government is the maximum expression of homophobia she said. Moloni, Giorgio Moloni the head says that for a child to grow up well they need a mother and a father even if decades of research say otherwise it is insulting to hundreds of thousands of families with two same-sex parents. News of the move which has been communicated to Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala by the state-appointed prefix came on the same day that a senate commission blocked an attempt to recognize birth certificates of the children of same-sex couples issued by other EU states. Sala pledged to fight for a law conferring rights equally on same-sex parents but said in the meantime he could not risk putting workers in the city registry office at odds with the government's decision. You know and it's like saying you know the the world is round everybody says the world's round but I don't believe it I think it's flat oh you know but don't put it in writing don't put it in writing. Sala's administration not only transcribed documents from other countries recognizing the rights of gay and lesbian parents but also conferred the same recognition on same-sex parents of children born in Italy. Other cities had already stopped the practice as administrations changed hands and political wins shifted in Rome. In the absence of such recognition the non-birth mother or father must go through the adoption process to establish parental rights which can take years. Farmer Turen Mayor the first mayor to recognize the rights of both same-sex parents without seeking court approval said the new ban is the only the last slap against these families. She joined Sala's call for law recognizing their rights. Now Italy has a gay party that formed in 2020 to give political heft to the fight against anti-gay discrimination. They estimate that 150,000 children are impacted by Italy's failure to recognize the rights of both parents in the same same-sex marriages. That includes hundreds in the city of Milan. The gay party spokesman called on Italian mayors to subvert the government's request and register both same-sex parents in an act of civil disobedience. When norms are discriminatory mayors need to have the courage to say so. We'll see if that happens but the public has responded. Hundreds of protests hundreds have some say thousands protest this clampdown on same-sex parents in Milan and I have a picture before you now of the protest. On Saturday the demonstration called hands off our sons and daughters took place in the historical Piazza della Scala pedestrian square and was organized by LGBTQ groups across the country. You explained to my son that I am not his mother said one protest sign. Others held up ballpoint pens used to sign birth registrations in protest. Also present was Giuseppe Salah the Milan's mayor. Organizers estimate that 10,000 people took part while Milan city officials said it was more modest. Hundreds. As we know as I said Italy legalized same-sex unions in 2016 but this still still doesn't recognize what they call step-children adoption because of the opposition from the Catholic Church. The Italian interior ministry said it would order other city's birth registrars to halt the practice. Several cities including Rome and Milan had instituted a one-parent two-parent policy rather than the traditional mother-father designations but last week they had to stop that practice. So more. Well I just wanted to say well we should move on to Keith but I was just going to say you know the Italian should do what the Irish did you know about the Catholic Church is like well bye bye. Can I just do my other headlines? You can do your headlines but we really have it's we have to move on to Keith. Italy vowed to fight in the EU court to defend its anti-LGB. Did I say Italy I meant Hungary? Hungary is fighting the EU about their anti-LGBTQ law and I had a good story from the German Catholic Synod which calls for gay blessings women clergy and married priests and I thought this is really bad when your only good news from Europe involves the Vatican but there we have it. Quickly in South America the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice strikes down the military ban on gay sex the law prohibited sexual acts against nature so Venezuela has come through. That's good those are my stories. Because we we need time to talk about what Becca's been up to. Yes. And anyone who is receiving her newsletter knows that she is back in Washington now and is doing work on the oversight committee in the budget and saying this is going to be an incredibly stressful time looking at the Republican agenda that's being created by leadership in the House. Our viewers may be interested she's hiring summer interns now keep it in mind. Look on her website but before she went back to Washington she held her first town hall forum and it was in Barrie. How did we miss that? I know I would have gone. I think we were distracted as well but and the focus was on the housing crisis and she had an incredible panel of people who are the ones out there trying to create housing responding to the housing insecurity but she also toured around central Vermont identifying the biggest challenges for local food producers so that she could look at what are the appropriations that need to be included in the budget that she's going to be working on that is going to help maintain our family farms not our commercial our family farms and directly addressing food insecurity in Vermont. Have you gone to the grocery store? I mean sometimes I go when the shelves are empty I went to the drug store the other day and you know like there was one thing that I wanted all the rest were gone it was it's like I don't know. Well I went with the food insecurity one of the things that I was thinking in terms of are our school districts that are trying to create a relationship with local farmers local growers to bring fresh produce in and there are some schools that are opening their school lunch not just to the student but to the student's family and the legislature is working on ensuring that there are monies there is money in the budget adjustment but looking at long term to maintain the free lunches in our school and you I don't know if you know the answer to this maybe you do but this month ends the extra food stamps that people have been getting correct through the pandemic some states have the SNAP program keeping it California is keeping theirs I don't know geez for my keeping theirs I have not heard that they were is a decision that we are keeping it or that we are yeah but I have a meeting with the governor staff next week and I'll I will ask and we will report back because you know that's really going to impact people tremendously sure right okay quickly Winooski did it oh I know yes town meeting day they became the third all LGBTQ plus city council in the U.S. everyone kept saying the second Palm Springs California was in 2017 everyone forgets Wilton Manners in Florida which is just north or fourth Lauderdale 2018 so there was recently a discussion at the Burlington city council meeting response to all the stickers showing up around Burlington anti-trans and by unanimous vote they enacted a resolution that one recognizes transgender day of visibility extended the council's gratitude to the community members who have been going out working to remove those stickers a commitment to track incidents of hate and they're going to look at their policies to address the anti-trans graffiti hate campaign you know where is the line between free speech and but what was interesting at this meeting and I had reported on this before and I'm not going to use the individual's name and you will understand why the person who is responsible for the stickers stood up identified themselves made the and said they have no intention of stopping and I'm not mentioning the name because I don't want to give access oh how do I get stickers but made the comment of this resolution paints myself and my colleagues in Burlington as a hate group to which somebody yelled well that's because you are their comment was we speak the truth publicly and loudly we will continue to use public spaces to exercise our first amendment rights one of the things we need to be aware of is this is coming from within our community and you know like you wonder where these people are going to be when if and when Trump gets indicted I'm not going there and you can't make me okay really quickly I'm going to talk about schools and the school that we reported on the mid christian academy who withdrew from the girls basketball tournament as part of their statement they were made statements about you know you have a biological male paying in women's sports this isn't fair well the principal's association looked at their statement and said well guess what you're not only out of the tournament you're out of all intramural sports yes now what the school came back with is they intend to appeal the decision canceling our membership is not a solution and does nothing to deal with the very real issue of safety and fairness facing women's sports in our beloved state we urge the vpa to reconsider his policies and balance the rights of every athlete in the state to which I said how soon before alliance defending freedom comes here right so on our next show because we may just about have time for the trivia I answer yes um we're going to talk about the gun bills they came out of both the house and the senate they're progressing they're expecting a constitutional challenge to them though um and a bill that was introduced by two members of the rainbow caucus one in the house one in the sentence senate to decriminalize sex work and we will have a more extensive conversation so the trivia yes first published volume of openly lesbian poetry in the u.s women's history month I I thought of my I thought of you know our poet I know it was Elsa good low it was published in 1923 which I found amazing the title was on a gray thread and what was also noted is just before Elsa's death she published her autobiography Elsa I came with my songs and that was in 1986 she died in 1987 and it's a retelling of her life story and it was the first complete life lesbian autobiography published anywhere where the outer author outs themselves and does not employ a pseudonym so thank you to our former mother all right and so with that remember resist