 I'm Keith Ghostland. I'm Susan Moyn. She's back. I'm Linda Quinlan. And welcome to all things LGBTQ. This is July 26, Tuesday. And we want to acknowledge that we are taping at Orca Mita, which we know is unceded indigenous land. Keith. As many times as you've had to say that, you'd think you'd know it by now. You would, wouldn't you? Yeah, what the? OK. So just to get off on the right foot, get off your ass and go out and vote. Thank you. Tuesday, August 9 is the primary. And we have openly LGBTQ plus candidates who need your support, most notably Becca Ballant, who is running for US House of Representatives. And from all predictions, it's going to be a long night and a close race. So please. Also, we're looking at the race for the US Senate, where we have Isaac Evans-Frons. I had to think a minute about the full name who is running against incumbent Peter Welch. We also have in Wyndham County, Witchie R2, who is somebody that we have interviewed for the show, who is a phenomenal candidate and would bring so much to our legislature about our BIPOC community, New Americans, and what we really need to support our agricultural industry and how to build that infrastructure. So now that I've gotten that out of the way, this week's trivia. And they're giggling because they're like, don't have a clue. We humiliated them. Front page of Out in the Mountains 2000. It was an article about an openly LGBTQ plus candidate that was running against Bernie Sanders for the US House of Representatives. Who might that have been? So looking at just a few events, the first thing we really want to highlight is there's an exhibit of LGBTQ plus artist, artist in a very broad sense, at the Chaffee Art Center in Rutland. It opens on Friday, which will be the day before you see this, but it's running for several weeks. And we may have a local renowned Wicked Woman poet who has some of their poetry matted framed and hanging on the wall. So go have a read. We're also looking at Thursday, August 4th, Lesbian Social Hour, 5 to 7 o'clock at the Whirly Gig Brewery in St. John's Berry. And it looks as though this may become an ongoing event, which would be very interesting. On Sunday, August 7th is the Sunday potluck brunch without in the 802. And this time it's going to be in Hyde Park. If you're interested, you need to go onto there, either their website or their Facebook page. And you have to become a member in order to participate. So. And then. And it's a symphony. That's the Philharmonic. Yes, the Philharmonic symphony. Symphony. Have you been drinking? I had held that for our next show, because it isn't until mid-August, August 14th, the Vermont Philharmonic. And they're doing their meadow concert at Moose Meadow Lodge, where we have interviewed them. And they're an openly LGBTQ plus business. Thursday, August 11th, happy hour from 5 to 7, again in St. John's Berry at the Central Cafe. So there's a lot going on right now up in the Northeast Kingdom. That's nice. And I'm not going to go into detail on all of them, but please be checking out people's website and Facebook pages, such as the new group in Rutland, who is Creative Justice, who is looking at creating forums and events for people, Rainbow Umbrella. What is it that's coming up there? Social Tinkering. I'm sorry, that's the Rutland group. Queer Connect, Out in the Open, Pride Center of Vermont, Outright Vermont. Well, Momentum is part of the Pride Center, is one of their programs. But they have their own website. And they have their own Facebook page. So you can also find events that are going on through that. OK, thank you. So with that, I'm going to turn it over to Sue, who is probably going to depress the hell out of me. I don't have one good story. Well, one. I've got a couple good stories. But I'm going to do some teasers. And you know all about that, Keith. So we're going to start. I think you do. South Africa Islamic Leadership Issues Edict Condemning Homosexuality. The Muslim Judicial Council has called for excommunication or tech fair. But the punishment being death for any Muslim found to be a member of the LGBT community. That was the good one. No, I'm just kidding. Well, more about that later. The HRC Foundation recognizes 53 Argentinian companies dedicated to LGBTQ plus workforce inclusion. So we'll talk about that. Hold on. I was going to say, hold on to that thought. A bathroom dispute threatens the top organization of American states meeting in Peru. They want gendered bathrooms. Here's something a little more upbeat. How LGBTQ plus shelters are helping queer Ukrainians survive the war, creating safe spaces. And then three people, not one, not two, but three athletes coming out as queer. We have a Russian tennis player. We have an English soccer player and an Alberta hockey player up in Canada. And then I'll also tell you a little bit about Andorra, who passed marriage equality. So see, we're adding to our list of places we can travel to now, Linda. And then we'll talk about 150,000 people turned out in Berlin for LGBTQ rights. All right. Over to you. We'll come back to that. All right. Are we moving? Yes. OK. Well, I have a longer story, but I'm just going to say it's one picture tells the story. We'll have more about that. And web commentators are mocking anti-LGBTQ bigot Ethan Schmidt after he recruited himself being thrown out of a PetSmart store after repeatedly demanding that its employees remove a satanic rainbow flag display. I saw that. It shows Schmidt harassing employees and refusing to leave the store as a supervisor refuses to take down the flag and threatens to call the police if he doesn't leave. The video begins with Schmidt asking the employee, I'm just curious. What is that flag right there? While pointing to the rainbow flag hanging above the employees checkout register, the employee responds, I think it's a pride flag. Schmidt then asks, can you take it down right now, please? The employee says, for what purpose? Schmidt answers, it offended me greatly. Without wasting any time, the employee summons a manager to come to the front of the store to address Schmidt. Schmidt repeats that the store is promoting satanic pride flag. The supervisor says, OK, got to go, buddy, while pointing to the exit. Come on, the manager says, we don't need this here. And you don't need to film me either. It's cool. I mean, if you want to stand outside, it's cool. But we don't need it. And yeah, we're going to have the pride flag up. We have it all over our store. So Schmidt says, this is funny. Tries to repeat his line about sexualization of kids. The supervisor says that he's not going to get into it and adds that he can call the police. Schmidt says, shame on you. Shame on Petco. And the manager replies, this is PetSmart. And also, how is a pet store sexualizing children? Oh, god. Maybe animals? No, no, no, we are. Yes, but he's in a pet store. By the conversation and the display of the pride flag. This is PetSmart. Because it connects to sexual orientation and identity. You are sexualizing the conversation and the environment. I don't get that. So I thought that was funny. Yeah, you should get the store right if you're going to. I know if you're going to protest. A bakery in a Chicago-era summer was forced to cancel its planned, family-friendly drag event after facing harassment and vandalism. For the safety of our staff and community, we have canceled tomorrow's event. And we close Saturday, 7 23, 22, a message on Uprising Bakery and Cafe Facebook page. Right now, we are asking everyone, do not come to our location at all today. We didn't want to shy away. We don't want to shy away from bullying. But we absolutely cannot go ahead with tomorrow's plans and good conscience. It breaks our hearts. We will update when we can. And I have a picture of this vandalized store that Zach will put up. And then owner, Corina Sack, says her business has faced numerous threats online and in person announcing the event. So that's more about that last story. David Bernard, the chief meteorologist for the WVUETV news station in New Orleans, received a July 16th email from a man calling himself Stephen LaFrance. It read in print, nice job predicting weather faggot. The homophobic slur was misspelled. Instead of merely deleting the email or ignoring it, Bernard posted it on his Facebook wall. And I received a disturbing email yesterday from a person who was upset about the forecast. After 30 years, I can stand and accept the criticism when I get it wrong. What I won't accept are personal attacks about me. So good for him. The weatherman. He's okay with getting the rain or sun raw, but now you're talking about. You're not personal. Don't make it personal. If you want to say I'm an idiot for missing the rain, well, okay. And then an heiress to the public grocery chain has gone again and been revealed as a funder of right-wing extremism. Julie Jenkins Finchelli, daughter of public's founder, George Jenkins, gave $50,000 to Moms for Liberty, a group that pushes to make public schooling worse for LGBT children or Lando Weekly reports. Like public, it's based in Florida. The donation made in June was the first major one to Moms for Liberty. And the money has gone to school board candidates according to campaign finance records by the paper. Alrighty. And there is still hope that Democrats can convince 10 Republican senators to join them in codifying marriage equality. We'll see how that goes. And interracial marriages in the same bill. Yeah. A standup comedian show by David Chappelle in Minneapolis was canceled on Wednesday, seeming after complaints over the comedian's homophobic material, transphobic material. The show was originally scheduled to be at First Avenue where Princess Philip Purple Rain was set in 1984. However, only hours before Chappelle would have made his appearance on stage, the venue made an announcement of the show's cancellation on Instagram. So. And students at the University of Texas at Dallas are a rage over homophobic tweets a professor posted. He said, can we at least try to find a cure for homosexuality, especially among men? Timothy Farage, a computer science professor tweeted, homosexuality, homosexual men have anal sex, which can lead to a variety of diseases. So that's me. I thought you said homophobic treats. So I was wondering what a- Tweets. Tweets. Yeah, okay. Remember that sexualizing from before? It's like, here a little guy. It's a sweets. Oh my goodness. A school board candidate in Florida has said, doctors who prescribe gender affirming treatment to transuse should be lynched. So we'll have more about that. When May Bell Blair joined the Women's Baseball League, we'll have a little bit about that. Oh, I saw that. The first out gay mayor of a small town in Oklahoma has resigned on Monday citing threats to his safety following an incident with police from a neighboring town. Adam Graham was named mayor of the village, the same mayor of Oklahoma City on May 2nd, but resigned his position in a public letter to the sounds city manager. The Miami-Dade school board voted to reverse its approval of comprehensive health-skilled textbooks. We'll have more about that if we have time. And mothers in Texas have organized to defeat anti-LGBTQ anti-choice pro-gun Greg Abbott. Their group, Mothers Against Greg Abbott, grew out of a protest by one mom, Nancy Thompson, last year when the Texas Education Agency put out guidance saying schools didn't have to inform parents when someone in the school test positive for COVID-19. She held a protest sign in front of Texas Capitol in Austin and a picture of her action was shared widely on social media, giving rise to the group. When I have a video, it is really, it's really good and I think you'll enjoy it. They say nothing changes in Texas politics until it does. Till it does, till the Texas power grid failed and our families froze without water and electricity. Until white Texas politicians removed our history from the classroom. Till they made it legal to buy a gun without a permit and openly carry it. Till Texas politicians put a $10,000 bounty on anyone who helped a woman get an abortion. Till we were called child abusers for loving and supporting our transgender children. Till Texas school boards banned books by black and LGBTQ authors. Till our loved ones died when Texas politicians fought masks and vaccine mandates during the worst pandemic in over 100 years. We want real change for Texas now. Now. Now. Our history repeats itself. And we're ready to fight. We live in suburbs. In big cities. And on farms and ranches. We are mothers. We are mothers. We are their mothers against Greg Abbott. Let's make Texas a safe place where all families can thrive again. We are mothers. And two white supremacists who were arrested in Idaho last month are now charged with a crime in neighboring Washington relating to vandalism. Prosecutors say that hate crime charges would be on their way. And so there's more about that. And that's all for now. I'm gonna show another movie clip so that I can end my segment in an up-romantic video. Heath. Hi. I saved a little joke that I found on front porch forum for the end of mine because I needed to not. Because my first story is about Isle of Vermont where over the weekend a trans rights and a progress flag were both burned in a local tree. And one of the things that was really disturbing about this story is as it was reported, this is not the first such instance that has occurred over the last month. Progress flags and transgender flags have been stolen or vandalized from this area, from this residence. And the neighbors have brought new ones back and displayed them. And the most recent ones, they hung in the tree thinking, okay, they will not be as accessible. So they were just lit on fire. And it burned both the flags and the tree. The community is concerned because not only is this perpetuating, it's escalating. And they're really wondering, okay, what comes next? It has been reported, it is in the database, is the bias hate crime. That comes in many camps. Well, they're actively pursuing this, but please. You know, as we had reported before with the acts here in Montpelier where pride flags were either being stolen or vandalized, please report them because for you, it may be an isolated incident, but it may be part of a larger pattern. And unless you report, we're not gonna know. But looking at, you know, just to our South and Jamaica Plains, just outside of Boston, there was a drag queen story hour at the Lauren Greenoff House. And oh, me, oh, my, NSC 131, which is the Nationalist Social Club 131, they showed up to create a demonstration. Their leader was there as well as 20 members fully masked so you can't see who they were. Counter demonstrators showed up, kind of outnumbered them, but they continue to create a disturbance. So the police stepped in and arrested them on a disturbing the police, disturbing the peace charge. And one of the people who had witnessed it said that when it started escalating, they left. When they came back, the counter demonstrators had grown. People had heard what was going on and they showed up to support the drag queen story hour. So- They should have ripped their ass right off their faces. I don't want to get that close and I don't want to touch them because later on I'm gonna be talking about monkeypox. So I- But- We'll look forward to that. I can tell. But sort of the balance for, this is what was happening in Jamaica Plains, out leadership, which is looking at business and their support of the LGBTQ plus communities and inclusions and positive policies and protocols. They've named Massachusetts as the third friendly estate in the US for LGBTQ plus. They could be, but they're not very friendly. Well, they're mass holes, but there we are. They got a score of 91.67 out of a possible 100. Top of the list was again, New York at 93.67. Connecticut came in third at 92.87. Vermont, we got 89.5. It ain't bad. No. Maine got 88.67 in New Hampshire. Got 12. 78.33. They've done some stuff, but, and, in Texas, and I know this is, you know, sort of the national, but as we've talked about the decisions of the Supreme Court and Clarence Thomas saying, you know, there are other things I want to go back for. You know, there are what we consider precedent that he's willing to overturn. There is a law office of one attorney whose mission it is, is to create lawsuits that will then be challenged and argued up to the U.S. Supreme Court level with a specific intention of overturning LGBTQ plus precedents. And what the suits that he's filing, you know, there were two specifically going after marriage equality. And the perspective is officials who don't want to, like justices of the peace, who don't want to perform same-sex marriages because it violates their personal religious beliefs. You're a public official, but it's your religious beliefs. The other thing that they're going after, and I have real concerns about this, is insurance coverage for preventative medical care. Think about the contraceptives and we know that's going, this is going after Pratt, exactly. And the basis of the lawsuit is you're encouraging and facilitating homosexual behavior and sexual promiscuity and IV drug use. And then they're going after the non-discrimination statutes, that the decision that sexual orientation and gender identity are included under the definition of sex. Religious employers should be able to higher fire based on sexual orientation and gender identity. If my religious belief, I find your behavior offensive, it doesn't matter if you do in New York. Hobby Lobby already does it. They're trying to. Hobby Lobby, what is it? Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby. They already do it. They don't give contraceptions to people. Well, we, and we need to do the follow up about the Hobby Lobby that was supposed to be coming here in central Vermont. And I haven't seen it, so I'm not sure. But the other thing that they're going after is, going after libraries and what is in the children and young adult sections and can they come up with a protocol that if a segment of the community objects, they can ban books. And the other is, and this is coming out of San Antonio and it's municipalities. Remember the suit with Philadelphia and the adoption agency and placing. They want to, you know, adverse actions against businesses for their contributions and membership in religious organizations. Apparently this San Antonio airport refused an application from Chick-fil-A. Yeah. And they want it to say you can't do that. So in conclusion, and it's getting lots of publicity, Monkeypox, which seems to have rapidly come out of nowhere. There will be an interview on our next interview show with one of the health educators from the Pride Center of Vermont specifically talking about Monkeypox. At this point in time, there are over 3,500 cases here in the U.S. But as Anthony Fauci has said, that's radically underreported because at this point in time, without Monkeypox being declared a U.S. health emergency, the same as the World Health Organization has done, there is no mandatory reporting or sharing of data between states and the CDC. Also, one of the things that was pointed out recently is that not every health care provider may have been trained as to what to look for, how to test and diagnose, and then what is the appropriate treatment. Looking at Monkeypox, it is characterized by painful lesions, blisters, and rash. And it sounds very similar to shingles. Really? However, and in its spread by close-body contact or by sharing like towels or bedding... Or drinks. Or... Well, there's an indication that may be kissing and oral contact. Sexual transmission as well. But from the time at which you are exposed and infected and when symptoms first appear can be 21 to 30 days. So you can infect a lot of people without even knowing you're infected? Bingo. However, P-town, Provincetown, they could see this coming and they knew what to prepare for. So for the past month, they've been doing weekly vaccination clinics because we do have a vaccine that's very similar to the small packs of vaccines. I heard though that it's kind of hard to get, is that lightening up now? Well, we're going to get to that because what they did is they gave 300 doses. They had 300 clinic appointments that first week and they had things like bear run coming up in major events. They knew what was happening. So they as a tourist community reached out to their health authority. They worked in concert with the bars and the drag queens and all of the social groups saying, how do we get the word out to people in advance? This is what you need to know about. This is what we can do to help protect you. This is what you can do to protect yourself. There is currently 300,000 doses of the vaccine available. They estimate there's 1.5 million eligible candidates. See a little problem with that math? Yeah, really? Also, there is an antiviral that you can get once the lesions show up and I am told they're incredibly painful. They burn, you're going to know. But the protocol you have to go through in order to get the antiviral. They have to test the lesion. It has to be biopsied. You have to do elaborate paperwork. It is not a user-friendly process and there's only limited- They can look at you and tell that you had it. No, I mean because they, in order to do a conclusive diagnosis they have to do a biopsy of the fluid in the lesion. Well, from what I've seen, those lesions, you know, it'd be kind of like, well, this is what you got. Zach will have been putting those lesions up, so. Can you get it from like, if someone touches the table and you touch the table? That sounds like the fifties. Well, no, but. That's how you get pregnant. That's how you get the flu. I thought it was the community swimming pool, but no, my sense is surface contact such as that, you know, they haven't done the studies about how long this lives after exposure to air. What they were talking about is close, prolonged contact. The one positive thing about how the World Health Organization is approaching this versus us is they're focusing more on when you're at risk and the practice rather than the person who is getting it. So it's prolonged physical contact. Men who have sex with men, we're not putting it in any stigmatized group. It's, if you're having this type of contact, you are potentially at risk. And because I couldn't just walk away and it's like, I've just depressed the hell out of people and no one's gonna leave their house again for a month. This was on Face Front Porch Forum today. Legalized prostitution. Legalized prostitution will never work in Montpelier. As soon as someone tries to stand on a corner to apply their trade, someone in a Subaru will just come to a stop and wave them across the street. So it's to you, Sue. Thank you. Okay, off to Cape Town, South Africa where a group of queer Muslims have rejected the South African Muslim Judicial Courts New Edict that condemns homosexuality as sinful and un-Islamic. They say they resist the fatwa unequivocally. There's all kinds of stuff in their constitution that forbids discrimination on the basis of sex, gender, or sexual orientation. And there's also some provisions in there that provides for the recognition of religious legal systems and marriages that are not inconsistent with that constitution. On a lighter note, the HRC Foundation recognized 53 Argentinian companies dedicated to LGBTQ plus workplace inclusion. And I thought this was interesting. The three pillars that they used were that the companies had adopted non-discrimination policies, that sounds like a good start. They had created employee resource groups for diversity and inclusion councils, and they were engaged in public activities to support LGBTQ inclusion. Were there any American companies? Well, this was specific to Ecuador, Ecuador, Argentina was a specific group for Argentinians to apply. I think it's like a best places to work kind of a thing for Argentina, but HRC was involved in that, the Human Rights Commission. Over in Peru, a dispute over a gender neutral bathroom has endangered Peru's plans to host the next gathering of the Organization of American States top decision-making body. Peru's Congress dominated by social conservatives voted Thursday night to deny authorization for the scheduled General Assembly of foreign ministers from across the hemisphere. Its theme is supposed to be, wait for it, together against inequality and discrimination. Until you talk about bathrooms, the controversy struck a gay lawmaker, Suzelle Paraitis, as a complete absurdity. A gender neutral bathroom is just another bathroom that has a toilet, she said. Nothing more, oopsie. Okay, now here are our sports figures. So Russian tennis player, Daria Katsakina, comes out as gay. Russia's highest ranked women's tennis player came out and she was a semifinalist in the French Open. Her comments came as the Russian parliament discussed tightening already stringent restrictions on public discussions of LGBTQ relationships. I was planning on defecting and not going back. In an interview on YouTube with a blogger, she said, yes, when asked if she had a girlfriend. That's very risky. And here's her quote, everybody, we should all live by this. Living in peace with yourself is the only thing that matters, fuck everyone else. Yeah. That's what she said. And she was never heard of again. Absolutely. She said, she believes it's important that influential people from sports or any other sphere really speak about it. It's important for young people who have had a hard time with society and need support. She added that she believes living in the closet would not be sustainable in the long term. There's no point. It would always be going around in your head until you say something. True. When we've reported. She better not go back. Well, I'm getting to that. Okay. But go ahead, Keith. Oh, no, no, I was gonna say, her comment about role model is when we've reported on athletes coming out. Right. You know, youth have said having role models such as them made tremendous. Oh, yeah. So since 2013, Russian law has forbidden any discussion of LGBTQ relationships, which is deemed to constitute promotion of non-traditional sexual relations to minors. This has also restricted, of course, LGBTQ advocacy or protest in public. So the other thing that's interesting is she's ranked 12th in the world. Yeah. And she's called, she also called for an end to the fighting in Ukraine. So she's really going out there on a limb now. For the war to end, she said when asked what she wants most in life, she describes the conflict as a complete nightmare. And basically having a criticism of the war can be punished with fines or prison time. She's shown in the video crying when asked if she fears she may not be able to return to Russia after her comments. So you're, yes, that's a real thing. Good for her. So on that same note, an English soccer player, Jake Daniels, also came out as gay. He said, he's been hiding the real, I've been hiding the real me and who I really am. 17 years old, a black pool forward, came out as gay on a trailblazing moment for European's men's soccer. It goes on to say there's a lot of LGBTQ2T players on the women's side, but the men's professional game lacks players who are publicly gay. He also said that he was inspired by an Australian player coming out and same theme that when somebody else comes out, it gives you the courage to come out yourself. And then Alberta hockey player, Luke Prokup, also came out as gay, another sport that's very hetero focused, right? The male, the testosterone, exactly. Yes, exactly. Let's see what else. Andora passes marriage equality. So in relation to marriages, all civil unions will be called marriage, whether between persons of the same sex or not, and the conventional union by the church is maintained. So it sounds like it's sort of a separate but equal that you can have a civil union and a church wedding, but you're not legally until you have the church wedding. It sounds like they're on the path that we were on 20 years ago is the way I interpret this. Like the civil union isn't the same as their civil marriage for it all with a different word for the church marriages. They're really carving out the difference. So a civil union would be a civil marriage. The church will come up with its own language to define a religious marriage within the context of the community of faith. Yep. Have a good time. Good luck with that. Yeah. Tell me how it was. 150,000 people marched in Berlin. That's exciting, draped in rainbow flags. They were at the annual Christopher Street Day celebration. There's also one in New York, right? Christopher Street? Yes. They marched in their annual Pride celebration. Police gave the crowd estimates Saturday afternoon, but they said the number was still growing. That Berlin must be seen as a safe haven for LGBTQ individuals. That are facing persecution sometimes in their home countries. And they talked about the fact that last year, 65,000 people attended, but that was amid social distancing and also a ban on alcohol. That'll cut your numbers down. In Germany? Last year, there was no alcohol and they were masked. In Germany? In Germany, that's what it says. In 2020, it was canceled altogether. That was because of COVID though, right? Yeah. And then the Ukraine, I thought this was a sweet story about that they're really trying to have safe spaces for LGBTQ folks, as we might imagine. There's a lot of homophobia in everyday settings in the Ukraine, so people need to have a supportive place that's safe. And it's not just about providing food and drink, but also security. The first shelter was opened in Kiev. Is it Kiev? All right. At the height of the COVID pandemic, but when Russia invaded the person running this realized these shelters could also be a vital tool in helping LGBTQ plus people weather the war since then they've opened additional shelters. It is possible to go to a shelter with your mother, your sister or another relative, because when you're moving from one place to another, you may not be, but you may not be with your relatives. So it's important to support not only our LGBTQ plus people, but also people who are close to them. That's nice. I like that story. And them in the military too. And what they said is these shelters could actually be a stepping stone to a better future for Ukraine. Most Ukrainians are already thinking about a day when the war will end, and they're hopeful that the shelters will continue to have a use beyond Russia's assault. So that's kind of cool. Good. Yeah. That was a positive note. Yeah, that was. You're gonna bum us out now? There you go. Huh? Yeah, and now where do you have this? It's terrible. We have books, books, books. One picture book tells the story of a boy who gets teased at school for wanting to wear jewelry and air polish but finds acceptance from his family. Another one is about a crayon labeled as red. That is really blue. Over the past three years, Orange County native Keiko Feldman has helped donate and hand deliver more than 15,000 LGBTQ affirming children's books to more than 1,000 public libraries, mostly in California. The idea is to show children from a young age that it's okay to be LGBTQ. A documentary producer who is mom to one transgender child and one gay child and who co-founded the nonprofit Open Books. But when Feldman dropped off books last year in Solana Beach, a North County district of 2,800 students in kindergarten through sixth grade at a teacher's request, that was when the books received a less than enthusiastic response. Some parents and community members learned of the donation via social media and complained to the district, arguing that the books were inappropriate for elementary school libraries and went to fringe on their rights to teach their own values to their children. Lawmakers around the country have proposed bookbans. Librarians have been attacked online and accused of indoctrinating kids. Attempts to get books removed from libraries are at their highest in decades. The suit coming out of Texas, how do we restrict what's in the children and young adult sections? I love, I saw a meme or something that said gay kids read thousands of books about straight kids and they never turn straight, so it was the problem. Supposedly there's hope that Democrats can convince 10 Republicans, senators to join them in codifying marriage equality. Even though two Republicans once considered amendable to voting for it and have come out against it. Four Republicans have so far said they will support the measure. Susan Collins of Maine and Ohio Rob Portman. Senator Tom Tillis from North Carolina who said he's a probable vote and Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Graham said he'd defend the Defense of Marriage Act which defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman. I'm going to support the Defense of Marriage Act, he said. Graham's remark on marriage spot concern among many according to the article. During his tenure in Congress Graham has long been one of the most anti-LGBTQ plus members and has refuted rumors of being gay. Washington insiders and LGBTQ fans of politics use the nickname Lady G for Graham. So when Gay Adolphin stopped Sean Harding accused Graham of being known as Lady G among male sex workers in 2020 the name trended on Twitter. And so now he is known as Lady G. Sounds like J.I. Good, J.I. Good, right? Or Lady G. And Roy Conn. A school board candidate in Florida has said doctors who prescribe gender-affirming treatment to trans youth should be lynched. These doctors that are going along with mutilating these children and prescribing hormone blockers to these kids in my opinion they should be hanging from the nearest tree. Santa Rosa County School Board candidate Elizabeth Jean-E. Lancaster said Monday at a forum in Navarre the Pensacola News Journal reports she went on to make the false claim that every gender transition generates 1.3 million for the pharmaceutical companies. And then there's a story about I think she's like a hundred now or something and they had an interview with her and her name is Mabel Blair. And she was part of a league of their own. And so she inspired the film and TV series. She wondered if she'd be the only gay person woman there when she joined. It didn't take long for her to learn. She truly found a league of her own. Out of 650, I bet you 400 were gay in an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Blair said at a recent screening for the Amazon Sudio series at the Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ Plus Film Festival, Blair who was a pitcher for the league, Peoria Redwings in 1948 and later played pro softball came out publicly when the series premiered on the Tribeca Film Festival days before the Frameline screening. So good for Mirabelle Blair and she's still alive. Yeah. So she was playing the year I was born. So, and then there's the Miami School Board and it voted to reverse its approval of comprehensive health skills textbook which was used for middle and high school health classes. The reversal was because the textbook includes sections on sexuality and gender identity. The board had voted to approve the textbooks in April. The five to three vote came after a small group of right wing activists alleged the educational materials violated new parental right laws laws that required any discussion of sexual orientation for students in all levels of school to be age appropriate. We are not against sexual education or human reproduction or education books. Alex Serrano of the conservative group County Citizens Defending Freedom told the Miami Herald that we just don't want our youth to see this sex ed curricula. And it gives students the tools to protect themselves. Is the argument for the other side and when they decide to be sexually active. So they're now being banned. Whenever I hear a group that includes defending freedom as part of its name, I always wonder who's freedom or at whose expense. So then for my last segment here, I would like to show a clip. And it's, I'm doing a interview with Isidore Del Rosal about the new movie that she has just put out and it's playing at the Savoy. So you can see it if you want, or you can also download it. And so here's the clip of Walk With Me. Look, you know, I don't really know you. And I don't know what happened, but I think it's brave. Walk with me. Brave. I was someone else, I'd have to give up all the things I know. And the people that you love. I love you. The last thing in the world I wanna do is hurt you. Logan, stop. It's not love. I'm sorry. I don't understand. Do it again. Thank you. It looks really good. Okay. Get your popcorn in your favorite seat. Yep. So trivia, out in the mountains, 2000, front page. Openly LGBTQ plus candidate running for US House of Representatives, it may have been a Republican. And they may have spoken at Pride Day that year encouraging people to vote for those Republicans who had voted for civil union during the most recent session. And they might have gotten approximately 20% of the vote running against Bernie. And it may have been Karen Karen from South Royals and. And Karen Karen, I knew that right away. We didn't need 12 clues that we didn't get at all. But Karen Karen ran for several other. Was a candidate in the Republican primary for governor, attorney general, numerous other. They did not. She never got elected? No. But they also didn't disappear from the political scene. And it was our first openly transgender candidate to run in a Vermont election 2000. Okay. And with that. Does anybody have anything else to say? I just wanna say get well soon and thanks for letting me sit in for you. It was super fun. And I hope you guys will help me back for an interview or a book review or a happy occasion, not just cause Ann is down and out. Yeah. All right. So on that note, resist.