WEBVTT - A Decade After Pulse: The Quest for Accountability 0:00:00.600 --> 0:00:02.160 In Uptown New York City. 0:00:02.880 --> 0:00:09.039 Underdogs created a sound that changed music forever. Recalled it Ziska, 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:16.880 and one label captured that sound like no other Bania Records. 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:21.160 I'm rosy Pres and this is our thing. The Birth 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:26.439 of Salsa in Nueva Yurope, an original podcast from Perthuro's studios. 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:34.200 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:41.760 Ten years ago, on June twelfth, a shooter killed forty 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:45.920 nine people and injured dozens of others at the Pulse 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:49.440 nightclub in Orlando, Florida. It was one of the worst 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:57.200 mass shootings in US history. It remains this country's deadliest 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:01.360 attack against the LGBTQ plus community, who were the majority 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:06.520 of the victims, along with mostly LATINUS and Latinas you know. 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:09.640 I've heard a lot of conversation today about is this terrorism? 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:11.000 Is it a hate crime? 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:13.800 No, I would say that it's both without a doubt. 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:18.520 Well, ultimately, the Pulse massacre was not considered a hate 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:21.880 crime by the FBI. The fear and the sense of 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:26.560 loss of safety was immediate for the LGBTQ community across 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:27.200 the country. 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:29.039 And that's according to our reporting. 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:33.560 A decade after the Pulse Nightclub shooting, the trauma and 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:38.679 the healing is ongoing. The shooter was killed by the 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:42.440 police in the incident, and while there have been legal cases, 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:48.520 including charges against the shooter's widow, federal and local police investigations, 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:53.200 and even feyer requests, there has yet to be any convictions. 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:59.160 Survivors and the victims' families are still seeking accountability. 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:02.280 You've got all of that. No memorial, Yeah, I want 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:03.720 to lack Quarentina area. 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:07.840 And a way to memorialize the forty nine people who 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:08.880 lost their lives. 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:28.600 A decade ago. 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:27.240 From Futro Media, it's Latino USA. I'm Maria Josa Today Pulse. 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:30.480 A decade later, we hear from a survivor about his 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:32.640 journey since that tragic day. 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:35.120 He tells us what justice. 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:38.120 Could look like for him and the community of survivors 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:41.440 and families of the victims, who're also going to look 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:44.920 at the repercussions of Pulse, how there are new forms 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:48.840 of violence against the LGBTQ plus community, and how this 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:53.359 violence now comes in the forms of laws and policies. 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:01.519 Back in twenty sixteen, Latino US they covered the mass 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:05.120 shooting at Pulse in the wake of one of our 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:09.480 nation's biggest tragedies. It is worth remembering that attacks on 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:12.880 queer people of color in this country are nothing new, 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:17.440 and Rinaldo Leanos Junior helped with that coverage back then 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:18.440 as an intern. 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:22.639 Jacqueline Garcia is from the Real Grand Valley of South Texas. 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:26.120 She found out hours later that her friend of six years, Frank, 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:28.679 was one of the forty nine victims. 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:33.200 Ray has continued to cover the LGBTQ plus community since then. 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:35.960 I'm going to pass the mic now to him. He 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:39.640 spoke with Joshua Ernandez Garion. He is one of the 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:41.200 survivors of Pulse. 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:44.520 It's June twenty sixteen. 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:47.800 Georgeua is twenty two years old and a shift manager 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:49.800 at McDonald's in Orlando, Florida. 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:52.640 That night, I was supposed to be get off at 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:56.920 ten pm. I was getting short on my registers, so 0:03:57.560 --> 0:03:59.360 I can't count everything. 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:03.360 The math isn't mathing, and it's throwing a wrench in 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:04.440 its plans for the night. 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:06.840 I say, my friend, they're going to fight with me. 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:10.280 Georgehua is planning to meet his friends at Pulse to 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:13.320 dance the night away after a long day of work. 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:17.880 It's Latin night. 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:25.000 He finally sorts out the accounting and clocks out at 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:30.200 around eleven thirty pm. He rushes home to get club ready. 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:35.160 So I get on to balls at twelve twenty in midnight, 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:38.200 almost one hour before they close. 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:42.680 He dashes to the bar and orders a drink. As 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:46.960 closing time nears, Georgehua heads to the bathroom. 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:48.599 And then I hear the shot. 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:53.840 At first, he thinks it's part of the music. His 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:56.440 gut tells him to take a closer look, and as 0:04:56.440 --> 0:04:58.960 he makes it to the bathroom exit, a group of 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:02.719 people rush toward h it's him. He realizes what he's 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:04.720 hearing is gunshots. 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:07.240 So I say on my mind what I. 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:10.800 Do In that split second, he decides to stay in 0:05:10.839 --> 0:05:15.159 the restroom with about a dozen other people. Then the 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:19.440 gunman enters and shoots at them with a semi automatic rifle. 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:22.440 I get a shot on my left arm. 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:26.240 He lay there bleeding for more than three hours with 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:33.719 other victims around him. In that moment, Joshua thinks I'm 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:38.040 gonna die. Finally the police make their way to him. 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:41.240 They take me in an amboleance, so I say I 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:44.040 had to mutch pain on my belt. When they check 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:47.560 my belly, they see that I have another shot. 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:52.760 He goes into emergency surgery. The gunshots impacted four of 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:53.840 his organs. 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:56.520 I still have a bullet inside of me on my. 0:05:56.560 --> 0:05:58.760 Bike, Joshua says. 0:05:58.960 --> 0:06:02.000 The doctors couldn't not remove the bullets because it could 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:06.880 risk leaving him paralyzed or dead. His physical recovery has 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:08.039 been a long journey. 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:13.520 All that time, my mom and all my family member 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:17.039 was with me, and I have a nurse in my 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:19.600 house that she come almost every day. 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:23.560 It took him about two years to recover, but even 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:27.039 today he doesn't have full strength in his arm. The 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:29.119 shooting changed him at his core. 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.160 It's hard miss a lot of trauma. 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:39.920 Sometime when I when I close my eyes, I see 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:42.440 when I was on the floor on that restaurant. 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:44.240 It feels like it happened yesterday. 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:46.760 So then. 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:49.840 He's grateful to be alive. 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:57.080 The Opportunia, yeah, he feels he needs to use his 0:06:57.240 --> 0:07:00.000 voice for the forty nine people who lost their lives 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:16.800 at night at Poles Arenti, Georgia, is part of a 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:21.680 collective named POLSE Families and Survivors for Justice. They advocate 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:26.080 for accountability. They've been raising concerns about what else contributed 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:28.720 to the high death toll that night. Beyond the shooters 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:32.840 bullets and motives. For example, could code violations at the 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:38.679 night club have been partially at fault, like the tall, 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:41.560 black nylon fence that was on the perimeter of the 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:45.880 club that night. An investigation by The Orlando Sentinel revealed 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:49.520 that the fence was not permitted and that it obstructed 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:53.360 some from escaping during the attack. However, the city told 0:07:53.360 --> 0:08:03.120 the Orlando Sentinel this violation was not considered a safety issue. 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:07.360 He believes that this contributed to the life's loss that night. 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:13.200 In twenty twenty four, eight years after the shooting, the 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:16.760 Orlando Police Department found that a month before the shooting, 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:21.640 the Orlando Fire Department documented several code violations at Pulse. 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:27.080 They included broken doors, blocking of exits, and unpermitted renovations, 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:30.400 which some argue was a big issue when law enforcement 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:34.040 arrived on the scene, what was mapped out on the 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:37.679 floor plans didn't match the actual layout of the night club. 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:46.920 During the police's investigation, the club owners were never interviewedque Yet, 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:56.119 for him, the owners also have a responsibility. For years, Georgshua, 0:08:56.400 --> 0:09:00.720 other survivors and victims families fought for an investigationation like 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:04.760 this by authorities, but many were disappointed with its outcome. 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:13.959 The co owners of the nightclub, Barbara Poma and her husband, 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:23.440 Rosario Poma, were not charged with anything. Over the years, 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:26.400 there's also been debate on how to honor the forty 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:29.560 nine people killed. There have been slow moving efforts to 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:33.440 build a memorial and a museum to this end. Almost 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:37.240 a month after the shooting in twenty sixteen, Barbara Poma, 0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:40.320 the co owner of the nightclub, created the One Polse 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:44.600 Foundation with this very goal, among other commitments, to support 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:49.280 the survivors and victims' families. But the NBC News affiliate 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:54.000 station in Orlando found that those promises were not kept. 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:59.240 Quickly and quietly, goals changed. First that promise to help 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:03.200 those most impacted by the tragedy. By twenty nineteen, it 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:05.160 was gone from the mission statement. 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:09.079 Polma told the NBC station that they were trying not 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:13.559 to duplicate efforts, and then in late twenty twenty three, 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:19.320 the foundation dissolved with no memorial and no museum. The 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:22.960 city of Orlando has now taken over the project to 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:25.280 build a memorial on the Pulse site. 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:29.160 I don't feel good with the city either, because they 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:30.959 know their owner. 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:37.439 Meanwhile, some Florida leaders continue to push anti LGBTQ actions 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:41.000 and rhetoric. Just last year, the state painted over the 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:44.160 Rainbow crosswalk near the Pole site that had been in 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:47.880 place since the one year anniversary of the shooting, and 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:52.360 Florida Governor Rond De Santis removed any mention of LGBTQ 0:10:52.800 --> 0:11:00.559 and Latinos during last year's annual honoring of the Pulse victims. 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:06.640 This past March, the city of Orlando demolished the Pulse site. 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:10.520 They're expected to open the memorial in twenty twenty seven. 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:15.440 Georgshua and some of the other survivors and victims' families 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:18.680 are still skeptical that it'll actually happen. 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:23.800 It's sad because we do not have no memorial, so 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:30.240 it's hard to call siera as when I see something 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:31.920 loya gre. 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:37.200 They remain committed to seeking accountability for the lives taken 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:40.840 that night. As we mark ten years since the tragedy, 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:46.359 Georghua wants the victims to be honored and remembered. 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:50.240 It is time to they make the memorial, because it's 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:51.920 time to us hail. 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:56.360 In the past ten years, these forty nine angels haven't 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:57.920 been able to rest in peace. 0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:04.000 Georghua says Temple Yes, according to Yah the counseling. 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:07.600 And it's time to give them that piece. 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:17.160 That was Latino USA producer Naldo Jr. Coming up on 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:21.000 Latino USA. We unpacked the reverberations of the Pulse shooting 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:25.160 for the LGBTQ plus community and talk about how to 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:30.559 protect their rights and safety. Ten years after Pulse, Stay 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:31.679 with us Notes. 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:53.200 Scenaro presents the Chief My Corner with Via Rivera, the 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:57.360 podcast work Dura, motherhood and pop culture Collide. I'm Ria Rivera, 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:00.480 your host and your honorary homegirl, bringing when You Raw, 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:03.200 Combo's healing moments and a little bit of spicy cheese 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:05.720 me every week Catch the Teeth My Corner with b Rivera, 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:09.000 an original podcast series from Sonaro. Wherever you listen to. 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:25.840 Podcasts, it's Latino USA. I'm Marian Hossan. We are looking 0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:29.760 at the impact of the Pulse shooting a decade later 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:35.560 and how anti LGBTQ plus rhetoric, how the policies and 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:40.880 violence is actually threaded from that tragedy up until today. 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:44.160 So to better understand this broader context, I spoke with 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:49.160 Carl Charles. He's an Atlanta based trans attorney with Lambda Legal, 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:51.959 an organization that helps fight for the civil rights of 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:56.240 LGBTQ plus people in the United States. We discuss what 0:13:56.440 --> 0:14:03.000 the state of rights are for this community today. When 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:06.640 I think back about the Pulse shooting, I remember so 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:14.120 clearly just feeling this horror, a massacre in basically very 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:18.760 Latino and Latina centric gay club. When I was younger, 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:22.480 in my twenties, I was hanging out at all the 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:26.040 Latino and Latina queer clubs in New York City, and 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:27.880 so it felt like, oh, my god, this could have 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:31.480 been me and my friends in the nineteen eighties and nineties. 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:36.040 And so when you heard about Pulse, what do you 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:39.440 remember immediately understanding about what had just happened in our country. 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:45.160 I remember distinctly where I was when I heard about 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:48.320 the Pulse massacre. It was early in the morning. I 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:50.640 was waiting for my train back to New York City, 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:53.160 and I had been in Philadelphia for a trans health 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:57.800 conference at which I was presenting. I was still early 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:01.760 in my legal career, and my dear friend called me 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.640 and told me what had happened, and I sobbed sitting 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:13.960 on the floor of Pennsylvania's Union Station. I can barely 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:17.200 believe it was ten years ago just telling you that story. 0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:21.640 I mean, you're getting emotional right now, Carl, I am. 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:26.280 It is a heartbreak that will never leave me, and 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:32.640 it echoes, it reverberates across time for so many of us, 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:36.480 and particularly for the Latino and Latina members of the 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:38.000 LGBTQ community. 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:39.680 What would you. 0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:43.120 Say has been one of the lasting impacts of what 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:49.240 happened at Paul's for the LGBTQ community in the United States. 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:53.040 From a personal perspective, I will share with you that 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:55.440 when I go to gay clubs, I know where the 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:59.440 exits are. I listen for particular sounds, I watch who's 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:02.720 going in, check and see if there's security, and I 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:06.440 know I am not alone in that assessment. Polls represented 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:12.360 such a foundation of the Latino Latina LGBTQ plus community 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.760 in Central Florida. There are so many clubs like that 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:19.400 and places like that across the United States that were 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:24.600 havens for the LGBTQ plus community, and now people are 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:27.520 wary of going out and being in those places in 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:30.840 the same care free manner that they once were, knowing 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:33.800 that this can be the outcome. I mean, I am 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:40.200 incredibly troubled and disappointed to highlight that in November of 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:43.680 twenty twenty two, in my hometown of Colorado Springs, where 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:47.280 I was raised, the Club Q shooting occurred. You know, 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:51.760 we had almost a very similar incident occurring in a 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:56.440 place where LGBTQ people have fought to be safe and 0:16:56.520 --> 0:17:00.760 to be together. And so this is the backdrop in 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:03.120 which LGBTQ plus people are living. 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:08.280 And what happened at Pulse ten years ago has been 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:11.600 called an act of terrorism but not a hate crime. 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:16.719 Help us to understand how this can be seen as 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:20.600 an act of terrorism but not be categorized as a 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:24.080 hate crime. It feels entirely confusing and disrespectful. 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:27.040 I am in agreement with you, and I think this 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:30.960 example in particular highlights in some ways the limits of 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:34.240 the law to remedy immense harm that is done to 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:38.800 people marginalized communities into the LGBTQ plus community. In particular, 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:45.679 Hate crime statutes often depend on sufficient evidence to demonstrate motive, 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:49.520 and it is wholly contingent upon the people who are 0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:54.960 investigating these kinds of crimes, and hate crimes often are 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:59.320 too narrowly construed. They are don't often capture the nuances 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:02.119 of these horrific incidents. 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:06.959 Is there a thread from the Pulse shooting to the 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:11.720 kind of rhetoric that we are living through today in 0:18:11.800 --> 0:18:13.400 a second Trump administration? 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:17.760 Sadly, I think there are many connections to be made 0:18:17.760 --> 0:18:21.280 about the anti LGBTQ plus rhetoric that we are seeing 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:26.119 now tracing back to the circumstances that gave rise to 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:30.800 the Pulse massacre. I think that the rhetoric at this 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:36.480 moment is really heightened, especially coming from state and local leaders. 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:40.400 You know, the governor of Florida has not been shy 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:47.120 about supporting anti LGBTQ measures, things as sort of atmospheric 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:51.560 as refusing to allow sidewalks to be painted in rainbows. 0:18:51.880 --> 0:18:55.639 Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says all crosswalk murals must be 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:59.120 removed by this week or the state will withhold transportation 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:00.760 funding to unicipalities. 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:04.560 You know, these symbolic things that tell a community you're 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:08.719 welcome here, you belong here, we celebrate you. Trying to 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:15.120 control those symbolic communications is really astounding, and I think 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:21.600 speaks to the moment that we find ourselves in. The 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:26.480 Trump administration in the first iteration didn't do what they 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:29.840 are doing as effectively now, and that is trying to 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:34.720 divide us as a community, trying to create a separation 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:39.359 between trans people and LGBQ people right where there is 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:44.399 no division. We are connected in more ways than we 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:50.040 are different. And I think that they learn from the 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:54.320 first administration and now have adjusted their game plan, as 0:19:54.359 --> 0:19:57.240 we can really see very clearly in Project twenty twenty 0:19:57.280 --> 0:20:02.840 five to zero in on attack transgender people, creating basically 0:20:02.960 --> 0:20:07.480 a boogeyman in the trans community and using that as 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:12.880 a scapegoat for every every issue at any turn. Right 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:18.560 and now here, we are really trying to hold the 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:23.240 levees against a cultural moment that seems to be regressing 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:29.440 towards very homophobic and transphobic perspectives. And this is part 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:34.280 of our history. We march forward, we secure rights, people 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:38.680 are harmed and suffer along the way, and we continue 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:42.359 to push back against the forces that would remove us 0:20:42.359 --> 0:20:47.240 from society. 0:20:49.240 --> 0:21:07.240 We'll be right back, Yes, hey, we're back. 0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:09.760 I'm going to wrap up my conversation with Carl Charles 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:13.439 now he's a lawyer with Lambda Legal. Now we are 0:21:13.440 --> 0:21:18.399 going to turn to LGBTQ rights in today's courtrooms. Carl 0:21:18.680 --> 0:21:21.760 is a lead litigator on the federal case brought by 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:25.760 Lambda Legal against the Trump administration for trying to prevent 0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:30.640 trans and non binary people from obtaining accurate US passports. 0:21:31.600 --> 0:21:34.320 Why does this matter clearly for the queer community, but 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:37.439 also for people who are not trends or who are 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:40.600 not queer. Why should their ears be perking up and 0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:44.440 saying no, no, this shouldn't be happening for all of us. 0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:48.679 We all should be concerned about what happens to the 0:21:48.680 --> 0:21:52.800 most marginalized people in our communities. I think people outside 0:21:52.840 --> 0:21:57.480 the LGBTQ plus community should be especially concerned about the 0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:02.120 way that this administration has weaponar it's rhetoric and zeroed 0:22:02.160 --> 0:22:07.000 in with precision towards the rights of LGBTQ plus people, 0:22:07.200 --> 0:22:10.040 because if they can do it to this so called 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:14.040 disfavored group, there's very little stopping them from doing it 0:22:14.080 --> 0:22:17.760 to many more people. In some respects, LGBTQ plus people 0:22:17.800 --> 0:22:20.600 are the canary and the coal mine of our democracy. 0:22:21.119 --> 0:22:24.520 Where our rights and protections go, so go those of 0:22:24.600 --> 0:22:25.639 many other people. 0:22:26.320 --> 0:22:29.439 Which brings me to the question of sports, which is 0:22:29.520 --> 0:22:33.240 everywhere in US culture the Supreme Court is hearing a 0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:34.240 case on the. 0:22:34.280 --> 0:22:37.639 DHAKA today, high stakes arguments about whether states can ban 0:22:37.800 --> 0:22:42.359 trendsgender athletes from competing in girls and women's sports teams. 0:22:42.640 --> 0:22:45.760 So what is this case and what are you expecting 0:22:45.920 --> 0:22:47.960 might happen and what do you think the repercussions will be? 0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:53.120 So LAMB de Legal and the ACLU have litigated for 0:22:53.160 --> 0:22:57.800 several years now BPJ versus West Virginia Board of Education 0:22:58.320 --> 0:23:03.040 and several other defendants. And we began representing our client 0:23:03.240 --> 0:23:06.639 BPJ back when she was eleven, who was open about 0:23:06.680 --> 0:23:09.520 being transgender, and who wanted to play school sports just 0:23:09.560 --> 0:23:12.199 like all of her friends. And that's really what's at 0:23:12.200 --> 0:23:14.200 the heart of this case. And yes, it is now 0:23:14.280 --> 0:23:16.879 up in front of the Supreme Court, and it asked 0:23:16.880 --> 0:23:21.600 the question, what really is at the heart of title mind? 0:23:21.640 --> 0:23:27.320 Does Title NIND really stand for equal access, equal participation 0:23:27.760 --> 0:23:32.280 regardless of a person's sex or is it only when 0:23:32.320 --> 0:23:36.399 a school decides a person sex or thinks it is 0:23:36.440 --> 0:23:39.119 appropriate or what have you. And we've marshaled all of 0:23:39.119 --> 0:23:44.159 that behind the humanity of a trans girl and she 0:23:44.320 --> 0:23:51.680 is withthstanding a great deal of harassment and attacks all 0:23:51.840 --> 0:23:55.399 for just being herself and for wanting to reap the 0:23:55.440 --> 0:23:59.120 same benefits of school sports as any of her peers. 0:24:00.000 --> 0:24:03.040 So I'm going to share something that recently happened to 0:24:03.080 --> 0:24:06.280 me with my family in Mexico. A cousin of mine 0:24:06.440 --> 0:24:10.520 who's older, used a term that I didn't understand, and 0:24:10.560 --> 0:24:13.719 then I was like, oh, this is an insult to 0:24:13.920 --> 0:24:17.640 the gay and queer community. And I stopped him right 0:24:17.680 --> 0:24:22.280 there and I said, Primo, you cannot use that term. 0:24:22.680 --> 0:24:25.919 And when you use terms like that in a family setting, 0:24:26.320 --> 0:24:30.359 it is disruptive and it's an insult. How can people 0:24:30.400 --> 0:24:32.600 be good allies to your community? 0:24:32.640 --> 0:24:35.360 Now, I just want to say thank you so much, 0:24:35.440 --> 0:24:39.800 Madia for taking the time to call in your family member, 0:24:39.840 --> 0:24:42.840 to call in your primo and say, hey, you're creating 0:24:42.880 --> 0:24:45.679 an environment where people don't feel welcome, where people do 0:24:45.720 --> 0:24:47.880 not feel like they want to be their full selves. 0:24:47.920 --> 0:24:50.000 No one would do that to you, so please think 0:24:50.040 --> 0:24:53.159 twice before you do that. Connecting with her friends and 0:24:53.240 --> 0:24:58.320 family about these issues, about issues impacting LGBTQ plus people 0:24:58.800 --> 0:25:01.280 in the United States and around the world, is as 0:25:01.359 --> 0:25:06.240 important in my view as any court case, because, as 0:25:06.280 --> 0:25:08.960 my friend Chase Strangio at the ACL, you said recently, 0:25:09.560 --> 0:25:11.399 Our legal arguments didn't change. 0:25:11.960 --> 0:25:18.520 What fundamentally changed with people's understanding of connection to the demands, 0:25:18.960 --> 0:25:24.120 the humanity, the tangible experience of gay people. And it 0:25:24.240 --> 0:25:27.480 was a massive shift, and it had taken decades. 0:25:29.600 --> 0:25:32.159 And that comes through things like what you did with 0:25:32.200 --> 0:25:37.479 your prima. It comes through conversations, relationships, It comes from 0:25:37.720 --> 0:25:43.119 talking about our experiences in our lives and connecting authentically 0:25:43.200 --> 0:25:46.320 with others around us. That's really the way that we 0:25:46.440 --> 0:25:52.280 continue to move forward in our fight for LGBTQ plus equality. 0:25:53.640 --> 0:25:57.879 So as a country, your words about how we should 0:25:57.920 --> 0:26:02.320 be reflecting on the ten years since the Pulse massacre. 0:26:03.040 --> 0:26:06.480 It's hard not to say that it's a somber moment. 0:26:06.600 --> 0:26:09.480 I text my friends on the anniversary every year, and 0:26:09.520 --> 0:26:15.399 we market and we mourn. I hope that the people 0:26:15.480 --> 0:26:19.600 who were lost to the Pulse massacre. I hope that 0:26:19.640 --> 0:26:21.800 if they were here, they would feel proud of what 0:26:21.920 --> 0:26:23.919 we have done in their name, which is try to 0:26:24.000 --> 0:26:27.800 change the world to make it a different and better place, 0:26:28.480 --> 0:26:34.919 a place where something like Pulse would be impossible. I 0:26:34.960 --> 0:26:36.760 know we're not there yet. I know we have much 0:26:36.760 --> 0:26:40.399 work to do. You know, I think that the next 0:26:40.440 --> 0:26:46.240 ten years for me are charting a course where we 0:26:46.359 --> 0:26:50.920 continue to move forward in the fight for LGBTQ plus equality, 0:26:51.560 --> 0:26:55.600 remembering always and taking with us those we have lost 0:26:56.119 --> 0:26:56.760 far too soon. 0:27:00.160 --> 0:27:02.440 Charles, thank you so much for joining me on Latino USA. 0:27:02.720 --> 0:27:03.840 Thank you so much, Mariet. 0:27:06.240 --> 0:27:12.000 That was carl Charles, an attorney with Lambda Legal, and 0:27:12.080 --> 0:27:14.200 our hearts go out to all of those who lost 0:27:14.320 --> 0:27:34.280 loved ones at Pulse and also to the survivors. Our 0:27:34.320 --> 0:27:37.800 episode was produced by Renaos Junior. It was edited by 0:27:37.880 --> 0:27:41.040 Nicole Rothwell and Benny le Ramidez. It was mixed by 0:27:41.359 --> 0:27:45.440 Julia Caruso. Fact checking for this episode by Rosanna Aguire. 0:27:45.920 --> 0:27:49.919 Fernande Echavari is our managing editor. Nancy Trujillo is our 0:27:49.920 --> 0:27:55.000 production manager. The Latino USA team also includes Stephanie Lebau, 0:27:55.119 --> 0:27:59.400 Luis Luna Glori mar Marquez, Lueta, Martin, Monica Moreles Garcia, 0:27:59.480 --> 0:28:03.719 JJ and Adriana Rodriguez. Finny leiter Amidis and I are 0:28:03.760 --> 0:28:08.280 executive producers. I'm Your Host Maria no Josa. Latino USA 0:28:08.400 --> 0:28:12.560 is part of Iheart's Mike Udura podcast network. Executive producers 0:28:12.600 --> 0:28:16.280 at iHeart are Leo Gomez and Arlene Santana. Join us 0:28:16.280 --> 0:28:18.760 again on our next episode. In the meantime, you can 0:28:18.800 --> 0:28:21.080 find us on all of your social media. I'll see 0:28:21.080 --> 0:28:25.000 you there. And dear listener, don't forget to join futuo Plus. 0:28:25.040 --> 0:28:28.040 You get to listen to everything ad free. 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