WEBVTT - Guarding Your Joy 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:14.640 Good morning, Peeves, and welcome to ok F Daily with 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:21.119 Meet your Girl Danielle Moody recording from the Home Bunker. Folks, 0:00:21.800 --> 0:00:25.119 you know, as I record this today, I'm certain that 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:32.600 you have seen the news of what is happening in Louisiana, 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:38.959 and it is the State of Louisiana. Governor Landry has 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:43.480 decided that he wants to be Dysantis light, I guess 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:48.280 or Dysantis tough for this most Southern Dassantis. I don't 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:48.760 fucking know. 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:50.600 But he's passed. 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:54.680 He signed a bill that would require that every classroom 0:00:55.160 --> 0:01:01.880 in Louisiana's public schools show the Ten Commandment. This is 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:05.080 not about educating kids. These people don't give a fuck 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:08.880 about children. It is all about their way to own 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:15.040 the Libs. And since the bill was signed, ACLU has 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:18.399 said that they are going to sue, and of course 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:21.120 Landry welcomes being sued because it's going to have his 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:23.199 name in the headlines, because that's what this is about 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:27.440 for Republicans. And the fact is is that in ACLU's 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:33.200 post on social media about them preparing to sue the 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:38.039 State of Louisiana, they said public schools are not religious schools. 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:48.240 You don't get to put press your religion on other people. 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:52.440 If you want your kids the only thing that you 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:54.280 want them to be able to read is the Bible, 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:57.800 and you want them to follow the ten Commandments, and 0:01:57.840 --> 0:01:59.600 that is the most important thing to you, then enroll 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:04.560 them in a religious fucking school. That is your choice. 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:08.160 But if I'm sending a child to public school, I 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:12.160 want them to get an education that prepares them to 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:15.320 be global citizens, that prepares them to be critical thinkers 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:18.440 in the workplace, that prepares them to be good people, 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:24.160 that prepares them to ask questions right, not one where 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:30.720 one kind of religion is pressed upon them. America is 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:34.080 not a Christian nation. It is a nation that is 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:38.160 filled with a lot of fucking people from all over 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:44.200 the world. That used to be a point of pride, 0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:48.600 it is now a point of contention. People used to 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:52.640 flock to this country because of the opportunities that it 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:57.240 afforded and the freedoms that it afforded people. And now 0:02:57.280 --> 0:02:59.919 I see more people in my comments section looking for 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:04.640 other places to live, People being forced to move out 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:09.400 of their home states in order to give birth, in 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:13.280 order to educate their kids, in order for their kids 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:17.880 to feel safe from bullying and harassing, not just from 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:20.640 their own peers, but from the administration and from the 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:27.560 fucking governors of these red states. It's appalling, it's ridiculous. 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:30.120 It's shit that was litigated back in the sixties and 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:34.680 the seventies where we stopped allowing prayer in school because 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:38.120 guess what if I'm an atheist or agnostic, or I'm 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:43.720 Muslim or any myriad of religions, are you allowing me 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:45.640 to pray the way that I want to pray in school? 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:47.600 Are you dictating to me how I'm going to pray? 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:51.200 If the Ten Commandments mean something to you, it doesn't 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:54.880 mean something to me. Again, you can do whatever it 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:57.520 is that you want with your child, put them in 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:01.280 schools or homeschool them in places that live up to 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:06.200 your moral compass, but that is not the place for 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:10.880 public education. It is about recognizing the needs of the public, 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:17.680 not one community, class group, or race. Coming up next 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:23.640 on today's WOKF, I am in conversation with Melanie Willingham Jaggers, 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:28.479 who is the CEO of Glisten, the only organization in 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:34.800 the country that focuses on creating safe, stable, uplifting environments 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:38.480 for LGBTQ youth in schools, and so Melanie and I 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:42.760 get into a very rich conversation about the myriad of 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:47.440 anti LGBTQ and anti trans bills that have come out 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:54.560 and what the movement is up to next, folks, I 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:58.760 am very happy to welcome back to WOKF Daily the 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:04.600 executive director of Glisten, Melanie Willingham Jaggers, to join us 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:08.280 as we do our Pride coverage for the month and 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:11.120 we get the low down on all things LGBTQ. 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:12.240 Plus. 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:16.200 You know, Melanie that I talk about education a lot 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:20.719 on my show because I'm a former teacher, former lobbyist 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:25.200 for education policy work, and I believe that education matters. 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:27.960 I also think it's the reason why the opposition is 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:33.960 banning books and firing teachers and shutting down libraries, because 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:39.760 they too know how fundamental education is to a functional democracy. 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:45.440 You at Glisten focus on creating educational environments that are safe, 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:50.839 that are uplifting for our LGBTQ youth, and just recently, 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:55.919 the Biden administration has put forth more guidance around doing 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:58.840 what they can to support LGBTQ youth than there are 0:05:58.880 --> 0:06:02.800 six states that have said yeah, now We're good, We're okay. 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:06.719 We don't care about them, Melanie, A happy pride to you. 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:12.119 And what what do you even begin begin to take 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:17.560 on the behemoth that is the attacks on LGBTQ plus 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:19.240 a youth in our schools. 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:23.279 Yeah? No, absolutely, And you know, the good news and 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:25.479 the bad news keeps coming. Right. So, the last I 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:29.040 heard is actually up to ten states who have moved 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:33.760 forward and gotten injunctions on Title nine implementation and rollout. Right. 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:37.680 So these are states, largely in the South and the Midwest, 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:40.000 who have gone to court and said we need your 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:43.599 help to make sure that our right to discriminate against 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:46.320 children in a system where we require them to be 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:49.360 is not infringed. And the court said, you got it. 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:52.320 So you know, the fight continues. As I understand that 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:55.000 folks are teeing up for a Supreme Court fight on 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:59.039 Title nine on a shorter timeline than usual. And what 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:03.040 we're being faced with is really I think we have 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:07.599 the benefit of seeing exactly what the opposition wants to do. Right. 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:10.880 They are not slow walking, they are not pretending, they're 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:14.280 not writing in footnotes. They are putting everything they want 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:16.720 to do as a headline. They are being very clear, 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:19.440 and I think that the job for folks on our side, 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:22.320 and our side is the side that believes in democracy, 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:25.000 believes that children should be able to go to school, 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:30.840 both free from the encumbrances of discrimination, but also supported 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:33.360 right by actual supports. What does it mean to see 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:36.920 them as young people, to see them as people who 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:39.960 are part of communities, who have histories, and who are 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:43.360 vital and contributing members of our society now and in 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:46.440 the future. We at Lisson believe that education is the 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:49.600 cornerstone of democracy. You said as much yourself, and I 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:52.200 think our opposition understands that to be true as well, 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:56.239 which is why they are attacking public education generally speaking, 0:07:56.400 --> 0:08:00.600 and using queer and trans kids as the boogeyman face 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:03.560 to put on it, but are generally an overall attacking 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:06.720 American democracy. And so when we have an educated populace, 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:11.760 we are unfit for authoritarianism, We're unfit for fascism, and 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:14.240 they know that and we know that. So that's where 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:16.520 the that's where we are right that's the battle that 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:19.200 we're in right now at Glisten. We continue to work 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:22.400 with the current administration in order to make sure that 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:24.880 as much can be that can be done in this moment, 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:27.480 can be done. And frankly, we've had four years to 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:29.520 get a lot of stuff done, and I wish we 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:33.000 would have gotten more done. And you know, I hear 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:35.480 the arguments that people are doing what they can and 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:38.920 also you know, there is actually no excuse for not 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:41.160 showing up for and not delivering the most you can 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:44.240 for our young people. And glisten, you know, our work 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:47.880 is both We do both policy advocacy, but really our 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:50.960 bread and butter is working with young people, working with educators, 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:53.680 and working in communities. And so that has never stopped 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:56.240 on our part, right whether it's five hundred and sixteen 0:08:56.360 --> 0:09:01.560 anti LGBTQ plus bills introduced this year across the country, 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:04.520 we continue to understand that it is the people who 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:07.280 have the power, and our work continues to be to 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:10.480 connect with our folks to ensure that we are building 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:13.760 safety with and for each other, and also pushing at 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:17.040 every level of intervention in the education system to make 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:19.959 sure that at every single level we are putting the 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:23.120 policies and practices in place to make sure that every 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:27.559 young person's lived experience in schools is as good as 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:28.000 it can be. 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:32.760 You know, one of the things that I think is 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:36.439 important and I would like you to enlighten our listeners, 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:39.640 is that we see a lot of headlines, and I 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:41.840 think that when we see a lot of headlines, those 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:45.920 headlines can oftentimes become white noise right where we see 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:48.440 these headlines that say there have been five hundred plus 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:53.320 anti LGBTQ bills that have been approved and are introduced 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:57.280 over the last year. So we hear, okay, it's bad, 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:01.520 but we don't actually get a real, true, on the 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:06.120 ground understanding of what it is like to, let's say, 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:10.240 I don't know, be a middle schooler who is queer 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:14.760 living in the Midwest in a hostile state, Like, what 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:18.040 does it feel like to go to school and have 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:22.720 no safe space and not only have young people your 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:26.160 peers that are bullying you, but an entire administration that 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:28.800 has the ability to bully you. So can you kind 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:33.000 of give us some context to the behind the scoop 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:36.240 to the headlines that we see of real young people. 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:40.040 Yeah. Absolutely, I actually want to cover a couple points 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:43.920 on this specific question. One I want to lift up 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:47.920 for everyone listening that yes, five hundred and sixteen anti 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:51.760 LGBTQ plus bills were introduced. That doesn't mean that they 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:54.600 were pass right. And actually what the reality is is 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:59.360 that Listen, along with other organizations and other movement partners 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:03.440 and collaborate have worked tirelessly right to defeat more than 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:07.600 ninety percent of these bills. So just so we know, right, yes, 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:12.000 terrible bills coming in an avalanche of bad ideas number one. Two, 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:15.439 Listen along with others in coalition, have defeated the vast 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:18.679 majority of these bills. And three I just want us 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:21.240 to and this is the official recommendation, right, which is 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:24.720 to guard your joy. Right. One of what happens is 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:27.760 that you know everybody's terrible idea, they can call into 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:31.200 a news they understand. Let me say it this way. 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:34.600 Our opposition are a bunch of stut queens, not in 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:38.720 a good way, not in a good way, stuck queen. 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:41.240 Let me just say that I personally love a stuck queen, 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:44.040 but these bulls are stunt queens in the worst way. Right. 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:47.560 What they understand is actually that when you can bombard 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:50.760 people with terrible news, when you can lift up introduce 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:53.000 a bill, even if you know there's not a snowballs 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:55.559 chance in hell that it gets past what you are 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:58.839 doing is making sure that people who are impacted by 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:02.880 that proposed law feel the attack right on their spirit, 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:05.520 on their mind, and their attention, and is added to 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:07.320 a list of a thing of the things that we 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:11.280 all worry about, right, So that's number one. Like stunt 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:13.760 queens on the other side, have a bunch of terrible ideas, 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:16.240 they write them down, they get introduced, and then suddenly 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:18.920 we have a media ecosystem that feels obligated to report 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:21.760 on it, and as a result, we are overwhelmed by 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:25.040 the bad news, even though the part that is not 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:28.280 reported is that we are winning on so many of 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:30.520 these levels. We are beating back so many of these 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:33.320 terrible bills. Any one bill that gets passed is a 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.400 bill too many, and so I don't want to we 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:37.120 are not winning. We're not batt in a thousand, but 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:40.360 we're batten, but we're batten pretty close, right. And the 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:42.040 other thing is that so many of these are copy 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:45.040 and paste bills, and so what works in back states, right, 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:48.360 just bashtrack it in another state. And that is I 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:51.600 think also their core of vulnerability. Right, once we figure 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:54.640 out what actually is illegal or doesn't work or whatever 0:12:54.760 --> 0:12:57.640 in one bill, it really points toward the weakness and 0:12:57.760 --> 0:12:59.679 all of them, and a thing that is often not 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:03.200 is a critical win that our movement has gotten in 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:07.760 Florida right by gutting that don't say gay legislation, fundamentally 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:11.760 gutting it. The core pieces have been struck down in court. 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:14.520 That is not getting a lot of news right. That 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:18.480 also means there's significant vulnerabilities in these other copy and 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:22.560 paste states right where people just are passing on bad ideas. 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:25.280 That's part one, right in terms of like what's happening 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:29.200 with slatively, I think part two really is around like 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:32.160 what's the effects on young people at this moment is 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:34.880 having And again it's like, you know, not to use 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.559 a big old word, but really thinking about the psychosphere, right, 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:41.600 the economy of our attention and who is influencing it. 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:44.079 So you know, I'm going to go ahead and say 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:46.960 the thing, which is to say that we've got a 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:51.120 lot of terrible actors internally in our own country, and 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:55.640 we also have folks who are over We are all 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:58.800 washed over every single day with headlines some of which 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:01.320 are true, some of which are not right. There's a 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:03.640 way in which the fake news and the kind of 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:06.760 and what terrible information is kind of coming at us 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:10.640 in order to distract us, discourage us, get us to 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:13.640 panic or freak out, or lose hope or stop trying. 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:16.360 We are in you know, several months out, a couple 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:18.880 months out from the general election. We're in the hottest 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:20.760 part of hell right now. When it comes to. 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:25.480 Tell me about the hottest part of hell, because I'm 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:29.200 like a, I don't have enough sunscreen. There is not 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:32.880 enough internal air conditioning to be dealing with Dante's in 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:35.240 fucking inferno that we are living in right now. 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:37.520 Listen, you know, my hope is that we get to 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:42.880 the suburbs of Hell as soon as possible. All, yes, 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:45.120 we don't have to be right here, which is where 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:47.400 we are right now, but in this but to say that, 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:49.640 like we're in this moment where things are hot and 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:53.360 getting hotter, and that our attention is so deeply important 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:55.720 for us to guard our join not only for ourselves, 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:59.320 but in order for us to provide context and clarity 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:02.600 and truth to those around us who don't have as 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.800 much power as we do, as much access to information, 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:09.200 as much ability to you know, parse through what is 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:12.440 true what is false. It's really important that we actually 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:15.640 get in the business in our own networks and helping 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:19.440 to fortify ourselves in each other, because one thing that 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:22.760 will guarantee defeat and I don't mean and I don't 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:25.920 mean kind of electorally, but I mean kind of in 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:28.480 our hearts right where our movement is able to go 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:30.600 is if we think that we are losing. And let 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:33.400 me just say to all the listeners, you don't fight 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:38.840 this hard to destroy, to erase, to disempower a community 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:42.040 that doesn't have any power, right, Why would you erase 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:44.840 history that doesn't matter? Why would you ban books that 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:48.880 aren't elaminating and liberating in their both in their existence 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:51.160 and their impact. And so the thing I want to 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:53.520 make sure your listeners here is the I want to 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:56.280 remind us of our own power and that yes, we 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:58.000 have to act on it, and we have to be 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:00.600 with others in our action on our path. But like, 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:03.120 let's just reset the frame for a second. You don't 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:06.000 pass five hundred and sixteen bills, or you don't introduce 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:09.840 five hundred and sixteen bills around someone's identity if you 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.520 aren't afraid of who they are and actually what they 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:16.080 do in community right and with power and with inclusion 0:16:16.080 --> 0:16:18.480 and in public life. So I want us to be 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:20.560 grounded in our own power and the fact that we 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:22.680 are actually turning the tide and winning. 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:25.960 And I appreciate that so much. I appreciate several of 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:29.960 the points that you made, particularly around fortifying and centering 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:32.720 your joy right, which I think I talk about a 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:34.800 lot on this show because I tell people that they 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:37.040 need to take breaks so that they don't have breakdowns. 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:39.280 Right Like, you don't need to be in the twenty 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:41.600 four hour news cycle twenty four hours a day. It 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:43.440 is unhealthy for you to do. 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:43.560 So. 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:45.640 It's the same thing I say about doom scrolling on 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:48.160 social media. You do not need to like and click 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:50.800 and share every horrific story in order to show how 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:54.360 conscious you are, how woke you are. Two injustices. You 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:56.720 need to safeguard yourself. But I also think that it 0:16:56.760 --> 0:17:00.480 is incredibly important to lift up the winds because what 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:04.320 ends up happening, I think, Melanie, is that the media, 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:07.879 corporate media, does a wonderful job at telling us all 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:10.880 the terrible things that are happening, and then when there 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:13.959 are fight backs or when there are losses that happen 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:17.240 on the right side, somehow the media is nowhere to 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:20.920 be found like they were all over Florida. Every single 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:24.080 piece of legislation that DeSantis is pushing out is a 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:27.520 front story news. But what's not front story is who 0:17:27.560 --> 0:17:30.439 is pushing back against him and actually winning. And so 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:33.800 I really appreciate you bringing that to the forefront because 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:37.679 it's easy too, I think when you were inundated with 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:42.399 this cycle of despair to become really hopeless and to 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:44.600 say that I might as well not fight, I might 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.119 as well not do the thing, because what does it matter? 0:17:47.560 --> 0:17:49.399 And I think that you know, you tell me. But 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:51.920 what I have recognized over the last you know, eight 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:56.800 to nine years under Trumps and in particular, is how 0:17:57.200 --> 0:18:02.680 vital local elections are, how vital school boards are, whether 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:05.040 or not you have a child that is in said 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:11.040 school or not. That these people are looking out at 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:15.359 every single touch point that they can have to move 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:19.760 their ball to their side. And I think that we 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:23.560 have always been so laser focused on the federal level 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:26.280 and don't pay attention to the power that has had 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:29.960 at these local levels, where when these pieces of legislation 0:18:30.000 --> 0:18:32.600 are coming out in city councils, that folks are able 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:35.919 to say not today, satan and knock it back, and 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:40.240 so talk to us about the important ways that you 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:44.520 all at Glisten and with coalition partners are seeding ground 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:49.119 in places that we don't often pay attention to and 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:53.040 that we overlook, but we recognize that no impacts start 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:54.840 small and then it spreads out. 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:57.800 Yeah, that's right, and I appreciate your framing on this. 0:18:58.000 --> 0:19:02.960 You know, there are it's like sixteen thousand school districts 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:05.640 across the country, right, so when you think about our 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:10.639 American school system, really you're thinking about sixteen thousand different 0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:13.080 systems that roll up kind of on the front line, 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:16.000 that roll up into a big old pipeline that goes 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:18.760 through the state and then goes up into the federal level. 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:22.320 And what is true is that the other side has 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:28.280 succeeded in making every single classroom affront for this culture 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:32.600 war that they have started and are waging without any remorse, 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:36.719 right using our children as ponds in this foolishness, right 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.680 that they're doing, which again, let me remind the folks 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:42.440 who are listening, is actually not about queer kids. It's 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:45.480 now anti democratic future. It's a vision of anti democratic 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:49.359 future for our country. And they figured out where coalitional 0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:53.600 solidarity is soft in this country is around queer and 0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:58.879 trans issues, particularly trans issues, and frankly, there are major 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:04.159 publications in this country who holds significant responsibility for amplifying 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:09.200 the lies and the faulty transphobic logic of this side, 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:13.120 laundering it as a reasonable part of the public discourse 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:16.119 when it has never been and it absolutely is not 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:19.159 and won't ever be. So I think that there's a 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:23.720 lot of complexity here which is around how these extreme 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:29.480 far right ideas around gender, as one example, have been laundered. 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:33.639 Not only is the bad news amplified by corporate media, 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:36.080 but it's also laundered in a way has been laundered 0:20:36.080 --> 0:20:38.280 over the last number of years, in a way that 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:41.160 is truly disgusting, and that I think that folks will 0:20:41.359 --> 0:20:44.320 absolutely history will not look kindly on their actions and 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:46.800 they will absolutely need to be held account before. So 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:48.520 that's I just want to say that. I mean, I 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:51.800 think that the other piece here is that again Glisten, 0:20:52.320 --> 0:20:56.400 we are thirty four years old this year, Happy birthday. Right, 0:20:57.680 --> 0:21:01.359 I'll take being in my mid thirties again. You know, 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:05.800 one thing that we understand at Glisten is the education 0:21:05.880 --> 0:21:08.800 system right in every single point of leverage they are 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:11.600 in and where there are points of intervention, where there 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:14.720 are points of leverage, and what pieces of leverage work 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:17.639 in those at those points. And so one thing I'm 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:20.639 actually really excited about that's ongoing right now that's current, 0:21:20.760 --> 0:21:23.199 is that we have launched our National School Climate Survey, 0:21:23.560 --> 0:21:26.960 which is a survey of young people who are in 0:21:27.200 --> 0:21:30.320 schools in this country grades eight and above, so eight 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:32.800 to twelve, to see what their experiences are. This goes 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:34.720 back to your initial question, but I think leads in 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:37.439 here as well, right, which is to say, both what 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:40.560 is like, what is happening the good and the bad? Right? 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:43.800 What are you experiencing the bad and the good. And 0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:46.040 it's from this research that we have come up with 0:21:46.080 --> 0:21:49.080 our solutions over the last since nineteen ninety nine we 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:52.920 started the survey. And so all this to say that 0:21:53.200 --> 0:21:56.679 the work to find solutions always starts with the people 0:21:56.680 --> 0:21:59.679 who are most impacted by the system, and so listens. 0:21:59.680 --> 0:22:04.240 Work in this way continues by capturing seeking to capture, hey, hey, kids, 0:22:04.359 --> 0:22:06.800 what's going on right grades eight and up? What are 0:22:06.800 --> 0:22:09.159 you all experiencing? What could help and what needs to 0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:12.400 be different. So there's that that we're gathering data from 0:22:12.440 --> 0:22:16.080 young people because data is the language that systems speak, 0:22:16.200 --> 0:22:18.919 and so we speak to the systems and the language 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:22.919 they understand, and that information comes directly from young people. 0:22:23.800 --> 0:22:25.760 The other piece of it is that we continue to 0:22:25.800 --> 0:22:29.399 work with educators, right, We've got educators all over the country. 0:22:29.520 --> 0:22:33.480 We had one point five million downloads this year alone 0:22:34.000 --> 0:22:37.040 of our materials. So there's a way in which it's 0:22:37.080 --> 0:22:40.040 like our opposition is going hard. We have a level 0:22:40.040 --> 0:22:42.960 of relationships and credibility within the system that is so 0:22:43.080 --> 0:22:45.720 deeply resilient, and so our people continue to come to 0:22:45.840 --> 0:22:49.560 us for the latest and greatest. We continue to train 0:22:50.040 --> 0:22:53.720 folks all over this country in schools and school districts 0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:57.600 and institutions right and other associations on best practices for 0:22:57.680 --> 0:23:01.959 making sure that your classroom and also your school community 0:23:02.040 --> 0:23:04.840 is safe and affirming for our kids. And so you know, 0:23:04.920 --> 0:23:08.040 they're going hard, but we're going harder. And the thing 0:23:08.119 --> 0:23:09.879 is is that there's actually more of us than there 0:23:09.920 --> 0:23:13.440 are of them. Right. They've got different levels of infrastructure 0:23:13.480 --> 0:23:16.280 on their side, and we've got more people on our side. 0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:19.879 So our work continues, and you know, Kate, stop won't stop. 0:23:22.960 --> 0:23:25.359 Last question for you is you know a question that 0:23:25.400 --> 0:23:29.680 I ask often, and particularly of like my queer colleagues 0:23:29.720 --> 0:23:33.280 and friends, which is, you know, how do you stay 0:23:33.320 --> 0:23:37.399