WEBVTT - Compounded Crises 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:14.760 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to wok F Daily with 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:18.400 me your girl Danielle Moody here in the Brooklyn Bunker. 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:26.120 You know, folks, um, the slate of bad news that 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:33.320 has come out of Florida and Texas has been remarkable. 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:40.400 The amount of hate, the amount of bigotry, the amount 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:45.320 of discrimination, the amount of vitriol that is coming out 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:49.120 of these two states is a preview, if you will, 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:53.120 to what we can expect to come out of a 0:00:53.240 --> 0:01:03.640 Republican run country, White House, Senate, House, Supreme Court. I 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:08.160 want people to understand that it isn't enough for us 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:11.840 to say, Oh, Texas should be cut off or Florida 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:15.360 should be cut off, because frankly, that would be a 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:17.880 great thing. It would be a great thing if we 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:22.320 began instead of just going out and marching in showing 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:27.440 up that we were actually putting pressure on the performers 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:30.640 that go into perform in Texas, on the corporations that 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:34.920 have their headquarters in Texas and Florida. We got a 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:42.080 bullshit memo from the head of Disney about how oh, 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:45.280 let their contents speak for themselves, but they're not going 0:01:45.319 --> 0:01:50.320 to offer any statements on the anti gay don't say, 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:55.600 gay Bill that is past in Florida. Because cash rules 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:59.040 everything around me. They don't want to hurt their own 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:02.680 pockets by what standing for what's right. And I'm just 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:05.440 wondering these days, what the fuck is it going to 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:09.320 take for people to show some show that they have 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:13.200 some values, some fucking morals, right. But again, I don't 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:16.080 know why we're looking to corporations and shareholders to do 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:18.079 that when all they know how to do and all 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:20.639 they want to do is make money. It's why they 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:23.440 spread their money around to both the Republican and the 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:27.240 Democratic Party, because their allegiance is to their bottom line. 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:30.240 But what I also know to be true is that 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:35.440 boycott's fucking work, right, and that pressure comes from the people. 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:39.919 The pressure and the boycotts are why Martin Luther King said, 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:42.040 you know what, We're not going to do anymore ride 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:45.839 the bus for over three hundred and sixty five days, right, 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:49.000 We're gonna fucking walk. And I think that we are 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:51.840 at a place. We are at a place in this country. 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:54.400 We are at a place with the lack of leadership 0:02:54.440 --> 0:03:00.280 at the top in certain areas for us to say 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:05.320 enough is enough. Right later in the show, I'm going 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:09.640 to have an in depth interview with the CEO of 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:15.160 Equality Texas, an LGBTQ plus organization that is trying to 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:20.760 advance equity in Texas and beat back these anti LGBTQ bills. 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:24.639 Ricardo Martinez has been on the job for two and 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:28.360 a half years and has never in the entirety of 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:34.079 his career seen in escalation an anti LGBTQ sentiment. Then 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:39.280 he has in the last year. He will tell us 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:43.400 that twenty twenty one was the worst legislative year for 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:51.240 LGBTQ people hardstop, not just in Texas. And so I 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:54.520 want us to wrap our minds around the direction that 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:58.680 this country is headed in, which is one that is 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:05.040 run by a bunch of white evangelical Christians who are 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:12.040 going to not only threaten right, not only threatened verbally 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:15.840 with the language that they use, but also make it sure, 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:22.400 make it certain that we go back inside the closet right, 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:27.359 make it certain that trans youth that are part of 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:32.720 the highest group of suicide right within the LGBTQ community, 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:41.440 that those numbers increase. I can't think right now what 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:47.520 it must be like to be queer youth in this country. 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:52.520 You know, a couple of years ago, at the beginning 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:56.560 of the two thousands, right around the beginning of the 0:04:56.600 --> 0:05:04.520 Obama administration, there were a rash of high profile suicides 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:09.080 of LGBTQ youth. It was over the course of like 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:13.520 a couple of weeks. There were kids as young as 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:21.400 nine years old attempting suicide and some succeeding because of 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:25.120 the bullying and the torment that they were receiving at school, 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:31.919 and not just from their classmates, but from teachers and 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:37.400 administrators that did nothing when they heard the taunts that 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:42.280 put the onus on the queer student to quote unquote 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:47.680 fit in or to quote unquote assimilate. Right you're making 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:53.760 yourself a target. The isolation that these kids must feel 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:59.000 right now and now with Texas on top of everything else, 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:07.200 talking about investigating the parents of lgbtquth of trans youth 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:17.640 for seeking medical attention, life saving medical treatment, they're not 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:22.159 dealing with, you know, the amount of neglect that is 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:27.239 happening because of their underfunded departments of Family Services. They're 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:31.280 not talking about what has been left on the table 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:35.440 by this administration so that they can focus on abusing 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:42.560 trans youth. It is outrageous. What is happening and what 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:46.600 I asked Ricardo, I ask him about what faith he 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:52.280 has in this current Biden administration. To set the record straight. 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:55.320 The Biden administration, by the way, is one of the 0:06:55.360 --> 0:07:00.280 most diverse administrations, more so than even Obama's was. And 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:03.640 those things matter, But also what matters is not just 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:07.760 strongly worded statements, but actions that allow those that are 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:12.720 the most marginalized among us to know that their president, 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:18.840 their government has their back. And right now, these kids, 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:22.120 their families are being left out in the fucking cold. 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:28.840 We keep saying, well, we have bigger fish to fry. 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:32.400 We got nuclear war, we got climate change, folks, we 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:36.000 got all of it. All of it is happening at 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:41.440 the same time. So we have to deal with all 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.080 of it at the same time and not allow our 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:47.440 elected officials to tell us that there is a hierarchy 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:53.480 of equity here, that there's a hierarchy of safety. For 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:57.360 too long, we have allowed the Republican Party to call 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:01.000 themselves the Party of family Values. Why because they care 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:04.239 more about a collection of cells inside of a uterus 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:07.880 than they do a full grown fucking child outside of 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:13.840 the wound. Give me a break. We have seeded ground 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:19.280 to them as it pertains to children and families. Meanwhile, 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:24.280 they don't give a fuck about our kids, about any 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:27.240 of them, not the queer ones, not the black ones, 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:31.320 not the Latin X ones, not the Asian ones, none 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:37.000 of them except white kids, straight white kids, straight sis 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:42.480 white kids. But we don't have the balls to fucking 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:46.599 call them out on their bullshit. Where the Party of 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:50.080 Family values you could give a fuck about people's families. 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:55.760 And just so that we're all clear, family doesn't just 0:08:55.960 --> 0:09:03.480 look like the nuclears heteronormativity. We have an opportunity right 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:06.880 to be at a place of expansion. And that is 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:09.560 why all of these pieces of legislation or all of 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:13.520 these threats are coming down because they are scared to 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:18.640 death white Evangelical Christians and these quote unquote the Maga faction. 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:22.600 They are terrified of what a country looks like of 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:27.000 people who are authentic right, who can live how they 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:30.960 want to live, love how they want to love, who 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:36.960 are demanding equity and justice because their assumption right is 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:40.360 that when we are in power, that we will treat 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:44.200 them the way that they have treated us. But you say, 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:48.360 I don't care. You want to be a racist, over 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:52.880 zealous like bigot go do you, but do you without 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:57.800 doing harm to me? Right? This is why we're supposed 0:09:57.840 --> 0:10:00.480 to have a separation of church and state, which we don't. 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:03.679 This is why you know, we're supposed to not have 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:08.280 religions in school, which we do. Not think about what 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:12.480 it will look like down the line when Republicans take 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:18.360 over prayer back in school, no diverse education or thought 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:21.640 about anyone outside of the white race. And how amazing 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:26.319 it is right that they will cherry pick what is told, 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:30.720 what is said, not only in your children's curriculum, on 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:36.080 the news, in the papers. They want America to look 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:42.160 like Putin's Russia, where LGBTQ people are scared and scarce 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:45.920 right in terms of their ability to live open and free, 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:52.080 because they are under threat of violence and jail. That's 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:55.760 what they want here in America, not just for queer people, 0:10:56.040 --> 0:11:01.120 but for people of color, for women who decide to 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:06.280 have bodily autonomy, for people with uterus is who decide that, 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:08.680 you know what, I'm not ready to start a family, 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:12.360 and I get to make that choice. I get to 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:16.240 say I need an abortion, not just oh to keep it. 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:20.400 Would they say safe legal and rare? No, it's safe 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:26.640 legal and whenever the fuck it's necessary. We are in 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:29.360 the danger zone, and I know that you all know this, 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:37.400 and I just can't understand where the urgency is in 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:40.600 this administration. And I'm going to keep saying that, folks. 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:43.600 I'm sorry. I'm not going to be one of those 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:46.600 silent Democrats that just fall in line when I know 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:48.880 that the line that I'm falling into ain't marching in 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:53.839 the direction that we need to be headed. We are 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:59.720 having so much goddamn tough talk too putin too NATO 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:02.920 about what is happening in the Ukraine, and we are 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:05.720 not paying attention to what the fuck is happening in 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:13.800 the United States. We are in the danger zone with 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:19.280 eight months left to go, where Texas and Florida are 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:22.640 going to be replicated all across the country, first going 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:26.680 to red states and then going into squeeze blue states 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:34.480 to their will. Folks, I know that we are exhausted. 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:40.679 We have dealt with more than I think some generations 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:43.439 have dealt with. I'm gonna be honest, and I know 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:45.760 there are folks that have gone through World War One, 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:49.600 World War two, the Vietnam War. But I'm telling you this, 0:12:49.800 --> 0:13:00.280 compounded these compounded crises that seem daily are overwhelming, but 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:03.719 they are trying to wear us down. They are trying 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:07.600 to wear us out to a place where we just 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:10.440 give up and we say that we can't take it anymore. 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:15.440 Do what you will. We cannot allow ourselves to get 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:20.480 to this place. So whatever it is that's going to 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:23.160 allow you to rest and restore, to get back to 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:27.120 the front lines of the fight for justice in this country, 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:30.960 you need to do it. We need to do it 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:35.400 because we are literally in the fight for our lives. 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:42.240 There has never been a time darker than the ones 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:48.920 that we are headed in. Pending World War three, climate crisis, 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:57.760 voter suppression, anti abortion bills, anti LGBT bills. I mean, 0:13:58.000 --> 0:14:05.320 it is wild. My head spins most days. But I 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:08.440 can't continue to have us pay attention to the threats 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:12.160 that are abroad and put no juice and energy into 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:17.760 the threats that we are facing at home. We have 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:22.920 to have to have the ability to do both, and 0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:29.000 to both work to protect democracy abroad or what is 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:32.560 left of democracy abroad, and work to secure it here. 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:36.800 Because I'm telling you, folks that if America falls democracy 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:42.440 around the world, it will be a domino effect like 0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:47.200 something we have never seen. We've never seen America cross 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:52.280 over to the side of authoritarianism and dictatorship, but that 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:54.640 is exactly where we are headed if we do not 0:14:55.520 --> 0:15:02.120 pay attention. Coming up next, my conversation with Ricardo Martinez, 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:09.600 the CEO of Equality Texas. Folks, I am very happy 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:14.360 to welcome to WOKA affadaily for the first time the 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:20.520 executive director and head of Equality Texas, Ricardo Martinez, who 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:26.040 is on the front lines of Texas's entire I don't 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:28.440 know what it is. If it's a strategy, if it's 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:36.160 a campaign of anti LGBTQ, just horrible bills, one right 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:39.680 after the other. It seems that to me, Ricardo, Florida 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:42.880 and Texas are trading off on how to be literally 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:48.920 the worst state. Give us a picture of what is transpiring, 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:53.840 what you have been feeling and hearing from your folks 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:58.240 on the ground in Texas. Yeah, Danielle, number one, thank 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:01.560 you for having me. I really appreciate the platform to 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:03.880 be able to bring more attention to what has been 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:07.560 happening here in Texas for quite a while. People like 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:09.720 to point to this moment as the moment where people 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:11.840 woke up, but at the boiling point. Right, But this 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:15.520 has been simmering for quite a long time now, and 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:18.360 I'd like to begin this conversation usually even context of 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:23.440 what happened. In twenty twenty one was the worst legislative 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:28.000 year for any state in the country ever in history. 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:32.680 We had seventy six anti LGBTQ bills filed here in Texas, 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:36.440 seventy six And to give you just a comparison, the 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.960 last time that we were in session, back in twenty nineteen, 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:44.000 there were fifteen bills that targeted our community. That is 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:51.320 an escalation of just unprecedented proportions. We typically only meet 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:53.760 once every two years for about one hundred and twenty days. 0:16:55.480 --> 0:16:58.080 In twenty twenty one, there was a regular session that 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:01.960 fulfilled that time. We also had three special sessions, right, 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:06.480 so by the end of the regular session, the legislature 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:12.160 wasn't done with us, and then subsequently went into special 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:15.560 session number one, the second called special session, and the 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:19.919 third call special session. During the third call special session 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:23.600 in October was when a bill finally got through the legislature. 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:26.520 So we put up a valiant fight. Let me tell 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:31.840 you that people in Texas are fighters. There are people 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:36.040 here who do not give up their relentless pursuit for 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:40.840 the live. The quality of LGBTQ people is steadfast, and 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:45.000 it is undying and unwavering. So let's just start with 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:48.760 the hope. Right. There are people here that believe that 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:52.280 what seventy percent of Texans believed. What we know to 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:55.320 be true is that seventy percent of Texans believed that 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:59.320 discrimination against LGBTQ people was wrong. But there were eleven people, 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:03.640 and this is really important to underscore, there were eleven 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:08.239 people at the Texas Legislature that at the House in 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:12.359 the House side that pushed these bills. That is a 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:17.280 minority of electeds. Which brings me to my next point, 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:20.520 which is people get out and vote. There are eleven 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:23.520 people that are causing all of this, that caused this 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:26.439 in twenty twenty one. If they weren't there, if we 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:28.760 really paid attention to who cares about our issues and 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:31.440 who was willing to represent every Texans instead of just 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:36.360 some Texans, we wouldn't be here. You know, you bring 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:40.800 you bring up or caught a couple of major numbers, right, 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:45.920 which is the seventy percent, the seventy percent of Texans 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:50.960 who believe that anti lgbt you know, discriminatory policies, they're 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:55.720 not for them. Right. But then you have these eleven members, right, 0:18:56.080 --> 0:18:59.960 what is what is their background and makeup and where 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:02.080 you know, because I always say on this show and 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:06.000 others follow the money, right, who are their biggest donors? 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:09.000 Who are the ones that are saying, oh, we need 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:12.440 this kind of legislation? Because I believe and many others 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:16.600 who are you know, working in democratic politics, believe that 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:20.159 what's happening in Texas in Florida is a preview for 0:19:20.240 --> 0:19:23.600 what will happen across the country if Abbot or if 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:26.879 Desantists decide that Donald Trump isn't going to run in 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:29.760 twenty twenty four, and so this is a preview for 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:33.120 what we can expect from Republicans. So I'm curious to 0:19:33.160 --> 0:19:38.480 know about these eleven individuals, where, who and what kind 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:42.600 of donors they're affiliated with? And what you think about 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:47.439 Texas being the Petrie Dish for the Republican Party. Yeah, 0:19:47.480 --> 0:19:49.679 I think you're bringing up excellent points and things that 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:52.080 we talk about all the time. Right, this is part 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:56.679 of a coordinated effort countrywide. This is not specific to Texas, right, 0:19:56.720 --> 0:20:00.840 But to your point, people come here and try to 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:05.280 perfectings in Texas and then replicated across the country. Because 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:08.359 it works in Texas, we have a tremendous amount of 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:11.960 political influence across the country. We do, and that's why 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:17.080 we take our job very, very seriously. Here. This is 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:19.800 a coordinated effort, right. And if you went and you 0:20:19.840 --> 0:20:21.720 took a look at all of the bills that tried 0:20:21.800 --> 0:20:27.040 to stop transgender people from living their lives, from limiting 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:30.760 their participation in daily life, they are almost replicas of 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:35.240 each other. They might be different slightly depending on the 0:20:35.359 --> 0:20:42.199 level of hatred that is available or the threshold of 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:46.199 hate of whichever state right, but there are fundamentally the 0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:48.320 same and they seek to do the same right. And 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:52.480 I think what is happening here is that anti LGBTQ 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:55.640 legislators they poll test these things, right, and what they 0:20:55.640 --> 0:21:00.439 have found is that there is a knowledge void, a 0:21:00.520 --> 0:21:06.959 knowledge gap, a familiarity gap that most Americans have about 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:10.880 transgender people. And so what they have done is exploited 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:15.159 that gap and filled it with disinformation about creating this 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:20.639 caricature of who trans people are, right, to create this boogeyman, 0:21:20.800 --> 0:21:25.800 to create people that um that are scary to the 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:29.720 everyday American because they don't have the luxury or the 0:21:29.760 --> 0:21:32.600 blessings of having transgender people in their life, because if 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:36.080 they did, they would know that transgender people are doctors, 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:40.520 they are teachers, their neighbors, they're sitting next to you 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:46.600 in the pews of worship right there. Transgender people exist 0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:52.520 everywhere and have existed everywhere for forever, and so I 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:57.000 think it's just the Their goal is to erode the 0:21:57.119 --> 0:22:01.320 support that we have so that we for so hard 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:03.919 for more than thirty years, right, And the same thing 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:06.680 that was happening with Anita Brian back in the late 0:22:06.720 --> 0:22:13.120 seventies post AIDS epidemic. All of these are replicating over 0:22:13.200 --> 0:22:15.439 and over and over because if you look at the 0:22:15.440 --> 0:22:17.440 messaging that was used in the seventies, if you look 0:22:17.440 --> 0:22:19.399 at the messaging that was used in the eighties and 0:22:19.480 --> 0:22:22.639 even during marriage equality, all of it is being brought 0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:25.680 back because it has worked before, and now they're finding 0:22:25.720 --> 0:22:29.840 another way to exploit it and reinforce those messages that 0:22:29.880 --> 0:22:33.360 have been so successful in the past. So, Ricardo, we 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:37.159 know this, right, we know, and we know that Republicans 0:22:38.119 --> 0:22:42.160 and conservatives use the same messaging over and over again. Right, 0:22:42.800 --> 0:22:45.440 It's been the same messaging around Roe v. Wade. It's 0:22:45.440 --> 0:22:49.200 been the same messaging around voting a voter suppression. It's 0:22:49.240 --> 0:22:53.360 been the same. And yet we seem on our side 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:57.520 to have difficulty in filling in what you said. And 0:22:57.560 --> 0:23:01.119 I love this the knowledge gap, right. You know, I 0:23:01.160 --> 0:23:04.520 can remember not too long ago, working on Capitol Hill 0:23:05.520 --> 0:23:08.160 in way back in the one hundred and thirteenth Congress, 0:23:08.440 --> 0:23:13.960 when we were trying to fight for a LGBTQ bill 0:23:14.359 --> 0:23:18.720 and wanted to take gay people right. Members of the 0:23:18.760 --> 0:23:21.840 community like me and you wanted decided that we were 0:23:21.840 --> 0:23:25.240 going to leave trans folks behind, needed to take them 0:23:25.240 --> 0:23:28.720 out of the legislation because there were more people who 0:23:28.760 --> 0:23:32.959 were aware of and knew had a lesbian friend or sister, 0:23:33.160 --> 0:23:38.200 or a gay brother or cousin or bisexual, but did 0:23:38.280 --> 0:23:43.960 not have any real connection understanding of the trans community. 0:23:44.000 --> 0:23:47.720 And so even within our own community, we were willing 0:23:47.840 --> 0:23:50.119 to leave those folks behind. So I feel like we 0:23:50.280 --> 0:23:54.119 bear the burden also of the knowledge gap that in 0:23:54.320 --> 0:23:59.920 that is present, right. I mean, somebody should have told 0:23:59.920 --> 0:24:03.800 me that woke AF was really woke AF because I'm 0:24:03.880 --> 0:24:06.600 having a really good time right now, mostly because you know, 0:24:06.840 --> 0:24:08.440 I want to be able to have this conversation with 0:24:08.560 --> 0:24:11.600 people that get it right, and I get twenty twenty 0:24:11.640 --> 0:24:14.080 one was hard, right. We are still experiencing the pandemic. 0:24:14.119 --> 0:24:16.840 So everyone has this added layer of trauma, whether they 0:24:16.880 --> 0:24:19.360 recognize it or not. Everyone has been through a very 0:24:19.400 --> 0:24:23.080 traumatic moment in our lifetime. Right. And on top of that, 0:24:23.119 --> 0:24:26.760 Texans went through the freeze last year. People died because 0:24:26.760 --> 0:24:30.520 we were on The government did not protect us, they 0:24:30.560 --> 0:24:33.520 did not do anything to help us. On top of that, 0:24:33.560 --> 0:24:37.600 you add legislative session last year, where every issue was 0:24:37.640 --> 0:24:39.959 on the table, right, nobody was off the table. It 0:24:40.000 --> 0:24:42.919 wasn't just LGBTQ people and people that are at the 0:24:42.920 --> 0:24:50.840 intersections of LGBTQ and immigration, people who are mostly marginalized 0:24:51.000 --> 0:24:56.000 in terms of like voting rights or reproductive rights. It 0:24:56.200 --> 0:25:01.600 was incredibly traumatic last year, right, So you're compounding all 0:25:01.600 --> 0:25:05.040 of these traumas and trying to do advocacy at the 0:25:05.080 --> 0:25:08.119 same time. Right. And so let's remember back in twenty 0:25:08.200 --> 0:25:11.359 twenty one when this all began to pick up steam. 0:25:12.160 --> 0:25:16.080 We vaccines were not readily available. People were showing up 0:25:16.080 --> 0:25:20.159 to the Capitol to testify without any added protection, with 0:25:20.359 --> 0:25:23.560 just masks, and there were no mass mandates here. So 0:25:23.600 --> 0:25:25.680 you could walk around the building here at the Capitol 0:25:26.080 --> 0:25:31.520 with people that weren't necessarily putting your life, putting your 0:25:31.560 --> 0:25:34.560 life maybe slightly more at risk because they were unwilling 0:25:34.560 --> 0:25:38.479 to protect themselves. Right. So like last year, we needed 0:25:38.480 --> 0:25:42.040 our allies to be there, and we had a really 0:25:42.040 --> 0:25:47.239 hard time turning out LGBT plus people because mostly as 0:25:47.400 --> 0:25:49.679 a trans issue that didn't impact us. But guess what, 0:25:50.760 --> 0:25:52.840 it is always a means to an end. They are 0:25:52.880 --> 0:25:56.960 not going to stop at trans people, right, and you 0:25:57.000 --> 0:25:59.440 should show up because it's the right thing to do, right, Like, 0:25:59.520 --> 0:26:02.760 we don't play that like I you know, I have 0:26:02.880 --> 0:26:05.600 always had this mandate in like this this vision for 0:26:05.680 --> 0:26:08.399 what I want to do with my life, and I 0:26:08.520 --> 0:26:11.120 want to live it through service, right, And I did 0:26:11.160 --> 0:26:13.440 buy faith and I walk through faith, and I trust 0:26:13.480 --> 0:26:14.959 that I am put in a position where I need 0:26:15.000 --> 0:26:17.880 to be. I want to bring everybody with us. There 0:26:17.960 --> 0:26:20.440 is a place for everyone in this fight. You can 0:26:20.480 --> 0:26:23.040 contribute as little or as much as you can at 0:26:23.040 --> 0:26:25.440 any given moment. From home, you could do a ton 0:26:25.480 --> 0:26:30.600 of stuff. Stopping transphobia in conversations with your friends helps. 0:26:30.960 --> 0:26:33.480 It might not be showing up at the Capital giving testimony, 0:26:33.480 --> 0:26:36.520 but it helps. There's a tangible thing that everyone could 0:26:36.520 --> 0:26:42.920 do to contribute to creating a landscape where trans people 0:26:42.960 --> 0:26:47.600 are not just simply trying to survive, but are thriving 0:26:48.920 --> 0:26:56.560 and are living their fullest potential authentically without the fear 0:26:56.680 --> 0:27:01.200 and anxiety related to their their safety and well being. Ricardo, 0:27:01.280 --> 0:27:07.119 how do you all, equality Texas, you know, deal with 0:27:07.440 --> 0:27:11.640 the emotional fatigue that people have. I mean, you just 0:27:11.800 --> 0:27:17.480 listed out the onslought right of bills that have come 0:27:17.520 --> 0:27:21.040 out of your state. I mean you're talking about you know, folks, 0:27:21.080 --> 0:27:24.440 you know, not showing up in terms of protests because 0:27:24.520 --> 0:27:28.119 of the pandemic. And wasn't it also in twenty twenty 0:27:28.160 --> 0:27:32.879 one where the Democrat, the Texas Democrats fled the state 0:27:33.080 --> 0:27:36.199 to go to Washington, DC to say you need to 0:27:36.240 --> 0:27:42.440 do something. And even that major courageous act didn't turn out, 0:27:42.920 --> 0:27:45.800 like didn't didn't get the results that were needed. And 0:27:45.840 --> 0:27:49.720 so how do you all knowing that it's our voices, 0:27:49.720 --> 0:27:53.199 the voices of those within the LGBTQ community, but the 0:27:53.280 --> 0:27:56.520 voices of our allies that are needed in this moment, 0:27:57.680 --> 0:28:04.600 and yet we're experiencing COVID fatigue, you know, our democracy, 0:28:04.960 --> 0:28:08.959 all of these things are just compounded and folks are exhausted. 0:28:10.960 --> 0:28:13.720 Folks are exhausted. So I'll take this in two ways. 0:28:14.359 --> 0:28:17.919 People that do this work do it because it's passion work. Right. 0:28:17.960 --> 0:28:20.520 They want to do this because they are really passionate 0:28:20.560 --> 0:28:25.040 about this work, and that comes with a certain amount 0:28:25.040 --> 0:28:30.399 of risk when it comes to emotional, emotional, and physical health. Right. Yeah, 0:28:30.480 --> 0:28:32.960 if you're not actively trying to take care of yourself, 0:28:33.160 --> 0:28:36.679 you're going to be consumed by this work, and that 0:28:36.840 --> 0:28:40.320 is unavoidable. You are going to be consumed. So unless 0:28:40.320 --> 0:28:45.160 you're inserting joy into life, unless you are in tune 0:28:45.600 --> 0:28:51.479 with the small parts of life that give you that joy, 0:28:51.880 --> 0:28:54.920 that help refill your cup, you're going to burn out 0:28:54.960 --> 0:28:57.400 very quickly. So what we try to do is provide 0:28:57.440 --> 0:29:01.120 that emotional support. We try to provide as many benefits 0:29:01.120 --> 0:29:06.040