Speaker 1: Good morning, peeps, and welcome to wok F Daily with
Speaker 1: me your girl Danielle Moody here in the Brooklyn Bunker.
Speaker 1: You know, folks, um, the slate of bad news that
Speaker 1: has come out of Florida and Texas has been remarkable.
Speaker 1: The amount of hate, the amount of bigotry, the amount
Speaker 1: of discrimination, the amount of vitriol that is coming out
Speaker 1: of these two states is a preview, if you will,
Speaker 1: to what we can expect to come out of a
Speaker 1: Republican run country, White House, Senate, House, Supreme Court. I
Speaker 1: want people to understand that it isn't enough for us
Speaker 1: to say, Oh, Texas should be cut off or Florida
Speaker 1: should be cut off, because frankly, that would be a
Speaker 1: great thing. It would be a great thing if we
Speaker 1: began instead of just going out and marching in showing
Speaker 1: up that we were actually putting pressure on the performers
Speaker 1: that go into perform in Texas, on the corporations that
Speaker 1: have their headquarters in Texas and Florida. We got a
Speaker 1: bullshit memo from the head of Disney about how oh,
Speaker 1: let their contents speak for themselves, but they're not going
Speaker 1: to offer any statements on the anti gay don't say,
Speaker 1: gay Bill that is past in Florida. Because cash rules
Speaker 1: everything around me. They don't want to hurt their own
Speaker 1: pockets by what standing for what's right. And I'm just
Speaker 1: wondering these days, what the fuck is it going to
Speaker 1: take for people to show some show that they have
Speaker 1: some values, some fucking morals, right. But again, I don't
Speaker 1: know why we're looking to corporations and shareholders to do
Speaker 1: that when all they know how to do and all
Speaker 1: they want to do is make money. It's why they
Speaker 1: spread their money around to both the Republican and the
Speaker 1: Democratic Party, because their allegiance is to their bottom line.
Speaker 1: But what I also know to be true is that
Speaker 1: boycott's fucking work, right, and that pressure comes from the people.
Speaker 1: The pressure and the boycotts are why Martin Luther King said,
Speaker 1: you know what, We're not going to do anymore ride
Speaker 1: the bus for over three hundred and sixty five days, right,
Speaker 1: We're gonna fucking walk. And I think that we are
Speaker 1: at a place. We are at a place in this country.
Speaker 1: We are at a place with the lack of leadership
Speaker 1: at the top in certain areas for us to say
Speaker 1: enough is enough. Right later in the show, I'm going
Speaker 1: to have an in depth interview with the CEO of
Speaker 1: Equality Texas, an LGBTQ plus organization that is trying to
Speaker 1: advance equity in Texas and beat back these anti LGBTQ bills.
Speaker 1: Ricardo Martinez has been on the job for two and
Speaker 1: a half years and has never in the entirety of
Speaker 1: his career seen in escalation an anti LGBTQ sentiment. Then
Speaker 1: he has in the last year. He will tell us
Speaker 1: that twenty twenty one was the worst legislative year for
Speaker 1: LGBTQ people hardstop, not just in Texas. And so I
Speaker 1: want us to wrap our minds around the direction that
Speaker 1: this country is headed in, which is one that is
Speaker 1: run by a bunch of white evangelical Christians who are
Speaker 1: going to not only threaten right, not only threatened verbally
Speaker 1: with the language that they use, but also make it sure,
Speaker 1: make it certain that we go back inside the closet right,
Speaker 1: make it certain that trans youth that are part of
Speaker 1: the highest group of suicide right within the LGBTQ community,
Speaker 1: that those numbers increase. I can't think right now what
Speaker 1: it must be like to be queer youth in this country.
Speaker 1: You know, a couple of years ago, at the beginning
Speaker 1: of the two thousands, right around the beginning of the
Speaker 1: Obama administration, there were a rash of high profile suicides
Speaker 1: of LGBTQ youth. It was over the course of like
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks. There were kids as young as
Speaker 1: nine years old attempting suicide and some succeeding because of
Speaker 1: the bullying and the torment that they were receiving at school,
Speaker 1: and not just from their classmates, but from teachers and
Speaker 1: administrators that did nothing when they heard the taunts that
Speaker 1: put the onus on the queer student to quote unquote
Speaker 1: fit in or to quote unquote assimilate. Right you're making
Speaker 1: yourself a target. The isolation that these kids must feel
Speaker 1: right now and now with Texas on top of everything else,
Speaker 1: talking about investigating the parents of lgbtquth of trans youth
Speaker 1: for seeking medical attention, life saving medical treatment, they're not
Speaker 1: dealing with, you know, the amount of neglect that is
Speaker 1: happening because of their underfunded departments of Family Services. They're
Speaker 1: not talking about what has been left on the table
Speaker 1: by this administration so that they can focus on abusing
Speaker 1: trans youth. It is outrageous. What is happening and what
Speaker 1: I asked Ricardo, I ask him about what faith he
Speaker 1: has in this current Biden administration. To set the record straight.
Speaker 1: The Biden administration, by the way, is one of the
Speaker 1: most diverse administrations, more so than even Obama's was. And
Speaker 1: those things matter, But also what matters is not just
Speaker 1: strongly worded statements, but actions that allow those that are
Speaker 1: the most marginalized among us to know that their president,
Speaker 1: their government has their back. And right now, these kids,
Speaker 1: their families are being left out in the fucking cold.
Speaker 1: We keep saying, well, we have bigger fish to fry.
Speaker 1: We got nuclear war, we got climate change, folks, we
Speaker 1: got all of it. All of it is happening at
Speaker 1: the same time. So we have to deal with all
Speaker 1: of it at the same time and not allow our
Speaker 1: elected officials to tell us that there is a hierarchy
Speaker 1: of equity here, that there's a hierarchy of safety. For
Speaker 1: too long, we have allowed the Republican Party to call
Speaker 1: themselves the Party of family Values. Why because they care
Speaker 1: more about a collection of cells inside of a uterus
Speaker 1: than they do a full grown fucking child outside of
Speaker 1: the wound. Give me a break. We have seeded ground
Speaker 1: to them as it pertains to children and families. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: they don't give a fuck about our kids, about any
Speaker 1: of them, not the queer ones, not the black ones,
Speaker 1: not the Latin X ones, not the Asian ones, none
Speaker 1: of them except white kids, straight white kids, straight sis
Speaker 1: white kids. But we don't have the balls to fucking
Speaker 1: call them out on their bullshit. Where the Party of
Speaker 1: Family values you could give a fuck about people's families.
Speaker 1: And just so that we're all clear, family doesn't just
Speaker 1: look like the nuclears heteronormativity. We have an opportunity right
Speaker 1: to be at a place of expansion. And that is
Speaker 1: why all of these pieces of legislation or all of
Speaker 1: these threats are coming down because they are scared to
Speaker 1: death white Evangelical Christians and these quote unquote the Maga faction.
Speaker 1: They are terrified of what a country looks like of
Speaker 1: people who are authentic right, who can live how they
Speaker 1: want to live, love how they want to love, who
Speaker 1: are demanding equity and justice because their assumption right is
Speaker 1: that when we are in power, that we will treat
Speaker 1: them the way that they have treated us. But you say,
Speaker 1: I don't care. You want to be a racist, over
Speaker 1: zealous like bigot go do you, but do you without
Speaker 1: doing harm to me? Right? This is why we're supposed
Speaker 1: to have a separation of church and state, which we don't.
Speaker 1: This is why you know, we're supposed to not have
Speaker 1: religions in school, which we do. Not think about what
Speaker 1: it will look like down the line when Republicans take
Speaker 1: over prayer back in school, no diverse education or thought
Speaker 1: about anyone outside of the white race. And how amazing
Speaker 1: it is right that they will cherry pick what is told,
Speaker 1: what is said, not only in your children's curriculum, on
Speaker 1: the news, in the papers. They want America to look
Speaker 1: like Putin's Russia, where LGBTQ people are scared and scarce
Speaker 1: right in terms of their ability to live open and free,
Speaker 1: because they are under threat of violence and jail. That's
Speaker 1: what they want here in America, not just for queer people,
Speaker 1: but for people of color, for women who decide to
Speaker 1: have bodily autonomy, for people with uterus is who decide that,
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm not ready to start a family,
Speaker 1: and I get to make that choice. I get to
Speaker 1: say I need an abortion, not just oh to keep it.
Speaker 1: Would they say safe legal and rare? No, it's safe
Speaker 1: legal and whenever the fuck it's necessary. We are in
Speaker 1: the danger zone, and I know that you all know this,
Speaker 1: and I just can't understand where the urgency is in
Speaker 1: this administration. And I'm going to keep saying that, folks.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. I'm not going to be one of those
Speaker 1: silent Democrats that just fall in line when I know
Speaker 1: that the line that I'm falling into ain't marching in
Speaker 1: the direction that we need to be headed. We are
Speaker 1: having so much goddamn tough talk too putin too NATO
Speaker 1: about what is happening in the Ukraine, and we are
Speaker 1: not paying attention to what the fuck is happening in
Speaker 1: the United States. We are in the danger zone with
Speaker 1: eight months left to go, where Texas and Florida are
Speaker 1: going to be replicated all across the country, first going
Speaker 1: to red states and then going into squeeze blue states
Speaker 1: to their will. Folks, I know that we are exhausted.
Speaker 1: We have dealt with more than I think some generations
Speaker 1: have dealt with. I'm gonna be honest, and I know
Speaker 1: there are folks that have gone through World War One,
Speaker 1: World War two, the Vietnam War. But I'm telling you this,
Speaker 1: compounded these compounded crises that seem daily are overwhelming, but
Speaker 1: they are trying to wear us down. They are trying
Speaker 1: to wear us out to a place where we just
Speaker 1: give up and we say that we can't take it anymore.
Speaker 1: Do what you will. We cannot allow ourselves to get
Speaker 1: to this place. So whatever it is that's going to
Speaker 1: allow you to rest and restore, to get back to
Speaker 1: the front lines of the fight for justice in this country,
Speaker 1: you need to do it. We need to do it
Speaker 1: because we are literally in the fight for our lives.
Speaker 1: There has never been a time darker than the ones
Speaker 1: that we are headed in. Pending World War three, climate crisis,
Speaker 1: voter suppression, anti abortion bills, anti LGBT bills. I mean,
Speaker 1: it is wild. My head spins most days. But I
Speaker 1: can't continue to have us pay attention to the threats
Speaker 1: that are abroad and put no juice and energy into
Speaker 1: the threats that we are facing at home. We have
Speaker 1: to have to have the ability to do both, and
Speaker 1: to both work to protect democracy abroad or what is
Speaker 1: left of democracy abroad, and work to secure it here.
Speaker 1: Because I'm telling you, folks that if America falls democracy
Speaker 1: around the world, it will be a domino effect like
Speaker 1: something we have never seen. We've never seen America cross
Speaker 1: over to the side of authoritarianism and dictatorship, but that
Speaker 1: is exactly where we are headed if we do not
Speaker 1: pay attention. Coming up next, my conversation with Ricardo Martinez,
Speaker 1: the CEO of Equality Texas. Folks, I am very happy
Speaker 1: to welcome to WOKA affadaily for the first time the
Speaker 1: executive director and head of Equality Texas, Ricardo Martinez, who
Speaker 1: is on the front lines of Texas's entire I don't
Speaker 1: know what it is. If it's a strategy, if it's
Speaker 1: a campaign of anti LGBTQ, just horrible bills, one right
Speaker 1: after the other. It seems that to me, Ricardo, Florida
Speaker 1: and Texas are trading off on how to be literally
Speaker 1: the worst state. Give us a picture of what is transpiring,
Speaker 1: what you have been feeling and hearing from your folks
Speaker 1: on the ground in Texas. Yeah, Danielle, number one, thank
Speaker 1: you for having me. I really appreciate the platform to
Speaker 1: be able to bring more attention to what has been
Speaker 1: happening here in Texas for quite a while. People like
Speaker 1: to point to this moment as the moment where people
Speaker 1: woke up, but at the boiling point. Right, But this
Speaker 1: has been simmering for quite a long time now, and
Speaker 1: I'd like to begin this conversation usually even context of
Speaker 1: what happened. In twenty twenty one was the worst legislative
Speaker 1: year for any state in the country ever in history.
Speaker 1: We had seventy six anti LGBTQ bills filed here in Texas,
Speaker 1: seventy six And to give you just a comparison, the
Speaker 1: last time that we were in session, back in twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: there were fifteen bills that targeted our community. That is
Speaker 1: an escalation of just unprecedented proportions. We typically only meet
Speaker 1: once every two years for about one hundred and twenty days.
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty one, there was a regular session that
Speaker 1: fulfilled that time. We also had three special sessions, right,
Speaker 1: so by the end of the regular session, the legislature
Speaker 1: wasn't done with us, and then subsequently went into special
Speaker 1: session number one, the second called special session, and the
Speaker 1: third call special session. During the third call special session
Speaker 1: in October was when a bill finally got through the legislature.
Speaker 1: So we put up a valiant fight. Let me tell
Speaker 1: you that people in Texas are fighters. There are people
Speaker 1: here who do not give up their relentless pursuit for
Speaker 1: the live. The quality of LGBTQ people is steadfast, and
Speaker 1: it is undying and unwavering. So let's just start with
Speaker 1: the hope. Right. There are people here that believe that
Speaker 1: what seventy percent of Texans believed. What we know to
Speaker 1: be true is that seventy percent of Texans believed that
Speaker 1: discrimination against LGBTQ people was wrong. But there were eleven people,
Speaker 1: and this is really important to underscore, there were eleven
Speaker 1: people at the Texas Legislature that at the House in
Speaker 1: the House side that pushed these bills. That is a
Speaker 1: minority of electeds. Which brings me to my next point,
Speaker 1: which is people get out and vote. There are eleven
Speaker 1: people that are causing all of this, that caused this
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one. If they weren't there, if we
Speaker 1: really paid attention to who cares about our issues and
Speaker 1: who was willing to represent every Texans instead of just
Speaker 1: some Texans, we wouldn't be here. You know, you bring
Speaker 1: you bring up or caught a couple of major numbers, right,
Speaker 1: which is the seventy percent, the seventy percent of Texans
Speaker 1: who believe that anti lgbt you know, discriminatory policies, they're
Speaker 1: not for them. Right. But then you have these eleven members, right,
Speaker 1: what is what is their background and makeup and where
Speaker 1: you know, because I always say on this show and
Speaker 1: others follow the money, right, who are their biggest donors?
Speaker 1: Who are the ones that are saying, oh, we need
Speaker 1: this kind of legislation? Because I believe and many others
Speaker 1: who are you know, working in democratic politics, believe that
Speaker 1: what's happening in Texas in Florida is a preview for
Speaker 1: what will happen across the country if Abbot or if
Speaker 1: Desantists decide that Donald Trump isn't going to run in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, and so this is a preview for
Speaker 1: what we can expect from Republicans. So I'm curious to
Speaker 1: know about these eleven individuals, where, who and what kind
Speaker 1: of donors they're affiliated with? And what you think about
Speaker 1: Texas being the Petrie Dish for the Republican Party. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think you're bringing up excellent points and things that
Speaker 1: we talk about all the time. Right, this is part
Speaker 1: of a coordinated effort countrywide. This is not specific to Texas, right,
Speaker 1: But to your point, people come here and try to
Speaker 1: perfectings in Texas and then replicated across the country. Because
Speaker 1: it works in Texas, we have a tremendous amount of
Speaker 1: political influence across the country. We do, and that's why
Speaker 1: we take our job very, very seriously. Here. This is
Speaker 1: a coordinated effort, right. And if you went and you
Speaker 1: took a look at all of the bills that tried
Speaker 1: to stop transgender people from living their lives, from limiting
Speaker 1: their participation in daily life, they are almost replicas of
Speaker 1: each other. They might be different slightly depending on the
Speaker 1: level of hatred that is available or the threshold of
Speaker 1: hate of whichever state right, but there are fundamentally the
Speaker 1: same and they seek to do the same right. And
Speaker 1: I think what is happening here is that anti LGBTQ
Speaker 1: legislators they poll test these things, right, and what they
Speaker 1: have found is that there is a knowledge void, a
Speaker 1: knowledge gap, a familiarity gap that most Americans have about
Speaker 1: transgender people. And so what they have done is exploited
Speaker 1: that gap and filled it with disinformation about creating this
Speaker 1: caricature of who trans people are, right, to create this boogeyman,
Speaker 1: to create people that um that are scary to the
Speaker 1: everyday American because they don't have the luxury or the
Speaker 1: blessings of having transgender people in their life, because if
Speaker 1: they did, they would know that transgender people are doctors,
Speaker 1: they are teachers, their neighbors, they're sitting next to you
Speaker 1: in the pews of worship right there. Transgender people exist
Speaker 1: everywhere and have existed everywhere for forever, and so I
Speaker 1: think it's just the Their goal is to erode the
Speaker 1: support that we have so that we for so hard
Speaker 1: for more than thirty years, right, And the same thing
Speaker 1: that was happening with Anita Brian back in the late
Speaker 1: seventies post AIDS epidemic. All of these are replicating over
Speaker 1: and over and over because if you look at the
Speaker 1: messaging that was used in the seventies, if you look
Speaker 1: at the messaging that was used in the eighties and
Speaker 1: even during marriage equality, all of it is being brought
Speaker 1: back because it has worked before, and now they're finding
Speaker 1: another way to exploit it and reinforce those messages that
Speaker 1: have been so successful in the past. So, Ricardo, we
Speaker 1: know this, right, we know, and we know that Republicans
Speaker 1: and conservatives use the same messaging over and over again. Right,
Speaker 1: It's been the same messaging around Roe v. Wade. It's
Speaker 1: been the same messaging around voting a voter suppression. It's
Speaker 1: been the same. And yet we seem on our side
Speaker 1: to have difficulty in filling in what you said. And
Speaker 1: I love this the knowledge gap, right. You know, I
Speaker 1: can remember not too long ago, working on Capitol Hill
Speaker 1: in way back in the one hundred and thirteenth Congress,
Speaker 1: when we were trying to fight for a LGBTQ bill
Speaker 1: and wanted to take gay people right. Members of the
Speaker 1: community like me and you wanted decided that we were
Speaker 1: going to leave trans folks behind, needed to take them
Speaker 1: out of the legislation because there were more people who
Speaker 1: were aware of and knew had a lesbian friend or sister,
Speaker 1: or a gay brother or cousin or bisexual, but did
Speaker 1: not have any real connection understanding of the trans community.
Speaker 1: And so even within our own community, we were willing
Speaker 1: to leave those folks behind. So I feel like we
Speaker 1: bear the burden also of the knowledge gap that in
Speaker 1: that is present, right. I mean, somebody should have told
Speaker 1: me that woke AF was really woke AF because I'm
Speaker 1: having a really good time right now, mostly because you know,
Speaker 1: I want to be able to have this conversation with
Speaker 1: people that get it right, and I get twenty twenty
Speaker 1: one was hard, right. We are still experiencing the pandemic.
Speaker 1: So everyone has this added layer of trauma, whether they
Speaker 1: recognize it or not. Everyone has been through a very
Speaker 1: traumatic moment in our lifetime. Right. And on top of that,
Speaker 1: Texans went through the freeze last year. People died because
Speaker 1: we were on The government did not protect us, they
Speaker 1: did not do anything to help us. On top of that,
Speaker 1: you add legislative session last year, where every issue was
Speaker 1: on the table, right, nobody was off the table. It
Speaker 1: wasn't just LGBTQ people and people that are at the
Speaker 1: intersections of LGBTQ and immigration, people who are mostly marginalized
Speaker 1: in terms of like voting rights or reproductive rights. It
Speaker 1: was incredibly traumatic last year, right, So you're compounding all
Speaker 1: of these traumas and trying to do advocacy at the
Speaker 1: same time. Right. And so let's remember back in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one when this all began to pick up steam.
Speaker 1: We vaccines were not readily available. People were showing up
Speaker 1: to the Capitol to testify without any added protection, with
Speaker 1: just masks, and there were no mass mandates here. So
Speaker 1: you could walk around the building here at the Capitol
Speaker 1: with people that weren't necessarily putting your life, putting your
Speaker 1: life maybe slightly more at risk because they were unwilling
Speaker 1: to protect themselves. Right. So like last year, we needed
Speaker 1: our allies to be there, and we had a really
Speaker 1: hard time turning out LGBT plus people because mostly as
Speaker 1: a trans issue that didn't impact us. But guess what,
Speaker 1: it is always a means to an end. They are
Speaker 1: not going to stop at trans people, right, and you
Speaker 1: should show up because it's the right thing to do, right, Like,
Speaker 1: we don't play that like I you know, I have
Speaker 1: always had this mandate in like this this vision for
Speaker 1: what I want to do with my life, and I
Speaker 1: want to live it through service, right, And I did
Speaker 1: buy faith and I walk through faith, and I trust
Speaker 1: that I am put in a position where I need
Speaker 1: to be. I want to bring everybody with us. There
Speaker 1: is a place for everyone in this fight. You can
Speaker 1: contribute as little or as much as you can at
Speaker 1: any given moment. From home, you could do a ton
Speaker 1: of stuff. Stopping transphobia in conversations with your friends helps.
Speaker 1: It might not be showing up at the Capital giving testimony,
Speaker 1: but it helps. There's a tangible thing that everyone could
Speaker 1: do to contribute to creating a landscape where trans people
Speaker 1: are not just simply trying to survive, but are thriving
Speaker 1: and are living their fullest potential authentically without the fear
Speaker 1: and anxiety related to their their safety and well being. Ricardo,
Speaker 1: how do you all, equality Texas, you know, deal with
Speaker 1: the emotional fatigue that people have. I mean, you just
Speaker 1: listed out the onslought right of bills that have come
Speaker 1: out of your state. I mean you're talking about you know, folks,
Speaker 1: you know, not showing up in terms of protests because
Speaker 1: of the pandemic. And wasn't it also in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: one where the Democrat, the Texas Democrats fled the state
Speaker 1: to go to Washington, DC to say you need to
Speaker 1: do something. And even that major courageous act didn't turn out,
Speaker 1: like didn't didn't get the results that were needed. And
Speaker 1: so how do you all knowing that it's our voices,
Speaker 1: the voices of those within the LGBTQ community, but the
Speaker 1: voices of our allies that are needed in this moment,
Speaker 1: and yet we're experiencing COVID fatigue, you know, our democracy,
Speaker 1: all of these things are just compounded and folks are exhausted.
Speaker 1: Folks are exhausted. So I'll take this in two ways.
Speaker 1: People that do this work do it because it's passion work. Right.
Speaker 1: They want to do this because they are really passionate
Speaker 1: about this work, and that comes with a certain amount
Speaker 1: of risk when it comes to emotional, emotional, and physical health. Right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if you're not actively trying to take care of yourself,
Speaker 1: you're going to be consumed by this work, and that
Speaker 1: is unavoidable. You are going to be consumed. So unless
Speaker 1: you're inserting joy into life, unless you are in tune
Speaker 1: with the small parts of life that give you that joy,
Speaker 1: that help refill your cup, you're going to burn out
Speaker 1: very quickly. So what we try to do is provide
Speaker 1: that emotional support. We try to provide as many benefits
Speaker 1: as possible for our staff, but also recognizing that this
Speaker 1: work is just hard and we have to take care
Speaker 1: of ourselves. And in terms of folks on the ground,
Speaker 1: a constituents, parents advocates to turn out, you know, we
Speaker 1: try it as best as we can to be mindful
Speaker 1: of their trauma. So, for instance, fast forward to the
Speaker 1: DFPS situation that we're going through now. So the Governor
Speaker 1: and the Attorney General a couple of weeks ago release
Speaker 1: both an Attorney General opinion and then a subsequent guidance
Speaker 1: from the Governor saying that affirming your child's gender identity
Speaker 1: and giving them access to life saving healthcare is child abuse.
Speaker 1: It's child abuse. Might swear to God, don't even get
Speaker 1: me started. And that in itself doesn't have the backing
Speaker 1: of law. Right, neither the governor nor the Attorney in General.
Speaker 1: Can you no latter really say I'm going to change
Speaker 1: that law doesn't happen that way. That's why the legislature exists.
Speaker 1: That's why this same bill. They tried this, They tried
Speaker 1: this effort via a bill that failed in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1: So they're trying to do it administratively, but they can't.
Speaker 1: And so what people don't what people are experiencing right
Speaker 1: now are the practical applications of confusion. Right, people believes
Speaker 1: of power are going to tell them and give them
Speaker 1: the guidance and the truth that they seek. Right, because
Speaker 1: they are supposed to be trusted people in positions of power,
Speaker 1: and so they are putting the full force and power
Speaker 1: of the office of the governor to investigate loving families
Speaker 1: instead of actually addressing a Department of Family and Protective
Speaker 1: Services that has been sanctioned and for over ten years
Speaker 1: to fix the problems that currently exist. There are kids
Speaker 1: that are awaiting placement, sleeping in administrative offices. There are
Speaker 1: DFPS workers who are not being paid a living wage,
Speaker 1: they have unmanageable case loads. And you're going to take
Speaker 1: all of the existing resources to investigate people who love
Speaker 1: their children. Is bonkers. I mean, that is just insane, right, Like,
Speaker 1: I think that the legislative misconduct the lies, right because
Speaker 1: a lot of what Texas is doing is creating these
Speaker 1: laws that are trigger laws, right, Like, there's no way
Speaker 1: to really build up lawsuits, which the ACLU other folks
Speaker 1: have done Transgender Law Center. You know, people are suing Texas,
Speaker 1: but they're writing these legislations in such a way that
Speaker 1: it is the threat of it that forces people to
Speaker 1: shut down, Right, it's the threat of being investigated. I
Speaker 1: think I read something, and I'm certain that you know
Speaker 1: about a family. A woman, she works for Texas government,
Speaker 1: her child is transgender. She's now being investigated, and she
Speaker 1: was being investigated and now put on administrative leave. Pending
Speaker 1: the investigation of quote unquote abuse. So my question is like,
Speaker 1: how do we lift up the things that are not
Speaker 1: being done by this Republican administration in turn, and things
Speaker 1: that are being done to target and threaten and cause
Speaker 1: harm for LGBTQ people. But in doing so, they're leaving
Speaker 1: the rest of Texans behind. A couple of things here,
Speaker 1: Number one, these aren't laws, right again, Like this is
Speaker 1: just an opinion and a press room. It's just an opinion, okay,
Speaker 1: and press they're just it's like my mom saying I'm
Speaker 1: going to change the law because you shouldn't be going
Speaker 1: out on Friday night at ten o'clock. That has no
Speaker 1: backing of law, and like it just it is just
Speaker 1: an opinion. It is nothing that it can be enforced. Right.
Speaker 1: But the danger there is that you have people in
Speaker 1: positions of power who are confusing folks who are mandated
Speaker 1: to report. Right, And so then you have the practical
Speaker 1: applications of everyday life. How does this impact and trickle
Speaker 1: down to the daily lives of trans people? Right? And
Speaker 1: so parents are kind of going through the asking themselves
Speaker 1: the questions of like do I pull my kid from
Speaker 1: public school because they might encounter our teacher, a nurse,
Speaker 1: a social worker, an administrator who is not supportive of
Speaker 1: trans identities and report them to CPS. And what does
Speaker 1: my kid do if a CPS investigator shows up to
Speaker 1: school without me knowing? They don't have to call a parent,
Speaker 1: They can just show up then and talk to your
Speaker 1: kid at school? What happens if if a CPS investigator
Speaker 1: shows up to my door and knocks with an anonymous complaint. Right,
Speaker 1: people don't understand their rights, the totality of their rights.
Speaker 1: And right now, CPS doesn't have to comply with the
Speaker 1: governor's demands, but they do because the commissioner is appointed
Speaker 1: directly by the governor. So if you get to appoint
Speaker 1: the people that you know are going to do your
Speaker 1: dirty work, it makes it a lot easier to manipulating
Speaker 1: positions of authority and departments that are supposed to protect
Speaker 1: families and children they're not. How do we lift up
Speaker 1: the truth? I think oftentimes, you know, we spend a
Speaker 1: lot of time focus on negation, right, like right, negating
Speaker 1: their message. Yeah, we state what we believe, right, We
Speaker 1: know who trans people are, that's what we focus on.
Speaker 1: We know what the truth is. That's what we focus on.
Speaker 1: I don't care to spend my time to figure out
Speaker 1: why people and positions of power are not doing right
Speaker 1: by constituents that deserve to be protected, deserve to feel safe.
Speaker 1: I don't I don't spend time trying to figure it out.
Speaker 1: I don't negate anything that they say because it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter. What do you think that this administration,
Speaker 1: the Biden administration, could and should be doing in order
Speaker 1: to protect LGBTQ youth, particularly trans youth. We had the
Speaker 1: State of the Unions, you know, a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: and not a mention, not a mention of any of
Speaker 1: these bills that have come out, And I have to
Speaker 1: tell you that I was sorely disappointed right on a
Speaker 1: number of scales of what was addressed in what wasn't
Speaker 1: What do you think needs to happen or would happen
Speaker 1: at the federal level to signal to states, these rogue
Speaker 1: states like Texas and Florida that this is not going
Speaker 1: to be tolerated. You know, I've been in conversations with
Speaker 1: the Office of Civil Rights and HHS. Right they released
Speaker 1: a press statement last week about reaffirming the rights that
Speaker 1: transgender people have and when institutions that provide healthcare are
Speaker 1: in violation of federal law, which I think is helpful. Right,
Speaker 1: It's also really helpful to have the highest office in
Speaker 1: the country say that they see trans folks right. And
Speaker 1: so when the President mentioned that last week, I know
Speaker 1: it might have been in passing, maybe he didn't go
Speaker 1: in too much into the weeds of what's happening across
Speaker 1: the country. But to be a kid in Texas, a
Speaker 1: family in Texas and here the President say positive things
Speaker 1: about the trans community, I think is affirming in a
Speaker 1: way that we can't really articulate because the rhetoric that
Speaker 1: we hear here is completely the opposite. What worries me
Speaker 1: the most is that itself right. Like, if you think
Speaker 1: about it, as adults, we spend a majority of our
Speaker 1: adult life undoing the harm and the messages that we
Speaker 1: heard when we were come on right so much, so much.
Speaker 1: Imagine how hard it's going to be for the kids
Speaker 1: in Texas to undo the last two and a half years.
Speaker 1: Every single time that they've had to go into the
Speaker 1: Texas capital to defend their humanity is traumatic. Every time
Speaker 1: that they have to sit in a hearing, hearing from
Speaker 1: people who don't like them, don't see them, think they
Speaker 1: don't exist, want to erase their existence. Is traumatic. We
Speaker 1: were in a hearing having a press conference. People anti
Speaker 1: LGBTQ folks were screaming at parents and bullying children. These
Speaker 1: are adults bullying children in real time. I worry for
Speaker 1: their long term mental health because if I didn't have
Speaker 1: such a traumatic childhood and I'm still undoing things that
Speaker 1: I learned about myself through the experience, my lived experience,
Speaker 1: I can't imagine what's awaiting them, you know. I love Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: I'm so happy that you brought that up, because, you know,
Speaker 1: for a political party that has gotten away with referring
Speaker 1: to themselves as like the family first Party, the pro
Speaker 1: family party, right, it's pro certain people's family, right, it's
Speaker 1: pro families that look like you, pray like you, love
Speaker 1: like you. That's that's what it is. But we've allowed
Speaker 1: them to kind of hijack that and not lift up
Speaker 1: the fact that they are trauma traumatizing these kids. They
Speaker 1: are these are future voting citizens right like this, They
Speaker 1: are doing harm and yet using that very same language
Speaker 1: to say what they're loving, caring parents and community are
Speaker 1: doing for them is what is actually causing harm. And
Speaker 1: so you know, when you say what we need is love,
Speaker 1: just with the last few minutes that we have, you know,
Speaker 1: what does that look like in your mind? Because there
Speaker 1: are people right now, whether they are in the LGBTQ
Speaker 1: plus community or not, that are seeing these seeing what
Speaker 1: is happening, and they want to do something. They want
Speaker 1: to be of support. So what are some of the
Speaker 1: ways that we can you know, envelop these trans kids
Speaker 1: so that they know that they are not alone, that
Speaker 1: they are loved. What are some of the ways that
Speaker 1: we can show our support financially, verbally, and by presence.
Speaker 1: You know, I go back to the Golden rule and
Speaker 1: treating people how you want to be treated. Right, It's simple,
Speaker 1: it really is. But being able to recognize someone's divinity
Speaker 1: and knowing that as human beings just really honestly, fundamentally,
Speaker 1: as human beings, everyone has the right to dignity and
Speaker 1: respect and that if someone can internalize that message now
Speaker 1: because I said it or because somebody else repeated, I
Speaker 1: think that's important. That's important because if you can recognize
Speaker 1: a humanity in someone, it becomes exponentially harder to attack them.
Speaker 1: I think tangibly. What people can do is stop transphobia,
Speaker 1: stop homophobia, stop in its track. If you know someone
Speaker 1: who is saying something that you know they shouldn't be saying.
Speaker 1: I think Maya Angelo's she used to say that words
Speaker 1: get into into things, right, and then they become things.
Speaker 1: And that's true. Yea, that is true. They take a
Speaker 1: life of their own if you don't interrupt them. So
Speaker 1: I would say, interrupt the negative language that you're hearing.
Speaker 1: Do your research, right, Every credible medical association has said
Speaker 1: that the healthcare that is accessible, that is age appropriate
Speaker 1: best practice for trans young people is appropriate, right like
Speaker 1: they are behind it, squarely behind it, and so I
Speaker 1: would do some research. I would try to meet trans
Speaker 1: folks because they will enrich your life, believe that. And
Speaker 1: then I would just say, get involved in whatever way
Speaker 1: makes sense for you right now, whether it's sending an
Speaker 1: email to DFPS they have a hearing on Friday, showing
Speaker 1: up at the hearing on Friday, just to give public
Speaker 1: opinion about their strategic plan, you know, supporting organizations like
Speaker 1: the Transcender Education Network of Texas, the ACOU Human Rights Campaign,
Speaker 1: Texas Freedom Network, land A Legal Equality Texas Resource Center,
Speaker 1: Mantra Center, out Youth, Borderland, Rainbow Center. There are so
Speaker 1: many organizations across Texas that are doing incredible work right now,
Speaker 1: incredible work right now. Bt WI, Black Trans Women Inc.
Speaker 1: They do incredible work. B Tech does incredible work. And
Speaker 1: then I would just say, you know, hug You're like
Speaker 1: people who have a transiendent person in their life, hugged them,
Speaker 1: tell them you love them, because this is not easy.
Speaker 1: This is not an easy time to be authentically who
Speaker 1: you are and then hold that space. Work HARDO. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for the work that you are doing,
Speaker 1: for powering and holding down the front lines of the
Speaker 1: fight against blatant bigotry and discrimination in Texas. I know
Speaker 1: that this work, as you said, is not easy, So
Speaker 1: I hope that you do take good care of yourself
Speaker 1: and take your own advice about joy and rest and
Speaker 1: all of those things so that you can continue to
Speaker 1: helm equality Texas and continue the fight. So we appreciate
Speaker 1: you and hope that you'll come back to Woke AF
Speaker 1: and talk to us more. I will, and for everybody
Speaker 1: else who's listening, pay attention to your local equality organization
Speaker 1: because the odds are that they're fighting these bills that
Speaker 1: could become statute in law, and luckily for us, this
Speaker 1: can't unless we're an active legislative session. So get involved,
Speaker 1: find a way, and thank you so much, Dania, thank you.
Speaker 1: That is it for me today. Dear friends on Woke
Speaker 1: a f as always, Power to the people and to
Speaker 1: all the people power, get woke and stay woke as fuck.