Jeff Graham, Executive Director of Georgia Equality

The North GA Blue: Getting into Good Trouble podcast covers democratic politics in North GA, the 9th Congressional District, and across the state of Georgia. The podcast is in Q&A/Interview format with various democratic politicos including county chairs, democratic operatives, politicians, and more. It is our mission to deliver crucial information to our listeners in a timely manner as we fight for community values and principles in the 3rd most Conservative district in the state. Our website is: https://www.fcdpga.com/podcasts

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Transcript

Meral Clarke: 0:00

Hello and welcome back to the North Georgia Blue Podcast produced and distributed by the Fannin County, Georgia Democratic Party. I'm your host Meral Clarke and we're getting into some good trouble today with our guest Jeff Graham, Executive Director of Georgia Equality. Welcome to the show,Jeff. We're happy to have you here.

Jeff Graham: 0:21

Thanks Meral. It's delightful for me to be here as well. I love the folks up in Fannin County.

Meral Clarke: 0:27

Oh, well, thank you. And we appreciate all you do. So let's let our listeners know a little bit about you. As stated. Jeff is the executive director of Georgia Equality, an organization that works to advance fairness, safety and opportunity for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities across the state. Jeff began advocating on LGBT and AIDS related issues as a college student in the mid 80s. You're aging yourself Jeff, as I will in just a moment as well and has continued his advocacy since that time. He has been involved in a wide variety of grassroots and legislative advocacy campaigns in over the past 24 years and has served as either an executive director or board member to a number of local and national organizations working on issues related to gay and transgender rights, access to health care, community empowerment, and HIV and of course, AIDS. Jeff has received numerous awards and recognition for both his advocacy and nonprofit work from organizations such as the National Center for Human Rights Education, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, the Atlanta city council, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia and several local publications and organizations within the LGBTQ plus community and HIV communities. He is a founding board member of Pro Georgia, a membership organization of nonprofits focused on strategic civic engagement activities, and Georgia engaged in organization that supports coordinated and strategic engagement on policy issues and electoral progress across a variety of issues. He served as Grand Marshal of the Atlanta Pride Parade and has been named to the most influential lists of Atlanta and Georgia Trend magazines and the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Oh, my You're a busy fella. And we appreciate all you do. So this past legislative session saw the defeat, thankfully of seven explicitly anti LGBTQ bills and significant advances. Also, thankfully, for people living with HIV, including criminal justice reform, full funding for the AIDS drug assistance program and waivers to extend Medicaid coverage for people living with AIDS. Can you expand on these initiatives and exactly how your group work to defeat the bad bills and pass the good ones?

Jeff Graham: 3:05

Sure, the long story short is that it's important that we remember George equality, the importance of working on both sides of the aisle, and across the political spectrum and finding equality minded folks everywhere. So certainly down at the legislature. While I am a committed progressive myself, I work for progressive candidates quite often. But the truth of the matter is that while Georgia politics are changing, Georgia is very much a purple state. And I think we'll be a purple state for some time. And our legislature will reflect that reality, I'm sure for the better part of another decade, at least. And so some of it is the simple math. We can't do our work. If we just focus on Metro Atlanta legislators, we can't be successful with our work. If we just focus on building relationships with Democrats, it is important for us to work in a bipartisan manner. And frankly, I do think from a philosophical point of view, all of society works better when we have organizations and issues that can build bipartisan support and don't get defined as just the purview of one party rather than another because that's not how most people live their lives. That's not how our community operates. And when it comes to issues, specifically issues of concern to the LGBT community, or people living with HIV and AIDS, we all have family members that are conservative. We have family members that come from the Democratic Party, as well as the Republican Party that are independents that are part of other political parties. And so our work needs to reflect that if we are truly to represent the diversity in the interests of the LGBT community. And so that's the bottom line of how we did that now in specific is the fact that there are a quality minded folks on both sides of the aisle that were able to work with us, especially folks in the House of Representatives to make sure that some of these bad bills just did not come out of committee did not come out for a vote. They looked at the damage that would be done to the mental health and well being of transgender kids. They looked at the potential economic devastation that could happen if we have the sorts of boycotts that we've seen in other states where they've passed anti LGBTQ legislation. And then certainly this year with bills like the don't say, gay bill, we've seen how disruptive that has been to Florida and to the Florida business community pitting Governor DeSantis against the Disney Corporation and other large employers within the state of Florida. Frankly, I'm glad that we were able to appeal to leaders on both sides to understand that Georgians are facing very, very serious issues. And let's talk about those issues that really impact people's day to day lives. There were so many divisive issues that did unfortunately, get voted on in this legislative session. I'm glad that the worst of the bills were not a part of that. And especially for people living with HIV, I'm glad that we were able to pass some legislation that is going to make life much better, much fairer and increase access to life saving medical care and medications.

Meral Clarke: 6:27

Well, that's fantastic. And we appreciate all of your hard work in ensuring that our civil rights are protected for all people, not just a select few. So at the time of this taping, and you're actually kicking off Pride Month for us here in June. But at the time of this taping, the egregious actions potentially of the Supreme Court has shown us that our civil rights are still in danger, even after 49 years of subtle block. And there's a lot of discussion that if they're capable of overturning Roe v Wade, they're probably and when I say they, I'm going to say the far right conservative members that comprise the majority now of the Supreme Court that it's possible that they will next go after gay marriage and try to get that overturned, you said that you were working on these issues in the mid 80s. As a college student when I was a college student back in the early to mid 80s. And I'm dating myself as well, I marched for abortion rights. When I was in college, I marched on Washington, I worked at Planned Parenthood, on my summers off from school, I've always been a hugely pro choice type of advocate. So what are your thoughts? And I know this just happened, but tell me what your thoughts are on the erosion of our civil and human rights.

Jeff Graham: 7:49

Yeah, along with so many people, in fact, the vast majority of Americans, so let's be clear on that it is 61% of Americans support keeping Roe vs. Wade in place. I don't know the exact number here in Georgia, but I believe it's higher than that 61%. So when we say it's the majority of people, we really mean the vast majority of people understand that these basic rights to autonomy and making decisions over your body are incredibly important. And that goes across political ideology. So it really is an extreme right fringe position to eliminate this basic right. And while I'm not an attorney, I studied the workings of the Supreme Court at length, frankly, as an LGBTQ identified person as a gay man. The only rights I have at this point in time are rights that have been granted by court cases, and specifically codified by the US Supreme Court, because there's not been a lot of legislation that has been passed to protect us. So I'm very aware of that. But that said, first and foremost, I think that before we jump to talking about the impact on same sex marriage, or broader LGBTQ rights, we need to acknowledge that this is devastating to women. And this is unprecedented that the Supreme Court if in fact, this draft decision becomes the final decision that we see probably at the end of June, it is unconscionable that they would take such dramatic steps and that they would overturn as you mentioned, 50 years of legal precedents. I know that the Supreme Court has not done this in modern times. And I believe that a very rarely if done this at all in American history. And so that sort of radical departure from tradition should worry everyone. And then of course, I hope folks really realize that if in fact this decision is final, and the way Justice Alito has described it in his draft argument if that becomes final, taking away the very concept have a right to privacy eroding the protections that we have felt have been there for so many people in so many instances that were enshrined in the 14th. Amendment to do a radical reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment really sets an incredibly dangerous and troubling precedent that could and will affect many communities just beyond women's reproductive justice and the right to an abortion.

Meral Clarke: 10:29

I'll be honest with you, it's incredibly frightening that the far right seems to have so much sway, but we have to keep fighting. I mean, we keep fighting the same battles over and over. And it just seems that our country is going through some throes of far right versus far left and moderation seems to be out the window. So I'm hoping and praying that this will not be the case, moving forward in June. But if it is, we're ready to fight. And we're ready to stand alongside the LGBTQ plus community and fight with you as well.

Jeff Graham: 11:02

We must be there with the women's community as well. I mean, my own history, I did clinic defense, I did clinic escort in the 80s into the 90s. I have been proud to stand with my colleagues at Planned Parenthood at feminist Women's Health Center, these issues are very much interconnected, not just in my mind, but in reality, if you don't have control over your own body, if you do not have control over your own relationships, can you really have a sense of liberty and freedom? And I think that's what's at stake here.

Meral Clarke: 11:36

It certainly is, and we are in this together. So we will fight. We'll keep fighting until we prevail. Another topic that I also wanted to touch on that's topical at the time of this taping, Georgia Equality. Your organization just released a press release, as matter of fact about the High School Association voting on transgender participation in sports. Can you elaborate on this, what's going on and what we can do?

Jeff Graham: 12:05

Yeah, so while we defeated legislation that would have created in law, an outright ban on the ability of transgender students to participate in sports, there was language that was added to the horrible anti curriculum anti history bill HB 1084, it was added in literally the last half hour of the legislative session that would set up a legislative oversight commission to the Georgia High School Association. And it said that this commission could take a look at the participation of transgender athletes, and issue recommendations for policies, if appropriate. So there was some language in there that created a pathway towards a ban. But I think as upset as I was to even have that language added at the last minute, it really did represent an opportunity to study a very, very complicated issue and come up with what we hoped would be a process to come up with some guidelines that people on both sides of this issue could take comfort in, and instead GHSA announced yesterday that they were going to put this item on their agenda for today, there was no real public notice. There was no real discussion, there was not the sort of thoughtful study of this that we had hoped that there would be they just rushed this through. And they reverted to a policy that they had prior to 2016, which is what their excuses but unfortunately, so much understanding has changed since 2016. And GHSA, already had one of the most restrictive policies in the nation when it came to transgender individuals being able to participate in sports.

Meral Clarke: 13:56

And Jeff, GSHA stands for...

Jeff Graham: 14:01

Georgia High School Association. So they're the regulatory body that oversees eligibility in terms of High School Sports, but they also set rules and regulations, boundaries, conferences, things like that, and I feel that they cave to some strong political pressure. I do think since this is Fannin County, it's important to point out that actually in his comments at the end of the session, and after this amendment had been introduced, Speaker Ralston himself said that he was going to communicate with GHSA that he did not want to see this use to specifically target transgender students. And so I really appreciate speaker Ralston for making those comments and I wish that GHSA ha had heeded them and not rushed to codify what is now in effect a ban on transgender students being able to participate in sports. What it says is that student eligibility is defined for sex segregated sports based upon a birth certificate at birth and that sounds like it's very simple. But as we heard testimony at the legislature for intersex kids, this can be very challenging because the concept of their gender identity and actually their biological definition of gender can and does change over time. If they're intersex and more people are intersex than a lot of folks are aware of, you know, in the instance of transgender kids, I think that there is just so much misinformation and lies that have been spread about transgender kids. First and foremost, here in Georgia, after two years of public debate, there was not a single instance that was brought forward of a transgender athlete participating in sports in such a way that it added to discrimination against any other students. So that really is a solution in search of a problem. And then this has been mischaracterized as boys competing against girls, because more and more children are able to express their gender identity at an earlier age. And because their parents are hearing that and acting appropriately working with medical professionals to help kids through the gender affirmation process earlier in age, with things such as hormonal treatment puberty blockers, that transgender kids that want to participate in sports, it is so unfair to characterize this as boys wanting to compete against girls, these are transgender girls, and more and more of them are being raised from an early age as girls and they should be allowed to participate along with their peers. And at the end of the day, the vast majority of students that participate in high school athletics or junior high school athletic programs, they're doing this for a sense of camaraderie. They're doing this for the benefits of learning, teamwork, learning, discipline, physical fitness, they're not doing this to become professional athletes or compete in the Olympics. But even on those elite levels, the NCAA, the Olympics, the Women's Sports Federation, all of them have guidelines in place that allow for transgender athletes to participate. None of them have these outright bans on the participation of transgender kids. And so that's why we feel that it is very discriminatory that it's harmful. And that what happened today with GHSA was unwarranted and frankly, will damage kids in the future.

Meral Clarke: 17:36

There's no doubt in my mind. So the way to defeat these types of discriminatory legislation is to elect Democrats and progressives at local level. And speaking of the local level, you've worked to successfully pass comprehensive non discrimination ordinances in 14 cities and counties protecting 1.2 million Georgians across employment discrimination, housing and public accommodations. Why do we not have a state level civil rights law? And what must happen to ensure its passage?

Jeff Graham: 18:14

Yeah, thanks for bringing that up. Meral. I don't understand why Georgia never passed a statewide civil rights law in the 70s, when other states across the country did this. In fact, I think it's important first and foremost, for folks to realize that we're one of only three states where there is not a broad, comprehensive civil rights law that covers anyone, those traditional categories of race, age, sex, religion, disability, veteran status, all of those are covered under federal law, but there is no statewide law that covers folks to protect them against discrimination in those areas. And then, of course, federal law is not explicit on including sexual orientation and gender identity. And so of course, that's not covered in many states, actually under state law. But that's why it's an uphill battle here in Georgia. And that's why until we are able to pass a statewide civil rights law, it's important for local municipalities and counties to act to do this. I feel that first and foremost, it's about fairness. It's also a statement of principle that a community values the great diversity that exists in all communities here in Georgia, and that is diversity in race, in nationality and ethnicity in religious beliefs, as well as sexual orientation and gender identity. And so I'm so proud of those 14 municipalities. It's work that has been done on a bipartisan basis. I have hoped that we will see action on a statewide level. In fact, last fall, the Republican Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Brian Strickland had the first hearing down at the legislature to look at this issue. First of all, there was no opposition no one showed up to oppose the concept of the statewide civil rights Law that instead, there were numerous organizations that talked not just about the importance of ensuring civil rights, but the importance of making sure that there is fairness across the board so that small business owners that do operate across city and county lines are all playing in the same playbook. And so from a business perspective, from a social justice or civil rights perspective, and from a perspective of making a statement around fairness and supportive diversity, we need more local ordinances to passing Georgia and we ultimately need to pass the statewide civil rights law. And I hope that we can do that in the next few

Meral Clarke: 20:35

Hope we can as well. So it's estimated that years. nearly 500,000 Georgians, quite a few folks identify as LGBTQ plus, that's 4.5% of the overall population in the state. So this we know is a significant number. It's a lot of people so explain how we can protect and safeguard our gay neighbors and friends.

Jeff Graham: 21:04

First and foremost, it is a stepping up and recognizing that there are LGBTQ folks that live in every single community here in Georgia, there are LGBTQ folks in every congregation, in every family, in every community, we really are everywhere, and creating a safe space for folks to come out is critically important one of the factoids from the 2010 census. And we haven't seen analysis on the 2020 census yet, but I imagine it's probably going to be about the same. When you look at the number of same sex couples in a community on a per capita basis with other married couples in a community. Fulton DeKalb. Chatham counties come in one, two and three, but then Fannin and Gilmer come in, in number four, and five. So there's a real high percentage of LGBT folks that live right there in your community. And I think that that's why frankly, Blue Ridge in specific has been a very welcoming community for the LGBT community. I know that there's been challenges there challenges everywhere. It's not perfect, but I think by and large, it's been a relatively welcoming community. I think that's why speaker Ralston has taken a very level headed approach to some of the issues facing the LGBT community. But we need to hold elected officials accountable. And we need to remember this when it does come time to vote and know that this is a democratic podcast. And certainly, we have seen the Democratic Party overall make some dramatic changes over the last 10 years on their positions around LGBT issues, and Democratic candidates in specific that never used to want to work with Georgia Equality now fall over themselves, to try to gain our endorsement. I hope that folks on the Republican side will start to follow suit, because I have a lot of conversations with Republicans, they also have LGBT kids. There are also LGBT folks that vote Republican. So I hope that folks on the Republican side of the aisle will work to educate and hold their own elected officials accountable, as well, because that's the change that ultimately we need, so that we don't see these sorts of harmful, discriminatory bills become law here in Georgia. And I hope that we can get back to that core principle of fairness and family values they say that they espouse.

Meral Clarke: 23:19

That would be nice if we can get rid of the far right extremism that's taken over the GOP at this point. I do believe that would be possible. So moving on, Georgia has the second highest population of African Americans who identify as LGBTQ plus in the country. And I didn't know that that's really interesting. So why are gay black people as so much risk in our state?

Jeff Graham: 23:46

It is the combination of not just homophobia but racism that comes to bear. We talked about it earlier House Bill 1084, that included this commission to study transgender students. But the bill itself is the bill that takes aim at addressing in an honest way, the history of racism in our state and in our country. And all students deserve to see themselves and their families reflected in what they learned at school and to specifically target. The study of race as a quote unquote, divisive concept is just unconscionable. And it is just an especially insidious form of racism that should trouble all of us. And so members of the LGBT community who are people of color who are black or Latinx, or identify as Asian Pacific Islander, they deal not just with the stigma, the bias, the discrimination because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. They are also dealing with issues of racism, racial discrimination, racial bias, and so that's why I think all of us who care about social justice who care about creating a more fair world who care about working to realize Dr. King's vision of beloved community need to work intersectionally. And understand that's not just the right thing to do. That's how people live their lives. And that's how our communities and families look, in the 21st century, interracial marriages, people with multiple racial or ethnic backgrounds, it is more the norm and it is more common. And so we really need to recognize that in all of our policy, all of our laws and all of our advocacy,

Meral Clarke: 25:46

Completely agree. So certainly back to the transgender folks, Georgia has the fifth highest population of transgender individuals in the country, also a very significant number. Again, please explain why these folks are particularly at risk and what we can do to ensure their safety as their population grows.

Jeff Graham: 26:10

We've actually talked quite a bit about transgender kids, but it starts with understanding and respect. And when I say understanding, it's recognizing that transgender folks are not people who are making choices to change their gender. These are folks with a strong sense of who they are. And their sense of self does not line up with the gender assigned at birth. Meral, both of us dated ourselves as folks that were college students in the 80s. So we both grew up with hearing these stories about gay and lesbian people as pedophiles. We went through the 80s and 90s, when it was debated whether sexual orientation was a voice or not. Now, the vast majority of people understand that sexual orientation is an innate characteristic, and people don't choose their sexual orientation. And they're not surprised when kids identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual early on in age, the issue of transgender youth, I hope and believe that a decade from now, looking back and debating whether or not it's appropriate for a kid to identify as transgender will seem as antiquated, and biased as questioning whether a kid can determine their sexual orientation at an early age. And so that's where a lot of the understanding comes from. And then it's making sure that we don't cave into the fear. And the misleading arguments that are being made out there, that parents that affirm the gender identity of their children are practicing child abuse, that is a lie. And it's a dangerous lie. These are parents that love their kids, and they love their kids exactly for who they are believe in a God, then it is fair to say that they love their kids in the way that God created because God did create to transgender in so thank goodness, we've not had that here in Georgia. And I understand that all of this is a new area for so many folks, not just conservatives, but a lot of people that are liberals, a lot of people who consider themselves good allies of the LGBT community, it's a new issue for them. I encourage people to really study the issue to learn both sides, and ideally, to talk to a parent of a trans child or to talk to a friend who may be transgender in a respectful way. But to just find out what are those day to day life struggles, we've not talked about voting rights. I don't think we're gonna have time to do that today. But it's on everybody's minds right now, in voting rights here in Georgia. so central to that is having an ID less than 80% of transgender Georgians actually have identification that matches their gender identity. Imagine what those folks go through when they show up to their polling place on election day and have to pull out their ID wondering if they're going to face discrimination and harassment, for the very simple act of voting.

Meral Clarke: 29:16

Especially in rural, overwhelmingly red areas where we are.

Jeff Graham: 29:21

Absolutely, again, just like LGB folks, lesbian, gay, bisexual folks, there are transgender folks throughout all parts of Georgia and there are a lot of transgender individuals. They deserve to live in the communities they grew up in the communities that they love, they shouldn't have to move to a large city, or they shouldn't have to move out of state to just be left alone and allowed to live their life in peace.

Meral Clarke: 29:48

I completely agree. So circling back to what you said earlier about Fannin and Gilmer counties being the home to the fourth and fifth highest percentage respectively of same sex couples on a per capita basis. This is a big deal, especially in the ninth district where we reside, which is approximately 80% Red to 20%. Blue. How can we elevate and celebrate gay people without putting their lives in danger in these rural areas? Because there's so much hate, bigotry and far right conservatism here. What do you advise that we do to celebrate gay folks and make them feel welcome?

Jeff Graham: 30:28

Now, this is where I think ally ship becomes incredibly important for folks listening who may own a small business, it can be as simple as putting out a sign that says All are welcome here, or a window sticker with a rainbow on it. I understand for some business owners, you may feel that you may be taking a risk, but as you said, for LGBT folks go on about living their life authentically, we are taking risks every single day just by going about our business in a community. So that's some form of ally ship, I think certainly to take advantage of public forums, letters to the editor, local community publications, church newsletters to just amplify and bring up this topic. I know that I've been invited to speak at a number of local churches in the area, the greater Blue Ridge fanning area, don't hide your support and Ally ship from the greater community, really embrace it as an important value for the community in which you live. If you hear of discrimination, or if you witness it, speak up in the moment, I understand how much courage that can sometimes take but it goes a long way. And then at the end of the day, we can always practice this in our own families by making sure that we're using someone's proper pronouns that we are calling someone by the name that they identify as understanding the importance of inviting a spouse or a significant other, or even the person that someone is dating to a family gathering just like you would with a straight couple. It's those simple things that oftentimes people I think, take for granted, but they can make a big difference in the life of someone that you know.

Meral Clarke: 32:18

Yes, and they do add up, as well. So

Jeff Graham: 32:23

And then, of course, at the end of the day, vote that conscience. And remember these people when you cast your vote and hold your elected officials accountable when they cave in to misinformation and promote discriminatory practices, call them out.

Meral Clarke: 32:37

Yes. And it's always excellent advice. So if someone wants to learn more about you learn more about Georgia Equality, your organization volunteer, and I don't know if you can accept donations, but can you tell us where we can send them?

Jeff Graham: 32:53

Yeah, our website is the best place for all of that information. It's Georgia Equality, all spelled out dot ORG Georgia equality.org. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Georgia Equality or GA quality depending upon which social media you might be on. That's where you can find out more about us and be informed of updates of what's going on across the state the issues that we're working on. Certainly by signing up to our email list, that's where you can find out about volunteer opportunities. And one of the things that we learned how to do during COVID was how to incorporate volunteers from around the state in our ongoing work. And that's something that as we open back up, we aren't going to be doing more things in person. But we're going to continue to have these virtual volunteer activities. A lot of it has to do with getting out the vote, making sure that people are registered to vote, letting people in specific communities know when there's an issue going on, like an upcoming vote on a non discrimination ordinance, or later this year, when we need people to comment on and support a waiver to expand Medicaid for people living with HIV here in the State of Georgia, we'll need people to send in public comments in support of that. So those are the some of the volunteer activities that people can do. Unfortunately, we did not get our application in in time. So we missed this year's Art in the Park festival in the spring and the one in the same weekend as a matter of pride. So we're all going to be down at Atlanta pride. But frankly, it's events that staff really looked forward to myself included over the years coming up and spending time in Blue Ridge with folks and that's also there's local volunteer opportunities are where people who live up in Blue Ridge could help us by volunteering to help staff those tables at Art in the Park but other events that are going on.

Meral Clarke: 34:41

Sure, well we appreciate that and you're welcome here anytime. Blue Ridge is a welcoming community. It's a blue dots surrounded in a sea of red. So we're fortunate to have that here. So finally Jeff and I ask all my guests this question, tell us a fun fact about yourself something not necessarily related to your work or your very fine organization and the great work that you're doing there. Tell us something fun just about Jeff.

Jeff Graham: 35:09

Sure. Well, actually, you know, a lot of folks in Blue Ridge already know my dog Josie because when I dared, what the Blue Ridge without Josie I get called out. So certainly my dog is a very famous dog on Instagram. But a fun fact about me. I actually started off in life, working in theater. I was a theater major. And four years before I started getting paid for my advocacy. I was a costume designer, and I did wardrobe for film and TV projects as well.

Meral Clarke: 35:38

Oh, wonderful. And what fun. Do you still participate in that? Or are you just too busy right now?

Jeff Graham: 35:45

Work keeps me awfully busy these days.

Meral Clarke: 35:47

Yes, I'm sure I'm sure there's a lot going on. Certainly. Well. Thank you, Jeff, for joining us today and sharing more about your critical work to support the LGBTQ plus community and ensure equality and equity. I'm Meral Clarke and on behalf of our team, I'd like to thank everyone for listening to the North Georgia Blue Podcast. Join us next time when we chat with Kathleen Kennedy a minor out and proud asexual and a romantic woman on the LGBT spectrum and strong north Georgia Democratic activist. To learn more about us and the work that we're doing. Visit us online at Fannin County, Georgia democrats.com all spelled out share the North Georgia Blue Podcast with your friends and family be sure to subscribe and follow and if you enjoy our podcasts be a founding patron and friend of the show at North Georgia blue podcast.com/patron Now with three different giving levels to choose from offering cool swag recognition on the shown website and valuable gift cards to help us continue getting into more good trouble.