Speaker 1: We're going to be the loud ones.
Speaker 1: We're willing to speak out.
Speaker 2: I'm not politically correct.
Speaker 2: If you want the truth, I'll give it to you.
Speaker 2: We're going to start having this wine.
Speaker 3: Maybe we'll show some true colors.
Speaker 1: Welcome back everyone to Coffee with Gays.
Speaker 1: We are back after a little bit of a hiatus.
Speaker 1: It has been a little moment since our last episode, which was recorded in June for Pride.
Speaker 1: It was our kind of coming out stories and our coming out episodes.
Speaker 1: You'll notice a little bit of a change.
Speaker 1: We now have a new cast member, reed.
Speaker 1: Welcome, reed hello everybody adam has decided to move on and he has other priorities in life and we loved having him on.
Speaker 3: Rest in pieces.
Speaker 3: Rest in peace.
Speaker 3: We're not even friends anymore.
Speaker 3: We got rid of him.
Speaker 3: It's done.
Speaker 3: Ryan is very excited.
Speaker 1: And I'm very excited because Reed actually was on another episode and helped tremendously with editing.
Speaker 1: He's very talented in that and doing like transcripting and stuff.
Speaker 1: So I'm personally excited I don't have to do all the work and Adam was very not helpful in that because he doesn't know how to work a computer or his phone or really anything.
Speaker 3: All he knows how to take conference calls or family A base time.
Speaker 1: That's about all.
Speaker 1: He knows how to do.
Speaker 3: He's really good at that.
Speaker 2: Can he do drywall, though I thought he could do drywall as well.
Speaker 3: I don't know, but he can't do chimneys and I'm going to keep bringing that up.
Speaker 3: He couldn't fix her chimney, no, he turned it down.
Speaker 3: It's a small job, so I bring that up every time.
Speaker 3: I want to let that one go.
Speaker 3: It's so fun.
Speaker 2: He tried to hand my company a couple of jobs and we even went out saw them.
Speaker 2: It was like a four-story townhouse over here in Highland Park and it was a long story, but yeah.
Speaker 1: I have no need for drywall.
Speaker 1: So, yeah, we love adam.
Speaker 1: He's still a part of our group, but we're very excited to have you on read.
Speaker 1: Why don't you introduce yourself to our fans and tell us what you're bringing to?
Speaker 3: coffee with gays.
Speaker 3: Is it an introduction as like a game, like one of those fast questions?
Speaker 1: sure.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, first of all, tell everyone where you're from and kind of like where and I don't know a little bit about your perspective.
Speaker 2: Oh, really quick.
Speaker 2: Okay, cool.
Speaker 2: Born and raised in South Florida, so I'm Floridian.
Speaker 2: He shows like Ryan, two Florida boys.
Speaker 2: Okay, I'll be five years.
Speaker 2: Can you believe that I've been here five years?
Speaker 2: In December, I just realized that the other day.
Speaker 2: So I've been here five years, so still fresh.
Speaker 1: Why did you move to Texas?
Speaker 2: Have you ever been to Florida?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love Florida though.
Speaker 2: Okay, so, like Ryan, I love Florida as a state have you met any people?
Speaker 3: I'm getting defensive.
Speaker 3: Of course you're getting defensive.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's natural.
Speaker 2: No, the people in Florida, they're just not.
Speaker 2: They're not.
Speaker 2: They're Floridians.
Speaker 1: Or they're New Yorkers or they're.
Speaker 1: You know, you're going to start pissing Ryan off and he's going to want us to replace you.
Speaker 3: I'm already about to go across the room.
Speaker 3: You know what.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Reed, for joining.
Speaker 3: We're going to find a new guest for the next episode.
Speaker 1: Okay, so let's wrap it fire.
Speaker 1: Are you a top or bottom?
Speaker 1: I am a verse bottom.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's a raging brother, single or married or in a relationship.
Speaker 3: I am single Favorite music artist.
Speaker 3: There's no how?
Speaker 3: About genre Country, okay?
Speaker 1: That's a good answer.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what else do you want?
Speaker 1: What's like I don't know.
Speaker 1: What do you want people to know about you?
Speaker 2: I'm a project manager for a roofing and contracting company.
Speaker 1: And you just started real estate.
Speaker 2: I am now also a real estate agent yes, with Keller Williams, northwest Dallas.
Speaker 1: Actually, I know something about you that I think makes you very different from Ryan and I.
Speaker 1: You are kind of a little bit more conservative when it comes to dating and just how many people you would have been with oh, are we referring back to the last episode where we did the numbers?
Speaker 3: I'm conservative, blaine.
Speaker 2: I don't know what you're talking about after listening to that episode I realized you did not answer that question.
Speaker 2: Which question the numbers get like we?
Speaker 3: know, we know blaine's, oh, and like 7 000.
Speaker 3: Well, I did not say that 1500 or something, or 1300 maybe I think it's important to note like no shame, and not like you want 7 000, 7 000, we never said that don't ever.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's not what I said.
Speaker 1: I don't exactly remember what I said, but but read as very low it's still the same headcount that it was Just head count.
Speaker 3: What does head count mean?
Speaker 3: How many people is it with?
Speaker 3: Because I hear things like body.
Speaker 3: What is it Body count?
Speaker 3: I think body count sounds.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was dating somebody up until recently.
Speaker 2: 21?
Speaker 2: No, it's up to you, I think it was 21 or 22.
Speaker 2: And you're how old now?
Speaker 2: 39 in August.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I was 21 or 22.
Speaker 3: And you're how old now?
Speaker 3: 39 in August.
Speaker 3: I think he's just such a nice boy.
Speaker 3: I love it.
Speaker 3: So nice, so innocent.
Speaker 2: Maybe I mean, if you want to chalk it up to.
Speaker 3: I can't juggle.
Speaker 3: I love that you have that.
Speaker 3: I feel like you know the number.
Speaker 3: I just stopped at a certain point.
Speaker 3: I used to make a list.
Speaker 3: Yeah, me too, but I God, god, I hope mom's not listening.
Speaker 3: He's just a very yeah.
Speaker 1: So he's a very nice down-to-earth boy from Florida, so I love that Great perspective.
Speaker 1: So welcome, reed, to the show.
Speaker 1: Thank you, super excited to have you.
Speaker 1: I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1: So before I get into today's topic, I want to discuss what is kind of upcoming, because we actually pre-recorded with Adam a couple episodes that I find to be super powerful.
Speaker 1: We were going to launch them right after our Pride episode, but they they're very it's actually a very poignant story of a friend of ours, that, who came out of the closet after 35 years.
Speaker 1: He was kind of forced out of the closet.
Speaker 1: It is a really crazy story.
Speaker 1: I mean, this guy just was outed.
Speaker 1: He had a wife, daughters.
Speaker 1: This guy just was outed, he had a wife, daughters, and you know he's 60 years old and it's really a story about his life and how he felt prior to this whole thing happening in an incident where he was outed by somebody, and then really it's a two-parter and the second part is like kind of how he felt, you know, coming out and being gay afterwards.
Speaker 1: So we had prerecorded it and then a lot of things happened in his life and we felt like it wasn't appropriate to launch it okay.
Speaker 2: So that's why because I've been waiting.
Speaker 1: I honest to god I've been waiting for them yeah and I won't go into detail why, but he's a friend and so now I feel like it's actually a very good time to launch it.
Speaker 1: Now he's in a really, really great phase, so now I feel it's a really good time to launch it.
Speaker 1: So that's the reason, you know, we didn't launch these episodes.
Speaker 1: So after this episode we'll launch those two episodes.
Speaker 1: They do include Adam.
Speaker 1: Those will air two weeks after.
Speaker 1: We'll be punching episodes every two weeks and then we'll have, obviously we continue with that.
Speaker 1: We'll start with this episode and then we will launch those two episodes.
Speaker 1: They're really an amazing story.
Speaker 3: Matt's story is incredible and we're really excited to kind of launch it and you'll see a different setting for that, because we're actually in a studio downtown Dallas for that one.
Speaker 1: I'm so excited about today's topic.
Speaker 1: So it is election season and this has caused just some really crazy stuff in our country and really around the world.
Speaker 1: I mean, the whole world is looking at the United States right now.
Speaker 1: I was in Portugal for a month and it was actually during the Biden-Trump debate, and I've never seen people from all over Europe and Portugal have opinions on the United States.
Speaker 1: It was very eye-opening and you know, we are kind of the standard bearer of the world, so to speak.
Speaker 1: So I thought this was a very important topic, but I don't want to talk about candidates, just to be clear.
Speaker 1: I think also one thing I've noticed during this election season is really also kind of how things impact our community and the way our community has really been brought in to the conversation around this election and some of the things I find very disturbing, not just on one party or the other, but really both parties, and how our community is being used.
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of interesting topics and I think our community in particular really needs to just be aware of legislation, that number what we need, and then we also should be holding certain groups and people that are supposed to be advocating as accountable for advocating for us.
Speaker 1: I think it's very important.
Speaker 1: So I had a lunch the other day and it's just like we started talking about it and also just like how we interact with each other.
Speaker 1: I think another thing that I've noticed lately I don't know if you guys agree, but I feel like there's been this really just culture around people bullying each other.
Speaker 2: Just out of curiosity, can you give me an example?
Speaker 1: Do you guys know the influencer, mama Tot.
Speaker 2: You briefly talked to us.
Speaker 3: He talked to us briefly about it like a week or two ago.
Speaker 1: But he's the influencer I started following a while ago.
Speaker 1: I think everybody knows a little bit.
Speaker 1: I've had a lot going on the last two years.
Speaker 1: I left.
Speaker 1: My dad had 13 hip surgeries, five rounds of MRSA, my mom has a brain tumor, like.
Speaker 1: I've literally like had a ton going on.
Speaker 1: So I've had a lot of low points.
Speaker 1: So Mama Todd I think like I found her kind of during this whole time and she does these segments and and she's actually very supportive of the LGBTQ community she has 12.9 million followers now and she's really built up her following over time and one of the segments that she does is this segment where she does lunch with Mama Tot.
Speaker 1: I've actually queued up one of these lunches with Mama Todd for you guys to see and we'll play that now.
Speaker 4: Yep, I've got some more noodles today, like I had yesterday.
Speaker 4: These have cheese and spinach in the inside of them.
Speaker 1: It's going to be okay honey.
Speaker 4: It's going to be okay.
Speaker 4: We don't even have to say anything.
Speaker 4: I'll just know that you're here and you'll know that I'm here.
Speaker 4: You can just enjoy it outside now I mean come on.
Speaker 3: Are you trying to make me cry?
Speaker 3: What did we just watch?
Speaker 1: how precious is that woman?
Speaker 1: Well, so the commenter said can you please sit with me, mama Tot, I'm having a really hard day.
Speaker 1: That would be nice.
Speaker 1: And so she does these little lunches where she's like just sitting and giving words of encouragement to people and it's so sweet and some people will comment different things and then she'll give them advice and just have lunch.
Speaker 2: Okay, now fast forward to the controversy.
Speaker 1: So a little bit more about her.
Speaker 1: She also lost her son tragically in 2022.
Speaker 1: He actually was doing a drug deal at a gas station and he was shot and killed and he was only 19 years old and it was really tragic.
Speaker 1: She was obviously devastated and she shared a lot of this experience, some other things that happened to her.
Speaker 1: She also had a stalker that was just really torturing her too, and you know she's just been through a lot, but she's always had these like super positive videos and she's always supported our community too.
Speaker 1: So everybody like has really loved her and support Right.
Speaker 2: Was her, was her son gay too, or no?
Speaker 1: No, I don't think her son was gay.
Speaker 3: What's her?
Speaker 3: What's her deal?
Speaker 3: What's her background?
Speaker 3: What's her?
Speaker 3: She just started posting.
Speaker 3: She started posting after that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean her accounts like shoe lover and then.
Speaker 1: But she really just started posting these videos.
Speaker 1: Just she's got this southern accent.
Speaker 1: She just started posting these nice videos and people started just being like oh, you just have a really nice demeanor.
Speaker 3: She's cute, she's sweet, she comes across with great intentions and she's just very motivational right so her son's uh murder story?
Speaker 2: because he was murdered right he was he was murdered.
Speaker 2: He was murdered.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was on either.
Speaker 2: See no evil.
Speaker 2: I watch a lot of crime shows with my boss and one of the shows I swear one of the episodes had her son on it and the killer was caught on camera.
Speaker 2: They basically, you know, backtrack from the scene of the crime or the homicide or whatever, and they go through and get all like the camera footage, the CCTV footage, and I'm almost positive that he was one of the episodes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, I think.
Speaker 1: So I think her, her the son's killer, was caught and but it was like really, really tragic.
Speaker 1: So everybody's like been so supportive of her.
Speaker 1: I mean this has been like a great thing.
Speaker 1: Like been so supportive of her.
Speaker 1: I mean this has been like a great thing.
Speaker 1: So Hurricane Helene hits.
Speaker 1: We start seeing a flood of TikTok videos from people from the area posting.
Speaker 1: And then there's this narrative you know that FEMA is not doing enough.
Speaker 1: You know, on the left, obviously the Biden administration they're kind of quiet for a few days.
Speaker 1: Then Trump obviously is over there saying not enough is being done.
Speaker 1: There's obviously this rhetoric about you know how much FEMA has helped on the immigration side and is there enough money?
Speaker 1: We also have this rhetoric on the side of like how much FEMA did for Maui.
Speaker 1: You know have this rhetoric on the side of like how much FEMA did for Maui.
Speaker 1: You know people haven't really forgotten that too.
Speaker 1: So I do think like we can't discount people's experiences with FEMA.
Speaker 1: Right, and there clearly are plenty of videos right where people are saying that maybe FEMA isn't helping as much.
Speaker 1: Right, like there are plenty of videos in the area saying that.
Speaker 1: So Mama Tott goes on and she posts this video.
Speaker 4: You ain't mad Because I'm mad as hell.
Speaker 4: You know that mad that you just get so angry that you just cry bad.
Speaker 4: And you're so mad you just cry about it.
Speaker 4: That's how mad I am.
Speaker 4: Like these lost everything, everything.
Speaker 4: Imagine walking outside of your house and seeing nothing that you ever worked hard for Just gone.
Speaker 4: I've seen houses just completely just slide down the mountain.
Speaker 4: I'm seeing people making videos because they can't find family members.
Speaker 4: How are they supposed to apply something if they don't have electricity that does not get their baby fed in this moment?
Speaker 4: Like the job they had in the building is gone, like hmm, so that's what she said and the all these people came out.
Speaker 1: She lost 400 000 followers.
Speaker 1: Why oh exact 400 000 followers?
Speaker 1: And people started attacking her comments said things like your son deserved to die, and they were like you're clearly an alabama trump supporter and blah, blah, blah, blah blah.
Speaker 1: And she ended up saying like she issued an apology and said she really issued an apology.
Speaker 1: She basically said you know she's not voting for trump or whatever.
Speaker 1: She's gonna vote for kamala, which can I just say something?
Speaker 2: in that video right there I saw I heard nothing of her commenting about fema.
Speaker 2: I mean, I understood her, her emotions and whatnot when she was referring to, but I never once heard her bad mouth or say anything other than like I feel for these people.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3: So, yeah, all I got from that.
Speaker 3: She's emotional because, yeah, people are impacted, their lives, you know were.
Speaker 3: They got everything destroyed and this, you know, storm started destruction and impacted by that and she's very upset.
Speaker 1: There wasn't anything really specific as emotional for people in affected areas and it's true Like this was a really big disaster in the Appalachians that nobody affected and if anybody's ever been in this part of the country, it is not a well-off area Like and it's very remote, it's in the mountains.
Speaker 1: I mean, the fact these roads were completely washed away is a huge problem Anybody in the cities or anything.
Speaker 1: If you've not driven through there, you you have no idea.
Speaker 1: So I I understand she probably has a perspective too that other people just don't get well, I guess first impression, first time seeing this video, it's devastating.
Speaker 3: She's feeling.
Speaker 3: That is like she said.
Speaker 3: She's not saying like something, that's nothing's being done, no, but people we have we have things to go, support like that's, you know, in the country to have support to go help recovery and organizations there's so many as a, you know, american red cross is going out there in addition to what we have through our government, you know yeah, but these crazy people were in her comments calling her a MAGA Trump supporter.
Speaker 1: They always knew it.
Speaker 3: She's from Alabama, of course she is so that's our topic is addressing the, the comments to that video alone.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that video alone.
Speaker 3: People are that that video is why everybody?
Speaker 2: Well, those people need to shut the F up Right Like no offense.
Speaker 2: But anybody in the she's posting these videos, she knows that she's getting a following, she has a following.
Speaker 2: She has to realize that not every person that necessarily follows her is in it for the.
Speaker 2: You know the good of her videos, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: There are so many what do they call them?
Speaker 2: The people that are specifically out there just posting on people's TikToks and Facebook.
Speaker 3: Who has this much time?
Speaker 3: Who has this much time to sit at home and literally just go after a comment?
Speaker 3: All that kind of shit there seem to be thousands, hundreds of thousands.
Speaker 1: I think again, this is where we have gotten so just, I don't even know like I feel, like people have lost their way I think that's hilarious though these, these stupid people are like.
Speaker 2: If anyone follows some idiot posting negative bullshit on social media, that's on them, you know, like they're gonna.
Speaker 2: If they're going to be dumb, you better be tough, and they're going to get the flack.
Speaker 2: It's going to come back and bite them in the ass.
Speaker 1: We have to get at a point in this country, eventually, where we realize something is this should never be a one party country, because at that point you live in a dictatorship, but right now it's two parties.
Speaker 2: Not to chime in, but I am a registered independent.
Speaker 1: Great.
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 1: Yes, then independents are voting hard right now too, which is great, and so you guys, 30% in a lot of states right now in the early vote, that's great.
Speaker 1: And so I would say we're probably three parties.
Speaker 1: Actually, they're not identifying, and the reality of the situation is we have to reach across the aisle and we're going to get into this a little bit with even our legislation for the gay community, but we can't sit here and say Republican bad all the time, because you're going to need Republicans eventually and just assume she's a Republican or she voted for Donald Trump or whatever over.
Speaker 1: This one video is just so crazy.
Speaker 2: I really don't think that the person that said that truly believes that it wasn't one person.
Speaker 1: It was an onslaught of hate that was so bad she literally had posted multiple videos about it.
Speaker 1: It was an onslaught of hate towards her and she lost 400,000 followers over it.
Speaker 1: It was crazy.
Speaker 2: That's sad.
Speaker 1: And this is not the only person, by the way.
Speaker 1: I'm just using this as an example because it's probably the nicest person that I could call as an example.
Speaker 1: There's actually another one, another creator.
Speaker 1: He's a cop.
Speaker 1: He actually did have a view on FEMA and all this other stuff.
Speaker 1: He didn't lose any followers.
Speaker 1: He just stuck to his guns on this one and, ironically, lost nobody.
Speaker 1: She lost people, which was even like wilder to me, because she didn't come out and say anything and people were attacking her harder than the other guy and then they were tying her to the other guy.
Speaker 1: That was like no FEMA screwed up.
Speaker 3: Do you think this was a guy thing?
Speaker 3: Is this going to get into gender?
Speaker 3: Yeah, maybe.
Speaker 1: Like there were literally women attacking her, like horrifically, and I was like what has our country come to?
Speaker 1: That's true.
Speaker 1: And, by the way, these are people who are supporting Kamala Harris, the Party of Joy and a woman president.
Speaker 1: It's hurting.
Speaker 2: Yes, sir.
Speaker 2: Did you guys watch the video that I sent you?
Speaker 2: That was Kamala Harris speaking and the Trump supporters that were there, you know, talking nonsense or whatnot, and her response to them.
Speaker 2: Did you guys not?
Speaker 1: Oh, go to the other rally, yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah Like oh, y'all are at the wrong rally.
Speaker 2: Y'all need to go down the street Like here's.
Speaker 2: And I have nothing against Kamala Harris, All right.
Speaker 2: Her response, as someone that wants to be the president of the United States, could have been hey guys, I know you're, you're not the rally that you want to be at, but give me a couple minutes of your time and if you don't like it, you're welcome to leave.
Speaker 2: But all people are welcome here.
Speaker 3: That's actually a good response, I agree, and I think she would say that all we saw was that one clip of her quick response, which I think, if you add it all up, really Trump has never Trump has.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, but I agree with that.
Speaker 3: No, I agree with your approach, but there's nothing.
Speaker 3: So we're only seeing that little snippet.
Speaker 3: There's nothing saying that she doesn't actually act like that.
Speaker 3: No, I agree with your approach, but there's nothing.
Speaker 3: So we're only seeing that little snippet.
Speaker 3: There's nothing saying that she doesn't actually act like that.
Speaker 3: And out of all the things you know, if you're well, if you're going to call her out, what about all the things that Trump says?
Speaker 3: Oh, I'm not, I'm not condoning anything that Trump said.
Speaker 3: I know there's a problem with what you said.
Speaker 2: in my opinion, it was an emotional reaction.
Speaker 1: And it also was the same thing she said when she kicked the Christian out of her rally too, and I was like kick the Christian out.
Speaker 1: This young Christian kid yelled Jesus is Lord in a rally and then she said go to the smaller rally down the street.
Speaker 3: No, I don't like any of it, because then I feel like oh, now it's like, this whole game of like we're not even in it for them as a person, it just becomes so attacking the other one.
Speaker 3: Yes, I mean, it's so frustrating that that's what we are as a country.
Speaker 3: That's where it's frustrating, and I think most of the country is incredibly frustrated with that.
Speaker 3: And you're choosing between like well, I don't like that one, so I guess I'll go with that one.
Speaker 3: Well, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't tell you how many people I've heard lesser like, oh, I've just gone to lesser of two evils.
Speaker 1: I'm like that's not a, that's dangerous.
Speaker 1: Look, I see that people think that trump is the most divisive, but I have seen a lot of divisiveness on the last.
Speaker 1: I mean I'm sorry, it is like this.
Speaker 1: Mama topping is a great example and actually I just saw a clip from Anderson Cooper.
Speaker 1: By the way, kamala Harris had literally not a great CNN town hall.
Speaker 1: It wasn't great.
Speaker 1: Actually, the Democratic commentators David Axelrod and Van Jones had a hard time saying she did anything, but maybe it was a rough night.
Speaker 1: It was anderson cooper, who I love.
Speaker 1: I mean, I would date anderson cooper in rb.
Speaker 1: Let's be honest, I love him.
Speaker 1: He did, he was hard on her which he's a journalist like the same thing as this mama tot situation.
Speaker 1: Again, I think like we have to stop consulate thinking like there's if there's any kind of differing view like that it's wrong and we have to stop.
Speaker 1: I've just seen so many this election season and it's like if there's like a person of color that's supporting Donald Trump, it's like there's this massive attack.
Speaker 1: First of all, no one's going to be one elder by that at all.
Speaker 1: I mean I got my personal TikTok account banned.
Speaker 1: You know why?
Speaker 1: I mean I got my personal TikTok account banned.
Speaker 1: You know why, during the DNC's rally, or you know, the DNC convention, they had, like those Palestinian protests out front of the DNC, you know, and there were all these pride flags.
Speaker 1: And so I commented on a video and this woman from Oregon started attacking me because I said I don't think this is not a pride rally, it's a Palestinian protest, which I totally respect.
Speaker 1: People protesting this war.
Speaker 1: But these people were like masked up, they were filming it.
Speaker 1: They were not gay.
Speaker 1: I can tell you they were not gay.
Speaker 1: What were they doing?
Speaker 1: They were protesting the war, the Israel and Gaza war.
Speaker 1: They had these Palestinian flags.
Speaker 1: They've got these really intense cameras filming this Palestinian protest over the DNC.
Speaker 1: And then they have these pride trans flags as well.
Speaker 1: And I'm telling you they're not gay, they're co-opting our culture.
Speaker 1: And it bugged me and I made a comment about it and this woman started attacking me.
Speaker 1: She said oh, you're from Texas and you're gay.
Speaker 1: You're clearly a gay homophobe from Texas.
Speaker 2: I hate.
Speaker 2: First of all, let me just be clear.
Speaker 2: I don't hate anyone or anything, but I can't stand people that are like oh well, you're in Texas, so it figures I'd be a Trumper or whatever else Like go fuck yourself.
Speaker 1: And, by the way, this is a liberal, white, straight woman from Oregon, from Portland, that I'm a gay, homophobe.
Speaker 1: That runs a pot.
Speaker 1: Like it's just like infuriating to me.
Speaker 1: Like, number one, you don't know anything about me.
Speaker 1: Number two, like I'm completely right, like a palestinian a protest for the rights of the people of gaza is not the place for pride flags.
Speaker 1: Like this is not.
Speaker 1: Unless you're a gay person, maybe protesting, I still don't really agree with that like it's just not a pride march.
Speaker 1: Like you're co-opting our culture for a different cause.
Speaker 1: That just flies up.
Speaker 1: It's just, it's kind of gross to me.
Speaker 1: Anyway, she reported all my videos, got a bunch of started reporting my comments, got me a strike on TikTok and in a day I got my personal account banned.
Speaker 1: So it just again.
Speaker 1: It's just like a level of crazy that I just don't understand.
Speaker 2: Well, think about this type of person, right?
Speaker 2: I, for example, I work 12 hour days pretty much, you know.
Speaker 2: I mean I have too much going on in my life than to sit and be on tiktok bitching at somebody that lives in texas, or you know what is she.
Speaker 1: You said she reported all of your videos yeah, and I didn't realize it until later Like a video of my dog that was sexually explicit, a video of your dog that was sexually explicit.
Speaker 3: What are you doing?
Speaker 1: No, it was him doing the Lion King, and by the time I figured it out it was already too late to appeal the whole of the reports She'd reported.
Speaker 2: Like every previous video I'd ever posted, Clearly, this woman does not have a job.
Speaker 2: She needs a hobby, she needs something else.
Speaker 3: I don't actually know that, but I just feel like just all of this.
Speaker 3: People feel like they can have their voice and say whatever they want behind a screen, their phone or their desktop, whatever, and just say whatever they want.
Speaker 2: Do people not think to themselves?
Speaker 2: Nothing against what you're saying, ryan, but like here's what I tell myself Even first of all, ever since Alexa and cameras and whatnot are inside people's houses I used of other people, then you shouldn't say it at all.
Speaker 2: Think what you want to into yourself.
Speaker 2: But if you can't say something in private that you would say to somebody else, you don't say anything at all.
Speaker 2: You keep your fucking mouth shut.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean.
Speaker 2: It's okay to have your opinion and your views on politics I mean, especially during an election year.
Speaker 2: Sure, you don't shove it down someone else's throat.
Speaker 2: You're open to other people's perspectives.
Speaker 2: Like that's what you should be, that's what you should do.
Speaker 1: But we've become so close minded.
Speaker 1: It's really sad to me that it's just nobody's open to perspective anymore.
Speaker 1: And the lunch I had the other day, we were talking about it and he's open to perspective anymore.
Speaker 1: And the lunch I had the other day we were talking about it.
Speaker 1: And he's going to visit his family in West Virginia and they're all Trump supporters and stuff.
Speaker 1: And we're talking about my family in Carthage, you know, in East Texas and we talked about this in our coming out thing.
Speaker 1: And you have family, obviously, that are conservative and you know I've seen an evolution in conservatives.
Speaker 1: You know, over time, revolution in conservatives.
Speaker 1: You know, over time, where they have really come around and accepting us.
Speaker 1: My grandma finally accepted me.
Speaker 1: Obviously, we didn't talk for 14 years, right, I mean that was kind of a big deal.
Speaker 1: But I do think, like, when it comes to legislation, you're going to need people that are on the conservative side to pass legislation that's important for us.
Speaker 1: The Democrats will never pass legislation for us all the time.
Speaker 1: Right, the respect for marriage is a really big deal.
Speaker 1: It's actually something.
Speaker 1: If I were in charge of the Republican Party, I'd be saying, hey, we helped pass this.
Speaker 1: Republican senators and House members to help pass that in 2022.
Speaker 1: It essentially codified parts of gay marriage, not the full thing, I know.
Speaker 1: Don't come attack me in the comments, because that's what people do.
Speaker 2: No, please do, Huh, what Nothing.
Speaker 1: But it did codify aspect that does protect gay marriage.
Speaker 1: They take an act of Congress and I did take Republican senators and House members.
Speaker 2: so I mean people can argue with me all you want, it's true.
Speaker 2: Why don't we open up the conversation to our listeners?
Speaker 2: If you guys have any questions, by all means feel free.
Speaker 1: Yes, and guess what?
Speaker 1: The most important piece of legislation I'm going to segue to next should be on the docket.
Speaker 3: The one HRC is working on or not working on.
Speaker 3: I know, I know.
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 3: That's why I said it.
Speaker 3: This is a frustrating episode.
Speaker 3: Why, why are you frustrated?
Speaker 2: His eyes are shut right now.
Speaker 3: They're not shut right now.
Speaker 2: I'm thinking I'm legit and shut right now.
Speaker 3: It's not you, it's just like when I start thinking about like the state we're in.
Speaker 3: You know, in general, are you frustrated?
Speaker 1: as frustrated as I am with the human rights campaign.
Speaker 3: Is that why?
Speaker 3: No, I'm not frustrated with them Seeing you to talk about things that they don't accomplish.
Speaker 1: No, I'm not frustrated with them, you're not.
Speaker 1: You're happy with them.
Speaker 1: No, I don't Tough crowd, I don't Tough crowd.
Speaker 1: So the reason I really wanted to talk about this I received a text message from the human rights campaign the other day and because it's political season and I just could not believe this response, it just like literally drove me crazy.
Speaker 1: A texter pod you know how they do the text banking during political season.
Speaker 1: I mean, let's be honest, the human rights campaign should just be like trying to push legislation for our community.
Speaker 1: But they're almost like a political organization to get people elected.
Speaker 1: And then it's like they get people elected but I feel like they don't really push legislation, they push narrative and it's kind of crazy to me.
Speaker 1: It's been my, it's just been my experience.
Speaker 1: I just think we should look, we should request change.
Speaker 1: Number one if you walk through Washington DC and you look through the embassies and the consulates, the Human Rights Campaign building is probably one of the nicest buildings of all the embassies in Washington DC because it is one of the most well-funded organizations in all of DC.
Speaker 1: It's beautiful, they get a lot of money, so they have a lot of power and I don't see how they build it right.
Speaker 1: But anyway, I get this message.
Speaker 1: Hi, blaine, it's Kim, hi Kim.
Speaker 1: With the HRC to Texas, we're close to reaching our phone bait goal.
Speaker 1: Can you help?
Speaker 1: Have you voted yet?
Speaker 1: And I said yet.
Speaker 1: I said, what are the HRC's plans to get the Equality Act passed?
Speaker 1: She said that it's a part of their legislative agenda.
Speaker 1: And she said but getting Colin Allred elected would really help.
Speaker 1: Oh, I basically Googled it and I said you know, I find it really funny because Colin Allred only talks about abortion in all of his commercials and all of his everything.
Speaker 1: I've never heard him talk once about the Equality Act.
Speaker 1: And I also said I googled the HRC and what they're talking about and it was about like, basically, gender expansion for children, and that's what came up on the first page of Google and it's that's the narrative the HRC is pushing.
Speaker 1: And for me, what's really irritating to me is, you know, I don't know if you guys are familiar with what the?
Speaker 1: Do you guys know what the Equality Act does or what it's supposed to do?
Speaker 2: No, I claim ignorance on that one.
Speaker 3: You know, ryan, is that the one for marriage, to protect marriage.
Speaker 1: No, that was the Respect for Marriage Act.
Speaker 1: It's already been passed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, welcome to the conversation.
Speaker 1: Ryan, it's still sitting in committee, so it's employment bars, discrimination for hiring, firing in the workplace, housing, public accommodations, education.
Speaker 1: Students are treated equally in schools, credit and lending for gays and hell.
Speaker 1: I don't care about this one.
Speaker 3: but sure he's service Is this, where Blaine gets caught up in something that sounds so Obviously.
Speaker 3: We should go after that.
Speaker 3: Why are we wasting our time on pronouns?
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly you know why?
Speaker 2: Because, oh there he goes you walked right into the.
Speaker 2: How did you let him walk you right into that?
Speaker 2: Like, how is that even possible?
Speaker 2: Because possible, because this one impacts 13 million.
Speaker 3: No, I was referring to how ryan just walked you into that.
Speaker 1: It's like we know each other.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it impacts 13 million americans and they're talking about okay, sarah, that he's saying they're not working on that.
Speaker 3: I know they.
Speaker 3: I mean it's still stuck in committee and nobody talks about.
Speaker 3: Or is it just like timeline wise, like there there's something that's more urgent in the next month and that's like a long-term goal?
Speaker 3: Have you heard one politician talk about it?
Speaker 3: I can't say that I'm very well-versed in this, so I'm a listener, I'm a learner and I'm an advocate for.
Speaker 3: Have you heard Kamala?
Speaker 1: Harris talk about it once.
Speaker 1: Have you heard Colin Allred talk about it?
Speaker 3: once you didn't't talk about in this debate with ted cruz and then have to go listen to them, aren't I?
Speaker 2: no, but ted cruz spoke about it about the equality act yes, I believe so.
Speaker 2: Well, not to colin allred's advantage, but yeah, I only, and just like ryan I, I only got like a half of the ted cruz and colin debate.
Speaker 1: So I would have to check, but I'm not a hundred percent sure, but it just, it literally frustrates me so much that I just feel like like these things are not being pushed by the HRC.
Speaker 1: You know, you know, here in Texas, right, hb 25 was passed to prevent trans kids from competing in girls' sports.
Speaker 1: So now Ted Cruz is writing ads, you know, saying, oh, on a federal level, all in all, redwood would have trans kids in girls' sports.
Speaker 2: So I think my perspective is I also feel that there's a huge, massive amount of misinformation that the public receives.
Speaker 2: The public also doesn't go out of their way to necessarily do their research and get the correct information.
Speaker 2: You know, a lot of America will get their articles off of Facebook or Instagram or wherever else they get their information from, and those are voters, and that is disheartening and scary.
Speaker 2: Even myself, who does an ounce of research on this, you know, even I feel like an ignorant person.
Speaker 1: Have I been educating you today?
Speaker 2: Well, you have.
Speaker 2: Yes, of course, I think anyone that has more information than I do educates me.
Speaker 1: But that's the thing.
Speaker 1: Everybody is sitting here like going on vibes and they're not holding people accountable.
Speaker 2: Correct.
Speaker 2: I think that there should be a standardized test when you go to vote.
Speaker 3: I think in order for your vote to care.
Speaker 3: Want to be that many people voting 93.
Speaker 2: That weeds out people that are, you know, ignorant voters.
Speaker 1: You can't blindly follow a party and you also can't blindly let these organizations like the HRC promote narratives that don't help your.
Speaker 1: And, by the way, this isn't just the gay community, all of our communities have organizations supporting them.
Speaker 1: Right, you should be holding these organizations accountable to vote legislation that truly helps your community at large, not just like minority, so our minorities within the community, like we should be saying.
Speaker 1: Like the equality act helps 13 million people, this legislation for boys and girls sports type thing or like whatever.
Speaker 1: Do you know how many people?
Speaker 1: I did the math, based on the HRC's math, of how many people it's like 0.44%.
Speaker 2: Poor Marshall.
Speaker 2: Even Marshall's getting upset over this.
Speaker 1: Even Marshall's upset.
Speaker 1: Yeah, poor guy 0.44% of students this would affect, so basically potentially 35,000 students.
Speaker 1: I mean that would be potentially trans, and this is what we have spent millions of dollars in advertising talking about, when we still haven't passed an act that affects 13 million Americans.
Speaker 1: We've worked so hard to get marriage equality in this country and I think a lot of the right has come around, obviously with the Respect for Marriage Act being passed, coming around to it for votes or coming around to it because they're legitimately votes and I think the greater community.
Speaker 1: I really do think the greater amount of conservative, by the way, I don't think a lot of people know this, and the Republican Party did a terrible job of saying it.
Speaker 1: This is the first year, and first time in 40 years in the Republican National Committee platform that there was no anti-gay legislation in their platform.
Speaker 1: That is called evolution of a party's mindset and, by the way, all the we're not part of the Republican Party anymore.
Speaker 1: You know what?
Speaker 1: Those are all the people that hated gays anyway either way, and I think they're kind of terrible people.
Speaker 1: They love war and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: I don't know what the deal is there.
Speaker 1: I actually think a party evolving is something we should celebrate.
Speaker 1: Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 1: Again, I don't think that the Democratic Party is constantly like attacking this other party because they want to get rid of them and have a single party.
Speaker 1: I don't think that's a healthy argument either.
Speaker 3: I think you should be like.
Speaker 3: You feel like the Democratic Party is attacking the other one and saying let's only have one party.
Speaker 1: You can't see a Republican bad all the time.
Speaker 1: Democrats see it the only right way.
Speaker 3: No, and neither can the other side, for sure.
Speaker 1: But I don't think the Republicans are just like the Democrats are just completely bad.
Speaker 1: I mean, they do say bad things about them but like Everyone's saying too many bad things, true, I agree.
Speaker 1: And I think everybody needs to coexist and I'm just saying, at the end of the day, they have to work together and buy partisanship For real.
Speaker 1: And I just think there have been evolutions on the Republican side and we should just accept that.
Speaker 2: This has been going on since 2016.
Speaker 2: This is basically when it started, because I remember being back in Orlando and all my friends God, they were bullying the fuck out of me because they were trying to get me to tell them who I voted for.
Speaker 2: And I'll be flat out honest and say listen, the voting booth is not a group effort it's.
Speaker 2: It's not something that I go in there with all my friends and all my buddies and and vote.
Speaker 2: It's a private thing and I keep it to myself.
Speaker 3: They couldn't respect that yeah, if that's your choice.
Speaker 3: And if it's your choice and respect that right.
Speaker 2: They couldn't respect that, so they took that as oh.
Speaker 2: So we know who you voted for.
Speaker 2: Get out.
Speaker 2: I said okay because that's if that's ignorance yeah, it's ignorance.
Speaker 1: You can't handle that or you force someone to tell you who you voted for.
Speaker 1: It's just so stupid.
Speaker 1: We have friends on both sides of the aisle and family on both sides of the aisle.
Speaker 1: You should respect it.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: If you cannot handle that and you are forcing someone to vote your way, then you are a fascist in my opinion.
Speaker 2: Right, that's what forced me to become an independent, because I got tired of it.
Speaker 3: I mean, I love our group because we have I think we have a variety of opinions.
Speaker 3: We all hang out, we all talk about it and we're not getting rid of each other and we're not.
Speaker 3: You know, I think our group chat was great.
Speaker 1: Everybody's talking about who's canceling out whose vote.
Speaker 1: I canceled you, I canceled you.
Speaker 1: Welcome to america, but I think that's like the lightheartedness.
Speaker 1: And to that lady who got me a band on tiktok you know, that's how our texans work, I guess.
Speaker 1: Portland, where only a one set mindset works, I guess oh don, oh don't, yeah, don't bash Portland.
Speaker 1: I love Portland actually.
Speaker 3: I just hear it's not great anymore.
Speaker 3: I just hear it's rainy, and that's the only thing that scares me away.
Speaker 1: I think my kind of closing thoughts on this is obviously we have important legislation that we should be focused on.
Speaker 1: We shouldn't be focused on things like, I think, little topics anymore.
Speaker 1: We should really be pushing these organizations to support us, and I think you know there's some other important legislation that I just wanted to kind of call out on the docket.
Speaker 2: Because Blaine is now going to be in politics.
Speaker 3: I mean anyone can go into politics these days.
Speaker 3: I think it's absolutely miserable, but Thank you.
Speaker 2: Did you not hear what ryan just said?
Speaker 2: Oh well, anyone could go into politics these days come on, which is good.
Speaker 3: No, anyone should be able to go to, because that's the country we're in I knew your bad damn comment I still want adam bailey to go into politics and it's great.
Speaker 1: I mean it's like off a tv show.
Speaker 3: I'm just saying I feel like, right, like you well, my experience, right Like you grow up and it's like, oh, you can't do this, you can't do that because of this public image.
Speaker 3: You can't go right Like if you do that, you're not ever going to be accepted in, like the political, like you can't go into politics, you can't be the president if you do this.
Speaker 3: You can't go into politics, you can't be the president if you do this.
Speaker 3: And I feel like now we're in a world where you can have done literally anything and you're going to get half the country plus following you.
Speaker 3: Sure, which it's.
Speaker 3: Maybe that's a good thing, I don't know, because maybe does that make it real.
Speaker 3: You know, we're just real people doing what we were doing all along and we're not a facade.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think.
Speaker 2: I think one thing everyone forgets is every, every politician, or everyone that's going into politics for the, for that matter, they're not in it for the greater good of.
Speaker 3: Or maybe hopefully they started out like that, but it's like this system that creates.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah when you start to get into where maybe they started out for this greater good.
Speaker 3: And then you like get into this, like how you know it's just this system, Right, and you get into this system.
Speaker 1: Well, I will say Robert F Kennedy Jr did sort of cycle policies for the people, where you can suggest policies that you think is important to you.
Speaker 1: Cool, and where do they go?
Speaker 1: Well, they go to the Trump campaign, because he's gone to them.
Speaker 3: But I, I will say, I will do Republican things, I won't do anything for Trump, but I do.
Speaker 1: I think RFK has a great idea.
Speaker 1: I wish we'd do this on.
Speaker 1: Both parties should do this.
Speaker 1: It's actually a very cool thing but, like, one of the biggest ones they have right now is term limits.
Speaker 1: So, like to your point, I think we had term limits for Congress, which I think both parties like anybody on both parties say term limits.
Speaker 1: I think we'd have much fresher people coming into Congress and shaking it up.
Speaker 1: We'd have people that weren't term politicians, like lifelong politicians.
Speaker 2: Blaine, why don't you go into politics?
Speaker 3: So I want to talk about that for a second, because I do like this idea of like fresh right, Like you get someone's oh, I've been in this for 50, 60 years but also like, if you cut it off too short and it's like this turnover every four or eight years, how long does someone get to like carry through something that they initiated?
Speaker 1: Well, look, I think a politician could easily get stuff done, and I think they'd hand it off to the next guy too.
Speaker 3: Yes, anyone that's a good leader should be able to pass things on.
Speaker 2: I see what you're saying.
Speaker 3: What am I saying?
Speaker 3: Anyone that's a good leader should be able to pass things on.
Speaker 1: Things shouldn't take two years, right?
Speaker 1: Like they should be able to get stuff done in two years, right?
Speaker 1: Yes, they should.
Speaker 1: Like they should be able to get stuff done in two years, right, yes, they should.
Speaker 1: I mean, like I love Jeff Jackson.
Speaker 1: I thought he was a breath of fresh air in the house.
Speaker 1: He's a Democrat from North Carolina.
Speaker 1: He's going to be running for attorney general because they redistrict him, so his seat is going to be lost.
Speaker 2: What we're ultimately trying to say is listeners, is that we accept you for whomever you choose to vote for?
Speaker 2: 1,000 percent, 100, is that we accept you for whomever you choose to vote for?
Speaker 2: That was upset 100, yeah.
Speaker 1: We would never be mad.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 3: Right, ryan, I'm not hesitating because I'm not supportive of that.
Speaker 3: I was thinking about Reid when you said you didn't vote, so I think the point is you should educate yourself and vote whatever you feel is important.
Speaker 3: Yes absolutely the country that we want to be.
Speaker 3: That we know, we are Right.
Speaker 1: On top of that, outside of voting once every presidential election cycle, oh, do your local all the time.
Speaker 1: You like getting involved all the time, and I really do think, like in your community, you should be advocating for legislation, local staff I'm actually going to probably be a precinct chair, I think and getting involved locally on the state level of texas government wise and I, I want to say so, like, even so, like before, I, you know, went to vote, not this, well, not this current time, but I have right, like I'm like wait, wait, wait, back it up.
Speaker 2: You said you haven't voted before.
Speaker 2: No, I voted this like I'm like wait, wait, back it up.
Speaker 2: You said you haven't voted before.
Speaker 3: No, I voted this one.
Speaker 3: I'm talking about okay, not this exact in this moment in time this voting cycle, but, like previously, I guess maybe it was two years ago I'm thinking of a specific story, but I was like I want to go in and I want to be educated on, you know, all the people, all the propositions.
Speaker 3: I'm not looking democrat or republican.
Speaker 2: I want to look everybody up and see what's going on and I researched all of them ahead of time, right, and to be clear listeners, the only time I did not vote was in 2016.
Speaker 2: And my feelings?
Speaker 3: then were.
Speaker 3: I wasn't trying to hold on to that.
Speaker 2: It's okay.
Speaker 2: It's okay, I don't take it personal.
Speaker 2: I'll hold on to that, it's okay.
Speaker 2: It's okay, I don't take it personal I'll hold on to other things.
Speaker 2: Okay, I don't take it personal.
Speaker 2: Even then, I felt like I was too ignorant to vote, if I'm being completely honest, and I didn't do enough research and I also registered republican men.
Speaker 2: So, yeah, I didn't realize all the the backlash and the importance of voting.
Speaker 2: If I'm being completely honest, I I just didn't Like where do you like?
Speaker 3: feel like, oh my gosh, which one are you?
Speaker 3: I remember that from a very early on, like as soon as you could vote which one are you Republican or Democrat?
Speaker 3: And it's like and I think that's where we relate, even in our LGBTQ community Like there's these boxes.
Speaker 3: Are you this box, or are you this box?
Speaker 3: And you feel this force.
Speaker 3: Yeah, pressure lots, yeah, and you're like well, I like a little bit of that and I like a little bit of that.
Speaker 1: By the way, every time I vote for Republicans, democrats and stuff.
Speaker 1: Every election I research everybody and everything.
Speaker 2: Right, and that's the exact reason why I changed it.
Speaker 3: I researched all the Republicans.
Speaker 3: I didn't like anything they said, so I ended up doing all the Democrats.
Speaker 1: You never voted did many elections.
Speaker 3: But I looked, I looked them up and I just I couldn't.
Speaker 3: I.
Speaker 3: But I did, I want to research.
Speaker 1: I wanted to research again, not everything's monolith and you have to look at records, especially like judges.
Speaker 1: I think that's a big one too, in my opinion.
Speaker 1: I get really into this.
Speaker 2: So that's exactly why I, after 20, after the 2016 election, I changed to independent because I got I got sick of it.
Speaker 2: I was getting bullied and pressure on both sides.
Speaker 2: I'm like, listen, neither of you are are coming at me with anything, don't most?
Speaker 3: people literally feel like that, like why can we not change from this two-party?
Speaker 3: Because it's like no one like.
Speaker 2: Let me be clear.
Speaker 2: I'm not a delicate flower.
Speaker 2: I can handle a bit of pressure, but it was getting ridiculous that I was being pressured to vote for someone based off of oh, because that one's an asshole, so you got to vote for this one.
Speaker 2: If that's all you can do to explain it to me, then no, I'm not voting for anybody.
Speaker 2: But you know, educate me a little bit more than just oh well, that one's an asshole, so you don't vote for that one's an asshole, so you don't vote for that one.
Speaker 1: I think that is becoming a huge problem.
Speaker 3: The bullying has to stop and we can't just be like anti something we have to be and then it's not going to happen immediately, because in this moment, unfortunately, I think we do have to choose between some people will right and so, but like how?
Speaker 3: The takeaway is like is there a way for us to shift away from that?
Speaker 3: How can we get to where we're not, in a place where, like, I'm only voting for this person because I feel like they're less of an asshole or they're not the asshole and that's why I'm voting for someone?
Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing that everyone needs to do and I mean that for both sides is listen to the other person.
Speaker 2: We always come back to that very important yeah, absolutely listening to the other person and and opening up dialogue I mean both parties to the realism, all right yeah in my opinion and just to say uh, first of all, I'm not saying that I'm voting for trump, I'm not.
Speaker 2: I would never tell you guys who I'm voting for, but um, but, um, both, but both.
Speaker 2: Kamala and Trump.
Speaker 2: For example, kamala can't, shouldn't, I shouldn't say can't, I shouldn't respond back to Trump's bullshit with the same fucking bullshit, you know the same attitude Like that doesn't, that doesn't do anything.
Speaker 1: And it worked its way down to everybody else.
Speaker 2: Right yeah.
Speaker 1: A very toxic culture.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I and I and I can totally sit there and see that she's just like, well, whatever trump can fucking do it, so I'm gonna, you know, do it too.
Speaker 1: that's not healthy if there it is, I just think it's not landing no, it's not stick to stick to.
Speaker 2: You know the policies and everything else that you're, that you.
Speaker 2: I'm not going against her, it's you rocking.
Speaker 3: But see this, sorry, I know I don't know if it's the espresso martini.
Speaker 3: I'm not going against her.
Speaker 3: It's you, ryan, but it's you.
Speaker 3: Sorry, I know I don't know if it's the espresso martini.
Speaker 2: I'm not like to be clear.
Speaker 2: I'm not going against her, I'm just saying an example, Because her best sales pitch is not being like Trump, Don't you get it?
Speaker 1: But by the way she's done, Not at all Point.
Speaker 1: She's exactly right.
Speaker 3: We're exhausted.
Speaker 1: We're exhausted from what all of it?
Speaker 1: I can't wait for november 5th, because I just don't want to hear it anymore yeah a few other pieces of legislation.
Speaker 1: Just want everyone to know about really quick, oh perfect two more save schools and movement act that protects lgbtq students from anti-bullying, which I think is great.
Speaker 1: I don't know why we haven't passed that one.
Speaker 1: That sounds sounds pretty easy.
Speaker 1: And then there's the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act, which actually would prohibit conversion therapy practices at the federal level, which I think also would be pretty great.
Speaker 3: Wow, you're just going to drop in those last two.
Speaker 3: Are those teasers?
Speaker 1: No, those are just two other pieces of legislation that, specifically, are in the House right now.
Speaker 1: They're in committee with the Equality Act, which has not had a lot of movement, and they're just chatting about it, and the HRC is, you know, clearly not doing much so quickly for our game.
Speaker 1: Yes, I'm going to give you a quote and you're going to tell me if it's a donkey or an elephant, so democratic.
Speaker 2: What.
Speaker 3: Oh, come on.
Speaker 1: What.
Speaker 3: What?
Speaker 3: Okay, we're just going to go with it and see what happens.
Speaker 1: The government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.
Speaker 3: I feel like Elephant liked to say it, but then they're actually just false and faking it and they actually do want to run people's lives.
Speaker 3: Elephant I already said Elephant.
Speaker 2: Elephant.
Speaker 3: Correct, it was Ronald Reagan.
Speaker 3: That's a great guy.
Speaker 3: Reynolds is going to love me for saying this.
Speaker 1: We all do better when we all do better.
Speaker 1: Donkey, donkey.
Speaker 1: Yes, that was Paul Weston, democratic Senator for.
Speaker 3: Minnesota.
Speaker 3: This is kind of fun.
Speaker 3: Games are fun.
Speaker 3: I want to do more of these Labor unions are folks who brought you the weekend.
Speaker 1: Yeah, donkey.
Speaker 3: Elephant.
Speaker 1: It was donkey.
Speaker 1: That's definitely like a democratic one.
Speaker 1: That's actually like really distributed democrat, I'm sure because they supported labor unions.
Speaker 1: Poverty is a moral issue.
Speaker 1: America is rich enough to not let people suffer.
Speaker 3: Donkey.
Speaker 1: Donkey Correct Um support for common sense gun control.
Speaker 3: Donkey, I want to say um elephant, just to be ironic.
Speaker 3: It's modern.
Speaker 1: Republicans Pat Toomey and Susan Collins Finally someone I can.
Speaker 1: That was a little crazy one.
Speaker 1: Support for stricter antitrust regulations to limit the power of big corporations, donkey.
Speaker 3: It's a donkey, it's an elephant.
Speaker 1: It's an elephant, josh Hawley, yeah.
Speaker 2: I really love how Blaine blindsided us with this.
Speaker 1: I know I couldn't help myself.
Speaker 2: Political episode.
Speaker 1: Freedom means freedom for everyone.
Speaker 1: Donkey, donkey, it's Ashley and Ellison and I'm.
Speaker 1: This is gross to say because Whoa Um, dick Cheney in support of marriage, equality and unexpected stance for a Republican, but I detest him.
Speaker 3: Well, that was a fun game.
Speaker 3: We could have done that.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 3: So yeah, that was fun.
Speaker 3: This has been an hour and a half and we still have a long way to go.
Speaker 3: Not going to be solved in one podcast, but, as always, I think the takeaway is to listen, as Reed reminded us.
Speaker 2: Yes, be patient with each other and listen to each other.
Speaker 1: Listen and love each other.
Speaker 1: By the way, like let's not be mean to each other.
Speaker 3: But also, at a certain point, listen, and then you need to have some act.
Speaker 2: Do you guys remember back when Prop 8 was a thing?
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: No, my mom calls me up during that whole thing and she's like Rita, I just want you to know I can't vote for prop 8 because of this reason.
Speaker 2: It's not because of it was all-encompassing, like there was something in there about, um, if you live with your partner for more than 10 years, then it was all-encompassing with the gay marriage right.
Speaker 2: And because my grandfather and my his lady friend at the time weren't married and if my grandfather ever died, my mom was voting against it for that reason.
Speaker 2: But the respect that my mom had to contact her gay son, who was ignorant already and didn't even know what the fuck she was talking about, was enough for me to realize like wow, she contacted me just saying, hey, I wanted you to know.
Speaker 2: I would have do her known if she had voted against it or for it.
Speaker 2: But the fact that she took the time out to explain it to me, you know, that's just one example.
Speaker 2: Everyone needs to listen to each other and be open to Listen, love and calm the hell down.
Speaker 2: Yeah, man love, love.
Speaker 3: It's not that personal.
Speaker 3: I know it was Taylor Swift once said you need to calm down.
Speaker 3: You had to.
Speaker 3: Why?
Speaker 3: Why, he knows.
Speaker 3: I'm saying that because of how much Blaine loves Taylor Swift.
Speaker 2: I yeah, no, we haven't done that episode yet.
Speaker 2: There's another episode.
Speaker 3: Oh we could talk about her.
Speaker 3: No, no, we can't.
Speaker 3: No, we're not going to.
Speaker 3: Just one little note seeing her just at Wembley and surprising Bradley was just aside from who.
Speaker 3: It was right, like Taylor.
Speaker 3: But just to be in a venue like that in historic, I'm just gonna say it felt pretty phenomenal.
Speaker 3: That's all in London and it was really.
Speaker 3: I was excited to surprise Bradley with Red's, his favorite album, and to throw his a t-shirt.
Speaker 3: I got on eBay and say someone's in town and she wants you to wear this tonight.
Speaker 3: It was just a really fun, special moment for me.
Speaker 3: So, aside from who it is, it's not saying whatever or anything, it was just really good it was really good.
Speaker 1: Well, I will be posting links to different resources for you to educate yourself on gay legislation.
Speaker 1: You can go to congressgov, human rights campaign, american civil liberties union and abacuscom.
Speaker 1: Post it in the notes and yeah, thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: Thanks for another episode of coffee with gays.
Speaker 2: Welcome, reed thank you for having me well, cheers, guys love you.
Speaker 1: We're gonna go to brad.
Speaker 1: I would not brad here.
Speaker 1: We go well cheers.
Speaker 2: Thank you for Cocktails with Gaze.