HRC and a coalition of LGBTQ+ and allied organizations held a forum with the Candidates in the Wisconsin US Senate Democratic Primary.
This forum focused on issues important to the LGBTQ+ community.
The candidates participating are:
Adam Murphy, Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, Alex Lasry, and County Executive Tom Nelson
Coalition members are Fair Wisconsin, FORGE, Freedom, Inc, GSAFE, Human Rights Campaign, Milwaukee LGBT Center, Pride at Work, Wisconsin LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce
Transcript provided by YouTube (unedited)
0:20
welcome everyone to the us senate candidate forum for equality thank you
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all for being here tonight uh you’ll hear from five candidates running in the democratic primary for
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u.s senate the coalition organizing this forum chose to invite the candidates who
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polled one percent or higher on the february marquette poll the purpose of tonight’s forum is to
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allow the candidates running for u.s senate to share their views opinions and
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potential actions on issues important to the lgbtq plus and allied community
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each candidate will get 15 minutes while the coalition has developed a list of
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questions to be asked each candidate chose which question they would like to be asked first
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before we get to the candidates we’d like to have each member of the coalition share a little bit about their
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organization starting with fair wisconsin
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all right oh you can always count on me to make things awkward at the beginning thank
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you so much i’m so thrilled that everyone’s here with us tonight i’m megan mcdonald from fair wisconsin and
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fair wisconsin education fund is one of wisconsin’s most respected advocacy groups with a proud history in advancing
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achieving and protecting lgbtq civil rights and workplace equality through education movement capacity building
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grassroots organizing civic engagement research and legal challenge preparation
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in 2005 and in the decade following fair wisconsin led the charge for marriage equality and most recently fair
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wisconsin along with our in-state regional and national allies have blocked continuous attacks on
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transgender and non-binary youth advanced protections to help bring an end to the harmful practice of
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conversion therapy and fought to expand nondiscrimination protections for all lgbtq wisconsinites thank you so much
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and i will hand it over to the next presenter
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good evening everyone thank you for being here my name is shelly gregory with forge forge is a national
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transgender anti-violence organization headquartered in milwaukee
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at forge we work to reduce the impact of trauma on trans and non-binary individuals and communities by
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empowering service providers advocating for systems reform and connecting trans
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individuals to healing possibilities for community members forge offers
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one-on-one support and connection to resources we host support and skills
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groups and we maintain extensive referral lists to trans informed providers
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for service providers and organizations we offer individualized high quality
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trauma informed training technical assistance and support to help improve services
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to trans and non-binary individuals thanks for being here tonight everyone
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hi everyone can y’all see me okay cool my name is monica donway i
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work at freedom inc i’m the director of community power building
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um at freedom inc we work with black and southeast asian low to no income queer
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trans intersex women and girls folks in our communities we work with our folks through times of
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crisis primarily dealing with domestic violence and sexual assault and move them into a space of
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survivorship through weekly programming and support groups as well as
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helping folks move into their leadership of grassroots organizing campaigns
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and i’m going to go ahead and pass it on um to gsafe
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thank you so much and hey friends it’s nice to have you here my name is brian jay uh my pronouns are he him his and i
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am one of the co-executive directors at gsafe uh which is wisconsin’s uh k-12
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uh safe schools organization uh for over 26 years we’ve worked to create safe and affirming schools for
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uh queer and trans youth uh primarily through developing student leaders uh both through a network of over 250 high
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school middle school and elementary gender and sexuality alliances and similar clubs as well as a leadership
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class focused on the experiences of queer and trans youth of color we also
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provide professional development for hundreds of educators across wisconsin
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each year from milwaukee to la crosse from beloit to bayfield we’ve worked with hundreds of wisconsin school
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districts and finally we also work to advocate for policy and practices that support our queer and trans youth since
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2005 we’ve been working with wisconsin school districts to pass local non-discrimination uh policies in
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schools that support our trans and non-binary students in particular and have helped reach about 70 of wisconsin
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school districts with these protections so it’s great to have you here and appreciate the candidates here tonight
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as well thank you
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hi i’m wendy strout i am the wisconsin state director for the human rights campaign
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the human rights campaign is the largest civil rights organization in the country working to achieve lesbian gay bisexual
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transgender and queer equality the human rights campaign envisions a world where every member of the lgbtq plus family
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has the freedom to live their truth without fear and with equality under the law
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we empower our 3 million members and supporters nationwide to mobilize against attacks on the most marginalized
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people in the community thank you everyone for being here
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hello all my name is max claw i am i work with the milwaukee lgbt community
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center um our mission is to further develop our vibrant lesbian gay bisexual
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and transgender community in the greater milwaukee area thus improving the quality of life for all of us the
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mission is supported by the center’s leadership in community building health promotion advocacy and communications
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we service people raging age from 13 to older
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adults through therapy services support group services
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we also do training and outreach to other organizations across the state
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to provide training and support to professionals to better serve lgbtq folks
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and we also serve as a social and communal space for
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the community i will pass it off to the next individual
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hi everybody my name is casey ren i’m vice president of the pride at work milwaukee area chapter thank you all for
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being here and joining us in these great conversations pride at work represents lgbtq plus union members and their
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allies we organize mutual support between the organized labor movement and the lgbtq plus community to further
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social and economic justice we are part of a national network of dozens and dozens of pride at work chapters our
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contact info is here if you’d like to join us and you don’t have to be a union member to be a part of pride at work thank you
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hi everyone my name is patrick farabot i am the publisher of our lives magazine i
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i’ll keep it short and simple our lives is a wisconsin source for lgbtq news
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people community and culture since 2007 you can find us online at
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ourliveswisconsin.com and on our website you can subscribe to get the magazine
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mailed to you for free or the weekly newsletter or just browse the website to dive in
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where you like and with that on to the next person
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well good evening everyone my name is jason wray pronouns are he him his i’m the president and ceo for the wisconsin
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lgbt chamber and the wisconsin lgbt chamber foundation which is our 501 uh c3
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organization focused on helping advance the chamber’s mission of building a welcoming and inclusive
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business community through workforce development programming uh educational events uh and other networking
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opportunities we invite you to learn more but we’re really excited to to be here tonight and be a partner uh in this
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effort and i’ll turn it back to the next person
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okay thank you so much to all of our sponsors um now we’re going to be moving on onto
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our first 15-minute segment with our first candidate who will be joining us tonight
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which is adam murphy um adam could you please introduce yourself
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absolutely hi i’m adam murphy and i’m a small business owner
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owned a software company for the last 18 years and when i decided to get into politics
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i decided to become the type of politician that i wanted to vote for and so the very first thing that i did
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in 2019 was to return to college at 47 years old to study things i think politicians need to learn about which
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included economics political science political psychology ethics morals
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um i did an entire course on uh abortion for example um
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and the important part of that was how all of those things interconnected how they
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related and what i want to emphasize with this tonight and what my campaign emphasizes
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is that in politics we need we’re at a point where we have to rebuild trust we’ve lost it
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and and i don’t just mean democrats and republicans right it’s it’s across
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all populations all political spectrums and what i did in 2020 when i ran
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for wisconsin state senate is i talked with people i didn’t i didn’t spend a ton of time
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raising money as my fact i made two phone calls uh instead
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thanks for the chuckle i appreciate that um instead i i did i talked with people and
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i taught people how to talk with people democrats and conservatives liberals
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progressives independents libertarians and it
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worked we increased democratic voting by 24 percent and that is an incredible number
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we took a gerrymandered district from 30 percent and moved it to 19 [Music]
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and i think that’s that that says a tremendous amount about the people that we interacted with
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because it wasn’t me it was them interacting with their neighbors with the people that they’ve lost contact
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with and i think that all of us here on this on this conversation have had those relationships where we’ve lost them
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and so that’s my goal is to help us restore some of that and to restore trust that said you guys have a lot of
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questions how can i help tonight well adam thank you for getting us
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started off um talking about the relational nature of politics in wisconsin
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um one thing that’s also really important um to the voters of wisconsin
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is abortion rights and access and so your first question that you chose to speak on tonight um is dealing
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with that very topic um i will begin the question and then you have um
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as much time within your 15 minute window as you want to answer this
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natalie hinchcliffe an associate medical co-director at planned parenthood was recently quoted saying abortion is an
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issue for all people capable of pregnancy for their partners their families and their communities
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with recent news indicating that roe v wade is likely to be overturned this summer
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which would mean states like wisconsin would severely restrict access to abortion
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how will you work to ensure access to reproductive health
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will you work to address this issue that threatens to roll back civil liberties civil rights and bodily autonomy for
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lgbtq plus people all right so i mentioned in the intro that one of
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the things i studied was abortion i was very fortunate in the courses i took where i was able to do philosophy
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and political science and constitutional law so i’ve sorry my phone just dinged i
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thought i shut that off so i’ve studied it
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from a philosophical standpoint from a legal standpoint from a constitutional law standpoint
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um and and it is let me say this it is a really
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fascinating and obviously incredibly polarizing topic
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and i don’t think anybody here on this call or anyone listening is surprised at the decision from the u.s supreme
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court that’s apparently going to be coming down this june we knew that this was the goal
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and has been the goal for the gop for a long long time they’ve been working on this literally for 40 40 years
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and so i’m a little disappointed honestly my fellow democrats not the people here on this call on this coming
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after me but conceptually because we knew the strategy was coming
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and we didn’t address it we didn’t fix it we didn’t take the opportunity
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we were the nice guys and that has put everybody at risk
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and i don’t just mean women but obviously very clearly women so 51 of the us population
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and they’re taking away their humanity right this is an issue of my wife makes
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the argument that it’s an issue of human rights not just women’s rights and i can’t deny that i can’t i can’t argue
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against that right it is clearly a women’s rights issue but this is the potential for so much more
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and i talk uh i do a ton of videos i’m on tik tok for those of you that are on tick tock join me over there um
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125 videos and and i talked about the day that that the
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leak happened for roe v wade and the implications for it not just for women
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because unfortunately we’re stuck in a position now where we can’t change it and that sucks
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and of course we’ve got that 1849 bill um law on on the books
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here in wisconsin which is likely to be put in force
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despite the fact that sometimes right ron johnson has come out and said that he doesn’t think that it’ll happen maybe
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there’ll be changes i don’t know why they would be um so
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it is it is very very much putting the lives of your neighbors at risk
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and then there’s the rest of it the rest of the implications and you guys provided 10 questions and i’m
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going to roll some of those questions in here if that’s okay as we talk about this because this topic
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of roe v wade and the supreme court is so integral to virtually every one of these questions
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that you’ve asked about the lgbtq community and so
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roe roe v wade was about privacy our right
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to privacy what’s been overturned is that right to privacy and what what predated that
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was our right to privacy for sexuality homosexuality a right to privacy for
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interracial marriage all of that changed from 1965 for the most part on
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my parents generation we can go back further and and perhaps
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look at some others but really the the idea the constitutional idea of our right to
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privacy whether that’s sexuality whether that’s sexual identity whether that’s gender whether that’s abortion
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has been stripped away and that is the very literal words that justice alito used
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right was that he doesn’t see privacy in the constitution and that leaves
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i i want to thank you for all the context and also
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get us back to what are your plans right sorry when you if you
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what are the points are you a senator yeah sure thank you i i love this study right
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the theme is listen learn and share and sometimes teach and that’s what we’ve got to be able to
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do so can we do anything about row in the immediate no we can’t what do we have to do going forward
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we have to and i pardon me for this we as democrats have to have the balls to do what needs
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to be done which means which means that we’ve got to change the
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supreme court everything that happens right so we have to change the filibuster
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because without it nothing changes in the us senate which is of course where i’m looking at going
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and we have to change the supreme court and it’s not just packing the court and
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that’s an argument that use gets used a lot but it’s about making it fair and balanced
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but also about making it effective because right now politics isn’t effective
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and if we’re not willing to understand that and make those changes that need to happen to our overall political system
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and i make the argument and and other candidates will say the same thing that right the filibuster is
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key to all of the changes that we want to make voting rights are key to everything that we want to change voting
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rights don’t change unless the filibuster changes voting rights get overturned by the current supreme court
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so we have to be willing collectively to make that change and so then that requires us as
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voters so not just me as a candidate but you as voters being willing to communicate
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i can’t do it all the rest of the candidates here can’t do it all as many television commercials as we might put out aren’t going to be sufficient so
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here’s what i’m doing is we’re creating video content for you guys
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to share to use to create arguments right not everybody wants to get
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involved in this in this battle and we have to respect that right whether it is the lgbt community
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whether it is women whether it is the black community not everyone wants to share their story
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not everyone wants to fight the fight exactly right
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why you know as much as democracy takes all of us you know participating
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um there’s also folks like you you all our elected officials um that we you know
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task with with you know working to create legislation and different things that’ll actually
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represent our our needs and wants as a people um so let me offer something oh sorry go
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ahead yeah so i think um you know your approach of like collective community um response
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um to the attacks on safe and accessible abortion care
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is something that’s really important um and i would like to move us on to um the next question
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um if you’re okay with that absolutely go ahead because i know i can go for way too long folks want to hear from you and
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again i’ll um i’ll just you know start this off by saying we would like
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to hear what your plans are and what your approach will be um if elected as our next u.s senator um
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so the next question on the list is around conversion therapy
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so reparative or conversion therapy is a dangerous practice that targets lgbtq
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youth and seeks to change their sexual or gender identities according to a recent report by the
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williams institute at ucla school of law an estimated 20 000 lgbtq minors in
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states without protections will be subjected to conversion therapy by a licensed healthcare professional if
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state officials fail to act in april 2018 national organizations
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representing millions of licensed medical and mental health care professionals educators and child
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welfare advocates declared their support for legislative protections against convergent therapy
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my question to you is how will you prioritize ending the incredibly abusive and harmful practice of conversion
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therapy and what are your plans to support lgbtq plus youth who as a result
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of discrimination and rejection face significantly higher rates of homelessness mental illness addiction
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and other challenges that their straight and cisgender peers do not
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so it’s
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offensive isn’t it i don’t know how else to put it
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that that conversion therapy is is first of all that it’s a thing and
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second of all that it hasn’t been outlawed in more states i think we’re somewhere around 20 states um here in
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wisconsin governor evers at least did an executive order but this is
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we have to here’s the challenge we have to change the conversation we have to figure out how to change the
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conversation because the gop has been controlling it and let me give you an example they use the term culture war a lot
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and it gets used for all of these topics lgbt trans right um
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uh black and it’s not a culture war it’s a privilege war
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it is a war of terror and we need to address that and i i’ve said i like to teach and i said that
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we’ll do videos presenting that options for people to be able to share but the other thing that we have to do and i
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think that i make the argument in my campaign that we’ve got democracy right here in our hands now
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is we we truly do but it requires coordination it requires
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coordinated effort and so i think what we need to do as politicians and so this isn’t just the
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public right this isn’t just voters i think politicians need to learn how to
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put pressure on candidates or not candidates excuse me on politicians
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in other areas so if we want to deal with conversion therapy
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in states where it’s not and of course obviously i think at the federal level it should just obviously be banned and that would be incredibly simple and easy
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to do conceptually but of course we would be challenged by the gop so what we need to
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do as democrats is not just talk to our i don’t want to let you know that you have two minutes left okay cool
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so we have to do more than just talk to our own voters because we’re in our silo and we have to do more than just talk to
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our voters here in the state we have to address those voters in those districts
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and in those states across the country where those politicians are opposing
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sane legislation where they are actively trying to hurt children and that’s literally what this is
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and so that’s why i say we need different strategies we need different tactics we’ve been very very polite and
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that’s lovely and it’s ineffective and so we have to do more than just talk with people we need to actually take it
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to the voters that can actually make an impact because we here in wisconsin can’t affect what happens in west
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virginia normally but i believe that we actually can if we start to engage so that’s what
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i’d like to lead is that effort and that’s what i’m doing right now is actually connecting with
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not just politicians here in wisconsin but ones across the country to talk about the issues that are important
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because they can relate to them perhaps better than i can as a 50 year old cis white male
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well adam i want to thank you so much for your time thank you for joining us today um and thank you for these really
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great insights into your plans um if elected or next you a senator
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have a good night thanks you guys too thank you um i’d like to now
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um you know welcome our next candidate for u.s senate mandela barnes
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hey sorry about that um i want to thank you all so much for having me today i am
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mandela barnes and i’m very proud and honored to serve as your lieutenant governor uh as proud and honored to be a
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candidate for the united states senate now i tell people all the time my story is a wisconsin story i don’t come from a
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wealthy family i don’t come from a well-connected or a political family i grew up right here in the heart of the city of milwaukee
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my dad worked third shift on an assembly line my mother was a public school teacher and those jobs were their
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tickets to the middle class and i’m running for the united states senate to rebuild our middle class and give
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everyone a fair shot at the american dream that means protecting our rights and our freedoms and making sure that
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everyone in this country can live with safety prosperity and equality and
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that’s the work that i’ve been a part of as your lieutenant governor but also as a member of the state legislature and as
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an organizer pushing back against this bigoted agenda of scott walker and it’s the work that i hope to do as a us
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senator and i hope to have your support in that effort thank you mandela
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um thanks so much for bringing to the forefront um you know your organizing expertise um
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one huge issue that we’re going to have to overcome in the coming years is this
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attack on abortion access and care um so you also chose um a question
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around that issue um for your first question um it reads natalie hinchcliffe um the
27:17
medical director associate medical director at planned parenthood hudson peconic was recently quoted saying
27:23
abortion is an issue for all people capable of pregnancy for their partners their families and their communities
27:30
with recent news indicating that roe v wade is likely to be overturned in the summer which would mean states like
27:37
wisconsin would severely restrict access to abortion how will you work to ensure access to reproductive health
27:45
to ensure that access to reproductive health care is available to everyone how will you work to address this issue that
27:51
threatens to roll back civil rights and bodily autonomy for lgbtq plus folks
27:57
well thanks again and thank you for that question this moment is more urgent than it’s
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ever been in my lifetime uh not more urgent than it’s ever been but certainly in our lifetimes before i was a
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legislator as you mentioned or as i mentioned and uh you brought up i was an organizer so i believe the way we fight
28:14
oppression is through organizing it’s through action and that means turning out voters this election at historic
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levels to expand our democratic majority with democrats who will do whatever it takes to protect roe v wade let me let
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me be very clear when i say democrats i mean democrats who understand the importance of choice and the first step
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is abolishing the filibuster now i promise you i will never let some archaic senate procedure stand in the
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way of our basic and human rights whether it’s abortion access or the right to vote and we all deserve elected
28:49
leaders we’ll go to the map to protect our freedoms that’s what i intend to do i never imagined that we’d be in this
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position right now most people would imagine how many of our rights are under attack
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and i’ll tell you uh if roe is overturned that is a slippery slope for so many other things that we hold dear
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and that’s why we have to do everything we can to kind of fight into law
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so your strategy is to organize uh to attack the filibuster make sure that our
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rights are protected um you know one thing that we’ve already kind of
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gone to the map for to protect is marriage equality um and that leads us to the second
29:30
question that you’ll be asked tonight seven years after marriage equality became a reality nationwide over half of
29:37
u.s states could still deny lgbtq plus americans basic freedoms like the right
29:43
to rent a home or the ability to receive public goods and services simply because
29:48
of who they love or who they are the equality act aims to ensure basic freedoms and protections for every
29:54
american in every state more than five thousand associations organizations faith leaders and
30:01
companies have endorsed the equality act if you are elected to u.s senate will
30:06
you co-sponsor the equality act well i will proudly co-sponsor the
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equality act and let me tell you let me tell the the folks in the audience wisconsin has a proud history of
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fighting for the lgbtq plus community we were the first state to ban discrimination employment on the basis
30:26
of sexual orientation we were the first state to send an openly gay uh u.s senator to washington dc with tammy
30:32
baldwin and as you’ve mentioned before and even with the question that preceded
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this one our rights are still compromised especially with so many regressive
30:43
individuals in power who do whatever they can who use fear mongering who use hatred and scare tactics to keep us
30:50
divided from one another and demonizing communities in the process and with the
30:56
rights of the lgbtq plus community under attack we have to fight back and that’s why in the senate i will be more than happy to sign on to the equality act
31:03
right away to make sure that the whole community has equal rights to acts and access to health care and where people
31:10
can live free of discrimination now i don’t think it will surprise anyone to hear uh that most of the time
31:17
i find myself as the only black elected official in the room and throughout my entire career i’ve
31:24
noticed that when there’s an issue that impacts the black community elected
31:29
officials tend to leave it up to black politicians to talk about it and figure it out and that’s the whole problem
31:36
i don’t believe in that because none of us are free until all of us are free and real change does not happen until strong
31:43
allies lend their voice and support communities that they aren’t even a part of that’s why i’ve always been proud to
31:49
fight for the lgbtq plus community in the state legislature and as lieutenant governor and i’m incredibly proud to
31:56
take the same fight to the united states senate thank you actually the next question um
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really focuses in on the intersectionalities of being black and being a member of the lgbtqi plus
32:10
community so black people who identify as members of the lgbtq plus community face higher
32:17
rates of police brutality incarceration domestic violence and sexual assault
32:22
poverty mental health crisis and medical discrimination than their white and poc counterparts
32:28
addressing these disparities requires a multifaceted approach that takes into account the intersecting identities held
32:35
by black lgbtqi plus community members how would you ensure that your support
32:41
for lgbtq plus rights is intersectional for instance blacks trans black
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transgender women are amongst the most victimized marginalized and criminalized members of our population
32:54
what steps would you take to improve the lives of those who are marginalized in multiple ways
33:00
well i’ll first start by saying that we have to recognize there are multiple forms of discrimination that block
33:06
people from having healthy and successful lives and too often people face and deal with multiple forms of
33:12
discrimination which makes life even more difficult and while many of us face
33:18
hardships we don’t face those hardships equally and that’s the thing that is not always understood or taken into account
33:24
and as i mentioned some people have those hardships multiplied now none of our struggles exist in isolation for
33:31
example a lot of people talk about health care and lgbtq issues as though they’re different issues now the lgbtq
33:38
community has its own specific health care needs and struggles and our policies need to reflect that and take
33:44
it into account same goes for issues like gun violence and hate crimes gun
33:50
violence lgbtq plus issues are interconnected especially for black trans women who are disproportionately
33:56
impacted by violence and so our policies have to take that into account we also need to recognize the heightened
34:02
discrimination that black trans women face that lead to higher arrest rates
34:07
that also lead to disproportionate rates of domestic violence and even
34:12
violence that ends up in loss of life now ultimately the most important role of a lawmaker is to be a listener and
34:19
i’m committed to continue listening to the voices of communities i may not even be a part of so i can better understand
34:26
what the needs are and we can also understand how we can overcome our common struggles together now these
34:33
knees differ but what we have to do is stand up and fight together with each other until we’re all free
34:40
of oppression discrimination and whatever else sets us back and keeps us from realizing the american dream
34:48
yes and you know another issue that impacts
34:53
um directly impacts or targets a small population a small percentage of our population but has
35:00
huge negative impacts on us all um are the recent you know onslaught of
35:05
anti-trans and lgbtqi plus bills so more than 300
35:11
anti-lgbtqi plus bills have been proposed during the 2022 legislative session
35:16
in a march article for nbc chase trageo the deputy director for transgender justice at the aclu lgbt plus i and hiv
35:26
project stated it’s important for people to pause and think about what is happening
35:31
especially in the healthcare context because what we’re seeing is that the state should have the authority to
35:37
declare a population of people so undesirable that their medical care that they need to survive becomes a crime
35:45
how should washington be responding to the rash of anti-lgbtq plus and especially anti-transgender bills in
35:52
states around the country has it been doing enough well i’ll start by saying the reason
35:59
that we see so many bigoted individuals and state legislatures all across the country uh even having the audacity to
36:06
attempt to pass so many of these hateful bills is because congress has failed to pass the equality act now the senate has to
36:13
use every level of power to pass the equality act immediately now every day that we wait is another opportunity for
36:20
republicans and state legislatures to continue to strip away civil rights in
36:25
states across the country that means abolishing the filibuster which is something we absolutely need to do in
36:31
order to enshrine our civil liberties now i know i’m sounding like a broken record here when i talk about abolishing the filibuster or when i talk about
36:37
turning out to vote but the fact is if we lose this senate race then that means
36:42
that republicans and regressive uh lawmakers in congress will have another
36:48
opportunity to deny us our basic rights and if we don’t show up in mass this
36:54
november to demand a better future and i want to remind people too that voting is
36:59
one thing but we have to demand more from our elected officials we have to hold people accountable after they get
37:05
into office voting is just step one you know a lot of times you vote for people
37:10
and they’ll disappoint you and we we seem to forget it or you know the person we want to get in office will get in
37:16
office and we don’t necessarily pay attention to what they’re voting on or the person we don’t want to get in
37:22
office you know we’ll just be mad and frustrated without actually holding them accountable now we know that we cannot
37:28
let these bigoted individuals excuse me bigoted individuals uh roll back the clock when it comes to equality for the
37:35
lgbtqia community and democrats in washington have to go to the mat for the
37:41
equality act to establish and expand the crucial protections that will quite literally save lives that is what’s at
37:48
stake right now and while we fight for the equality act we have to recognize so much harm that’s already been done so
37:56
much harm that is happening in this moment in real time especially in our
38:01
schools lgbtq are already so vulnerable to suicide we need immediate action on
38:08
suicide prevention so we can minimize the harm of these existing bills as we
38:13
can and i’m proud to have worked on the assembly committee on education as a member of the legislature
38:19
we beat back the bigoted bathroom bill very proud i just want to let you know
38:24
you’ve got two minutes oh sorry for the for the whole thing or just this question for the whole thing so if you want all right let’s let’s wrap this one
38:31
up and get to the next one cool so the last question reparative or conversion therapy is a dangerous
38:37
practice that targets lgbtq youth and seeks to change their sexual or gender
38:42
identities according to a recent report by the williams institute at ucla school
38:47
of law an estimated 20 000 lgbtq minors in states without protections will be
38:53
subjected to conversion therapy by a licensed health care professional if a state official does not act how will you
39:00
prioritize ending the incredibly abusive and harmful practice of conversion therapy and what are your plans to
39:06
support lgbtq youth who as a result of discrimination and rejection face
39:12
significantly higher rates of homelessness mental illness addiction and other challenges than their straight
39:18
and cisgender peers again you got about one minute to answer this one oh so you took up a whole minute of my two so
39:26
well let me let me first by making a very declarative statement and said that our lgbtqia plus youth belong and that
39:34
is something that given all the attacks on their very existence it is something
39:39
that i want to make sure is very clearly and plainly spoken out of my mouth now conversion therapy is disgraceful it’s
39:46
incredibly dangerous and it can damage a person’s sense of self the mental health and their own safety for years of coming
39:53
as i mentioned there are quite literally lies on the line here our lgbtq youth are already vulnerable to depression the
39:59
homelessness and suicide that you mentioned that’s why we have to build support the resources
40:05
and the community for our lgbtq plus youth not subjecting them to harmful practices like conversion therapy and it
40:11
goes back to privacy in a person being able to live their lives as they are that’s why i was proud to support
40:16
governor evers executive order that ban conversion therapy here in wisconsin we can’t let young people who live in
40:22
states that haven’t banned conversion therapy fall through the cracks and be subjected to bigoted legislation so in
40:29
the senate i will wholeheartedly support federal legislation that will ban conversion therapy
40:35
well thank you so much for that answer and thank you so much for your time um
40:41
that’s the time for your segment um yeah thanks for joining
40:46
us okay all right so we’re going to welcome our
40:52
next candidate sarah godlewski
41:00
hello can you hear me yes we can hear you sarah well terrific um
41:07
so i’ll just uh maybe kick it off and give an introduction if that’s okay with you
41:13
yes please introduce yourself you’ve got 15 minutes for your full segment okay perfect well hello hrc it is so
41:21
great to be with you um today for those of you that do not know me my name is
41:27
sarah godlewski and i am a proud fifth generation wisconsinite i was born and
41:32
raised in eau claire i am the daughter of two public school teachers and a shout out for anyone on this call that
41:39
supports public education and i’m also the proud product of
41:44
uh union family and something that my parents would always say as public servants is they would say you know
41:50
sarah when you see something wrong you’ve got to stand up and do something about it and i will be honest that is i never
41:57
thought that i would be standing here as a u.s senate candidate let alone as your
42:02
current state treasurer and just wanted to give you a little bit of kind of background i’m you know proud
42:10
to serve as your state treasurer and when i walked into my office i just want to kind of lay it out for you um they’re
42:17
literally my office had wires hanging down from the ceiling they turned off my wi-fi and the
42:24
republicans gave me a pay-as-you-go flip phone as a way to talk to constituents
42:29
and so for me it was they were going to do whatever they could to make sure i didn’t succeed but yet i didn’t let them
42:36
win you know one of my first major actions as a state treasurer was overturning a republican gag order on
42:42
climate change and then we started investing in renewable energy projects across the state or when the pandemic
42:48
hit in public schools were literally struggling to address the digital divide because they didn’t have access to
42:55
internet i stepped up and we provided hot spots and new learning books so kids didn’t have to drive to the mcdonald’s
43:01
parking lot or we know when communities their revenues were down and expenditures were
43:06
up and they were struggling to fund their frontline workers we stepped up and funded over 300 infrastructure
43:12
projects or when people were struggling to stay in their homes because they were underemployed or unemployed through no
43:18
fault of their own we started a foreclosure prevention fund to keep people in their homes and i’m doing all
43:23
this work by simply being wisconsin scrappy and then i am watching ron johnson take a private plane
43:30
from oshkosh wisconsin i wanna i wanna give you enough time to answer
43:37
these questions of course so should we help her to the questions
43:42
sure we can do that okay great um so the first question that
43:48
you um chose to be asked is around a fair um and safe access to abortion care yeah
43:56
um so you know natalie hinchcliffe who’s an associate medical director at planned parenthood hudson paconi was recently
44:03
quoted saying abortion is an issue for all people capable of pregnancy for their partners their families and their
44:10
communities with recent news indicating that roe v wade is likely to be overturned this
44:16
summer which would mean states like wisconsin would severely restrict access to abortion how will you make work to
44:23
ensure access to reproductive health care is available to everyone how will you work to address this issue
44:30
that threatens to roll back civil rights and bodily autonomy for lgbtq plus people
44:36
well look i think what we are seeing right now with roe is absolutely horrifying i mean our state could bring
44:43
back people to 1849 when it comes to their reproductive freedom that is even pre-civil war
44:51
and we know that reproductive rights are lgbtq plus rights and they must be
44:56
protected because look we don’t want politicians like ron johnson making our
45:02
health care decisions so what’s the solution well we’ve got it for starters
45:07
codify row and i’ll be honest i’ve been really frustrated with my own party because
45:13
we’ve had 50 years to codify row into law and this has been you know there have
45:18
been during these 50 years that the democrats have had the white house they’ve also had the senate they’ve had
45:24
the house but yet they simply have chose not to prioritize it prioritize it it made it more of an afterthought and so
45:31
now we’re here at the 11th hour and the supreme court’s going to overturn roe in june and they could literally eliminate
45:39
50 years of precedent 50 years of president and so if they can overturn
45:45
50 years of precedent with roe and criminalize abortion they can criminalize lgbtq people
45:51
they can overturn precedent with marriage equality and you know this is what also really makes me nervous is
45:57
we’re already seeing these attacks ramping up in state legislatures across the country
46:03
look at texas florida and yes we’ve even seen it right here in wisconsin
46:10
you know i was actually the first campaign in the entire country to go up on the air and talk about what’s at
46:16
stake because i don’t want ron johnson to win and honestly it’s one of the reasons why
46:22
i stepped up to run for the senate because we can’t keep treating our civil rights as afterthoughts we have to
46:28
ensure that lgbtq plus people have full access to health care and this includes
46:34
abortion care and even care related to transitioning whether that’s gender confirmation surgery or more
46:41
so for me what it comes down to is as your u.s senator i will codify roe and i
46:48
will not let politicians like ron johnson or mitch mcconnell make our health care disorder choices because to
46:54
me it’s about our freedom not theirs and i’ve got news for them we’re not going
47:01
backwards you know sarah i’m glad you mentioned um
47:06
you know ways that are let our elected officials continue to fight for us that leads us to the
47:12
next question which has to do with the equality act seven years after marriage equality
47:18
became a reality nationwide over half of u.s states could still deny lgbtq plus
47:25
americans basic freedoms like the right to rent a home or the ability to receive
47:30
public goods and services simply because of who they love or who they are the
47:36
equality act aims to ensure basic freedoms and protections for every american in every state more than 5 000
47:43
associations organizations faith leaders and companies have endorsed the equality
47:48
act if you are elected to the u.s senate will you co-sponsor the equality act
47:55
absolutely to me this is a no-brainer and it would be my top priority
48:00
to make sure we actually get this done because as you said the equality act
48:07
would extend full federal civil rights to lgbtq plus wisconsinites and finally
48:13
stop discrimination with gender identity or sexual orientation in areas like you
48:18
talked about with employment housing public accommodations education
48:23
what i see with even credit or jury service or how they can use federal funds
48:29
and the one thing that i want to really kind of emphasize with this question is that
48:34
you know the equality act was first introduced in 1974 and it died in committee
48:40
and then it was again introduced in 2015 where it once again
48:46
died in committee and we have seen it again and again die in committee and look we had good
48:52
news this year because the house did pass it but yet it died in the senate
48:59
and to me this is completely unacceptable and it’s one of the reasons why i’ve talked about
49:04
getting rid of the filibuster because i believe if we would get rid of the filibuster we could pass the equality
49:10
act and you know i just want to kind of also link this back to the question that we talked about earlier
49:17
because we’re seeing right now the republican playbook on this with abortion and how we need to codify lgbtq
49:24
rights just like we have to codify row and just like we honestly have to codify marriage equality we’ve got to fight
49:30
clarify everything because if the republicans can overturn 50 years of precedent with roe and criminalize
49:36
abortion they can once again criminalize lgbtq people and we’re seeing these
49:42
attacks and they can then criminalize marriage equality and so this to me is a
49:48
major step that we have to take in order to protect those important civil rights
49:53
and we’ve got to get the equality act done thank you so much for your comments
49:58
around that i think it’s you know something really important that you’re saying about
50:04
um let’s not have 50 years of progress um be so easily overturned um and this
50:10
is so true in the next area that we’re about to talk about as well um as black people who identify as
50:17
members of the lgbtqi plus community face higher rates of police brutality
50:22
incarceration domestic violence and sexual assault poverty mental health crises and medical discrimination than
50:29
their white and poc counterparts addressing these disparities requires a multi-faceted approach that takes into
50:36
account the intersecting identities held by black lgbtqi plus community members
50:41
how would you ensure that your support for lgbtq plus rights is intersectional
50:47
for instance black transgender women are among the most victimized marginalized
50:52
and criminalized members of our population what steps would you take to improve the lives of those who are
50:58
marginalized in multiple ways well for starters i know that it’s
51:05
important to put in the work and educate myself on these intersectional issues
51:10
and i know it’s important to do my own research and not to rely on marginalized groups to be experts you know that’s why
51:18
when i actually ran for state treasurer i did my research and then i proactively reached out to hrc to talk about how my
51:25
role as the state’s chief financial officer can actually help address credit discrimination and because that was
51:31
something that was on the books in wisconsin and look like we know that the lgbtq
51:37
plus community is not a one-size-fits-all it’s really important to understand the
51:42
layers of reality that lgbtq people face and i also recognize ways in which these
51:50
social identities can impact one’s access to services and support whether that’s legal protections health
51:56
care or as you mentioned housing but the other thing that i really have been leaning in on that i think is
52:02
incredibly important is it’s about listening and centering voices from the ground up
52:09
and centering the priorities of people most impacted by these inequities and
52:14
bringing as many voices to the table as possible and you know this is something that i’ve
52:20
really tried to focus on as my work as state treasurer really meeting people where they are and hearing about their
52:27
own concerns particularly my work with housing and homeownership because we know right now lgbtq plus americans can
52:35
be evicted they can be denied home loans and they can even be turned away from rental properties just because who they
52:42
are yeah and i remember seeing this like it was something like 40
52:47
of black trans people have said that they are experienced homelessness at some point of their lives
52:52
which is actually five times the rate of the general us population
52:58
and so you know i’m proud of my work that we’ve done to start addressing um
53:03
home ownership with take root wisconsin um and the help for homeowners program
53:08
but we need to do more and so that’s why i think we’ve got to do everything from the equality act to end discrimination
53:13
with housing and credit but it goes back to exactly kind of where we started is you know i’ve got to put in the work
53:20
we’ve got to do research then we’ve got to reach out we’ve got to listen and then together we’ve got to fight to make
53:26
sure everybody has a voice and we’re fighting for policies that work for everybody and lifting up those in need
53:34
well thank you so much for your answer around that um especially the you know
53:40
really insisting upon folks needing to do their research and educate themselves um
53:46
so i want to let you know you have two minutes left do you have yeah anything high five when you’re
53:51
having fun there’s anything else you want to say um to just wrap up your time with us
53:58
yeah i mean look i think that we have seen how 2022 has been one of the worst years on record when it comes for
54:05
anti-lgbtq bills especially targeting the trans community and so for me this is emergency you know the rights of
54:12
lgbtq plus people including the families who love them um continue to be undermined by state
54:19
legislatures by courtrooms and even the federal government and we know these
54:24
attacks won’t end and that’s why we’ve got to stand up and fight back
54:29
and honestly i believe washington has not done enough on these issues whether it’s everything from conversion therapy
54:36
to mental health of lgbtq um individuals or trans folks um to the equality act
54:44
and we know we’ve got to start passing legislation at the federal level to combat these things and it just to me
54:50
goes back to these basic things which is it’s about freedom it’s about dignity
54:56
and it’s about privacy and honestly i’m not going to back down until people are free to be who they are
55:03
and love who they want to love and live without fear so i don’t think that’s too much to ask
55:08
for so i really appreciate all of you um for hrc organizing this and for us to
55:14
share opportunities on these important issues and if you have any questions about me or my work um you should visit sarah for
55:21
wisconsin.com again that’s sarahforwisconsin.com and just want to also quick note that uh it’s mental
55:28
health month and we actually just released our mental health plan um about ways in which we can help address the
55:34
mental health crisis um that we are facing in this country well sarah thank you so much for your
55:40
time today thank you so much for answering these questions um and you have a great night
55:46
um we’re gonna go ahead and welcome our fourth candidate um of
55:51
the night alex lazary well thank you um and thank you guys so
55:58
much for uh for having me uh it uh this is a great forum to be able to talk about a lot of important issues that are
56:04
going to be at the center of uh of this campaign and also the center of what we’re fighting for over the next you
56:11
know uh you know hopefully the next uh you know four five ten years right this is going to be generational issues that
56:17
uh that we’re dealing with um i’m alex lazary i was the senior vice president for the uh nba champion milwaukee bucks
56:23
before i got in here and i got in this race because i thought we just needed a change in washington right whether it’s
56:29
his conspiracy theorizing or general indifference to the job you know ron johnson has shown us time and time again
56:35
that he’s not up to the task of being our u.s senator and that’s been a problem for us because that means for 12 years we’ve only had
56:41
one person in washington fighting on our behalf and fighting for our interests and that’s why i’m in this race because
56:46
i want to give tammy a real partner in dc to bring some change and real results for the people of wisconsin
56:52
and that to me is why i think i’d be the best candidate um to uh to go to washington because
56:58
what i’ve always said is if you want to know what someone’s going to do when they get to washington you got to look at what they’ve done
57:04
and i’ve got a track record of real results and having meaningful accomplishments for the people of
57:10
wisconsin right we’ve raised wages we’ve created thousands of good paying union jobs we’ve been on the front lines of
57:16
racial and social justice and voting rights we were you know one of the first i think if not the first arena to have
57:22
gender neutral bathrooms making sure that we were one of the first teams in the nba with a pride night um making
57:28
sure that we were bringing national attention to a lot of i think the most important issues and trying to lead um
57:34
as a great corporate citizen and i want to be able to take what i did there those values those accomplishments and
57:40
those real results and be able to bring them to washington to deliver for you this isn’t just about fighting this
57:46
isn’t just about you know about being there this is about actual delivering and making sure that um where we’re
57:53
getting some real results for uh for the people of wisconsin and so i just want to say thank you um it means uh so much
57:58
to be here and um uh looking forward to uh to this conversation
58:04
well alex we’re gonna start off these questions with one that you chose which is around
58:11
conversion therapy so the reparative or conversion therapy is a dangerous practice that targets
58:18
lgbtq youth and seeks to change their sexual or gender identities according to
58:23
a recent report by the williams institute at ucla school of law an estimated 20 000 lgbtq minors in states
58:31
without protections will be subjected to conversion therapy by a licensed health
58:36
care professional if state officials fail to act in april 2018 national
58:42
organizations representing millions of licensed medical and mental health care professionals educators and child
58:48
welfare advocates declared their support for legislative protections against convergent therapy
58:54
how will you prioritize ending the incredibly abusive and harmful practice
58:59
of conversion therapy and what are your plans to support lgbtq plus youth who as
59:05
a result of discrimination and rejection face significantly higher rates of homelessness mental illness addiction
59:12
and other challenges than their straight and cisgender peers yeah you know this is you know i chose
59:18
this question for a reason because i think this is you know one of the you know most important uh things that we
59:24
can attack especially on the federal level right this is one of those things where we actually need a lot more federal
59:31
intervention and federal laws around this you know i was i’m proud to be supported by mayor cavalier johnson who
59:36
was a leading uh figure on trying to on banning conversion therapy uh here in milwaukee but this is not something
59:44
we’re going to be able to do you know city by city town by town state by state
59:49
right this is something that we need to do at the federal level to make sure that everyone is protected you know one
59:54
of the biggest things the federal government can do is make sure that the states aren’t infringing on you know on on the rights
1:00:01
of of everyone and making sure that people aren’t being discriminated and being forced to go through something
1:00:06
that they don’t want to that that they don’t need to and that they shouldn’t be going through and quite frankly being
1:00:12
told that they’re not good enough and that who they are needs to be changed through some sort of procedure or or
1:00:20
or therapy process what we need to do is have a federal ban on conversion therapy and making sure
1:00:26
that we’re then also providing resources to our lgbtq youth um and letting them
1:00:31
know hey we love who you are right who you are is is a great person and i think this also
1:00:37
then goes back to you know as we’re banning conversion therapy making sure that we’re also teaching proper history
1:00:43
right making sure that we’re standing up leaders of the lgbtq community so that young people can see
1:00:49
that some of our most important and thoughtful leaders in this country and around the world um we’re from the lgbtq
1:00:56
community making sure that we’re standing up role models and um whether it’s athletes or or artists or or
1:01:03
whoever politician whoever right being able to say hey look this can be you right these people have
1:01:10
made significant and incredible impact on all of our lives and there is nothing wrong with you who you are as a great
1:01:17
and incredible person and we welcome you and the more that our states fight that
1:01:23
um the more damage we’re doing to uh to a lot of young people um
1:01:29
for you know for for no good reason and you know every time we try to pass these laws on
1:01:34
on the state level it also tells a lot of people don’t come here right that we’re not a welcoming
1:01:40
place and it makes it really hard for us to create jobs bring investment and keep people right one of the biggest problems
1:01:47
wisconsin has right now is its brain drain right people are leaving and a lot of that has to do with the fact that
1:01:52
we’re trying to ban who can play in what sport and and all that we need to show that we’re a welcoming
1:01:58
place for everyone and that starts with a a federal law on conversion on banning
1:02:04
conversion therapy and making sure that we’re propping up and and teaching um the history and and the incredible work
1:02:11
that a lot of our lgbt lgbtq leaders have done
1:02:17
so thank you for your comments around that question um and sharing your plans um for really
1:02:24
uh making sure that at a federal level um you know we’re protecting
1:02:30
um our folks and banning conversion therapy and sending a message to folks outside the state that we are welcoming
1:02:36
um i do want to ask you um along the lines of you know something
1:02:42
that our lgbtq plus community members have fought for and been incredible leaders on um is the equality act right
1:02:49
is marriage equality and and you know something more all-encompassing such as the equality
1:02:55
act um and so that’s what the next question is about um so seven years after marriage
1:03:00
equality became unreality nationwide over half of u.s states could still deny
1:03:06
lgbtq plus americans basic freedoms like the right to rent a home or the ability
1:03:11
to receive public goods and services simply because of who they love or who they are
1:03:17
the equality act aims to ensure basic freedoms and protections for every american in every state more than 5 000
1:03:24
associations organizations faith leaders and companies have endorsed the equality act
1:03:29
if you are elected to the u.s senate will you co-sponsor the equality act
1:03:34
not only will i co-sponsor the equality act uh i’m gonna do everything in my power and i’m gonna make sure that that
1:03:40
it gets passed right this starts with making sure that we ban the filibuster and get rid of the filibuster so that we
1:03:46
can pass the agenda that voters put us in look we need to pass the equality act we
1:03:51
need to you know codify and make sure that same-sex marriage and that you have the right to marry anyone you want right
1:03:58
i think what we’ve seen with row is that the right to privacy is under attack and the the the the
1:04:05
the rights that we thought we had under previous supreme court decisions now might not be there and the best way
1:04:13
that we can make sure that we protect is through legislation right one of the things that i think sometimes we relied too much on
1:04:19
were the courts right we looked at the courts to to to handle things that we didn’t want
1:04:25
to touch legislatively and we can’t be scared of these issues right we could
1:04:30
have codified roe 10 20 years ago we could have codified you know uh same-sex
1:04:36
marriage 10 20 years ago and and we didn’t and we hoped the courts would take care of it for us and now we’re
1:04:43
seeing kind of the uh um uh you know the consequences of of
1:04:48
those decisions and so what i would want to do when i get to the senate is make sure that we’re
1:04:54
making these things federal law right we’re we’re not leaving it up to the courts to decide or anything like that
1:04:59
but that we’re making sure that the equality act that uh that that the right to marry who you want is is federal law
1:05:06
and can’t be banned or taken away um by anyone because
1:05:12
uh again the more we do that as i said the more we’re showing the world that we’re not a welcoming country that that
1:05:18
we don’t believe in the freedoms that we espouse and um and that we’re telling people that who they are
1:05:25
is not okay and that’s that’s not good for us morally it’s not good for us as an economy and
1:05:30
it’s not good for our our our leadership around the world and so um the equality act i think is one of
1:05:36
the the top things that we need to get past um and uh not only would i want to be a
1:05:41
co-sponsor on it uh i’d want to make sure that i you know i want to make sure that uh um that that we put at the top
1:05:48
of of our priority list because too often in washington we see people just talking about fighting right and just
1:05:54
being a co-sponsor is looked at as an accomplishment and that’s what i’m frustrated with is that we say
1:06:00
well i co-sponsored this so i tried no we need results right we need these things to get passed your job as a
1:06:06
senator is to pass legislation and if you’re not passing it then you’re not doing your job and so for me it’s
1:06:12
not just about co-sponsoring it it’s about doing whatever it takes to get it done um
1:06:19
definitely powerful words um you know this really moves us into
1:06:25
our next question around um intersectionality um when it comes to
1:06:30
[Music] protections for lgbtqi plus folks
1:06:35
so black people who identify as members of the lgbtqi plus community face higher
1:06:41
rates of police brutality incarceration domestic violence and sexual assaults
1:06:47
poverty mental health crisis and medical discrimination than their white and poc
1:06:52
counterparts addressing these disparities requires a multi-faceted approach that takes into
1:06:58
account the intersecting identities held by black lgbtqi plus community members
1:07:04
how would you ensure that your support for lgbtq plus rights is intersectional
1:07:10
for instance black transgender women are among the most victimized marginalized and criminalized members of our
1:07:16
population what steps would you take to improve the lives of those who are marginalized in multiple ways
1:07:23
yeah i think you know what what’s so fascinating and i think great about this question and and the way i look at this
1:07:29
is you know the way we’ve kind of you know told this narrative you know over
1:07:34
the last decades um you know the the narrative of lgbtq um activism has been through like a
1:07:42
white male cisgender lens right you know i don’t want to downplay the importance of you know
1:07:48
someone like harvey milk but we’ve never really told the full story and the full comprehensive story
1:07:54
and we’ve largely disregarded kind of the the the the foundation of modern day activism um and advances that you know
1:08:01
people like you know stonewalls sylvia rivera and people like that have done and so for me
1:08:08
what what i think we need to do is one bring more people to the table right as we are
1:08:13
looking at any piece of legislation we need to make sure that we have voices from all parts of all communities making
1:08:20
sure that they’re at the table and and talking about this making sure that we’re getting input from uh from from
1:08:27
everyone so that we know hey are we doing something that is marginalizing you and maybe in a way
1:08:32
that i wouldn’t know because i you know uh you know i i’m not part of that community right so we’ve got
1:08:38
someone no i want to let you know you’ve got two minutes to wrap up okay sorry so you know for me this is about making
1:08:45
sure that not only are we bringing people to the table like i said but it also depends on who’s staffing right who
1:08:50
are we bringing into government and working in these jobs to help write these laws to help make sure that the
1:08:57
the the our members and our representatives are hearing from everyone right it’s not just about talking about the activists it’s also
1:09:03
about making sure that our senate staff our um our
1:09:08
our white house staffs um all are fair having fair representation so for me it’s going to
1:09:15
be about making sure that we’re talking to the activists but also pushing not just my staff but the rest of senate
1:09:21
democrats and senate republicans and house and uh democrats republicans but also administrations to make sure that
1:09:27
the people who are are writing these laws writing the guidelines and everything and who are
1:09:32
working and have seats at the table um come from all different backgrounds
1:09:39
well thank you so much alex um for your time tonight um thanks for answering our questions
1:09:45
um and i hope you have a great evening thank you so much for having me yes um
1:09:51
i’d like to welcome our fifth and final candidate tom nelson
1:10:00
all right i’m coming to you live from i think it’s the first presbyterian
1:10:05
church in waukesha county so we just got done talking to the waukesha county dems
1:10:11
to be here it’s good to be here great to have you virtually and otherwise could you um take a moment to introduce
1:10:18
yourself before we hop into the questions yep okay so tom nelson i’m the audi gaming county executive which is
1:10:24
the greater appleton area i’ve been counting executive for three terms
1:10:30
it’s the fifth largest county around 23 departments
1:10:35
300 employees providing every service area you can think of before that i was
1:10:40
in the state assembly also for three terms and served one term as majority
1:10:46
leader when the democrats were in charge which was a long time ago unfortunately
1:10:53
okay thanks for introducing yourself and thank you so much for being here tonight tom um the first question that you chose is
1:11:00
actually yes or no questions so you have ample time in room to go into the details about this
1:11:06
um so i’ll just begin and you can go ahead and answer how you see fit so it reads seven years after marriage
1:11:13
equality became a reality nationwide over half of u.s states could still deny
1:11:19
lgbtq plus americans basic freedoms like the right to rent a home or the ability
1:11:24
to receive public goods and services simply because of who they love or who they are the equality act aims to ensure
1:11:32
basic freedoms and protections for every american in every state more than 5 000 associations
1:11:40
organizations faith leaders and companies have endorsed the equality act
1:11:45
if you are elected to the u.s senate will you co-sponsor the equality act i mean i’m going to co-sponsor the the
1:11:51
equality act for all the reasons you you said though but i think um for me this
1:11:57
has this means this is a special issue for me because it was one of the first issues
1:12:03
that i worked with when i was on the state assembly so 16 years ago long before the supreme
1:12:10
court decision in 2006 that was significant because
1:12:15
2004-2006 were the first two years that the republican party used the marriage
1:12:21
amendment ban the marriage ban amendment to try to win legislative seats and so wisconsin’s term was in 2006
1:12:28
and i was a freshman legislator running for re-election in a pre-red district and i
1:12:35
voted against the ban and i voted against the ban despite the fact that party leaders said 16 years
1:12:42
ago that you should vote against it because you come from a conservative district and they’re going to vote you
1:12:48
out we need you here he said no this is the right thing to do the right thing to do is oppose this and as it turned out
1:12:55
uh the bad news is is the amendment passed in my assembly district two to one
1:13:02
but i won re-election two to one and so you can draw all kinds of lessons
1:13:08
from that so when people say well these are controversial issues you can’t get republican support you can’t win in red
1:13:14
areas if you support measures like the equality act my my i’m living proof that
1:13:19
that is not the case and so to be able to see this through my 17 years of public service to go from a very ugly
1:13:27
issue on a defensive posture that there are quite a few democrats that voted for
1:13:32
the marriage ban amendment and there were a lot of rank-and-file democrats that voted for it
1:13:39
on election day to see us in this position where we are going on offense where we are expanding the franchise we
1:13:46
are expanding these rights in as many ways as possible i mean that’s something
1:13:51
that takes generations and to see that this could be done within a generation between 2006 and
1:13:57
2023 it would be an honor it would be an honor and a privilege to
1:14:03
be in the united states senate to be in a position to co-sponsor legislation
1:14:10
wow um definitely speaking to your experiences coming from
1:14:15
a conservative district this next question is about intersectionality
1:14:21
you know within the fight for lgbtq plus rights so black people who identify as members
1:14:28
of the lgbtqi plus community face higher rates of police brutality incarceration
1:14:34
domestic violence and sexual assault poverty mental health crisis and medical discrimination than their white and poc
1:14:42
counterparts addressing these disparities requires a multi-faceted approach that takes into
1:14:48
account the intersecting identities held by black lgbtqi community members
1:14:54
how would you ensure that your support for lgbtq plus rights is intersectional
1:14:59
for instance for instance black transgender women are among the most victimized marginalized and criminalized
1:15:07
members of our population what steps would you take to improve the lives of those who are marginalized in
1:15:13
multiple ways well i think i think it i mean this should not be an issue that is
1:15:20
predicated with how do you make it an intersectional issue
1:15:27
i think that’s how it is to begin with i think if you don’t address these measures and these challenges if you
1:15:33
don’t approach the equality act if you don’t in a way that you described i don’t think
1:15:38
it’s going to be successful and i think that you’re going to let a lot of people fall through the cracks for those
1:15:44
examples so i think moving forward when you talk about measures like the equality act when you are making sure
1:15:50
that all different segments people whatever the background whatever might be that they’re going to get the support
1:15:56
it’s important to know how all of these pieces connect each other and that’s what i’ve seen over the last 17 years
1:16:03
just today going to a meeting in the courthouse there was we had this graphic and it
1:16:10
talked about 44 of the people who identify as lgbtq have mental health issues
1:16:19
44 i mean if you’re looking just at how you
1:16:24
should allocate your time and resources to these public policy challenges
1:16:29
when you see that this one particular group this one particular
1:16:34
community if nationally it’s like about still very bad it’s like 18 or 19 percent we’re
1:16:41
talking 44 there’s something wrong and not only have we failed to address that in a
1:16:47
comprehensive manner we would be it would just be it would be malpractice if we went
1:16:53
forward not understanding just how comprehensive an issue this is and how
1:16:58
our approaches in the past that were not intersectional have failed thus
1:17:04
the only way that you can approach these issues and to be successful is in that way
1:17:12
you know those are definitely powerful words especially considering um all the
1:17:17
attacks that um black poc
1:17:23
and you know other races of lgbtq i plus folks are facing
1:17:28
it’s no surprise that there are such high instances of mental health issues
1:17:34
um and that that really leads us to our next question um around uh these attacks by our elected
1:17:41
officials right um and and you know really talking about how the fact that there’s been more than
1:17:47
300 anti-lgbtqi plus bills that have been proposed during the 2022 legislative
1:17:54
session um you know in a march article for nbc chase trujillo the deputy director for
1:18:00
transgender justice at the aclu um in hiv projects stated it’s important for
1:18:06
people to pause and think about what is happening especially in the healthcare context
1:18:11
because what we’re seeing is that the state should have the authority to declare a population of people so undesirable that
1:18:19
their medical care that they need to survive becomes a crime
1:18:24
so how should washington be responding to the rash of anti-lgbtqia plus
1:18:29
um especially anti-transgender bills in states and around the country um and has
1:18:35
it been doing enough well i think what we need to do is we need to codify these protections
1:18:41
codify these rights as you know i think what the equality act wants to do uh the strategy is to go on offense and
1:18:49
not just defend and not just respond to these dozens and dozens of these you know these really ugly bills and what
1:18:56
they’re doing to the communities and this is something that just this is not just a reflection this doesn’t just
1:19:01
affect people of color and people who identified as lgbtq but what these right-wing legislators
1:19:09
are missing is how this reflects on our society and how this makes us look
1:19:16
how do we explain this to our children you know how do we explain this when we’re trying to lead the world when this
1:19:24
country is at war and people still look to the united states as a beacon of hope and they see these legislatures putting
1:19:31
together 300 bills that are demonizing and not just people in general but kids and children i mean
1:19:38
for shame so what you need to do is we need to have a working majority of the us senate and the majority the working
1:19:45
majority in the us senate goes through wisconsin we have to win this seat and i think i’m a very strong candidate for
1:19:51
all the reasons and discussions we have right now that i come for red part of the state i’ve been elected six times at the same
1:19:57
time too i know my values i know my core i stick to my guns and these are issues
1:20:03
that might not be popular certain times in certain parts of the state though but we have to do it because that’s the
1:20:08
right thing to do so we have to win wisconsin i think we’ve got a good candidate in pennsylvania so then we win
1:20:14
pennsylvania and then wisconsin and we hold our seats and then it’s 52 it’s 52-48 now we’re in a position where we
1:20:21
can get rid of the filibuster we can do things like getting you know we can start reversing the trend of of
1:20:28
appointing these right-wing conservative justices and then i think just following
1:20:33
um you know following in the footsteps of what we want to do in codifying row um that we can do this for any number of
1:20:40
issues and so by dealing at the federal level we’re not going to have to play this defensive game state by state by
1:20:46
state but we can approach the same strategy did with the civil rights movement in the 1960s is to get the
1:20:53
federal protections and make sure those states red states conservative states that don’t like this tough we’re all
1:20:59
americans we all respect each other everyone should be guaranteed these basic rights people should not be living
1:21:05
in fear we should not have an entire community for which
1:21:10
44 half the community members are suffering from mental health there is a connection
1:21:17
there is a cause and effect when you talk about these legislators when these legislatures that are just
1:21:24
pounding away on people of color people who identify as lgbtq it is no wonder it’s not surprising in
1:21:31
that respect it’s not respect that like half of the members who identify as lgbtq
1:21:37
um you know have have mental health health issues and that reflects poorly on everyone and democrats we have to make
1:21:44
it a priority when we get a working majority in washington this has to be a top priority and it will be for me
1:21:52
i mean you know you mentioned all of the legislative attacks um
1:21:59
on on lgbtqi plus folks and particularly youth um and that really speaks to this
1:22:05
next question around conversion therapy and not only attacks but also in action
1:22:11
right by our elected officials um so it talks about reparative or
1:22:16
conversion therapy um which is a dangerous practice that targets lgbtq
1:22:22
youth and seeks to change their sexual or gender identities according to a recent report by the
1:22:28
williams institute at ucla school of law an estimated 20 000 lgbtq minors in
1:22:34
states without protections will be subjected to conversion therapy by a licensed health care professional if
1:22:41
state officials fail to act in april 2018 national organizations
1:22:46
representing millions of licensed medical and mental health care professionals educators and child
1:22:52
welfare advocates declared their support for legislative protections against conversion therapy so my question to you
1:22:59
is how will you prioritize ending the incredibly abusive and harmful practice
1:23:04
of conversion therapy and what are your plans to support lgbtq plus youth who as
1:23:10
a result of discrimination and rejection face slightly significantly higher rates
1:23:15
of homelessness mental illness addiction and other challenges uh than their straight and cisgender peers
1:23:23
and also you got two minutes to answer this and wrap up okay so um and this is a very important
1:23:29
question more than two minutes though but i’ll do the best i can um
1:23:35
all of these issues are national issues and they’re national issues because
1:23:41
these are human rights issues it’s not limited to red states or blue states it’s not
1:23:46
limited to certain cities and counties and so forth the questions that have been asked
1:23:52
tonight make a very strong compelling reason for why
1:23:57
we need to hold on to the us senate and that means we have to win this seat
1:24:03
i believe i’m well positioned to beat ron johnson and when i go to washington we’re going to have the fundamentals to
1:24:09
be able to get rid of the filibuster and to have democracy in the u.s senate
1:24:14
which we don’t have right now because you need to have 60 votes which in democracy doesn’t make any sense
1:24:20
and then we can start prioritizing these issues so then lgbtq youth in a deep red state like oklahoma or or
1:24:28
arkansas and just because their representatives don’t support them just because their governor or u.s senator
1:24:33
demonizes them they will have an ally an ally hopefully in this scene in wisconsin and 49 others across the
1:24:42
country that will support them with the protections and the rights that they deserve and we have to do that at a
1:24:48
national level and wisconsin can do it not just for wisconsinites but for the entire country because this seat
1:24:56
this seat it’s wisconsin’s u.s senate seat but in some respects this is america’s senate seat because this is
1:25:02
the path to win the u.s senate in a working majority and do all the great reforms that i know everyone here wants
1:25:09
to see done and i will do it well tom i’d like to thank you so much for
1:25:14
joining us tonight um i’d like to thank all of the candidates that joined us tonight um
1:25:19
adam murphy mandela barnes sarah godlewski alex lazary um and you tom
1:25:26
nelson for joining us um and as we wrap up um this candidate forum um we here at um
1:25:34
you know human rights campaign and all the other sponsors of this forum um
1:25:39
hope that you all got as much out of it as we did and got a lot more information and can go ahead um
1:25:46
and go to the polls um as informed voters um in the fall um and we’d like
1:25:52
to again thank everyone for joining and watching and we hope you all have a great rest of your evening
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