WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.299 I just wanted to do a quick heads up on this 00:00:03.299 --> 00:00:06.820 episode. Unfortunately, we weren't able to release 00:00:06.820 --> 00:00:09.580 this anytime during Pride Month. During Pride 00:00:09.580 --> 00:00:13.900 Month, there was a huge change, both in my personal 00:00:13.900 --> 00:00:16.260 life and professional life. Some good and bad, 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:18.600 but just wanted to go ahead and put this out 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:22.030 there that I'm sorry that... A lot of episodes 00:00:22.030 --> 00:00:24.350 that we've recorded lately have not gone out 00:00:24.350 --> 00:00:27.370 on time, but we will be releasing those during 00:00:27.370 --> 00:00:31.809 this week and next week. Up first is an episode 00:00:31.809 --> 00:00:35.770 that we recorded with Aaron Johnson, who is part 00:00:35.770 --> 00:00:39.369 of Equality NC and a good friend of ours. And 00:00:39.369 --> 00:00:42.450 I apologize to him profusely that this episode 00:00:42.450 --> 00:00:45.350 did not go out on time because I had a lot of 00:00:45.350 --> 00:00:49.130 fun talking to him. And in the meantime... Thank 00:00:49.130 --> 00:00:51.329 you for listening. I hope you enjoy this episode, 00:00:51.469 --> 00:01:02.649 and we'll see you later. Today on The Left of 00:01:02.649 --> 00:01:05.189 Old North, we are joined by someone who lives 00:01:05.189 --> 00:01:07.750 and breathes community power and is on the front 00:01:07.750 --> 00:01:11.010 lines of the fight for LGBTQ rights in North 00:01:11.010 --> 00:01:14.310 Carolina. Aaron Johnson is the organizing director 00:01:14.310 --> 00:01:19.409 for EqualityNC. and where he works to build sustainable 00:01:19.409 --> 00:01:22.310 grassroots infrastructure across the state, especially 00:01:22.310 --> 00:01:24.969 in queer and marginalized communities that are 00:01:24.969 --> 00:01:28.390 too often ignored by those in power. As a proud 00:01:28.390 --> 00:01:30.670 North Carolinian, Aaron is the first in his family 00:01:30.670 --> 00:01:33.109 to graduate from college, earning his degree 00:01:33.109 --> 00:01:35.730 from Edgecombe Community College and UNC Greensboro. 00:01:36.189 --> 00:01:39.510 He brings more than a decade of experience leading 00:01:39.510 --> 00:01:42.609 and managing diverse teams across local, state, 00:01:42.750 --> 00:01:45.189 and federal campaigns. And he's someone who... 00:01:45.370 --> 00:01:48.870 deeply understands that liberation isn't given, 00:01:49.030 --> 00:01:51.950 it's built. So in this conversation, we're going 00:01:51.950 --> 00:01:53.969 to talk about the role of organizing during Pride 00:01:53.969 --> 00:01:57.510 Month, what it means to protect LGBTQ plus North 00:01:57.510 --> 00:02:01.030 Carolinians in a hostile political climate, and 00:02:01.030 --> 00:02:04.629 how we all can do more to show up, not just in 00:02:04.629 --> 00:02:07.989 June, not just in Pride Month, but every single 00:02:07.989 --> 00:02:11.229 day. Aaron, welcome to the show. Thanks for having 00:02:11.229 --> 00:02:14.009 me. Yeah, we've run into each other a couple 00:02:14.009 --> 00:02:18.030 times in our various escapades. I know that you 00:02:18.030 --> 00:02:19.930 and CJ have probably known each other a little 00:02:19.930 --> 00:02:22.030 bit longer, or at least been in the same spaces 00:02:22.030 --> 00:02:24.210 a little bit longer. You've been organizing, 00:02:24.210 --> 00:02:27.650 though, for over a decade. What was the first 00:02:27.650 --> 00:02:30.150 issue or campaign that really lit the fire for 00:02:30.150 --> 00:02:35.409 you? So my first campaign was in 2014. I was 00:02:35.409 --> 00:02:38.289 an intern for Kay Hagan's re -election campaign 00:02:38.289 --> 00:02:41.240 to the U .S. Senate. And the story I always like 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:43.620 to tell folks about that one is I actually got 00:02:43.620 --> 00:02:45.979 involved because of my mom. She lost her job 00:02:45.979 --> 00:02:48.699 in 08 when the economy got incredibly bad. And 00:02:48.699 --> 00:02:51.360 I remember her coming home the day that she lost 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:54.120 her job, kind of down, talking about how things 00:02:54.120 --> 00:02:56.139 are going to be a little bit harder. And then 00:02:56.139 --> 00:02:57.719 from there, there was kind of like a light bulb 00:02:57.719 --> 00:02:59.599 that went off for that voting was going to be 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:01.719 an action that you take to elect people who are 00:03:01.719 --> 00:03:03.319 going to go to Washington and make sure that 00:03:03.319 --> 00:03:05.039 our local economy isn't going to be suffering 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:07.979 like it was in 08. So fast forward six years 00:03:07.979 --> 00:03:10.460 when I was a senior in high school, when I had 00:03:10.460 --> 00:03:12.400 the ability to get involved in my own community 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:15.020 and take some change, signed up through like 00:03:15.020 --> 00:03:16.740 a random email that I had gotten. I don't really 00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:18.479 know to this day how they got my email address, 00:03:18.539 --> 00:03:21.800 but nonetheless. We never do. We never know how 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:23.699 they get it. evergreen and like a decade later 00:03:23.699 --> 00:03:25.240 and I work in this industry and I still have 00:03:25.240 --> 00:03:27.139 no idea how my email address has ended up on 00:03:27.139 --> 00:03:28.939 any of those lists. I signed up to go and knock 00:03:28.939 --> 00:03:31.680 doors and we met at my county library. I'm from 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:34.620 Nash County originally. I ended up meeting folks 00:03:34.620 --> 00:03:36.479 at the Braswell Library where I went to go knock 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:39.759 doors kind of towards downtown and Rocky Mill 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:43.280 where I met voters who, like my mom, had been 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:46.759 down and out since the 08 recession and needed 00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:49.020 folks in Washington to stand up and fight for 00:03:49.020 --> 00:03:51.159 them. And it was at that moment that I realized 00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:52.879 that Democrats were the folks doing that. That 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:55.300 light bulb kind of clicked. My candidate, my 00:03:55.300 --> 00:03:57.620 boss at that point, Kay Hagan, had done a really 00:03:57.620 --> 00:03:59.280 good job in Washington bringing representation 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:03.560 to North Carolina. And since 2014, every campaign 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:05.580 I've worked on, every cause I've worked on, I 00:04:05.580 --> 00:04:08.000 try to imagine from that same space, who's going 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:10.319 to go and actually build power to fight for communities 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:13.780 like mine, who will build the types of representation 00:04:13.780 --> 00:04:16.939 or serve as a type of representation that serve 00:04:16.939 --> 00:04:18.680 folks like my mom and communities like I grew 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:20.740 up in. And yeah, I know that's a long answer 00:04:20.740 --> 00:04:23.040 to your question, but Kay Hagan in 2014 was the 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:25.639 first race I was a part of. That's cool. And 00:04:25.639 --> 00:04:28.120 so your upbringing and education pretty much 00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:32.879 directly shaped your approach to how you engage 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:35.699 in movements, how you organize. At least that's 00:04:35.699 --> 00:04:37.970 what it sounds like. Absolutely. Like you mentioned 00:04:37.970 --> 00:04:39.569 in the intro, I was the first in my family to 00:04:39.569 --> 00:04:41.310 go to college, the first in my family to graduate 00:04:41.310 --> 00:04:44.410 from college. And I did so by my mom, who was 00:04:44.410 --> 00:04:47.350 still really dealing with the aftermath of that 00:04:47.350 --> 00:04:50.470 08 recession. That type of being able to go to 00:04:50.470 --> 00:04:52.230 college and not really have that type of, you 00:04:52.230 --> 00:04:54.829 know, context as to like how to navigate complicated 00:04:54.829 --> 00:04:57.430 systems, how to with like the actual physical 00:04:57.430 --> 00:04:59.449 being on a campus for the first time outside 00:04:59.449 --> 00:05:02.160 of my hometown. Really just taught me a lot about 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:04.560 how to roll up my sleeves and really just try 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:06.000 to run through as many of these walls as we can. 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:08.079 Yeah, I would argue that like it did happen to 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:10.579 me and impact on how I grew up. And sorry, reset 00:05:10.579 --> 00:05:12.199 had an impact on the other kind of work that 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:14.819 I do. Well, so speaking of like the work that 00:05:14.819 --> 00:05:18.240 you do, what are up to now here in your present 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:21.399 day? Sure. I'm the organizing director at Equality 00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:23.360 North Carolina, which has been around in North 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:27.199 Carolina since 1979. We're the oldest LGBTQ plus 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:29.740 nonprofit in the country. And in North Carolina, 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:31.060 it's taken a couple of different identities. 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:34.160 We rebranded Equality North Carolina in the 80s. 00:05:34.180 --> 00:05:37.839 The first PAC supporting LGBTQ plus rights started 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:40.180 in the 90s here in North Carolina. And the current 00:05:40.180 --> 00:05:42.620 version of Equality that folks recognized started 00:05:42.620 --> 00:05:45.879 in 2002, where the Equality North Carolina Foundation 00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:48.879 at that point and the Pride PAC merged to just 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:50.980 form Equality. in North Carolina, which still 00:05:50.980 --> 00:05:53.300 works to hold our legislators accountable today 00:05:53.300 --> 00:05:55.339 and to elect champions for equality in the elections 00:05:55.339 --> 00:05:58.040 across the state. So in doing that, right, in 00:05:58.040 --> 00:06:01.339 holding elected officials accountable, especially 00:06:01.339 --> 00:06:04.819 in, I mean, across North Carolina, what are you 00:06:04.819 --> 00:06:07.720 doing? especially during this political moment, 00:06:07.899 --> 00:06:10.519 people hear PAC, right? And they think, oh, it's 00:06:10.519 --> 00:06:13.060 just a way to funnel money and stuff like that. 00:06:13.180 --> 00:06:15.959 But how are you putting the action in political 00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:18.279 action committee? That's a good question. So 00:06:18.279 --> 00:06:20.639 I think it's important to know equality takes 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:22.579 on a lot of different forms. We are a nonprofit. 00:06:22.860 --> 00:06:25.379 We also are PAC in some other cases, which means 00:06:25.379 --> 00:06:27.019 that our work really does go year round, right? 00:06:27.060 --> 00:06:29.040 Our work isn't just about elections. Our work 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:31.699 is about building sustainable change in communities 00:06:31.699 --> 00:06:33.680 across the state. So there's a couple of different 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:36.470 ways we do that. One, We're training volunteers 00:06:36.470 --> 00:06:39.089 all the time to use their voices and to tell 00:06:39.089 --> 00:06:41.410 their stories. I'm a big believer that storytelling 00:06:41.410 --> 00:06:44.449 and organizing matters a lot. I think that if 00:06:44.449 --> 00:06:46.949 we are able to put a face on a lot of these different 00:06:46.949 --> 00:06:49.329 organizing efforts, the work becomes a little 00:06:49.329 --> 00:06:51.170 bit more sustainable and it helps make an impact 00:06:51.170 --> 00:06:53.910 long term. We're a nonprofit. We're a PAC. There's 00:06:53.910 --> 00:06:55.970 a lot of different things that go into it. The 00:06:55.970 --> 00:06:58.589 bottom line is that our work goes on year -round. 00:06:58.910 --> 00:07:00.970 So year -round, there's a couple different priorities 00:07:00.970 --> 00:07:03.610 we're focusing on. One, training our volunteers 00:07:03.610 --> 00:07:06.129 to tell their stories. So building power through 00:07:06.129 --> 00:07:08.649 giving volunteers the tools to make sure they 00:07:08.649 --> 00:07:11.209 have ways to tell their stories, not just to 00:07:11.209 --> 00:07:13.649 their legislators in Raleigh, but to their local 00:07:13.649 --> 00:07:15.930 electors on school boards. I know that recently 00:07:15.930 --> 00:07:17.490 there was an issue in Johnson County with the 00:07:17.490 --> 00:07:19.730 school board. To city councils across the state. 00:07:19.889 --> 00:07:22.509 To making sure that we're... showing up at community 00:07:22.509 --> 00:07:25.430 events and making sure that folks have the physical 00:07:25.430 --> 00:07:28.110 tools and the skills needed to really equip themselves 00:07:28.110 --> 00:07:29.629 to have conversations that are going to build 00:07:29.629 --> 00:07:32.009 change long term. And then on top of that, we 00:07:32.009 --> 00:07:34.910 also do the accountability work. We work to get 00:07:34.910 --> 00:07:37.269 folks to the General Assembly to speak at committee 00:07:37.269 --> 00:07:39.089 hearings. We work to get folks at the General 00:07:39.089 --> 00:07:42.069 Assembly to pack the galleries. We work to recruit 00:07:42.069 --> 00:07:43.949 speakers who can go on the record and talk about 00:07:43.949 --> 00:07:46.470 why these bills are. And usually, in most cases, 00:07:46.470 --> 00:07:48.269 bad. We don't get to pass the good stuff in North 00:07:48.269 --> 00:07:49.910 Carolina. We only get to pass the bad stuff or 00:07:49.910 --> 00:07:53.550 stop the bad stuff. For now. For now. Fingers 00:07:53.550 --> 00:07:56.269 crossed. But essentially, there's a lot of work 00:07:56.269 --> 00:07:58.189 that we do to build power to make sure that our 00:07:58.189 --> 00:08:00.189 volunteers, one, have the tools they need to 00:08:00.189 --> 00:08:03.370 go and engage communities. And two, use those 00:08:03.370 --> 00:08:05.389 tools to hold electeds in their communities and 00:08:05.389 --> 00:08:06.949 in the general assembly accountable. It's quite 00:08:06.949 --> 00:08:09.410 a lot, to be honest. Yeah. A lot more than I 00:08:09.410 --> 00:08:12.930 thought it was going to be. Yeah. Agreed. With 00:08:12.930 --> 00:08:16.329 everything going on, especially right now in 00:08:16.329 --> 00:08:18.550 this moment of, let's just say, high political 00:08:18.550 --> 00:08:21.829 tension, to say the least, how, I guess, would 00:08:21.829 --> 00:08:25.009 you, do you kind of go about building momentum 00:08:25.009 --> 00:08:29.410 and trust and whatnot on these issues in, say, 00:08:29.550 --> 00:08:35.580 rural or politically hostile? So as a queer guy 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:37.620 myself from Roanoke, Carolina, I can tell you 00:08:37.620 --> 00:08:40.919 that there is a lot of what folks would consider 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:42.860 to be some form of tension there, right? But 00:08:42.860 --> 00:08:44.200 there's also a lot of support in these communities. 00:08:44.500 --> 00:08:46.799 I can tell you one of the speakers we had a hearing 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:49.320 a couple weeks ago at the General Assembly was 00:08:49.320 --> 00:08:52.399 someone who comes from Caswell County, identifies 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:55.659 as trans, and spoke powerfully about how members 00:08:55.659 --> 00:08:58.059 of his community are able to support him at a 00:08:58.059 --> 00:08:59.820 time sometimes where state politics didn't necessarily 00:08:59.820 --> 00:09:02.559 feel as if they were being supportive. So certainly 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:03.779 there's a lot of that, but I also think there's 00:09:03.779 --> 00:09:05.720 a lot of support in communities. And at Equality, 00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:07.759 what we're trying to do is harness as much of 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:10.139 that as we possibly can. We'll talk more about 00:09:10.139 --> 00:09:11.960 this in a couple of seconds. But one of the ways 00:09:11.960 --> 00:09:13.779 we're going about doing that is identifying the 00:09:13.779 --> 00:09:15.399 different types of Pride events happening across 00:09:15.399 --> 00:09:17.460 the state this year and making sure that we have 00:09:17.460 --> 00:09:20.179 a presence there. Tomorrow, we're filming this 00:09:20.179 --> 00:09:22.080 on a Friday, and tomorrow, of course, the first 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:23.539 Saturday in June, which means there are Pride 00:09:23.539 --> 00:09:26.519 festivals happening across the state. Up to five 00:09:26.519 --> 00:09:29.019 events of all quality will have someone there. 00:09:29.419 --> 00:09:31.500 Three of those five are happening in what could 00:09:31.500 --> 00:09:33.460 be considered rural communities. So we're going 00:09:33.460 --> 00:09:35.100 to be in Hendersonville at a Pride event. We're 00:09:35.100 --> 00:09:36.059 going to be in Pittsburgh. We're going to be 00:09:36.059 --> 00:09:38.240 in Wilson. To make sure that we're not just necessarily 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:40.899 connections and building power in those urban 00:09:40.899 --> 00:09:42.320 spaces, we're also building it in those rural 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:45.259 spaces. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm a gay guy 00:09:45.259 --> 00:09:49.009 from rural North Carolina. growing up oftentimes 00:09:49.009 --> 00:09:50.629 i didn't necessarily think there were other folks 00:09:50.629 --> 00:09:53.470 like me that were in my community there wasn't 00:09:53.470 --> 00:09:55.730 a lot of representation in media in press online 00:09:55.730 --> 00:09:58.250 of like what growing up in a rural space was 00:09:58.250 --> 00:10:00.730 as i was identified as i was finding out more 00:10:00.730 --> 00:10:02.850 about myself so at equality something that we're 00:10:02.850 --> 00:10:05.389 trying to be intentional about is expanding and 00:10:05.389 --> 00:10:07.649 changing how we engage with these folks to make 00:10:07.649 --> 00:10:09.690 sure that one folks have that sense of identity 00:10:09.690 --> 00:10:12.049 that they're seeing in some of these non -urban 00:10:12.049 --> 00:10:15.269 places and two the work that we do to build long 00:10:15.269 --> 00:10:17.320 -term powers of the abilities networks one One, 00:10:17.320 --> 00:10:18.919 it helps us long -term electorally. We're able 00:10:18.919 --> 00:10:20.539 to elect a bunch of good folks who are then able 00:10:20.539 --> 00:10:22.340 to make change in this local level to make real 00:10:22.340 --> 00:10:24.779 life better. But two, we're also able to empower 00:10:24.779 --> 00:10:26.340 folks in communities that, again, historically 00:10:26.340 --> 00:10:28.440 speaking, folks haven't necessarily paid that 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:30.399 much attention to. And I do think that there's 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:31.659 a lot of power in that, and I also think there's 00:10:31.659 --> 00:10:34.080 a lot of beauty in that. Yeah, I like that. So 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:38.000 there is a booth there that was there in 2024, 00:10:38.179 --> 00:10:42.360 I believe, and probably started in 2023, where 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:46.039 it's a Christian extremist is probably the best 00:10:46.039 --> 00:10:50.000 way to... put it group that has a millstone that 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:54.179 is painted like a rainbow and trans flag and 00:10:54.179 --> 00:10:58.940 it has the uh luke 7 12 i think verse from it 00:10:58.940 --> 00:11:02.759 which is basically insinuating that anybody who 00:11:02.759 --> 00:11:04.779 leads children astray should tie a millstone 00:11:04.779 --> 00:11:06.460 around their neck and be thrown into the sea 00:11:06.460 --> 00:11:11.820 now Not to broadcast too much, but I mean, like 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:15.519 you said, this is being filmed prior to. So do 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:18.080 you have any plans to address that? Good question. 00:11:18.220 --> 00:11:20.000 I don't know if we have any specific plans to 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.200 address that specifically, but that is something 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:23.919 that we are aware of. Equality does a lot of 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:25.940 work to also track a lot of what we're seeing 00:11:25.940 --> 00:11:28.639 with extremism across the state. We also have 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:30.299 a lot of partner organizations that are responsible 00:11:30.299 --> 00:11:33.690 for tracking this as well. One. Because we know 00:11:33.690 --> 00:11:35.350 that in a heightened time, you mentioned the 00:11:35.350 --> 00:11:38.230 word tension earlier, in these tense times, there's 00:11:38.230 --> 00:11:39.649 a lot going on in the world. And we just want 00:11:39.649 --> 00:11:41.629 folks to make sure they have access to as much 00:11:41.629 --> 00:11:44.740 of that information as possible. And two. Tracking 00:11:44.740 --> 00:11:46.820 this really does help us identify concerning 00:11:46.820 --> 00:11:49.200 trends and making sure that we're keeping folks 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:51.299 safe and keeping communities safe. You know, 00:11:51.299 --> 00:11:53.179 while equality doesn't necessarily have a direct 00:11:53.179 --> 00:11:55.480 role in that last component, we do know that 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:57.179 it's all kind of ties together. We are a part 00:11:57.179 --> 00:11:59.080 of like, I can think about this as like an ecosystem, 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:01.700 right? So equality is like one small part of 00:12:01.700 --> 00:12:04.110 a much larger ecosystem. making sure that we 00:12:04.110 --> 00:12:05.509 were able to keep an eye on this as a part of 00:12:05.509 --> 00:12:06.889 that. And that means we're tracking and making 00:12:06.889 --> 00:12:08.649 sure that we are keeping an eye on it to make 00:12:08.649 --> 00:12:10.490 sure this doesn't transpire into something else. 00:12:10.590 --> 00:12:12.009 And if we do have to take action in the future, 00:12:12.110 --> 00:12:13.710 certainly we'll figure out what that looks like, 00:12:13.730 --> 00:12:15.549 but certainly something that we're aware of. 00:12:15.950 --> 00:12:18.690 Quick follow -up to that. What do you say to 00:12:18.690 --> 00:12:23.029 youths who are especially feeling pretty froggy 00:12:23.029 --> 00:12:26.509 to get involved in the advocacy and organizing 00:12:26.509 --> 00:12:31.019 realm that may not like that answer? that it's 00:12:31.019 --> 00:12:33.519 like, okay, well, I know that you're not maybe 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:36.919 directly doing anything about it in a way that 00:12:36.919 --> 00:12:39.360 some people might, probably with a little bit 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:43.840 more intent behind it, but what would you say 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:45.980 to those folks who it's like, okay, we have to 00:12:45.980 --> 00:12:49.059 remember that regardless of how these people 00:12:49.059 --> 00:12:52.220 feel, they are in our communities, and the aim 00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:55.340 is not to make the tensions rise even higher. 00:12:55.740 --> 00:12:57.360 So I think that's why we approach our work with 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:00.259 joy, with pride, pun not intended. There is a 00:13:00.259 --> 00:13:04.179 lot of work that we can do to really uplift positive 00:13:04.179 --> 00:13:06.320 moments in our community, right? Historically 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:09.179 speaking, there really hasn't been a lot of attention 00:13:09.179 --> 00:13:12.659 paid to the positive, you know, uplifting, again, 00:13:12.759 --> 00:13:15.340 prideful parts of this community. And in equality 00:13:15.340 --> 00:13:17.919 and a number of other capacities, there's a lot 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:20.080 that we can do to make sure that we're uplifting 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:22.159 those folks and providing space for those things. 00:13:22.779 --> 00:13:24.320 The other thing that I'll notice, that I'll mention, 00:13:24.500 --> 00:13:27.100 there is a lot of fear out there right now, right? 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:29.240 That's a very real thing. But that's also because 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:31.980 they want us to be scared. Like, folks want us 00:13:31.980 --> 00:13:34.799 to not engage with pride events. We don't want 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:37.379 folks, folks don't want us to engage with, you 00:13:37.379 --> 00:13:39.179 know, speaking up at the General Assembly, at 00:13:39.179 --> 00:13:40.879 school board meetings across the state, right? 00:13:40.919 --> 00:13:42.899 Folks have gotten incredibly comfortable making 00:13:42.899 --> 00:13:44.860 sure that we are uncomfortable. And that's wrong. 00:13:45.580 --> 00:13:47.100 And I think that the best thing that we can do 00:13:47.100 --> 00:13:49.039 to make sure that we push back on that is not 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:51.220 and not give them any space. Right. Don't give 00:13:51.220 --> 00:13:54.120 them the ability to make sure folks feel uncomfortable 00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:56.799 in this very, very tense moment, because that 00:13:56.799 --> 00:13:58.899 only makes it worse. Right. So speaking up and 00:13:58.899 --> 00:14:01.259 taking power and building power looks a lot more 00:14:01.259 --> 00:14:02.960 like uplifting those positive stories and making 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:05.320 sure that folks know that, again, we have to 00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:08.240 get involved in this moment. So I guess I know 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:10.720 I'm about to ask. It's probably a little can 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:15.419 be both nuanced and also vague, let's say. But, 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:17.799 you know, when it comes to this type of advocacy 00:14:17.799 --> 00:14:22.059 and what, I guess, what winning, so to say, kind 00:14:22.059 --> 00:14:25.100 of look like to you and how do you kind of perceive 00:14:25.100 --> 00:14:28.340 the path for getting there? Because I know they 00:14:28.340 --> 00:14:30.860 end nuanced at the same time. Well, I think a 00:14:30.860 --> 00:14:32.860 couple of things. I'll start with this. So one, 00:14:33.059 --> 00:14:34.799 we don't get to make as much progress in this 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:36.419 yet as we want to, right? But there are still 00:14:36.419 --> 00:14:39.039 avenues to make that progress happen, even if 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:40.519 it's incrementally and not necessarily in the 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:42.669 sweeping ways that we want. So to answer your 00:14:42.669 --> 00:14:44.429 question, I think winning looks like, one, making 00:14:44.429 --> 00:14:46.730 sure that we continue to send folks to speak 00:14:46.730 --> 00:14:49.070 up at the General Assembly, making sure that 00:14:49.070 --> 00:14:51.110 we're making it harder for them to pass these 00:14:51.110 --> 00:14:54.210 bad bills, making sure that the avenues that 00:14:54.210 --> 00:14:56.210 we currently have to pass good bills are still 00:14:56.210 --> 00:14:59.590 protected, making sure that we're electing folks 00:14:59.590 --> 00:15:01.470 to city councils and to town councils and to 00:15:01.470 --> 00:15:03.750 school boards across the state to make sure that 00:15:03.750 --> 00:15:05.490 we're passing on a local level as many of these 00:15:05.490 --> 00:15:07.250 non -discrimination orders as we possibly can. 00:15:07.980 --> 00:15:10.440 making sure that stopping school boards from 00:15:10.440 --> 00:15:13.279 passing discriminatory policies against their 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:15.539 queer students and their queer employees, making 00:15:15.539 --> 00:15:18.399 sure that we're working with as many private 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:21.179 sector partners as we can to provide best practices, 00:15:21.259 --> 00:15:23.200 speaking up for folks that, hey, again, in the 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:24.600 workplaces that may not have, historically speaking, 00:15:24.740 --> 00:15:27.179 had the ability to speak up or even know that 00:15:27.179 --> 00:15:29.600 speaking up was an option. So there is a lot 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:31.159 of different tools we have in our toolkit to 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:34.509 win, but I also think that, again, not surprising 00:15:34.509 --> 00:15:37.350 to anyone here that winning incrementally is 00:15:37.350 --> 00:15:39.549 going to be more of a of a tactic versus the 00:15:39.549 --> 00:15:42.289 sweeping changes that we have that requires a 00:15:42.289 --> 00:15:43.710 little bit more support in the general assembly 00:15:43.710 --> 00:15:46.610 than we currently have and hopefully we get steps 00:15:46.610 --> 00:15:49.210 closer election cycles in the future to to changing 00:15:49.210 --> 00:15:53.460 that yeah and when it comes to like winning elections. 00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:56.639 I know that it, that can be in a lot of different 00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:00.580 ways, again, nuanced and maybe not a clean cut 00:16:00.580 --> 00:16:02.860 answer because there are some Democrats that 00:16:02.860 --> 00:16:05.120 will support gay people, but they won't necessarily 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:09.899 pass legislation to help enforce or, or protect 00:16:09.899 --> 00:16:13.220 things for gay people. And then there are also 00:16:13.220 --> 00:16:16.840 Republicans who are either impartial about it 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:20.080 or they are actually supportive of it. And so 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:24.250 to you, Is it more like we'll take what we can 00:16:24.250 --> 00:16:27.850 get, or is it we're seeking out specific people 00:16:27.850 --> 00:16:31.309 or specific causes that we want to support to 00:16:31.309 --> 00:16:34.750 make sure that the agenda that we want to pass 00:16:34.750 --> 00:16:37.210 in this state, which is, of course, protections 00:16:37.210 --> 00:16:41.929 for LGBTQ +, people in the interest of equality, 00:16:42.350 --> 00:16:44.289 which is right in the name, how does that look 00:16:44.289 --> 00:16:47.570 to you? Is it more of like we take what we can 00:16:47.570 --> 00:16:49.690 get or we want to support certain people? Good 00:16:49.690 --> 00:16:54.850 question. I answer it this way. I think a couple 00:16:54.850 --> 00:16:57.070 things. One, making sure that we have reset. 00:16:57.809 --> 00:16:59.929 Well, I mean, and I'll give you a couple examples, 00:17:00.210 --> 00:17:03.289 too, if you want, like of specific people that 00:17:03.289 --> 00:17:05.769 I'm thinking of, like Democrats like Michael 00:17:05.769 --> 00:17:08.910 Ray, who was not exactly the most supportive. 00:17:11.170 --> 00:17:15.299 Look, we know. You beat him. Good job, buddy. 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:17.819 No, no, no. It's good though, right? Because 00:17:17.819 --> 00:17:20.160 like I said, it wasn't exactly in your best interest. 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:24.599 Whether it was because he just was blasé about 00:17:24.599 --> 00:17:28.299 it or was actively advocating against it, Michael 00:17:28.299 --> 00:17:30.619 Ray did vote against protections for LGBTQ plus 00:17:30.619 --> 00:17:34.460 initiatives multiple times. And then on the flip 00:17:34.460 --> 00:17:36.180 side of that, we have somebody like Trisha Cotham 00:17:36.180 --> 00:17:39.700 who turned coat on the Democrats and became a 00:17:39.700 --> 00:17:43.130 Republican and yet... still continues to support 00:17:43.130 --> 00:17:48.750 LGBTQ activities and also, I mean, tries to bring 00:17:48.750 --> 00:17:51.789 people around to the trans issue within the NCGA. 00:17:52.009 --> 00:17:56.069 So those are just two examples for both you and 00:17:56.069 --> 00:17:58.730 for our listeners out there to know that North 00:17:58.730 --> 00:18:02.859 Carolina is like... As wide as the state is, 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:06.440 so is its spectrum. You know, it is a very wide 00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:09.119 spectrum. We're a big state, politically diverse, 00:18:09.420 --> 00:18:12.299 ideologically diverse. There's a lot of different 00:18:12.299 --> 00:18:14.079 pieces of cattle we're trying to hurdle, what 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:16.369 we're trying to herd. So I'll say this. I think, 00:18:16.390 --> 00:18:19.250 one, from an equality perspective, a large part 00:18:19.250 --> 00:18:21.809 of our work is holding members of the General 00:18:21.809 --> 00:18:23.349 Assembly accountable to the people that elected 00:18:23.349 --> 00:18:26.049 them. So in an ideal world, what that means is 00:18:26.049 --> 00:18:27.609 that we're building communities, we're building 00:18:27.609 --> 00:18:29.730 networks in places where we have these elected 00:18:29.730 --> 00:18:32.329 legislators who we aren't entirely sure how they're 00:18:32.329 --> 00:18:34.210 going to vote on these bills. And then working 00:18:34.210 --> 00:18:37.009 within their communities, working within their 00:18:37.009 --> 00:18:40.269 districts to really lift up the concerns that 00:18:40.269 --> 00:18:42.529 we're seeing, making sure that their elected 00:18:42.529 --> 00:18:44.809 member is aware of these things. That said, that 00:18:44.809 --> 00:18:47.730 isn't necessarily always possible. We don't necessarily 00:18:47.730 --> 00:18:50.190 have a network in as many of these places as 00:18:50.190 --> 00:18:52.490 I would like. But what we do have is the ability 00:18:52.490 --> 00:18:55.150 to build that network. So we have the ability 00:18:55.150 --> 00:18:57.410 to go into these places to identify who are the 00:18:57.410 --> 00:18:59.250 folks there that we should be talking to, who 00:18:59.250 --> 00:19:00.589 are the members of the communities there that 00:19:00.589 --> 00:19:02.170 are doing the incredibly important work that 00:19:02.170 --> 00:19:03.990 might necessarily not be attaching to particular 00:19:03.990 --> 00:19:06.390 groups, and figuring out, again, how do we get 00:19:06.390 --> 00:19:07.829 these folks plugged in to their General Assembly 00:19:07.829 --> 00:19:10.609 member to make sure that we stop them from taking 00:19:10.609 --> 00:19:14.319 some of these bad votes. That said... We also 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:16.720 know that it isn't necessarily easy for some 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:19.140 of these Democrats to vote the right way. I know 00:19:19.140 --> 00:19:20.819 that there are some Democrats that voted on a 00:19:20.819 --> 00:19:23.059 couple of bills that I'm not necessarily fond 00:19:23.059 --> 00:19:25.119 of their votes, personally. Yeah, so I think 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:27.000 two things. One, there is a lot of work that 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:29.420 is accountability work, and that is making sure 00:19:29.420 --> 00:19:32.140 that we're working with communities and places 00:19:32.140 --> 00:19:33.680 all across the state to hold their legislators 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:35.869 accountable. So whether that's like the local 00:19:35.869 --> 00:19:39.109 PFLAG group that wants to stop their member taking 00:19:39.109 --> 00:19:42.369 some anti -trans votes or working with like the 00:19:42.369 --> 00:19:44.630 local librarians to stop book bans. There's a 00:19:44.630 --> 00:19:46.630 lot of different parts of communities across 00:19:46.630 --> 00:19:48.710 the state that are already organizing that are 00:19:48.710 --> 00:19:50.410 quality. We just really want to tap in and figure 00:19:50.410 --> 00:19:52.049 out how to kind of like tie our work to what 00:19:52.049 --> 00:19:53.970 they're doing or to tie all our goals together, 00:19:54.069 --> 00:19:55.490 right? Because like I mentioned earlier, we're 00:19:55.490 --> 00:19:56.869 an ecosystem. It all kind of comes together. 00:19:57.640 --> 00:19:59.240 The other part of this that I'll mention is that 00:19:59.240 --> 00:20:00.880 when it comes to the electoral perspectives of 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:03.099 this, there are some members of the General Assembly 00:20:03.099 --> 00:20:04.839 that are in a bit of like a tougher spot, right? 00:20:06.019 --> 00:20:08.420 Voters in, let's say, I'll pick a county, my 00:20:08.420 --> 00:20:10.759 home county, Edgecombe County, voted for a member 00:20:10.759 --> 00:20:13.359 of the General Assembly, voted for a Democratic 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:15.259 member of Congress, voted for a Democratic president. 00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:18.430 Both of these begin as a safe seat. We know that 00:20:18.430 --> 00:20:21.549 Republicans are going to try to turn folks against 00:20:21.549 --> 00:20:23.589 each other. We know that they've already taken 00:20:23.589 --> 00:20:25.750 steps in our General Assembly, introduced bills 00:20:25.750 --> 00:20:28.069 that have forced Democrats into some compromising 00:20:28.069 --> 00:20:29.890 positions to vote in individual communities. 00:20:30.269 --> 00:20:33.049 We don't need, as a caucus and as a party, I 00:20:33.049 --> 00:20:34.690 think it doesn't necessarily, this is my personal 00:20:34.690 --> 00:20:36.349 hat, not necessarily the equality hat in this 00:20:36.349 --> 00:20:39.650 space. Sure. We don't necessarily, we don't win 00:20:39.650 --> 00:20:42.869 elections by tying ourselves to that Republican 00:20:42.869 --> 00:20:45.490 narrative, right? We don't win elections working. 00:20:46.089 --> 00:20:49.029 with them to exclude members of communities. 00:20:49.349 --> 00:20:52.349 We don't build power otherizing trans kids. We 00:20:52.349 --> 00:20:55.589 don't win power working with them to ban books 00:20:55.589 --> 00:20:58.109 that tell our stories from public libraries, 00:20:58.210 --> 00:21:00.150 that our taxpayer dollars provide it, by the 00:21:00.150 --> 00:21:05.130 way. So there is some work that goes into making 00:21:05.130 --> 00:21:07.690 sure that a lot of these Democrats that are in 00:21:07.690 --> 00:21:10.970 these safe receipts can and should take the right 00:21:10.970 --> 00:21:13.309 votes. That also said, we take nothing for granted. 00:21:13.349 --> 00:21:15.390 So talking to these folks and building conversations 00:21:15.390 --> 00:21:17.589 and earning their support for these things is 00:21:17.589 --> 00:21:18.809 something that goes into those considerations. 00:21:19.390 --> 00:21:21.230 And there are a lot of incredible partner organizations 00:21:21.230 --> 00:21:23.230 across the state that roll up their sleeves and 00:21:23.230 --> 00:21:25.450 have those same types of conversations. Because 00:21:25.450 --> 00:21:27.250 again, a lot of our rights and a lot of this 00:21:27.250 --> 00:21:29.950 work is tied to a lot of other rights. Republicans 00:21:29.950 --> 00:21:31.609 in the General Assembly have communicated their 00:21:31.609 --> 00:21:33.910 interest in going after. I guess one thing I 00:21:33.910 --> 00:21:37.069 was kind of curious about without, I guess, giving 00:21:37.069 --> 00:21:39.960 the game away or, you know. But we're currently 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:43.900 in June, so we got, call it a little under a 00:21:43.900 --> 00:21:48.119 year and a half until midterms 2026. In this 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:50.559 organizing space, what does the next year and 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:53.900 a half -ish look like for y 'all as we're getting 00:21:53.900 --> 00:21:56.500 to that point, as we're getting closer to midterms? 00:21:56.700 --> 00:21:58.660 So, and I appreciate the way you asked that question, 00:21:58.740 --> 00:22:00.680 because I do think we still have some time before 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:03.039 the elections next year. But the important thing 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:05.509 to keep in mind is, one, Because there is that 00:22:05.509 --> 00:22:07.470 time, there's plenty of runway that we have to 00:22:07.470 --> 00:22:10.130 build the actual systems and to build the plan 00:22:10.130 --> 00:22:12.109 needed to get champions of equality elected. 00:22:12.250 --> 00:22:13.789 So it looks like a couple of things. This year, 00:22:13.890 --> 00:22:16.490 we're focusing building as many different POTS 00:22:16.490 --> 00:22:18.089 supporters as we can all across the state. That 00:22:18.089 --> 00:22:19.670 means showing up at Pride events in as many places 00:22:19.670 --> 00:22:21.970 as we can, showing up to Pride events in places 00:22:21.970 --> 00:22:23.589 where we haven't historically. I mentioned the 00:22:23.589 --> 00:22:25.289 Pittsboro's and the Wilson's and the Henderson 00:22:25.289 --> 00:22:28.940 County's. Showing up. building our networks in 00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:30.779 these places, sustaining these relationships, 00:22:30.920 --> 00:22:33.019 and getting these folks involved, tying them 00:22:33.019 --> 00:22:34.339 to different types of events that we can get 00:22:34.339 --> 00:22:36.279 them involved with, whether that be storytelling 00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:37.960 trainings, opportunities to speak at the General 00:22:37.960 --> 00:22:41.200 Assembly, or any other types of events that we 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:43.859 host. And then next year, we'll mobilize those 00:22:43.859 --> 00:22:45.460 folks that we spent this year putting together. 00:22:46.039 --> 00:22:48.660 So that means that we are getting folks engaged 00:22:48.660 --> 00:22:50.819 closer to the elections next year. That means 00:22:50.819 --> 00:22:52.339 we're getting informed about who the candidates 00:22:52.339 --> 00:22:54.339 that we've chosen to endorse are. We've found 00:22:54.339 --> 00:22:56.000 ways to talk about different issues and identify 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:58.680 ways to really hold and highlight the importance 00:22:58.680 --> 00:23:00.839 of these issues so that way communities are aware. 00:23:01.019 --> 00:23:03.059 The legislators and the people that are electing 00:23:03.059 --> 00:23:05.660 will be focusing on those things. And I do think 00:23:05.660 --> 00:23:08.480 that next year the conditions are right to make 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:10.539 some significant changes in our General Assembly. 00:23:11.210 --> 00:23:13.150 That said, the maps are still incredibly gerrymandered. 00:23:13.190 --> 00:23:15.210 And here in North Carolina, the odds are always 00:23:15.210 --> 00:23:17.609 against us. But I think what we're seeing from 00:23:17.609 --> 00:23:19.069 across the state is no matter where you are, 00:23:19.190 --> 00:23:21.549 folks are tired of like seeing members of their 00:23:21.549 --> 00:23:24.049 communities and target it. And they're electing 00:23:24.049 --> 00:23:25.890 and want to elect folks that are going to stand 00:23:25.890 --> 00:23:27.650 up for them and not necessarily tie them against 00:23:27.650 --> 00:23:30.230 each other. So this year and next year, that 00:23:30.230 --> 00:23:32.329 work to build these spaces and then mobilize 00:23:32.329 --> 00:23:34.690 these spaces does, one, it's already started. 00:23:34.710 --> 00:23:36.630 And then two, it's going to just continue to 00:23:36.630 --> 00:23:38.190 get even more important. What's your cookout 00:23:38.190 --> 00:23:43.329 order? That's a damn good question. My cookout 00:23:43.329 --> 00:23:46.009 order actually reflects my priorities. So I'm 00:23:46.009 --> 00:23:48.289 from eastern North Carolina, so I love eastern 00:23:48.289 --> 00:23:51.250 Carolina barbecue. In my honest opinion, and 00:23:51.250 --> 00:23:53.670 it's not an opinion because I'm right, eastern 00:23:53.670 --> 00:23:56.630 barbecue, it is the creme de la creme of barbecue. 00:23:56.789 --> 00:23:58.490 So I go to cookout, I get a barbecue sandwich. 00:23:58.849 --> 00:24:00.990 Usually there's like the side of nuggets, maybe 00:24:00.990 --> 00:24:02.410 the hush puppies, depending on how we're feeling, 00:24:02.490 --> 00:24:06.279 maybe fries some days. I'm also violently lactose 00:24:06.279 --> 00:24:08.299 intolerant, so I can't get the shakes or else 00:24:08.299 --> 00:24:10.220 I wouldn't. And I'm very sad because this is 00:24:10.220 --> 00:24:12.440 the new development for me in my life. In high 00:24:12.440 --> 00:24:14.500 school and college, I loved those shakes. And 00:24:14.500 --> 00:24:17.160 now I'm very sad I can't get them. Great question. 00:24:17.960 --> 00:24:21.680 The whole barbecue question, honestly, that might 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:24.150 be what gets us canceled ultimately. Well, I'll 00:24:24.150 --> 00:24:26.250 say this. Governor Hunt made a good point once 00:24:26.250 --> 00:24:29.430 at a breakfast that the state party hosted. But 00:24:29.430 --> 00:24:31.269 I will say that Governor Hunt has good taste 00:24:31.269 --> 00:24:32.950 in barbecue, and I'll say that every Democratic 00:24:32.950 --> 00:24:34.990 governor we've ever elected from this state has 00:24:34.990 --> 00:24:36.809 come from places where there's Eastern barbecue. 00:24:37.210 --> 00:24:39.369 We haven't elected a Western governor in over 00:24:39.369 --> 00:24:42.109 100 years, and I think there might be a correlation 00:24:42.109 --> 00:24:44.970 between these two things. Well, the science is 00:24:44.970 --> 00:24:47.710 still out on that, but we'll need to do some 00:24:47.710 --> 00:24:51.670 peer reviews. i'll pick up a western barbecue 00:24:51.670 --> 00:24:53.849 sandwich and a eastern barbecue sandwich from 00:24:53.849 --> 00:24:57.670 cookout do live taste testing and you can also 00:24:57.670 --> 00:24:59.109 do the lexington style if you meet in the middle 00:24:59.109 --> 00:25:01.470 and and i mean i can definitely compromise because 00:25:01.470 --> 00:25:05.569 like no i can't i can't i can't say my opinion 00:25:05.569 --> 00:25:10.150 yet we can't do that yet anyway a later episode 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:13.299 But thank you, Aaron, for coming on today. It 00:25:13.299 --> 00:25:16.140 has been really great talking to you. We love 00:25:16.140 --> 00:25:17.900 the work that y 'all are doing at EqualityNC 00:25:17.900 --> 00:25:20.880 and we hope to see much, much more of it in the 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:22.839 coming years, especially like we were talking 00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:26.059 about with the run up to 2026 and 2028. Where 00:25:26.059 --> 00:25:30.019 can people find you online to reach out if they 00:25:30.019 --> 00:25:32.940 have questions and where can they reach EqualityNC? 00:25:33.789 --> 00:25:35.809 and how can they get involved? We have a website, 00:25:35.890 --> 00:25:38.829 equalitync .org, where folks can learn more about 00:25:38.829 --> 00:25:41.029 events we have coming up across the state, signing 00:25:41.029 --> 00:25:43.049 up to volunteer at a pride booth somewhere across 00:25:43.049 --> 00:25:45.430 the state. Folks can also learn more about the 00:25:45.430 --> 00:25:46.890 specific policies that we're advocating for. 00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:49.000 And they can join our newsletter to learn a little 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:50.640 bit more about other types of actions that we're 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:53.480 taking. So that is EqualityNC .org. We're also 00:25:53.480 --> 00:25:56.980 on Instagram and Blue Sky and Facebook and any 00:25:56.980 --> 00:25:59.900 other platform that is not Twitter or X or whatever 00:25:59.900 --> 00:26:02.140 we're calling it these days. So hope to see folks 00:26:02.140 --> 00:26:04.799 engaged and looking forward to seeing folks across 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:08.160 the state this month for Pride. Awesome. Thank 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:09.920 you so much. Of course. Thanks for having me. 00:26:10.119 --> 00:26:12.779 Yeah, fantastic. And yeah, thank you so much 00:26:12.779 --> 00:26:15.549 for... taking the time to join us and talk to 00:26:15.549 --> 00:26:17.970 us a little bit. The organization and your work, 00:26:17.990 --> 00:26:20.630 your personal background and everything. Appreciate 00:26:20.630 --> 00:26:22.529 the work y 'all are doing and thank y 'all for 00:26:22.529 --> 00:26:24.210 trying to change this media space because we 00:26:24.210 --> 00:26:28.130 don't do enough of that. Thank you for the work 00:26:28.130 --> 00:26:31.829 y 'all are doing and stay informed and stay in 00:26:31.829 --> 00:26:34.430 the fight, especially during Pride Month, but 00:26:34.430 --> 00:26:37.750 not... only just during Pride Month. And that's 00:26:37.750 --> 00:26:39.970 the most important thing, right? So thank you 00:26:39.970 --> 00:26:42.230 for listening. Aaron, thanks for coming on. And 00:26:42.230 --> 00:26:44.109 stay with us on the left of Old North.