Pride is a Riot

is a riot. For many of you who listen to me on a regular basis and have been listening to and been a part of the woke a F community nation, I want you to understand that when pride originated, as some folks know, came out of the Stonewall riots. And Stonewall is a bar located in New York City, in Manhattan, in Chelsea, an area that during the time was very much frequented by LGBTQ plus people. And what we have always known is that the queer community has never been

accepted and embraced. It has always been the ire of police, politicians. You name it, and how pride began was out of a sense of exhaustion, out of a sense of you know, folks, particularly black, queer, black trans women saying, like Marsha P. Johnson, I've had enough. We've had a fucking enough of cops coming into this bar, hustling us from money, you know, beating us, and we do nothing because we are forced

to live in the shadows, in the margins. And what the Stonewall riots did was bring to the consciousness the forefront of the New York City community, of the state of the city, how dismally, how poorly, how disgustingly the LGBTQ plus community has been treated, and from their pride birth itself into not so much of a riot, but instead of celebration, an unapologetic celebration of who we are, who we love, how we exist in a world that

believes in boxes. And if you can't fit into said box, then you were cast aside, you were ostracized, you were made to feel small and insignificant and worse, violated in ways that no one, no person should experience. There have been so many markers of violence, and there continue to be markers of violence. Black trans women are killed at an alarming rate, their identities, their existence thrown literally and

figuratively in the trash. It is through our quest for liberation that isn't about assimilation into what it means to exist in the heteronormative confines. And funny enough, I've been having a lot of this conversation as a person who is still relatively newly divorced but really operated inside of

this assimilation model. We'd us like you, right, is you know what the queer community was forced to say in order to be able to access the same rights and privileges that our straight neighbors and friends and colleagues have, is that to bring down the level of hysteria and threat that our opposition has made it seem as if we are in society a threat, something to be locked away, to never be spoken of, to be beaten into submission, to be jailed, to be prosecuted. Is that we made

a campaign out of saying we're just like you. We want to get married, we want to have kids, we want to live full and complete lives. But the reality is is that, yeah, I want to live a full and complete life, but what I deem as full and complete may not be what full and complete looks like for you. I don't have to want to get married in order to be seen as a full and complete citizen of these United States. I don't have to conform right and fold myself in order to fit into what

other people's beliefs and desires are. And I have only recently, recently truly been able to really understand that because I spent a large part of my career in politics, in movement work, particularly around LGBTQ politics, with trying to fit in. I became one of the voices for marriage equality back in the early two thousands because who was speaking out at that time were white gay men, double income, no kids.

That's where that saying came from. White men. As we know, right outside of orientation, our gender identity are the oppressor, right hold all the mechanisms of power. So when you had white gay men in the beginning of the two thousands talking about their rights and what they're being denied, you think that that was invoking empathy. It's surely the

fuck was not. So enter the voices of black queer people like myself, who at the time were getting married or were married, and so we were able to insert a different perspective into the conversation about what discriminatory policies due to already marginalized communities. But as I have moved through life and my own understanding of my identity how I want to show up in the world, I realize that assimilation is honestly what has been beat into us

since the beginning. When I talk about our public education system being a product or a tool of white supremacy, I mean that, and I mean that in all senses. I also mean it in terms of patriarchy and how we come to understand who is supposed to be raising their hand and who is supposed to sit quietly, who was supposed to be playing with dolls and who's supposed to be playing with trucks. Who can be the aggressor

and situation and who has to be the submissive. You learn all of these roles through societal standards, and where do we learn society standards through school? So it makes sense then that the opposition, the Republican cult, would turn once again to our education system as a way to

pose their will on already marginalized and oppressed peoples. The don't say gay bills, the bathroom bills, they're all directed at queer youth at a time when you are young and trying to understand who you are in the world outside of your parents, gays, and outside of society's desires.

So how are we setting up our young people, whether they are queer or not, to be able to be critical thinkers, global citizens to feel safe in their own skin, which means that if you are safe in your own skin, then you are able to tackle some of society and the world's biggest problems. But if I'm so busy looking over my shoulder, how can I see into the future, How can I offer myself as a way of being

of service. So I've been thinking a lot as a person who has come from Even though I am black, I am a woman, i am queer, I'm a child of immigrants, I'm all of these things. I still have points of privilege. I still grew up in a suburban tree line street neighborhoods where I could walk to school and go to the pizza place and get a slice after school, where I played sports, where I had series upon series of microaggressions but at the time didn't realize them.

It was upon reflection, but my orientation into the world was important, which is why I feel like the way that we treat our youth and how they show up and how they are able to succeed is about our own success as a country, as a people, and if we're not nurturing our young people, whether they are queer or straight, or non binary or somewhere on the spectrum,

that is about nurturing our own success. So this month, during Pride Month, which also encapsulates June teenth, we were going to tackle some of the biggest issues that are facing the LGBTQ plus community, which are entwined with all

of the issues that we are all facing. But what does it mean to face issues of voter suppression, of living in a time of a police state right where you can be shot dead because you are black, because you were queer, because you exist at these overlapping intersections of identity. So we're going to go throughout the weeks of this month and talk to some of my friends, some of my colleagues, people that I admire, whose work that I cherish, to really get a better perspective of

who America is in this moment. For me, Pride over the last decades plus has always been a celebration it's when you get to dress up and go to the marches and the parades and see old friends and dance and literally be gay, be merry. But in the climate that we are living in right now, I don't feel that level of joy. I know that it is important, however,

I know that it is necessary. It is necessary now for us to be unapologetic in the streets with our glitter and our rainbows and our you know, bearing our vulnerabilities to the world and saying you don't get to box me, you don't get to judge me, you don't get to define me. I get to define myself. And so for us here on Woke f this month, Pride is a riot. It has always been a riot. And what are riots? They are the voices of the unheard,

those that have been invisibilized. Right, And so this month, during this time, we are going to paint the picture of who this community is, who I am, what we are up against, but also what we are looking forward to. It isn't all bad, right, but there are a lot of bad things on the horizon and a lot of evils that we need to push back against. Coming up in our first Pride conversation, is my friend, and you've heard from him before, Preston Mitcham, who is the director

of Policy and government Affairs for the Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is a national organization that works to prevent LGBTQ suicides. You will hear in this conversation with my dear friend Preston about how the suicide rates among LGBTQ people and LGBTQ youth specifically are up. If you've listened

to the show over the past couple of months. I also iterated that after I watched a special on sixty Minutes which was just about youth across the board and how youth are attempting suicides at higher rates than we have ever seen and why is that? Because we are

all living in compounded trauma, living through compounded trauma. So, if we're all struggling with a global health pandemic with the rise of white supremacy, fascism, violence, and you are also a queer youth, and you live in a state where you're a you're governor like Rhonda Santis, Greg Abbott and others are telling you that you are unworthy, that your family should be criminalized for caring for you. How

are you seeing yourself? Years ago in the early aughts, it was a campaign that was started called it Gets Better because if you remember, in the early two thousands, there were a rash of suicides ten year olds, twelve year olds, thirteen year olds who had been bullied relentlessly and took their own lives because they couldn't envision a future.

We know that Republicans are trying to create an environment where we don't see past our present misery, which is why pride as a riot and pride as joy is so incredibly important now more than ever, because the lives of our youth, of our community is at stake. So Preston will discuss with us the latest numbers, the latest data points from the Trevor Project offer us opportunities to engage and then talk about what we can each do for our own self care. That conversation, dear friends, is

coming up next. Hey, I'm David. Plots of Slights Political Gabfest. As another election season accelerates, it can be tricky to sort through all the noise and the news. Each week on the Gapfest, John Dickerson, Emily Bathlon and I decipher the headlines, break down the races, and tell you what issues really matter. We do not always agree, We definitely do not always agree, but we always deliver thoughtful debate and we always have a good time. So subscribe to

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Person of the Week, and much more. Listen to The Damage Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you like what you hear, be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Folks I am very excited to welcome back to Woke f Daily, our friend, my friend over so many years. My god, we won't even tell the kids. We just have good skincare Preston Mitcham, who is the director of Advocacy and Government Affairs at the Trevor Project. You know, the Trevor Project.

But I want to give Preston an opportunity before we even jump into this important conversation this Pride Month, presdon tell folks, remind folks what the Trevor Project is and what the important work is that you all do. Yeah. So I'm really excited to be here friend, and you know, I'm really excited to represent the Trevor Project as well. And we are the world's largest suicide prevention and mental health organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer and

questioning youth. And we know because of all of the unprecedented attacks, we know that we need organizations like the Trevor Project which really are life saving tools and providing resources and advocacy and education and public trainings to the general public, to schools, among others on how to save LGBTQ youth lives. So, Preston, I mean I will say this. You know, you, like my self, have been an LGBTQ plus advocate for ever at this at this point right

like we have for our entire careers. I think we have made it a point to always put our community upfront. Have you ever, in the course of your career, not just with the Trevor Project, but just in your career in general, seen the types of unrelenting attacks against LGBTQ plus people that we have been seeing over the last two years. Have you seen this before? I certainly have not,

and I think many others would agree with that. Of course, we've certainly seen state based attacks through bills at the state level, at the federal level as well, But right now, it's such an unprecedented number of attacks that are happening to LGBTQ people, especially LGBTQ young people. And not only

is it unprecedented, it's coordinated. So there seems to be a nationwide coordinated campaign by anti LGBTQ organizations and elected officials seeking political gain admitted election year especially, and again, what they're once again doing or treating one of the most marginalized groups in our country, trans youth and non binary youth, especially as a political wedge issue when they

are certainly not. You know it every week aside from us dealing with the gun violence and gun massacres that are many being done so at the hands of white supremacists right with manifestos that purport their ideology. And part of that ideology isn't just about their hatred towards black folks right or people of color by the bipop community,

it is also queer people. And we have seen through Tucker Carlson's many, many segments on Fox News, through Ron De Santis's statements as he is signing anti LGBTQ plus legislation, that they are one and the same, right, that this desire for white supremacy is at the hands of sis white hetero men in this country. And so, what do you think or how can you tell us how these policies, how this rhetoric that has now transformed into violence is

affecting LGBTQ plus people. What has the Trevor Project been able to uncover over the past couple of years in terms of where things are trending for the community. So I'm glad we started there because the truth of the matter is that this year we've seen a record number of anti LGBTQ bills, and right now, I want to be clear that we're at tracking more than two hundred and forty bills that are sweeping the nation. It's a broad wave of anti LGBTQ rhetoric that even targets trans

in our binary youth as Stata before. But also want to be clear, it's it's to your point, it is also things that expand the gamut. Right. So, of course we do have these bills that you see the restrictability of trans folks to play sports, receive gender framing care, access bathrooms, and really be representing classrooms, discussions, and curriculums. But we also see many of these same bills discussing things like critical racing and other things that are related

to systemic racism too. And so that actually is backed up by some of the data that we've seen in so far as the people who we see are experiencing a lot of mental health challenges and negative mental health outcomes are LGBTQ people of color. So in early May, the Trevor Project put out it's twenty twenty two National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental health. In particular, what we saw as a racial disparity that worsens the mental health impacts of and on bipod LGBTQUTH so that's black, Indigenous

and other people of color. To provide some data, we're really excited because this year we surveyed nearly thirty four thousand LGBTQ young people and that was across the entire United States. It is also one of our most diverse samples to date, and that forty five percent of respondents were LGBTQUTH of color and nearly fifty percent were trans

or non binary. What we also saw was alarming and sobering statistics that had trended upward for suicidal thoughts among lgbtquth as well as well as focused on key barriers. And we know the reasons why we're seeing these increases suicidal thoughts among others is because of these wave of unprecedented and coordinated attacks on LGBTQUTH. You know, it is it is almost as if I believe, and let me not put words in your mouth, I believe that it

is a coordinated attack. I believe that they absolutely are going for our mental and emotional well being as well as our physical safety. And so you know as you all are you digging through these over two hundred and forty plus pieces of legislation, what do they have in common, Preston, and what do you perceive to be the ability to work around Like, what are we missing on our side that they have been able to replicate, replicate, replicate across

the country. One of the things that we're consistently seeing quite frankly, albeit misguided policies, but they really do help in particular election years. And so that is some of the things that we're seeing, you know, while so while we have elected officials who are continuing to target LGBTQ youth, our polling data in particular has found a majority of adults reject this government overreach that we are seeing across

the country. Even though there are still some consistency in some popularity if we want to use that language among certain communities, among certain and elected officials, we know that written large, the general public reject them. And so, but the things that are coordinated right are banning books, censoring school curriculums, intervening in medical care decisions that we know our best left to doctors and patients. And so those are some of the coordinations that we're seeing. We're also

seeing this attack. You know, to the point earlier around systemic racism, that it is rare that in most of these bills, we're going to find an example where they're attacking book bands and school curriculums and also not attacking things like critical race theory. I want to be clear, I'm a lawyer. I went to law school, and I didn't take critical race theory until I went law school and almost graduate. Are you sure are, Preston, it wasn't

part of your kindergarten first grade curriculum? You sure? Positive?

Absolutely positive? Right? And so I think that is the part for many of us that becomes quite frustrating, particularly when we are black and queer or Latin X and queer, or indigenous and queer, right, those of us who have multi, multi faceted lives, and you know, we don't live single issue struggles or lives for that matter, right, true to our proogle word and even hearkening in Kimberly Crenshaw, and so, you know, when we see people are attacking every facet

of who we are, right, we know that we start to then internalize, right, we then start to think differently about ourselves and who we are, and that is actually rooted in so much data and science, and so that is why, even if it's not intentionally focused and targeted on our mental health, we inherently start thinking negative thoughts about who we are, about our own history because all we know is a rature right, and so that is

what we're trying to combat every single day. So tell us, like, what are some of the ways in which you are tackling this moment that feels like preston. It's so difficult to wrap our arms around, right, Like, how are you able in this role to be able and the organization as a whole to be able to tackle what feels

like everest at this moment? It does and many I mean listen, you know, working obviously in like avoccing government affairs and even in media in comms, one of the things that we see is it feels like everything is drinking from a fire hose. Right, There's so many things happening all across the spectrum that you don't know how

to prioritize. And so one of the things that we really wanted to get comfortable with was what does it mean to prioritize the health and well being of LGBTQ youth because we know our research in particular has found that lgbtqth who lived in an accepting community and had access to these LGBTQ affirming schools and are felt high social support from family and France reported significantly lower rates

of attempting suicide in the past year. And so for us, what that means is prioritizing safety by schools, prioritizing safety and communities figuring out if you have any alliances in your universities or your high schools or your middle schools, and really figuring out how do we provide resources not only to LGBTQ youth, but to their parents and to their other family members and to their friends who are really trying to understand a little bit more about what

that looks like. Right, And we know that some of this has shifted because of COVID, So you know, mental health challenges did not take place because of COVID, but they certainly exacinate it. It's already in reality for people

pre COVID, and so for us, it's about resources. It's about creating these affirming environment right, and it's on all of us to create these safer, more accepting world for LGBTQ youth, right, Like, I always try to think of who I was and who I did not want to be when I was younger, right, And so by that end, right, I'm comfortable now, I'm confident, now, I'm securing who I am now. Many lgbtqth don't have that environment and they

don't have that reality. So a lot of our research and our advocacy work is really grow toward, grew toward those people who frankly don't think they have possibility models around them. What does it mean these days, Preston? Because I learned that phrase from you, possibility model? What does it mean these days for you? For myself too to be that model? When frankly I'm scared, right, Like, I am scared about my well being in safety as well

as those of my friends and family. But recognizing that I'm not a young person going to middle school and high school right now, right whose fear is so much more compounded in terms of what they are experiencing. I can choose not to go to set place or choose not to do So what does it mean these days for us to be possibility models? And how can we

show up more at a time. As LGBTQ plus adult and those that are you know, quote unquote professionally gay doing this work, how do we show up for our youth? I just want to make sure we're not forgetting about them, right. I think so often it's easy when we become a little bit more comfortable and who we are, to forget about the people who are who we've left behind sort of speak. And I think that with organizations like the Trevor Project and with us individually, will make sure that

that will not happen for us. Right. I want to admit that I also am afraid. Yeah, right. I think fear is such a valid emotion that many times we attempt to go over or push to the side, But it is a it is a healthy emotion, and it is one that is a real emotion. So you know, I always say we don't have to lie in sack. We should not lie to young people when we are

feeling these exact feelings and thoughts. I also believe right that when it comes to these coordinated attacks, have to all be on the same page as far as like who the enemy ultimately is. Oftentimes say that you know our opponents regardless of what we're looking at may hate understandings of intersectionality, but they sure do know how to attack issues intersectionally. Right. That's one of the things that I try to focus on so much. It's like it's

not either or it is oftentimes both. And so how are we doing? Are we offering lines to people? Are we offering crisis services of people? Are we offering resources? And then sometimes you know, you'll have to offer things that may meet people's material conditions a little earlier. Are you offering them housing and shelter and access to food and healthcare? And so there are many things we can do. I just always want to make clear to people that we all have a role to play, and everyone's role

is going to look different person. You know, I don't really know what the future holds, and I think that you know, tell me if I'm wrong. But in a lot of ways, that kind of drives attempted suicides, right, not being able to see outside of the present moment that there is possibility, there is hope, and at a time when we are all struggling to find hopefulness. Right, Um, I tell people on this show to not marinate a misery like I do, right, to try and find avenues

of joy, to find those pockets of joy connection. Um, what is your recommendation just as a member you know of the community and somebody like you said you are scared as I am scared, right, Like you know, you always show up on the front lines for black trans women that are murdered at an unrelenting rate. That again does not make the headlines in the way that these

horrible bills and these horrible massacres make. And so what what advice do you have for people in order to be able to hold on to their joy, to seek their joy and also seek the care of community. I love this question because so often the data is hard to actually extrapolate. How do we find joy and balance? And so for me at least, that oftentimes means disconnecting when I'm able to do so. Right, we can't just

sit with the reality of attacks every single day. We have to, if we're able to do so, find an outlet to joy, whether that's singing and dancing, whether that's watching a movie right, whether that's writing or journaling, whether

that's drawing. Like, joy does not have to cost money, right, there are so many ways we can connect with other people with community members, right, So I think sometimes it starts local most times, and start local, right, That means it can start at home, at school, or in your community. And again it's on all of us to create these

like more accepting environments. And the Term of Project even has data that show at least one supportive person can reduce thoughts of suicide considering suicide by forty five to percent. So len mean just one person could actually make someone think differently about their life or attempting or considering by upwards of forty to forty five percent, And that is a huge deal, because we know a little support can go a long way and help save a young person's life.

And it will be remiss for me to not also saying surely about research and what it show in terms of youth of marginalized identities, and how many of us experienced disapportionate rates of mental health challenges like bullying and suicide risk and these things that may seem to bring about lack of hope and despair, But it's because of It's not because of who they are, right, It was never because of who we are as queer people, but because of how society, yes, right, how lawmakers sometimes treat

us how community members treat us, which of course drives stigma. It drives discrimination, it drives criminalization, and to your point, it drives thoughts of suicide and maybe even attempts of suicide. And so that is why I always want to go back to we all have a role to play, you know. So oftentimes people make it about parties, and you know,

for me, I'm not there. I am at a point where I recognize that every single person has a role to play, and surely we could argue that some do better than others, but at the end of the day, everybody needs to do better to support LGBTQ youth. Preston Mitcham, thank you so much for the work that you do, for the work that you do with the Trevor Project, for the work that you do on social media, for the work that we have done over the decades together.

I just genuinely appreciate you, and I hope that you will join us again and we wish you a happy pride. I would love too happy. Brian Indisputaful with Doctor rashid Ricci is one of the latest shows on the TYT network and also the fastest growing news show in a Mary.

On his show, Doctor Ricci plays no games regarding policy, delivering a heavy dose of fact based truth and penetrating analysis on all the top news stories focusing on racism, criminal and social justice, politics, police brutality, Karens, and much more. Listeners can also expect interviews with fascinating guests, political leaders, commentators, and even fiery debates with conservatives on a wide range of policy topics. In the Bullpen. It is an indisputable

fact that you will love this show. Listen to Indisputable with Doctor Rashad Ricci on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you like what you hear, be sure to subscribe so you never miss a new episode. That is it for me today on Woke f I wish all of you a happy, happy, fucking prode and we'll be here all month. Power to the people and to all the people. Power, get woke and stay woke as fuck.