equality but many people. delwin coates was on our tv ads. this was not easy and it continues to be very difficult. these are ongoing issues. we need to make sure they're addressed, but we can look right now at what legislation is being proposed in the good sense and the bad sense and we know that there is a path forward that we all have to make sure that there's diversity in many ways. we at the human rights groups are working in texas right now where the legislators are about to convene a special session to pass anti-trans legislation in a special 30-day session where they passed sb4 which is discrimination against immigrant communities. we are working together with the hispanic community in texas to make sure we're altogether. intersectionality is there. we have to work on it together. they're not easy. again, representing and fighting for people that are not visible, that are not, as you said, the

tv friendly people, we represent them and we need to make sure that we fight for them at the state legislative level, at the federal level and making sure that we continue to bring people forward and we have to continue to do so. [ applause ] >> you asked really vital questions, and i don't know what the answer is. i look at the lgbtq community itself. we ask for people outside of our community to be our allies, but we are not good at being allies within our community. it infewer i don't remembur yoi members saying we should drop the t. it infuriates me when we're fighting for the same end result, we want equality, and yet there are organizations that fight each other. i don't know how we bring in the voiceless -- the people without a voice out in the community,

the hidden people, when we as the people who are speaking up, when we can't even get our act together and work together for those things that really matter instead of letting our egos get in the way. i wish i had an answer for that because i think that's one of the biggest stumbling blocks we have is that we don't work well as a community so how can we work outside of our community. so for me, you know, it's up to all of us, those of us who are currently speaking up, we can't stop. we have to always raise our voice and say, hey, but what about those homeless kids? what about those transgender women who are selling themselves on the streets to survive? if we don't speak up, we're all going to fail. so for me i think that's where it starts. those of us who are already part

of the activist community, we've got to be louder. we've also got to go out into the community and not stay in our offices, stay in our comfort spaces. we have to go somewhere that makes us feel uncomfortable so that we understand and we see and we look those people in the eye and say, you matter. i've gotten to know you, i'm going to fight for you. to me, all activism starts on that individual personal one-on-one basis. if we don't do it, nothing will change. so that's how i look at it and that's really how i approach my thoughts, my activism now that i am in this world. it comes down to that one on one basis. if we don't get outside of our comfort zones and recognize and value people who are different from us, what's going to change? [ applause ]

>> candace, go ahead. >> it's okay. okay. so, first, i'll just say it because i think that how do we do it? we start with hearing the ugly, and the ugly is like i am incredibly uncomfortable sitting up here right now, and this is what i do. i'm uncomfortable because i feel so inadequate, attorneys and elected representatives and then what's your qualification, candace? i got someone un-re-elected. >> wohoo!

>> and then i get frustrated because i'm like, well, what's my other qualification? i went back to college and paid for it out of my own pocket and graduated from college with honors, but that's not mentioned. >>. [ applause ] >> i've never been arrested. i've never done drugs. i am a catholic ironically. i'm happy to join the group. it's okay, candace. and i'm the only transgender person and i'm the only person up here with a tan. that's actually something that's uncomfortable because you now feel as though everyone is expecting you to speak for everyone who looks more like this and you're now thinking

that no one up here is going to look at you equally, they're not going to respect you, they're not going to give you the accolades that they give one another. do i sound as smart as he does? i got accepted to law school. i didn't go. you know, i liked shopping. but is he going to think i'm intelligent? are they going to think that i'm as important because i fight the political system that they work for? that is something that's real for me, and if i am camera ready and it's difficult, then of course we're not going to have other representation up here. if you're not camera ready as a trans person, if you haven't yet gone far enough in your journey that you can articulate what it is, you're not going to be up

here. and let's not talk about people who are african-american, latino, native american, muslim-american, indi indian-americans, anybody who does not look white can all tell you what it's like to walk into a room and look for the people who look like you, because that's what we do. we look for affirmation from one another when we say things. i'll admit it. i'm like, i will make -- i will look at them and say, are you approving of this? or am i saying what we -- the message we want to convey? and so instead what we have to do is we have to first stop thinking of us as them/us. and that was my message is that this really isn't about marriage equality and then how the trans fit into it. this isn't about what took place

in california or massachusetts or maryland or north carolina. it's like, we are the united states of america, not the collective states of america. we are not 50 individual states doing things, we are 50. we are a community and we are a family and we should be cohesive. and we need to stop thinking of battles as being fought and won in our very small gay for gay marriage in california. i'm like, every victory is a victory for all, and when we actually think of it like that, it makes it a lot easier for us to then recognize the people who are not receiving the benefits of those victories. it makes it easy for us to say, is this a victory if these people who are part of our

community are still not? i mean, if gay marriage doesn't matter to you, then how great of a job have we done in getting gay marriage? because what, we got it so you could be homeless? we got it so that you would engage in sex work? we got it so that hiv and aids could still be something that we are talking about and new diagnosis? we talked about marriage equality so that poverty could be very real, so that lack of access to education could be very real for people? so i agree, but i think the first step is that we stop thinking in a divisive way. we start thinking in an inclusive way. our community, we struggle. if we go, why don't we have equality?

i'm sorry, don't discriminate against me but you're going to discriminate against people? we have to stop thinking of it in that sense. we have to stop thinking of successes in these pockets of ameri america. we have to stop thinking of people being the first bear caucus in maryland, the bear caucus in america. that's what he is. he is an american. he is not a marylander. and so that's what he represents, and we have to think of that as being something that speaks for all of us, that is a success for all of us. i'm in north carolina, i don't live in maryland. maryland delegates do not represent me, they don't affect me, but they do affect me when we have someone say i'm a maryland delegate and i am the first and only bear caucus and i'm like, that's one of ours and that's one of our successes, and when we think of it like that,

it makes it easier because now he sees me and i see him. i don't know if that helps at all, but it was a hard question to answer so -- [ applause ] >> revolves around sometimes progress can be stopped if it can just be delayed a little bit, and picking up on something i heard sandy mention, we're not going to be counted in the 2020 census, and i'm very concerned about that. i'm concerned about its effect on us as a community as we age and i'm concerned about us as -- in the community as our children grow up. if they can't be counted, we're less significant. and i look at that in that dynamic and pose the question of what strategies do we have to lay out as a community to make

sure that we are counted every day? >> go ahead. >> one thing i will say is there was a time in our history not too long ago where we did not want to be counted, where -- when aids and hiv first became a problem in our country, we did not want to be counted. we did not want to be visible. we did not want the government coming after us, so there's still a reticence in many marginalized communities not to want to be identified, and we have to be aware of that. so there's a give and take to that, the question of being counted, although i understand and know exactly why it's important to be counted on health surveys from the cdc and other places and, of course, in the u.s. census. i would say as far as a strategy

goes, we have to focus at the federal level absolutely and look at our national leader right now and make sure that we focus on the national leader, but we have to focus on the federal government in a broader sense with the u.s. senate, the house, our state legislatures, the house and our school board. just because you are not a parent doesn't mean you shouldn't pay attention what happens at the school board level. so it's really just civic engagement in many ways and making sure we're available. we are not going to add sexual identity or gender on the census. we're going to take it off the aging surveys or whatever. there are many ways that we can be successful, and that's at the state level. we have strong states like california and others that had taken the lead years ago in surveys and counting and then we had friendly federal governments

that had surveys that weren't counted, the state level banded it together. all of these states that are counting lgbt people, that's now detail to see there are issues. so i would say that it's just important to make sure that we are visible, we are strategic, and make sure that wherever we are we have to make sure that we hold our elected officials accountable. any election is an important election for our community because that community could still be marginalized, too. we have to make sure that we pay attention and hold our community members accountable. >> i'm going to add a little tiny bit to that. i thought that was a great macro analysis, marty, and i'm also going to be kind of literal in my response. i believe that there are so many things -- you know, while the

federal government does have the census and that's an important count, but most services are delivered through state organizations and local organizations. the federal government is the -- you know, we kind of have the broad responsibility but when it really comes down to it, states and local governments is where the rubber hits the road. that's where programs are developed, that's where people are identified and served and that's where i think you really want to put your effort when you want to put in progress. a small example of this of working in the mental health services in alameda county. we had a campaign i participated in. it was called nothing about us without us. it was a powerful constituency group where individuals came together and said we will not have you plan services and programs for us without our involvement. it's not fair, okay, ethical and they were right, it wasn't. that became the fundamental

driving force in how every dollar was spent and every program was designed. there was a group of individuals and their voices were heard. they had voting privileges on decisions were made because nothing without them would be decided without them. that's grassroots work at play. you see it also in schools, pretty much with school board representation. ensuring that your school has a gay/straight alliance. that's important. this is where the services are actually provided. and so i think that's where we want to -- if you want to make change, that's where you're probably going to be the most impactful. >> spencer? >> first of all, thank you so much for being here. thank you for supporting a program that's deep in the fight and very near to my heart. you mentioned, you know, we're preaching to the choir here. david, you said it's a tough place to lie on the witness stand. in my line of work the hardest

thing we have is to get people to get on. how do we make sure the people that opposed us are the ones who were putting this off the agenda? my question especially to marty, luke, and everyone on the panel is how do we set the agenda? how do we make sure that lgbtqia issues are at the top of every talking point and not an after thought on the news cycle. i think that's the hardest thing we'll have is making sure this is a priority for most. that's my question. >> luke, do you want to go first? >> marty skipping the hard questions now. how do we set the agenda? we participate all the time. we participate in coalitions that bring together people, and i'm going to be shameless and plug a film that i'm working

because, hey, i can. for five years in the state of maryland we have been working to get people the opportunity to earn sick leave, and in the last legislative session in my bill over the last three years we finally passed earned sick leave legislation with the coalition of over 166 different groups, gay, straight, all areas of the spectrum, and we did it. we passed the bill, and the governor vetoed it. so now we have to continue that coalition. we have to it. so now we have to continue that coalition. we have to continue to expand the coalition. we have to listen to the voices that aren't heard or that can't be heard or that haven't been heard. and we have to keep building this out. and the only way that you can do

that, and the only way you can get and stay on the agenda is if you are participating in the process. and i think it becomes very easy, my partner patric, will be calling me a hip krt in about 30 minutes because we sit on the phone and -- don't pretend that you don't. he's a nice person. we find it very easy to do those very few quick things on the phone. but we find it very difficult to cross the street and find out who your neighbor is. and it's that that we have to start doing. we have to get out of our bubbles. weave to get out into communities where we feel uncomfortable. and when we do that, that's

news. shouldn't be, but it is. and it's part of setting the agenda. >> i would add to this that for me at least, i would turn it around a little bit. i don't think we should be setting the agenda. i think the agenda in some ways is set. and what i mean about that is the lgbt community, we have our concerns, we definitely do. but what is facing our country and our world today whether it's health care reform, whether it's the fact we might zero planned parenthood, that's an lgbt issue, climate change, what's happening in the world, that's an lgbt issue. and we can go on and on the list. so i think it's important for us as a community to make sure we engage in the issues of the day and make sure we speak from them from our personal experience, which would include the fact

we're lgbt or family members of lgbt people. so we should bring our whole bodies and selves to the discussion. and by doing that, that's how we have the allies. by making sure immigration reform affects all of us, then we can have people realize that immigration reform, lgbt issues affect all of us as well. and that's how i would look at it. >> thanks. >> next question. >> hi, everyone. first of all, i want to give a heartfelt thanks to our warriors. i heard something on tv the other day that said that the number one reason donald trump won is people didn't like people who didn't look like them. the number one reason. it wasn't money, it wasn't health care. it's people who don't look like us. and so that's been talked about all around the circle here.

my dear friend, thank you. some of it seems like duh, this is common sense. what are we fighting about? so what i want to know is what's on the other side of this? what makes people so afraid? if we have gay marriage, are they afraid their marriage is going to fail? i'm from massachusetts. i packed a cow like everybody else. i was lucky enough tool find somebody with a new england patriots hat. massachusetts had health care. the world didn't fall apart. and then massachusetts had a marijuana law. go massachusetts, right? so it's an interesting thing because people are afraid of what? the unknown? what are we afraid of? what are people afraid of? what's on the other side? i purposely let people patrol my

facebook page, which is totally blown up with donald trump stuff. i say i want to hear what they have to say. so what are we fighting? why would anybody fight for equality for all? why would anybody want someone to live on the street? what are we fighting? can you tell me what we're fighting? thank you. >> i think there are parents telling young kids some really, maybe not entirely factual information. and they grow up in an environment where perhaps someone that runs on a really religious or conservative agenda would match with what they were told was good and right in the world. so these early childhood, these formative years, i think, they

last a lifetime. and i think when we all become adults, we don't really know where everybody came from, what state we grew up in, what are parents believed, the agenda, et cetera. but there's something really important there about how we embrace young people and create the opportunity for them to make the decisions for themselves later on versus programming them and predisposing them to thinking they're good people or bad people, that they can't figure this stuff later on. we want to give them the ability to be analytical and the ability to make hard decisions based on who they are when they are old enough to make those decisions. i really can't -- brain structure is actually hard to undo. and the messages that are coming from churches in particular and in some cases fringes or factions of political parties are very, very negative.

and i think they're penetrating into homes and affecting families and young people, and i think we have a hard time undoing that. >> what i find is where's the message, what is the the message? and water finds its own level. they're appliable, and yes they do have something at home, but they will gravitate towards what feels good. so i look at a community that says we're fighting, everybodies fighting, what are we fighting about? what if we changed our course? instead, why don't we have messaging that gets transgender people doing something good for a community? what if we show them this is what people are about, what heart centered people are about? we don't judge by the gender or

your skin. we judge by our character. >> we've got time for one more question. >> i'll try to keep this quick. i'm a junior at gw, and i'm just freaking out for all of you. thank you for being part of the community. my question is every lgbt person has a different experience. so when it comes to the issues that lgbt youths face, there are higher rates of mental health problems, higher rates of drug use, higher rates of suicide. how do we address those issues while keeping in mind the other issues of people of color and

other cullinable communities? thank you. >> i'll speak to that just briefly. i think the way that you try to do that is to make sure, going back to the nothing about us without us kind of model, that you have those voices at the table. and what you want to do is advocate, and if you think about the mental health services examples you just brought up is to really advocate and insist you have services that are matched to people appropriately. so if you are a year woman of color and 16 years old, you might want a yearwoman of color providing you mental health services rather than a straight white man of 50. who's going to relate to you better? and those sources are out there and individuals are out there. it's just a matter of insisting you have those appropriate

services for you. sometimes there can be a disconnect between the service providers we have available and the population being served. and there you really have to advocate and push for these people to enter the professions. if we want teachers that represent the students, we need to have those teachers go through the training programs so they can have those jobs to provide that. where the service delivery happens is where it's the most important to make that match to speak to your example. so thanks. >> anyone else? we are now out of time. we're right up at 9:00. i want to thank all of our panelists because this is an amazing experience. [ applause ] >> thank you.

and, you know, you're not leaving without getting one more pitch. thursday night, come and see us and thank you all for coming.

senate majority leader mitch mcconnell announced he's delaying the start of the august recess by two weeks. in a statement the kentucky republican said once the state finishes health care, it'll tackle the defense bill and nominations he says have been mindlessly stalled by democrats. >> i think as of june 28th there were 178 presidential nominations up here, and only 46

confirmed. we're getting zero cooperation on the personnel part of the senate's portfolio, which is confirming nominations. therefore, we will be in session the first two weeks of august that we had originally anticipated not being here. we will be here. we've got defense authorization. we've got the fda user fee and other important legislation that we need to address, and we simply as a result of all of this obstructionism, don't have enough time to address all of these issues between now and the originally anticipated august recess. so we'll be here the first two weeks of august. and the morning president trump pfs pick to have the fbi questions the nominee

christopher wray will replace james comey who was fired in may. a couple of them as the president asked you for loyalty, and how will you balance the leadership with the department of justice? we'll have it here at 9:30 eastern here on