📍SHOW TRANSCRIPT Hi everybody. Welcome to Activist Collective. Um, it's been a few minutes since I've been able to do an episode because life is busy, but today we are so lucky and I'm so excited to have, uh, Joanna Whaley with us. Joanna is running in the second state congressional district, Joanna. House District, excuse me, state House District. Um, and she is one of my favorite people. I, she doesn't know that. I've been following her for, for at least over a year now. I've been following Joanna for over a year now, because you're actually, um, I think you're security team is my best friend's company. my Yeah. Yeah. So, um, she told me about you and I've been following you ever since. And Joanna, I just gotta tell you, your, your, your platform, how, however simple it is, it actually reaches. So many working Americans. So I wanna introduce Joanna Whaley to you all so that you all get, um, a glimpse of who this amazing woman is. And hopefully if you're in her district and you get to see this, you get a better idea of who she is. So Joanna, um, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself and then I'll start asking you some questions. world that you know. I know it's sad that I have to have a security team, right. But, uh, but I do, um, one of my. Second biggest campaign expenses is armed security. Fun, Wow. for a house race. Wow. Um, but hi everybody. I'm, I'm Uh, I am running for the Michigan House of Representatives. Uh, the four cities that are in my district are Allen Park, Lincoln Park, Melvindale, and Southgate. Um, and cities are, you know. many in our community kind of treat them as drive through cities. As cities, you kind of drive through to get to other things. our city has, our communities have so much heart and they have so much to give and they're such wonderful people. And I have really getting getting to know the people of my district, uh, way. Um. But I have a wild background. Uh, yes. I, I am a trans woman, uh, came out almost five years ago. We're coming up on five years, uh, next month. And, uh, or no, this month, oh my gosh, this weekend. well, congratulations. be out. Thank you. I'll be out five you know, I, uh, I, I did what every, uh, closeted trans girl does. I became an evangelical pastor, and. And, uh, had a long career in the evangelical megachurch Wow. um, and was trained deeply in Christian um, by many of our state's, most influential pastors. And so, you know, I, I. is where I came from. So you can imagine, uh, many people are already starting to do the math of what an evolution that had to be to go from evangelical Christian nationalist to transgender progressive candidate for I can't get my jaw off the floor. I'm like. Yeah. And, and we're that timeline and why, why that timeline matters right now. And I think, um, my community is ready for that type of leadership, uh, that understands the full spectrum of the political, um, the political world. We, we all Do you still practice as clergy in any way? I, so I left congregational work when I came out. I, I shouldn't say I left. I got shoved right. of congregational work. I I was forced to fired from my job, which. Just so everyone knows in all 50 states, if you work for a religious nonprofit, they can discriminate against you based on gender and sexual orientation. Um, and so I got fired for my job here in Michigan, one of the biggest mega churches in the state. And, uh, and so what I did is over the years, I, I had to pick my life up. I ended up going to seminary. I studied what's called liberation theology. I went to a very progressive seminary. Um, and I went to Wartburg Theological Seminary in Iowa, which is progressive in Iowa. Right. Um, and I studied liberation theology, which is the marginalized people within divine systems and, uh. so I, studied that. and I became a clinical chaplain. So I a lot of our area hospital systems as a clergy member, uh, doing spiritual care for people in trauma and end of life ICU settings. I, I do hospice work. I am with people, um, in some of the worst moments of their life. And I, so I'm still a clergy member, That's amazing. but I do it That is that, that is such a, a massive give back to your community. Um, that I don't know if you get recognized for. So as an atheist, I will say thank you for doing that for the people who need it. That's amazing. I I had no idea. That's I reaction. when a Ooh, I mean, ooh, I don't, right. I don't know if I would say, uh, but I, I, the, the fact that you, where you came from. To where you are now, that is such a, a, a complete three. Like is it a 180 a total turnaround? We don't wanna do 360 'cause you're back where you started. Right. But a, a total 180. I mean, that is amazing. Um, so are you Christian or Catholic or say? um, is Okay. It is my, it is what I consider to be language, um, spiritually, um, as a clinical chaplain, I. I study and I work with inside of a lot of different religious spaces, but I, my, my identity is still Okay. Um, and so, uh, to me that it's um, that I hold onto that. 'cause I think that God is so unexplainable. Um, and, and to some, if you're an atheist, you're like, is that unexplainable, I, and I have, I have the most respect for people in their religions. And, um, I think people like you who are holding onto their Christian identity is important because of so many people who are trying to rebrand it, I guess in this hateful, as you stated, Christian nationalist way. And that's kind of, it's, it's like this dark cloud that's just like seeping into our, our country and, and. I don't know that there's a, an end in sight, and so I think people with your, uh, true background knowledge and understanding of it is important to keep talking about it. And I like right now, if we look around the, our political world, we have so many politicians trying to use the name of Jesus to make people go into compliance with their doctrine. We, and, and on the left, we do not have people who are prepared and equipped to fight that fight theologically. And this is a theological battle for many Republicans. have to have to have people on the left who can theologically fight um, yep. and, and I'm, I'm telling you, the State House, the like Matt Hall and his, his little queens are not ready to argue the Bible with a progressive trans woman. I, God, I would pay to see that Joanna. I, if it's, to see that, make that happen. 'cause I would pay, Yes. Matt Hall is a monster. I'm gonna say that out in public. Matt Hall is an absolute monster. You don't have to agree or say anything. Um, this is my own personal opinion. I think he is diabolical and, uh, he, it, him being there was the worst thing Michigan ever did. I mean of its history. Yes. lot of intentionally, I believe. Intentionally. Yep. He's trying to turn Michigan and the Republican portion into like this, this arm of maga and he's trying to copycat everything that he did, but him. I have, I have questions for you, Joanna. I woke up yesterday morning. Um, and I, the first thing that I saw, and I don't know why this was on my, was an article about you and how you had been, I'm, I'm calling it an attack because that's, there's no other way to put it, but somebody had filed a complaint with the clerk about. You saying that you didn't put the right name or you, you didn't change your name legally the right way, and therefore you either needed to be dead named on the ballot or kicked off the ballot. And I was shocked at who it was because it is a member of the Democratic Party and his name was Frank Ti. I had never heard of this man in my life and I have done some research since. This is a business owner. He's a local, him and his brother, I believe they have a family business. Um, he, he was, um, uh, he held a seat in the 13th District, so I think that's what it was. And out of nowhere, because he's running for the same seat you are. Is that correct? Yeah, that he just erroneously decided that he knew everything about your life and filed this complaint, and how, what, what has the, what has it been like since yesterday chaos. Um, you know, uh, same thing. I, I was on a morning call with one of my, um, campaign team early in the morning, uh, before we all clocked into our day jobs. And in the middle of the meeting I saw, this email come through and it was the county clerk saying that. My name was being removed from the ballot unless I proved, that I filled out my affidavit correctly. And so, yeah, I was on the phone like the day off Day This cost me a, a day of right to this, right? Um, and so, for me, me. uh. I was shocked because I this from Yeah. I, I expected this from the other side of the Mm-hmm. but I did not expect it from my own party, I did not expect it from him. and so, you know, this is a guy who's been, uh, part of our community, part of this community for a really long time, has been an establishment name, you know, very known. And overnight really has tarnished his Yeah. by going after me. Yeah. and you me, I I am, I'm thankful that this has happened and I'm, I'm thankful that it's me because I, I, I want to. I'm ready to fight this and we're ready to fight this at every turn. and if they're attacking me, they're not attacking other trans folks. And so, um, for me, I, I was on the phone with the party Mm-hmm. I was on the phone with Curtis Ortel. I was on the phone with Curtis Hertel is the head of the Michigan Democratic Party. Right. Okay. worked with a lot of folks ar across the party who were who were in Mm-hmm. Um, and we were talking to all of our endorsers just make sure we had the support. Um, and yeah, and the A CLU got us a lawyer Wow. uh, that lawyer this morning filed all Um, and we do expect to be right back on the ballot. Come early next week. 'cause of course we filed it on a Yeah. so we have to wait till Is there any recourse against Mr. Otti for this? I mean, because it's absolutely false. He had nothing to go on other than, uh, I, I, I mean, I don't ev
