Equality Policy Podcast

Equality Arizona
  • 4.4 (7)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

A show about all things public policy and the state of equality. We will cover all levels of government, with a special focus on Arizona and how public policy at all levels impacts the state of equality for LGBTQ people. equalityarizona.substack.com

  1. Equality Policy Podcast: Episode Two

    02/24/2025

    Equality Policy Podcast: Episode Two

    Equality Policy Podcast Ep 2 – Rising Authoritarianism in Arizona and the U.S. Welcome to the Equality Policy Podcast. This podcast explores all things public policy and the impact of public policy the state of equality for the American people. Frances Wright, an early Scottish American feminist, abolitionist, and activist wrote, “Equality is the soul of liberty; there is, in fact, no liberty without it.” We believe that equality is the cornerstone of a free society because the very definition of a free society is one that believes that all human beings are created equal, and as such are endowed with inalienable rights that no state is justified to infringe upon. This was a revolutionary idea in the 18th century, and it continues to be so today. Today, in the early 21st century, it is clear that we are living through a time of rising authoritarianism and that means that the preservation and expansion of equality in every free society is more important than ever. This podcast examines policy today, at all levels of government, with the hope of helping us all understand how we are advancing or falling short of that great aspiration - equality, justice, and liberty for all. On today’s podcast Dr. H.L.T. Quan and I discuss the rise of authoritarianism through policy in the federal and Arizona state governments, and most importantly, what we can all do to work against this concerning trend. The majority of the audio for this podcast is a recording of our Community Policy Briefing from 2-16-2025. An AI generated transcript is available for you to read. Please note the transcript has been corrected for errors around names. I hope this discussion helped to frame the first few weeks of 2025 and the ways the Arizona and U.S. governments are leaning into authoritarianism and away from freedom. Even though we live in a time of rising extremism, we hope that being informed helps you choose how to act during this time. While we know there will be much work to do in the coming years, to defend equality and all of our inalienable rights, this is not a time to despair – it is a time for hope and opportunity. Let’s work together, in our families, neighborhoods, churches, schools, and workplaces, to champion the cause of equality and liberty for all. This podcast is brought to you through a partnership with Equality Arizona, the statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization and I encourage you to get involved with Equality Arizona. You can learn more at www.equalityarizona.org and you can find this podcast on all Equality Arizona platforms. I’m your host and the executive producer, Michael S.C. Soto, thank you for listening today and I’ll be back next week with another episode. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit equalityarizona.substack.com

    1h 7m
  2. Equality for Some - the First week of Trump Executive Orders

    01/27/2025

    Equality for Some - the First week of Trump Executive Orders

    Welcome to the Equality Policy Podcast. This podcast will explore all things public policy and how they impact the state of equality for the American people. Frances Wright, an early Scottish American feminist, abolitionist, and activist wrote, “Equality is the soul of liberty; there is, in fact, no liberty without it.” In many ways, equality is the heart of the American promise. It is the cornerstone upon which liberty and justice for all are built – because without equality, the core belief that all human beings are created equal and as such have inalienable rights that should never be infringed upon by the state, was and continues to be a truly revolutionary idea, that we as both a human race and as the American people sometimes advance and frequently fall short of in the laws and policy that we use to shape our society. This podcast will examine policy today, at all levels of government, with the hope of helping us all understand how we are advancing or falling short of that aspiration of equality, justice, and liberty for all. Today we begin with a discussion with Dr. H.L.T. Quan, Reyna Montoya, and me, your host, Michael S.C. Soto about the executive orders signed during the first hours of the second Trump administration. Our discussion strives to answer not only what the executive orders are and how they have changed the relationship of the federal government to the American people in one week, but also how these executive orders change our relationship to equality. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit equalityarizona.substack.com

    1h 3m

  3. 06/12/2023

    Governor Hobbs Vetoes Bathroom Ban

    Civic Advocacy On Thursday, June 8, Governor Hobbs announced her veto of SB 1040, a bill that would have restricted bathroom access for transgender students. This action marks a full decade of failure for anti-trans bathroom bills in Arizona, a particular obsession of state Senator John Kavanagh. Governor Hobbs kept her veto letter brief, writing: SB1040 is yet another discriminatory act against LGBTQ+ youth passed by the majority at the state legislature. As I stated in my veto letter for SB1001, I will veto every bill that aims to attack and harm children. Today, June 12, the legislature will return from nearly a month’s recess to complete some unfinished business, and with a high probability that the legislature will adjourn sine die as soon as the end of the week, we should expect the few remaining anti-LGBTQ+ bills to be sent to the Governor soon, most notably four anti-drag bills — SB 1026, SB 1028, SB 1030, and SB 1698.  Action Alert: Housing Supply Two major bills on today’s calendar are SB 1161 and SB 1163, which bring much needed reform to Arizona’s historically racist zoning policies. By expanding options for affordable housing, these bills are an important first step towards fixing our housing supply crisis. It’s been a long fight to keep these bills alive and moving forward, and we can’t let up now. Today’s action will be to finalize any amendments or debate before advancing the bills to their final vote on the House floor. Call your representatives today to ask them to take our housing crisis seriously and to vote yes on both bills. Political Power Bodily Autonomy Night with NARAL AZ 6:00pm - 9:00pm June 14, 2023 | register Join Equality Arizona and NARAL Arizona for a detailed training on lobbying and advocacy, followed by a film screening and pizza party. Learn how to fight for bodily autonomy and LGBT rights, and make some new friends in the movement! Location: Kobalt Bar (note: this is a 21+ location) Equality Arizona is working to make local government more accessible to the LGBTQ+ community. To support our efforts, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Media & Events Banned Book Club 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm June 19, 2023 | register As book bans sweep the nation, one great way to push back is to read! Our banned book for the month of June is Bigger Monsters: An LGBTQ+ Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Tale, by Eliza Andrews. Join us at Brick Road coffee on June 19 to discuss the book with our book club host Vanessa Marie! Location: Brick Road Coffee Queer People Fit: Walking / Running 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm June 22, 2023 | register Join Equality Arizona and FrontRunners & FrontWalkers Phoenix at Tempe Town Lake for Queer People Fit, our ongoing outdoor event series designed to give LGBTQ+ people a space to come together to build community and to find a sense of belonging. Location: Tempe Town Lake Queer People Fit: Breathing Exercises 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm July 1, 2023 | register Looking for a safe space to share with queer friends? With the summer heat making it difficult to spend time in nature, we’re heading indoors to focus on some other aspects of fitness that are often overlooked. This month we’ll be learning and practicing some helpful breathing exercises with Noémie Luce. Location: Escalante Community Center, Tempe This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit equalityarizona.substack.com

    5 min
  4. Pride Means Power

    06/06/2023

    Pride Means Power

    It’s the start of Pride Month, so we’re shaking up our usual format to talk about the big picture of what’s happening in Arizona, why we do what we do, and how you can get involved. And because it’s Pride Month, we’re going to extend a special invitation to join us as a monthly donor; make sure to choose your favorite sticker design so that we can mail it to you with a thank you letter! What We’re Seeing in Arizona We have a lot to celebrate this month, and even just one year ago, that was not a guarantee. Heading into the 2022 midterm elections, we had seen a record number of anti-trans bills introduced in the legislature, two of which were ultimately signed into law. Candidates for statewide office ran on explicitly anti-LGBTQ+ platforms, and the final vote margins were razor-thin, but in a few key races, we won. So this year, we’re able to celebrate the defeat of bills like SB 1001 — which would have prevented teachers from using the pronouns and names their trans and non-binary students request, unless they chose to out those students to their parents in order to obtain written permission — and plan ahead for ways we can use our political power to make proactive change for the LGBTQ+ community. However, a concerning trend we have observed is that, following these historic victories, the general perception is that — despite escalating legislative, verbal, and physical violence against the trans community — things will be fine, and that if we continue to make electoral gains, LGBTQ+ rights and protections for bodily autonomy will be secure. We don’t think this is a safe assumption at all. At the hyper-local level, in school districts across the state, we are tracking a growing and dangerous trend of anti-trans extremism, instigated by governing board members and activist groups who are content to disrupt all regular business in their districts in order to diminish academic and social opportunities for trans students. Furthermore, as we have seen recently with some corporate allies, this kind of sustained harassment can bleed off support for our community very effectively, and this is already happening at the local level. In the Washington Elementary School District, board members capitulated to the Alliance Defending Freedom, an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group, over the decision to end a voluntary contract with Arizona Christian University, another anti-LGBTQ+ institution. In the Mesa School District, board member Lara Salmon Ellingson resigned after facing extreme backlash for publicly supporting the district’s trans-inclusive policies.  Why We Do What We Do Unchecked, the strategic advantage of the approach our opposition is taking means that we should not and cannot safely take even our state-level gains for granted. Rather, we need to be investing actively in neutralizing anti-trans extremism at the hyper-local level. Our opposition’s advantage stems in no small part from the reality that many people have very limited awareness, and often little to no knowledge of or experience with trans people — especially when it comes to trans kids — and as long as trans people remain an abstract idea to most people, we can easily be turned into a debate with disastrous consequences. Existing strategies for civic engagement at the legislative level are unsuited to the task at hand; we cannot risk legitimizing an essentially illegitimate debate. “To oppose something is to maintain it,” from Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness is perfectly apt to the situation. “To oppose vulgarity is inevitably to be vulgar. You must go somewhere else; you must have another goal; then you walk a different road.” We believe that the path we need to take is very specific. If anti-trans extremism relies on abstraction, we must make our lives concrete, connecting directly with local community members and meeting them where they are, holding space for any messy emotions and preconceptions they might have about trans people. To inoculate local communities against anti-trans fear mongering, we want to use a research-tested tool called “deep canvassing” as the core strategy of a targeted and strategic campaign to depoliticize trans lives.  How You Can Get Involved Deep canvassing requires a large-scale field campaign, and we can’t get there without direct support and community involvement. The most immediate way to help is by becoming a monthly donor here on Substack or on our website. We’ll also need help from volunteers to have the hard conversations we need to have with our neighbors. It’s intimidating, and it’s something that requires some training, so don’t worry, we won’t throw you into the deep end right away. If you sign up to volunteer today, you’ll be on a path to leadership, and you’ll be making a difference from day one. Bonus Round! Thanks for reading this far! Another great way you can support Equality Arizona is through our online store, and for the month of June we’re running a special promotion. With the discount code “eqazpride,” you can get 10% off any purchase, including t-shirts and mugs. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit equalityarizona.substack.com

    6 min
  5. Arizona Equals Shae

    06/01/2023

    Arizona Equals Shae

    On today’s episode of the Arizona Equals Conversation, we’re joined by Shae from Arizona Trans Together for a wide-ranging discussion about mutual aid and community building, hormone therapy and its gatekeepers, and the overlaps between neurodivergent and trans communities. Links * Arizona Equals Celia * Arizona Equals Jesse & Gabe * Brick Road Coffee * AZTYPO * one-n-ten * Erin’s Informed Consent HRT Map Full Transcript Jeanne From Equality Arizona, you're listening to the Arizona Equals Conversation. I'm Jeanne Woodbury. I'm the interim executive director at Equality Arizona, and each week on the show I talk with a queer person living in Arizona about their story and their communities. Today's guest, Shae, is a friend of mine and a friend of Equality Arizona. She's also one of the founders, along with Celia, who we spoke to on a previous episode of the podcast, of a group called Arizona Trans Together, which meets at Brick Road Coffee every Friday night. As someone who grew up in Tempe and didn't have the first idea of how to find trans community, I'm constantly amazed at what that community has grown to be in honestly a really short amount of time. Shae dedicates a lot of her time to community building and to mutual aid, and it was really nice to get to know her a little bit better through this conversation. I feel like something I should preface going into this is that at a lot of points it really is a trans conversation for trans people, and we even recognized that at the time, but it was special for me and it's really cool to have that recorded here for people to listen to because it's unique and it's important and poorly understood. Something else really special was getting to reflect on both of our first days on hormones, and something that makes that extra special is, even though we recorded this conversation almost a month ago, we're releasing it on June 1st, which is actually the fifth anniversary of the first day I started taking hormones. And so that's pretty exciting for me, and it's neat how the timing lined up for this. It's also the first day of Pride Month, and that means it's a great time to support organizations like Equality Arizona and organizations like AZTYPO and one-n-ten that Shae mentions later in the interview. And beyond supporting nonprofit organizations like us, it's a time to invest in community, to invest in mutual aid and direct support. We gotta be there for each other. All right, let's roll the tape. Shae Hey everyone, my name is Shae. My pronouns are she or they. I don't have an official job, but I do a lot of organizing stuff with EQAZ on occasion and with something that I helped start and I help organize called Arizona Trans Together. It's a nice little community building project we've been doing for going on eight months now. Started with like 10 people and it's blown up to nearly 200. Meet up at Brick Road Coffee every Friday, 6 to 10 p.m. It's been a lot of fun. Jeanne Yeah, I noticed that there's been some nights at Brick Road where it's just full to the door and then people are out into the street basically. It's definitely something that has grown a lot in a short amount of time. Shae Yeah, it's nuts. I think on Trans Day of Visibility we had 45 people there all at once. And that's like basically at capacity for Brick Road Coffee. It's a really small space. Jeanne Yeah, it's a nice sized coffee shop, but it doesn't handle, you know, 100 people. Shae It really doesn't. I love the space though, don't get me wrong. Jeanne Yeah, I know, I love Brick Road, and that's where the group kind of got started, right? Shae Mm-hmm. It started with Celia, who was actually on this podcast a while back, and myself, we started going to the Queerizona meetups on Wednesdays. And then we started meeting other trans people there, and we decided to make a group chat on Discord. And then as soon as we hit the max limit, 10 people, we were like, "Hey, what if we start doing our own thing? And why don't we just meet up on Fridays?" 'Cause trans people desperately need their own community space. It's not that queer people in general are transphobic or anything. However, sometimes as a trans person, you have to deal with cis nonsense. And that's a lot of emotional labor. Jeanne Yeah, it is. I think I wanna dive into that a little bit. Not necessarily just like how cis people can be tiring, but just that idea of like where the need comes from and whether it's being served by other groups or if there was just kind of not enough before you put this group together. Shae Oh, I mean, I was the person who like approached Celia to like start this whole thing. And the reason I came at it was kind of personal, actually. Like, when I came out, things got extremely difficult for me. And until I met Celia, I didn't really know any other trans people. Like, Celia was the first person I started hanging out with that was trans, and shared a lot of the same experiences as me. So like, I've noticed in the eight months that we've been doing AZTT, that story is very common. A lot of other trans people didn't know any other trans people. They're basically like alone. And like I have people coming up to me even now saying that like, I'm so glad that y'all started doing this. And I try to tell them, it's like all of us doing this, because it's a community, you know? Jeanne Yeah, and I think that's actually kind of key that it's not just about being the one person. It's about finally not having to be just one person. Shae Yeah. Jeanne I definitely had that same experience where coming out was like, okay, well I know things from the internet and now here I am and how do I find anyone? How do I find people? And clearly — I mean there's a lot of trans people, but there also aren't that many of us. Shae No I think we're like what, basically 1% of the population? That’s a high estimate and like low estimate is like 0.5% of the population. Jeanne Yeah so it's something where there's no real natural community formation, and we have to go out and do that in a proactive way. Shae Like I love the community out in Melrose and stuff, but like a lot of things are very cis gay centered and there's nothing out there that's like trans centered out, at least outside of ASU. There's a lovely group called Trans Fam at ASU. I've been talking with some of the people there They have a nice thriving community as well. And actually we're planning on potentially collaborating and stuff in the future because once you graduate from ASU, where do you go? Jeanne Yeah, well that's the thing too, is that if you find a support group or you find a group at a school or a university, you typically age out. I remember when I was up at NAU several years ago, like really early in my transition, I joined a trans support group and realized that one of the big problems with support groups is it's people who are one to two years into their transition max, and then by the time they're a little farther into their transition, they don't really feel like they want to be in the support group anymore. So it's a lot of people who are really early on, talking to people who are also really early on, and you don't get that intergenerational aspect of trans community. Shae Nah. I won't say that like AZTT doesn't offer support and like one of our like most important values is like building community. And a lot of that of course implies a lot of mutual aid, a lot of building support networks between each other. We've had people that have faced homelessness that have been able to find like places to stay temporarily, sometimes permanently with each other. It's an unfortunate reality for a lot of trans folks like how bad things could be. Like after I started hormones, actually, like, I was living with my best friend while I was going to college in Bakersfield, California and I was immediately kicked out. I was lucky enough that I had a friend who runs a YouTube channel, made a video about my situation and got me out of like the shelter circuit. Jeanne This was all in California? Shae Yeah. I'm jumping around subject to subject here. Jeanne It's okay. I think it's important to bring all that context into one thing, because what I was kind of talking about with support groups is support groups that are like, let's all talk to each other, instead of support networks that are like, let's find ways to actually actively help each other. Shae Yeah. Jeanne And that's never as simple. It's always responsive and reactive it's hard to centralize it in a real way and still provide the kind of support that we need because for whatever reason people don't really want to help trans people out in those situations. Shae Yeah a lot of — there are good resources out there for trans folks but a lot of it cuts off at 25. It's kind of just how fundings work with a lot of like nonprofit organizations. Which makes sense, like trans youth experience like a pretty heavy disproportionate like — Jeanne Family rejection is a big problem Shae Yes Jeanne And youth homelessness is a big problem yeah and so I get why there's going to be big agencies that can support that community. But then if you're a trans adult I think a lot of the time people kind of will look at us and say, “eh, I don't really want to get involved." Shae Society kind of like sees these things as individual problems rather than systemic issues, of course, but like the lack of support for trans adults is a systemic issue, a hundred percent. Jeanne It is. And in my experience, I think it's these mutual aid networks that really meet the need most of the time. And you had that personally in California to a certain extent and then you're also working on building it here in Arizona. Shae I didn't have that in Bakersfield at all. Like in Bakersfield I was on my on my own. I was living with the best friend who I met working at Subway. We'd known each other for years but uh apparently she wasn't as accepting of these th

    42 min

  6. 05/29/2023

    Join the Movement!

    Civic Advocacy Each month we host two Civic Advocacy Jams, the centerpiece of our strategy to make policymaking and local government more accessible to the queer community. In just an hour and a half, we take real problems from our lives and transform them into policy solutions. It's a little like a hackathon, but it's not just for policy nerds — if you've ever looked at a system and thought "we could be doing this better," this is the event for you. Our next event will be held on June 3 at the Tempe Public Library, and we’ll be bringing the Civic Advocacy Jam back to Tucson on June 17! Civic Advocacy Jam 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm June 3, 2023 | register Join us on June 3 for another Civic Advocacy Jam! Queer voices deserve a place in the policy-making process that goes beyond the debate over our basic rights, which is why we’ve designed this ongoing series to give you the tools to craft legislation, draft viable bills, and engage in the policy-making process as an active contributor. Location: Tempe Public Library Equality Arizona is working to make local government more accessible to the LGBTQ+ community. To support our efforts, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Political Power It’s time to start ramping up our field program for voter registration and deep canvassing, and we need your help. Stop by one of our upcoming volunteer team meetings to learn more and discover your way to make a difference. Volunteer Team Meeting 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm June 1, 2023 | register Wherever decisions are being made in Arizona, it’s our job to make sure LGBTQ+ people are involved in that process. At Equality Arizona, our team of volunteers is tracking policy from the school board level to the state legislature, designing policy and writing bills, sharing stories, hosting events, and organizing our community to build political power for the long term. The world is made up of a series of decisions — join a team working to make the world differently. Media & Events Queer People Fit: Emotional Fitness 10:00 am - 11:30 am June 3, 2023 | register Looking for a safe space to share with queer friends? With the summer heat making it difficult to spend time in nature, we're heading indoors to focus on some other aspects of fitness that are often overlooked. This month we'll be learning about emotional fitness with Rose Gold. Here's a rundown of the topics we'll cover: * The Five Core Emotions & The Three Emotional Zones of the Body * Centered Breathing — how to turn fear into excitement * Nonviolent Communication — practical tools for emotionally intelligent conversations * Fear Melters — movement patterns for each of the four main trauma responses * Non-Verbal Movement — BDP (Brief Dance Party 🌈🎉) and Old Story, New Story partner exercise The Queer People Fit series exists for LGBTQ+ people to build community and to find a sense of belonging. Move with us to build the movement for equality! Location: Escalante Community Center, Tempe Banned Book Club 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm June 19, 2023 | register As book bans sweep the nation, one great way to push back is to read! Our banned book for the month of June is Bigger Monsters: An LGBTQ+ Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Tale, by Eliza Andrews. Join us at Brick Road Coffee on June 19 to discuss the book with our book club host Vanessa Marie! Location: Brick Road Coffee, Tempe This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit equalityarizona.substack.com

    4 min
  7. Arizona Equals Canella

    05/25/2023

    Arizona Equals Canella

    On this week’s episode of the Arizona Equals Conversation, we talk with Canella Caro, a student at ASU who plan to be a history teacher, about hope in uncertain times, the process of learning empathy, and the culture of right-wing echo chambers online. The Arizona Equals Conversation is an interview podcast collecting the stories of LGBTQ+ people living in Arizona. To listen to past episodes of the podcast, or to sign up to be a guest on a future episode of the show, visit equalityarizona.org/stories. Full Episode Transcript Jeanne Woodbury From Equality Arizona, you're listening to the Arizona Equals Conversation, a podcast about queer people and queer communities in Arizona. I'm Jeanne Woodbury. I'm the interim executive director at Equality Arizona, and each week on the show, I talk with a queer person about their story. Today's interview with my guest, Canella Caro, is something really special. Early on when I was planning this series, I kind of made a promise to myself not to ask the really typical coming out questions like, what changed in your relationship to your family? What changed in your relationship to your friends? Things like that, because it falls right into the narrative that I think people project onto queer people. That it's all about this one moment. That it's all about showing the world who you've always known yourself to be and damn the consequences. And it's not to say that that isn't actually a very common part of people's experiences, but there's so much more going on. And that idea of projection is something we actually ended up talking about in a very different way in relation to Canella's experience as an immigrant and the story people expect from them because of that. But even beyond that, this isn't a story that fits an easy narrative. This is a story about radically reevaluating your relationship to queer people and queer community as part of a longer process of radically reevaluating your relationship to yourself. And it was special for me as an interviewer to hear that story because it's something that I share and it's not something I've found that I have in common with a lot of people. It's also really fascinating because we talk a lot about right-wing echo chambers and the effect that alt-right influencers like Ben Shapiro can have on very, very young people using the internet. There's a lot of complexity here, and I'm so appreciative of Canella for sharing all of that so openly on the podcast. I think that you'll all really enjoy this episode, and I want to get right into it. So let's roll the tape. [BEEP] [TYPING] [CLICK] [MUSIC PLAYING] Canella Caro Hello, my name is Canella. I go by she/they pronouns. Yeah. Jeanne Woodbury Cool. Thanks for being here. While I was struggling to get this audio set up to work, You mentioned you've worked as an audio engineer before, which made me feel kind of terrible. Canella Caro No, don't worry, I suck. (both laughing) Jeanne Woodbury — But — Canella Caro There's a reason I don't do sound anymore. Jeanne Woodbury Where were you doing that work? Canella Caro Oh, it was an internship for this like itty bitty venue down in like downtown Tucson. Jeanne Woodbury Oh, cool. Canella Caro Yeah, the venue used to be like this abandoned hotel that this guy turned into like a bunch of shops. They had a bunch of little artisan shops and played a bunch of live music, and I helped out the main sound guy with that. Jeanne Woodbury That's really cool. Canella Caro Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Jeanne Woodbury How long did you work there? Canella Caro I started working there in February last year and then stopped in July of the same year. Jeanne Woodbury Oh, okay. Yeah. Canella Caro Yeah. Jeanne Woodbury And was that to move up here to Tempe? Canella Caro Yeah, and also I was not being paid. Canella Caro (both laughing) And once I needed the internship for a project I was doing for my high school. Jeanne Woodbury I see, okay. Canella Caro And once that project period ended, there wasn't really much need to keep doing it if I wasn't getting any sort of reward. Jeanne Woodbury That makes sense, yeah. If you can get the credit, then that counts, but otherwise you don't wanna do an unpaid job. Canella Caro Yeah, it goes on my resume though, so. Jeanne Woodbury That's good, yeah. So did you grow up in Tucson then? Canella Caro I was born in Chile. I lived there for like the first three and a half years of my life. Jeanne Woodbury Oh, okay. Canella Caro And then I moved to Arizona. So I've been in Arizona all my life basically, but not necessarily in Tucson. I used to live in, over in Graham County. It's like bordering New Mexico. There's this like itty bitty town, very white town that I lived there for like the first, what, until I was about like nine, and then I moved to Tucson. Jeanne Woodbury And that, is this like a 1,000 person town kind of thing, or? Canella Caro It's, yeah… there were a lot of Mormons. Jeanne Woodbury Interesting. Canella Caro And I was like the only person of color within like a 500 mile radius. (laughs) Jeanne Woodbury Oh wow. Canella Caro For a bit. Like, it was me and this other girl who were like the only non-white people around. Jeanne Woodbury Oh wow. Canella Caro So yeah, it was a pretty small town, pretty tight knit, yeah. Jeanne Woodbury Yeah, how long were you there? Canella Caro Until I was about nine, so for like six-ish years. Jeanne Woodbury Oh, so a lot of formative development. Canella Caro Yeah, yeah. So I spent a lot of my childhood there, but a lot of the important parts were here in Tucson. Jeanne Woodbury Yeah, that makes sense. So do you have memories from Chile or really… Canella Caro Kind of, because I mean, I did go visit every once in a while to see family 'cause all of my extended family's there. I only have my parents and my siblings in the United States. So yeah, I do, I remember little things. Like I remember the fruit magnets on the fridge, the yellow walls, dancing with my dad. Um, that kind of thing. You do always get the occasional random person comes up to you and goes, Hey, I knew you when you were a baby! That kind of thing, that kind of experience Jeanne Woodbury But I don't know you, because I was a baby. Canella Caro Yeah, I don't know. Yeah infant amnesia kinda hit. Jeanne Woodbury Yeah I was even younger than that when my family moved to Arizona, but all my siblings are older than me. So they have more memories from — Pennsylvania is where we moved from — so they have more memories from there than I do. And it's interesting because there's like that family history in a place that I have no memory of, even though I'm technically from there. Canella Caro Yeah. Jeanne Woodbury Are your siblings older than you or younger than you? Canella Caro Oh, I'm the oldest. Yeah. Jeanne Woodbury Oh, okay. Canella Caro Both of my siblings were born here too. So, yeah, I'm the first one to leave the nest. Jeanne Woodbury Yeah. Canella Caro Yeah. Jeanne Woodbury That's an interesting position to be in, I think. Do you have like pressure as like an older sibling role model? Canella Caro Kind of yeah, I mean not like explicitly. Nobody's like — my parents never like compared me, compared my younger siblings to me or anything because I was kind of the black sheep of the family Jeanne Woodbury Oh really? Canella Caro For now. But there is that kind of obligation to be a good example, which I haven't really been but… (laughs) but yeah. Jeanne Woodbury I feel like also for a lot of people who come to the United States as a family, there's extra pressure on the kids to like really take advantage of like going to university here. Canella Caro Yeah. Both of my parents, they both went to university. In fact, I think, like, my mom was like one of the first in her family for generations to go to university Jeanne Woodbury Oh, that's really cool. Canella Caro Because we came from like the south of Chile and it's more like countryside, rural kind of area. So yeah, they're very like academic based. Jeanne Woodbury Is that why they moved here? Canella Caro My dad — we moved here because my father was offered a job here. Jeanne Woodbury Oh, okay. Canella Caro Yeah, the company he works for has like a branch, and… is an American company and has a branch in Chile. So he was offered, and he moved. Jeanne Woodbury Oh, that's cool. Canella Caro Yeah, yeah. No like… no American dream story. Jeanne Woodbury Yeah, just, it's a job and now I'm here. Canella Caro Yeah, he just kind of came here. Jeanne Woodbury That makes sense. Canella Caro Mm-hmm Jeanne Woodbury In Arizona? Canella Caro Yeah, it was in Arizona. Jeanne Woodbury Oh nice, okay, that's cool Canella Caro Yeah, because copper mining is pretty popular here and in Chile, so. Jeanne Woodbury Oh that's right. Yeah, that's a that's a link that makes a lot of sense. Canella Caro Yeah, yeah, industry. Jeanne Woodbury Yeah, I think it's interesting because — my grandma's from Cuba and she moved here not for the reason most people from Cuba have moved here over the past 70 years; she moved here before the revolution to go to college Canella Caro Oh, nice. Jeanne Woodbury Or around that same time. So she wasn't fleeing the revolution or anything like that. She just moved here and she went to college and she stayed here and got a job at Bell Labs. And it's something where, those stories are always interesting because people project a certain image or story onto your experience and then it's like, well it was exciting and interesting because she was a woman in the 50s getting a graduate degree. But at the same time, it's not the story people think it is. Canella Caro Yeah, definitely. I, yeah, people often — when you say like, when I say that I'm an immigrant people often assume that I have an accent or you know, you get the little microaggression of "oh your English is so good." Jeanne Woodbury Do you get that a lot? Canella Caro Wh

    54 min

  8. 05/22/2023

    Ask Governor Hobbs to Veto Anti-Trans Bills

    Action Alert On Monday, half a dozen anti-LGBTQ+ bills cleared their final vote in the legislature. Among these was SB 1001 — the first bill of the session — which threatens to rob trans and non-binary kids of life-saving affirmation and support. Governor Hobbs has already publicly pledged to veto SB 1001, but as it and other anti-LGBTQ+ bills are sent to her desk over the next week, it’s important to use your voice to make the case for more thoughtful, empathetic, and people-centered policymaking. Three things you can do today * Call Governor Hobbs at (602) 542-4331 to thank her for being an ally and to ask her to veto all anti-LGBTQ+ bills, including SB 1001 and SB 1040 — an anti-trans bathroom ban. * Share this post to social media (or write your own post!) to let your friends and followers know that anti-trans bills are not normal, and definitely not okay. * Talk with your friends and family about what’s happening in the legislature. One of the biggest harms these bills create is to turn queer and trans people into a subject of popular debate, so it’s important to intervene in those conversations to remind people that we’re people too. Civic Advocacy With the state budget wrapped up, the legislature met last Monday for a marathon floor session, voting on well over 100 bills in a single day. While in other years it might have been typical to adjourn sine die (meaning a vote to end the session until next year, unless called back for a special session by the Governor), the legislature voted instead to adjourn until June 12. It’s likely that they’ll use this time to negotiate outstanding concerns, and then move the final products of those negotiations quickly upon their return next month. The biggest procedural advantage this decision gives Republican leadership in the legislature is that they won’t have to rely on the Governor to call special sessions on any topics they might want to address. Among the many bills that received floor votes on Monday was every remaining anti-LGBTQ+ bill introduced this year. Check out last week’s update for a full run down. Nearly all of those bills passed, including pronoun and bathroom bans for trans kids at school and four different drag panic bills. Notably, SB 1323 and SB 1694, two bills sponsored by Senator Hoffmann (which threatened teachers and banned inclusive policies, respectively) failed, with Representative Cook voting against both. A problematic internet privacy bill, SB 1503, failed to even receive a vote, despite being scheduled with the rest. Political Power Coming off of a major victory for their voter education and get out the vote work in Tempe, it’s a great moment to celebrate our friends at Arizona AANHPI for Equity! Their Vision “We envision an Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community that is working together to shape its future as a part of the broader racial justice movement and advance our community towards a common purpose of well-being for all.” How to Support AZ AANHPI for Equity * Make a donation! Community power building needs direct support. * Sign up to volunteer. They have a lot of great campaigns to plug into! Media & Events We’ve got three great events coming up this week before we head into Pride Month, and there’s a little something for everyone, from conversations with experts, to fitness with friends, to designing your own model legislation. If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to get involved in queer community organizing, this is your week. Ask Smart People Smart Questions: Substance Use 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm May 24, 2023 | register With each installment of Ask Smart People Smart Questions, Equality Arizona convenes a panel of experts to talk about the bigger picture of the big issues that affect the LGBTQ+ community in Arizona. With LGBTQ+ people more likely to experience mental health issues, homelessness, and harassment, our community reports rates of substance use and abuse at roughly twice that of the overall adult population. Over the course of an hour, we’ll cover four big questions about substance use and policy solutions with the goal of adding important context to the conversation. Location: Tempe Library Ironwood Classroom Queer People Fit: Walking / Running 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm May 25, 2023 | register Join Equality Arizona and FrontRunners & FrontWalkers Phoenix at Tempe Town Lake for Queer People Fit, our ongoing outdoor event series designed to give LGBTQ+ people a space to come together to build community and to find a sense of belonging. Location: Tempe Town Lake Civic Advocacy Jam 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm May 27, 2023 | register Join us on May 27 for another Civic Advocacy Jam! Queer voices deserve a place in the policy-making process that goes beyond the debate over our basic rights, which is why we’ve designed this ongoing series to give you the tools to craft legislation, draft viable bills, and engage in the policy-making process as an active contributor. Location: Tempe Public Library Equality Arizona is working to make local government more accessible to the LGBTQ+ community. To support our efforts, consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit equalityarizona.substack.com

    7 min
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About

A show about all things public policy and the state of equality. We will cover all levels of government, with a special focus on Arizona and how public policy at all levels impacts the state of equality for LGBTQ people. equalityarizona.substack.com

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  • Channel
    Equality Arizona
  • Creator
    Understanding how Policy Impacts the State of Equality
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    92
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Equality Arizona
  • Show Website
    Equality Policy Podcast

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