We are not your enemy

It was 1973 when the National LGBTQ Task Force, the nation's first LGBTQ rights organization, was founded. Homophobia was being codified into legislation; the AIDs epidemic was a devastating and deadly epidemic, and gay people were subject to discrimination and violence. A brave group of activists, scientists and doctors stepped up to create a nonprofit from which they advocated for the right to exist, be heard and win legal protections. Co-founder Bruce Voeller, a biologist who coined the term AIDS, and died from complications of it in 1994 was instrumental in organizing the first ever briefing on LBGTQ issues with the White House. In this episode of Power Station I speak with the fearless Allen Morris, Director of Policy at the National LGBTQ Task Force about how he uses his voice on Capitol Hill and in state legislatures to stand up against vitriolic rhetoric and policies targeting queer and trans people. Allen is leaning into principled struggle with policymakers, pressing them to see that queer people are not the enemy. As this administration seeks to turn back the clock on LGBTQ rights, the Task Force is unbowed. Allen is inspiring and a joy. Hear him!