Our civic and sacred duty to hold onto hope

This is the 22nd and final episode of “Talk It OUT: LGBTQ Voices In A Queer Election Year.”

Last week, we began our look back on the key insights from this podcast’s past six months.

We heard guests talk about the need for concerned voters to take action; the way in which the rise of MAGA has mobilized progressive grassroots activists nationwide; the focus by organizers on the art of persuasion and mobilization; and how in a more fundamental way progressive activism has been supported by building and strengthening community in places where political power and civic infrastructure have traditionally been lacking.

Today, we will look at other critical factors at play in this year’s campaign, including the building of coalitions, in particular those centered around the need to strengthen and protect reproductive freedom in the wake of the 2022 Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade; the ongoing dialogue about whether the Democratic Party can maintain its historically overwhelming strong support in the Black community; how the race for control of the US House and Senate are shaping up and to what degree candidates and issues on the ballot impact the prospects for other candidates up or down the ballot from them; and what conclusions we can draw from the blizzard of polling that we see out there every day and from what for many of us is the confusing phenomenon of the still-undecided voter.

This episode closes with the recognition that we simply do not know what will happen on November 5 — uncertainty that underscores a central truth of our democracy: that we all have a civic duty to hold onto hope.

“Talk It OUT” has been presented by Gay City News and

its editor-in-chief Matt Tracy.

I am grateful for the opportunity to have hosted this podcast.

(Music courtesy of IMG via uppbeat.io.)