In the eighth episode of “Talk It OUT: LGBTQ Voices In A Queer Election Year,” we visit the swing state of Michigan, the nation’s 10th largest state with 15 electoral votes.
Michigan was famously part of the Blue Wall that crumbled in 2016, when Donald Trump carried the state by 11,000 votes.
Joe Biden came back strong in 2020, winning the state by roughly 150,000 votes.
And two years ago, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, handily won reelection by close to half a million votes.
All eyes are on Michigan again this year, with a tight race expected between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
And the make-up of next year’s US Senate is also being fought out in Michigan, with four-term Democrat Debbie Stabenow retiring,
In this episode, I speak to Emme Zanotti, the director of Advocacy & Civic Engagement at Equality Michigan, the state’s LGBTQ civil rights group, and to Denzel McCampbell, managing director at Progress Michigan, a group that serves as a media and communication hub for the state’s wider progressive community.
Emme and Denzel talk about the significant gains progressives have scored in Michigan over the past half-dozen years — capped by a Democratic trifecta in 2022, when Whitmer’s reelection brought Democrats into a majority in both houses of the Legislature.
Those six years of progress have included important policy changes in Michigan, including the first comprehensive LGBTQ civil rights law — enacted early last year.
Emme and Denzel detail how their groups — and dozens of allied organizations — have worked successfully to grow the voice and power of progressive communities across Michigan, from Detroit to the Upper Peninsula.
“Talk It OUT: LGBTQ Voices In A Queer Election Year” is presented by Gay City News.
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(Music courtesy of IMG via uppbeat.io.)