In “Not Bleak,” by Casey Plett, Carla realizes that bathroom sinks are worth money when some girl stole her and Liam’s bathroom sink. Most people can’t fit on their couch. She asks the kid awake and stretching on it if he’d like tea or coffee.
Later, Carla and friends are close to the highway. She thinks what they did to two dudes may have been worth it, but it was stupid. Back on the porch, the wind is blowing again.
Zeke still hurts that it took a close shave with death for her mother to accept her. Carla tells her that makes a lot of sense, and Zeke thanks Carla in return.
Carla’s considers her trans elder Lish as good people for her. When she sees Liam, she guesses that he doesn’t know how to feel about the Zeke thing either. Liam asks her if she wants to watch a movie.
In “Winning,” Sandy says it’s okay that people passed her off as some big eathy dyke. Neither of Zoe’s mothers hid that Sandy had once lived as a man from her. Sandy says she had to be careful wearing her pretty dresses.
On Saturday, September 13, I attended the Veteran’s Caucus happy hour at Piper Down. While there were only about five of us there, it was good to see the caucus starting to have regular meetings. This is how we build community and engagement. It’s a chance to connect over issues, and provide support during the current political crisis. We talked about how military members have the duty to not follow unlawful orders, and I brought up the need to be a voice for creating safe spaces for free speech. I also brought up connecting with the American Legion and the Veterans for Foreign Wars to see if we can build our network out to have greater influence.
On Sunday, September 14, I saw a post by Governor Cox, tried to bring the transgender community into the conversation about Charlie Kirk’s murder. Once I got home from church, I saw a lot more information being shared. I started to send a private message to Governor Cox saying that he owed the LGBTQ+ community an apology, but after a couple of typos, I pivoted and did a public post tagging him instead.
The hateful rhetoric against the trans community has been picking up, and doing this without be called out on it would have just added fuel to the fire. Trans liberties are being severely curtailed--from the right to serve to the right for gender affirming care.
There has already been a movement started to try to make it look like trans people are more violent by nature. Memes have been shared stating that all four mass murders in 2025 were done by trans people. They reality is that only one has been committed by a trans person, and only four over the last 70 years of over 500 mass murders. Cisgender white males are way more likely to be responsible for a mass murder than a trans person.
People sharing this meme are starting to use it to proclaim that Democrats want to turn men into women, and these men “who are forced to be women” are angry and therefore more violent. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Monday was the Salt Lake County Central Committee meeting for the Democratic Party. At the meeting, we passed a bylaw that allowed people to privately support candidates of their choice without using party resources or their title within the party to do so. This arose because several house district chairs felt that they were unfairly constrained when they wanted to help someone out they knew that was running for office, but not necessarily a Democrat. It is fundamental of free speech that both individuals and organizations have a right to their own free speech, to express what they believe in and feel. A person cannot speak on behalf of an organization unless they have the consent of the organization to do so, and the speech must be in alignment with the organization’s values. This amendment strikes a fair balance between the private and public forms of free speech.
Tuesday I met with the West Valley Veterans Committee where we discussed memorial plans and the upcoming Veterans Day dinner at Cultural Center. New statues were unveiled at the memorial, and committee members were given a memorative plaque to display at home in honor of the unveiling. The corona is ready to be installed, and we were shown samples of the honor plaques for veterans that people will be able to purchase. They are meant to honor Utah Veterans living or deceased in Utah. I intend to get one for myself, my father-in-law, and my brother-in-law Leeland. They will be available for purchase at the West Valley Veterans Day Dinner.
We listened to the details for the Veterans Day Dinner, and discussed an opportunity basket. I am working with a friend who is on the board of the West Valley Performing Arts Center to see if we can get two flex passes to add to the basket.
With just a few words from the FCC, Jimmy Kimmel lost his job at ABC on Wednesday because he was critical of Trump. Trump is also suing publishers and journals that are critical of him. These acts show how far our freedom of speech is being curtailed.
Thursday night, I drove up to the Utah Democratic Party Executive Committee meeting to speak to a bylaw change that I had seen being proposed for the Central Committee Meeting in Cedar CIty tomorrow. At the tail end of the meeting, that particular amendment was not brought up on the discussion of bylaws.
The bylaw change that I was concerned about adds the words “when allowed by law” in reference to providing gender neutral bathrooms at state party events. Quoting Martin Luther King, Jr., “One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Abraham Lincoln said, “You must remember that some things legally right are not morally right.”
As the state party chair put it, we are living in authoritarian times. If we don’t want violence, we must use nonviolent forms of protest, which requires that we be civilly disobedient to unjust laws. Laws that do not allow gender neutral spaces increase the danger and risk to our gender non-comforming and transgender populations. If we close the avenues of civil disobedience, people will turn to violence. Let’s not throw our transgender and non-binary people under the bus to be safe with the law. We need to challenge the law and not bow into authority.
Democracies require challenging authority, not blindly giving in. Authority should be earned, and not given. And just because someone is an authority on one topic, it does not necessarily mean they are an authority on another. Let’s trust people who have studied the issues and have our best interests at heart.
Yesterday, I drove 3 1/2 hours to Cedar City for the Utah Democratic Party Central Committee meeting. Leaving the house at six am, I listened to the remainder of A Safe Girl to Love, by Casey Plett, and started listening to Katabasis. I arrived about 9:30 am.
The two main reasons I went to Iron County to attend in person were to be there in case anyone was interested in created a chapter of the Utah Stonewall Democrats in Southern Utah and to speak against the bylaw change requiring the Democratic Party to adhere to any law to not have gender neutral bathrooms. It did not escape me that the site of the Mountain Meadows Massacre wasn’t that much further south.
Breakfast options of coffee, bananas, donuts, and bagels were provided by the Iron County Democratic Party and the Women’s Democratic Club. As I grabbed a donut, coffee, and an banana, I met with people I knew. I picked up a copy of the bylaw changes, and noted the change I was going to debate was still there. As Chair Brian King greeted me, I told him that was the bylaw I was going to challenge. We walked over to Steve Merrill, who had proposed the bylaw change, and after a short discussion, he agreed to do a friendly amendment on the floor so that we can give guidance on how to be in “malicious compliance.”
After presenting my objection at the meeting, and Steve’s agreement to modify the amendment, the question was asked if the Utah Democratic Party would be liable if a county party refused an unjust bathroom law. The chair responded that it was possible. Seeing no further discussion, we proceeded to the vote.
I expected “no” votes from some of the central committee members, but was pleasantly surprised. When the votes were cast, the result was unanimous in striking the language, so that any civil disobedience on the issue would be directed against the legal authority and not the Utah Democratic Party itself.
We then broke out for Subcommittee nominations and elections. Previously, Lori Taylor had asked me to be on the mobilization committe and to support her for chair. Instead, since committee members were only authorized to interact with a single committee, I went to the breakout for the Platform and Policy Committee, because it is something I care greatly about.
When I arrived at the breakout session, Fred Gruendell, the Chair of Salt Lake County Progressive Caucus immediately wanted to nominate me for chair. I was a little hesitant, since I had yet to actually serve on the committee. When Elizabeth Weight said that she wanted to continue as chair, I said I would accept a nomination as Vice Chair this time around, given my limited experience. Mitch Vice, the Utah Progressive Caucus chair, also put his name in for chair, and no one was nominated for Secretary. Once the votes were tallied, Elizbeth Weight was declared the Chair and I was declared the Vice Chair. We had a recommendation by Lori Taylor to reach out to Mitch Vice to see if he would be willing to serve as the Secretary.
I drove the 3 1/2 hours back to West Valley City, listening to Katabasis. By the time I got back, I had finished 32% of the novel. I went to Cedar City expecting to debate a bylaw change. I didn’t expect to return the Vice Chair of the Platform and Policy subcommittee for the state party.
In order to win, we need the support of the unaffiliated voters and the marginalized communities. I plan to take a look at the most important issues for the unaffiliated voters, and get input from the issue and identity caucuses. With a solid well-crafted message and good communication, I am hoping we can gain more votes to address the real issues plaguing our communities.
In Katabasis, by R. F. Kuang, a few bone things tilt their heads in a way that could have been cute. As Alice prepares to fight, she feels stupid. Peter suggests they hold back because the magician controlling the creatures might want to talk.
Alice feels a bit less mortal most of the time. Peter tells her that ‘sounds nice.’ Alice feels that if she doesn’t have to sweat for knowledge, it doesn’t count.
Today, at South Valley, we heard speeches from my friend Kevin and Becky Stinson. Kevin described growing up trying to make sense of the political violence of the John F. Kennedy assassination, the brutal beating by police of the Selma marchers, and the Kent State Massacre. Becky described bittersweet moments, including her daughter getting her car and going off to law school. She described how we can seem to feel both good and bad at the same time, and the internal conflict to not poison the happiness we feel for others. After speaking she shared a poem “How My Worst Day Became My Best Day,” in which the author deliberately looks for ways to make their day better.
Through all of these stories—of resilience, of struggle, of standing firm in the face of unjust laws and hateful rhetoric—runs a single thread: we are stronger when we show up for each other. Whether it’s defending free speech, challenging discriminatory policies, building community among veterans, or refusing to let lies about our identities go unchallenged, every act of courage matters. Democracy is not kept alive by silence or comfort—it is preserved by people willing to speak, to organize, to resist, and to imagine a more just world. Now is the time to lean in: join a caucus, attend a meeting, build networks across our communities, and be ready to stand with those who are targeted. Together, we can create safe spaces, push back against fear and misinformation, and lift each other up so that every voice has power.
