The awful truth: Trafficking of LGBT Youth in the US is a reality

04/25/16 • 92 min

Hopping Mad with Will McLeod & Arliss Bunny

Rachel Hutchiston of irreverent testimony joined me as a guest host, because Arliss is on vacation. Today we started with a tiny bit of coverage on the Scottish elections. Our UK listeners will note that I didn't talk much about Nicola, and that's because I'm saving a full segment for her next week, as I talk about the Scottish elections on May 5th. Only when those are over and done with will I give Brexit my full attention. That was followed by a discussion of LGBT strategy when it comes to elections, and a discussion about how we take state governments back with Rachel. Our interview was with social worker Molly Judson, who's been on the front lines for just over two decades. This was one of the hardest interviews I've ever done, because of the subject matter: LGBT children and teens who've been enslaved right here in the US. Molly deals with these issues directly. Looking at the ways that LGBT teens are being enslaved is extremely bleak - but it doesn't have to be that way. Especially if we're all vigilant and become involved. Even the smallest effort at this point will be better than the wall of silence we face. Call your senator or congressman's office, and ask them why the trafficking of LGBT youth isn't a priority. Silence is deadly, but you can be a part of the change we need. The following resources were provided to us by Molly, and we hope they'll be useful in combating the scourges of bigotry, trafficking, and modern slavery in the United States. National Runaway Hotline (www.1800runaway.org): 1-800-RUNAWAY Resources and support for runaway youth and their families Trevor Project (www.thetrevorproject.org) - LGBTQ Crisis Line - Counselors trained in areas of support specific to LGBTQ issues 1-866-488-7368 - Hotline 1-202-304-1200 - Textline Human Trafficking Resource Center (https:traffickingresourcecenter.org) Hotline - if you are a victim of trafficking or suspect someone is being trafficked, please call the hotline: 1-888-373-7888 - National Human Trafficking Hotline Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking (www.combathumantrafficking.org) - lots of research and ways to get involved in anti-human trafficking efforts. Based in Colorado, the Laboratory is one of the most well-respected research organizations. They also help run the Human Trafficking Hotline for Colorado - 1-866-455-5075 (if you or someone you know is or is suspected of being trafficked in Colorado, there are many resources available) Trans Lifeline - translifeline.org - suicide and crisis line for trans*-identified individuals 1-877-565-8860 - US 1-877-330-6366 - Canada True Colors Fund - 40toNone Day is April 27, 2016 - go to the website (truecolorsfund.org) to sign up for advocacy efforts. -Will

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Podcasters Roundtable with Rachel, Tom, and Travis

Arliss is on vacation for two weeks, but we've decided to go ahead with the show. For a little fun, Tom Cheevers of the Coffee Cast joined us, along with Tom and Rachel of Irreverent testimony. Our frenetic conversation ran the fullest possible gamut, from Religion, to the chaos of the GOP primary, to Terrorism and then to Feminism. Great fun was had by all as we fought through some of the tougher issues we're dealing with in the modern world. Next week, Rachel will be back for a regular format program, including an interview with a very special guest. We'll be covering LGBT issues in depth, so tune in, you won't want to miss it. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you all next week.

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William Spriggs, Scots & Saudis

2 May 2016 - Even more than in the past there is this nexus between the progressive movement and the labor movement in the US. This week we were joined for the interview by the Chief Economist of the AFL-CIO, the deeply knowledgable Dr. William Spriggs. Dr. Spriggs kindly gave us an unusually long and detailed interview and we highly recommend visiting some of the pages, to which I refer during our talk. They are on the excellent website of the AFL-CIO here, here, here and here. At the top of the show Will fills us in on what is going on with the protestors who have just taken the Iraqi Parliament. Later in the show he gives us the promised update on the Scottish elections which will take place on 5 May. I start out on the newly released anti-austerity budget which has just been announced by the Trudeau government in Canada. I come back a bit later to give a lot of detail about the very aggressive Vision 2030 economic plan aimed at weaning Saudi Arabia off of its dependence on oil. Headed by favorite son Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MbS as he is called in Saudi), the plan is interesting and hopeful but will have to overcome significant resistance from Wahhabi fundamentalists in order to succeed. We'll see.... I also learned that Netroots Radio has moved all of the old shows to which we had links from this site. Of course, all those links are now dead. I'll have to figure out where they went and fix that. On a more cheerful note, the archive section for Hopping Mad has been updated and an index has been added making it easier to find specific subject - Carrots! Arliss