The First Pride Was a Riot

A history lesson on the origins of Pride and the significance of the Equality Act 50 years after Stonewall; PLUS: Vox’s Dylan Matthews unpacks Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s new bill to create a basic income through the tax code. Subscribe to Off-Kilter on iTunes.

This week on Off-Kilter… one of the most fascinating bills of the 116th Congress to date comes in the form of a $3,000-per-adult basic income. If enacted, the Lift+ Act, introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), would be the first direct cash benefit in the American safety net not tied to work. Rebecca talks with Vox’s Dylan Matthews, a friend of the show and our favorite nerd when it comes to all things tax credits, about the bill, why it’s such a big deal to see it getting so much traction, and what it would mean for poverty in the U.S.

But first… June of course marks Pride month for the LGBTQ community. But this year brings no ordinary Pride month, as June 2019 also marks the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, which are widely regarded as the genesis of the LGBTQ rights movement in the U.S. and around the world. Meanwhile, this year’s Pride celebrations coincide with historic progress for the LGBTQ community in the form of the passage of the Equality Act by the U.S. House of Representatives — landmark, bipartisan legislation that would prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity… as well as, continued efforts by the Trump administration to strip rights from LGBTQ individuals at every turn. To reflect on what it’s like marking Pride this year amid the good, the bad, and the ugly of this history-laden and history-making backdrop, Rebecca sat down with Laura Durso, Vice President of the LGBT Research and Communications Project at the Center for American Progress, and Gillian Branstetter, a spokesperson for the National Center for Transgender Equality.

This week’s guests:

• Laura Durso, Vice President, Research and Communications Project, Center for American Progress (@TheDursoIsIn)
• Gillian Branstetter, spokesperson for the National Center for Transgender Equality (@GBBranstetter)
• Dylan Matthews, writer at Vox (@dylanmatt)

For more on this week’s topics:

• Dig into the National Center on Transgender Equality’s recent audit of policies at the 25 largest police departments in the U.S., when it comes to protecting trans folks
• Learn more about the Equality Act here, here, and here
• Learn more about the Trump administration’s attack on trans people’s health care here and here — then check out the National Center for Transgender Equality’s Protect Trans Health campaign to fight back against the rule (submit a public comment!)
• For more from Dylan Matthews, check out his Vox piece on Rep. Tlaib’s bill