The Future of Progressive Politics and LGBTQ+ Rights in America. With Jamie Hill

This week, I connected with Jamie Hill, an openly trans non-binary candidate who ran for Congress in Michigan’s second district. Growing up in a rural community on the state’s east side, Jamie, a “dirt road farm kid,” has a family history of subsistence farming stretching back generations. When you are raised in a conservative, church-centered environment, with no visible queer communities to learn from or positive trans role models to look up to, what do you do when you realize something is different inside but you don’t have the language to describe it? Jamie speaks candidly about reaching a point where transition or suicide felt like the only options available. How heartbreaking that so many people feel ending their own lives is a less painful choice than seeking acceptance for who they truly are from the people around them. It was only after receiving gender-affirming care that Jamie felt allowed to thrive as their authentic self. Determined to become the adult they needed as a teenager, Jamie earned EMT and paramedic credentials, degrees in public safety studies, healthcare, and emergency management, and a PA education from Yale School of Medicine. But when rural hospital systems would not call them back once they were openly non-binary and actively job seeking, it became very clear that bigotry pushes out well-qualified individuals looking to serve the communities they love. After settling in rural western Michigan, Jamie decided to run for their local congressional seat because candidates should be grounded in lived experience, not just polished resumes or Washington credentials. Refusing to run on the model of only speaking to wealthy donors and not individual voters, Jamie insists that real change happens when ordinary people show up, participate, and donate as little as $5 to home-grown candidates that need their support. When the seats at the table are bought and sold to the highest bidder with the wealthiest friends, when the players in the game are only straight white men, who is looking out for the rest of us? When we tolerate intolerance, EVERYBODY loses. We must do better. We must be better. Learn more about Jamie Hill below: FacebookInstagramYouTubeChapters00:16 Growing Up in Rural Michigan12:23 Navigating Identity and Acceptance20:30 Confronting Misconceptions and Stereotypes24:25 The Changing Political Landscape28:52 Advocacy and Activism in Faith Communities33:47 Challenging the Status Quo37:13 The Role of Money in Politics43:01 The Dynamics of Political Engagement48:56 Pushing for Progressive Change52:11 The Importance of Standing Firm on Principles56:07 Future Aspirations and Community InvolvementContact Tabitha:staringdownthestorm@gmail.comhttps://tabithazeigler.com/