Welcome to The Gayest Generation, where we hear LGBTQ older adults speak for themselves. Every episode, we sit down with a different member of the LGBTQ community who laid the foundation for the freedoms we have today.

In this episode, we speak with Curtis Chin. We discuss his childhood growing up in Detroit’s legendary Chung’s Restaurant, “The Gay Agenda”, and what it’s like to meet Vanna White (and the Obamas).

Terry Swartzberg, a Jewish “Ethical Campaigner” who has lived in Germany for 45 years, speaks with us from his home in Munich Germany. Terry Swartzberg became a reporter for the International Herald Tribune. Terry talks about the time he met with Presitent Vladimir Putin and the profound effect the invasion of Ukraine is having on Germany.

What are the very real possibilities that it will become much more difficult to vote in Michigan and how the Promote the Vote ballot initiative can block the current effort to suppress the vote?

Derrick Miller is the Executive Director of the Community Action Network in Ann Arbor Michigan and he felt he had to do something to help the people of Ukraine.  The experience was intense, to say the least, but it was also highly impactful.  While he was there he was assisted by Nataliya Starak who has fascinating and heartwarming stories to share with us.

Now that the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission has issued new maps, come learn what that means for you and for future elections. Guests on Conversations! will be Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, Capital Reporter for Bridge Magazine, Bob Chunn and Yalcin Yonikoglu of Next Vote and Mark Brewer of Goodman Acker P.C.

Chuck Newman interviews Kevin Deegan Krause and Sue Norman from Ranked Choice Voting, a better way to vote. Ranked Choice Voting diminishes negative campaigning, decreases the likelihood of having to vote for the no ‘lesser of two evils”, encourages diverse candidates for elected office, increases voter turnout and eliminates ‘spoilers.’ Rank MI Vote’s Kevin Deegan Krause and Sue Norman will explain how and why it works and why it should be adopted.

Attorney Mark Brewer speaks to the current status of the redistricting process and what we can do about it. His principal areas of practice include campaign finance and non-profit law. He has been involved in a wide variety of election cases since the 1980s including county, legislative and congressional redistricting, presidential primaries/caucuses, recalls, recounts, ballot access, voter protection on Election Day and the protection of the right to vote a straight party ticket.

Ryan Clark of No Labels, and Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-12th CD) and Fred Upton (R-4th CD) of the Problem Solvers’ Caucus  discuss prospects for bipartisan legislation in Congress. Learn how goodwill still exists and how it can be effective with the support of No Labels, even in today’s polarized political climate.

Michigan House Minority Leader Donna Lasinski  talks about  her resolution to create a bipartisan joint select committee to investigate Michiganders’ involvement in the Jan. 6 pro-Trump insurrection in the U.S. and also discusses the April 2020 storming of the Michigan Capitol during a protest against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID-19 health orders, which congressional Democrats have argued was a “dress rehearsal” for Jan. 6.