Welcome back to Duke’s Download — and welcome to Season Two!
For this season's first guest, I’m sitting down with my longtime friend Brian Sims, former Pennsylvania State Representative, LGBTQ+ civil rights attorney, activist, and one of the most unapologetically outspoken voices in progressive politics.
Brian served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 2012 to 2022, and in this conversation, we get into something every LGBTQ+ person and ally needs to understand: so much of the fight for LGBTQ+ rights happens at the state level. Not just in Washington. Not just during presidential elections. But in statehouses, school boards, local courts, and midterm races that too many people ignore until it’s too late.
Brian and I talk about how a relatively small number of anti-LGBTQ politicians have been able to drive an enormous amount of fear, misinformation, and transphobic rhetoric — and why defeating just a few of them can change the entire political landscape.
We also dig into the complicated question of outing closeted politicians who actively harm LGBTQ+ people, the rise of performative masculinity in national politics, and the very real election integrity concerns surrounding mail-in ballots, ballot delivery, and certification.
And of course, we spend time on one of the most urgent issues of our time: protecting trans rights. Brian makes a powerful case that defending trans people is not only morally necessary — it’s also one of the clearest ways to show where we stand on democracy, equality, and basic human dignity.
His advice to cisgender allies is simple and essential: don’t speak over trans people — give them the microphone.
If you care about LGBTQ+ rights, trans rights, progressive politics, state-level elections, democracy, or how we actually win power where it matters, this is a conversation you do not want to miss.
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