TOLEDO - After going dormant during COVID, the Lucas County Stonewall Democrats—an affiliate of the Lucas County Democratic Club—is back, and it couldn’t come at a more urgent time.
Progress feels fragile now, and hard-won rights are up for debate again, so this isn’t a feel-good comeback story. It’s a reckoning.
For this episode I attended Stonewall’s bi-monthly meeting at the Lucas County Democratic Club office in Downtown Toledo on Jan. 21, where LC Dem Club chairwoman Sky Beckwith and Toledo city councilwoman, at large, Erin Kramer dropped by to lend their support.
After the meeting I sat down with Stonewall president Lucas Camuso-Stall and treasurer Troy Miller, both of whom were instrumental in bringing the club back to life.
Listen as Lucas talks about what it’s like to be gay in today’s political climate; what keeps him up at night; and why this moment feels so precarious for queer and trans people.
He also reflected on growing up through multiple political eras—moments of hope, backlash, progress and retreat—and how those experiences shape his leadership today.
As a social worker, Troy said that activism is at his core, and that the time is now and the time is always.
“Our rights are at risk and we have an obligation to do something … and that something is to use our voices,” Troy said in the podcast.
“I think that so many times people are afraid and, you know, I’m a cisgender white person so I’m going to stand up and I’m going to speak. And I call to anybody that comes from a place of privilege to do the same for our community that might not have the capacity to do that.”
… to be hitting my stride in my early 30s and seeing this wild regression of where you grew up in this really vulnerable time of thinking and believing that … it’s only on the up from here. Obama is president and we’ve made it. It’s going to be great, right?
And now, where we are currently in Ohio, where we’re seeing an absolute regression of queer rights; we’re seeing heinous and horrible attacks on our trans community members. So, you know, it’s been a very jarring last couple of years. We need to come together. We need to protest. We need to mobilize, and we need to fight for one another.
> Lucas Camuso-Stall
For the LGBTQ+ community, existence during the Trump administration has been exhausting and frightening. That’s why it matters so much that Stonewall is back to offer a place to gather, feel safe, and be among people who accept and embrace each other for who they are.
You can find the LC Stonewall Democrats on their Facebook page.
