This is a show about individual experience and personal identity.

There may be times when folks use identifying words or phrases that don't feel right to you.

That's part of what we're exploring here.

Please listen with an open heart, and as always, I welcome your polite, engaged feedback,

and I encourage you to continue the conversation in your own life and with your own community.

Welcome to Query.

Hey Query, it's Cammy here.

This week we've got a chat with Congressman Mark Ticano.

Mark is, well, first of all, our first elected official on the show.

I was pretty excited about that.

And he is currently serving in Congress.

He's, uh, represents Riverside County here in California.

He is also openly gay and Japanese American, which I say because he's the first ever

openly gay person of Asian descent in Congress.

I think it is, um, this conversation is super interesting.

We talk about his background, his family.

His grandparents were in turn in, um, in turn camps in California during World War II.

And Mark has a pretty interesting story at the end of the episode about, um,

when he ran for Congress back in the 90s.

And anyway, just, I hope you listen to the whole episode.

Really interesting.

And hey, if you have, if there is a queer elected official that you know,

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