Hey, fam, it's Amara.

Welcome to the Translash podcast, a show where we tell trans stories to save trans lives.

Well, it's been a difficult couple of weeks since Election Day.

We now know that Republicans have won full control of Congress

and we're starting to get a look into what Trump's cabinet will look like, full of Christian

nationalist and white supremacist. And can we just generally say the word circus springs to mind?

And on the other side of the aisle, Democrats have been throwing around all kinds of explanations

for what went wrong, blaming everyone from Kamala Harris to trans people and the woke left.

The trans one sends me into orbit every time I hear it.

But all of these changes pretend a big shift in the way that historically marginalized communities are viewed and participate in American politics.

So to help process what happened, I wanted to talk with someone who has not only profiled Kamala Harris, but has been a leading voice reporting on Black women in politics,

and that is the one, the only editorial director at Mother Jones, Jimmy LeKing.

You know, you can be a really ambitious black woman with a plan who is totally qualified to do the job,

and you will not get the job. But before we get to that thoughtful conversation, that start out as always, with some trans joy.

The fallout from Election Day has been undeniably bleak. But it wasn't all bad news that night.

From the U.S. Congress to city council boards, trans candidates up and down the ballot have won historic victories.

Back in 2022, Joe Miller was just a law student when they decided to leave school

to join the political fight against anti-LGBQ legislation in New Jersey. Just one year later,

they became the state's first openly trans person to serve an elected office after being elected

to the Woodbury City Council.

And she's done it again.

After a successful re-election campaign, Joe will continue to serve on the city council,

...