Jane Araf

But then we found some people who were like, nope. I'm going to stand up. The more I thought about it, the more outraged I became. We spoke to this woman, Karen Ortiz. She's an administrative judge at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. So, you know, she would be who you would go to if you had a problem at work. Maybe you faced discrimination and you wanted it redressed.

But then we found some people who were like, nope. I'm going to stand up. The more I thought about it, the more outraged I became. We spoke to this woman, Karen Ortiz. She's an administrative judge at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. So, you know, she would be who you would go to if you had a problem at work. Maybe you faced discrimination and you wanted it redressed.

You would go to somebody like Karen Ortiz. And on his first day in office, Trump signed this executive order that declared that the U.S. government now only recognizes two sexes, male, female. And about a week after that executive order, Ortiz says she received this directive from her direct supervisor to pause all their LGBTQ cases in New York and send them to Washington for further review.

You would go to somebody like Karen Ortiz. And on his first day in office, Trump signed this executive order that declared that the U.S. government now only recognizes two sexes, male, female. And about a week after that executive order, Ortiz says she received this directive from her direct supervisor to pause all their LGBTQ cases in New York and send them to Washington for further review.

You would go to somebody like Karen Ortiz. And on his first day in office, Trump signed this executive order that declared that the U.S. government now only recognizes two sexes, male, female. And about a week after that executive order, Ortiz says she received this directive from her direct supervisor to pause all their LGBTQ cases in New York and send them to Washington for further review.

I was seething. And so she decided to stand up and say no. And she hit reply all, sent an email back to her boss and the entire agency.

I was seething. And so she decided to stand up and say no. And she hit reply all, sent an email back to her boss and the entire agency.

I was seething. And so she decided to stand up and say no. And she hit reply all, sent an email back to her boss and the entire agency.

Yeah. I've worked in countries where the consequences are extremely severe for criticizing governments. Right. In Syria, you were actually disappeared. Nobody knew where you went and you showed up often dead or never. You know, we saw mass graves from that regime. In Egypt, you know, same thing. You could end up in house arrest.

Yeah. I've worked in countries where the consequences are extremely severe for criticizing governments. Right. In Syria, you were actually disappeared. Nobody knew where you went and you showed up often dead or never. You know, we saw mass graves from that regime. In Egypt, you know, same thing. You could end up in house arrest.

Yeah. I've worked in countries where the consequences are extremely severe for criticizing governments. Right. In Syria, you were actually disappeared. Nobody knew where you went and you showed up often dead or never. You know, we saw mass graves from that regime. In Egypt, you know, same thing. You could end up in house arrest.

Anybody could file a suit against you, and the prosecutor will pick it up if it's something critical of the government, and you could end up in jail for a speech. Free press. There was no thriving free press. There was a demonization of civil society organizations that were working on critical work that documented human rights abuses.

Anybody could file a suit against you, and the prosecutor will pick it up if it's something critical of the government, and you could end up in jail for a speech. Free press. There was no thriving free press. There was a demonization of civil society organizations that were working on critical work that documented human rights abuses.

Anybody could file a suit against you, and the prosecutor will pick it up if it's something critical of the government, and you could end up in jail for a speech. Free press. There was no thriving free press. There was a demonization of civil society organizations that were working on critical work that documented human rights abuses.

And what I will say is when we did this call out to our listeners saying, how do you feel? Do you feel free to speak in this moment? Do you feel less free to speak? I was so shocked. Our entire team was so shocked to read through all of these responses and see how many people didn't feel safe saying, this is my full name and this is what I do. That is something new in the United States.

And what I will say is when we did this call out to our listeners saying, how do you feel? Do you feel free to speak in this moment? Do you feel less free to speak? I was so shocked. Our entire team was so shocked to read through all of these responses and see how many people didn't feel safe saying, this is my full name and this is what I do. That is something new in the United States.

And what I will say is when we did this call out to our listeners saying, how do you feel? Do you feel free to speak in this moment? Do you feel less free to speak? I was so shocked. Our entire team was so shocked to read through all of these responses and see how many people didn't feel safe saying, this is my full name and this is what I do. That is something new in the United States.

I've worked here for a long time. I've worked abroad for a long time. And that is something familiar to me. in countries where I did live.

I've worked here for a long time. I've worked abroad for a long time. And that is something familiar to me. in countries where I did live.

I've worked here for a long time. I've worked abroad for a long time. And that is something familiar to me. in countries where I did live.