799: Dude Looks Like a Lady? - Navigating the Gray Areas on Drag Queen Story Hours & Parental Rights

Brian Nichols  0:19  
Change comes from voting for the candidates you believe in not for voting against the people. You don't. Yeah, let's talk about that. Instead of focusing on winning arguments, we're teaching the basic fundamentals of sales and marketing and how we can use them to win in the world of politics, teaching you how to meet people where they're at on the issues they care about. Welcome to The Brian Nichols Show. Well, hey there, folks, Brian Nichols, here on The Brian Nichols Show. And thank you for joining us on of course, another fun filled episode. I am as always your humble host joining us live from our cardio miracle Studios here in the lovely Eastern Indiana cardio miracle folks, I've been touting cardio miracle now for just about half a year and I gotta say yes, the cardio miracle difference is real. So if you want to experience the cardio miracle difference for yourself like yours truly. And what is that better sleep, better workouts better pump at the gym, plus a better healthy heart. Yes, super important, especially as you get older in age. So check out cardio miracle. It's designed with nitric oxide to help improve your heart health. And, folks, you have nothing to lose because there's quite literally a 100% money back guarantee. So join the 10s of 1000s of other folks who have started to revitalize their heart health today. Head to the show notes here in the video or the Brian Nichols show.com forward slash heart join the 10s of 1000s of others who are experiencing cardio miracle difference today. I guarantee your heart will thank you one more time cardio miracle.com All right, folks, let's go ahead and talk about yes voting for candidates you actually believe in not the ones you don't if you want to go ahead and vote for a candidate you believe in out in West Virginia. Today's candidate might be the one that many piques your interest joining us today running for a libertarian to present our president governor of West Virginia. Erica kalinic. Welcome to The Brian Nichols Show. How are you?

Erika Kolenich  2:15  
I'm great. How are you doing? Great.

Brian Nichols  2:18  
Oh, Erica, thank you for joining us. And yes, thank you for joining us on New Years here as we're celebrating 2024. We've kicked into a brand new year and Erica with that. It's an election year. So folks are naturally preparing to head to the polls this November. Feels weird to say but let's go ahead, paint the picture. Erica, you're running for governor of West Virginia as a big L. Libertarian. I'm sure folks want to hear more about that. But first, do us a favor, introduce yourself and also, why a libertarian? Why are you running for office with that big arrow next to your name?

Erika Kolenich  2:52  
Yeah, thank you. First of all, thank you for having me on. I'm running for governor here in West Virginia. And I'm really running for a lot of reasons. The biggest reason is in West Virginia, we like a lot of states, but even more so do the same tired old things over and over and over again. And what we do in West Virginia is we vote for the same tired old people with the same tired old ideas. And in West Virginia, people have themselves convinced that Republicans are the only option and that Republicans and their primary are going to decide the election and it's the same old recycled Republicans, literally the same old recycled Republicans. They're the son of the Senator and these the son of the US, Congresswoman, it's the literally the same recycled thing. So I want to bring something different, new and exciting to West Virginia. So I'm running for governor and I'm running for governor as a libertarian because I believe in libertarian ideas. I believe in libertarian and freedom and libertarian solutions. And secondarily, the only opportunity we have for ballot access in West Virginia is the governor's race. So it's a very important race for big L libertarians in West Virginia. It's the only opportunity we have for people who want to run down ballot type races run for, you know, local races in their communities. So the governor's race is very, very important as our ballot access race in West Virginia. Gotcha.

Brian Nichols  4:28  
So Erica, now this isn't a pick on you. But I heard a lot about why it's important for libertarians that you're running for office. But let's talk about those those at West Virginia knights. Is that the right terminology? I know we're gonna go with it today. Let's let's look at those folks, those voters in West Virginia besides getting somebody different than a I guess, a tried and true Republican, what's in it for them? Why would they want to consider a libertarian for Governor versus what you've identified as a status quo?

Erika Kolenich  4:56  
Well, because the Republicans really aren't giving what they felt, they aren't giving any real change. They're not really giving any tax changes here in West Virginia, they're not really giving any new and different ideas. And they're not really moving the needle toward any type of conservative values or anything different in new in West Virginia, they make a lot of promises, and then they deliver nothing. They deliver no real new tax breaks, they deliver no real new economic growth. They didn't deliver a real, no real, new anything. And so I think that West Virginia needs something different. We continue to be at the bottom of every bad list that you can imagine. And we're not, we're not moving. We're not moving beyond the bottom five of any of those lists. And it's time for something different. And the Republicans and certainly the Democrats aren't giving us anything different in West Virginia. So we need new ideas.

Brian Nichols  6:03  
Well, look, let's dig into that then. The voters of West Virginia aren't getting anything different. What would look different with a big L. Libertarian, running for office and fingers crossed winning the governorship?

Erika Kolenich  6:17  
Sure, well, I think the first thing is here in West Virginia, we have a pretty big crisis in our jails, there's actually been a state of emergency that's been declared, I believe it's been in excess of the past 18 months in our jails in West Virginia. And that has been due to a shortage of Department of Correction workers, we actually have our National Guardsmen, and our jails working to fill roles. And part of that is because we're incarcerating people that we shouldn't incarcerate. And when you talk to the folks who are in office, the Republicans and the Democrats here in West Virginia, the only thing they talk about is how can we, how can we pay people at the Department of Corrections more, how can we add to their salaries? How can we spend more taxpayers money, increasing the budgets at the Department of Corrections to take care of that problem? And that's not working. We've been trying it for the past several years, and it's not working at all, and no one ever talks about any new ideas. So what we need to do is look at what is the what's the problem that's causing the understaffing issue, right, and it's overpopulation of the jails. So my thought is we get some folks out of the jails who don't need to be there. So let's take people who were incarcerated because they're addicts, let's take people who were incarcerated because they committed things that shouldn't be crimes in the first place, like drug possession, drug use, let's let those folks out. Let's let them fit fill the jobs shortage. In West Virginia, we only have about 40% of the folks who live in West Virginia who are involved in the workforce, which is causing an economic crisis businesses that want to be in West Virginia, have a hard time filling jobs. Let's let those folks out so they can fill the jobs, you know, kill two birds with one stone, then you don't need as many people working in the jails. And we've solved that problem. There's a massive corruption in our Department of Corrections, which is a major, major issue. There are lots of people, lots of lawsuits right now, in the Regional Jail authority. There are people who are people who are dying and mates who are being mistreated. The governor did do something great recently, which is he fired some folks. But one of the things that he's not doing is getting rid of that problem from the top up. And that's what I want to do is get rid of that problem from the top. So there's a major criminal justice reform that needs to happen in West Virginia. That's not happening right now.

Brian Nichols  8:55  
Gotcha. And I heard you hint at the economic implications as well. So I guess that would lead me to believe as you were kind of outlining here, with only 40% of folks actually working in West Virginia. It sounds like there may be some red tape and some roadblocks. I'm guessing. Bureaucracies within the state itself, I'm sure are playing a very significant role in that. Erica, talk to us about what the economic plans for your campaign would look like. Sure.

Erika Kolenich  9:23  
And right now, you know, our playbook has always been we offer here in West Virginia, sweetheart deals to large out of state corporations to come to West Virginia and locate here. And that never seems to work out. There's a lot of false promises that are made to West Virginians that the Republicans and the Democrats never fulfill and never deliver on. What I want to do is simply make it easier for the businesses who are already here to operate. We're a very, very, very heavily regulated states. We do silly things in West Virginia. For example, if you own a convenience store in West Virginia, you are told from which alcohol distributor you are permitted to buy your beer. Meaning if you're headed into a Labor Day weekend and your beer supply is really, really low, you can't just call around to all the wholesalers that have beer and say, hey, you know who has drivers available who can fill my stock, you have contracts in the state of West Virginia dictates who you can buy from. So we do things that really handcuff businesses in West Virginia and make it as difficult as possible for them to operate. You have to have a certificate of need in West Virginia to operate a trash company. Meaning if you want to drive around as a guy with a pickup truck, and haul away people's trash, you have to demonstrate to the west, the state of West Virginia that there's a need in the state for you to do so. So we make it impossible for businesses to operate. So my plan for economic growth in West Virginia simply involves just tearing down all the walls that the government has put up to make it hard for businesses to operate, bust down those walls and make it easier. You

Brian Nichols  11:10  
talked about individual liberties on your website. And obviously during COVID In the past three years, four years now my goodness, Time goes fast. We all experienced firsthand the implications of draconian COVID lockdown measures. Now I experienced that in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before I moved to Indiana, other folks, as I moved out here to Indiana, where like, you have a lockdown going on in Philadelphia, what? So I'm guessing that's a part of these individual liberties. you've outlined there, Erica, but what else? Have you identified as some areas touching on the individual liberties area that you want to focus more upon with your campaign?

Erika Kolenich  11:48  
Well, I think that a lot of people, when they think about liberty, they think about just themselves and one of the goals of my campaign, I mean, campaigns can be effective for lots of reasons, right? You can win, you can maintain ballot access, and ultimately, my goal is to win. But if something were to happen, and I don't win, one of the goals that I really have is just educating people about liberty. And educating people that Liberty does doesn't just mean liberty for you, that you have to be comfortable. If you're if you're going to preach about the idea of liberty, you have to be comfortable understanding that that means the idea of liberty for everyone. Meaning don't, you know, don't just not try it on me, don't try it on anyone. And one of the goals of my campaign is really getting out there in the community. And making people understand that Liberty means liberty in every aspect of everyone's life, meaning the government should never be telling you what to do in any situation, as long as you're not harming someone else's property or interfering with somebody's, with someone's body. And I think that that's a really, you know, abstract principle for a lot of people to understand. And one of the goals of my campaign is really getting out and making sure that people understand that.

Brian Nichols  13:12  
So let's maybe dig into that one a little bit in more detail, because this has been an area not necessarily of contention, but rather an area of maybe some confusion that we've had here on the show. And really, the the lines here are quite gray. And Erica would love to hear as you're kind of, you know, making your case to a much more read West Virginia, what that line is, and that line we're referring to here is when we're talking about what harm constitutes as, for example, now, now that this issue has become very, very topical, obviously with the the past year, but you know, drag queen story hours, for example, right? There is no, there is no immediate harm being done on children. However, one could argue and I think very much with with the data on their side that the perversion of the basic understandings of normalcy does impact children and the future generations very much so in a negative standpoint, with not only confusing kids, but then leading to them questioning their own gender, their own sexuality, which I mean for a child, as a dad with a young daughter, I say, Absolutely not. So for me, Erica, I'm a little bit in the gray area myself, Where is this line of harm? And, frankly, how does a populace Now you mentioned the word government in terms of reacting to that harm. And we got I guess, we have to figure out what's the best way to deal with something like this when it is in such a gray area?

Erika Kolenich  14:48  
Sure. Well, so there's a lot of aspects to what you're talking about. Right? So if you're talking about you know, drag queen story hour, I suppose. First of all, we have to decide where's it happening, right. Is it happening in a government building? thing or is that happening at a private restaurant. So if it's happening at a private restaurant, I think we have to treat it just like we would a just like we would a church. If a parent decides they want to take their child to a drag queen story hour, they should have just as much right to do that as a parent who takes their child to church. And, you know, maybe you agree with that. Maybe you disagree with that there's going to be people who disagree with parents taking their child to a Catholic church, they're going to be a you know, people who disagree with parents taking their children to a pig in church. But the fact of the matter is, that's a parent's right to take their child where they want to take their children. Parents should be able to take their children to a drag queen story hour, if it's at a private if it's at a private place, a restaurant, a place where they serve brunch. Certainly the question is, is there a time when it crosses over from you know, are they reading fairy tales? Or are they reading something that crosses the line into something of a sexual nature? I guess? If it crosses the line of a sexual nature, then there are there are laws against that right? But they're simply really

Brian Nichols  16:20  
quick though, and I guess this is just me being an old fuddy duddy here. But yeah, I mean, isn't it by the very nature of a drag queen? It's a grown adult dressing sexually. Therefore the very act of them reading the book to a child by its nature is a sexual, not necessarily act, but it's definitely sexual intone?

Erika Kolenich  16:43  
Oh, I don't think so. I've seen drag queens, I depends on how the drag queens dress up. I've seen drag queens dressed in prom gowns with hair done, there's nothing sexual about it. It's just somebody dressed up. It would

Brian Nichols  16:58  
challenge that though, because sure they're, they're dressing up in the opposite sex. So I'm going by the very definition of sex, right? It is sexual in a biological sense that the clothing that they are portraying themselves in is predominantly in this case is 1,000% in a manner to show the opposite of their biological sex. So he or it might not be air quote, sexy or sexualized clothing. However, the nature in the cross dressing itself is sexual in its undertone. Sure,

Erika Kolenich  17:41  
and I guess I should have used the word pornographic, it's not pornographic, right? It doesn't cross that level into being something that if you showed a child, and it was a, someone who was biologically that gender, it would be inappropriate. So it's not something where somebody is in a state of deep closeness or there's a sexual act. And that's what I meant. There are certain things that you can't show a child or it becomes a crime, in other words, pornographic material. So until it crosses the line of pornographic material, I think that that's that's the parents choice. And it's the parents choice just as much as taking taking the child to church and I there are certainly some I understand there are some people that disagree with that. But that's that's what I think individual liberties are I think once we start interfering with parents abilities to do that, then we have to start saying well you know, maybe they shouldn't be taking them to this church because that might interfere with their you know, ability to you know, make sound decisions about what religion they want to be I just think it's it's a dangerous line to start across and unless they're doing something criminal it's really has to be the parents job to design gotcha

Brian Nichols  18:55  
understanding I don't want to beat a dead horse on this topic, but this has definitely been an area that now let me rewind a little bit before I go down this rabbit hole as the goal of this show. It is to help libertarians both big L and small l effectively sell and market our ideas message our ideas, not to other libertarians, but to to non libertarians, because frankly, in order to grow the movement, that's our that's our not just our goal. That's our requirement. We have an obligation to be able to do that if we expect to see anything from an actual growth standpoint. So I guess my mind looking at this issue. Libertarians are right in the argument of government out of people's lives. Now, as a former Republican and someone who still has quite a few associations and relationships with people who would still identify as a big are Republican. I just know that hearing the idea of comparing drag queen Story Hour upbringing in the church is going to just make people's brains blow up. Right. And I think it's because there has been such a shift in the Overton Window Erica and I'd love to hear your, your your perspective on this because the context in terms of what was considered to be acceptable behavior back not even let's not even go back to like the the straw man 50, you know, the 50s mentality 60s mentality, let's go back to like, when I was a kid, let's go to the 90s, right, the the normal person from 1993 to 2023, that person is a bigot, a homophobe, a racist, you can call that person every name in the book. Now because I know who they are and what their actual beliefs are, because they were a normal person in the 90s. And a normal person in the 90s had normal views towards biology towards sex towards what was considered to be acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Now, we all understand what good behavior is when we see it. And frankly, we all kind of know what bad behavior is, when we see it. I guess I'm stuck on. Why why is it that libertarians are finding it part of our messaging, not to turn the conversation away from the drag queens, but rather ask the question, Why does a drag queen need to be Reading a storybook to a kid in the first place?

Erika Kolenich  21:27  
Sure, and I don't I don't necessarily think I guess to answer your question. I don't necessarily think a drag queen does need to be reading a story book to shop. But my point is, if a drag queen if a parent wants to take their kid there, that's none of my business. It's none of your business. It's none of this guy's business. It's just none of our business, just like it's none of our business. You know what, what anybody else is doing with their kids? As long as it's not hurting hurting their kid? So I guess you know it. To answer your question, if we start digging into why does the drag queen have to be Reading a storybook to a child, we start digging into why are these people making these choices? Which to be honest, is just none of our damn business. We it's live and let live right man like that. That's as a libertarian what I believe live in lately, and it's not in my business, why they're doing what they're doing? Do I have to like it? No. Do I have to accept it? No. Do I have to take my kid to the drag queen story hour? I don't

Brian Nichols  22:42  
know. That's fair. Absolutely fair. And that in? Frankly, Erica, that's the question that I'm asking you here on this show. Because I can guarantee that when you go out into the public, and you're talking to much more rock ribbed Republicans out there, they're not going to be as nice in their in their responses, because for them very angry, right? This is a very old issue.

Erika Kolenich  23:01  
It is. And the reason that I compare it to church is not because I think it's an apples to apples comparison. It's because I want them to understand, I want them to understand that the second that you start interfering with that parents choice that they're making for that child, and you let the government start interfering with the choice that that parent is making for that child, and the tides flip. And one day, those people, whoever they might be, are the elected people in power, you've now set a precedent where they can start interfering with the choices that you're making for your child. And those important choices that you think you might that you're making for your child might be where you're taking your child to church. So you just need to think about that.

Brian Nichols  23:52  
Let me add this one little caveat to this. And this kind of goes to your role as you're running for governor of West Virginia. And that is much more than the ideas of federalism. Would it make sense for the citizens, the residents of West Virginia, to look at you and say, Erica, as governor, Governor, Erica, we don't want this. We do not want our kids being taught trans stuff by trans folks, all this kind of stuff. We don't want our kids confused, whether it's at school, you know, and we don't want this done at a federal level. We just want this done at A West Virginia level. Or let's even take it a step further. If there was a locality in West Virginia who was like, you know, what, we just we don't want this for here. What's the libertarian, I guess, perspective on that?

Erika Kolenich  24:38  
Sure. I think you can vote with your feet. I think if there's if there's a group of people who want to live in a community, and they you know, they want to pass that but I think it has to be done by community vote. I don't think it can be done by a governmental organization. So if you want to have a vote that you put on a ballot, that members of the committee Unity vote are not elected officials that are government officials. And they say We the members of this community vote that this, these are the standards that we want to implement for this community. I think that that's completely fine.

Brian Nichols  25:12  
There you go. Okay. Cool. So I think that's a good middle ground, then for some folks more on the right hand side of the aisle. Now, how about this, Erica, we are, unfortunately, a little hard pressed for time. So we're going towards our final thoughts segment. And as we wrap things up here today, I would love just to kind of kick things off, and I'll turn things over to you. When we're talking about libertarians running for electoral office, right? We know. And trust me, we're approaching 800 episodes here, this show. So anybody who's listening knows that it's an uphill battle, it has been an uphill battle for 4050 years at this point. And it's going to continue to be an uphill battle, which is why we as libertarians have an obligation to run smarter, not harder, which means as we preach, you're on the show consistently, religiously, at this point, meet people where they're at on the issues they care about. And with that make sure that not only are you addressing those issues, but you truly understand those issues that goes to the why the why behind people buy right and we're talking about buying in this situation, it's a buying decision. From a vote standpoint, Eric is not going out and trying to win people's hearts and minds over as a candidate which granted that might just be a nice happy consequence as her you know, the result of her going out and trying to earn the vote. But that's what Eric his job is is to earn the vote so to you candidates out there who are running as Big L libertarians, please know your role know that your job is not necessarily going out there to win hearts and minds but rather to win those votes. Now if you want to be a messenger just know that your your roles and messenger is going to be a little bit different than the rolls of candy and with that your your kind of your goals are going to be different along the way. So I just want to make sure we're we're not you, Erica, but everybody listening who are candidates or activists know the difference. I think actually, we talked about this with Larry Sharpe back a couple of months ago where Larry, you know, completely went through in articulate I think it was three different versions of libertarians, you had the libertarian activist, the party leader, and then the candidate, right, so we need all three of those folks, but it comes down to what's your strengths? What are you good at? So I challenge you members of the audience, find out what you're good at. And then with that, not saying this condescendingly. But know your lane know your role? And would that do as best as you can? That's my final thoughts for today. Erica, what do you have on your end?

Erika Kolenich  27:32  
Well, first of all, thank you for having me on. I appreciate it. Second of all, for those of you who are listening, if you're in West Virginia, we can always use help, we can always use help in the Libertarian Party. So if you're listening to this, and you're not involved in the Libertarian Party, you should be, you should go to LP wv.org. And check us out, come to meetings, join us and get involved. We love help. And if you're listening to this and you would like to help with our campaign, you can come go to my website, which is now is the time web.com And you can donate you can find out more information about my campaign, you can join our journey.

Brian Nichols  28:11  
Awesome. Erica, it has been an absolute pleasure. And yes, thank you for joining us on New Year's Day peek behind the curtain folks we are recording here on New Year's Day. So yes, thank you special thank you to Erica for joining us and folks, if you got some value from today's episode, you know the drill go ahead and give it a share. When you do please tag yours truly at BT Nichols liberty, Facebook and x.com is where you can find me Erica, where can folks go ahead and find you?

Erika Kolenich  28:39  
It's now is the time wv.com

Brian Nichols  28:44  
Any social media links?

Erika Kolenich  28:45  
Oh, yes, I'm on Facebook at I'm not sure the exact link but if you look on Facebook at Erica kalinic, you will find it it's my name is right there. But it's Kol en ich

Brian Nichols  28:59  
perfect and folks who are listening to the audio version of the show no worries all these links are going to be in the show notes or if you are watching the video the show over in the description as well. Thank you, Erica for joining. It's been a great conversation. And folks if you did in fact get some of that value beyond sharing the show. I'm gonna go ahead and ask you to give us a five star rating and review and when you do so please let us know that you enjoyed today's episode with Eric and yes you love seeing the big L candidates running for elected office because not only does that keep us in people's minds but also gives the voters a real third option and not just a third option but dare I say a better option? Find us over on your favorite podcast platforms Apple podcasts, Spotify, YouTube music or if you want to listen to us on the video version of the show, check out YouTube rumble Ben Swan sovereign spelled s o v r e n or we upload our entire episodes to x.com as well. And one final note is that if you are in fact enjoying the Brian nickel show if you want to support the show, well please support our sponsors because it is our sponsors who support The Brian Nichols Show that keep us turning the lights on having amazing conversations with Erica so whether it's cardio miracle evils of blood of tyrants or their awesome new energy T liquid freedom BNC technology advisors and more, please head to our sponsor page support the folks who support us here at The Brian Nichols Show, every little bit definitely helps us more than you would know. So with that being said, thank you for joining us and Brian Nichols signing off on The Brian Nichols Show for Eric I co on edge. We'll see you next time.

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