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Red states and blue states are drifting further apart, ideologically. Rural youth are migrating faster and faster to urban centers. Small town newspapers and radio stations are going silent. Families can't even carry on a respectful conversation at the 4th of July potluck! Never has it been more important for the media to step forward and moderate conversations across divides.

A Catholic Deacon And A Gay Rights Advocate Find Friendship In A Year Of Discord

Sara Burlingame and Mike Lehman

 

Last year, after intense debate, the city of Cheyenne adopted an anti-discrimination resolution to protect members of the LGBT community and in this legislative session, lawmakers have tried and failed to pass state laws on both sides of the issue.

In the midst of all that, though, an unlikely friendship sprouted up.

As part of her series, “I Respectfully Disagree,” Wyoming Public Radio’s Melodie Edwards sat down with the legislative liaison for Cheyenne’s Holy Trinity Church, Deacon Mike Lehman, and Wyoming Equality Communications Director Sara Burlingame.

If you have been engaging in civil discourse in your life and are willing to share your conversation, contact Melodie Edwards at medward9@uwyo.edu.

Melodie Edwards is the host and producer of WPM's award-winning podcast The Modern West. Her Ghost Town(ing) series looks at rural despair and resilience through the lens of her hometown of Walden, Colorado. She has been a radio reporter at WPM since 2013, covering topics from wildlife to Native American issues to agriculture.
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