Connecticut State Senator Beth Bye took time from the campaign trail to talk with me about her re-election bid, #MeToo, taxes, tolls, Trump and Brett Kavanagh.

And we discussed our wives. Like me, Bye married a teacher, and together they made history as the first same-sex couple to legally wed in Connecticut.

My late wife knew her, since Bye served on West Hartford’s Board of Education and supported her first bid to run for the state senate in 2010.

Watch my interview with Sen. Bye at the link below, and scroll down for links mentioned in episode 15 of RiseUP With Dawn Ennis. 

Here is where you can weigh-in on the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Click here to tweet to me, or add your comment below. Who do you believe? Dr. Christine Blasey Ford? Or Judge Kavanaugh?

If you are a victim of sexual assault, you are not alone. Now more than ever, victims like us are coming forward to share our stories. Help is available, too. Call 800-656-HOPE or go to the website for the National Sexual Assault  Hotline by clicking here. You can chat online with someone there, too. My own story is here. 

Here’s the link to Senator Bye’s website. Election Day is November 6th and West Hartford Democrats are eager to help if you need an absentee ballot, a ride to the polls, or if you’re looking to volunteer. They’re also happy to plant a yard sign on your lawn. Get in touch with them here or email the party at info@westhartforddemocrats.org 

Find out about the ballot in Connecticut by clicking on this link to the League of Women Voters.

Register to vote in Connecticut by clicking here. 

Find out how to register to vote in your state by clicking this link. 

You can read about Bye’s GOP opponent, Phil Chabot, on his website here. 

Bye supports Democrat Ned Lamont in his bid to succeed my prior guest, Gov. Dan Malloy as Governor of Connecticut. You can read about his campaign here. 

If you’d like to read about Lamont’s opponents, click on these links to the websites of Bob Stefanowski and Oz Griebel.  Are Stefanowski’s pledges to cut taxes a false promise? Read what the Connecticut Mirror reported. 

CNN reported on the shocking lack of safe sex education in America’s schools. Read the report here, or click here for the original report from the nonpartisan Center for American Progress. 

So you want to tell your story? For 13 of our 15 episodes so far, I’ve been blessed to have friends, acquaintances and social media superstars join me as “special correspondents.”

Send me a message in the comments or via Twitter or Facebook and tell me how you’re “rising up!”

Thanks for reading and for watching! Catch up on prior episodes of RiseUP With Dawn Ennis by clicking here. 

One last note: I mentioned my late spouse Wendy Lachs Ennis both here in my blog and during this month’s episode, because she was how I first learned about Sen. Bye, and because I think about her every day ending in “Y.” Saturday would have been our 22nd wedding anniversary… if not for my transition, and her passing.

Despite being gone 2 years and 9 months, she is always on our minds and in our hearts. It’s been especially hard sending our firstborn off to college without her, teaching our only daughter how to drive, planning our youngest’s Bar Mitzvah, mindful of her spirit but missing her presence and participation.

And our financial struggle to support our children’s education is no less difficult, having lost my most recent steady job to budget cuts last month.

If you are not already one of the many wonderful friends and strangers who have generously supported our children’s education fund, I hope you will consider making a contribution. All the money, every penny, goes to our eldest son’s college fund and the bank account set aside to educate his younger brother and sister. You can do so by clicking here for the GoFundMe account

Thank you!