Evyn Kolczak-Hardy

pronouns: He/Him/They

Hello my name is evyn kolczak-hardy and growing up in a household with two moms i didn’t experience homophobia in the way some people often do. So when i finally went to school a year younger than my peers i didn’t understand how someone could hate another person just for loving somebody. These experiences opened my eyes to a world of hate and anger against people who couldn’t and should not be forced to change for society. I experienced hate and didn’t want anything like that to happen to anybody else. I believe that EmpowerMT is a step in the right direction for equality and education so hate and misinformation is put to an end. EmpowerMT is dedicated to making a change in montana. Taking some tangible steps in helping the youth and community. Our generation, the children, are the next face of america and it is our responsibility to put an end to the injustices of modern america. We cannot do this without taking the first steps in the right direction. Locally Montana as a state has a high concentration of  hate spread across it. Justice and education is not a priority in everyday life for many montanans and do not understand that these issues affect them.  Empower is working to change that and bring more inclusivity to Missoula and montana. As a community, Missoula faces issues of racism, homophobia, and other systemic injustices. It’s up to the people of missoula and montana to help solve these problems, many people think these topics don’t apply and a large proportion of missoula youth believe they cant have an impact due to their age. They are under the impression that politics is not something they can have an impact on. Our hope is to bring safety and justice to our community, we cannot cause change without taking the first steps of getting together, signing that petition, and educating our community. We must take the initiative and work together to make this dream a reality.