In 2017, a Republican speaker blocked Texas' bathroom bill over fears that the billl would face a north carolina-style backlash Almost a decade later, the bill sailed through with no opposition from Republicans and no real pushback from business leaders.

Texas to become the 20th state with a law restricting what bathrooms transgender people can use For @nbcnews.com: www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-...

"Angelo State University in San Angelo, TX, informed faculty that the university would [...] ban discussions of transgender topics in classes and a requirement that faculty refer to students by their legal name and not preferred names." It also prohibits pronouns in email signatures & pride flags.

NEW: Angelo State University in San Angelo, TX has told faculty that they can't discuss trans people in curriculum. When I asked the justification for the policy, they referenced Texas state law - but Texas law doesn't forbid discussions of trans people in higher ed. www.chron.com/culture/arti...

Berry cheesecake is the best new Rosh Hashanah tradition. Shared with my favorite Talmud scholar, so it’s official and everything.

Today, the parent of a trans child & lifetime U of M patient spoke to the U-M Regents against their compliance with the Trump admin by halting affirming care for trans youth, and adults age 18. Many, including myself & a Regent, were in tears. Link+full text below. www.youtube.com/live/JJsF2GM...

The President of Texas A&M fired a lecturer & removed a dept. chair + Dean of the College because a class addressed gender. And he was still forced to resign a week later. Capitulation buys nothing, so may as well go down swinging. Really wish our institutions of higher ed could learn the lesson.

Fuck

A lot to say about this, but one thing is that the Professor in question was a lecturer, and thus did not have tenure. The destruction of academic freedom is inextricably linked to the loss of worker protection in the university.

And the level of spineless capitulation at the largest public university in the country accelerates. Fuck.

Update on the Texas A&M professor / cell phone video situation: the professor has been fired by the A&M president president.tamu.edu/messages/an-...

The most heartbreaking part of this, to me, is the other student whose voice is recorded calmly, but firmly interjecting to say “my gender is not illegal.”

Update: The President of Texas A&M, the largest public university in the US, removed the Dean of the College and Chair of the English Dept just hours after coming under right-wing political pressure because a student recorded herself interrupting a lecture’s class that included topics on gender.

The professor was aware it was coming and went ahead with the planned class content on gender, knowing what would happen next. And without the protections afforded by tenure. Holy shit.

And the award for most negligent oppo research of the last decade goes to...

So ethnicity can’t be used as one of many factors in college admissions, but it can be used as one of a couple factors to justify police questioning? 🤡

Been dreading this for years. I am going to have to call my parents in Houston this week and tell them my husband and I can’t visit them in my home state anymore. And that is nothing compared to what the bill will do to trans Texans, and many cis Texans too.

With Michigan Medicine abandoning trans patients 18 and under, please consider donating to Corner Health in Ypsi. They are getting a lot of referrals and will put whatever you can spare to excellent use. cornerhealth.org/make-an-impa...

🌈 Yes, we’re under attack. But we’re also rising. Find joy, because thriving is an act of resistance. 💪 We are so proud of you. www.protecttransyouthmichigan.org/ #TransRights #Vote #YouBelong #ProtectTransYouth #ThrivingNotHiding

Some lawmakers are again attacking trans youth in Michigan to score political points. House Bill 4024 would prohibit trans kids from using restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity – a violation of our state civil rights law.

The announcement from the University of Michigan that they will no longer provide their transgender patients with all of the healthcare options available is shameful, dangerous, and potentially illegal. www.freep.com/story/news/h...

We are deeply disappointed today in the decision by another large health care institution in the U.S., in this case, one of our own here in Michigan, to halt access to care for trans young people under the age of 19.

Michigan Medicine is planning to halt all gender affirming care for those 18 years and younger (yes, including 18 year old adults). A cowardly betrayal of its patients, inconsistent with UM’s mission, and a clear violation of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

The only academic hothouse I have ever been in. It’s quite nice actually, and pretty sure they don’t grow words?

Sure, finishing up construction on the lecture hall entrance refurbishment over move-in weekend with final code inspection Monday morning, the day that classes start, seems like a nice, robust plan. What could go wrong??

Second time in a week I’ve found myself on John Bolton’s side. What a nightmare.

Florida government sides with the Pulse shooter

Hello everyone! We have joined BlueSky!!

Hard to express how uncomfortable and unwelcome the messages on the “jewbelong.com” signs that surround Ann Arbor make this Jew feel.

The US has crossed a lot of red lines, but detaining a sitting member of a state legislature for refusing to sign a document consenting to an armed “escort” explicitly tasked with restricting her movement feels pretty fucking significant. www.cbsnews.com/amp/texas/ne...

UPDATE: A spokesperson for the NPS told me that the agency and the DOJ are pursuing administrative action against several Yosemite employees and possible criminal charges against several park visitors over displays on El Capitan since 2024.

Very bad news from Costco. One of the groups orchestrating this pressure campaign is Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian Nationalist law firm that is hellbent on reshaping US society. The ADF coalition "now turns its focus to CVS and Walgreens."

Why Subway?? There must be decent hoagies in DC now… worst case, Wawa started opening locations almost a decade ago. This question is clearly going to haunt me.

I miss having a functional National Weather Service.

Finally catching up on Doctor Who and “open the parallax canon!” will definitely go through my head every time I open gea.esac.esa.int/archive/

Hours later…

Why pay to go to an Escape Room when you could get trapped in IKEA for free?

The Texas Dems breaking quorum is the only reason a statewide bathroom ban isn’t law. They broke over gerrymandering, not trans rights, but it is why my husband and I can still go there visit family. This is how you build coalitions. And why I beg my reps to block & delay everything they can.

Truly for absolutely all of my UK followers. Please reach out at every level in government to try to stop this. This is an evil and terrible choice, and there is absolutely no driver or impetus here except for pure hate. This is being done to endanger a vulnerable minority in your country.

An Air Force spokesperson said: "although service members with 15 to 18 years of honorable service were permitted to apply for an exception to policy, none of the exceptions to policy were approved." About a dozen service members had been “prematurely notified” that they would be able to retire.

New favorite restaurant in the area!! The Olive Branch in Ypsi is amazing. One review described it as “doing what Al Ameer did for Lebanese food in MI but for Palestinian” and it actually lives up to this expectation. Right next to Alez market, so you can pick out great baked goods while there.

I am an astronomer. If I had a plan to destroy the city, it would involve orbiting mirrors, lenses, and the Sun… not increased housing supply and protected bike lanes.

Wikipedia’s ancient and historically shitty search function is now more useful than Google. AI for the win.

These universities are going to have to reckon with what they are doing to trans women in the future and I just have to hope that people recognize the institutional violence that’s being done.

trans women shall not be welcome on campus

At an international conference, & walked past a large protest. A sight to see. Disruptive activism is core to the functioning of a healthy university. Even before the current authoritarian regime, fundamental liberties on US campuses were attacked by our own admins, & the losses are catastrophic.

4,000 NASA workers are leaving through deferred resignation. "The cuts amount to an estimated 20% of NASA's workforce" www.npr.org/2025/07/26/n...

WHAT ABOUT OUR KIDS, PETE?

UMich’s austerity hiring review, put in place by Ono, gave enormous power over unit-level hiring to the admin. And also, switching a graduating student employee to a postbacc position takes 3 weeks plus approval from the Offices of the Dean and Provost/President. Wonder how much that costs.