New rule: every US elected official who jokingly calls Hegseth's latest bullshit "gender-affirming care" has to immediately start work on a law/policy that will help trans people. Protect our healthcare; repeal a bathroom ban; protect/restore trans girls' right to participate in sports. Be allies!

...the "this is gender-affirming care" meme started w/trans ppl pointing out a double standard: procedures readily accepted/approved for cis ppl are denied to trans ppl. but cis ppl have turned it into a way to mock MAGAs' gender anxieties. maybe instead of mocking them, ACTIVELY SUPPORT OUR RIGHTS

1) it's not gender-affirming care when it's being foisted upon ppl w/o their consent. this policy is *invasive* 2) anti-trans GAC legislation is *also invasive* as it's designed to take away control of our own bodies. LET'S CALL IT INVASIVE! LET'S PROMOTE BODILY AUTONOMY RATHER THAN MAKING GAC JOKES

Alphabetically: Duluth, Minnesota: My first city. Lake Superior, and ships, and a cool bridge. London: Everything NY has, with less aggro. Minneapolis: Still home despite 16 long years away. Paris: Notre Dame at night. Roast chestnut vendors. Art & shit. Toronto: I dunno, I just really like it.

Magdalene Visaggio was once in seminary, training to become a Catholic priest. Now she's a snarky online trans girl like the rest of us. In a challenging new essay for Assigned, she writes about the toll being hated for who she is has taken on her psyche. assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...

When a politician dies, they weren't your friend, you aren't close to their family, they are not owed your polite fictions or any obligation to not speak ill of them. They were public figures who wielded immense power and their death is as good an occasion as any to say what you think of them.

i love being gay and transsexual

Women messing with men's heads du jour #3: Judith, her maid Abra, & head of Holofernes, 1618. By Artemisia Gentileschi, born OTD 1593.

“We need a diverse coalition; it will be messy, conflicted, and made of imperfect people with imperfect histories or imperfect politics; but there must… be a line drawn on *who we give power to*”

One thing I would love is if, when a straight white guy “sees the light” and joins the left, he would volunteer for a community group and like knock doors for someone who’d been on the left for ages instead of immediately wanting to be the candidate. It’d be like a litmus test for if they’re serious

Sure it's almost 10 pm and I haven't eaten since breakfast and I haven't drunk enough water and I've spent way too much time on my phone but it's completely unreasonable that I'm getting a migraine.

Local Pride day today. I had to work but I wore my "My Trans Visibility Matters" t-shirt. I got misgendered by a customer. Not (I think) on purpose. But I wonder if he failed to see my highly noticeable shirt, or if he got himself into a tizzy of overthinking and decided I must be a trans woman.

Opening day of the Great American State Fair drew light crowds, long walks, and mixed reactions from visitors. Here's what it was like inside the America 250 event. washingtonian.com/2026/06/26/i...

Precious Arzuaga pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in the 2025 killing of Oakdale man Sam Nordquist, who prosecutors say was tortured for weeks before his body was found in upstate New York.

Liz Soto and Savanna Batten are 2 of those sentenced to 50 years in prison for Prairieland. I visited them in a north Texas jail—11 months into their incarceration over a July 4 noise demo—to meet the Trump admin’s “Antifa terrorists”. from behind glass, Soto said, “They didn’t like my book club.”

The joy of opening the windows to let in cool air at sundown, all too quickly followed by sorrow as the roof starts radiating out all the heat it absorbed during the day. Also it would be nice if this apartment had more than one (1) window so I could get some goddamn air circulation.

If you're looking for a book to show up for, let it be the new epic from thee legendary @wildeeps.bsky.social, Kai Ashante Wilson, THE FALL OF ELVENESSE. Check out that cover art by the talented, Paulo D. Campos & preorder the book right freakin' now! www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-fall-o...

Fucking hell.

Unhinged things the UK gender critical movement said that altered my brain chemistry part 1: When Maya Forstater tried to apply the principle of sexual dimorphism to a cartoon alien library mascot

Meet Crumb, Button, and Clover. A friend in the Bay Area found them behind a gas station. Unfortunately, she isn't able to keep them, so if she can't find someone to adopt them, they will be going to a shelter. Can you help me find them a home? They are in good health and very tame.

Nature had cheated me of the lovely cool, cloudy, rainy day that was forecast, and I'm gonna be mad about it forever. (Or at least until October.)

I've just seen some dim-witted weirdo on here compare Graham Platner to PAUL WELLSTONE. I lived in Minnesota for much of Wellstone's tenure and I had mixed feelings, but he wasn't a former Blackwater mercenary with a Nazi tattoo, some Nazi pals, and a history of violence against women.

Your pride month stack should have a queer dude author in it. Stay smart while stackin, divas!

"We want the government to crack down on this thing that no one can define" is a recipe for a right-wing power grab and a raft of moral-panic legislation.

Hey @heinrich.senate.gov could you ask your friend, who you voted to confirm, to follow the law?

I’m sure he’s just always in the wrong place at the wrong time purely by coincidence, accidentally hiding only the tattoo that he didn’t know was a Nazi symbol

Hedgehog. Oak leaves. Chestnuts. And a snail! From Giovanna Garzoni, of course.

Today's artist w/out a (known) birthday: Giovanna Garzoni, painter of portraits but best known for still lifes. Here by herself (or possibly by Carlo Maratta), 1660, w / a portrait of herself in her youth.

Green chile cheeseburgers. They're fine. Nothing special. Boring unless you've never had one before.

"Pablo" shared this video of his crew of H2A workers in Oxnard harvesting lettuce at an hourly rate. He shared, "H2A workers earned $19.75 back in 2025 and now we are doing the same hard work for $16.50." #WeFeedYou

I just took a survey from my state's department of health, which promised a $10 gift card on completion. The link to get the card kicked me back to the survey sign in--which no longer worked bc I'd finished it. No way to report problem. I'd have done the survey anyway but I'm pissed off.

WHAT THE FCC? "the FCC is asking Americans to submit comments about whether the TV Oversight Management Board (TVOMB) should create new TV ratings to alert viewers to 'transgender and gender non-binary programming' and 'the discussion or promotion of gender identity themes.'" glaad.org/fcc

Some really big news out of Minnesota today! Story time. On a cold night in February, ICE agents chased a Alfredo, a DoorDash driver, through Minneapolis streets. Panicked, he called his partner and his best friend Julio: both urged him to come home. He almost made it. /1

It seems the rapist Neil Gaiman has reactivated his account. Wouldn't it be great if everybody blocked him? bsky.app/profile/neil...

Every May when I see people talk about being at Kalamazoo, I feel a little sad & nostalgic for academia. (I can make the nostalgia go away by remembering what grading papers was like, but still.)

Ugh, Bluesky has probably saved me from myself by kicking me back up to the top of my timeline and far away from a really dumb take I was about to reply to. (I went to that person's other posts to see if they just had a bad take or were evil. Then couldn't get back to the original post.)

"We commit to putting substantial resources behind ideas that are presently viewed with skepticism by scientists and scholars. By leveling the intellectual playing field, we seek to achieve a more democratic university to bring about a less democratic world."

The gumption of the young journalists here alone is worthy of commendation, but I’m most heartened by how local reporting by local people breaks through: “It’s like, ’Yeah, your granddaughter is going through this...it’s something different than Fox News.’” #icymi

I don’t think Americans with hypertension and various other treatable conditions deserve to die. Sorry to get so partisan, but that’s how I feel.

In my second fun transportation experience today, I was almost run down by some jackass who was going waaaaay too fast out of a parking lot. I was crossing the driveway and he was nowhere in sight when I started. Naturally, he was a 60-ish white dude driving a red Mustang.

Me: rather than walk 45 minutes to the pharmacy that no bus goes to, I'll take a bus in the wrong direction to catch the once-an-hour bus that will drop me 10 minutes away! That's a good plan! The first bus: I'll be 15 minutes late so you miss your connection! Thank you for using public transport.

While the world’s eyes are on fashion’s biggest night, we’re turning ours to the garment, retail, and warehouse workers who keep the industry running. From true love found on the picket line to a free tailoring school out of a Brooklyn basement — meet the New Yorkers who make it all possible.

Verses on Obi Wan (threade) Ther was a beardid man, an oolde EREMITE, Who knew the crafte of armes more than a lite; He lovid the Force syn he a youngling was, And eek trouthe and honour, and kickinge arse. Ful worthy was he in the auncient werres, For in thos tymes he foughte on manye sterres:

Americans were sold "We caught you here illegally, we're sending you back to your home country." Instead we got a torture victim being deported to Africa. It is worse than you think. ICYMI @adriancarrasquillo.bsky.social:

Be sure to watch the video with the sound on, because it turns out cougars purr.

Millennium. I have to look it up every time, including just now.

Incomparably fantastic portrait of a pensive, slightly melancholy man in the 1430s by Robert Campin, whose day was today.

Trans-focused gym with swimming pool. Cis people grudgingly allowed if they behave themselves.

1. In a draconian new policy, Texas Tech is banning writing about LGBTQ+ topics. The ban is the first don't say gay or trans policy to apply to students themselves. It applies to any thesis/dissertation moving forward. They are using AI to scan everything. Subscribe to support our journalism.