No birds of the day this morning because I got to the place I wanted to bird and a fucking wasp landed on me and stung me for no fucking good reason.

Here is Tom Steyer personally supporting high school trans athlete AB Hernandez. I don't think I've ever seen a candidate as brave as Tom Steyer in his explicit support for trans folks. It says a lot that it took a self funded billionaire not dependent on donors to do it.

The 15 year old trans girl suing Idaho over their bathroom ban took her own life and they had to drop the case because of it. It's not a myth, you fucking ghouls!

Nature Human Behavior just published an article by a SPLC affiliated hate group author who explicitly lists it in the article less than a year after submission. It's a deeply flawed analysis that tries to erase the harms of anti-trans laws by overemphasizing data limitations.

1. The New York State budget has just been released, and Democrats have provided $0 for transgender care access in the wake of Trump's attacks. Advocates wanted funding for direct access to care. It is the latest in NY electeds not meeting the moment. Subscribe to support our journalism.

Compare this statement to Becerra saying it is ok to exclude trans people from sports because of “who they are.”

1. In recent months, we have seen California governor throw trans people under the bus for political points. Now, one of the leading Dems in the race for CA Gov. has said "enough," and has fully embraced trans athletes and rights. He condemns capitulation. Read our latest story.

What an incredible Memorial Day weekend in Bannack State Park, one of the best preserved ghost towns in America. Did some incredible birding there too. Got my first Golden Eagle being harassed by a Harrier, a Kestrel, Rock Wren, Wilson's Warb, Dusky Flycatcher, Western Tanager, and so many more!

1. Major news. The Maine trans sports and bathroom ban referendum will NOT appear on the November ballot, baring an appeal. It turns out the paid-by-signature gatherers submitted potentially fraudulently collected, improper, or even forged signatures. Our latest report.

It would be bad enough if this was all she voted for, but the bill literally also has a provision to strip school funding from any school that has books with trans characters, has policies protecting trans students, performs shakespeare’s 12th night, or even has a trans teacher.

When I say I will never vote for Gavin Newsom. When I say I’d take another Republican congress over Democrats that abandon trans people. This is why. When your largest left of center party goes the way of Labour in the UK, you’ve lost all hope. I will never do it.

A statement from a member of the party that just banned trans people from using appropriate bathrooms across the UK, including in private businesses. According to her, living with dignity involves being sent out back tto the gender neutral porta potty, just like in South Carolina.

I love it when bands or artists or writers I’ve loved for decades turn out to be awesome.

Rep. Eugene Vindman is doubling down on the forced outing of transgender students and though he says he "disagrees" with defunding schools that support trans people, he voted for it anyway because he really likes the forced outing portion.

The system working as intended. They want to push trans youth to either leave the state or take their own lives. Idaho got both outcomes here and now the lawsuit against them has to be dismissed.

These 8 Democrats voted to pass a national ban on trans teachers and mention of LGBTQ topics. Rep Henry Cuellar (TX) Rep. Don Davis (NC) Rep. Cleo Fields (LA) Rep. Laura Gillen (NY) Rep. Vicente González (TX) Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH) Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA) Rep. Eugene Vindman (VA)

Why did you side with the GOP's anti-trans crusade? www.huffpost.com/entry/8-demo...

1. In a startling development, 8 Congressional Democrats crossed party lines to give Trump the power to pull school funding for supporting trans people. We list them in our latest article. Gonzalez (TX) Cueller (TX) Davis (NC) Fields (LA) Gillen (NY) Kaptur (OH) Gluesenkamp (WA) Vindman (VA)

Trans people are not “fighting for unpopular positions that society isn’t ready for.” Trans people are fighting to KEEP the rights we have enjoyed for decades. We have been able to legally change our gender markers since the 70s and before. Same with bathrooms, sports, youth, all for decades.

On today's bird walk, I FINALLY saw my lifer Eastern Towhee. Relatively common bird that has been extremely illusive to me in my first month and a half of birding.

Today's bird walk featured a very rare bird for this area... look at this goofy duck goose looking thing. A Black-bellied Whistling Duck. This thing should be in Florida or Central America. What are you doing up here buddy?

1. A Kansas Judge has struck down the anti-trans "experts" the ADF parades. "Cherry-picked information, conjecture, and research taken out of context," ruled Judge Folsom III. He then established 349 facts that support trans care and reversed the Kansas ban. Subscribe to support our journalism.

1. California has reinstituted its anti-trans athlete policy. In track and Field, the California Interscholastic Foundation will force trans athletes to share the medal and podium with the next highest cisgender athlete. We talk to A.B. Hernandez in our latest piece.

1. Incredible breaking news and a landmark ruling out of Colorado. The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that hospitals MUST not capitulate to Trump, and must continue offering trans youth care under state law. They found vague federal threats "speculative." Subscribe to support our journalism.

Today's bird walk, I got my Trumpeter Swan lifers, and also here's a bonus catbird!

Real great time for me to get into birding lol. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/16/w...

Today's bird walk featured a lot of fun birds, like an Olive Sided Flycatcher flagged as rare (lifer for me!) But the funniest and saddest moment of the walk was this poor Red Shoulder Hawk getting harassed by this blue jay. Poor thing!

Major news! A state court in Kansas has just blocked the states gender affirming care ban! Nobody is at our desk right now so we can’t draft up a story but you all deserve to know this incredible news. assets.aclu.org/live/uploads...

1. In a scathing ruling, a Trump-appointed federal judge found that Trump's Department of Justice misled courts to try and obtain private data on trans people from hospitals. She called the DOJ "at best, deceptive, if not intentionally and knowingly false." Subscribe to support our journalism.

The grand jury subpoena of NYU has been released. It appears that feds want the name and identifying information of every trans youth care patient. This is just one of 15 extreme demands from the hospital. We released the full subpoena on our site. Read our latest from our writer S. Baum.

Beautiful prothonotary warbler eating a damselfly and I also got an extremely hard to get picture of a yellow-breasted chat! What a funny bird, this thing has the silliest call! Seriously look it up!

Wrap just came off on my newest tattoo! Over the garden wall makes such incredible tattoo art. Tattoo by Alex Rodway in Philly!

I know people want to feel agency over the state of things, but it's rewriting history to say the left abandoned twitter. New ownership aggressively drove the left out, a critical mass landed here. I liked the old Twitter better too. I liked the larger pool, I liked the give and take.

Honestly don’t know what the alternative is. By the time I finally made the jump, and I was a late leaver, my stuff was just no longer delivered to my followers. People active on the site told me they hadn’t seen my posts in over a month.

Yesterday we were among the first to break this story: NYU Langone received a grand jury subpoena over its provision of gender-affirming care for trans youth, issued by a court 2,000 miles away in Texas. www.erininthemorning.com/p/nyu-langon...

Major breaking news tonight. NYU Langone has received a federal criminal subpoena over its provision of trans youth care. The subpoena originates from a grand jury empaneled in the Northern District of Texas. It's a massive escalation in attacks on trans poviders. Read our breaking story:

There are so many birds I could post from my morning bird walk, but this one is one of my best photographs compositionally I've ever taken. A crow just finished taking down a songbird's nest, and it stands triumphantly over its destruction.

Today's bird walk in Maclay flat yielded several birds that we crossed off of our list - a Hammond's Flycatcher, a Hermit Thrush, and a couple of warblers. But we did not get pictures of those. So instead, have a cute red-breasted nuthatch coming out of a tree hole and a northern flicker!

Today’s bird walk featured a really fun creature. Not a great photograph by any means, but I have to share it, because it’s a rare bird here. An Anhinga in Maryland. Such a strange bird!

1. A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration has animus towards transgender people. He used that finding to block major first amendment violations against WPATH and the Endocrine Society. Trump requested their communications back through 1979. Subscribe to support our journalism.

Saw lots of beautiful birds, warblers like the great northern and Tennessee warbler and the ever so affectionate butterbutt. But didn't get any photos of them today. So instead, you get a mamma goose and gosling and a GRACKLE.

1. According to a heartbreaking large new survey, trans youth who desire to obtain hormone therapy and cannot get it face double the suicide attempt risk. Only 10% of trans youth under 18 are on hormone therapy. www.erininthemorning.com/p/trans-yout...

1. In a stunning example of restricting students from talking about LGBTQ+ people, Pensacola State College as violated decades of Supreme Court precedent and blocked a student journalism magazine from publishing 3 stories because they included LGBTQ+ topics. Subscribe to support our journalism.

An anti-trans Dem in Michigan is trying to disqualify a trans woman running for the same seat over not using her deadname. She doesn't even have to, her name is legally changed. State Dems are rallying around her. We spoke with Joanna Whaley, the candidate. Subscribe to support our journalism.

Todays bird walk picture was really fun... two new lifers, including my FIRST OWL! A Barred Owl!

Today's bird walk... a beautiful Eatern Bluebird with impossible blue coloration and an Eastern Phoebe in flight.

The Russian government is charging and convicting LGBTQ people of "extremism" solely for advocating for their right to exist in Russia. This is a preview of what the right wants to do here in the US. www.unclosetedmedia.com/p/under-new-...

1. The Trump administration has announced that it is launching an anti-trans investigation into 36 Illinois School Districts over bathrooms and books. It is the latest attempt to threaten public schools funding over trans people. Subscribe to support our journalism.

This morning's bird walk featured a Great Egret, a Green Heron, some Scarlet Tanagers, and a Raccoon :)

BREAKING: Fifth Circuit three-judge panel of all Republican appointees blocks rule allowing mailing of mifepristone, agreeing with Louisiana challenge to a policy ending the in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion drug. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...