I thought I could stealth edit my PFP but then I got lots of messages lol. So anyways, new PFP from ren faire which I go to every year, and I may change it one more time if I get professional headshots soon. My last was 5 years old and I just look different now. Didn’t mean to confuse everyone 😅

Honestly “Republicans are shutting down the government to hide the Epstein files” is pretty good messaging.

1. Vehemently anti-LGBTQ+ Oklahoma education superintendent is finally out as of yesterday. He appointed Libs of TikTok to the library board, and constantly worked against LGBTQ+ students. Now, local businesses are literally throwing parties that he is gone. Subscribe to support our journalism.

This is simultaneously not an especially radical theological belief and, politically speaking (especially in the U.S. context), quite a thing for Pope Leo to say. www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/266859/...

Val and I checked repeatedly because we simply couldn't believe no national or local news organizations covered this letter from 18 AGs in support of trans youth care and against FTC overreach. If you find any stories, let us know, but it seems to be our exclusive.

1. The government is now shut down. The clean continuing resolution failed and neither party has come to an agreement. Many people watching the anti-LGBQT+ riders in the FY26 appropriations bills want to know what this means. I detail "what now?" in my latest. Subscribe to support our journalism.

Well, on the bright side, I remember the 2018 shutdown here in DC and maybe for a little while the rush hour traffic will be manageable...

Last December, Senate Dems had no anti trans provisions in their NDAA and the house did. Many thought the Senate Dems would stop those provisions. They didn’t. Last minute, 37 Dems voted for it. We must take no chances with the appropriations fight. My story from last December.

It's midnight. We are officially in a government shutdown. No clean CR was passed. Congress moves on to negotiating during what could be a protracted closure. Thank you all for calling to let them know that whatever gets negotiated, anti-LGBTQ provisions cannot be in the final appropriations bill.

Shutdown is on. Only 3 Democrats voted for the clean CR, which means we are now officially heading for a government shutdown.

6 more hours until shutdown. We will likely soon be getting a vote on the clean CR (no anti trans provisions in it), which is expected to fail, and then we are officially in a government shutdown.

I just got a VERY interesting email that allies in congress were upset that so many of my readers were calling about the anti-trans provisions. I'm here to say: good. I won't let them throw our rights under the bus by cover of night. All's that to say, keep up the calls. They're hearing you.

12 more hours til a shutdown. If one occurs, it will at least be a sign Democrats are willing to play hardball with Republican demands. A clean CR will only kick the can down the road a few weeks and will signal weakness to the Democrats negotiating hand.

Is this not straight-forwardly a declaration of civil war?

1. It's shutdown day, and anti-trans provisions are on the line... either today, or in a few more weeks if a clean continuing resolution passes. Trump posted a video this morning blaming a shutdown on trans people and immigrants. Here is your shutdown guide. Subscribe to support our journalism.

Whitmer declares October “transgender empowerment month.” AG Nessel and the Michigan govt have yet to force state hospitals capitulating to Trump to return to providing trans youth care. I feel like this message is empty, and will only serve as right wing rage bait while delivering nothing.

1. There's a lot of confusion about this out there. Let me make it easier: There are two ways to keep the government open: The full FY26 appropriations bill for the entire year, and a continuing resolution to keep it open for a few months at current levels. Both are part of negotiations right now.

NEW: Multiple media outlets - and Senator @johnfetterman.com - are claiming that left-wing terrorism has hit a "30 year high". That's not what the data says. They're lying. www.peoplesline.org/p/the-left-t...

1. There's a lot of confusion about this out there. Let me make it easier: There are two ways to keep the government open: The full FY26 appropriations bill for the entire year, and a continuing resolution to keep it open for a few months at current levels. Both are part of negotiations right now.

1. A day after the Michigan church shooting, Republicans are silent after learning the shooter was a MAGA extremist. No investigations of Trump supporters as terrorists. No national conversations about the rights of cisgender men. The silence is deafening. Subscribe to support our journalism.

UK's Labour Party abandoned transgender people. The gambit to pursue rightwing voters by abandoning a targeted minority failed, and now they're facing the prospect of a historic loss. US Dems could learn a lot from their failure. Great piece from S. Baum. Subscribe to support our journalism.

Trump and Dems are officially meeting Monday. This is after Trump cancelled his last meeting with Democrats because they were holding firm on immigrant and transgender protections. The Republican budget has dozens of anti-LGBTQ+ riders. Call your Dem senators, people, don't let them capitulate.

What concerns me is not that Democrats will compromise on something like trans athletes--that question is at SCOTUS now and thus beyond their reach anyway. What concerns me is that I hear far more about what rights of mine they're willing to sacrifice and very little about what rights they'll defend

Trump just ordered the military into Portland, and he’s giving them the green light to use lethal force on American citizens. Authoritarianism is an abstract concept but Trump is making its impacts real and tangible. Let’s be real about it: This is the beginning of dictatorship in America.

ICE is doing forced labor and sexual assault of transgender people in their detention centers, reads a new complaint.

If you’re influenced by Ezra Klein you’re being idiotic, period. That includes the multiple former presidents (Obama, Biden) who have taken his dumb ass seriously. Time to stop.

We've launched a new report at Erin In The Morning: The Lavender Ledger, your strategic LGBTQ+ reader, covering the stories that we passed on because someone else covered it better than us. Here is our first one!

Washington Post. Don't forget that they fired journalists too, and they've taken their paper and turned it into a tool for billionaires. I honestly think WaPo needs to be the next target. And lets not forget that they said this about Bondi, giving her a green thumbs up.

Nextar has now also folded and will start airing Kimmel again. Remember this next time they tell you we are powerless in the face of rising fascism. Companies capitulating to Trump need to feel heat. Keep it going. apnews.com/article/jimm...

So far there have been zero trans women reported as having visited epsteins pedo island. But lots of people who want you to think trans women are threats to children seemed to have gone there at some point. Curious...

So that’s how Musk knows Trump is in the files.

This literally looks like something you'd do in a Mario Kart game.

1. Great news for trans students in Chicago. Chicago Public Schools has announced it will defy Trump's demand to ban trans youth from bathrooms. Trump will now pull millions in federal funds. "Our district will not back away from doing what we know is right." Subscribe to support our journalism.

Excellent reporting from Heated and Atmos. It looks like some of the biggest investors in the anti-trans movement are fossil fuel billionaires who are trying to use trans issues to ensure that Republicans pass policies favorable to their industry. heated.world/p/fossil-fue...

Alejandra is not overselling this. This executive order, if weaponized by a lawless administration like Trump, could lead to the dismantling of institutional/nonprofit opposition to Trump. It can also be used for surveillance and disruption ops similar to the civil rights era and red scare.

Republicans, Trump included, are zeroing in on transgender people and blaming us for the looming government shutdown. They are demanding that Democrats cave on transgender rights. Many of them are copying the same talking points in their messages.

1. A new The 19th/SurveyMonkey Poll finds that a majority of Americans are against trans youth care bans. This includes a majority of Independent voters, casting doubt on the narrative that Democrats need to pull back on transgender people. Subscribe to support our journalism.

Transgender Americans are seeing a wave of hate unleashed by Charlie Kirk’s killing | Erin Reed

In the wake of Charlie Kirk's death, the far-right, led by the Trump administration, has doubled its efforts to crackdown on transgender people. My latest article in The Guardian. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Honestly, a really good article. It's not just Fox News and MAGA that have made it hell for trans people in recent years. It's some of the "liberal" news outlets and centrist publications that made this possible too.

Turns out not being mad that a far-right hate influencer got shot is NOT a fireable offense if you are a teacher or professor. 1A wins again.

Many of us called out that this law passed by Democrats would turn out to be a massive self inflicted wound. They never should have passed the TikTok ban. It was a bad idea even WITHOUT oligarch capture.

Grateful to our courageous clients and co-counsel @dsc250.bsky.social @bergermontague.bsky.social. Together, we will protect trans youth!

1. In a groundbreaking legal filing, transgender patients, represented by Women's Law Project, have filed a legal complaint against UPMC for capitulating to Trump and dropping trans care. Federal funding threats do not override state law. Subscribe to support our journalism.

The anti-trans right heavily praised Gordon Guyatt as the “godfather” of evidence based medicine. He worked for SEGM and was responsible for their GRADE reviews. Now he disavows them, says evidence supports transgender youth care. Great coverage from Henry carnell.

As a trans woman who is proudly anti-fascist, I'm just wondering if Trump designating me a terrorist TWICE cancels out? Am I back to upstanding citizen? Or am I a SUPER DUPER terrorist?

i have to say, as a trans journalist who has covered the "trans debate" for about a decade now, there is no daylight between how the trump administration and conservatives lie about tylenol and autism and how they've lied about youth trans care.

1. Trump has dug in on anti-trans provisions in the shutdown fight this morning, cancelling a meeting with Dems unless they cave on trans people. His post to Truth Social is a clear indication that Republicans are making targeting trans people a priority. Subscribe to support our journalism.

Just finished a solo RPG, Thousand Year Vampire, and it’s my first I’ve ever tried. My character was a vampire in Trondheim, who moved to York and then New Orleans and NYC. I learned so many things, like the Harrying of the North, Staple City laws, early NYC music halls, and more. Good game :)

Just wait: Tylenol's gonna pay Trump $10M, and he's gonna come out next week saying that actually it's Advil that causes autism.