The greatest danger to no trans person speaking at the DNC and the word "transgender" only being said twice in 4 nights is that Dems (wrongly) are scared of the politics of supporting trans people.
Which easily becomes, Dems see us as worth negotiating away.
Let me explain why:
The Dem Party, especially state parties, are extremely supportive of transgender people when it comes to policy. But they did not fiercely defend us when they had the countries attention.
There were countless "love who you want to love" but virtually no "be who you want to be"
Aug 22 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
1. There appears to be movement in several Republican-controlled states to ban gender marker changes on drivers licenses.
Texas is the latest. Similar actions are ognoing in Missouri and Montana.
Texas even says it will ignore court orders.
Subscribe to support my journalism. 2. The news out of Texas is that because Attorney General Ken Paxton does not believe court orders apply to the Texas Department of Public Safety, he is instructing them simply not to follow them.
1. Last night, DeSantis-backed anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ candidates got crushed across Florida.
Only six of his 25 picks won. He primarily endorsed in Republican and swing counties.
As in the 2023 races, anti-trans politics are not popular.
Subscribe to support my journalism. 2. I cover some of the biggest losses for DeSantis and Moms For Liberty associated candidates in my latest story, where anti-trans politics, book bans, and scaremongering over LGBTQ+ people played a huge role.
1. In what has to be one of the coolest stories, a Federal Judge ruled Parker Tirrell, a trans teen, could play soccer with her friends and teammates.
JUST in time for her to go to practice. She wore her athletic clothes in the courtroom.
Subscribe to support my journalism. 2. The ruling, which was handed down Monday Afternoon, is in response to New Hampshire HB 1205, a bill that bans transgender people from playing sports of their gender identity.
1. This week, wild claims circulated in response to an article from Leor Sapir that the American Society For Plastic Surgery (ASPS) is the first medical organization to "break consensus" on trans care.
It turns out this is absolutely untrue.
Subscribe to support my journalism. 2. The article, published in City Journal by anti-trans activist Leor Sapir, used a few selectively picked quotes to claim that the ASPS has broken rank.
1. Breaking: I have passed a press statement from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons over reports that it has "broken from consensus" on trans care.
"The ASPS opposes any attempts at legal encroachment into the practice of medicine."
I have a huge story tomorrow on this.. 2. I have been in contact with ASPS members and their press contact, and have found out some VERY interesting things.
I have been informed that "To date, ASPS has not issued a clinical practice guideline on gender surgery for adolescents or adults."
They have not "reversed."
Aug 15 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Lets talk about these pictures of JD Vance, some of the bad takes about the pictures, and why SOME takes to attack Vance are rubbing many the wrong way who find his policies towards LGBTQ+ people cruel.
Vance is not the first Republican to have a history with drag. Tennessee's governor signed a drag ban. Pictures came out of him in drag... (left)
The author of a drag ban in Texas did the same (right)
There are literally dozens more like this.
Aug 15 • 16 tweets • 5 min read
1. In an interview with ABC News, JD Vance claimed that Tim Walz signed a bill allowing the state to kidnap a child and "change their gender."
A fact check shows this is false.
Subscribe to support my journalism. Lets dig into the claim, and how it started. 2. JD Vance, in his ABC interview, claimed that Walz allowed the state "kidnap kids" and "change their gender," after Trump claimed the same.
But it actually comes from an earlier lie about the bill last year.
1. Seeing falling poll numbers, Trump took to the stage in Montana. Many wondered how his messaging would change.
Now we know: He has fully leaned into targeting transgender people.
Lets look at everything he said about trans people.
Subscribe to support my journalism. 2. Trump repeatedly returned to targeting transgender people throughout the night, attacking trans people in sports, schools, gender affirming care, and even the cisgender Olympic athlete Imane Khelif.
1. On Wednesday, Trump issued his first attacks on Walz during Fox & Friends.
Among the very first attacks that he made was, "He is very into transgender."
This was over Walz' executive order protecting trans people fleeing unsafe states.
Subscribe to support my journalism. 2. The attack seems to be one of the first ones many major far-right sources are pouncing on. It stems from Walz signing an order that kept patient records private from out of state AGs who engage in political prosections.
1. Governor Tim Walz has been tapped to be the nominee for Vice President by Kamala Harris.
What you may not know is that he was one of the most protective governors towards trans people, even protecting those coming from across state lines.
Subscribe to support my journalism. 2. Governor Walz has a long history of LGBTQ+ support and protection. Over the past few years, over a thousand anti-LGBTQ+ bills, mostly anti-trans ones, have been proposed.
He has been one of the strongest governors opposing that.
1. Yesterday, the Boston Globe printed a news article on Imane Khelif, a cisgender boxer, titled: "Transgender boxer Advances"
Khelif is not trans. This isn't even asserted by the IAB. It is an egregiously false headline.
Subscribe to support my journalism. Lets dig in. 2. The false headline is the latest in a series of attacks on Khelif and other athletes, claiming they are "men" or "transgender," and using their presence to attack trans people.
I dig into the latest false headline and the whole story in my article:
1. Huge news out of the UK. The British Medical Association, which represents 190,000 doctors in the UK, has voted against implementation of the Cass Review, calling the review "unsubstantiated."
This will have global impacts.
Subscribe to support my journalism. Lets dig in. 2. Up until now, major medical groups in the United Kingdom have stayed relatively quiet on the Cass Review as its findings have been used to support bans on trans care globally.
1. Today, Vivian Jenna Wilson, Elon Musk's trans daughter, fired back after Musk claimed she was a "slightly autistic gay boy" and was "killed by the woke mind virus," deadnaming her in the process.
"Go touch some F–king grass," she says.
Subscribe to support my journalism. 2. In a series of Threads posts, Wilson claimed that Musk's account of her life was "entirely fake," and that he was "never there."
Read my full story on Musk's interview, Wilson's response, and the consequences of Musk's radicalization into transphobia.
1. Today in his piece for the New York Times, David Leonhardt had absolutely unsurprising advice for VP Kamala Harris: Target trans people.
This comes after a year of his paper doing the same thing.
I explore why this is bad advice.
Subscribe to support my journalism. 2. The New York Times has heavily targeted trans people by publishing disinfo-laden pieces on transgender care in recent months.
Leonhardt's advice to Harris represents the action item that such coverage leads to.
1. After Kamala Harris was tapped as the likely Dem nominee, Republicans scrambled for their first line of attack.
By early evening, they settled on a tactic that has failed in many other races: pronouns and accessibility.
Subscribe to support my journalism. Lets dig in. 2. Several conservative accounts such as Elon Musk, the RNC Research account, and Libs of TikTok posted a video of VP Harris stating her pronouns and describing her outfit to a table of people.
1. A viral post on Twitter and Facebook is claiming that Trump's shooter was actually a trans woman. It was shared by far-right accounts and Alex Jones.
The problem? It's of an unrelated trans woman named Rose.
I spoke with Rose today.
Subscribe to support my journalism. 2. The post alleging that a trans woman was the actual shooter of Donald Trump went megaviral yesterday and today. Like many times before, it is of an unrelated transgender person. Read my full story here, where I interview her:
1. Tensions brew within the Teamsters Union as its leader, Sean O'Brien, spoke at the Republican National Convention.
He then endorsing an anti-LGBTQ+ article by Sen. Hawley.
The Teamsters account rebuked him in a swiftly deleted tweet.
Subscribe to support my journalism. 2. The move by O'Brien is being seen as a troublesome sign that one of the most influential labor union leaders may be willing to barter away LGBTQ+ workers rights to curry favor with the Republican party.
1. The danger has increased for trans people in federal funding bills, and Sen. Manchin has doubled down and expressed support for a Project 2025 policy targeting ALL trans people, not just the military.
I cover the latest development today.
Subscribe to support my journalism. 2. Yesterday, Senator Joe Manchin voted to ban federal funding for gender affirming surgeries in the Military and a TRICARE ban for trans youth care.
Now, he appears to support federal funding bans on ALL trans care.
1. The New York Times has published another lengthy opinion piece by Pamela Paul targeting transgender care.
It is filled with inaccuracies, disinformation, and factually incorrect claims.
Lets dive in.
Subscribe to support my journalism. 2. Pamela Paul and the NYT repeatedly publish misleading information about transgender people. This isn't Paul's first time doing so.
I fully fact check Paul's latest piece, which will undoubtedly be given another 2-page NYT spread, in my latest article.