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Category: The Texas Observer

The Left’s Forgotten Cause: Long Covid and Public Health Awareness, with KD Drackert

Posted in Activism, Austin, Deceleration, Journalism, LGBTQIA, and The Texas Observer

KD Drackert is one of my favorite people in Austin; to be honest, I think I have an “activist crush” on them. What I mean is, I just adore everything she does and wish more people knew about their work. So I thought this month I’d share my full interview with KD, from March of this year. We spoke after a banner drop she organized, which was the hook for my Deceleration article about mask blocs and Long Covid activism. Earlier, KD also appeared in my Texas Observer magazine feature on Long COVID. 

I also just think it’s terribly important to keep this issue in the public awareness, especially as the Trump regime begins to dismantle access to vaccines and other public health measures. Sadly, I feel like the American left doesn’t put enough emphasis on these issues, whether it’s access to universal healthcare or the importance of improving air quality in public places. That’s why I admire the work that Clear The Air ATX, mask blocs and similar mutual aid groups do so much, and feel it’s so important to amplify their work. 

We held this interview on the patio of a noisy bar, while I sipped on a THC-laced beverage, the kind Dan Patrick is so offended about. But my transcription software saved the day, turning useless audio into useful text.

Texas Observer: Reefer Madness 2.0 Arrives in Lone Star State

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and The Texas Observer

Marijuana prohibition is a Texas tradition. Unless Governor Greg Abbott vetoes Senate Bill 3, the state’s new ban on THC, the state is about to suddenly and drastically renew its commitment to that tradition—at a potential cost of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in lost taxable revenue, and countless lives broken in the prison system.

“We have to look at a long history in Texas,” said Austin Zamhariri, executive director of the Texas Cannabis Collective. “The modern enforcement of marijuana prohibition that exists today, that system began in Texas in 1915 in El Paso. It was the very first city in the entire country that prohibited marijuana.”

Zamhariri offered this historical perspective by way of explaining why our state is so eager to close the legal loophole that accidentally created a booming market for THC products about six years ago. “These systems have existed for 110 years,” he said.

Kit @ SXSW 2025

Posted in Austin, Journalism, SXSW, and The Texas Observer

I’m appearing at a free SXSW event (no badge required) on Monday, March 10 at 4pm at Flipboard House (Speakeasy in downtown Austin). I’ll be talking about how I use alternative, decentralized social media like Mastodon and Bsky to promote Texas Observer and my own journalism.

I recommend checking out the whole two-day slate of events, which features some great speakers like Molly White and Cory Doctorow. Hope to see you there!

Texas Observer: Counting Hate in 2024

Posted in Journalism, and The Texas Observer

A national project tracking anti-LGBTQ+ hate found dozens of homophobic and transphobic incidents in Texas during 2024, ranging from physical assaults to stolen Pride flags, though the most common type of incident were protests by right-wing extremists, often outside of drag events. The database, compiled by the Anti-LGBTQ+ Extremism Reporting Tracker (ALERT) Desk, a project of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD, also recorded a wave of dozens of bomb threats, including several in Texas. 

In all, the ALERT Desk logged 918 anti-LGBTQ+ incidents nationwide last year, of which 61 took place in our state. Only New York, with 61, and California, with 125, had as many or more hate incidents. 

Nationally, that averages out to about 2.5 incidents per day in 2024. Almost half of the incidents (48 percent) targeted transgender, nonbinary, or other gender-nonconforming people. The ALERT Desk compiles incidents from mainstream and independent media, as well as through direct reports, social media, and monitoring of extremists’ online communications. The Texas Observer was granted access to a full list of incidents reported in Texas.

Kit’s Best of 2024

Posted in Austin, Journalism, Life, The Advocate, The Barbed Wire, and The Texas Observer

What a ride this year was—the highs were very high and the lows were very low. But at the same time, I can look back at 2024 and feel proud.

Probably my proudest moment this year wasn’t something I wrote, but that someone else wrote about me. In September, the Columbia Journalism Review profiled my work and career. Journalist Lucy Schiller spent days getting to know me and shadowing me while I reported, and photographer Montinique Monroe made me feel incredibly comfortable and look incredibly cute. I couldn’t be happier with how this turned out, and I’m honored that they thought me worth profiling.

Texas Observer: Fuck You, Greg Abbott! (The Musical)

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and The Texas Observer

Some theater experiences are dignified and serious, exploring the depths of human emotion with gravitas and solemnity. On the other hand, there’s “Young Greg Abbott: A FuQusical.”

“This ain’t a subtle show, just thought you should know,” sang the band leader, King Amy Blackard, at the beginning of “Young Greg Abbott,” a satirical show which saw its first two full performances on October 18 in Austin. “Please save your thoughts and prayers. It’s just Sondheim with swears.”

At this “FuQusical,” the audience was encouraged to sing along, shout, and curse at the cast—especially at the actor, Brently Heilbron, playing the youthful version of our now third-term governor. Heilbron also wrote the script and music. Many middle fingers flew during the performance I attended, among the packed crowd at the downtown State Theatre.