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Trans Lives Are Not Up For DebateA close-up of a white person's closed eyelid and nose, with the eyelid painted with the transgender flag.
Mainstream media articles like Emily Bazelon's New York Times article hurt transgender people. (Unsplash / Kyle)
July 22, 2022
Kit
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Trans Lives Are Not Up For Debate

Posted in Journalism, and The Texas Observer

On June 15, the New York Times Magazine published “The Battle Over Gender Therapy,” an investigation into gender-affirming care for young people by staff writer Emily Bazelon. Since its publication, transgender-rights advocates, medical experts, and other journalists have condemned the article for inaccurately portraying such care as controversial, misrepresenting scientific research, and quoting anti-trans activists without proper context.

Now, the state of Texas is using it as evidence in an ongoing attempt to investigate trans-supportive healthcare as “child abuse.”

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Queer As Folk Reboot Features Groundbreaking Disabled OrgyEric Graise (A Black man with short bleached hair in a wheelchair) looks back at the camera as he sits outside an urban looking building, two people behind him are talking on the stoop.
Eric Graise as Marvin on 'Queer as Folk' (Courtesy of Peacock)
June 30, 2022
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Queer As Folk Reboot Features Groundbreaking Disabled Orgy

Posted in Journalism

Everything is ready for the orgy. The snacks  and drinks are prepared, the disco ball is hanging, and there are  mechanical lifts to help people in and out of their wheelchairs. As a  few guests mingle and a go-go dancer gyrates, Marvin (played by Eric  Graise) rolls onto the stage in his wheelchair to act as emcee. With the  help of a sign-language interpreter, he kicks things off by announcing,  “I know you’re all dying to tear each other’s clothes off, or to have  your attendants take them off for you.” This is no ordinary orgy; it’s  “#F*CK Disabled People,” the titular orgy from Episode 4 of Queer as Folk.

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Austin Chronicle: Low-Income Austin Renters Negotiate For Better DealA photo of the Austin downtown city skyline. Added text: "Public domain image by Jeremy Banks via Unsplash"
As high rents cause displacement, one group of renters negotiates. (Unsplash / Jeremy Banks)
June 10, 2022
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Austin Chronicle: Low-Income Austin Renters Negotiate For Better Deal

Posted in Austin, Austin Chronicle, and Journalism

Low-income residents of a North Austin apartment complex are putting pressure on a developer intent on demolishing their homes, and they’re having some success in getting concessions. The Old Homestead, located on Clayton Lane near the intersection with Cameron Road, is set to be rezoned for vertical mixed use – meaning developers JCI Residential, an affiliate of the Journeyman Group, will be allowed more height and building size in exchange for affordable units. While the new property will have more units than the current 16-unit complex, residents say they’ll struggle to find apartments as affordable – or with a community so closely knit – amid Austin’s surging rental prices.

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Texas Observer: Alex Jones Seeks Bigotry-Fueled ‘Groomer’ ComebackSpeaking at some microphones on a podium, Alex jones holds his hands to either side of his head as he makes an agitated, yelling expression. Added text: via Jared Holt on Flickr under a CC-BY-SA license
Alex Jones in 2018. (Flickr / Jared Holt)
June 8, 2022
Kit
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Texas Observer: Alex Jones Seeks Bigotry-Fueled ‘Groomer’ Comeback

Posted in Journalism, and The Texas Observer

Alex Jones remains a toxic influence on American politics and society despite an apparently shrinking audience and dwindling sales at his Infowars online shop, plus mounting losses in a bevy of lawsuits. After decades of spreading anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry, Jones now wants to stage a comeback by positioning himself at the front of a new wave of hatred—with the help of powerful friends like Republican U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

“Alex Jones Broke The Groomer Gate Scandal … in 2008?!” read an incredulously phrased headline on a story published by Infowars in April. The post links an audio recording by Jones— in which he claims elementary school teachers are giving explicit sexual instructions to 6 or 7 year olds—to today’s “groomer” panic. “Grooming” refers to a behavior whereby pedophiles ingratiate themselves with a potential underaged victim. But right-wing pundits, including Jones, Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and the viral Twitter account @LibsofTikTok, now seemingly want to expand the definition to include openly LGBTQ+ teachers or anyone who speaks with young people about the existence of transgender people and gender diversity.

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We’re Not Ready: Protecting Events From Fascists & Media TrollsA bald man with a red beard in a black tee gestures, phone in one hand, megaphone in the other, outside the Texas Governor's Mansion. His face has been mosaic blurred.
A media troll at a trans rights rally outside the Texas Governor's Mansion, March 2022. (Photo: Kit O'Connell)
April 30, 2022
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We’re Not Ready: Protecting Events From Fascists & Media Trolls

Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, and Journalism

One thing that keeps me up at night is the thought of how unprepared the Left is to defend itself. I worry we’re simply not ready for what’s coming.

What I want to focus on in this short article is the idea that groups, from smaller collectives to larger nonprofits, need to be prepared for disruptive, even violent attacks from right-wing operatives. The actors can vary … white supremacists like Patriot Front or street brawling brownshirts like the Proud Boys, even media trolls like Infowars reporters.

At a recent rally for the rights of trans kids in downtown Austin, I watched as right wing trolls (yelling horrid things about pedophilia, groomers and imaginary surgery involving childrens’ genitals) attempted to storm the makeshift stage area where a series of speakers were holding space. The crowd were mostly queer-friendly Austin residents including many families. The organizers looked stunned. State Troopers eventually intervened, but only after regular, everyday people put their bodies in between the fascist trolls and the speakers. And it could have gone much worse. We’re just not ready.

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Trans Refugees: Leaving Texas To Protect A Trans KidA boy plays in the woods, walking from one tree stump onto balancing atop a fallen tree.
Stock image: A boy plays in the woods. (Virginia State Parks, CC license)
April 22, 2022
Kit
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Trans Refugees: Leaving Texas To Protect A Trans Kid

Posted in Austin Chronicle, Creative Commons, Journalism, and LGBTQIA

“It’s heartbreaking to look back and see that the investigations of gender-affirming families have started, that the nightmare I had of someone knocking on my door and threatening to take away my kid is actually coming true for some people,” Camille Ray told me.

Ray’s family are like a growing number of families: they’ve left or plan to leave the state of Texas to protect a trans or queer child. She moved from the Austin-area to Maryland in August 2021, in order to protect her transgender son Leon. We spoke on the phone as she walked her dog on a hiking trail near her home, as research for my recent Austin Chronicle article on the fear and anxiety faced by trans people and their families.

Though the interview didn’t make it into the article, I wanted to share a little of it here since I know her experience mirrors that of so many other residents of Texas, and other states attacking their LGBTQIA+ young folks. People who make the painful choice to leave, essentially becoming political refugees from a state that hates their trans or queer children.

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