Blog

The ‘But why do trans…?’ questions often just ask about being human
Of course humans will disagree with and disappoint each other. So where are we going together? What’s the ultimate goal of all our values, judgments, opinions, discernments? What’s the end game we’re playing? Where are we going with all this change?

Then they came for the taxpayers
Not the tax evaders. The taxpayers. There is nothing we can do to earn our place in this system. The system is unfair, and it will come for everyone in due course.

Why was Palestinian student leader Mahmoud Khalil detained?
The meaning of ‘shalom’ I know is ‘peace.’ A political arrest isn’t peaceful. President Trump aims to take away freedoms to speak against injustice. He’s testing his power to defund Columbia University and arrest its students.

I’m not reading this type of U.S. election postmortem
Trans people shouldn’t be blamed. Yes, Republicans spent lots of money on ads. On the level of the horse race, I don’t care why Trump won the election. I care that trans people will survive.

‘Compensation is zero’ in the DOGE working group
It isn’t a real federal department anyway. You’d be the unpaid assistant and loyalist of the richest man in the world, who in turn is a loyalist of Donald Trump, who acts as though he’s the richest.

I want to see every word that celebrates our city’s sexual health hotline
I’ll repaint the mural myself if I have to. As a gay and trans adult, I have to show responsibility toward other queer people in this city. If we don’t stand up for each other, who will?

My identity is a ‘luxury belief’, and other reasons Trump won
NYT columnist David Brooks says Trump voters just wanted ‘respect’ - and that’s somehow at odds with me being gay. He asked us to shut up so that Republicans voters wouldn’t go on to elect Trump to forcibly shut us up. He’s got some ‘paradox of tolerance’ going on here.

The US has an election result. What will we do now?
The way forward is muddy. A few words I’ve collected from others. Words of wisdom from people who’ve spent a lot of time raging, grieving, hoping, organizing. Let’s reflect on how we’re affected and how we can make change.

I can’t write the anti-gay argument for him
No one wants to be called a ‘bigot’ or a ‘fascist’. But it’s not my job to give him alternate explanations for his reasons or feelings. If I say something is bigoted, I may not be judging someone’s character, at least not primarily; instead I may be asserting why I’m not jumping on board.