To be honest, I’ve not once heard a cis ally make an original argument on behalf of trans people. We taught them everything they know— and that’s okay. But my fucking gawd can everyone stop acting like cis allies are saying some profound shit when their “takes” are almost always watered-down renditions of what trans people have been saying for decades?

The worst part— when cis people deliver the message, you stop and you listen, you assign value, you assign objectivity, and you assign credibility.

Just how a cis man can say some really generic shit that lacks any depth or nuance, like “the world would function better if women were in charge” and everyone is like, “yes king, yes, go off”; a cis person who takes zero impactful action can be like “protect the dolls” and everyone is like, “yes bb, yes, true ally behavior.” 🙄

It’s giving patronizing. It’s giving dehumanizing. It’s giving fear and discomfort with transness.

It’s giving transphobia.

The compounding effects of this bias towards cisness and against transness with anti-Blackness, with misogyny, with ableism, with racism, with anti-transsexuality, with poverty, with ageism, etc, creates an overlapping web of interpersonal and systemic distrust and dehumanization.

This phenomenon in which cis allies are listened to, uplifted, and applauded while trans people are grasping at straws to be heard and humanized is beyond annoying, it's dangerous.

Neither our strongest allies nor our most abusive perpetrators can accurately represent our lived experiences, nor can they speak to our material realities and needs directly.

It’s always been the case that cis people are given credibility when it comes to transness; cis people are seen as neutral, as objective, as less confrontational—

yet there’s nothing “objective” about transness when it’s articulated through a cis lens.

Meanwhile, trans people are deemed biased, emotional, and untrustworthy—

yet there is nothing “partial” about people’s lived experiences; lived experiences are truth.

There is nothing “confrontational” about uncompromising self-respect and standing ten toes down for your own humanization.

Think about how many trans adults and youth loudly fight for trans kids, yet the vast majority of cis people wait around and refuse to form an “opinion” on the humanity of these kids— not until they hear what the cis parents have to say.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a parent (cis or trans) who will "go to bat" for their trans kid and, in general, I love an accomplice— but you have to understand that not every parent does this and not every trans kid has this. While one cis parent of a trans kid organizes protests and advocates in the school system to support their kid, another parent takes away their kids shelter, family, and basic needs.

Oftentimes, when trans people have “supportive" parents it means something entirely different than what a "supportive" parent means to cis people. In our world, a "supportive" parent is often doing the bare minimum (or less) and this bare minimum comes with an expectation of gratefulness because your parent didn't totally and completely disown you.

If you feel more assured about transness, transexuality, and medical transitioning when you hear cis people talk about their kids, their friends, their partners…

if you feel like the violence against trans people in general is more "real" when the information is delivered by a cis person…

if you feel more comfortable when cis people talk about our basic needs and our lived realities…

you have a lot of work to do; you have a lot of implicit bias to unravel.

To be clear, none of this is to discourage you from becoming a true accomplice to trans people. If you truly want to show up for trans people, you can work on aligning your intention and your impact.

Trans people’s words and lived experiences should be more than enough for you. Mind you, we do not owe you our stories, our fears, our joy, we owe you none of this— yet many of us give you access to it anyway, even if from a distance.

In order to show up as a true ally to trans people, or better yet as an accomplice, you must first treat our stories, our humanity, and our lived realities with care, respect, and dignity.

Queer as in abolishing imperialist barricades, as in uncompromising solidarity with our international siblings. Queer as in the materiality of land back.

Queer as in acab, as in abolishing every single cop—from the one in your head to the ICE kidnappers in our streets to the militarized imperialist forces that slaughter Black and brown people across the globe. Queer as in no more fucking land grabs.

Queer as in fuck your essentialist gender norms. Queer as in back alley parties, intellectual himbos and bimbos, and embracing the shame. Queer as in bending over in confidence, as in corsets and boxer briefs, as in pink and red triangles. Queer as in those whose names we will never know and those whose names we will never forget.

Queer as in paying the trans people in your life with no strings attached. Queer as in uniting with workers, as in uprising, as in sex work is work and working under capitalism, in general, sucks. Queer as in rent is theft and if you see someone stealing, no you did not. Queer as in no matter who is watching, as in without glory and despite the consequences.

Queer as in material needs, DIY HRT, surgeries and sex changes. Queer as in free and accessible HIV treatments, housing, and healthcare.

Queer as in you know that liberation movements have been carried on the backs of Black trans women throughout history, so start acting like it. Queer as in those who came before you and those who fight for you today. Queer as in stop asking trans people “what can I do?” and taking initiative. Queer as in sharing the labor of revolution and putting your skills to use.

Queer as in scrutinized and scapegoated, as in carrying cash to give to our siblings on the streets— no questions asked. Queer as in moving from despair into rage and from range into action. Queer as in if you can’t do it for yourself— do it for every single one of our trans sisters and siblings who’s been taken from us. Queer as in bullying the bullies of trans youth to death.

Queer as in dependability, commitment, precision, and principle, as in caring relentlessly, loving endlessly, and feeling deeply. Queer as in fighting for a bigger and brighter world than you could ever even imagine. Queer as in fuck your empty slogans and pride collections. Queer as in deep and deepening rage and resistance.

Queer as in taking a deep breath, reminding yourself what you’re capable of, as in asking for support and showing the fuck up. Queer as in putting your hands in the dirt, feeling the fucking earth, and looking up at the stars.

Queer as in Miss Major’s words, “we need to reclaim who the fuck we are.”

trans day of visibly being loved, embraced, cherished and adored. trans day or irritability, of refusal, of deep and deepening rage, of ragers, of resistance. trans day of crop tops and lash extensions, of booty shorts and acrylics, of t-shirts saved for 10 years to finally wear post top surgery. trans day of hanging on by a fucking thread. trans day of abolishing ice and the prison walls holding our Black trans siblings hostage. trans day of from the river to the sea, of total liberation and bodily autonomy, of “protecting the dolls” with material support. trans day of kids playing freely, of growing old into ur transness, of free and total access to medical care, of no longer reducing trans care down to “affirming” care. trans day of building a world where none of us have to disappear to live in safety and dignity. trans day of measuring visibility by how many of us are still alive, still connected, and still able to love on each other. trans day of, as miss major would say, we are still fucking here. trans day of vengeance. trans day of vengeance. trans day of vengeance.

It’s a Wednesday night in Havana, we are on our way to the club for queer night, eight of us packed into a car, the only car in sight for the seven minute drive.

"I never imagined 24th street would be empty," one of the local women sitting next to me says, looking out the car window, “this was always one of the busiest streets in Havana.”

"Will the club be open?" I ask her, looking out the window and seeing nothing but darkness.

"Probably, it's at a hotel," she replies.

We arrived in Havana five days ago, an independent delegation of four of us traveling from the United States, here to support and be in community with transgender Cubans. It's been two months since the US escalated its decades long economic blockade on Cuba, and the impact has a visual immediacy: the streets of Havana are still full of locals, but cars are oddly absent. The country is famous for its vintage automobiles— a more charming quirk of brutal U.S. sanctions— but right now, because of the severe lack of fuel, people get around by foot, bicycles, horses, and battery-operated scooters.

As an island, Cuba is already geographically isolated. So, if you think about it critically, there is no need for the US to build apartheid walls when it's already implementing a strict, military-enforced blockade on oil shipments and using the coastguard to intercept tankers.

In the last two months, the US military intensified patrols and is seizing vessels attempting to deliver fuel to Cuba. This week, two Russian oil tankers set sea to deliver fuel and aid to Cuba. As of March 27, 2026, one of the ships rerouted and arrived in Venezuela. The second ship is nearing the island, carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of oil. If the vessel arrives and delivers the oil without the US intervening, the shipment will provide Cuba with nine to 10 days of fuel.

The first image below shows dozens of tankers transporting oil in the region, while Cuba remains virtually outside of those routes. The second image shows only two local movements towards the Island, in contrast to the intense circulation of crude oil in the region (Screenshot/VesselFinder, March 27, 2026).

Today, the pharmacies in Central Havana have five to 10 bottles of medication on the shelves. The vast majority of stores are shut down. The edges of streets are full of sewage, the electricity is off for most hours of the day and night, a toilet that flushes is considered a luxury, a working shower is a rarity, and access to fresh produce and groceries is cherished. The conditions caused by the severe US blockade are impacting people’s health, especially those who are immunocompromised.

Regardless, the city teems with life. Lanes once filled with cars are still full: residents on foot carrying buckets of water and crates of recently harvested bananas and pineapples; kids playing baseball with bottle caps and sticks; groups of people throwing down dominoes and gambling with cardboard cut outs from cigarette packs.

"Cuba never fully recovered from the Covid pandemic," a woman from Old Havana says in response to me talking about how different Cuba was last time I visited in 2017. 

She continues, “But conditions have gotten exponentially worse over the last few months. Your country does not give us a moment of peace.”

After a several day grid collapse that started the day before yesterday, where absolutely everywhere lost electricity, including hospitals, the electricity has been restored in some places with hefty back up generators (which are a rarity, but those that do have them can now turn their lights on and run some water). Still, the electricity is down most everywhere in Havana. Keep in mind, when residents lose electricity, they also lose access to running water.

"My electricity was on for one hour today," one of my new friends said to me. This is her seventh day without electricity and running water.

Last night, when the sun set and the daylight faded, Central Havana became pitch black. Every few blocks, a string of solar lights would drape over the street. Besides that, you couldn’t see a foot in front of you while walking through the streets of one of Cuba’s busiest neighborhoods.

I stood in an intersection looking out in all four directions, “You literally can’t see shit, this is wild,” I said to my comrade. He turned his phone’s flashlight on, allowing me to make out his footsteps so I could follow alongside them, which you can see in the photo below.

We are staying in a casa particular in Central Havana. Set up to house guests 24/7, casas particulares are an alternative to hotels and hostels in Cuba. Often, but not always, the person who owns the home, runs the home. I have stayed in six casas particulares throughout the years. In my experience, there is usually more than one person who lives in the home full time. You can pay for and invite people to meals, help around the house, and tip (always tip!!).

The home where we are staying has been building out infrastructure for black outs and water shortages for twenty years. The five bedroom house has two large backup water tanks and a back up battery for electricity. The home still experiences black outs when the battery runs out, especially when the power or grid shuts down for more than half a day. Other times, the battery allows low energy electricity. In other words, low power consuming lights and fans might still turn on when much of the city is in darkness. Back up water tanks are a rarity that often allow low water consumption in these conditions.

Contrary to today’s social media discourse, US travelers can stay in casas particulares and when we do, we support Cubans directly. Yes, there are some extra steps, but that's just what traveling to Cuba is like. All you have to do is compare what you find to the US sanctions list (which plenty of hotels are on, too).

Here is list of places travelers from the US cannot stay in Cuba: US Sanctioned Accommodations List

Staying at a casa particular actually benefits travelers, too. For example, in the current conditions it's hard to know where to buy fresh food in Havana. When staying in a home, designed to house guests, with locals who know where to purchase food (and what food is available) this is made easier. You simply RSVP for meals a day in advance and it usually costs about $5 per person per meal.

Here is one of several websites where you can find which casas particulares are available where and how you can reach people to book your stay: casaparticularcuba.org

The severely escalated US blockade is attempting to starve and strangle Cuba in silence. The blockade makes it extremely difficult for Cubans to communicate directly to the masses. Most major tech and communications, like Apple services, are nearly impossible for residents to access. Financial services like Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and PayPal are also blocked.

The US does not want anyone reporting on the conditions in Cuba. If you are traveling Cuba to show the conditions on the ground, I recommend that leaving your primary phone at home and bringing a phone that is only for traveling. Sure, it might not be the same quality as what you’re used to, but we are in the midst of fascism and we need to move accordingly.

I also recommend waiting until you’re back in the US to post content from Cuba, as opposed to posting directly from the ground. This mitigates the risk of your phone, technology, and footage being taken and/or confiscated by agents upon your arrival back in the US.

Create “throw away” accounts to register your "travel phone", upload the footage you take in Cuba to an encrypted app (not Google, not iCloud) and delete the footage from your phone before returning to the US. Clear your chats and delete messaging apps before going through US customs; prioritize safety and security.

Think about what happens when your phone is taken and who is exposed to risk as a result. Yes, the state is at fault, first and foremost. But we have to try to move in ways that mitigates both our personal risk and those we're in community with— prioritizing security is doing just that.

Today, one US dollar is equivalent to 500 Cuban pesos (CUP), though this changes and worsens regularly. Plus, the value of money is significantly different, beyond the actual exchange rate. A decent fish dinner at a restaurant might cost 4000 CUP; in the US this is considered an inexpensive meal at $8. However, the vast majority of people in Cuba make less than $25 a month and cannot afford an $8 meal.

We estimated that $1,000 provides roughly 60 Cubans with essential medicines and supplies for one month— such as antibiotics, specialty medications, general medications like pain relief, nausea relief, and anti-parasitics. Plus, some basic solar lights, vegetable oil, and personal hygiene items.

“The only thing separating us from Cuba is an imaginary line out there," my friend says, standing on the shoreline in his bathing suit and pointing toward the seemingly unending ocean in front of us. We left Havana and landed in Cancun this morning. The streets here are packed with cars, the beaches are full of tourists, the stores have everything you could possibly want and need. What a stark difference from Havana. 

I’m standing on the beach in Cancun, my new friends in Cuba are just 100 miles across the ocean; they’re experiencing another severe black out. I wonder when I will see their faces again or if their internet service will ever be reliable enough for a video call. I wonder how and when I can next get to the island to be with them. I think about the connection I feel to these women after just one week together. And my mind replays the moment before I left for the airport yesterday, when one of the women embraced me and said, “I will never forget you. When you feel alone, isolated, or afraid, think of me.”

Revolutions contain multitudes, blurring the dichotomy of violent vs nonviolent tactics and resistance. Throughout history, movements have strategically shifted over time and circumstance. Revolutionaries who bear arms often make use of tactics like boycotts and general strikes while civil resistors sometimes fuck up a federal building or a cop car.

It is not uncommon for an unarmed movement to take up weapons against the state, just as it is not uncommon for armed guerrillas to lay down their weapons to embark on civil resistance campaigns. The same revolution may be violent in one stage and nonviolent in another (The Violence-Nonviolence Dichotomy).

^ I didn’t come up with this Substack title myself

Right now, the momentum of resistance is rising. Let’s ride this high and beautiful wave of resistance and its multitudes. Let’s lean into the momentum and not get caught up in circular arguments and critiques about the variety of tactics being used because a diversity of tactics is actually needed in revolution (as is an accompanied strategy and shared goals).

We are up against the most well funded military in the world, a system of rapist billionaires that destroys life and land abroad, a white supremacist regime whose foot soldiers abduct, torture, and kill children and elders, a government that raids the homes of journalists, scans and digitizes our faces, surveils our movements, and criminalizes dissent.

At some point, you are going to have to reckon with the fact that the state doesn’t give a fuck if you “stood against” vandalism. At some point, you’re going to have to reckon with the fact that your defense are the people and communities and resistance around you, the same people and systems and resistance that you may have attempted to distance yourself from.

I encourage you to ask yourself the following:

What is the line when resistance stops being nonviolent and starts being violent and vice versa? What is violent resistance and who decides when it’s useful?

When is resistance justifiable? When is a variety of tactics useful?

Is a burned down cop car or graffiti on a building comparable to the real lives taken and destroyed by the state? Are these both acts of violence?

How do you define violence? How does the state define violence?

Is violence dismembering the vehicles of ICE agents kidnapping children, beating elders, & shooting people in cold blood? Is violence smashing the windows of government institutions operated by a regime of rapists? Is violence burning the flag of a genocidal nation?

Is violence smashing a camera or destroying state surveillance systems that are used to track and abduct Black, brown, indigenous, trans, and undocumented people?

Is violence barricading yourself and your community from ammunitions, is it taking practical measures to conceal chemical weapons, is it throwing a rock, trash can, or a snowball to distract the heavily armed and murderous foot patrol from firing to kill?

Is violence de-arresting a child, an elder, or a community member that the state is attempting to abduct and then imprison in dehumanizing & disgusting conditions? Is monitoring ICE and cops violence, is rapid response violence?

Is violence wearing a gas mask or lending a helmet to a fellow protestor as a layer of protection from a full on state controlled militia? Is violence dropping off water bottles & food for protestors? Is it sharing your HRT with a trans person without access? Is it performing abortions and trans medical care that have been made illegal? Is violence opening your doors to people who are being chased down your street by ICE?

Is violence self defense? Is it fighting back against our oppressors? Is it people bearing arms or shields or tools against a white supremacist authoritarian police force? Is it refusing to allow ICE to abduct the people you love, yourself, and your neighbors?

Is violence documenting, investigating, and reporting on the ICE agents raiding a workplace or the cop who is pointing a gun in a child’s face? Is violence exposing the names and identities of the fascist foot soldiers who roam our neighborhoods to torture & abuse people?

Is violence withholding our labor? Is it using our bodies and our skills to shut down government institutions and billionaire corporations funding genocide?

Lean into the beauty of resistance and its ability to shift, grow, change, and adapt in a moment. Let the resistance fuel your rage, let it provide you hope, let it teach and guide you. Learn from its fluidity and determination, its diligence and its strategy.

Resistance is an act of love, an act of humanity, an act of decency, an act of community, an act of care— and it comes in many forms.

This is your moment to abandon the illusion of violence vs nonviolence, to step out of oblivion and into your power.

Every now and then, despite limiting my comments to “followers only,” someone comes in my comments and is like, “But we can’t all protest!! We can’t all resist!!! Some of us are disabled!!!”

Bitch, I’m disabled. In fact, I am multiply disabled. One of my severe disabilities is uncontrolled and severe seizures. Every time I participate in protest, every time I travel, every time I’m in a situation with police presence, every time I’m on my feet for long hours or I haven’t had something to eat that day or it’s hotter than 80 degrees out or I haven’t slept well, I have to plan, run through, and inform others of possible scenarios and safety plans.

When people respond to my content with, “some of us can’t participate because we are disabled,” even though nothing I said implies there is some sort of requirement for you to be on the frontlines, even though your defensiveness is completely irrelevant to the point, you are erasing the long and beautiful legacy of disabled people resisting and organizing - be that direct action or otherwise - and you are discouraging disabled people from mobilizing our rage and power.

I have boundaries. One of those boundaries is that I don’t sit back and let you go tf off on my content about how I’m “ableist for encouraging people to organize” or that I’m “not considering disabled people” when I encourage people to take action. Bro, you are ableist for getting on here and saying disabled people “can’t participate.”

I will continue to delete any and all discouraging comments and will not engage one-on-one with these ableist “takes.”

Disability justice gained momentum because of disabled people. We have fought long and hard for our material needs, most of which are still unmet. You think non disabled people have been leading the fight for disability justice? lol, because they haven’t.

As I have said many times, organizing and movement building is definitely not limited to on the ground protesting. We should all know this by now. In fact, the vast majority of people I know both irl and online who are deeply committed to movements and community building are disabled, whether that means they are resisting on the ground or on the frontlines or behind the scenes (or both).

Many of us have provided examples of ways to engage beyond participating on the frontlines. One of the main reasons I talk about this so much is because I understand that disability is diverse and that people, disabled or not, have different skills, abilities, and roles that they can step into and own. Our diversity of skills and abilities is fucking beautiful. Not just that, our diversity of skills is absolutely needed in order to successfully resist fascism.

I also don’t want to hear that “resisting/organizing is a privilege that disabled people aren’t afforded.”

Resisting is not a privilege, it is a right— a right that fascism is attempting to strip away (and that it has stripped away) from people and movements both in this moment and throughout history.

The people of Minneapolis are resisting out of necessity as the federal government invades people’s homes, drags people out of their vehicles, raids their workplaces, and steals their children. Disabled people in Minneapolis are resisting.

The people of Palestine are resisting out of necessity as the US and Israel deliberately withhold food, bomb hospitals and places of worship, and kill, steal, and imprison children. Furthermore, the genocide in Palestine has disabled hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed hospitals, medical facilities, and people’s essential medicine and care. Disabled Palestinians are resisting.

Disabled people resist out of necessity. And yes, resistance and organizing comes with different and varied risks and consequences for different people and communities (whether that be people without documentation or with complicated documentation, Black and brown people, indigenous people, queer and trans people, disabled people, people who are houseless and living in poverty, etc). We are not, nor have we ever been, working with a “level playing field” here, but to sit back and say that “disabled people can’t participate in resistance” when disabled people have always and will always fight out of necessity, is straight up ableism.

And it’s important to understand that disabled people are used as scapegoats by fascism itself. There is an endless amount of state and mainstream media propaganda that weaponizes our disabilities in an attempt to demonize disruptive protests and direct actions. For example, suddenly the mainstream is “concerned” about disabled people and claim that we are “negatively impacted” when direct actions stop traffic, occupy institutions and government buildings, and shutdown corporations run by billionaires who make bank off the medical industrial complex that straight up neglects and kills disabled people.

Meanwhile, a disproportionate amount of people both on frontlines and behind the scenes of these protests are disabled themselves.

It is imperative that we stop feeding the fascist narrative that disabled people are incapable of resistance, the narrative that attempts to strip us of our autonomy, power, and resistance.

Below are excerpts from an article I wrote in April, 2026:

Find purpose in action which includes building and contributing to communities that provide for and take care of one another. Fine tune your skills and expertise and contribute your lifelong experience of skill building to fighting against a fascist regime.

There are literally endless ways to for you to contribute. Your skills are needed. Everyone is needed in the fight against fascism.

Are you a cook? Make food for your community and the people putting their bodies on the line.

Are you a fundraiser? Raise money for defense campaigns, for people starving in Gaza, or for your neighbors who ran out of food stamps this month.

Are you a researcher? Use your skills to research the enemy and resistance tactics that have defeated oppressors throughout history.

Are you a lawyer? Provide consultations to people being targeted by the system.

Are you a healthcare worker? Train up in gender affirming care, HIV/AIDs care, and reproductive care.

Are you personal trainer? Train people in self defense.

Are you an educator? Defend your students against ICE, fight against anti-trans policies and violence in the school system, teach your students about Indigeneity and Black history, educate your students about fascism.

Do you like radios and are you a tech nerd? You can learn how to monitor police radios and air traffic from the comfort of your own home and provide information and updates to people in the streets.

Are you an artist? Use your skills to create history. Make stencils for street art and protest fliers, create designs that tell a story and move people.

Are you a photographer? A videographer? Document the movement, learn how to cop watch, and keep protestors identities as safe as possible.

Are you a facilitator? A spreadsheet maker? An agenda setter? Contribute your skills to keeping people and information focused and organized.

Connect with people, formations, and groups who need your skills. Ask yourself, "What is my role? What is my expertise? Where and when are my skills needed?”

Strike a balance between humble and confident- understand your expertise and take initiative. Step up when you are needed. Step back when the conversation doesn't pertain to you. You don't need to have a role (or a say) in everything, or even the vast majority of things; if you find yourself doing this it is time to reevaluate. Your skills are needed, but your individual approval is not.

Ask yourself, "What is my role? What is my expertise? Where and when are my skills needed?"

Find your lane and lock tf in because the fight against fascism needs you.

That doesn’t mean I feel defeated. I don’t. I feel exhausted.

I meeannnn people are getting kidnapped, killed, and shot at by the federal government in Minnesota on the daily, the US is in the early/mid stages of a genocide against trans people (and it’s wild that I feel like I have to say, “according to genocide experts with the Lemkin Institute” 🫠), ICE is dragging unclothed Black and brown elders out of their homes in the freezing cold and deploying chemical weapons that are hospitalizing kids and babies, the regime is invading Venezuela and raiding reservations. And, of course, Palestine remains under bombardment. There is no ceasefire. The US and Israel continue their violent rampage.

Throughout the day, I find myself saying in my mind, “Palestine will live forever” because those words - in the midst of an all out genocide that has killed hundreds of thousands of people - feel so powerful, so fuck you, so beautiful, so “we will be back for you,” so enraged, so “you don’t fucking own us and you never will.”

The resistance— the resistance is beautiful.

I’m grateful to be in community with people who allow me to be exhausted and to make and take moments for myself. People who deeply understand when I can’t offer any more of myself because they, too, are giving everything they are able.

Right now tho, my brain and body are struggling to keep up.  Right now, I am being pulled in many directions and if I could I would give 100% of myself to all of it, but I cannot.

I’m not going anywhere (for now). I’ll still be posting (when I feel like it). I’m just saying, I understand my limits.

Being in service to community is important and fulfilling for me, it helps me understand the meaning of all of this, it makes me believe in people, it inspires my rage and my hope and my disgust, it reminds me that all of the corruptness that we are surrounded by will collapse, eventually. And that it is our duty and moral obligation to commit ourselves to the struggle— to make it a lifestyle, not just a hobby or an extra credit assignment, but our center, our compass. It means envisioning something bigger and better than we have ever been taught is possible and locking in.

It means dedicating ourselves to the uprising, the downfall, and the building of anew— whether or not our lifetimes allow us to experience all of these phases.

And honestly, when it comes to social media specifically, some of us have been out here doing this for no $$ for a while now and instead tapping into whatever reach our platforms have to uplift movements and people and the repression against us, to document from the frontlines, to bring light to issues and nuances not being highlighted, to support outreach for community and campaigns and actions, to tell stories we don’t hear elsewhere, to remind trans kids to stay tf alive and that we got you (we do, btw). Some months, that reach for me pushes 8+ million just on Instagram which is…🤯 so, I am happy to offer that to movements when I am able

But I’m not always able. Again, I am one person. These are my personal accounts. They aren’t community forums or discussion boards. They aren’t for BS comments sections. I block who I want to block and I post when I want to post. I do my best to prioritize the most urgent and important things, but I can’t always.

Sending love and power ✊

The dehumanization of playing and replaying videos of cops killing people, KILLING PEOPLE, and then cutting and editing different footage and video angles into slow motion and still photos so everyone in the world thinks they get to have an opinion and news commentators host debates about state sanctioned murder is fucking wild.

We’ve seen this before, many times, in video footage of cops shooting, strangling, and killing Black and brown people in the streets and at home, of ICE and Feds stealing babies from the hands of parents and kidnapping a parent in the middle of a violent convulsive seizure, of ICE beating and abducting people at gun point from their work places, of the IOF dropping bombs and trapping Palestinians under rubble and burning people alive and of snipers shooting to kill Palestinians experiencing forced starvation as they attempt to retrieve food boxes.

Yes - bearing witness is important if it moves us into ACTION. And yes, a well documented video can invoke rage and be important - if it moves us toward action and NOT JUST ANALYSIS.

We can sit here and analyze every video at every angle with the goal of “proving” something to someone who doesn’t give a FUCK, but why??

The state and the people who support and align themselves with it will do everything in their power to dehumanize and discredit the very real escalation in violence we are seeing worldwide. They will do everything in their power to shift the narrative, to demonize the victims, to gaslight you and make you question if what you witnessed or experienced is what really happened. They will do everything in their power to make you question your own mind, they will do everything in their power to terrify us into isolation while we abandon one another.

And yes, a well documented video can also be used in court, but a system that is responsible for murder and violence will not provide any real, tangible “justice” for the lives it has taken and destroyed. IMO, there is no equivalent “justice” for state sanctioned murder— meaning, the system does not offer or provide anything even remotely material for the lives it takes. What “justice” does the state provide for the lives it takes? What is “exchangeable” for life, what is as valuable, what is a “fair” outcome after someone has already been killed?

The state will make you question the lived experiences and realities of the people and communities it’s attempting to eradicate.

They will make you question if a trans person “actually” had their passport destroyed and stolen from them by the state, if a Black woman was “actually” denied medical attention for a life saving procedure, if a brown immigrant targeted by ICE “actually” deserves your time, energy, and capacity, if watchlists of trans people being named as domestic terrorists “actually” exist, if the US is “actually” in the middle of a genocidal process against trans people, if Palestinians are “actually” being starved, if Palestinian children are “actually” deliberately and constantly shot in the head and killed.

How many people have been killed by cops and white supremacists without video footage to “prove” it? Can we just fucking listen to people who bear witness and experience this violence firsthand? Can we just fucking understand that even if there wasn’t a single witness, that cops (including ICE, feds, military, etc) are entitled to shoot and kill whoever the fuck they want? There is no nuance here.

Can we hold some space and sensitivity for the people mourning, for the people who’ve lost family and loved ones, for the people who have  experienced this violence themselves firsthand? Can we respond to this systemic and interpersonal violence with real, tangible action like we see happening in Minneapolis? Where people are showing up in mass and outnumbering armed officers who are quite literally abducting and shooting people? Can we organize within our communities and give our skills, resources, and knowledge to one another? Can we share meals, rides, funds, shelter, and support for one another?

Can we think bigger and envision a world that is more beautiful and bright than anything that this state would ever fucking hand to us? Can we listen and learn from history and the voices of people here today who understand being in service to people and community and the earth?

Can we imagine the uprising, the downfall, and the building of anew? Can we backwards plan and organize from this future we can so clearly see, that we only now get to experience in short bursts with the people we are in community with- who do not abide by the “rules” and who, despite the consequences, fight against a system that uses “law and order” to terrify us, a system that kills anything and anyone who “gets in its way” (which can mean simply existing as Black, trans, indigenous, brown, immigrant, women, etc), a system built on ethnic cleansing and genocide?

Can we recognize that every single day the system takes lives - on the streets, inside the prison walls, in broad daylight, when people are both alone and surrounded by a crowd? Can we recognize that as a result of a racist, transphobic, ableist, and misogynistic medical industrial complex people are straight up murdered? Can we recognize that forcing people to sleep on the cold concrete is state sanctioned murder? That people die from starvation and disease because this system withholds food and medical care?

Can we use this moment, this footage, these personal stories, to inspire the masses to revolt instead of trying to “convince” people who absolutely don’t want to be convinced that murder by cops, by institutions, by authoritarianism, by the military, is fucking murder?

That life is not something this system gets to play games with and destroy?

The state is terrified of us moving away from analysis, fear, isolation, and abandonment and moving into action, community, revolution, and uncompromising solidarity.

in with shutting tf up around cops & cop-like behavior, out w/sharing incriminating info on social media. in w/the people’s arms embargo & irl organizing. out w/nothing but intellectualized social media takes. in with diy hrt, w/material needs, w/self determination & body autonomy. out w/anti-transition propaganda & validity politics. in w/preplanning for repression by creating groups of 3+ trusted ppl & exchanging important info w/said group. in w/understanding (& acting like) u are being surveilled, out w/messaging anything on apps u don’t want the state to read. in w/learning from elders, w/t4t friendships, w/preparing for “visitors” at ur front door, w/humble confidence, w/knowing ur “lane” & putting ur skills to use. in w/unconditional & non-transactional solidarity & turning slogans like “protect the dolls” & “protect ur trans & immigrant neighbors” into material support. in w/taking a moment to breathe & then turning fear & despair into action, out w/preemptive compliance. in w/refusal, w/rage, w/vengeance. in with resistance. in with resistance. in with resistance.

As a trans man, I've been both rejected and accepted by masculinity and manhood. I've experienced the bullying men feel entitled to dish out amongst one another and the full blown misogyny displayed when women aren't around. I've witnessed the walls men build to try & hide their vulnerabilities. I've learned what is "socially acceptable" among different groups of men.

As my appearance and gender presentation became more in line with what the general public perceive and deem as "a man," I noticed things like the “acceptable" distance to stand when speaking w/other men and the “acceptable" terms men use for one another. More often than not, heterosexual white men refrain from hugging, kissing, showing affection and gratitude, and using terms of endearment with the other men.

Many years ago, I noticed that Arab men who I interacted with did not conform to the same, problematic standards of masculinity. Instead, Arab men started greeting me with terms of endearment like "my love," "Habibi," "brother," "comrade," "my dear" and even poetic compliments on my physical appearance like calling me, “a sight for sore eyes.”

In my experience, the more my gender presentation began aligning with the world's perception of "a man," the more terms of endearment Arab men used for me. Meanwhile, the vast majority of cis het white men have a nervous fucking breakdown if I call them "sweetheart" or "handsome.” So many men feel that their manhood is “threatened” when another man shares affection— it even leads to threats (and actions) of getting your ass beat. Honestly, they sometimes even threaten to beat your ass if you’re just sharing affection with another man, not even with them directly.

In 2024, I attended the People’s Conference for Palestine. I was asked to speak on a panel where I drew connections between Zionism and TERFism and I openly discussed being trans. Afterwards, I was followed out of the conference by two men, both over a foot taller than me. They waited until I was alone to approach me. I was sitting outside, on the ground, with my back against a wall, and taking a moment to myself. The two men hovered over and squared off above me, just inches away from my body and asked me why a “tranny faggot” would defend Palestine. I had to spin move into a standing up position to walk away because they were trying to block me off. The men followed closely behind and alongside me, calling me slurs and telling me to “man up.” These men were Zionists who secretly attended the panel in disguise.

An older, Palestinian man smoking a cigarette at a distance overheard the Zionists yelling “faggot” and “tranny” and saw the two men following and squaring off to me. The 60+ year old man shouted out to me, “Are you okay?” I shook my head to indicate I was not. The Zionists stayed in my heels and at my side as I walked toward him. He dropped his cigarette and quickly walked towards me with confidence, staring the two men in the eyes and telling them to walk away.

And they did— they walked away.

“Come here, my brother,” he said as he opened his arms to embrace me with a hug.

In 2021, I was at the local corner store in my neighborhood when a man standing in line in front of me called me a “faggot.” He turned to me, laughing, saying “faggots get their asses beat.” He attempted to garner support from the owner of the store working the register. I knew the owner, and I knew he was from Lebanon because he told me in conversations we had about Palestine and Zionism in the past. The owner told the man harassing me to leave me alone and when the man didn’t stop, the owner physically directed him out of the store and told him to “never come back.”

For over two years, we’ve watched as Palestinian men pull their neighbors from rubble, report live as bombs explode 200 yards in the background, share food with the stray dogs, and dance with the terrified children. All while these men are demonized and villainized by foreigners and news media. We bear witness on our screens to the extreme forms of violence, including sexualized violence and torture, that Palestinian men are subjected to while our "world leaders" call them "terrorists" and "perpetrators and provokers of violence.”

When in reality, the Zionists who deliberately fabricate these misconceptions of Palestinian and Arab men, are the actual extremists who arm themselves for school shootings, who fear embracing other men, who are threatened by the fact that trans men are, in fact, real men.

To quote the Palestinian Feminist Collective—

Among the many racist, colonial, and sexist tropes animating Zionist propaganda is the age-old Orientalist characterization of Palestinian men as bloodthirsty terrorists, rapists, savages, and loveless monsters who use their children as human shields and oppress Palestinian women.

I wrote (most of) what you’re reading in this article in early 2024, but the fact remains the same —

It is the Zionist men (and women) who are in my comments and messages playing out their vivid and gruesome fantasies of brutally killing and murdering trans and queer people all under the guise of "this is what would happen to you in Gaza.”

The reality is that manhood and masculinity are far too expansive and beautiful for the borders and blockades of zionism and white supremacy.

Yes, sex work is work and work, in general, sucks. Your 9 to 5 desk job sucks, too - some would argue it sucks a hell of a lot more.

It’s so revealing when people who claim to be "pro sex work" are confronted with sex workers irl. Often, people distance themselves and express fear around how they and others will be perceived if there is direct association with people who are sex workers vs the mere concept of sex work.

As transsexual people we are sexualized. We are written off as objects, as perverts. We are constantly combatting narratives that dehumanize and politicize our bodies. This is especially (and obviously) the case for trans women. In particular, Black and brown trans women are especially (and obviously) subjected to this dehumanization.

Taking the narrative that transsexuals are nothing more than objects for cissexuals to scrutinize, criticize, objectify, inspect, and eroticize, and use it against our oppressors by draining their fat wallets and capitalizing on their obsession around our bodies requires a sort of je ne sais quoi.

Like- no, babe, you don't own my body. If you did, you wouldn't have to pay a monthly membership fee to look at it. And no, that fee doesn't come with any type of one on one interaction whatsoever, that requires quite a bit more budgeting on your end. Personally, I find that this can be a radical act, though this isn’t necessarily the intention (because the intention, like any other job, is to meet needs).

To expand on this more ^

Violence in sex work exists because of racism and anti-Blackness. Violence in sex work exists because of poverty. Violence in sex work exists bc of stigma. Violence in sex work exists because of misogyny, transphobia, and of course transmisogyny. Violence in sex work exists because of patriarchy and cissexism and cisnormativity. Violence in sex work exists bc of criminalization

Violence is NOT just an "inevitable" part of sex work and to say so is to give power to all the above.

And let’s be real, the vast majority of work industries, including the porn industry, are blatantly patriarchal.

To quote —

We live in a world where men own the platforms, men write the algorithms, men control the payment processors, men shape the consumer base and somehow I'm supposed to believe you can sprinkle a little glitter and consent culture on top and suddenly the machine is liberated?

And that's fine! Not everything we do has to serve a larger political fantasy. But let's stop pretending the patriarchy shuts off when the ring light turns on.

Of course, sex work is not just porn and believe it or not, posting “content” to the internet doesn’t automatically generate a fat consistent deposit into your bank account. It takes a lot of fucking labor to make a dollar in the sw industry, be that online or irl. And the vast majority of transsexual people living in poverty do not receive the urgent funds needed to survive by posting a few porn videos.

Many transsexual people in sex work, disproportionately Black trans women sex workers, are in survival sex work. Which means that without the work, the most basic human needs are not met. If you feel some type of way about sex work (especially irl sex work), you have some serious shit to deconstruct.

This should be obvious, but supporting sex workers cannot happen theoretically- we are talking about human beings who, like all people, have material needs.

And let’s be real fucking honest here—

“Theoretically,” a lot of you claim that you don’t have an issue with sex work itself (and even claim to “support” sex work), yet you judge and scrutinize the individual people who do the actual labor. Some of you literally work for Lockheed Martin and then come at sex workers with grandiose claims about sex work being unethical lol.

Pull it together and walk the fucking walk. Being "pro sex work" is not just a concept to hype up your political identity. Unlearn your discomfort and address where it's coming from and pair your “decriminalize sex work” meme with tangible actions that actually improve the lives and conditions of sex workers.

Why is it that when people say, “trans men are men” so many trans masculine people hear, “trans men are cis men?”

Some of you seem to be confused. “Trans men are men” does not necessarily mean or imply that trans men want to be cis men nor does it mean that our experiences are completely synonymous with that of cis men. Like, tbh, I have no desire to be a cis man. I am content in the dude that I am, which isn't any less "valid" or real than a cis man’s experience. And even cis men embody and express a wide range of experiences, presentations, and desires.

Being a "real man" has nothing to do with being a cis man or adhering to cis standards. You don't have to walk or talk or act or present a specific way to be a man. If you truly understand and embody this, you’d understand that the categorization of “men” is incredibly expansive and beautiful. Like trans men, queer cis men demonstrate this expansiveness often, but would you ever imply that cis queer men aren't "real" men? No, because that'd be fucked up and completely untrue.

Cis men can be feminine, masculine, everything in between and beyond. A cis man in a skirt or wearing makeup is still a man, yes? Do you think a cis man with a beard and high heels walking down the street isn’t going to be treated like he’s “less of a man?” Do you think a 5’3 cis man hasn’t experienced rejection because of his height? Do you think an androgynous looking or “femmed up” cis man hasn’t been bullied, hasn’t been the target of homophobic slurs, and hasn’t experienced interpersonal violence? Because he has.

Please, stop reinforcing the idea that cis men own and define what it means to be a man by rejecting the fact that trans men are men. By constantly creating disclaimers about trans men being “different from cis men” we are, once again, making trans guys a subcategory of manhood.

Think of it like this— every time a cis man talks about his experience does he need to add some disclaimer about how his experience is specific to cisness? No, because cisness is assumed here. In order to create a more expansive category of men and masculinity, we need to stop making caveats when we talk about trans men’s experiences. Like, no shit, cis men are cis, our experiences are not going to be the same. However, I’ve been done centering cis manhood for a long time now and it’s done nothing but liberate my internal and external experience with gender— it’s also allowed me to genuinely see and validate all trans guys as men.

If you really deconstruct and internalize that your experience as a (trans) man, guy, masc, whatever tf is just as real as the cis man experience, you will probably even feel affirmed and validated when you hear, "trans men are men."

If you are out here feeling offended by or arguing against the fact that "trans men are men" or you catch yourself adding some disclaimer like, "trans men are men…but trans men have different experiences than cis men" I think you really gotta expand your analysis and perceptions of gender because this demonstrates you’re still seeing the world and you’re still seeing manhood through a cis normative lens.

I saw someone on Twitter say, "the vast majority of trans mascs and men that I know don’t transition." First off, as my comrade @dysphoria_dimes said, “Being trans is a transition. You’re the one defining transition as a medical process." With that said, I don't know a single trans masc who hasn't transitioned in someway (be that medically, spiritually, socially, whatever).

Also, if the vast majority of trans men you know "don't (medically) transition" I think you need to interrogate why this is and ask yourself why you are not in community with transsexual guys - because like all genders of people, trans guys have beautifully expansive gender performances and experiences, including those who medically transition. IMO- it's telling if none of the men in your life are transsexual. Perhaps you are trying to distance yourself from transsexual men just like you may have distanced yourself from cis men— and maybe you do this out of fear. Maybe you do this because close proximity to men (who are commonly perceived as men) makes you feel a certain way.

As trans men, no matter how we look, present, behave, transition, etc, we are already “breaking the rules” society has constructed around what it means to be a man. You can lean into this rule breaking as much or as little as you desire and still be a “real” man.

You are not a “failed” man because you don’t (or can’t) look or act a certain way. You’re not a “failed” man because you don’t adhere to cis standards of masculinity and manhood. You are a real man and you owe it to yourself to own that.

Remember those old school anti-marijuana commercials that couldn't come up with anything worse than like-

“weed is gonna make you sit on the couch all night and make you late to pick up ur little brother from school” 😱 lmao

Speaking of weed let's talk about the people who tell me I have a "substance abuse problem" because they decided that cutting out weed was essential for their sobriety journey...

lol babe, we are not the same. You do you. I will do me.

I used to take 150mg of morphine/day. YES, ONE HUNDRED AND FUCKING FIFTY (plus another 60mg+ of other, similar shit daily).

I had a severe chemical addiction to heroin for ~10 years. I haven't touched heroin, in any of its form, for years now. When you are that deep into chemical addiction, doctors are terrified to help you because you can literally die from going cold turkey. It took me 2-3 years to completely taper off until one day I took the last dose of .25mg.

I was given support and knowledge from trans friends who are medical practitioners, but I didn't have a doctor managing my process and I didn't have the resources whatsoever for rehab. To be clear, those things are great to have, but they were not within my reach. I did this on my own because that was my only option and weed did nothing but help me through this process.

For a lot of people, I have found that chemical addiction (and “recovery”) is very different than other kinds of addiction.

I don't really use the word "recovery." Idk exactly why I dislike it for myself. It might be related to the deep fear I had after tapering off heroin that I wouldn't survive without it.

I didn't feel "in recovery." I was a fucking mess, physically and mentally. There wasn't some massive spiritual awakening. My life didn't drastically improve all of the sudden. In some ways, it got much harder.

When I was coming off heroin, I felt an immense sense of loss that took years to subside—

but the feeling of loss improved. I don't feel it everyday anymore. It comes up sometimes, but I now know it is a temporary feeling and it will leave me again.

When you live in this deep fear of turning back to chemical dependency, it feels very very personal. I have never been to a single meeting or shared my experience in that way. I didn't want to process my feelings. I just wanted to get through it.

I was terrified of publicly declaring myself "in recovery" without having any fucking clue if the next day would be the same.

I don't love term "relapse" either. It makes it seem as though severe addiction is black and white. I don't know that I could take a single fucking pain pill without completely losing my shit, mentally and physically.

And in a way, before it was very clearly on a path to destroying me, addiction saved me during a time when I didn't want to live— and I mean that in a very real sense. I didn't want to live. This can be challenging to talk about because the years and years of so much fucking heroin, opioids, morphine, etc led to one of the hardest physical, mental, and emotional challenges I will ever go through - which was simply getting off of them.

More than anything else, when I feel that sense of loss, I remind myself how fucking awful it was to always make sure I had an adequate amount of heroin so that I wouldn't die from my body going into shock without it. I remind myself how fucking terrible the withdrawals were, how long they lasted, and how I felt like it would never end.

For years, I kept a stash in my bathroom because I didn't completely know if it was over for me. I had to make the decision every single day to let it sit in a box under my bathroom sink. You'd think this wouldn't be a good tactic, but it actually led me to build a type of trust with myself I never had before.

I started slowly giving it to people who needed it be they also were chemically dependent and couldn't go cold turkey or because they just had surgery and needed medications.

One day, I gave all that was left to a friend. He needed some for surgery recovery and he stashed the rest to give to other people in need.

Let’s be real, there is a very different kind of judgement people have of you when you have a chemical addiction. And, when you're in the middle of the worst parts of chemical addiction, you don't need people telling you you're an addict.

Like come on, you know you're an addict when you're taking lethal doses of heroin on the daily and can't survive without it.

But others knowing and "bringing it to my attention" and creating some kind of plan or intervention - that was just not at all for me. The very thought of people imposing their opinions of my addiction on me did nothing but make me isolate myself more.

Today, when someone even implies “judgement” of how much weed I smoke, I laugh. People are still so confused, despite all of the personal stories and academic/scientific research proving that there are actual benefits to cannabis. But this isn’t an article to “educate” anyone on the impact of cannabis, there is plenty of that you can find on your own. This is an article to let people know how fucking ridiculous they sound when they belittle cannabis users, when they tell “ex” chemical addicts that we aren’t “sober” because we smoke weed, and when they compare marijuana use to the addiction of substances that quite literally kill people when they’re stopped “cold turkey.”

TLDR: you can go fuck yourself with any and all judgement you have about my relationship with weed 😘

Check out local harm reduction, clean needle exchanges, and drug checking resources in the Bay Area:

Punks with Lunch, Oakland:

Harm Reduction Outreach Collective, SF

trans day of remembering their faces, their laughs, their glow, their despair. trans day of irritability, of refusal, of deep and deepening rage, of ragers, of resisting, of taking a fucking nap. trans day of fuck the police, of abolish ice, of from the river to the sea. trans day of hanging on by a thread. trans day of take off ur “support the dolls” shirt if u don’t regularly provide material support to trans women. trans day of remembering to take ur hrt, of free and total access to medical care, of no longer reducing trans care down to “affirming care.” trans day of total liberation and bodily autonomy. trans day of out with validity politics and in with material needs. trans day of those whose names u’ll never know. trans day of just like any other day when this system has taken ur friends, ur family, and ur comrades. trans day of, as miss major would say, we are still fucking here. trans day of vengeance. trans day of vengeance.

Obviously, shit is really rough for trans people right now and as repression rises, the bar for trans “allyship” gets lower and fucking lower. It’s like, as long as people don’t actively want trans people dead, they feel entitled to call themselves an ally (even when they’re not doing the bare fucking minimum to keep us alive).

Trans people don't need more cis awareness. We need housing, funds, medical care, and food in our fridges; we need people and community who will raise all hell on our behalves. Because let's be real, in my 15+ years of transitioning, cis people have never been more "aware" of transness than they are today.

Visibility and awareness do not provide trans people with the resources or respect we need to live dignified lives, and both can (and have) been used as tools to further oppress us. Without meaningful action, without care, without intention, the impact of trans “visibility” and “awareness” are worse than meaningless- they’re harmful. And this has been proven to us over and over again.

There is a massive outpouring of people in power publicly shaming, abusing, blaming, and scapegoating trans people. These behaviors, this abuse, this violence, has always existed. Meanwhile, trans people have always told our stories, often for one another, but so much effort has been put forth to educate cis people as well. And I’m sorry, but where has that gotten us? Some people might say, “better healthcare” or “more resources,” but honestly any and all improvements to our medical care or to our mutual aid efforts, for example, are outcomes of the immense amount of labor that trans people have put forth for one another. We have always built alternatives to provide and care for one another. And yes, some of the people who love us and who give a shit about us, I mean really, genuinely care about our humanity, have participated in uplifting us and taking action to support us in meaningful ways.

Trans people have never held the systemic power required to actually shape the public opinion about us.

In this moment, the broad public “visibility” and “awareness” of trans people are outcomes of the extreme rise in abusing and dehumanizing trans people. The vast majority of the public learn about transness from those who call us groomers and deceivers, who call for our eradication, who shift blame and label us as “violent terrorists,” who demonize trans women, who abduct and imprison Black and brown trans people, who violate, criminalize, and persecute us; this is who has taken control of the narrative and shifted the realities of what’s happening and who is being harmed. They have named trans people as the perpetrators and themselves as the victims. The people who are “informing” the public, who are writing laws and orders, who are declaring that we don’t and can’t exist, who claim that their “safety” is based on our eradication, who hold the power to shape the narrative, this is who has created more trans “visibility” and more public “awareness” than I’ve ever seen in my life. And yes, of course, this “awareness” and “visibility” is built on lies and deceit.

People who have, not once, sought out the stories and experiences of trans people directly, who have never met (or think they have never met) a trans person, who have never loved a transsexual, who have never heard a single trans woman’s story of being followed down the street in broad daylight, who have never lost a trans loved one to suicide, anti-trans violence, or medical neglect, who have never been confronted with the very real and increasing levels houselessness, poverty, and abuse trans people experience — these are the people who are being spoon fed anti-trans narratives and eating it tf up with their family and friends. The vast majority of the public “learned” about and became “aware” of transness through the people who want us dead. I understand if this feels harsh, but it’s just fucking true.

Meanwhile, the people who claim to be “allies” to trans people rarely show up in meaningful ways. The “precedent” has been set by fascists attempting to eradicate transness, so the pendulum of what it means to be an ally has swung way too fucking far and off course. The bar has moved exactly how fascism intends for it to move, which is making people believe that as long as you’re not like “them” (the fascists in power) you’re an “ally” who is not perpetuating harm.

Of course, there are actual allies who do show up and commit themselves to the work, but again, these are people who are actually in community with trans people, these are not people whose perceptions of us are informed by the 10 o’clock news, by the fucking New York Times, or by scrolling twitter. These are people who do not seek out the “opinions” of TERFs because they believe there’s “two sides” to the oppression and dehumanization against trans women. And the real ones (actual trans allies) get that the “little things” matter more now than ever before.

To be clear, I’m not just talking about people who are uninformed and lean into bothsideism. I’m talking about a whole range of people, including those who continue to perpetuate harm against trans people in their language and their actions. For example, I had a self proclaimed “ally” on TikTok go off on me after I scoffed at them for saying that “they are a she/they ‘afab’ lesbian who dates trans men because their attraction is to genitals, not people” (I swear to gawd that’s what they said). I can’t even dissect all of that right now because honestly, I’ve laid out how fucked up this is SO MANY times throughout the years. But the vast majority of people who read my content and my “takes” are directly impacted trans people.

I used to feel disgusted by the constant language used in leftist spaces that so blatantly contributes to anti-trans rhetoric and harm— like the reduction of people to genitalia, to reproduction, to “assigned genders at birth,” to our so called “socialization,” and to the dominant hormones running through our bodies. But today, I am more embarrassed for you than disgusted by you (though, the disgust still exists in me). I have absolutely zero interest in educating you because I have seen trans people try, I have been part of the immense amount of effort we put forth to build true allies, and I am sick of the emptiness handed back to us.

Do cis people truly not see how tied up their own oppression is in ours? Do they think they are not repressed, controlled, and violated by gendered rules and expectations? I just can’t even wrap my head around the fact that they don’t get how influenced and empowered something like the patriarchy is by anti-trans hate.

It’s your responsibility, “ally,” to create space and capacity in your life to tangibly fight for trans liberation. Today, my whole thing around “allyship” is you either figure your shit out and leave your harm at the door, or you get the fuck “on board” with an open mind and a genuine effort to show up. You have a lifetime of skills and experience to lend to this work, so figure out how you’re needed and get to work.

I long for a world where people respect and show up for the trans people who are here, who do not owe anyone our stories, our pain, our joy, or our grief, who carry with us a long legacy of resistance and rage, who deserve life beyond surviving, who deserve more than your empty words. I long for a world where the full liberation and autonomy of trans people, not visibility and awareness, are our guiding principles.

FOR THE LOVE OF GAWD, ABOLISH THAT COP IN YOUR FUCKING HEAD ALREADY.

IT'S NOT A "CLASH"

IT'S NOT A REASONABLE "RESPONSE"

Be aware of how you talk about cops “responding” to protestors. Stop legitimizing police violence.

One side holds systemic power, carries loaded weapons and is allowed (and encouraged) to beat people’s asses and pull triggers.

The other side has to “remain calm” or face the consequences.

Policing is a system of oppression that enforces the existing social and economic order. It is a system that advances and moves in line with fascism. Fascism needs policing to thrive. Policing needs your bothsideism to prevail.

Policing is surveillance, it is repression, it kills, incarcerates, kidnaps, and abducts to maintain and expand state violence and control over people and communities.

There are no exceptions.

If you can't uphold your anti-police rhetoric when the violence is unfolding right in front of you, what are you even doing?

Ditch the fucking "criminal" vs "non criminal" narratives. Ditch the “exceptions" you make when you disagree with an individual or a community's response to state violence. Not all actions will be in line with yours, that doesn't mean you should fucking align with cops in any way whatsoever, ever.

You know who decides what a crime is? You know who labels people as criminals?

The fucking cops, the state, the system that wants all of us to bow down to it and pedestalize its loser foot soldiers running around with loaded guns and shooting to kill (and you know this already, so please, start embodying it).

The state is begging you and propagandizing you to make "exceptions" to the rule.

The rule is nonnegotiable. The rule is that all cops fucking suck, all cops are trained to kill, all cops are a weapon of the state—

hard fucking stop.

For example, if you “see something say something” is the a national campaign encouraging people to report “criminal” activity to authorities. Reject this shit. “If you see something” — no the fuck you didn’t.

If you disagree with actions taken by a protestor, cool, debrief with your friends about it— don’t fucking tell the internet, don’t talk to the cops.

If you see someone having a breakdown in public, ask yourself how on earth could calling the cops do anything to help this person? How on earth could detaining and forcibly strapping down a human being to a gurney by cops with loaded guns do anything by make this person less safe? You might be able to ask the person what they want or need, ask if they have a support person to call, offer them a bottle of water — literally anything that demonstrates you see them as human.

Is someone fucked up and half passed out on the sidewalk? Ask them what they want. If they have trouble answering, ask more specifics. “Do you need water? A snack? Can I leave you some Narcan?” Are you unsure if they need medical attention? Well, it’s still up to them if they want it. You can ask, you can observe, you can assess without touching if you have the skills, you can call a comrade who does have the skills, but my fucking gawd don’t go calling the cops.

And please stop acting like there is “nuance” to this. Cops don’t give a shit, but community does.

Cops don’t give a shit about victims or survivors, about addicts, about people who have been forced to sleep on cold hard cement sidewalks, they don’t give a fuck about the person who swiped a bottle of water because they haven’t had anything to drink in two days. Cops consistently bring more harm, more violence, and more distress to those who are most vulnerable.

Being a part of community, connecting with our neighbors, understanding the skills and expertise among our comrades, and committing ourselves to long term community building is our only way to survive this. We absolutely need one another. So go on and make yourself part of something bigger. Drop the individualistic “survival” mechanisms they so deeply want us all to adopt and accept— commit yourself to caring for and about people in a way you never imagined possible.

Of all the times to be alive, of all of the 3,000 years of human history, how grateful I am to have lived among Miss Major Griffin-Gracy’s 78 years.

Showing us trans people age, that we live to create memories and experiences that shape us, that we deserve love, that we will experience loss and heartbreak and we will live on, that nothing is more important than living our truths and building bridges among us, that we can survive and even thrive when we are surrounded by community, that we must protect the trans women who are with us today, that “it’s not wrong to feel like the world is fucked up beyond repair, but...you can try to repair what you can, using whatever skills you might have.”

My notes section is full of quotes from Miss Major. I am sharing some of them here with you on the day of her passing.

Quotes are from a variety of interviews including Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary, Them, Teen Vogue, Black Women Radicals, Vice

“How about giving the rest of the gurls that are living here today some respect? I don’t need a plaque hanging on the wall to remind me of where I’ve been, you know what I mean? The way I function is to do the things I do now: it’s all, all at the bottom. All grassroots stuff, and nothing with the Powers That Be. So that’s not me, hanging on the wall. What you think or feel about me, whatever I did that moved you, that’s what it’s all about. I want my memory to live on in the hearts of the grassroots — I’m not interested, really, in recognition from one mayor or another.”

“I don’t need their permission to exist, I exist in spite of them. I want you to train and teach and love on and create families within my community and gender non-conforming people, so that we can understand that we have a culture, we have a history, we have a reason to be here. We have a purpose. We’re entitled to be loved, and seek happiness, and share that with the people that we care about.“

“We can resist the bullshit and rebel against the crap that is holding us down. We used to accept this crap of: We're not worthy, and We shouldn't exist, like this government is trying to push down our throats.

We've got to revolt, and we've got to reclaim who the fuck we are and let these people realize, before they came along, we were honored and worshipped and appreciated and adored."

“Until you understand how oppression works, where it’s coming from, and what it means, it’s really hard to fight it because you didn’t understand what the fight is all about. In order to defeat something, you have to know what it is.”

“I'm not ready to go back and hide inside a closet, and just get erased like that. You can kill a person, but you can't kill an idea, and you can't kill love or hurt.”

“The rest of the world thinks that they can just beat us down and crush us, and we’re going to just snap in two. We won’t snap in two.”

“People put so much into seeing Stonewall as this symbol. All I know is that night, they came in, and nobody budged. I guess we were just sick of their shit. And suddenly we were fighting, and we were kicking their ass. The cops had to back up into the bar. We had them cornered. Next thing you knew, the riot squad was there, and baby, it was on”

“One of the things that my grandmother told me is: ‘Hate is like quicksand.’ It’s all-consuming. Once you get involved with that, it’s going to suck you in and envelop you. We have to give people the room to be who they are, the courage to change and alter and grow. It’s kind of like plants: You gotta give it sun and water and let it develop as it needs to. Don’t tie it down and make it grow the way you want.”

“If self-hatred was hammered into you when you were young, you're important - being an outsider helps you develop skin that's both tough and pliable in social situations. You are a stronger person because of the shit you've gone through.”

“As a community, we have to get ourselves together first. You can’t be a fractionalized group of people with the animosity and the pain and hurt that we go through and put it on another transgender person because we don’t have the ability or can’t get to the people who are doing the oppressing. Once we can get it together and unite amongst ourselves and realize the force that we can have and maintain, that the voices together is stronger than the voice alone.”

“You have to learn to take these things in stride and to utilize the things that are important to you and let go of the bullshit that isn’t. Once we do that, we open up ourselves to the things in the universe that we have absolutely no concept about.“

“And if you pay attention, most monuments are for one person, or one thing that some person did in their life. I wouldn’t be here if not for my community, my friends, my comrades. And so to me, the ninety-nine percent of statues that celebrate one person, it’s bullshit. Regardless of whether they deserve a statue or not, those people didn’t get to do anything great without a damn crowd of people they worked with to get there.“

“It’s a matter of taking any of those things in stride and using the things about them that give you the strength to move forward, carry on, get up in the morning and feel as if, get up in the morning and feel as if, What a wonderful day it is that you’re getting a chance to live again, to share and be a part of someone else’s life—and to carry that on, move it forward, reach down and help people understand and learn who they are, who they can be, what things are possible and out there for them, and how to negotiate that and make it all worthwhile.”

“We are still not accepted straight across the board there are still hoops to go through. It’s like, ‘Oh, if you put this on and you do this, then we’ll think about accepting you.’ Bullshit! You accept me because of who I am and I’m breathing just like you are.”

“You have to give people who are new to this movement and to activism in general some way in. For some people, that’s going to a protest, or seeing a documentary, or reading a book, that gets them thinking, ‘Maybe I can do something.’ And so no, I don’t believe one person’s vote amounts to shit. But it can get people in the mindset of recognizing they can fight back against the Powers That Be in some way. Maybe next time, that leads them down the path of, they’ll join an organization or they’ll talk to their friends about the murders, or that George Washington had slaves, and how this country only exists because of slavery.”

“What I tell my girls that call me for advice and stuff, is keep on fighting. Do not give up. Don’t relax in the fact that someone else is going to do it and you’re going to be safe, no matter what it is.”

Toshio Meronek: We’ve been to events that are meant to be an alternative to corporate Pride, and there are a few Prides that have uninvited cops from marching in their parades in uniform. How do people keep the cops out?

Miss Major: I assume the best way is to stop inviting their asses, because they’re the most harmful things to our very fucking existence.

“The Powers That Be: the corporate, government, and nonprofit actors who work to preserve the status quo, and the forces in the world who want us all to fit into our proper places in an established social hierarchy, from which they can look down on us and make sure we don't fuck with the money and privilege they hoard.”

“We still have to take the time to appreciate the smell of a beautiful rose, to be somewhere where the smell of fresh grass tingles your nostrils and makes you dream, relax, chill. If we become so cold and brutal and harmful and fearful of that next moment, that next day, what’s turning that next corner, it gets to a point of, Well, what’s it all for? Why go to the next corner? Why get up, why go outside?

Well, because different things can happen when you do, and the world is a wonderful place. And yeah, it’s fucking hard. But, damn it, every now and then, something comes along that just tingles you to your toes, you know? It can be any number of things. The hand of a friend on your shoulder when you’re not feeling good. A smile from a total stranger that is warm and genuine and open, and that caresses your heart from whatever distance they are from you.

Those make it worth getting up. Those make it worth fighting for who we are and believing in ourselves.”

“You know, in the beginning, as you’re starting out and discovering who you are and how to express yourself, you have to try different things, different facets of yourself—like a diamond, different cuts, different angles—so that you can go and be and do things that suit who you are, the things that make you real, keep you comfortable, and make you happy. On top of all that, we got to be happy. If transitioning is too much drama, and too aggravating, child, you need to be doing something else. Because even with all the bullshit and the angst and the roller coaster rides, there’s still a pleasure in it that can’t be beat because you’re getting a chance to be your true self.”

“The thing that makes us radical is we don’t accept what is handed to us. We don’t accept that.”

“Band together, keep a strong front. We must always do that. We can’t afford to let it go because the moment we let it go, it’s going to cover us up, so we must keep going. I didn’t fight all those years ago in Stonewall just to turn around and let it go now. That was 50 years ago. So, we’ve got to keep fighting no matter what.”

I had a conversation with my boyfriend today about two of the common extremes we are seeing online in response to anti-trans violence. We’ve got the “this isn’t a huge deal” crowd (who express this belief based on the fact that they are not already being targeted nor are they likely to targeted by the state anytime soon) and we’ve got “the feds are going to show up and take me tomorrow” (who express this belief without doing any personal risk assessment, which could very well be relatively low at the moment)— both of which are giving individualism over collectivity.

Let’s start by reframing our current moment because the speed at which state repression is escalating seems to be a bit overbearing for most people, rightly so.

Think about how we prepare for environmental disaster before we are in immediate danger. If you live in a place like California, in an area that is likely to experience fires, you don’t wait to prepare when your house goes up in flames because what the fuck would that do? You prepare ahead of time, even if this means your safety is not guaranteed, because you may be able to mitigate your risk.

We also don’t completely avoid preparing for environmental disaster because it’s inevitable. You don’t “throw in the towel” (as they say) because you live on an earthquake fault line, you don’t just give in to the fact that you live below sea level and in a tsunami zone; you do your best to prepare and protect yourself, your loved ones, your neighbors, and your community.

You calm yourself down ahead of time, you work through the panic, the anxiety, and the dissonance before the actual crisis is at your front door. You learn from people who experienced natural disasters throughout history (both recent and long past) in order to prepare for such an overwhelming reality.

We can’t just respond to the moment, we have to be thinking and preparing for the future. As repression changes and shifts in severity so does our preparation. There is not a “one size fits all” way of preparing. We are not all in the same situation. We don’t all hold the same risk level and our preparation isn’t finalized after writing down our first draft of a plan. If you are already preparing, you are familiar with the fact that growing, editing, and adjusting your plan of action is unavoidable (and important). Preparedness is not stagnant and in the wake of fascism it’s often shifting.

We also can’t say, “well, I’m personally not being targeted by the state yet, so I don’t need to deal with any threats of immediate danger” because here’s the thing — not only is this going to lead to more personal panic if or when the threat becomes imminent — it also demonstrates a lack of responsibility and accountability to the people who are at more risk than you right now.

If you don’t feel like you have to plan for your safety yet, based on your risk level, you can contribute by helping comrades plan, by joining defense campaigns, by stepping up to support and participate in movement building, and by offering whatever skills you have (because you’ve been building them for a whole lifetime) to something bigger than yourself. By doing this, you will also begin to understand and navigate what you, personally, need to prepare. Showing up selflessly for those who are at more risk than you will connect you with people who lend their time, energy, labor, and skills, all of which may be lended to support you when you need it.

If your response to state repression is centering yourself - whether that be panicking and projecting panic on others because you are concerned for yourself or dissociating and implying a threat isn’t real or serious enough to take action because you aren’t concerned about yourself - you are not actually moving with and in community and accountability to others.

Fascism deliberately invokes chaos, yes, and also fascism is chaos. The chaos of communities being kidnapped, disappeared, criminalized, punished, targeted, and abducted, is not staged panic, it is very real. And how do we show up for one another without facing such a reality and without staying informed and preparing?

This doesn’t mean we have to consume all of the news, updates, headlines, and information, but if you feel like you can completely avoid what’s happening because you feel “safe,” you are likely sitting in a relatively comfortable situation (or you’re completely and totally disconnecting from reality which is definitely real and valid in moments of crisis).

It’s good to start with a risk assessment, which there isn’t some cut and paste algorithmic tool for, but basically a risk assessment includes:

• Evaluating your own potential risk and vulnerabilities

• Identifying the potential harm

• Assessing the likeliness and impact of being targeted

• Developing tools to mitigate your risk, and preparing for the impact (or “consequences”)

In my instagram stories, I shared my understanding of the targeting of trans people as “domestic terrorists.” A friend (who is a lawyer) responded saying, “this is a great explanation, your grasp of the law is better than you think.” So, perhaps this analysis will help you as you start evaluating and identifying your own risk:

First of all, the language used by authorities and the government around “terrorism” is all so purposely broad and confusing. While I’m not a legal expert, I didn't just start researching “Nihilistic Violent Extremisn” or "domestic terrorism" today or yesterday. I am someone who takes security and surveillance seriously for my own sake, those around me, and the movements I am accountable to. And despite this - some of us are not in a great position at the moment. But I anticipated this moment and have done my best to prepare (and at the same time how much can you really prepare for fascism without capitulating, you know what I mean?)

TLDR; there is not a formal designation for all trans people or the "trans movement" in general at the moment. It's reported that the FBI is prepping to classify certain trans people ("suspects" - which is broad) as “Nihilistic Violent Extremists” (also very broad). NVE is a type of "terrorism" designation ranging from what they consider "grooming vulnerable individuals" via social media to using violence firsthand. Keep in mind, “violence” as a term is also very broad and not just applicable to violence as in mass shootings.

Per the FBI, Nihilistic Violent Extremists = "criminal conduct... in furtherance of political, social, or religious goals that derive primarily from a hatred of society at large and a desire to bring about its collapse by sowing indiscriminate chaos."

The Heritage Foundation is essentially being like "that's not enough" and pushing for a trans specific categorization of "terrorism" that could make calling out transphobia, saying transphobia has negative impacts on people’s health, and any kind of "trans activism" as violent extremism. This would include "predicting violent extremism before it happens.” Obviously, all "terrorism" accusations impose heightened surveillance

I also want to remind people that the vast majority of “content creators” are not organizers and therefore they are not thinking and strategizing in the same way as people who have committed themselves to movement building and organizing— which is fine, we all have our lanes and we should stay in our lanes. We don’t all need to be experts or pretend we are experts in all of the things. In my opinion, this moment of escalating state violence that puts people’s lives at risk (and straight up kills people) is not the time nor place to dabble in new areas of expertise without guidance, lean on the skills you have.

These are some of the “red flags” that I have noticed from people and accounts who front as organizers, but haven’t been involved in much (or any) organizing and movement building offline:

• Most (or all) of their content is monetized and they prioritize profit, status, and “fame” over collectivity

• Encouraging people and formations to take specific risks that they, themselves, haven’t taken

• A consistent focus on criticizing all but their way (which they believe is the right way) of “organizing”

• A claim or insistence that they are the most committed to liberation or that they are the “best” ally or the “most” radical

• Implying that state repression isn’t “that big of a deal”

• Only responding to the moment, in panic

• Overly academic and inaccessible in their “takes”

• Only amplify or post about repression when it’ll get a rise out of people and boost their content (I.e., the massive wave of accounts suddenly posting about anti-trans violence now that the FBI is prepping to target specific trans people)

• Using their experience, and the fact that they don’t feel like they’re in any imminent danger, as a sweeping generalization about the “safety” of others, including their demographics “safety”

• Focusing on individualism (I.e., implying that people are at the biggest fault for COVID deaths as opposed to the state and the medical industrial complex)

• Waiting for it to be socially acceptable to say or do something when a community is being attacked. For example, this sudden emergence of creators who didn’t say a word about genocide for two years, who haven’t posted a single mutual aid for Palestinians, who waited years before even naming the fact that Israel and the US have killed upwards of 680,000 people in Gaza. And now, many of them aren’t accepting the “call in” of their silence, but instead giving inexcusable excuses

• Their voice is always either “love and light” (you know what I mean) or totally despairing

• They use AI to generate toolkits for activism, organizing, and community defense

Also, this is fascism. we can’t depend on news sources to report anything even remotely true these days. So, we have to rely on alternative sources and media for information without disregarding every source as untrue just because it’s not where we are used to getting our facts from. And also, we can’t just believe a source is factual because they have a platform. Not everyone has good intentions and also, infiltration is real. Not only is infiltration used to target and surveil individuals and movements, it is used to promote chaos, disorganization, and conflict. Both of these can be real and true at the same time: accepting information as “real” (despite the information not being from the sources you are used to relying on) AND being aware and responsible around the fact that false reporting and misinformation is deliberate are two truths you can hold simultaneously.

When we hear from people experiencing the violence or who are given intel about violence, we need to take a moment to process what we are hearing and witnessing, do our own research, and gain some understanding of the situation before regurgitating it back to the masses.

For example, several months ago, I had multiple nurses and doctors contact me to tell me that trans healthcare is being targeted in the UC system. I couldn’t find a single news source reporting this. I waited a moment, gathered the information, connected with UC workers, and amplified the facts they were sharing with me. All of the information given to me was factual and it’s just starting to gain some press momentum. I don’t think I do this perfectly or even “right” all of the time, but I do it thoughtfully and with accountability to a broader movement.

We only have one another, we cannot depend on news sources that are accepting right wing anti-trans conspiracy bullshit as fact. We cannot depend on “liberal” media that print bullshit information from Israeli settlers and genocide enablers to inform us on the realities of the genocide in Gaza and the destruction of life in the West Bank.

I firmly believe we can't prepare by ignoring patterns and facing the realities of what continues to be clearly laid out for us. If we are only responding to the moment, we are always on the defense, we are not doing any actual movement building - which comes with long term strategizing and building power in community.

We also can't prepare adequately if we are constantly panicking. That doesn't mean we each don't get to have our panicked moments and feelings, it means that our strategies can't be fueled by panic (or by dissociation).

We get to have these moments - and move on from them - when we are invested in movement and community. When you are leaning on community and they are leaning on you, you are not alone, the movement won't collapse if you have a bad day or a bad week and neither will your world.

Build power over panic, always.

Today, fascism is completely dismantling the most basic needs of trans people— and most of you aren’t saying a gd word.

I’m not an optimist, that’s for sure, but I guess I thought we moved past the point of leftist movements isolating trans people. I guess, somewhere inside of me, I expected people to make a fucking scene once the dehumanization of trans people became blatantly obvious to them.

There’s no excuses at this point. I mean, tbh, there should have never been excuses. Trans women, especially Black and brown trans women, have always been violated and abused at alarming rates. Trans healthcare has always been a dehumanizing legislative battle for politicians to turn out the masses at the expense of our lives. Trans people who are imprisoned, who are abducted by ICE, who are kidnapped by cops, have always been subjected to the absolute worst and most inhumane conditions. Trans people have always had alarmingly high rates of houselessness, poverty, job discrimination, abuse, violence, and systematic oppression. Trans people already struggled to maintain housing, to receive ethical care, to fill our fridges with food, to receive food stamps, to walk down the street without stares, glares, and disgust.

Today, as you sit there in silence and self imposed oblivion, everything trans people have fought hard and long for in order to have some dignity and humanity is being taken from us—and we are feeling it, it is directly impacting us, right now.

We are being funneled into systems and lists. Our doctors are being subpoenaed by the DOJ. Our youth are being systemically killed. Our landlords are kicking us out of our homes. Our jobs are telling us to STFU about being trans or they’ll fire us. Our right to take a piss in public bathrooms is being criminalized. Our humanity is being demonized and the regime is forcing you to choose a side. And your silence is blaring. Your silence is complicit.

At first, I thought maybe people didn’t understand the magnitude of what trans people are facing, despite the severe escalation in anti-trans propaganda and violence we are seeing today.

I thought maybe people don’t understand how trans healthcare is absolutely vital to the survival of transness and (so many) trans individuals. I thought, maybe people don’t have trans people in their lives who medically transition, so they’re not quite understanding the direct impact fascism is already having on us (which, btw, is a you problem). I thought maybe they don’t truly understand collective liberation or that trans women have carried liberation movements on their backs throughout history. So, I have taken the time and energy, I have put forth the labor, I have made posts, articles, videos, speeches, memes, etc that explain all of this, as have so many trans people.

But you have made your intentions obvious at this point. You have made your disregard and disinterest loud and clear. And along the way, you have gaslit others into believing that state and interpersonal violence against trans people isn’t anything to get “all up in arms about.” You’ve demonstrated, very clearly, that you do not believe trans people are “deserving” of your time, your voice, your energy, or your labor.

In fact, even when it takes absolutely ZERO labor on your part, many of you have very consciously decided to that you will not uplift trans people. Many of the “leftist” accounts and content creators who I have “collaborated” with for years on Instagram refuse to accept a *collaboration post when it is specifically about trans people. Meanwhile, they are happy to add any other post about oppression, fascism, leftist politics, etc— as long as it’s not about, and does not mention, transness. You all can go fuck off tbh.

*Adding a collaboration post on Instagram is simply just clicking a box that says “accept.” We do not actually (or usually) create the content together. This is a VERY easy way to uplift people, causes, mutual aid, and movements and requires no labor from the account being added. It is a way to share your reach with the movement. Granted, no one is required to accept any or all collaboration posts. But it becomes very, very obvious when an account accepts all or most content in general, but never accepts a post centering trans people.

And there are countless organizations who are speaking out against fascism and the communities most directly impacted, but they refuse to uplift trans voices and they refuse to make a statement, or say a single word, about anti-trans hate.

Sometimes, once in a while, they slip a mention of trans people into a broader statement— never centering transness. When they do this, when they finally mention trans people in a broader statement, they almost always have copied and pasted the words an individual trans person wrote without any credit or citation. Yes, this has happened to me and many other trans folks. And I am not oblivious to the fact that things I say will be taken and used by others as if it’s their own words. It’s the internet, it is a shit show, a free-for-all. But the fact that non trans organizations regularly take the words of trans individuals and then throw their organizational branding all over our words and experiences makes me want to fucking vomit. It’s almost like— you have no idea how to talk about trans people unless you’re just copying and pasting exactly what we’ve said.

I saw a video from a recent Kehlani show where she said, “I want to shoutout the trans community majorly, because you guys put all of us on your backs. And we owe it to you to keep you safe and to keep you at the forefront.”

This moved me. It moved me for a couple reasons. First off, I have seen so few non transsexual people with a platform uplift us in this way. I have seen very few people make a commitment to protecting us, honoring us, and standing with us in this moment. And also, Kehlani is nonbinary person who does not medically transition and therefore they have a different experience with transness than those who do— and she acknowledges this in the way she talks to and about trans people.

The thing is, I’ve been medically transitioning for over 15 years, and I’ve always seen trans people showing up in disproportionate numbers to fight for our trans and non trans comrades. I can only speak for myself when I say that I have made a lifelong commitment to both expose the oppressors who gain power at the expense of peoples lives, humanity, and dignity and to uplift the people and communities who are subject to the violence, the scapegoating, and the dehumanization. I have made a very personal and unconditional commitment to do the work that needs to be done and use whatever power I hold to play my part in dismantling a system that puts a price tag on humanity.

I want to be clear, true solidarity is not transactional. You don’t show support for the people being most abused and violated by the system because you think you will receive something in return and you don’t do it because you fear that “you’ll be next.” Real solidarity is unconditional, it comes with personal risk and sacrifice. And while I don’t expect anything in return simply for being a principled human, I question the principles of others who refrain from doing the same for trans people.

At this point, I can only assume your silence around anti-trans hate is a result of being weak, unprincipled, and fearful as opposed to a lack of understanding. If you do not clearly see what this regime is doing to trans people— you have deliberately closed your eyes and turned the other way so that you don’t hold a responsibility to say or do something about it. Forget solidarity, you have chosen to not even be a witness— this goes for individuals, organizations, institutions, and formations who are silent about anti-trans violence.

You are fearful that you will “divide your base.” You are fearful that you will lose funding. You are fearful that you will lose followers. You are fearful of the backlash that comes with being in unconditional solidarity with trans people. I mean, it’s either fear or you just literally dgaf or you’ve been persuaded by fascist propaganda. Maybe you’re asking yourself questions like, “Is it really fair to have trans women in women’s sports?” “Do youth actually need access to gender affirming care?” “Maybe bathrooms would be safer if…” “No one is gonna die without HRT..”

Or perhaps it’s not enough for you that trans women are abducted by ICE, imprisoned in isolation, and abused and killed behind bars. Maybe it’s not enough for you that trans youth are forced to live on the streets, abandoned, while losing the care that keeps them alive. Maybe it’s not enough for you that trans women are followed in broad daylight, having to watch their backs in their own neighborhoods. Maybe it’s not enough for you that trans people are being forcibly detransitioned, that we are being criminalized for existing, that we are being put on lists by the federal government in violation of our privacy and rights. Maybe it’s not enough for you that trans people are being violently bullied, killed, othered, and abused.

To the “leftists” who almost always call out fascist media narratives but remain silent while the news media falls even more in line with anti-trans propaganda, YOU ARE WEAK. Truly. You are a weak link in organizing, you are a weak link in the fight against fascism.  As the news media names trans people as demons, groomers, pedophiles, and deceivers, and while politicians and political commentators demand trans people be “rounded up, studied, and put in detention,” the vast majority of “leftist” cis people and formations are literally falling in line with their silence and fear.

You say nothing, which says everything. You refuse to have transness associated with you, in any shape or form. You lack transsexual people in your life, so you assume there hasn’t been a direct impact on our day to day lives. You fear the repercussions that you will face for standing up for trans people (or simply even mentioning that we exist). So, you ignore us. You ignore the violence. You ignore our voices and our lived experiences. You go about your life acting as though you’re principled, but there is absolutely nothing principled about you or your so called morals.

I am enraged, but I am also deeply, deeply saddened by your silence, your ignorance, and the performance you put forth to make those watching believe that you are somehow moral and virtuous. I see through your shit of a performance, and soon enough, others will see through it, too.

For those of you who do give a fuck, trans people need your rage and your allyship to be louder and more disruptive than those who are attempting to eradicate us—

and this is not a hyperbole, they have made it very very clear, they have stated it over and over again, they want to eradicate trans people.

So, what are you going to do about it?

Being “ex-military” is not the flex some of you think it is.

Honestly though, why do some of you have “ACAB” and “ex-military” in your bio? What’s honestly even worse than calling yourself “ex-military” is referring to yourself as a veteran— it’s like an esteemed Nazi being like “I went to Nazi school, performed my Nazi duties, and graduated from Nazism with five stars, now I’m a Nazi vet 🤗”

Look, I understand and make room for the fact that people grow and change. The indoctrination of youth into fascism, imperialism, and white supremacy is a very real thing. I understand that kids are preyed upon and obviously they are not given self autonomy and choice, so I’m not necessarily blaming a 9 year old for their time spent at a Zionist summer camp with IDF soldiers, for example. But these kids become adults who actually hold the power to uplift and participate in fascism. And it is their responsibility to learn the truth and raise all hell; the adult they grow into is fully responsible for course correcting their trajectory into racism, genocide, and Jewish supremacy.

What I find fully and totally disgusting is, not only the baby Zionist growing into a full on adult Zionist and passing on Jewish supremacy to future generations, but also the people who claim to denounce Zionism and yet continue to talk about it as if it some integral part of who they are.

Calling yourself “ex-Zionist” or whatever the fuck shows me you can’t really let Zionism go, you find some sort of pride in the experience of being indoctrinated into a death cult, you feels as though it “qualifies” you to call out Zionism more than those of us who were not indoctrinated.

What’s worse is that you believe that you have more “claim” to anti-Zionism than Palestinians and people who have resisted Zionism for centuries. News flash, babe, the original anti-Zionists were Palestinians. It is always the case that those directly impacted by the harm and violence of oppressive ideologies are those who are best equipped to talk about its realities.

Like, okay, put it this way— I’m not trying to learn from “ex-TERFs” who talk about their journey of unlearning the demonization and abuse of trans people. I’m just not. Like, yeah, go off I guess, but go off on the right people. There’s almost definitely an appropriate audience for that, but I’m not it.

Just as I’m not trying to learn about anti-Black racism from people raised by klansman, or the history of the Nazi genocide from the grandchildren of Nazis. Tbh, this shit can be really triggering for people who you and your family and your cults have harmed.

The same goes for the US military. You know who understands the impact and actions of the US military much more deeply than anyone who has ever “served” in the US military? People who’ve been impacted by its violence, like the upwards of one million Afghans killed by the US, like the Afghans who resisted, like the Afghans who lost their loved ones and their homes, like the Afghans who have and will continue to inherit and retell these stories of violence for generations to come.

Sure, there are people (maybe like 2-3 max tbh) in my life who were in the military before we met each other. The people who I actually found some sort of comradery with are people I was surprised to learn have a military history. You know why it shocked me? It’s never been solely because of the politics they preach and act on, but also because THEY WEREN’T FUCKING TELLING EVERYONE AND BRAGGING ABOUT IT.

In these rare circumstances, it doesn’t feel like some secret they are withholding - because that also is fucking weird and telling - it just feels like, okay— this person really rejects this part of themself, so much so that their politics are on point AND they completely and totally stopped identifying with the military. Am I still hesitant when I learn someone was in the military, despite their current outlook and actions? Yes, of course. And honestly, I find that people who actually deal with the shame of having military experience are not surprised by such hesitations, instead they move through the world with the understanding that their military experience can and *should* be a red flag (again, this is a rarity).

It’s bizarre though when people who were in the military claim abolitionism while uplifting their military experience as some sort of “expertise” they have to offer. You’re an abolitionist now? “ACAB”? “FUCK THE IDF”? “RESIST FASCISM?” Okay, don’t bust out random remarks about how you’re a “trained shooter” so “fascists better watch out.” Don’t talk about the chemical warfare you tested on people abroad under the guise of sharing “useful expertise” for protestors in the US today. Don’t use your military experience as some sort of credential that you need to “lend” to the movement against fascism (and that everyone should be grateful for 😵‍💫). Don’t make excuses like, “I was just a medic” or “I was just a linguist” or whatever tf.

If you need to process this shit, find the right people to do it with, like a therapist or other people who are learning to de-center their direct participation in the imperialist, fascist war machine. If you are “ex-military” and you want to contribute in a helpful and meaningful way, you can put all of your energy towards assisting active military to “conscientiously object.”

Do I have sympathy for people who were indoctrinated into Zionism, the US military, and white supremacy? Honestly, like to be completely and totally honest, no I don’t, just as I don’t hold sympathy for people who were indoctrinated into TERFism and transphobia, Christian supremacy, and white nationalism.

Do I recognize they may have had traumatic experiences? Yes, of course. But let’s be real, we are all fucking traumatized and we are all responsible for growing into adults who do not propel our trauma onto the rest of the world. And what’s MUCH more traumatizing than being indoctrinated into fascism is the loss of life and loved ones, of land and dignity, of self autonomy, of housing and jobs, of self determination.

Your trauma should never be centered or used as some “expert advice” when it is rooted in the persecution of others and I will never see and accept your military experience as any kind of “expertise.”