Published in Prism & Pen·PinnedCops Don’t Belong at Pride, “Unseemly” Queer People DoMarsha P. Johnson and the failures of queer respectability — There has been a huge amount of discourse recently around respectability within the queer community, and the presence of police officers there. Many people, especially young queer people, do not know our history around this issue. …Queer15 min read
Published in Perceive More!·PinnedCis People — Stop Expecting to Understand TransnessBeing Trans is a Fundamentally Unrelatable Experience to Cis People — That’s What Makes Them Cis — I just had to spend my therapy session today explaining the horror and misery of the trans experience to my cis gay therapist. It isn’t his fault. It’s a cultural misconception. Cis people, ESPECIALLY cisqueer people — read this. #TransRightsAreHumanRights Cis people need to kill the idea that you can…Queer9 min read
Published in Rainbow·PinnedCis People: Read This to be a Better AllySo many cis people have not taken the time to grapple with and truly sympathize with what the trans experience really means. The concept that it is a choice shields cis people from the reality that it could have been them. I know this because you can watch, in real…Transgender3 min read
Dec 27, 2021Dr. James Barry, Miracle ManWith the unfolding of the horrific abortion ban in Texas, there has been immense discussion around reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. Two notable themes have emerged for me — both the paternal sense of ownership that leads to the desire to control female bodies, and the insistence that those female…LGBT6 min read
Dec 27, 2021The Not-So-Curious Case of Thomas(ine) HallThe tragedy of Thomasine Hall is primarily this — we know so, so little about them. In fact, the entirety of our knowledge of them comes from the proceedings of a single court case. What we know is this — in 1629, a person going by the name of Thomas…LGBTQ6 min read
Published in An Injustice!·Dec 15, 2021Dismantling the Cult of the Penis; What it Means for Transfeminism and Rape CultureThis article comes with a trigger warning for the following: rape, sexual assault, discussion of genitalia, transphobia, transmisogyny, violence — This morning I awoke to find that Twitter was (rightfully) up in arms again about JK Rowling’s rampant transphobia. She had put out this tweet:Feminism4 min read
Published in Rainbow·Jul 10, 2021On The Value of Queer AllyshipThe queer community at large overlooks the value of allyship within the community. Not allocishet allyship, but queer allyship. The advice we give allocishet allies as to how to support us through their allyship can very easily be applied to subsects of the queer community that an individual does not…Queer4 min read
Published in Gender From The Trenches·Jul 7, 2021Trans Men Shouldn’t Be An Afterthought in Trans SpacesNegativity around masculine traits legitimized my worst fears. — I see this issue in a lot of trans spaces; many trans spaces also practice transmasculine erasure. When “trans” is taken to only equal “trans women”, the talk of vilification of masculinity and masculine features makes those spaces extremely hostile to me and other transmasculine people. As a transmasculine person…Transgender5 min read
Published in Perceive More!·Jul 7, 2021Consent in Medicine MattersIt’s been a few weeks since I have posted an article to Medium. This is because on June 3rd, I got top surgery. Between healing and catching up on other work since then, it’s been very hectic. I’m very glad to be back to writing again. Top surgery should be…Medicine8 min read
Published in Prism & Pen·Jun 8, 2021Pride Is Not a MemorialQueer struggles are not rooted firmly in the past — Those with even a tangential knowledge of the queer community are likely aware of the current discourse surrounding the future of Pride as an event. It seems to me that the fundamental miscommunication between these two clashing groups — those who support kink, queerness, and general unseemliness at Pride versus those campaigning to make Pride inclusive of children, police officers, and families — is that they fundamentally disagree on what the function of Pride is…Pride4 min read