Some comments on that last post about libraries have reminded me:
Many libraries and librarians consider it to be best practices to, if possible, not disclose a user's library records to anyone, even if the user is a minor and the person requesting information on them is a parent. This is not always possible; in the U.S., for example, individual states have different library confidentiality statutes, and school libraries are governed by federal law which generally permits parental review of records.*
If you are a minor or are in an high-control relationship, and you are considering whether you can safely use a library to search for resources or information you do not want your parent/abuser to know about:
Ask your librarian about their disclosure/privacy/confidentiality policy & laws (and if you are a minor, how it may apply to you). Ask if it may be different for print vs. digital vs. online materials. Ask them to help you double check your account and make sure you haven't given anyone else access (e.g. if you attach someone else's phone number to your account, the library may call them about books you have put on hold).
And good luck. <3
*The American Library Association has links to all the applicable state laws here, if you want to look up your state.
There is so much more I could say about this, but there is not enough room. Remember to check with reality rather than believing conspiracy theories promoted, supported, and funded by white nationalist hate groups.
Missouri is proposing 20% of the nation’s anti-trans legislation this session. Gender-affirming care for young folks is on the edge of being criminalized (so much love to trans friends in states where that has already happened).
Please keep up with the anti-trans legislation in your state and combat it. There are lives at stake.
Transphobes do not touch this post.
Image ID: a 10-image cartoon comic featuring Joey, a boy with short hair.
Image 1: Joey, upset, gesticulates towards an open laptop. Text reads: The reality of St. Louis trans kids. Last week, a former (non-medical) employee of Washington University’s Pediatric Transgender Center was featured in a viral article about how the clinic was “rushing” kids into medical care and “mutilating” us. Every single thing she said was a lie, but the media loves it. Footnote reads: I wouldn’t give any more attention to this, but it is immediately endangering the lives of trans people. Missouri has launched a state investigation and is actively attempting to criminalize gender-affirming care based on conspiracy theories.
Image 2: Joey points to a map of the United States where Missouri is singled out, and a map of Missouri where St. Louis is indicated with a star. The text reads: The Transgender Center, located in St. Louis, Missouri, has been the target of hateful attacks from the far-right state legislature for years. It is part of Washington University Hospital, a branch of a prestigious private university.
Image 3: A younger Joey injects his T shot in his leg while someone takes a photo. Text reads: I can tell you that everything in the article is false because I received care at the Transgender Center beginning at 16 years old. My medical transition has brought me nothing but joy. What a gift it is to be trans!
Image 4: A younger Joey sits on a couch and stims with a tangle fidget toy. Text reads: No one is “rushed”. I sat on many waitlists, had to have 6 months of specialized gender therapy and a diagnosis of gender dysphoria before even being referred to the Center, and I was denied as “not ready enough” by an endocrinologist the first time I finally got an appointment. Footnote reads: If you’re curious about what it looks like to be a trans kid, I did another piece on that! Check out tinyurl.com/transkidscomictumblr.
Image 5: A colorful map of the United States shows how many states have a Negative Gender Identity Policy Tally and how many states have criminalized gender affirming care. Joey holds a credit card. Text reads: St. Louis’ Pediatric Transgender Center is the only one in the region, meaning the waitlists are extremely long. Plus, no one in the only industrialized country without free healthcare is getting medical care for fun. Many American trans folks have to fundraise for our care.
Image 6: Joey, distressed, sits on a couch while talking on the phone. The person on the other end says: “That’s me!” Text reads: This former employee spoke about specific cases, and patients have been able to identify themselves. She shared our private medical info and called us horrifying.
Image 7: This is split into two panels. In the first, Joey holds up a box of condoms and a packet of birth control pills. Texts reads: She especially hated trans men such as myself, saying that trans ideology was destroying “girls”. She lamented about hormones making us “sterile”, which is a complete lie. We trans mascs have to actively prevent pregnancy. In panel two stands a doctor. Text reads: Every time I had an appointment at the Center, doctors reminded me: Remember: testosterone is not a contraceptive! Footnote reads: The wonderful Erin Reed wrote a breakdown debunking all the lies in the article. See tinyurl.com/erinreedmissouri.
Image 8: Joey, masked, sits at a circular table with his brother, an unmasked boy with fluffy short hair. Joey’s brother is showing him his phone. Text reads: Major newspapers continue to platform these complete lies because they bring in engagement and money. The Washington Post tracked down my little brother’s personal cell phone number to try to get in contact with our mom – the president of an organization supporting trans kids in Missouri. Freaky, right?
Image 9: Joey, looking disgusted, leans against a door frame while talking on a cell phone. Text reads: But no one wants to talk with me, the adult who medically transitioned at this clinic as a minor and has not “desisted” in six years. The Washington Post reporter, who didn’t know anything about trans people, talked with me for 20 minutes and used a sentence of mine in an article about “both sides of the debate”. She didn’t mention that this former employee is being legally represented by a recognized anti-LGBT hate group, nor that all of her claims are unsupported by reality or science.
Image 10: Joey looks angry and gesticulates. Beside the drawing are two photos of Joey, one of him happy in front of a trans flag, and the other of him drawing up testosterone to take his first T shot. Text reads: There is no debate. There are trans people, and there are people who want us dead. There is truth and there are conspiracy theories. Where is my viral article in a major paper?
Published Feb 16, 2023. End ID.
i learned that each woman spends approximately $5,600 on her period over her lifetime (x)
'Government dictating policy' is peak Republican 'small government'.
Stay out of people's personal lives. You have nothing to offer.
Put yourself in someone else's shoes and grow up.
Archaeology Valentines Extravaganza part 4
It’s my opinion that like if a white supremacist/Nazi is going to be reformed. They need to do so willingly. The only times I’ve heard of successful rehabilitation of fascists is when they made the conscious decision to no longer be one anymore and seek atonement. People who try to like hug and change fascists that don’t want to change are fucking morons
Despite every moment of life being indescribably precious and a wondrous mystery, I will spend it caring about dividends and how many rental properties I have.
It's the reason for the porn ban across the internet, it's the reason Net Neutrality is gone, and it has, as the sex worker community tried to tell us, harmed sex workers and doesn't help trafficking go away at all--particularly because of the vague wording and broad definitions, all it really does is ban porn, harrass the queer community, and censor all talk about sexuality into silence--and silence does not make safety. There is now a study about its effects, and sex workers weren't consulted or listened to about its flaws.
If you want the internet to stop censoring queer content, FOSTA-SESTA has to go.
If you want tumblr and other websites to have porn again, FOSTA-SESTA has to go.
If you want algospeak to stop being the norm, FOSTA-SESTA HAS TO GO.
There is NOTHING that tumblr staff can do without this law being gone.
There is NOTHING that any moderator, website, or app can do without Net Neutrality being reinstated and iron-clad again.
Did you all forget what caused the porn ban in the first place? It was not a random decision every company made overnight.
It was FOSTA-SESTA.
Freedom of speech is called Net Neutrality online, and until 2018, Net Neutrality was sacrosanct.
We must have Net Neutrality back if we are to have the freedom to speak online.
If you are queer, you must fight for Net Neutrality. If you have opinions about anything, you must fight for your right to say them. FOSTA-SESTA TOOK THAT FROM YOU. TOOK IT FROM US ALL.
If you want things to change, don't whine to staff on tumblr, don't boycott Tiktok.
you must get political. you must organise to remove FOSTA-SESTA from the books. You must clamour, and holler, and write your politicians and raise up the voices of sex workers and VOTE to protect your free speech.
Pornography and sex work are inextricable from freedom of speech. The right of pornography and sex work to exist is inextricable from the rights of queer folks. If you do not fight to protect your right to 'dirty books' and uphold 'rule 34' they will come after YOU next. They already are coming after queers just like they always do when a ban on porn is involved! It will escalate until it comes after EVERYONE.
I cannot emphasise enough that all this censorship increasing since 2018 is connected to the porn ban. It is the same oppressive and harmful legislation causing it.
It is harming sex workers, even killing them.
It is harming trafficking victims.
It is harming all of us, queer and straight, adults and children, it is harming everybody by taking away our freedom of speech.
Get rid of it.
hi all, palestine’s going through a mass genocide right now and really needs help, here are a few ways you can do that
palestine children’s relief fund: provide urgent humanitarian care for children in gaza
anera: provide on-the-ground emergency relief
united nations relief and works agency: food assistance and emergency physical+mental help
medical aid for palestinians: emergency relief for women and children, psychosocial support, disability help, other medical needs
doctors without borders: medical teams on the ground treating injured palestinians as needed
feel free to add on in the notes, notify me if any of the fundraisers listed arent necessary/actually helpful to donate to, and let me know if anything needs added on/modified
as always, if you cant donate then please share and spread awareness
I’ve said it before, and I will say it again.
If you want Roe v Wade overturned, but don’t support:
Comprehensive sexual education in schools
Easy and affordable access to contraception
Access to adequate and affordable prenatal care
Paid parental leave
Subsidized childcare
CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program)
WIC,
Then you don’t actually care about reducing abortions or protecting children. You just want to punish people with uteruses for having sex.