Author: kate
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In other news
Irrespective of the bigoted opinion of Tea Party hardliner progressive darling Elizabeth Warren, a few days ago a federal appeals court ruled that a prison inmate has a constitutional right to sex reassignment surgery: The 90-page ruling was written by U.S. Circuit Judge Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson, an Obama appointee, who asserted the Massachusetts Department of…
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The Difficulties of Being Cis
[Content note: Transphobia, violence] Eight years ago, when I came out to my HMO, they couldn’t give me proper healthcare. They didn’t know how to deal with people like me. When I went to the co-op, they didn’t know what to do with my ID. They didn’t know how to deal with people like me.…
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What if “Dr. V” was French?
[Content note: Transphobia, outing, suicide] Imagine if a journalist wrote a tension-filled exposé that got “stranger by the second” as it uncovered a con artist. Now imagine if the final shocking twist was not that the subject had swindled an investor out of tens of thousands of dollars, or falsified her credentials. What if the…
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Site Update
I’m going to do my best in the coming weeks and months to post more frequently (or not. Wev.) As part of that, I’m going to expand what I blog about here to include stuff that’s not trans* activism. Stuff like food and whatever and segment fragments. Speaking of which: Ladies, you know that feeling…
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Consumption
[Content note: dehumanization] I was at the Walgreen’s buying gum (the kids still chew gum, right), and I was standing in a long-ass line because I was at the Walgreen’s. I looked over at the magazines (it was either that or the cigarettes), and I saw that such and such celebrity reportedly “wants to be…
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Here’s How To Earn Some Merit Badges
[Content note: Transphobia, outing] I’m not psychic, but I’m hoping that in the coming days more cis people will speak out against Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs, but you knew that) super neat habit of outing trans* women and girls, trying to get them fired, contacting doctors to try to stop them from getting medical care,…
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We Need To Talk About Self-Harm
[Content note: This post contains some major-league triggery stuff about depression and self-harm. Also, there’s transphobia. There’s always transphobia, lolsob] Yesterday I wrote a piece about why I don’t like “love your body” campaigns. When I wrote it, I made a deliberate decision to omit any of my issues with self-harm. I’ve been thinking about…
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You Should Stop Telling Me To “Love My Body”
Yesterday was the National Organization for Women’s 16th annual Love Your Body Day. Here’s how NOW explains the day’s purpose: Every day, in so many ways, the beauty industry (and the media in general) tell women and girls that being admired, envied and desired based on their looks is a primary function of true womanhood.…
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Cis Privilege Corner
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had a glut of opportunities to consider the ways in which society privileges cis bodies. More specifically, I’ve been reflected on how society privileges cis people’s medical needs. A few years back, I was at the radiology department of a local hospital, because it was the third Sunday of…
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Let’s Talk About Stonewall
[Content note: homophobia, transphobia, violence] During Monday’s inaugural address, President Obama referenced “our forebears” traveling through Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall on the long road towards freedom. It was an unexpected and poignant moment for me and many of my fellow LGBTQ Americans. Cool beans. In the intervening days, the media has been awash in…