thanks for sharing your research, Liz!!
08.02.2026 20:05 โ ๐ 0 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0@msjpauly.bsky.social
Reporter covering gender and politics at @motherjones.com, part of the Center for Investigative Reporting Tips to mpauly at motherjones dot com https://www.motherjones.com/author/madison-pauly/
thanks for sharing your research, Liz!!
08.02.2026 20:05 โ ๐ 0 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0aw. Henry!!
05.02.2026 17:56 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0I wanted to know the backstory of the executive order that defined "man" and "woman"โthe foundation for the Trump admin's targeting of trans people.
So I took a deep dive into the conservative strategy & distorted feminism behind it. And I talked to the author.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
everyone should go listen to this comprehensive episode on trans athletes and take note! everyone involved did a great job of digging into how trans women ended up banned from athletics -- and a profile by me of the last openly trans woman to swim as a woman in the NCAA
26.01.2026 21:01 โ ๐ 4 ๐ 3 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0I've got updates and a recap of my Riley Gaines reporting in this week's Reveal episode! Also featuring a dive into the science of trans athletes by @holarascon.bsky.social and a powerful profile of one of the last trans women to swim in the NCAA, by Imogen Sayers www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
26.01.2026 20:57 โ ๐ 35 ๐ 6 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 1a basket of green-to-orange sungold tomatoes
Taking a break from my Work Posts Only rule because my January (!) tomato haul is too pretty not to share.
16.01.2026 23:16 โ ๐ 700 ๐ 45 ๐ฌ 17 ๐ 5Here's what you need to know ahead of tomorrow's SCOTUS arguments on transgender athletes www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
13.01.2026 00:35 โ ๐ 80 ๐ 28 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 1Thrilled to share that my Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablo.show) episode on Riley Gaines was nominated for a GLAAD media award in the Outstanding Podcast Episode category! glaad.org/mediaawards/... Watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKUl...
12.01.2026 21:51 โ ๐ 335 ๐ 47 ๐ฌ 4 ๐ 4Earlier this year, @msjpauly.bsky.social and I spent tens of hours speaking to trans kids and their families about their lives under Trump 2.0. Now is not a bad time to re-read it.
Coverage of the latest news coming from colleagues at Mother Jones later today.
I love your username. Thanks for reading!
22.11.2025 19:15 โ ๐ 0 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0I'm so sorry for your loss.
22.11.2025 00:06 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0thank you Carol!
20.11.2025 21:00 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0Hi Christina. Thanks for reading. It was a different Lia who died. www.middlebury.edu/announcement...
20.11.2025 20:39 โ ๐ 2 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0Thanks, Jody!
20.11.2025 20:10 โ ๐ 0 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0Thank you so much for listening, and for this thread, Duncan!
20.11.2025 20:08 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0Thank you so much, Jessica!
20.11.2025 19:45 โ ๐ 0 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0Thank you to the University of Kentucky teammates and NCAA competitors who trusted me enough to speak to me on one of the most controversial topics there is in politics or on the internet today.
Read the story here: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
8/8
Two of Riley Gainesโ teammates say theyโre frustrated sheโs used her platform to vilify trans women as an existential threat to womenโs sportsโwhile barely mentioning the serious problems they say actually affected them.
โSheโs very, โProtect womenโs sports.โ But not when it comes to our team.โ 7/
Gainesโ teammates also care about protecting women in sports. But their concerns are different. Their head coach is facing a rape lawsuit. Another was suspended for sexual harassment, per university records. And UK investigated other reports of abusive coaching, eating disorders, punishments. 6/
20.11.2025 13:30 โ ๐ 215 ๐ 32 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 1I waded through the sea of Riley Gaines contentโher memoir, podcast, social media, press appearancesโto track her rhetoric & goals as both grew more extreme. I followed the money (see article for more on that).
I also talked to some of her old teammates. 5/
Andโฆit worked. Trans women have been banned from womenโs competition by the NCAA and the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee. Trans girls are banned from girlsโ school sports in 29 states (lawsuits pending). SCOTUS is hearing the issue this term.
And Gaines personally achieved huge influence. 4/
This GOP effort to turn trans athletes into a wedge issue didnโt start with Gaines tying trans swimmer Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAAs. But she and her allies used the story of the matchup as a powerful political weaponโunder the banner of โprotecting womenโs sports.โ 3/
20.11.2025 13:28 โ ๐ 181 ๐ 12 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 1This story was produced as a collaboration between @pablo.show and @motherjones.com. Watch the Pablo Torre Finds Out episode here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKUl... 2/
20.11.2025 13:27 โ ๐ 342 ๐ 52 ๐ฌ 4 ๐ 9Iโve spent a lot of the last three years investigating the rise of anti-trans politics. Often, it came back to the controversy over trans women athletes.
So I teamed up with @pablo.show to look into the leading figure on the issue: Riley Gaines.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202... 1/
Kudos to @theresagaff.bsky.social and Annalisa Merelli at @statnews.com for banging out this detailed analysis today: www.statnews.com/2025/11/19/h...
19.11.2025 22:46 โ ๐ 47 ๐ 21 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 3Crisis support for LGBTQ youth: www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help/
19.11.2025 19:12 โ ๐ 59 ๐ 17 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 1Cw: suicide
This article is devastating.
Earlier this month, a 15-year-old died by suicide the day after posting about a substitute teacher insisting on misgendering him.
Suicide can have many contributing factors. His family is speaking out about bullying and misgendering as two.
We finally know the identities of the 9 anonymous authors of the May HHS report on pediatric gender-affirming care. Surprise! It's stacked with people who make money advocating against pediatric gender-affirming care.
Here's our writeup from May: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
"The rightโs gripe isnโt just that trans people exist, but that their existence is tearing down the old worldโof good men, obedient women, traditional family structuresโand unleashing a new, godless age of chaos and precarity on you." @schuylermitchell.bsky.social www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
17.11.2025 18:47 โ ๐ 148 ๐ 43 ๐ฌ 4 ๐ 1Excerpt from Teen Vogue article: "There are some professional transphobes who have deluded themselves into thinking that there is no evidence that trans people do anything more than threaten to take their own lives to manipulate others into getting our way. Those of us on the ground, who have trans friends, who are up all night making sure a trans friend having a mental crisis is able to work their way through it, know the truth."
Powerful from @katelynburns.com on the death of Lia Smith.
I'll never forget watching an anti-trans mvmt leader try to reassure her allies that trans youth "are not suicidal because of us." Now, they either deny trans people's suffering or call it a kind of abuse.
www.teenvogue.com/story/politi...