Professional Heckraiser

Just cracked myself up when I stumbled on a mock back patch design from last year: "Stop animal testing. We're bad at math. :( "

You know who cares about detransitioners? *Trans people*. We’re painfully aware of how intertwined our struggles are: bodily and legal autonomy; access to safe and convenient medical care; freedom from stigma and poverty. And many detrans people know it and stand with us, just like we support them.

From my school’s civics textbook. Screaming forever.

Done! Sorry for the delay - I needed time to check on some NYC-specific subjects.

One of my roommate’s cats hopped onto my lap for a nap, and Princess Winston is j e a l o u s 😭

Can confirm

A rough collie stands in front of a wooden overhang and gate. She’s surrounded by vines and leaves. Light beams radiate around her.

Golden hour, golden beast

You would have to drag me out of this

I'm not sure if I count as a furry, but I've been known to draw myself as a grouchy Corsac fox every now and then.

A collie wearing a read bandana that says ‘service dog/chien d’assistance’ lays on her back, head thrown back dramatically

Most owners teach their dogs to play dead, but that doesn’t capture Winston’s dramatic flair. Instead, I’ve taught her to perish.

Also, outside means you have to deal with weather! It’s fine if you’re in a temperate region, but totally unworkable for at least a quarter of the year in some places.

Ugh.

Yep. I don’t have a house, and I probably never will. My last apartment’s acoustics were so painful that I couldn’t have more than one or two guests at a time without melting down. Plus, respiratory virus risk if you meet in person indoors.

Rough collie laying on a mattress, her head thrown back dramatically in a bid for chin rubs

Crashed in bed as soon as I got home from work today, and Nurse Winston was right on top of things with her snuggles. Now that I’m awake, she’s requesting payment for services rendered in the form of chin rubs.

Reminder that Winston loves you, hates fascism, and will always accept cheese tributes

@nosuchthingshow.bsky.social, I loved your coverage of the urban/suburban dog question. Would you consider a follow-up looking at how urban centers can be made more dog-friendly (and people-friendly)? Reducing noise pollution, building quality dog parks, dismantling housing discrimination, etc.?

Working on a post about police mistreatment of K-9 units, and an un-fun fact I've picked up is how you can respond if the cops ever shoot your dog: suing on Fourth Amendment grounds. Because dogs are legally property, courts have ruled that having them taken (out) by the State is 'unlawful seizure'.

Shoutout to the puppers and their people at the immigration rally today. Heck ICE!

Damn right. I’ll be at an immigration-related protest in a few hours.

Putting this out there:

The systems that keep HIV antiretroviral therapy affordable and available are fragile, and once you’re off your meds, the virus comes back. Similar idea for PrEP. If those systems start to fray, a whole lot of people here are going to suffer and die, just like with USAID.

Bigots want to believe everyone shares their cruelty. Show them they’re wrong.

I was brought up on dreams of solving the world’s problems. Maybe I’d write a novel that would inspire millions. Maybe I’d cure the common cold. Maybe I’d map a new galaxy. If I wasn’t up to it, someone else surely would be.

No one warned me how few of us would ever be allowed to make a difference.

If you give a pup a protest... ...they'll probably want a guide to go with it

Considering bringing your dog to a protest? Here's how you can gauge your readiness and prepare accordingly.

TIL that one of the horrible landlord attorneys I used to butt heads with in San Francisco went through a messy law firm breakup with his business partner/fellow landlord attorney/brother in 2022. 😊

Lobbying up the demand ladder Asking for more is praxis

Another blog post out, this one with some lobbying tips. Might be handy for folks looking to get involved in activism.

Yes. It wasn't even my generation, or anywhere close to my home city, but the feelings and experiences were the same. Eerie and healing.

We shouldn't have to, though, especially not the kids. They deserve a happy arc towards progress, where things sucked for Sullivan, and sucked a little less for me, so now it'll suck way less for them. They deserve that.

15 years. Here's to 15 more.

And now we're surrounded by leering, sneering cis people who have no idea what it's like to grovel for medical care, telling us it's too easy, too dangerous, too deviant.

Bitch, I've been on T for 15 years. I know I can survive this administration because I've survived it all before. 9/

...my distress. Autistic trans people aren't real, I guess, even though we're commonplace. Good thing I wasn't diagnosed back then.)

This generation got so close to dignity. Doctors were listening to them. Even their parents were listening to them, at least sometimes. They got to go on blockers. 8/

mercy with no control over the outcome. And the whole time, we have to pretend we're fine, because distress might disqualify us.

(Did you know that an autism diagnosis might have disqualified me? I was asked if I had autism as part of my differential diagnosis, like that would have explained... 7/

...objective, scientific, wait-and-see process - it's people with letters after their names pretending they've cracked the code that will let the poor unfortunate souls like me live 'normal' lives. While we're waiting, our bodies warp, and our minds howl with anxiety because we're at a stranger's 6/