Thekla K

Trans People Deserve Better "Gender critical" feminism doesn't help women but it does help the far right

This piece was greenlit and then killed by a British newspaper, so I’ve decided to publish myself instead.

Trans People Deserve Better.
"Gender critical" feminism doesn't help women but it does help the far right

open.substack.com/pub/wellread...

A photo of the Victorian medicine chest. It is open at the front to reveal glass bottles inside and various drawers containing instruments.

Victorian medicine chest, which contains medications for pain relief, such as opium. It also includes a set of scales, weights, a pill tile, and a spatula. It was probably used in the home or by an apothecary.

Photo: Wellcome Collection, London

Screenshot of a discord message from user 'pro-radiation poisoning'. The message is entirely emoji. There is a collection of custom emoji in various states of feralness, as well as biting emoji and emoji of teeth surrounded by hearts. There is then a string of emoji regional indicators, spelling out 'I EDITED TWENTYFIVE CHAPTERS TONIGHT AND FEEL SO VERY VERY NORMAL. The next line, in larger regional indicator emoji, reads 'CARY PIXEL.' The final line shows a figure in bed, followed by the ZZZ emoji.

Editing* is going great why do you ask

*Integrating all my line edits that I marked up earlier. Admittedly I marked up five(?) chapters tonight before integrating them all into the draft. Don't worry about it.

Medieval tiles from Bordesley Abbey in the vestry at St Stephen's Redditch.

#tilesontuesday

I don't have many followers but to those who follow me and don't know: hi, I'm trans, and I'd very much like to just live my fucking life please

It's always good fun to think about what you're going to do if the state of trans rights gets any worse in the UK, only to realise that realistically you have very few options available

Just got followed by an account proudly advertising their AI prompting packs so that people could 'make images like [they] do!' so this is your unfriendly reminder that if you use AI you can fuck right off. Do not interact with me, do not follow me, I will block you.

Keeping up with Drawtober, my latest #art was for the prompt ‘mushroom fairy’, and tbh I’m pretty proud of this one! It’s my first time drawing mushrooms and fungi, and it took absolutely forever…

A mari sits on a lesge watching the autumn leaves blow past under the moonlight

A Mari watching the autumn leaves fly past while sitting on an arch.

No exceptions. If you use Gen A I in any capacity whatsoever, you suck.

Yes, the way you're using it too. You're not special.

"She probably doesn't mean me"

I do.

"Move fast and break things" and "better to ask forgiveness than permission" get us a whole suite of "AI" literally built out of consent violation and coerced control, where human consent is not meaningful a possibility, and uses that suit to try to coerce or replace anyone who might tell them "no."

The moment you concede some lives are acceptable losses--I'm speaking specifically about trans people rn--you're adding a gray area to who deserves bodily autonomy and safety in a society.

Once you concede some people are acceptable losses, you've established other lives are ALSO negotiable.

Glasgow Gender Clinic now has a waiting time of 224 years. The average across the UK is now 25 years.

This segregated system isn’t working and is wasting millions. The NHS has been told time and again - informed consent now.

When I started medically transitioning back in 2019, I was **lucky** that I only had to wait 1 year for my first appointment in Glasgow. Things were going downhill even then, but this is absurd.

Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards We demand that the UK Government immediately commits to not introducing a digital ID cards. There are reports that this is being looked at.

The Starmer government is REALLY running scared of this petition, now at 2.75 million, to the extent that it has responded 3 months early, in a transparent attempt to spike it.

So please, under no circumstances should you sign it and share it widely. Starmer & his boss McSweeney would not like it.

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

Oilspill
Prints in bio

A white and beige ragdoll cat lying on a dark green sofa

Happy Tuesday, have a kitten

Trans people have been around your whole life. You’ve been sharing bathrooms with them your whole life. They’ve been in your communities your whole life. They’ve even been playing sport your whole life.

And you didn’t care *at all* till a few years ago when every right wing org decided you should

A cylindrical clear glass bottle with a small chip around the rim. There is a large label attached to the bottles neck which reads "Glass vessel for holding carbolic acid solution 1 of 20 of a Lister's antiseptic spray

This glass bottle dates from the 1870s. The label on it reads "Glass vessel for holding carbolic acid solution 1 in 20 of a Lister's antiseptic spray."

Why is querying agents so incredibly scary? I feel like I'm being hunted for sport

A relatively small wooden chest. The lid opens up to reveal spaces for 8 glass bottles. There are also two doors on the front of the chest which have spaces for 2 bottles each. The open doors reveal 2 small drawers in the body of the chest.

This medicine chest dates from the 18th century. The chest includes 2 pewter containers & 10 glass bottles, 9 of which have pewter tops and one that has a glass top. The design of this bottle is slightly different and may be a replacement, it would have contained peppermint oil.

Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action Advocates fear such settlements will “financially ruin” the AI industry.

AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry.

She's over a year old now and she's still TINY. At home we affectionately call her 'the mould spore'

A fluffy white and beige ragdoll cat perched on the end of a wooden bedframe, looking towards the camera. The room behind her is dark, but the cat is brightly lit.

The same cat in the same location, now looking away from the camera.

Happy Tuesday, have a kitten

@bechillcomedian.bsky.social Hello! I'm the fella with the mesiodens. Just finished listening to the latest episode, love the podcast, blah blah blah, just wanted to let you know I'll be seeing your show this Saturday and will be bringing the tooth with me 🦷

OpenAI will not disclose GPT-5’s energy use. It could be higher than past models Experts working to benchmark resource use of AI models say new version’s enhanced capabilities come at a steep cost

Friendly reminder that AI data centers are working overtime to help cook the planet. If the fires are scaring you— start using ‘-AI’ at the end of all Google searches to cut out any AI response to your query. Refusal is possible & responsible.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

A white and grey ragdoll kitten peers out from beneath a red rug. In the background, mostly hidden by the lighting, a fluffy black cat sits on top of the same rug

Happy monday, have a kitten (with bonus Julie)

Anyone else ever disgust themselves with how stunningly corporate their work emails are?

A half-open hardback copy of The Manor Of Dreams by Christina Li. The cover is black with bold, dark-pink text and a pattern of pink roses and green leaves. Beneath the cover, the books endpapers can be seen. The endpapers are a pattern of pink roses and pale green leaves on an off-white background.

The same book, fully open to the same endpapers.

More custom endpapers for more wonderful books! This time, The Manor of Dreams by Christina Li! I was so happy when I dug into my paper stash (okay, collection of wrapping papers) and found I already had the perfect one!