jae

i had a several-years long autistic burnout that robbed me of a lot of skills - but especially my ability to read. that has slowly been coming back and i’m really enjoying reading again. i just want a specific space to share my thoughts and reflections without pressure (or spoilers!).

i have a complex relationship with social media the past few years. i find it anxiety-inducing, and i often find myself drawn into Discourse or chasing dopamine through trying to post “good takes”; so i’ve deleted most socials for good and plan to use bsky to post my thoughts on books am reading!

any workplace which implements trans-exclusionary bathroom rules is *choosing* to do so. unionise and/or organise to fight back against this as the form of discrimination and othering it inherently is.

this as an action cis people can take to reduce the risks presented to trans women and femmes. cis people, especially cis women, can also use their voices to fight against workplaces who enforce trans-exclusionary rules around bathrooms. please never assume trans people don’t work with you.

absolutely. and usually this research now has insipid (sometimes overt) aims of propping up the Nordic model or, at the very least, attempting to undermine the fight for decrim.

i think it’s also worth being honest about the fact that researchers by and large engage with sex work through an inherently oppressive gaze; one which looks down upon all sex workers, but especially trans sex workers, and seeks to delegitimatise it as a form of work as a whole.

And like even more than that, they see transition as a whole as frivolous - so needing to sell sex to pay for rent while living as a trans person due to becoming unemployable is seen as a matter of lifestyle choice that could be abandoned if you detransitioned.

right? double happiness when we’ve had a good ball throwing and he lies down with his tongue lolling out all happy. how can i stay depressed then!

this just in: going outside improves your mood! shock! applause!
the nation is scandalised
(the nation is me)

no problem - added!

not unlike wes streeting’s disgusting recent insta photo with him next to the words “what they do not want to hear” and captioned “sometimes it’s a necessary part of the job”. evil party

Benefit cuts with a red rosette are in many ways no different than those stained in blue. Joints still throb when the heating has to be switched off in winter. Stomachs still pang with hunger when there is only a biscuit for tea. And yet cuts signed off by a Labour Chancellor are in a sense particularly brutal. They come with a tinge, not just of fear, but despair and betrayal. The feeling that if this is life under the “good guys”, there really is no hope that anything will get better. Politicians, it turns out, really are all the same. That is the sort of loss that can’t be measured by a Treasury spreadsheet. It is also one that - once lost - is deeply hard to get back.

fuck these fucking bastards is so so right. thankyou lovely, i hope it eases for you too soon

Crips against cuts protests planned for this weekend. Please follow the QR for details and please please please repost on your accounts 💜

@crips-against-cuts.bsky.social

having the worlds nastiest flare up and i don’t think all the stress around the cuts is a coincidence. it will be making so many people a lot sicker.

reminder that this is tomorrow!

Disability assessments are notoriously incredibly traumatic and triggering. Many claimants have increased self-harm, suicidal ideation and sometimes hospitalisation before them. Imagine the pressure it would now be if 4 points ON ONE ITEM is necessary not just for PIP but LCWRA!

Crips against cuts call to action Peaceful protest 22 March - 2pm - southbank Near jubilee garden Belvedere Road London SE1 7PG Not a burden Masks required - Covid tests necessary if exempt

Updates Organising groups New today: Truro, Nottingham, Liverpool, West Midlands, hull, Cambridge, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Thanet, Manchester, Hampshire, Northamptonshire Existing - Sheffield, Birmingham, Leeds, Bournemouth, north east uk, Exeter, London central, Brighton, Bristol, Portsmouth, south wales You can join the organising groups via the Crips United community whatsapp. There’s also a community chat for support and one for advice.

labour think disabled people are an easy target; a vulnerable group to pick on & punish with cruel cuts, plunging us further into poverty all to cosy up to fascism & keep their mates & donors rich.

fuck that. we’re fighting back. protests this saturday organised by @crips-against-cuts.bsky.social

Pay Katie McCats using PayPal.Me Go to paypal.me/katiejanemccats and type in the amount. Since it’s PayPal, it's easy and secure. Don’t have a PayPal account? No worries.

Hate to be this dickhead again, but if anybody can help me out with moving expenses, I will be eternally grateful… I’ve got a new place, they’re being lenient as hell about deposits etc but I’ll still need to rent a van, buy household stuff, take time off work etc… www.paypal.com/paypalme/kat...

Needing help to wash your hair or your body below the waist would not meet the new threshold while needing help to wash your upper body would. Needing help going to the lavatory is above the threshold, but needing reminding to go would fall below it. Needing prompting to engage with other people face to face would not meet the new test; needing help to do so would.

Reading The Times report on speculated PIP cuts, I’m struck by not only how many people will lose vital support but how much we are already degraded to qualify. Have a stranger ask you how you wash “below the waist” and then tell us how easy it is to claim disability benefits.

The barrier to entry for receiving PIP for mental illness is already staggeringly high. It is unfathomable that this government is moving to make people experiencing psychosis, bipolar disorder, severe OCD, depression, personality disorders, PTSD...more financially insecure. To what possible end?

What to expect at our Bristol demo!💚

Image on white background shows DPAC Colour Logo Red Text: DPAC Day of Action Wednesday 26th March 2025 In blue and red text: Welfare Not Welfare Red text: End Labour War on Disabled People Picture depicts Rachel Reeves as a thief stealing disability benefits In Red Text #WelfareNotWelfare In Blue Text End Labour war on disabled people In red text https://dpac.uk.net//

#WelfareNotWarfare

DPAC Day of Action!
Wednesday 26th March 2025

#WelfareNotWarfare

📢 Join us📢✊🏼

"Dear Chancellor, We fear the cost of cuts is too great." Open letter. Scope logo. Campaign for Disability Justice logo.

We’ve united with Scope, @disrightsuk.bsky.social @dis-ppl-protest.bsky.social and @turn2us.bsky.social against cuts to disability benefits.

Together, we’ve published an open letter urging the govt to safeguard them.

Read the full letter on Scope’s website.
buff.ly/FhxKY7U

#Disability

I would urge Starmer to slowly feed his hands into a paper shredder but I'd accept introducing a wealth tax as a compromise

we need to push harder. we must force them into not just a u-turn on all proposed cuts and freezes but a vast improvement of the system. we can’t be forced backwards into accepting PIP as it is. people are stuck in poverty and they are dying waiting for benefits right now, already, today.

what disabled people need is positive reform of PIP to make it a simpler, fairer and non-discriminatory process, not cuts. we will settle for no less.

we need people repeatedly writing to their MP, speaking out, attending protests organised by @dis-ppl-protest.bsky.social.

we must fight this.

1m people to have disability benefits cut by Labour Rachel Reeves vows to ‘get a grip’ on the burgeoning welfare bill but cabinet ministers express disquiet over £5 billion savings

applying for PIP is already a discriminatory, hostile process, and it’s extremely difficult to be awarded as it is now. the government knows this. pip isn’t a fun extra: disabled people NEED it to survive. they are cutting costs with our lives.

Screenshot of article. Caption for photo of two disabled people using mobility scooters: cuts to personal independence payments, granted to those who struggle with mobility and everyday tasks, will account for the bulk of the savings. Headline: 1m people to have disability benefits cut by Labour Subheading: Rachel Reeves vows to ‘get a grip’ on the burgeoning welfare bill but cabinet ministers express disquiet over £5 billion savings

Under present rules, people applying for PIPs are given points based on their difficulties with everyday tasks and mobility. Applicants are able to add up points from activities to qualify for payments of between £1,500 and £9,600 a year. In future, ministers will require applicants to score at least four points on at least one activity to qualify, a threshold that would include those who need help cooking a meal, but exclude those who can use a microwave.

Needing help to wash your hair or your body below the waist would not meet the new threshold while needing help to wash your upper body would. Needing help going to the lavatory is above the threshold, but needing reminding to go would fall below it. Needing prompting to engage with other people face to face would not meet the new test; needing help to do so would.

Deaf campaigners are likely to be concerned that needing a hearing aid falls below the new threshold and could lead to some losing out on payments. Those who score four points on these tests would require another four points to qualify for the lower rate of payment, and another eight points for the higher rate.

i cannot express enough how fucking terrifying this is. it is not an exaggeration at all to say these cuts are going to kill disabled people.

it’s hard to even explain to someone who hasn’t been through a PIP application process how evil, barbaric and unashamedly discriminatory these changes are.