Vivian McCall

Vivian McCall

@vivmccall.bsky.social

News Editor at The Stranger Trans journalist 🏳️‍⚧️ Music as Pansy (https://pansysucks.bandcamp.com/track/mercy-kill-me-2)

1,276 Followers 502 Following 515 Posts Joined Jun 2023
1 day ago

My thought process: The world? The world is a vampire? Ohhh, the World Is a Vampire.

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2 days ago
Ben Ryan tweet saying: 

“The persistent and widespread claim that youth with gender dysphoria are at an extremely high risk of suicide absent cross-sex hormones is not based in evidence. See: mentalhealth.bmj.com/content...”

Hey, @benryanwriter.bsky.social - I pointed out the glaring error in this analysis.

NO SUICIDE PREVENTION PROTOCOL FOR TEENS IS STUDIED AGAINST COMPLETED SUICIDES!

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1 day ago

If it really hurts, it's working. (Definitely digging).

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1 day ago
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This is Nathan Cavanaugh, another DOGE staffer explaining how he flagged grants at NEH for "DEI" which would be reviewed for termination. 404 Media has reviewed hours of this footage and we'll have more soon.

Part of a lawsuit by @acls1919.bsky.social, @modernlanguage.bsky.social + @historians.org

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1 day ago
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Palantir CEO Alex Karp: "What makes America special right now is our lethal capacities. Our ability to fight war."

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2 days ago

though once I went to this place called "the wiener's circle" and they were total dicks! NOT ordering again

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2 days ago

yeah, I know Chicago, even the secret salt on the hot dog

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2 days ago

I didn't spend years in the trenches of running a slow mile and getting hit with a dodgeball and not being able to shoot a basket to be told I am actually captain america

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2 days ago

a story about a trans person who really sucks at sports. happy to be your subject

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2 days ago
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West Virginia can ban Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgery, US court rules A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld West Virginia's ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgeries, the latest victory for Republican-led states seeking ​to curb the procedures amid an ong...

@rikiwilchins.bsky.social 2026 Mar 10 Reuters
WV joins over a dozen states banning Medicaid payments for gender surgeries after appeals panel overturns lower court ruling and--citing Skrmetti--finds states have an legitimate interest in forcing their citizens to "appreciate their sex."

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2 days ago

As a trans person from Texas, there are many trans people still in Texas and other red states.

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4 days ago
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Video Shows US Tomahawk Missile Strike Next to Girls’ School in Iran - bellingcat New video footage shows a US Tomahawk missile hitting an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facility in Minab, Iran, on Feb 28, showing for the first time that the US struck the area. The footag...

Bellingcat analysis makes a strong case that a US tomahawk hit that girl's school in Iran, contrary to U.S. government claims

www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03...

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3 days ago
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Whistleblower claims ex-DOGE member says he took Social Security data to new job The Social Security inspector general’s office is investigating allegations that the former DOGE engineer took sensitive data on a thumb drive in a major potential security breach, said people familia...

He allegedly said "he needed help transferring data from a thumb drive “to his personal computer so that he could ‘sanitize’ the data before using it at [the company.] ... [and] that he expected to receive a presidential pardon ... ." www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

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3 days ago
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4 days ago
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Hannah Sabio-Howell is Challenging Sen. Jamie Pedersen in the 43rd District Sabio-Howell’s pitch is this: Sen. Pedersen is quick to concede to big business before the politicking has even begun, and a corporate-friendly incrementalist like him had no business representi...

Hannah Sabio-Howell wants to knock the crown off Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen's head in the 43rd district. This is going to be a very interesting race.

My feature:

www.thestranger.com/news/2026/03...

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1 week ago

the sex app for bad poetry

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1 week ago
A scanned image of the first page of a legal document on letterhead from Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas, dated February 27, 2026. It is labeled "Opinion No. KP-0518" and addressed to Mr. Darrel D. Spinks, Executive Director of the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council. A portion of the first paragraph is highlighted in yellow, reading: "mental health care providers" licensed by the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council." A scanned image of the second page of the Attorney General Opinion document. A section in the first full paragraph is highlighted in yellow, which reads: "[f]or the purpose of transitioning a child’s biological sex as determined by the sex organs, chromosomes, and endogenous profiles of the child or affirming the child’s perception of the child’s sex if that perception is inconsistent with the child’s biological sex." A scanned image of the third page of the Attorney General Opinion document. The text discusses various statutory and dictionary definitions of the terms "health care provider" and "health care". There are no highlighted sections on this page. A scanned image of the seventh and final page of the Attorney General Opinion document, showing the "SUMMARY" section and the signature block for Ken Paxton. The entire summary paragraph is highlighted in yellow, reading: "The definition of a “health care provider” in subsection 161.701(2) of the Health and Safety Code unambiguously encompasses the professions regulated by the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council. Any licensee that facilitates the provision of unlawful procedures or treatments that aim to transition a child’s sex are thus forbidden from receiving public money in support of those efforts and, separately, risk revocation of their licenses to practice."

Texas AG Ken Paxton has declared that it is illegal for mental health providers and therapists to treat trans youth. It means that trans youth will be denied access to any mental healthcare that isn't conversion therapy. Paxton also threatens parents of trans youth with child abuse investigations.

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1 week ago
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Remember how Trump's SOTU included a line about how he'd stopped eight wars, including Israel v. Iran?

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1 week ago
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This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism vs. No It Won’t George W. Bush may think that a war against Iraq is the solution to our problems, but the reality is, it will only serve to create far more.

This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism vs. No It Won’t

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1 week ago

A lot of people see politics, and reality, as narrative. More than one thing can happen at once, and does.

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2 weeks ago

i just want to say that this king went to redhot ranch after saving the baby which means he gets what is good on a spiritual level

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2 weeks ago
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Bill Gates, Seattle’s Favorite Philanthropist, Faces Campus Reality Check from UW Student In light of the Epstein files, should Bill Gates' name be on a building at University of Washington?

"There's a specific kind of lie that powerful men tell when the walls start closing in: the minimizing lie, the "it wasn't what it looked like" lie, the "I was barely there" lie. Bill Gates tried that last one earlier this month.

www.thestranger.com/news/2026/02...

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2 weeks ago

for a time

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2 weeks ago

USDA Announces Pulsating, All Liver Cow

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2 weeks ago

Every stage of this process - his arrest, spending a year in jail, being dumped on the streets to die - would be deeply shameful in a society that actually valued human life.

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2 weeks ago

GALADRIEL (selectively editing the backstory): and three rings were given to the elves, who were barely involved

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2 weeks ago

Caved in and finally started watching Heated Rivalry

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2 weeks ago

I can't emphasize this enough: .08 is way drunker than you may think.

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2 weeks ago

alternate title to Stephen King's IT

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3 weeks ago
screenshot from the linked-to timeline that reads:
February 20, 2016: Insofar as I can tell, the first ever claim that "social contagion" is turning kids transgender.
It occurs as a comment on the 4thwavenow.com "About" page, posted on February 20, 2016 at 5:27pm, under the handle "skepticaltherapist." Shortly thereafter, 4thwavenow.com turned this comment into its own post, called...
February 29, 2016: 4thwavenow.com publishes "Tumblr snags another girl, but her therapist-mom knows a thing or two about social contagion."
As noted in the previous entry, this is skepticaltherapist's earlier comment, posted along with a brief intro from the folks at 4thwavenow. There are several potentially noteworthy things about it, and the comments that follow it:
o    It begins by referencing a Star Trek TNG episode in which the crew becomes addicted to an alien video game, then makes the following analogy: "The alien mind control device made its way into my home about two years ago when my then eleven-year-old daughter begged me for a Tumblr account since her friends all had one."
o    In the piece, skepticaltherapist describes herself as a psychotherapist, later adding, "As a therapist, I mostly work with adults."

precisely 10 years ago today, the concept of "transgender social contagion" was first invented on the now infamous anti-trans parent website 4thWaveNow. a full timeline of how the concept spread (not unlike a "social contagion") can be found here: juliaserano.blogspot.com/2019/02/orig...

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