Hesper Budge (they/he)

National Day of Reading began 11 years ago after receiving backlash for wanting to read “I am Jazz” by Jazz Jennings to his class.

Allies in the community got together and hosted the reading at a local library.

HUNDREDS showed up.

All hands on deck, folks. This will effectively eliminate all books by queer authors and about queer lives, even books with secondary characters, books where the author or a character uses they/them pronouns. This bill will erase identities and harm kids. And it won't stop at public schools.

I’m transgender, I live in Kansas, if you want to help rn donate to either the ACLU of Kansas or the ACE foundation in Wichita - the ACE foundation especially is the organization that will help people with money for groceries, rent, etc. More orgs also included in attached img

acefoundationict.org

They won't start with banning birth control. First they'll lie about it. Then dictate who can prescribe it, use it, fund it, in what forms, and for how long. Suddenly, your doctor won't call you back. I know this is what they'll do because it's what they're doing to transgender healthcare right now.

The great lie of patriarchy is that its purpose is to protect women and children, when in reality its to preserve women and children as belongings of the powerful men, to do with as they please.

Why the fuck does a driver's license need a sex marker on it in the first place

This is insane. The Kansas Legislature overturned the Governor's veto to make this happen.

It’s not just Medicaid funding they’re withholding to MN. It’s food assistance, child care assistance, social services, job training, safety testing, public health, disaster relief. SNAP. Free lunch for kids in school.

They hate us for loving our neighbors, and are collectively punishing us for it.

Black and white photo of a very dirty longhaired white cat standing outside an old wooden door.

Precious garbage angel. Photo from my collection, no date/info.

This is really well stated. By junior high and high school, many kids are dealing with all kinds of serious adult stuff at home and in their own lives. Banning books about all such topics is really destructive—they need the words to talk about hard stuff and models for empathy and resilience

Sure why not buddy.

"In cultures where even discussion of sex is taboo, predators flourish. Comprehensive sex education doesn’t increase underage sexual activity, and banning books about sex and assault doesn’t eliminate sex and assault."

Orange and white cat snoozing on a cat tree. He says, "Good morning Gonzobongos! I'm awake, I'm just resting my eyes okay?"

Goodemorning Gonzobongos! I am awake, am just rest my eyes okey

something abled people don't get is you can have just one day a week where you are too sick to work, and that's enough to disqualify you from nearly all full-time jobs. it doesn't take a lot

Yes, I remember when I had my first child and had to build 30 data centers to feed them.

Thousands of institutions abandoned programs, ended or rewrote scholarships, closed down clubs and publications, all in pre-emptive compliance.

And you know why?

Mostly because they wanted to do it if they thought they could blame someone else for it.

i need everyone to understand

prisons have now officially become forced detransition conversion camps

i am begging you all to stay safe, things are getting dark

for cis people, they are making new laws to imprison us and now this when they do, this. do the math, this is a genocide. we need help.

I've been saying it a lot, but these deaths line up with what happened in early concentration camps during other regimes: Deaths from poor conditions, disease, or abuse. These deaths are not accidental. They are the direct result of a camp system that is designed to harm those being imprisoned.

some of you are looksmaxxing when you need to be booksmaxxing

“Is there a technology the left is excited about?”

High-speed rail! MRNA vaccines! New cancer treatments! Solar and wind energy collection! Better and longer-range EVs! That wood that's harder than steel! New apples! Fibermaxxing! Buldak Swicy ramen! Muppets! Muppets are too a technology, shut up!

Oh, this is really, really bad.

Suicide rates absolutely will go up.

You cannot take a person with serious mental health problems and yank their meds away without serious repercussions.

You just can't.

This is beyond cruel.

The drunk uncle theory.

You don’t argue with the casually homophobic uncle at Thanksgiving dinner to change his mind; you argue so that the closeted cousin at the kids table knows there’s safe people and better possibilities out there

As a nurse I take this shit personally.

Throughout history there are huge leaps forward in our ability to reduce mortality & morbidity. Running water & sanitation. Transplants. Antibiotics. Reliable life support systems.

Vaccination is arguably the highest reward for lowest cost of ALL OF THEM.

(“The white guys are back in charge” is the message just to speak it plainly.)

A person with mittens holding a heart-shaped sign that reads "I Love Due Process".

Every person in this nation — regardless of immigration status — has the right to due process. We will defend that right with everything we've got.

📸 Scout Tufankjian

Gender affirming treatment has an astonishingly high rate of satisfaction. You probably already know this, but I feel like we need to repeat it over and over.

you know, it still seems like it should be an even bigger issue that the president has been sending armed forces to kidnap and assault people in an ethnic cleansing campaign, with a specific geographic focus on regions that didn't vote for him in the last election

🚨1 week left to submit your comment to HHS and protect trans youth healthcare access🚨

We need to speak out against these rules so they know how strongly we oppose these awful attacks on trans youth healthcare access.

Submit your comment before Feb. 17th: bit.ly/submit_comment

This piece is so wonderful, but this part made me cry a little bit not gonna lie

Screenshot of a book. Text reads: time was a form of social control. Making people start work at the crack of dawn, or even earlier, was seen as an effective way prevent working-class misbehaviour... Full text in hands of time by Rebecca Struthers.

Every time I see a new RTO policy this is what I see.