Jo Yurcaba

Today I return to NBC News Digital as an enterprise reporter. I'll be covering the LGBTQ+ community, but I'll regularly venture into other beats as well.

Send tips, ideas, gossip: Jo.Yurcaba@nbcuni.com

Thank you for reading this too-long thread and for supporting me and NBC Out. I'm excited to bring you more stories. Someone will have to drag me out of this work.

11/11

I'm still devastated by what happened to the verticals and all of their talented reporters and editors. At the same time, I'm looking forward to returning to NBC. From my first day there, I received nothing but support. I can't imagine being anywhere else.

10/

Here's the new news: On Dec. 1, I'll start back at NBC as an enterprise reporter, still covering the LGBTQ+ community, but many other stories too. I'm excited to do more features similar to what I did on the gay rodeo, but also deeper investigations.

Send tips and gossip: Jo.Yurcaba@nbcuni.com
9/

At the same time, the job wore me down. That last story I did about the gay rodeo was a rare salve for never-ending burnout. But I never would've chosen to leave. The layoff has forced me to really rest for the first time. I've been baking and riding horses and walking my dog.

8/

There were so many moments like that, and they showed me the importance of having stories by us, for us.

7/

One of my favorite memories at Out captured why it was so important: Just a few weeks into the job, I cold called Jen Ellis, the maker of Sen. Bernie Sanders' famous mittens, and left a message. She said the only reason she called me back was because I was with Out. "You're family," she said.

6/

So the job was way more than a job for me. Helping others' tell their stories has helped me more authentically write my own. As a result, the layoff was devastating. NBC was one of the only mainstream news organizations with dedicated diversity verticals.

5/

I moved to the PNW simply because I wanted to exist as a trans person more easily. It was a huge privilege. But I knew that in NC I would never seek out gender-affirming care — something I finally did here in May.

4/

Two years ago, it allowed me to move to the Pacific Northwest, where I finally changed my name by paying a fee and attending a virtual court hearing. In NC, the months-long process starts with getting fingerprinted at a local courthouse.

3/

For background, when Brooke Sopelsa hired me at NBC Out in January 2021, I was living in my conservative hometown in North Carolina, trying to make about $40K/year as a freelancer. The job helped me leave a relationship, move to Raleigh and just be happy as myself for the first time.

2/

Some old news and new news: Just over a month ago I was laid off from my job as a reporter for NBC Out, the LGBTQ+ section of NBC News Digital, along with all of the reporters and editors of NBC News' diversity verticals (NBC BLK, NBC Asian America, and NBC Latino).

1/

Teen Vogue was among my first big bylines. What I loved about it was that once I showed them I could report, editors from other sections of the website reached out with assignments. It was the first place that treated me like a strong reporter and not just a reporter for trans/queer stories.

I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day.

certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.

Cancer killed his parents. He’s facing the same disease alone — and unhoused. Marcus Ford, like other Black men around the country, lives with a higher risk of dying from cancer due to factors out of his control. But Medicaid cuts may take away his treatment.

What does our health care system look like? What does our social safety net look like?

It looks like Marcus. At 61, he spends most nights riding the Chicago Red Line or looking for a park bench or bus stop, trying to find sleep. He recently finished radiation treatment for prostate cancer.

Not their first gay rodeo: Celebrating 50 years of queer cowfolks Contestants and line dancers traveled from across the country to the World Gay Rodeo Finals in Reno, Nevada, to celebrate a half-century of gay rodeo.

This past weekend, I went to the World Gay Rodeo Finals in Reno, which celebrated 50 years of gay rodeo.

I grew up doing rodeo as a teen and felt like I'd never be able to go back because I came out as trans. This story felt like a homecoming.

For @nbcnews.com:

www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-...

Thank you, Brooke!

A throwback to my rodeo days. I managed to get something like 5 concussions from riding as a teen so I opted for a helmet instead of a cowboy hat. I also had a habit of losing my stirrups while competing because this saddle was a different one than I usually rode in.

thank you! Oh yeah, I was a real southern Horse Girl back in the day lol

Can confirm that does happen haha

Also, check out the incredible photos by Jesse McClary and Allie Leepson:

www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-...

Not their first gay rodeo: Celebrating 50 years of queer cowfolks Contestants and line dancers traveled from across the country to the World Gay Rodeo Finals in Reno, Nevada, to celebrate a half-century of gay rodeo.

This past weekend, I went to the World Gay Rodeo Finals in Reno, which celebrated 50 years of gay rodeo.

I grew up doing rodeo as a teen and felt like I'd never be able to go back because I came out as trans. This story felt like a homecoming.

For @nbcnews.com:

www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-...

Shutdown cancels sports games and dances for students at military-base schools Military parents say their kids, especially those who are high school seniors, are devastated by the cancellation of some of their last sports games and school dances.

This week I spoke to kids and parents at DOD-operated schools about how the shutdown has canceled their sports games and homecoming dances.

Seniors who are trying to get recruited to play sports in college are among those most affected.

For @nbcnews.com:

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

In 2017, a Republican speaker blocked Texas' bathroom bill over fears that the billl would face a north carolina-style backlash

Almost a decade later, the bill sailed through with no opposition from Republicans and no real pushback from business leaders.

More than 1 in 4 trans people live in states with 'bathroom bans' Nearly 10 years after North Carolina’s HB 2 caused nationwide boycotts, 19 states have enacted restrictions on what bathrooms transgender people can use.

I wrote this a few months ago using data from @mapresearch.bsky.social.

The piece also evaluated why there's been less pushback to bathroom bans in the decade since North Carolina's HB 2.

www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-...

Texas to become the 20th state with a transgender bathroom law The bill, which Texas first attempted to pass in 2015, will require transgender people to use restrooms in public schools and government buildings in accordance with their birth sex.

Texas to become the 20th state with a law restricting what bathrooms transgender people can use

For @nbcnews.com:
www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-...

Welp: Texas A&M President Mark Welch just stepped down after pressure from Republicans over a video of a professor who taught about transgender people in a children's literature class

If you are a parent of a kid you think might #ActuallyAutistic and don't want to get them screened because of RFK Jr., I'd love to talk with you for a piece. DM me or Eric.Garcia@the-independent.com. My Signal is emgarcia.85

Why are hundreds of LGBTQ+ books sitting in a Texas A&M warehouse? "It just felt really slimy on the university's part."

NEW in @chron.com: Hundreds of LGBTQ+ books were found sitting in a surplus warehouse at Texas A&M University, and the university won't say why. As first reported by @joyurcaba.bsky.social, the books include a memoir by Matthew Shepard's mother and academic texts.

www.chron.com/culture/arti...

Headline previously: "Ammunition in Kirk Shooting Engraved with Transgender, Antifascist Ideology: Sources"

Now: "Early Bulletin Said Ammunition in Kirk Shooting Engraved With Transgender, Antifascist Ideology; Some Sources Urge Caution"