Wendy Rouse

Yep - @historysmith.bsky.social and I make good trouble together IRL

Thanks for the shoutout!

Major news: A @nytimes.com story today reports on developments in our lawsuit, filed with @modernlanguage.bsky.social and @acls1919.bsky.social, opposing the illegal dismantling of the NEH.

The article covers newly released discovery in the case.

Here’s what discovery confirmed:

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Quote from Justin Fox of DOGE about how NEH grants were chosen for cancelation. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/arts/humanities-endowment-doge-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.RlA.e1Ba.u0VX3djjtwYw&smid=url-share

Questioned about his list of the "craziest grants..." Fox says:

"crazy is one way of saying it...'Most incriminating' is another way."
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Deposition of Justin Fox of DOGE. Source: https://www.historians.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/248-1.pdf

Attorney questioning J. Fox of DOGE notes the pattern:

"Q. Did you ever find it problematic that you were...short-listing termination projects that had hits on words like Black, homosexual, LGBTQ plus?...in your list of terms you actually didn't use words like white, Caucasian, heterosexual."

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Grants dubbed "craziest grants" included LGBTQ+ histories of the US Source: https://www.historians.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/248-9.pdf

Among those labeled the "craziest grants" and canceled, 40% were specifically related to LGBTQ+ topics including the very popular LGBTQ+ Histories of the US - a summer institute by CUNY.
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“Detection List” created by DOGE's Justin Fox with keywords like “gay,” “BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color),” “indigenous,” “tribal,” “melting pot,” “equality,” and similar terms, to identify grants that he dubbed the “Craziest Grants” and “Other Bad Grants. Source: https://www.historians.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/248-9.pdf

Terms used to identify and nix grants included:

LGBTQ, Homosexual, Queer, Transgender, Nonbinary, Genderfluid, Cisgender, Bisexual, Pansexual, Asexual, Gay
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When DOGE Unleashed ChatGPT on the Humanities

How DOGE determined which NEH grants to cancel is a case study in the Rainbow Panic. This evidence illustrates unequivocally how anti-LGBTQ (specifically anti-Trans) animus drives the decisions of the Trump administration and is a defining feature of MAGA.
🗃️ 🏳️‍🌈

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/a...

It was very long.

I didn't realize I wasn't breathing until I let out a sigh of relief finally knowing how the university was going to respond to this.

"We respect and value our LGBTQ community members, as we do all members of our community, and we are dedicated to fostering an inclusive, supportive environment that encourages full participation in all aspects of university life without fear of harm or exclusion."

blogs.sjsu.edu/newsroom/202...

Proud of being a @calstate.bsky.social employee today - kudos to Chancellor Garcia & team for not just rejecting the ludicrous findings from the Dept. of Ed. that SJSU violated Title IX for letting a transgender student athlete compete, but also filing a lawsuit against their Office of Civil Rights.

The Dow is over 50…er nvm don’t look at the Dow.

I can’t wait to read this!

Sounds like a must-read (must-write)!

• LGBTQ+ History in the US
• Theory and Method in History Teaching
• US History for Future Teachers
• California History for Future Teachers
• US History to 1877
• US History from 1877
• Women’s History History in US
• History of Childhood in the US
• History of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

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Clue isn’t just a cult comedy. It’s a Cold War satire.
Historian @juliocapojr.bsky.social joins me to explain why that ridiculous dinner party is really about paranoia, anti-communism, and the politics of the 1980s.
🎧 Listen here and share this if you miss the 80s:

Episode 186: Clue: Laughter, Paranoia, and the Politics of the 1980s with Julio Capó, Jr. Podcast Episode · Reckoning with Jason Herbert · March 5 · 1h 11m

Find Julio and me talking about this movie on Apple Podcasts right here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Yay!!!

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We don't talk enough about toxic masculinity and the glorification of violence.

Women's History Month is the perfect time to listen to this series I designed about the overlooked and underrated contributions of women in philosophy.

From Hypatia to Hildegard, Mary Wollstonecraft to Mary Midgley, learn about philosophy's unsung heroines!

#WomensHistoryMonth #Philosophy #PhilSky

See also part 2 here, which I had to start when part 1 was full

go.bsky.app/QyNEpXX

Follow these historians of women and gender history this #womenshistorymonth

go.bsky.app/KR9qXhj

Suffrage historians to follow this #womenshistorymonth

go.bsky.app/KFT1jyc

Black and white image of women workers.

Join us this #WomensHistoryMonth in amplifying women’s voices past and present.

Our website is a wonderful place to start learning more. Spread the word!

womenshistorynetwork.org

#WHM2026 #WomensHistory #GenderHist

Image: Pit girl brow workers, Wigan, 1900. COPY 1/445, The National Archives.

If you thought their historical erasure was bad, you most definitely are not going to like their historical revisionism.

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Another historical analogy: AFAB people in the 19th c. who transgressed gender norms by wearing men's clothing asked for letters from doctors (medical necessity) to show police when questioned about their attire. They did this to thwart local anti cross-dressing laws & avoid arrest. #HATM

"The Mary Eliza Project has a website" imposed on a page from the New Women's Boston Registries from 1920 with the website address

We have a website [sites.google.com/view/maryelizaproject/]! Our website brings together all of our work and resources: links to the dataset and research materials, the story of our project and our team, and maps and data visualizations. We'll also update the site with any upcoming events!

Gross but not surprising