Actionable today

i go to a local pride center with some small hangout groups and I noticed recently that there aren't a whole lot of transfems there. there ARE transfems and trans women, but compared to the trans mascs and men as well as nonbinary people there aren't all that many of them. I asked one of my friends, who is a trans woman who always comes to the center itself to hang out but not to the groups as much as she used to, why she thought that was. and she told me it was because she feels a bit like the group at large wouldn't get it if she talked about transfem-specific things because they're mostly not transfem. so I started asking my other transfem friends, only three of whom actually go to the groups, and that seemed to be the general consensus. I also heard from a lot of them that they would invite a transfem friend who would come with them, go to the group, and then not come back because they felt a little lonely without more other transfems. it wasn't that they were actively discouraged by anyone from participating or from sharing their experiences, or even just that they felt they wouldn't be understood--a lot of it was simply "I don't see that many people like me in a space where I thought there would be."

so one of my friends and I got together with one of the coordinators at the center, and we decided to set up a Transfem Appreciation Night. we asked all our friends to invite any of their transfem friends as well to share and hang out with others.

and it went great! we set up two specific groups: one was Transfem Support, transfems only (including nonbinary, bigender, agabless transfems as well as trans women) and the other was for everyone, with the focus on transfems (people would share their transfem experiences and would then be asked if they were open to questions or comments. some people vented, some shared transitioning stories, some simply talked about their daily lives or their dogs). we had these cute cupcakes with the transfem flag on them and lots of tea, and I heard a lot of really cool speeches from transfems. as the night ended, we had people going around with a survey, asking all the people who came if they felt that this was a safe space for transfems, how the event made them feel, and if they thought they would be coming back in the future.

and it did exactly what we hoped. we got a lot of responses saying that they'd come once, felt lonely, and left, but that the event had changed their minds and they wanted to give it another go. we had all kinds of transfems sharing their experiences with people listening attentively and respectfully. we also got a bunch of suggestions for how to improve the groups, like adding Intersex Transfem, Black Transfem, and Indigenous Transfem support groups. the event was a few weeks ago, and since then, every time I go to group at least half the group is transfems. and the transfems who come to group talk and actively participate in the discussion and laugh and have fun and get to share in the community that is for them.

More info from GLAAD:

https://glaad.org/fcc/

They have some good tips about writing a comment and protecting your privacy which, fuck it, I'll just paste here:

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Here's what I said:

“Free speech is a fundamental American freedom. I do not need a warning about seeing queer people, much like I do not need a warning about women, veterans, or any other group of people.”

Here's the link to submit your comment by May 22:

It’s so painfully individualistic. Of course me doing that thing isn’t going to save anybody or anything.

Im not trying to be a superhero who personally saves the say.

I am one leaf making oxygen in a massive forest of other trees making oxygen. I am doing my best and having faith that millions of others will do their best as well.

Because that can and has made big changes over time. Like. That is just how change happens. Thats cultural shifts. Thats political shifts. Thats how lasting changes happen.

I don’t plant milkweed because I’m personally gonna save monarch butterflies. I plant milkweed because I know thousands of us are gonna plant milkweed and send money to the people fighting horrible pesticides in court.

but there’s a kid out there who’s still too little to understand how much her grandma is struggling, and won’t have to worry about that for a little longer because we helped get food on the table one night longer

I can help make sure we’ve got warm clothes set aside to help someone get through winter without having to pay more overdraft fees

and really if one person’s life is a little less shitty, if one yard has a few plants to help one bird overwinter or feed a handful of bugs, if one street is a little cleaner isn’t that worth it? I sure think so

The reason according to the college is that they want to sell the building to fix the school's budget; they also claim the wood tech college has a severe budget deficit, but they've failed to follow through on any promises to try to fix that (including hiring a permanent dean, so the school has someone to advocate for them... which they haven't had in at least a decade).

The reason according to some students & staff is that Seattle College's VP has a grudge against the lead carpentry instructor & has been trying to get her program shut down for years to get rid of her.

Students are trying to make some noise about it, in hopes that the college backs down and they can work towards the long-term fixes Seattle College keeps failing to follow through on.

If you can sign this little petition & share this around, it'd help the school out a ton!

It shows the school they're going to get pushback, which has changed their mind about this in the past.

It would be really cool if we could help get this to 1k!

There are less than 200 students at the wood tech college, so makes a really big impact when anyone else signs and shows that people outside of just students really care about this.

today I realized not everyone knows that they can still reach out to their representatives (through phone, email, letter, fax, town halls, etc) even if they aren’t old enough/cant vote

so this is a little PSA, your representatives still represent you even if you’re a minor, they represent you and it’s you’re right to make your voice heard

1. "He's gonna declare martial law!" Okay, so what then? This isn't something you can enforce nationwide on a country of 350 million people with a military that has a combined force of less than 3 million people, including all support and logistics staff. That doesn't equal half the population of Los Angeles. Y'all need to fucking stop acting like we're approaching a mythical point where shit gets "serious." We're already there. People are already being disappeared.

Civilians are already being killed in the streets. We're there. And you know what? They're already getting near the limits of their ability to force compliance. ICE is dedicating a double digit percentage of their manpower to Minneapolis and they're not controlling shit. People are pushing back. Your default response when the administration says "We will force you to do this" shouldn't be "Oh no they're gonna make us do this!" It should be "Fuck you. Make me."

2. "Americans are doing nothing!" I did a post about this recently, but it bears revisiting: I don't know where the hell you're getting this, because everywhere that ICE or other arms of the federal enforcement apparatus go, they are being pushed back on, humiliated, driven out of neighborhoods, and shown the door. People are fighting back on a truly awe inspiring level. Stop assuming that "doing something" looks like an armed mass of civilians storming Washington and fighting the military in a pitched battle. This is movie bullshit. The world has not looked like that since the early 20th century. What you are seeing, right now, is what "doing something" looks like. Stop it stop it stop it. We ARE doing something, in vast numbers.

3. "He's gonna cancel elections!" This one has been pushed by bots for the last year, and big name people have been picking it up, and it frustrates the hell out of me so I'm going to hold your hand and tell you bluntly: He. Cannot. Do. This. There is no mechanism. Elections are controlled by the states, and they decide when they happen. There is no federal mechanism for control of elections. What's Trump gonna do? Post soldiers at every polling place in every swing state? Do you know how many polling places there are in every district? How much manpower this would require? He doesn't have the people to do it. He doesn't have the mechanical ability to do it. There are no tools to execute this plan. Is he gonna try to make elections unfair? You bet your ass, but our elections have never been fair. Voter suppression has always existed and will continue to exist until we fix it... but a blanket ban of elections or even some ability to make them not happen? Lol. He doesn't have the manpower or the means.

But what if he did? Let's game this out: Congress--or at least the House of Representatives--is not a perpetual body. At the end of 2026 the current congress ceases to exist, and the next one isn't convened until the following year. Mike Johnson will cease to be Speaker at the end of the year and wont be Speaker again in '27 unless his party wins a sufficient majority to elect him. Remember if there are no elections then republicans will not have their seats in 2027. There will be no congress, and without congress, Trump does not have a mechanism for governance. I dunno about you, but those Republican reps like having their jobs, their staff, their salaries, and all the perks that come with office. They do not get those if there is no Congress. That is not something they want.

But he said he was gonna! And? So fucking what? He says a lot of things. He issued an executive order at the start of his second term ordering all school districts in the country to immediately cease teaching "DEI" whatever the hell that means. Do you know what most districts that weren't actively kissing his ass said? "That's nice. Make me." And then he didn't, because the states control their own education systems, not Trump. His words don't have the force of law, and are limited by what he actually has levers of power to accomplish. We are **still having elections.** Several happened last week. The States decide this. Trump doesn't.

The Midterms are gonna happen. They're gonna matter and they're gonna have consequences. And you all need to stop acting like he has power over things he doesn't just because he says he does. That's propaganda and you're falling for it.

As with all things Authoritarian, when Trump says "I'm gonna force you to do this," your response should be as I articulated above:

"Fuck you. Make me."

The federal government cannot interfere with state’s voting and board of elections, it is unconstitutional and was defended as recently as a few days ago Jan 9 2026 (Politico link). The arguments that it’s not worth it or won’t happen will get louder and worse because the far right know that they are losing power.

CALL YOUR SENATORS!!!