Game artist | Trans | Poly | she/her| 30+

Pope Leo is letting American bishops entirely ban trans healthcare for both minors and adults in all Catholic-owned hospitals and clinics, and stop coverage for trans healthcare through Catholic-affiliated health insurance plans!!

People are having surgeries, for which they were on waitlists for years, suddenly cancelled. Hormones no longer covered, their clinicians no longer able to prescribe them. Considering in some states Catholic-owned healthcare organizations make up to a third of the market, as it were, this is a HUGE issue.

why?

for fucking disabled people. for people who suddenly feel sick or in pain. for people who need a moment to sit and tend to a child's needs, or to rest with them to avoid a tantrum from their being tired. for anyone who just wants to sit and check their phone for a minute to stop feeling so rushed and hurried by everything around them.

i do not think i should have to sit on the fucking floor in every store i'm feeling bad in because there's zero places to sit that are accessible. i do not want to sit on the filthy floor and be in the way of other shoppers and risk being stepped on or tripped over because i Have To Sit Right Then Or Faint And Crack My Fucking Head Open. do you know the kinda shit that collects on store floors, despite regular cleaning???? the tracks of thousands of shoes bringing stuff in from outside.

Upon my return to the small family, I found the mother getting up off the floor and gathering her things. I instantly realized that she had taken my words to mean she wasn't welcome and that my speed indicated I had gone to fetch a manager (I was gone barely twenty seconds). She was so surprised to see me hauling this wicker chair over to her, and all I think I said was "There you go, ma'am."

She thanked me. Simple as that. No muss. No fuss. Said a heartfelt and sincere thank you, and sat down to do her thing. I also brought a second chair for the toddler to chill in while his mom was busy.

I have a cane, but that can only get me so far. That keeps me mobile when I have no other choice, but I'm still in pain.

I have to sit when I get a flare-up, otherwise I'm half-walking-half-limping everywhere, not to mention that after like an hour or two of using my cane my wrist starts to hurt.

I once had a flare-up in a supermarket. It took us ten minutes to find one of those tiny rolling stools at which point I said "good enough" and very gratefully sat down. And a young, healthy-looking person sitting on a stool in the middle of a busy supermarket attracts attention. I got several people asking me what was wrong.

I personally have no issues sharing details about my pain and disability, but a lot of people do and would rather other people don't know about it. A filthy stool is not discreet. Benches are. Not to mention dignified.

I was smaller at the time which is why the stool helped. Now, with my longer legs, sitting on a stool that height wouldn't help nearly as much! It'd take the majority of the weight off my legs for sure, but I'd still be somewhat hunched up to the degree that my legs aren't getting the rest they need. My only other option would be to sit with them straight out in front of me, but I reiterate - I was in a busy supermarket. I can't do that or I'll risk tripping people up!

again. i did not say you were not oppressed. this post is literally about how you are oppressed. it is a reminder that you are not the most oppressed person in the world, a way i've seen a lot of white transfems acting lately. maybe not even necessarily in a detrimental way, but in a way that definitely leans towards the "white is default" lane of thinking, which erases black suffering, which erases progress towards black safety. this, to me, is troubling, which is why i made this post. it's important when building solidarity within our community to understand who the most vulnerable of us are, because the safety of the most vulnerable of us will ultimately be the safety of all of us.

"weird! i wonder why!" she exclaimed, whitely.

My mom told me a story today about how, in her last semester of high school, she had 4 study halls, calculus, and PE. She told me she skipped her study halls and just showed up for calculus and PE so she could graduate. She told me on her senior skip day she went to the lake with nearly her entire class.

I'm not saying this is like, incredibly awesome and educationally productive, but she was a teen. And she did teen stuff.

My school doesn't have study halls. Punishments for absences start once you dip below 95% attendence rates. 3 tardies count as an unexcused absence. We got several emails about how senior skip day was not approved and that anyone caught to be participating would get in school suspension. 45 minute lunches are a "privilege". Skipping class is an in school suspension, which are sent along with grades to colleges you apply for. Speaking of which, the majority of my classmates are still spending hours everyday studying, and failing that, doing part-time jobs, clubs, sports, and volunteering -- all in hopes of getting into the college they want.

Everyone is fucking wiped! Barely any of us enjoy school (+or life, to some extent), many of us are actively suicidal because of school. One of us didn't make it to graduation. This is seen as an "us issue", a matter of mindset (don't worry! Today's quote of the day is another variation of "good mindset = good day, bad mindset = bad day"!!) Most places actively bar or discourage teens from being there (hanging out in a mall = loitering, no minors allowed without parent supervision basically everywhere, walking around with no real goal is "suspicious", etc etc). When we stay inside and go on the internet, we are told that we are the problem, we need to stop spending so much time online, and the solution is social media and phone bans. As if excessive use of electronics by younger people isn't a symptom of a much larger issue. As if bans will solve the problem. As if we like spending our teenage years scrolling.

My friends tell me how their mom took their inheritance money and bought a car. How their dad flipped their shit, verbally and physically, when they dyed their hair. I read stories about people getting messages from online friends that say "I think my parents found out I'm queer" and then never hearing from them again. Have you ever read about the troubled teen industry?

And that isn't even, like, the basics!!! That's barely even scratching the surface!!