TmTrx

I gottchu (I think...) Is it this one from the Microsoft Inclusive Design toolkit?

Hey friends, and friends of friends I'm hoping this will reach!

As those who follow me know, I am deep into pre-production on my first short film, "Order for Owen," which I wrote and will be directing with the support of Bay Area production company Tricky Ink Productions, under their Training Ground Films initiative.

"Order for Owen" is about Owen, a young, Asian-American, trans man, who is just starting to go out in the world using his newly chosen, gender-affirming name. He debates whether or not to come out to his housemate, Ty, who he secretly has a crush on. Meanwhile, Ty is doing some self-discovery of his own.

Pre-production has been a major learning experience, both for myself and this young production company I'm working with. As a result, we are officially launching our fundraising campaign a bit late in the game.

The good news is, the initiative has fiscal sponsorship through Redwood City-based film organization BraveMaker, which makes contributions to our campaign tax deductible.

If you or someone you know (it's Pride, hit up the allies in your life!) is interested in supporting us:

⭐🌈 DONATIONS CAN BE MADE HERE 🌈⭐

And more information on Training Ground Films can be found here! (This includes info about the initiative, the first short they made, and my short!)

And whether or not you are someone who can contribute to the campaign, spreading the word is so meaningful to me too.

favorite ships pride project 2026:

The doctor scraped out a bit of earwax to have a better look inside.

I was sent a bill for $200 PER EAR for this 5 second procedure which I did not give permission for them to do.

That was key- they did not ASK me if they could do this "procedure". And, as I OWN a medical practice (it's me. The medical practice is me, sitting in my house on video calls) I knew to call them when this bill came in to be like "You did not obtain informed consent for this procedure, and it was not en emergency procedure. You had full ability to gain my consent and didn't. I'm not paying."

And the massive hospital who owned the bill said "yuh-huh you do have to pay."

And I said "I own a practice. I know these laws. I do not owe you money for this."

And they conducted an "internal review" and SURPRISE! Decided I totally owed them money and they had never done anything wrong ever.

And so I called my state's Attorney General office, and explained the situation because, as I mentioned, I know the law. The AG got in touch within a couple days to say they were taking the case and would send the massive hospital conglomerate a knock it off, guys letter.

Lo and Behold, today I have a letter where said hospital graciously has agreed to forfeit the payment.

"How not to get screwed over by companies" should be part of civics class.

Know your rights and know who to call when they're infringed on. This whole process cost me $0 and honestly less effort than I would have expected.

Civics class wouldn't help most people in this case because the AG will not take on all these cases and most people cannot afford an attorney in this instance or more importantly, the hit to their credit.

Were they going to get into a lawsuit over my $400 bill? No obviously not. But they printed up a letter on fancy letterhead to say to stop and it worked. They followed up with me the next day to be sure, and so ask how much money they had saved me.

They use dinky cases like mine to track habitual misbehavior of large scale companies to build cases they could actually go to court over.

And because people are shocked- I never spoke to the AG of my state directly. He operates mainly by overseeing a whole crew of people. And this is what those people do.

This didn’t happen because I’m special because of my tiny therapy practice.

This happened because this is what the AG office is for.

“The problem is systemic” doesn’t mean “and there’s nothing you can do”.

Then you've been trained well by "The System".

Yes, that System you say can't be fought? Where did you get that idea, huh? Who taught you that "small" acts of illegality don't matter? Who made you think that there's no point in fighting back because it will all come to nothing?

Might it be the same entities that benefit if you believe all that?

Gonna pause and let you ponder.

Never. Ever. EVER.

EVER.

Let companies or corporations or hospitals or organizations or any business big or small get away with screwing you over without a fight. Maybe you personally don't win every fight, but you lose 100% of the time you don't try. You'll win more often than you think you will. I know cuz I've done it.

So have others. Attorneys General offices bring lawsuits against businesses all the time. They do so because citizens contacted them to say "someone is doing a crime" and the crime doers did not stop when told and got into way more trouble than if they'd just stopped. FAFO. The Find Out can't happen if you don't even bother to report the Fucking Around.

On that note, as OP said, please know your rights! And, in a situation where you don't but suspect something is hinky, ask! The people of the internet can help! So can librarians! So can many others. Find out what is and is not okay for them to do. If it's not okay, report them! See something, say something.

Don't let the System win by default.

If you believe The System™️ is only for Them™️ and not you, it will only ever be so.

NEW BOOOOKKKKKSSSSS

IT IS SO FREAKING HARD TO PICK JUST A FEW, but here are some new additions in June that we are HYPED about

Herculine by Grace Byron (all trans girl commune, rural indiana, demons personal or otherwise)

The Open Era by Edward Schmit (debut, tennis romance)

Bloom Town by Ally North (1850’s western, outlaws, kidnapping, conspiracies)

No God But Us by Bobuq Sayed (“a story of borders and boundaries transgressed")

The Unravelling by Benjamin Rosenbaum (“a chaotic romp of gender deconstruction” + sci-fi, neopronouns)

The Way Disabled People Love Each Other by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (poetry, (pandemic) grief, survival, healing)

Saturn Returning by Kim Narby (queer friendship, connection, early adulthood)

Summerhouse by Yigit Karaahmet (“gay wrongs” & “shockingly lovable antiheroes”)

The other ‘A’ in LGBTQIA+ by AUREA (Aromantics stand up!!)

Love’s Not Color Blind: race and representation in polyamorous and other alternative communities by Kevin A. Patterson

Liberating Lawrence: Gay Activism in the 1970’s at the University of Kansas by Katherine Rose-Mockry

Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity ed. Lee Mandelo (spec-fic & sci-fi, queer fiction as protest)

you can find these & many more in our ‘just added’ list on libby