Vol. 30
In This Edition: ESSAY | TAKE ACTION | NOW READ THIS | GOOD NEWS | FINAL FRAME
Happy 30th installment of Grist From the Mills! It could have been more if I’d stuck with any kind of schedule, but life is what it is, and here we are. Thank you to everyone who continues to read and support my writing work. It truly is appreciated.
I’m trying to get back into a more regular habit and practice, so you may actually start to see a monthly (or bi-weekly!) installments of this newsletter.
Speaking of bi, it’s Bi Visibility Month! September 23 is International Bisexual Visibility Day, so apparently we’ve decided it was time to just take over the entire month. To which I say, GOOD.
Did you know that nearly three-fifths of LGBTQ+ Americans identify as bisexual? If you know me, you know that I’m one member of the teeming mass of bisexuals. I’m not quiet about it. Nor should anyone have to be. If you wanna be loud and proud or super lowkey about it, that should be your free and un-threatened choice and no one else’s.
Still, there are too many places and situations in the world in which it is still dangerous to be honest about who you are. According to a recent global study, believed to be the first of its kind, the vast majority of LGBTQ+ people across the world keep their identity hidden from all or most of the people in their lives. Given the social and cultural stigma that still exists, in addition to punitive laws that target LGBTQ+ people, this statistic sadly doesn’t come as a surprise. We have a long way to go, especially when even fellow members of the community still erase, invalidate, or downplay our identities.
That’s why, although a thing like Bi Visibility Month may not be personally accessible to everyone, it’s one important way for those of us who can be out to speak up and show up on behalf of those who can’t (yet). Being able to see examples of what’s possible is a big part of the reason that Gen Z has double the rate of LGBTQ+ identification from even my Millennial cohort. They’ve grown up in a time of massively increased visibility for queer and trans identities and possibilities. For a short while, too, it seemed the overall trend–at least in the U.S.--was one of progress when it came to acceptance of and equal rights for LGBTQ+ people.
Now that we’ve entered an era of serious and very dangerous right-wing backlash, one that overwhelmingly targets transgender and non-binary people, it often feels less safe to be out and proud. But we owe it to each other to refuse to be shoved back into the closet. And within the LGBTQ+ community, it’s more important than ever to show solidarity between our diverse identities. There is no progress for lesbian and gay people without progress for transgender, non-binary, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, or intersex people. Anyone attempting to drive a wedge between those groups, or arguing that some people need to “tone it down” or “wait their turn” so that the more respectable gays can get their rights, is selling snake oil.
If drag queens and kinksters and transgender folks and sex workers continue to be attacked and their rights undermined without a unified front to fight back, we ain’t getting far. And I don’t want to be part of any revolution that excludes, erases, or denigrates the most vulnerable among us. Those are also the very people who’ve been at the vanguard of the liberation movement, lighting the way for the rest of us.
I am proud to be bisexual, genderqueer, trans, and polyamorous because I am proud to be myself. Finally. And I want, more than most things, for everyone else to feel safe and supported enough to feel proud of who they/you are, too.
All that said, I am recommitting myself to using my voice and whatever platform I have to do more to shine a light on the absolute fuckery that’s unfolding in Wisconsin as part of the nationwide ascendency of bigotry and fascism. It is deadly serious and we need all hands on deck to fight back. I hope you’ll stick with me and also look for ways both large and small that you can lend your support. We need each other.
Take Action.
Here are two things you can do right now to help:
First: Read up on and then write to your Congressional representatives to voice concerns about the “Kids Online Safety Act” currently making its way towards becoming law. The bill has pretty broad bipartisan support, largely because it includes provisions aimed at making online spaces safer for young children–and pretty much everyone agrees that is a good goal! The problem is that this bill also includes language that could easly be used to target and remove LGBTQ+ content. I’ll let Erin Reed explain further:
While many aspects of KOSA are commendable—such as incentivizing social media platforms to curb compulsive usage among minors and bolstering privacy protections—certain elements are ripe for exploitation against transgender content.The section raising the most eyebrows is dubbed the "duty of care." According to the bill, social media companies are required to implement measures to prevent and mitigate issues like "anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance use disorders, and suicidal behaviors.”
Although transition has been proven to improve mental health among transgender people and reduce the risk of suicide, Republicans in state legislatures across the United States this year have issued faulty arguments that being transgender “harms minors mental health” and that exposure to transgender content and people is dangerous. Later, the bill empowers state attorneys general to file suit to force compliance with the bill.
Further, the bill would give the Attorney General of every state the right to sue internet platforms and proviers if they allow any content that is deemed harmful to minors. As Charlie Jane Anders noted in her analysis, “This clause is so vaguely defined that attorneys general can absolutely claim that queer content violates it — and they don't even need to win these lawsuits in order to prevail. They might not even need to file a lawsuit, in fact. The mere threat of an expensive, grueling legal battle will be enough to make almost every Internet platform begin to scrub anything related to queer people.”
You should absolutely read the whole rundown of the situation by Erin Reed in the Los Angeles Blade. She points out that both right-wing organizations and representatives have explicitly stated the intent to use the bill to target transgender-related content in particular.
At a time when states are passing a bevy of anti-trans laws and anti-trans panic has reached a fever pitch, accurate and affirming information and community in online spaces is crucial for young people especially who may otherwise be totally cut off from it in their day-to-day lives. Of course, that’s the point. The extremists want to eradicate LGBTQ+ identities, transgender people in particular, and think that by restricting or removing all related content, they’ll somehow stop people from being who they are.
What they accomplish instead is increased misery for their own children, and those of countless families across the country.
Secondly, and still speaking of access to critical resources: OutReach LGBTQ Community Center and its predecessors have been serving queer and trans folks in theMadison area continuously for 50 years. It’s a crucial resource for people seeking information, community, and support.
But recent changes to the city’s bus system mean that the stop that served the center was removed. The result is that many long-time users of the center, who rely on it for things like internet access and support groups, can no longer access it at all.
OutReach staff have asked the community to contact the city to ask that the stop be returned. You can find the contact information and more about the ongoing community survey about accessibility needs with the bus system here.
Now Read This.
“The NYT Uses Trans Hate to Discipline Its Workers” [Noah Berlatsky at Everything Is Horrible]
There is every reason to believe that NYT editorial is sincerely bigoted against trans people, and that they in fact, as one staffer said, do not consider trans people to be fully human. But bigotry isn’t just a conviction; it’s a tactic. Sulzberger and his troupe of gray, reactionary hacks see hate as an external marketing strategy and as an internal method of asserting hierarchy.
“This Is What Transgender Eradication Looks Like” [Erin Reed at Erin in the Morning]
While hope is invaluable, it alone won't repel attempts at eradication. Action is imperative. Beyond just legal protections, we must actively support trans individuals who cross state boundaries, aiding them in regaining their financial stability. Furthermore, we can't abandon those without the resources, ability, or will to relocate from their homes. Many of us hope for a quicker resolution, but this battle might become the kind of generational struggle we'll recount to our children. Though these may be efforts to erase us, one truth stands firm: we are part of what it means to be human, and eradication is a futile pursuit.
“How to Help LGBTQ People In Maui” [TransLash Media]
LGBTQ+ people always face disproportionate harm when disasters strike their communities. Check out this guide of LGBTQ and ally, native-led organizations on the ground in Maui helping people recover from the devastating wildfires.
“Al Gore’s New TED Talk Is Out” [Emily Atkin at HEATED]
For years, climate scientists have told us that the more carbon we put into the atmosphere, the worse extreme weather events like these would get. So why haven’t we acted more quickly to draw down those emissions?
In his latest TED Talk, Al Gore convincingly argues, it’s not because the technology to draw down carbon pollution isn’t ready. It’s because the people who profit from carbon pollution aren’t ready—and will never be, until regular people apply enough pressure to make them.
In “not at all cool and very abnormal” news: Heather Cox Richardson at Letters From An American writes that:
Today on Trinity Broadcasting Network, which senior NBC News reporter Ben Collins says bills itself as the largest Christian television network in the world, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee opened his most recent episode by saying that if former president Trump loses the 2024 election because of the many indictments grand juries have handed down concerning his behavior, “it is going to be the last American election that will be decided by ballots rather than bullets.”
Good News.
It exists!
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland canceled all seven outstanding oil and gas leases that the Trump administration had awarded for drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). At the same time, Haaland also proposed new regulations that would prohibit drilling in more than 13 million acres — or about half — of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), the nation’s largest tract of public land.
“The Summer of the Black Woman” [Errin Haines for The 19th]
Beyoncé, Simone Biles, Sha’Carri Richardson and Coco Gauff headlined a season of history-making success shared and celebrated by Black women at concerts, on the court, the mat, the track and on social media. Our collective joy and agency were acts of resistance amid a hostile social and political climate, a triumph over the trauma that has long defined Black women’s existence in America.
Final Frame.
In extremely cool news, my in-laws built (from scratch!) this extremely cool and cozy, canned-ham-style camper. FIL is a master woodworker and also put together a delightful and highly detailed book about the entire process, for the curious/interested.
‘Til Next Time.
Thanks for reading! Hit me up with questions, comments, suggestions, and tips on great hiking spots. And please feel free to forward this email to a friend and/or hit that subscribe button. xoxo