Good Queer News & Great Queer Actions
Yes, even today
Before we get into all that this week has held, I want to plug my short end-of-year feedback survey for Good Queer News! I’m eager to hear how I’m doing and what I can do to better support you all in the new year. The survey is totally anonymous, I would be so grateful for your feedback!
Top line overview for those who don’t have time to read the whole article:
Good news: Oklahoma’s Christian nationalist social studies curriculum was struck down in court. Rainbow Crosswalk resistance is popping up in Florida. New Zealand puberty blocker ban struck down, and more!
Actions to take: Contact your electeds in the house of representatives to let them know how you feel about their vote on Marjorie Taylor Greene’s health care ban. Write love letters through the queer resilience project for the holidays. Buy holiday gifts for trans people through Trans Santa. And fill out the Good Queer News feedback survey!
Back at it again, aren’t we? I know it’s been a heavy week for about a 100 reasons.
As a trans person and a Jewish person this week has certainly felt landed like a double whammy of epic proportions. But even when the news feels like it’s falling apart, as it so often does, I find some amount of peace in leaning on my personal rules for media engagement. Some rules have a little more flexibility—on the day I knew there was going to be a house vote on a bill pertaining to the trans community, I checked the news more than twice a day to specifically seek out the update I was looking for.
I did not, however, leave C-SPAN on in the background. Passive news intake is, for me, far more hurtful than it is helpful for staying informed. And I’m still never allowed to check the news in bed. No sun in the sky? No news. Everything will always be urgent, which also means that nothing is. And all we can do is come to it when we are ready.
Also, if you’re currently stressing about the new proposed regulations from the centers for medicare and medicaid, please take a minute to read through the article that I wrote when the regulations were leaked a few months ago.
What’s going on in the House?
The House of Representatives voted on and ultimately passed a deeply horrible Felony health care ban for transgender youth. Three Democrats voted yes. Four Republicans voted no.
Today, they voted on a similar bill that would target medicaid coverage for gender affirming care for trans youth. It also passed the house with four democrat yes votes and zero republican no’s.
ALL of our electeds should be hearing from us about these bills, whether it’s to thank them for voting no or to remind them that we see them voting yes, and we can’t wait to show up for their midterm challenger.
The good news is, both bills have much steeper odds of success in the senate, needing seven democrats to defect and vote yes. They’re very unlikely to pass, but still every vote will count. Please call your senator and tell them to vote no if this comes for a vote in the senate.
In the meantime, there’s not what else much else we can do but breathe and know that we and the many passionate advocates we have in state houses and law firms and advocacy organizations and at your neighbor’s kitchen table are doing everything we can to fight back against these bills. We must take a sense of personal responsibility but should avoid putting the weight entirely onto our own shoulders. We are not powerless.
On to the good news! Because, yes, good news is still happening.
Before he resigned to work in the private sector, Oklahoma state superintendent Ryan Walters attempted to create and enforce a new social studies curriculum specifically focused on promoting Christianity and Christian values. Fortunately, this week, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, an amazing legal organization, was able to get that curriculum struck down by the state supreme court! (AU)
In New Zealand, their courts have issued a preliminary injunction halting their puberty blockers ban for transgender youth, restoring access to care across the country while a full judicial review is performed. (Royal New Zealand)
Drag queen, park ranger, and climate activist Pattie Gonia hiked 100 miles in full drag to raise over ONE MILLION dollars for 8 different inclusive outdoor groups. Yet another phenomenal example of leading with joy to truly build the world we want to live in. (LGBTQ Nation)
When Ron Desantis declared that all rainbow crosswalks must be removed from Florida, folks had all sorts of ideas to keep the spirit of pride alive. First it was re-drawing the rainbow in chalk, then it was adding rainbows to private parking lots and entrances. Now, the latest installment: rainbow bike racks!
In Missouri, the amazing tireless advocates for Protect MO Voters have turned in over 300,000 signatures on a last-minute petition for a “citizens veto” of the proposed gerrymandered map passed this summer. Missouri has truly become a beautiful proving ground for the power of grassroots pushback and the presence of truly good people everywhere, even in a republican supermajority state. (AP News)
In Indiana, Republicans have roundly rejected Trump’s attempts to force the state to gerrymander their districts in advance of the midterm elections, directly citing that his bullying had gone too far (CNN). This and many other signs of Trump’s decline in power are delightful to me. If you’d like a longer article on this, you should check out this piece by Michael Sellers from last week that I found to be a tremendous bright spot when it comes to resistance against Trump’s authoritarian bullshit.
What other actions can we take this week?
Yes, I think it matters to call our elected officials, AND there are also some really delightfully joyful things we can do as well. Here are a few ideas:
Check out the amazing organization TransSanta and donate to a trans person’s holiday wish list!
Write a love note to the trans community here!
Check out the last recap of love notes, because you deserve a little extra tenderness.
Fill out the Good Queer News feedback survey! https://forms.gle/2XTgSNvptU8mAT627
Missing items for your holiday gift list? Consider making a donation to a queer nonprofit (or buying something cool from their merch store) in honor of a loved one!
Pick a trans friend in your life. Reach out to them to tell them you love them, and that you have their back. It’s been a hard week.
That’s all the news that’s fit to print for now! Hope you all are staying safe and warm. I know this winter is feeling particularly brutal—and I’m not talking about the weather. But we will stick together, keep fighting, and I know that we will make it through.
All my love,
Ben
Ben, Thanks for all your work. Even the Good News can be draining at times, especially in recent days, but I wanted to let you know that I am forwarding the "What Other Actions..." section to our PFLAG chapter's president. You did a virtual presentation with our chapter a while back, though I couldn't be there at that time.
As an older trans woman, 78, who has only firmly known her identity for a little over ten years and transitioned soon after, I checked out the link for 'love notes' and started reading, but had to turn away or I'd have been a blubbering mess to the point of not getting things done today. I'm going to suggest he send at least that section of your post. There are a couple other people I want to send it to as well. I haven't had time to check out TransSanta but will look that over and take action myself on that. THANKS SO MUCH!!