Skye Tooley (they/them)

This Iranian can see the USA's 'freedom' for what it is.

Mass Murder.

They are telling you they don’t want trans people to exist. Kansas took away our right to vote, drive, use the restroom, get a job. It will not stop at Kansas.
The gov is not being demure. They are brazenly attacking us believing no one will care, that we are the expendables. Prove them wrong.

Across the US, people are dismantling and destroying Flock surveillance cameras Anger over ICE connections and privacy violations is fueling the sabotage. PLUS: 10,000 drivers call on Uber to repay stolen wages, a man is arrested at a public hearing about a data center and more.

Across the US, people fed up with Flock cameras surveilling their communities, and with local governments that are often unwilling to listen to concerns over privacy violations and ICE data sharing practices, are taking matters into their own hands—and tearing them down.

With New Momentum, Republican States Push Broader Limits for Trans Americans In states that once focused mainly on health care and sports for transgender minors, debates now revolve around the validity of transgender identity.

The subheadline on this NYT piece is going to turn me into the Joker.

Like... this... is exactly what trans people have been saying was going to happen for years.

this is but a small glimpse
into the expansiveness
of love.

whistles blowing,
honks of warning,
water across tear gassed faces.

groceries deliver to bolted doors,
group calls in earnest,
screams of passion,
whispers of care.

waking to the darkness
to protect our beloveds.

cups of coffee to strangers,
meal trains for recovery,
embraces in tragedy.

Another question I came here with was: how effective are the whistles and honking? Does it stop abductions? And the answer is, surprisingly to my cynical self, yes, and often. I have talked to so many people who have successfully interrupted kidnappings.

ICE agent asked why he's taking pictures of a legal observer's car, replies: "Cuz we have a nice little database and now you're considered a domestic terrorist. So have fun with that."

A child was kidnapped and no Amber Alert went out. A child was stripped of their rights and a senator says “we will check on them next week.”

Children every year have been taken with no Amber Alerts because the gov sanctioned it.

Fight like hell for these kids. Fight as if they were your own.

Queer families get erased in celebration, in grief, for a better headline.
Renee Good’s child is not “orphaned”. He has his mom still. Renee was queer and loved. Her wife lives and cares for THEIR child.
Stop erasing the powerful queer love that family holds.

And the targeting continues.
We’ve lost so much, we continue to be targeted.
Experts are finally admitting what we always knew, we are in the midst of a trans genocide in America.

This isn’t like Iraq though it is eerily similar. History has shown the US loves to destabilize and overthrow govs that won’t give them resources. Difference here is public military invasion was not approved by congress. Trump is aiming to be a forever president aka dictator.

I think I’ll be removing the section on US gov “balances of power” because the president can apparently just do a military invasion without congressional approval and the repercussions is a democrat zoom meeting.

This holiday, thousands of kids are waking up to their families not present because ICE kidnapped them. Hundreds of kids are in an ICE prison.

This country is doing what it was built to do, BUT we have the ability and obligation to stand up against it. Don’t just read about it. Act. Get involved.

Yearly reminder that Jesus was born in Palestine and is Palestinian.

Palestinian Christians are being actively arrested, their celebrations shut down in Haifa. There is no ceasefire. Over 70,000 Palestinians have been murdered and ceasefires violated 875 times for the last 2 years.
#freepalestine

I’ve seen how communities of 20 raised thousands and a groups of 10 patrolling the streets for weeks. We need to fall back in towards community, towards mutual aid, towards sharing our wealth and not hoarding it.

There’s enough for us all but we have been trained to believe there can never be.

There are so many moments that can feel devoid of light. Especially right now where capitalism takes hold and so many lean into money to spend versus supporting each other.

So many of us are so tied to our own individuality in the US that we fail to see the power we hold with each other.

It feels like we are screaming into a void. Attacks on us constantly, a bill passing that will strip healthcare away from kids, and it’s not even trending.

But this article gives a moment of hope. A moment for us to see that people and orgs are stepping up when it matters. We need more of you to.

If you're not trans, I don't think I can fully explain how important this is.

It's so powerful that one of the most circulated science media publications in the world has come out and said "trans children are real and providing transition care improves their lives." That's groundbreaking.

It’s no longer about if he’s in the Epstein files but how many crimes he committed.

I know we are fighting for trans right to healthcare but it would be nice if things were framed more around our humanity and right to healthcare vs “having this lowers suicidal rate”.

Like we should just be able to say trans people should have access to healthcare. The end. 🙃

Don’t just be aware. Know the pain, the daily endurance of trans people.
The constant hate and lies we must combat. The uncertainty of leaving the house because of how we present. The desire to just be.

This trans awareness week, pay a trans person. And if you love us, fight like hell for us.

So what are you doing, the cis people, watching this unfold?
Do you understand the intersectionality of our existence? We see the gays strut, take from our community, and then claim the world would better if we weren’t so loud.
But what is liberation if we aren’t loud?
Why live if we can’t be?

10. Looking at changing the Olympics to exclude women in a transphobic and racist way
11. Making queer inclusion, especially trans inclusion, in books an issue when it wasn’t
12. Pushing to designate us, trans people, as violent extremists

The list goes on. They want us institutionalized, dead.

4. Erasure of our stories from libraries
5. Supreme Court ruling against gender marker changes for our passports.
6. Anti trans slogans constantly used in politics.
7. Being blamed for a cutting of SNAP benefits.
8. Banning our access to restrooms.
9. Constantly attack our athletes
…

Awareness and visibility do not equal safety.
Because of the lack of care and vigilance for trans people, we have now:

1. Seen over 1,000 anti trans bills this year alone
2. Seen an uptick of violence against trans people
3. Experienced attacks against our healthcare and access to it
….

They took a teacher today in Chicago.
But 31 Moms for Liberty bigots all lost their elections.
But they are still holding kids in ICE custody.
Multiple trans people won elections yesterday.
But our rights are being decimated.
The whiplash of emotions is real BUT the hope is vivid, real.

Easily several hundred people have packed into this plaza in Chicago's North Center tonight in response to ICE abducting a daycare worker early this morning.

This is a neighborhood that has largely been spared until now from the "Midway Blitz" terror campaign. But everyone knows someone affected.

Halloween is a gift to the queers.
To the ones that couldn’t express themselves.
To the wild gender play.
To the weird and stigmatized.
This is our day.
Even with snide comments, laughs behind closed hands,
We strutted, catwalked.
Because on this day,we got to be.

Today, people will dress up, call people by different names, use different pronouns, play with gender expression.
But tomorrow, they will continue to blame trans and nonbinary people for their issues and complain about remembering their correct pronouns. 🙃