#Action for Trans Health

[a4thdurham]

There's no Transoup this month. Can you help us run more often?

Hi, pals. Sadly, we won't be running Transoup in October. We're a community effort, and we sometimes get low on organising capacity. This month is one of those times.

If you'd like Transoup to run more often, there are ways you can help! We could really use more people to help us organise Transoup and make it happen on the day. If that's something you'd like to do, please email us at a4thdurham@gmail.com :) Examples of things you could help with include:

Beforehand:

Admin (like booking the hall and checking all jobs are covered)

Online organising using Eventbrite and social media

Meal planning

In-person jobs (like putting up posters and food shopping)

Jobs to do on the day:

Food prep

Setting up the space

Ensuring people feel welcome (especially newbies)

Telling people when food is ready, when it's time to leave, and so on

Tidying up afterwards

Being a point of contact for the community centre staff

We really appreciate any help you can give!

We're looking forward to organising with you and seeing you all again soon ❤

[coochiequeens]

Ireland went from sending single mothers to be sent to work for Catholic run laundries to this in an amazingly short amount of time.

ByGenevieve Gluck

July 17, 2023

Ireland’s leading trans lobby group will be participating in an event aimed at “supporting children and young people with transgender identities.” The discussion will be led by Tara Hewitt, the CEO of the Trans Equality Network Ireland (TENI) and a self-professed BDSM fetishist. Hewitt has ties to a trans activist organization that has called for the release of all trans-identified prisoners regardless of conviction.

The event, titled “TENI & Tea,” is scheduled to take place on July 19 and is being supported by the Donegal County Council. It was organized by Bród na Gaeltachta as part of a “community-organized Pride festival” held in July, and is categorized as a “health class” on Eventbrite. According to the registration page, the discussion, led by Hewitt, will “provide up to date information, knowledge and allow for discussion on how best to support trans and non-binary young people.”

Though the Q&A session involves advice regarding the bodies of children, Hewitt has a disturbing history of pressuring health authorities to ignore safeguarding measures.

In his previous role as the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Group, Hewitt requested that medical personnel ignore a guidance put forward by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) preserving single-sex spaces for women receiving health services.

In April of 2022, the EHRC issued a new guidance assuring that it was lawful to exclude men from women-only spaces, provided the reasoning is “legitimate and proportionate.” The statement was a reassertion of the law, which was being questioned due to misrepresentation by trans activists and lobbying organizations such as Stonewall.

Hewitt promptly condemned the ruling as “transphobic” and urged his colleagues within the NHS to ignore its guidance. 

“This guidance is highly likely to be found unlawful at Judicial review & is incredibly transphobic … When will attacks on trans people end in UK? I urge my equality professional colleagues to give this guidance the credibility it deserves by putting it in bin & continue as usual,” Hewitt said.

With his statement, Hewitt deliberately ignored a widely-publicized incident that had occurred one month prior wherein a woman who had been raped in a single-sex hospital ward by a trans-identified male was told her assailant was a “woman.”

While serving in a role that saw him advising NHS Trusts across the UK and giving lectures to health care students, Hewitt stated in a March 2019 tweet that “trans women’s bodies are not male bodies.”

Hewitt has been politically active in both Labour and, more recently, the Conservative Party, for which he stood as a councilor. During his campaign it emerged that he had an interest in BDSM and dressing up as an animal during sex, euphemistically referred to as “furrydom.”

He is also known for openly having discussed the acceptance of men with sexual fetishes at events focused on healthcare.

During a 2016 presentation for the LGBT Cancer Support Alliance, Hewitt spoke about men who cross-dress for sexual pleasure, and clarified that men who wear women’s underwear to satisfy a fetish are included under the trans umbrella.

Speaking to a room filled with women, Hewitt claimed: “You’ve got people that fetishistically cross-dress and wear clothing to get a sexual desire out of the clothing of the opposite gender. It generally tends to be associated with men wearing women’s underwear.”

At the same presentation, Hewitt revealed that he had also worked with Action for Trans Health, an organization which published a manifesto demanding the immediate release of all trans criminals from prison.

“We demand that trans people are immediately freed from police, military, and government contracts without repercussions. We reject the system of blackmail that corporations and governments engage in, whereby trans people who can work are ‘rewarded’ with slightly less mistreatment in exchange for the exploitation of our labor,” read the document.

The manifesto, which has since been deleted, was published on Tumblr in 2018 and also demanded tax-payer funded access to all forms of plastic surgery and body modification without any questions asked by medical professionals.

“We demand the freedom to alter our bodies without justification. We demand an end to all surgical prerequisites — nobody should have to prove life experience, health, or have to be taking hormones in order to exercise bodily autonomy,” Action for Trans Health stated.

“We demand that these surgeries can be highly customized to meet our individual and unique needs. We demand the right to multiple surgeries, including reversal of previous surgeries if desired, so that we do not have to fear regret.”

Speaking with Reduxx on the event, local women’s rights campaigner Jennifer Kimmel slammed Bród na Gaeltachta and TENI for targeting minors and “vilifying” concerned parents.

“Any person or group with good intentions does not vilify parents, purposely mislead the public nor regard themselves as above reproach. These are clear red flags,” Kimmel said.

“When it comes to child safeguarding, everyone and every group is accountable, whether they cloak themselves in a ‘progress flag’ or not. Parents seeking to protect children from harmful ideologies need community support every bit as much as anyone else.”

[camryn-aisling]

Crosspost from cohost

[sharknado-three]

Homophobes: I don't hate people who struggle with homosexual tendencies, I just think sodomy is a sin and responsible for spreading disease. I will do anything in my power to stop people from having gay sex, including campaigning to make it illegal. I believe being visibly homosexual in the presence of kids is making kids gay and shouldn't be allowed.

LGBT+ community: That's homophobic.

TERFs: I don't hate dysphoric females, I just think transitioning is causing irreversible damage and reinforcing sexist stereotypes. I will do anything in my power to stop "confused lesbians" from destroying their bodies, including campaigning to make transition illegal. I believe being visibly trans in the presence of kids is making kids gender-confused and shouldn't be allowed.

Some of you: Wow, TERFs sure do love AFAB trans people! They literally said so and we know bigots would never lie about that!

[thoughtportal]

eating cake while people are in crisis

[bijoumikhawal]

a lot of the talk about Bushnell is reminding me of my "the "mentally ill" have their right to violence revoked" thing again

like. When you're deemed mentally ill, suddenly you must stress how you are more likely to be a victim of violence than a perpetrator to be deemed as human. Because any violence you commit, as a crazy person, is bad. It cannot carry rationale, because you are crazy. If I, as an autistic person, hit someone who was hurting me and got in legal trouble, I can be referred to as just "crazy" instead of as a victim responding to an aggressor. It's an underdiscussed area of dehumanization.

And that's before we talk about intersectionality, and before we talk about how this factors into the idea of ODD, and the "violent" responses patients have to doctors (including those who simply aren't white, and those forced on meds that hurt them, and those resisting sexual assault, and-).

But this is not just interpersonally political, it is political at scale. Black men were targeted by schizophrenia diagnoses during the Civil Rights era (and this is also around when schizophrenia became a "scary" illness). The crazy cannot have valid political criticisms, as a movement (remember that being "crazy" is a vector of oppression abd marginalization) or as individuals in other movements.

Ive seen both the sentiment of "oh Aaron is gonna be slandered as crazy" and exactly what the sentiment warns of- "we can't valorize suicide from the mentally ill". And the first isn't wrong, because society at large does view the "crazy" as lacking political agency, but it's lacking.

Bushnell had been trying very hard to get out of his military contract without being imprisoned at best, while witnessing genocide and knowing he was complicit. He may not have had clinical depression normally, but that would inspire a mental rational response of situational depression (and yes, mental health issues can be a rational response to horrible circumstances). Further, I know of instances of self immolation that WERE done by people who did have long standing mental health issues and were done to protest the treatment they'd experienced that caused them and that resulted from their existence. Mental illness and divergence from the norm is more complicated than just "these people are incapable of rationality, they are incapable of political thought, and they are incapable of agency".

[itgetsbetterproject]

It's really easy to say things like "Mental health matters" and "make sure you're taking time for self care!"

But it's harder to actually do something about it.

So on #MentalHealthAction Day, we wanted to give you something actually tangible you can do to support yourself, right now, or from anywhere: check out imi.guide!

It's a free, online mental health tool made with and for LGBTQ+ youth - our own Youth Voices even got to have an input in creating it, so you know it's legit. It has:

🟣 Guides on stress, queerness, stigma, & gender

🟣 Real stories and videos from LGBTQ+ people

🟣 Mental health tips & resources

🟣 A quick exit button!

A study even indicates that imi "boosts positive coping skills and mindsets that are important for supporting the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth." Yeah, we've got that data.

Take this as your sign it's time to stop scrolling and explore imi.guide here.

[calilili]

“ #21stCentury A Time Of Useful #Consciousness “ #globalwellness #ClimateAction #EnvironmentalJustice #ClimateHeal #LGBTQ #Women 🎬 https://crankyyank.com/2022/11/07/midterms-are-a-time-of-useful-consciousness-by-guest-blogger-calililiindies/

https://crankyyank.com/2022/11/07/midterms-are-a-time-of-useful-consciousness-by-guest-blogger-calililiindies/ by Cali Lili published in Will Pollock Cranky Yank Magazine By Cali Lili published in Cranky Yank Magazine https://crankyyank.com/2022/11/07/midterms-are-a-time-of-useful-consciousness-by-guest-blogger-calililiindies/ Oscars 2020 Contender Review : Times Square Chronicles Eve N’…

[tovarishch-dyke]

One thing adulthood has taught is that you hold your tongue even if you really REALLY are about to lose it on someone

[helenaheissner]

A Dream of Summer Rain: Chapter 33

Forty Years Ago

The Sovereign Hotel was a marble obelisk in Boston’s Back Bay, overlooking the harbor as yachts sailed out onto the water to engage in revelry. Costumed children, some chaperoned by parents, some not, darted about the streets, while others, older, all costumed themselves, flitted about between rounds of debauchery at bars and nightclubs. Jack O’Lanterns pierced the dark, while streetlamps flickered with the rhythm of electronic heartbeats. All that was Liminal seemed far closer than usual, seemed far more real than what Alistair would normally describe as reality. ‘The witching hour’, as they called it. For him, it was every hour of every day. But for a night, the rest of the world knew it as well.

The High Council of the Sovereignty met in the city of Boston on All Hallow’s Eve. Autumnal dusk had faded into the cold, wet darkness of night, as the legacy of Samhain flowed through all things.  It was a remarkably innocent thing, this holiday- a celebration of the macabre, the arcane, the uncanny. Part of Alistair wanted to feel rage at the mundane world for taking this day and making it a celebration of childhood innocence, of the idea that this was the sort of thing that only mattered, was only real to you, in your single digits. But at the same time he was grateful that they knew even a small sliver of his world. And parts of it even looked fun. Perhaps when he had children of his own…

When? He thought. When did I start thinking of that as a ‘when’ and not an ‘if?’ It makes sense, though. I have an obligation to my family, to keep our dynasty intact. Yes. When I have children. Perhaps they shall know this innocence and joy.

He was, for a moment, at peace.

The Sovereign Hotel was run by House Achebe, and was a permanent home to its leaders. It was twenty stories of spotless white marble. The first floor opened to a wide lobby of wooden floors and stone walls and leather couches and chairs, all arranged around a mahogany desk. Alistair, Aunt Elleanor, and Svetlanna, a tall and broad necromancer from Russia whom Alistair had attended school with, all entered. Alistair wore a white pressed button-down shirt under his black cloak, with the silver raven insignia on the back. His white hair had grown long and hung loosely about his shoulders. Elleanor wore a black dress that covered her shoulders and sleeved her arms and hung at the ankles, complimented by a white jacket marked by a black raven over her heart. And Svetlanna wore a red gown with a slit going up the left leg, a white fur stole over her shoulders, with her blonde hair braided into a crown-like updo that revealed her angular face. She’d finished healing from her surgery just in time for this event, and had said she wouldn’t miss it for the world.

The receptionist, who was dressed as a sheet-ghost, waited behind the mahogany desk. Alistair showed a business card, and the receptionist pressed a button on the underside of the desk that caused the false wall behind her to swing inward and reveal the conference room. Alistair nodded appreciatively, and he and his entourage entered.

The conference room was a perfect circle, centered by a round table of ash wood. White marble floors, white ceiling, white walls, and a brown table at which gathered the most powerful mages on earth.

To Alistair’s left was Eiichiro Kishimoto, heir apparent to House Kishimoto, the School of Stellaromancy. He was a man of middling years, slick black hair gray at the temples, the lines on his face only just starting to grow prominent. He wore a crisp white suit, perfectly tailored, with a solid purple tie and black loafers and the family’s falcon crest embroidered on both his cuffs. He was flanked by his wife, Padma, a stately woman from Calcutta, clad in a green sari patterned with golden flowers, her long black hair worn in a braid hanging over her shoulder; his younger brother, Yoshiyuki, wore a more subdued black suit with a red tie, while his new bride, Yvonne Walker, a composed and confident woman with a long mane of natural hair, wore a blue gown so flattering it made Svetlanna’s look modest by comparison. They were based on the west coast, though nobody was sure of where specifically. They talked amongst themselves- Eiichiro seemed to be dressing down his younger brother while Padma stroked her husband’s arm and Yvonne glared daggers at her in-laws. Yoshiyuki seemed determined to grin and bear it, however. Their mother, High Princess Naoko Kishimoto, and their father, Prince-Consort Yoshihiro, were absent that evening, but the council had long since accepted that the sons of Kishimoto would sit in their parents’ stead. Elleanor had mentioned a third Kishimoto brother as well, a young man by the name of Shiro, but he was absent as well.

To Alistair’s right were the representatives from House Jimenez: High Princess Rosita Jimenez, a compact woman in her late eighties, wearing a modest blue dress and a green cloak adorned with her family’s eagle crest on the right shoulder. Her son, Andre, a thirty-eight year old man of nearly seven feet of height and two hundred pounds of muscle, sat beside her, alongside his petite wife Annalucia and their five daughters- Maya, Flora, Margherita, Luz, and Sofia, all dressed to the nines and on their best behavior; on the other side of the high princess was her daughter Catalina, a dark-skinned woman wearing a black dress that offered ample view of her well-aged body, and her husband Hans Jimenez, formerly Hans Wagner. He was in his late seventies, while his wife was in her early forties. He had on military uniform from the first world war, as if to flaunt the fact that he was in the same shape now as he’d been during the second reich. Their children, Hans II, Johann, Delilah, Maria, and Miguel, sat in quiet accompaniment.

Meanwhile, together on the opposite side of Alistair were the leaders of Houses Koenig and Achebe. High Princess Priscilla Koenig was nearing fifty. Her gray-threaded brown hair was cropped in a severe pixie cut, parted steeply to the right. She wore a simple seafoam green dress with an ocean blue cape, which Alistair assumed would have the mark of the Koenig family owl. Her husband Phillip had passed away earlier that year, a victim of his own alcoholism. Such weakness from a Sovereignty prince- how pathetic, even if he was just a consort. Perhaps Priscilla was relieved now to be free of a burden such as him. At her sides were her two children: the younger, Caroline, and the elder, Lamont. Lamont was a pale creature- pale skin, pale hair, pale clothes- Alistair had never seen someone so committed to the color beige. Alistair looked down at his arm and confirmed that yes, even he himself had more of a tan than this Koenig princeling.

Caroline, though… Caroline was a vision. Wavy chestnut hair flowing to mid-back, big, dark blue eyes framing an oval face, a willowy body in a burgundy wrap-dress, cleavage…

… My God. The cleavage.

“Eyes up,” Elleanor said, swatting him on the arm.

“Hm?”

“You’re being a bit obvious, my boy.”

“... Right!”

Svetlanna snickered.

Alistair focused his attention elsewhere, reluctantly taking himself away from the sweet smile on Caroline Koenig’s face. She was the same age as he was, by the look of it. He’d never seen a more beautiful woman in all his life. And she seemed to be looking at him with some appreciation as well.

But instead he made himself look at their host for the evening’s festivities: Marcus Achebe. Built like an oak tree, tall and solid and lean, nobody knew much about the Achebe prince. It was known that he was from Nigeria, but not wherein or from which tribe he claimed ancestry. It was not known when he was born or when he’d left his homeland, only that he’d arrived in America some time in the late 1800s. He did not resemble a man over a hundred years old. He looked like a man in his mid-thirties at most. His long hair, worn in dreadlocks, had not a spot of gray, nor did his full beard. His teeth were white with a gap between the front two, and he wore a solid orange robe and carried a cane with a red stone on the pommel. The Prince of Alchemy wanted everyone to know what had built his House.

He stood alone.

Alistair, Elleanor, and Svetlanna sat at the three available seats at the table. Alistair pressed his hands flat on the surface, trying to ground himself before his nerves started showing. Achebe stood up straight and tall, and said, “Welcome, all, to our summit. I’m more than happy to recognize the representatives of our Five Houses, many of them familiar faces. And some of them, new. Please, young man, why don’t you stand up and introduce yourself to everyone? And explain why you requested this summit in the first place?”

Alistair gulped. He hadn’t expected this. He’d expected them to barely acknowledge his presence, dismiss him as some child mistakenly allowed at the growns-up table without his parents. Still, he stood up, and felt every pair of eyes in the room on him at once.

No pressure. None whatsoever.

“My name is Alistair Aurelisu Albrecht,” he said, “And I have journeyed across this continent to meet with you all. And on my journey, I found something that shook me to the core: magic is dying. This is known, and has been known for some time. And we all act like this is a simple fact, irrefutable and indisputable. I know I am not the first person to come before this council with this observation, but it is the truth. Fewer and fewer of us are born to each generation, and fewer and fewer still come to us willingly. So we take them, before they can know to object, as is our right, as is our duty, as is their privilege. We gain soldiers in the dozens each year, when once it was hundreds. Soldiers against Entropy. But what if I told you that Entropy was the key to our salvation? To magic’s salvation?”

Silence.

But after a nod from Priscilla, Achebe said, “You have the floor. Continue, young man.”

Alistair smiled, confidence rippling through him. Elleanor clasped her hands and breathed relief, while Svetlanna looked at him in that odd way she sometimes did. It seemed to be a good look though. An approving one.

“As many of you know, my family was massacred by the ghouls,” Alistair continued, readying the embellishments Elleanor had helped him prepare. “The King of the Ghouls himself, Saul Emory, thought long dead by the Damocles Guild’s hands, feasted upon my father’s heart, ripped the flesh from my mother’s bones for base sustenance. My sisters… Nothing remained of them. I wasn’t even sure if they were dead, until I met Saul Emory in the Canadian Rockies, and he revealed he’d fashioned their bones into corsets for his wives. I was a child then. Some of you no doubt think I still am. But my innocence was taken from me long ago. My family’s honor was tarnished when the most powerful necromancers on earth were devoured by monsters, and peace was obliterated when the creature the Guild claimed to have killed rose from the shadowy depths and drew blood. Enemies surround us on all sides, and the Prophecy of the Chosen One who will save magic is now a mere pipe dream. But there is another way: certain ghouls, who were once human, who were once necromancers, possess access to a rare type of magic. Entropy. With this power, all things can decay. Including the walls between worlds, just enough to thin the barrier between our realm and the Pale and the Elvenlands. My proposal is simple: we capture Saul Emory, and we bring him to heel. We force him to do our bidding, and through the careful application of Entropy, the barrier can be weakened and magic can flow unencumbered into our world, and the honor of two of the greatest mages to ever live and two irreplaceable princesses alike can be salvaged. And so I ask: WHAT SAY YOU?!” He hadn’t meant to shout that last part- it just kind of slipped out. Hopefully he hadn’t gotten too carried away.

The first person to clap was Eiichiro Kishimoto, slowly at first but quickly picking up steam. His wife, brother, and sister-in-law joined in almost immediately. Lamont Koenig added his applause soon as well, and to Alistair’s delight, Caroline soon did the same. Their mother followed suit, though not without a slight scowl, and after that even Achebe joined in.

The only exceptions were the myriad representatives of House Jimenez, all stoic and stark in the face of ecstasy.

Dammit.

When the applause finally petered out, Rosita Jimenez stood up, with Andre and Hans standing behind her with their arms folded behind their backs.

“The council recognizes the representatives of House Jimenez,” Achebe said, gesturing to them with his cane.

“Young man,” she said, looking Alistair dead in the eyes, “How much do you know of the Prophecy? Do you know its full name?”

“The Final Prophecy of the Elf-King’s Daughters,” Alistair said automatically.

“And what word in that sentence sticks out to you the most?”

Alistair noted the sneer on Svetlanna’s face, but gestured to her with his hand- her expression went neutral. “Elf,” he said simply and matter-of-factly.

“Yes. Precisely. Elf. Elvenlands.” Her accent was an odd mix of Argentine from her father and Irish from her mother. “And what do you know of the elves?”

“I know that they live in a world all their own, under the banner of a single leader,” Alistair said. And I envy them that. “I know that they are immortal, barring a death at each other’s hands, or using one of the three known methods: Midnight Iron, Star-Flame, and Entropy. We have access to two of these-”

“One,” Rosita said. “You would not be able to control the King of the Ghouls for very long. You think we have not tried to parley with him, to subjugate him, to manipulate him? He will not be taken so easily, and even if we torture him to the point of madness that will simply cause his inevitable rebellion against us to be exponentially more ferocious. There is only way for this plan to work, and that is if you do it yourself, as the King of the Ghouls, and I don’t see you volunteering for that any time soon.”

Alistair bristled. “You underestimate my abilities- my family is unparalleled in the persuasive arts-”

“Torture,” Hans cut him off.

“Moreover,” Rosita continued, “Even if that part of your plan worked, and you were able to successfully capture the King of the Ghouls and torture him into submission, your plan is still a risk because of the elves. Do you know what they did the last time they were on earth?”

“I-”

She didn’t let him finish. “The Deicide.”

“I don’t need a history lesson-”

“YOU WILL LISTEN WHILE SHE SPEAKS, BOY!” Andre bellowed. And in the face of the seven foot tall behemoth, Alistair flinched. A memory of his father seized his mind, and his face became that of a frightened child.

Shame permeated him as Rosita continued. “The Norse, Greek, Celtic, Igbo, Guarani, and Japanese pantheons all fell. It took Odin’s second sacrifice to seal the Elf-King and his forces back into their world, and by then almost everyone else was dead. These were gods. And while we may be above the rest of humanity, we are still fundamentally human. If the gods themselves could not face the elves and emerge with a true victory, then what hope have we?”

Alistair offered no response. He could not think of any. All he could do was try not to twitch.

Rosita continued, “And even if you were to succeed in leashing Emory, it would not stop there. The release of Entropy necessary to do what you’re describing would not go unnoticed: cities would fall, scores of lives reduced to ash. People would take notice. Governments would take notice. And eventually they would learn the truth, and it would be all out war. Mage versus mundane, on a scale not seen since the Trojan War.”

“If it’s a war they want, then that’s what they’ll get,” Alistair said, hands shaking in fury. “They’ve done a masterful job ruining the world without our interference- environmental degredation, famine, plague, genocide, tyranny. Why not take it from them?! Save magic and save the world.”

“You go too far. If you try to weaken the barrier before the time of the Chosen One,” Rosita said, “You will damn us all.”

“And what if magic dies before the Chosen One and the Dark Lord can meet?” Alistair said, hoping he sounded defiant rather than petulant.

“If that is what nature wills, then so it shall be. We will have to accept it.”

She should not have said that, shouldn’t have told a room full of mages that they had to accept the world as it was. Instantly, the room turned against her. All eyes went narrow, and the atmosphere turned toxic. “Perhaps,” Eiichiro Kishimoto said, “We should consider at least planning how we would carry out the boy’s plan, on a practical level? I understand the risks, but-”

“ENOUGH! MY MOTHER HAS SPOKEN!” Andre said. Andre’s wife winced as soon as he said it. Alistair smirked- this would help turn the tide. House Jimenez had always considered itself somewhat above the rest of the Sovereignty, or so his father had told him, and so Elleanor had told him.

“Magic cannot be allowed to die,” Priscilla said.

All eyes turned to her now. This was good- Priscilla had a lot of pull. It was Houses Koenig and Achebe who had the most numbers and the most material wealth and the most influence in the mundane world. If Alistair could win the Koenig’s to his side, he would have a much stronger base to work with.

Priscilla stood up, though her children remained seated. “We lost track of the Chosen One, when we knew where he was. Eiichiro Kishimoto killed the Chosen One’s parents in vengeance for hiding him from us, for hiding the mother’s magic from us all her life.”

Eiichiro wore the sheepish expression of a man coming home to a messy house after a long night of drinking. Everyone else glared at him.

Priscilla continued, “The Chosen One likely hates us now, and will refuse any offer to work with us. But even that proves a non-issue when we don’t know his current whereabouts or what he’s doing. And if he runs away from his Destiny his entire life, then magic may die before he can fight the Dark Lord- whom we still have no idea of the identity of, who may have already lived and died for all we know. Only the Chosen One can save magic and keep the elves at bay… Well, I ask you a simple question in response: while magic dies, WHERE IS THE CHOSEN ONE?!”

As she spoke, a rippling appeared in the air, gold and silver with blue lightning threaded throughout. It cackled and screeched, and electrum dust sprayed about. A man wielding two claymores emerged directly in front of Eiichiro Kishimoto and cut off his head. The body fell forward and collided with the table, the head toppling onto the surface and blood gushing from the open neck.

The swordsman was a young African American man, perhaps five or six years older than Alistair. He carried black blades of Midnight Iron, and above him floated a bright blue Destiny Star, befitting one whose role and whose actions determined the fate of two worlds.

The Chosen One had drawn blood from the Kishimoto’s.

And for a moment, all anyone could do was sit there and gasp.

But not Alistair. He summoned his own Star, and he cried, “BLUT SCHAERT!” as he lunged at the Chosen One.

From out of Eiichiro Kishimoto’s body flowed his blood, and it congealed and coagulated into twin swords in Alistair’s hands. With the red light of his Star flowing into them, they were as strong as any conventional blade.

He and the Chosen One fought, man to man, in the conference room, a furious melee of four swords between two warriors. Alistair knew he couldn’t kill this man- they still needed him- but he’d taken one of theirs now and would have to pay. How dare this man think he could get away with something like this?! Who did he think he was?! The Chosen One existed to serve the Sovereignty, as was the sworn duty of all mages, no matter how base their birth. He and his family had defied this, and thought they could hide. And he had the gall to retaliate like this?!

They pushed further and further towards the doors, but the Chosen One swung his shorter sword and carved a swirling portal and dove into it. Alistair nearly lunged in after him, but was moments too late. The portal closed, and Alistair’s blood-blades shattered on contact with the marble walls.

His fists collided with the walls as well, as he screamed in frustration.

The room was silent as Alistair turned around to face it. Everyone was staring, some in awe, some in shock, some in horror, some in rage.

“Well,” Achebe said, gripping his cane tight as he stood up, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing. “I believe we’ve found him.”

***

Hello, lovelies! Hope y'all are doing well :)

You can now the entirety of this story, plus three chapters ahead on "Love During Robot Fighting Time" and two chapters ahead on "Magical Girl Exorcist Squad", by becoming a paid subscriber on my Substack or my Patreon!

You can also support my work by making a one-time donation via Ko-Fi!

[genderkoolaid]

btw the term "women's health" to discuss uterine care/menstruation isnt just transphobic, it also keeps up this aggravating idea that the uterus & menstruation are obscene and impolite and need to be kept hidden under flowery vague terms as to not offend any cis men. like trans people demanding the end of gendered language around this stuff aren't just helping trans people, its also just good to normalize calling tampons and pads "menstrual supplies" because thats what they fucking are!!! we should say the words uterus vagina menstruation and we should do it in public and in stores instead of talking about ~women's needs~ and ~feminine care~. trans liberation is fundamental to women's liberation and anti-patriarchal action in general. listening to trans men & people isn't bad for women its good for literally everyone

[a4thdurham]

Transoup is back!

Hello Durham trans folks! Come eat with us :)

WHAT: A delicious vegan meal in a trans-only, alcohol-free space

WHERE: Merryoaks Community Hall, Park House Road, Durham, DH1 3QFWHEN: Saturday 20th of July, 7–10pm (or 6:30–10pm for newbies, if you want to settle in)

WHO: Anyone who’s trans, nonbinary, or thinks they might be. If you’re wondering if you’re ‘trans enough’, the answer is yes :) But no cops, no terfs, no swerfs.

HOW: Sign up at the link below. There’s more info there too.

WHY: I dunno bud, that’s up to you really

People with allergies (etc.) are welcome! Just let us know your dietary requirements on the signup form. 

We are an alcohol- and drug-free space. Please don’t come if you feel unwell, even if you test negative for covid. There will be an air purifier, and FFP3 masks will be provided. Masking is optional, but please take a lateral flow test before the event and don’t come if you test positive.

We hope to see you there :)

https://transoup-jul24.eventbrite.co.uk

[reasonsforhope]

Article

"Every year, over 350,000 women die from cervical cancer and another 660,000 are diagnosed. [Note: Plus trans men and other trans people with a cervix.] As a consequence, children are orphaned, families impoverished and communities diminished by the loss of mothers, wives, daughters and sisters. 

And yet, unlike most other cancers, almost all these cases and deaths can be averted. We have powerful vaccines that can prevent infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes cervical cancer; we have diagnostics to detect it early; and we have treatments for those it strikes. With these tools, cervical cancer can not only be stopped; it could become the first cancer to be eliminated. Some high-income countries are already close to elimination, meaning fewer than four cases per 100,000 women.

But in many low- and middle-income countries, these tools are still not available, which is why 94% of cervical cancer deaths occur in those countries. 

In 2018, WHO launched a global call to action to eliminate cervical cancer, which was followed in 2020 by the adoption by all 194 WHO Member States of a Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer as a Public Health Problem. The strategy calls for countries to achieve three targets by 2030: 90% of girls fully immunised against HPV; 70% of women receiving timely screening; and 90% of those found with precancer or cancer accessing treatment.

These targets are not just aspirational, they are achievable, even in low- and middle-income countries.  Bhutan has already reached the targets, the first to do so in the South-East Asia region. 

Since introducing the HPV vaccine in 2011, Rwanda has reached vaccine coverage of 90%, and today announced its national goal to reach the 90-70-90 targets three years ahead of schedule, by 2027. Already, in two districts – Gicumbi and Karongi – Rwanda is meeting those goals. Nigeria, which introduced the HPV vaccine in October last year [2023], has already vaccinated 12.3 million girls.  

We have the tools and the opportunity to eliminate cervical cancer. 

Since WHO issued the global call to action in 2018, more than 60 countries have introduced the HPV vaccine into their immunisation programmes, bringing the total to 144 countries that are routinely protecting girls from cervical cancer in later life. With scientific advances, we can now prevent cervical cancer with just a single dose, which 60 countries are now doing.  

The largest provider of HPV vaccines to low- and middle-income countries is Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which plans to vaccinate 120 million children between now and 2030. But this plan requires that investments in health are sustained. We are also counting on manufacturers to confirm and honour their commitments to provide HPV vaccines to low- and middle-income countries in the coming years, to avoid the supply constraints that held back progress in the past.

But we cannot rely on vaccines alone. The impact of the rapid scale-up in vaccinating girls now will not be seen for decades, when they reach the adult years when cervical cancer typically appears. To save lives now, we must match the increase  in vaccination with increases in screening and treatment. 

Decades ago, as more women gained access to pap smears in developed countries, the mortality associated with cervical cancer dropped rapidly. Today, even better tests are available. Over 60 countries now include high-performance HPV tests as part of their screening programs. Women can even collect their own samples for HPV testing, removing more barriers to life-saving services. In Australia – which is on track to become one of the first countries in the world to achieve elimination – more than a quarter of all screening tests are now done this way...

Several countries are also investigating the use of artificial intelligence to enhance the accuracy of screening in resource-limited settings. When women are found with precancerous lesions, many are now treated with portable battery-powered devices, which can be operated in remote locations."

-via The Telegraph, November 18, 2024. Article written by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO).

[tigersorange]

can everyone try and see if you can do anything to help trans ohioans in the face of these bills and rules. tbh. i am scared and im worried about the mental and physical health of my trans siblings and myself in the future in this state. please do this and spread it around. we need all the help we can get.

Email your comments to MH-SOT-rules@mha.ohio.gov with a title of "Comments on Gender Transition Care Rules.

YOU DON’T NEED TO BE A RESIDENT OF OHIO TO DO THIS!

additionally please sign this petition by the aclu to help stop an emergency session of ohio congress meant to override the veto on the bill banning trans kids from participating in sports here: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/stop-hb-68-veto-override?social_referer_transaction=3347992&ms=sbsocial

more you can do: https://jessk.org/blog/things-you-can-do-right-now-for-ohio

PLEASE REBLOG AND SPREAD THIS!!

[reasonandempathy]

Walz has served as Minnesota’s governor since 2019 after 12 years in the House of Representatives and now chairs the Democratic Governors Association. He has built a reputation as a folksy politician who can get things done, as Minnesota has adopted a number of progressive laws during his tenure. According to a poll conducted earlier this year, Walz enjoys an approval rating of 55% among Minnesotans. Since Minnesota Democrats achieved a legislative trifecta in the 2022 elections, Walz and his allies have used their power to push a slate of progressive policies. The governor has signed bills protecting abortion access, expanding background checks for prospective gun owners and legalizing recreational marijuana. “Right now, Minnesota is showing the country you don’t win elections to bank political capital,” Walz said last year. “You win elections to burn political capital and improve lives.” That philosophy has endeared him to progressives, who threw their support behind him as the veepstakes kicked into high gear over the past two weeks. They reshared clips of Walz lovingly mocking his daughter’s vegetarianism and tinkering with his car to paint him as the dad that America needs right now.

This is fucking awesome! Honestly, sincerely good news and a very promising pick for the potential Harris Administration. An aggressive, unabashed, popular, populist left-winger with a track record of enacting real, substantive help for people is capital-G Great.

What has he done, specifically?

Abortion rights

In a 1995 ruling, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld abortion rights in Minnesota. In January 2023, Walz signed the PRO Act (Protect Reproductive Options Act) into law, making abortion a "fundamental right," as well as access to contraception, fertility treatments, sterilization and other reproductive health care.

The law made Minnesota the first state to codify abortion rights in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which nullified Roe. v. Wade after nearly 50 years of precedent. In April 2023, Walz signed the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act into law, shielding women and providers from any legal action originating from the patient's state.

Pro-LGBTQIA+ legislation

In March 2023, Walz signed an executive order to protect the right of residents to have access to gender-affirming health care. Weeks later, he signed the "Trans Refuge" bill, banning the enforcement of arrest warrants, extradition requests and out-of-state subpoenas for those who traveled to Minnesota for care.

"When someone else is given basic rights, others don't lose theirs," Walz said. "We aren't cutting a pie here. We're giving basic rights to every single Minnesotan."

Paid family, medical and sick leave

In May 2023, Walz signed a law creating a state-run program to provide paid family and medical leave for Minnesota workers, funded by a 0.7% payroll tax on employers, by 2026.

Legalization of recreational marijuana

In May 2023, Minnesota became the 23rd state in the nation to legalize recreational cannabis use. Three months later, people 21 and older could start to possess certain amounts of marijuana at home and on their person, in addition to legally growing up to eight plants at a time.

Restoration of voting rights for former felons

In March 2023, Walz signed a bill that restored the right to vote to more than 50,000 convicted felons who had already served their time.

Universal school meals

Amid the increase in food insecurity for many Minnesotans during the pandemic, and the subsequent strain on the state's food shelves that remains to this day, Walz signed a bill in March 2023 that ensures all K-12 students in the state have access to free breakfast and lunch on school days.

Do you know what makes this even better?

Fuck 'Em. I know negative partisanship is important and can help motivate right-wingers to vote, but they're going to vote anyway. And him being afraid of Walz is just a sign that he's a good pick, in policy and politics.

[thoughtportal]

Elevated Access https://elevatedaccess.org/