#galapics

[shining-latios]

accidentally clicked the search bar to be greeted with a pie to the face

[topsurgerystuff]

Okay I’ve never actually posted my own, brand new post on the internet before so I’m kinda nervous but bear with me. I guess I’ll start by putting all my little links and such. I’m sure most people already know about these but fuck it what do I know.

The GALAP is where I got the therapist who gave me the little letter that tells them I’m trans. It’s got a list of therapists who have agreed to give out free letters that iirc are sorted by state. It’s down as of right now but it says they hope to be back up by April 30th 2024. I live in Texas so there was only one for me but she was real cool, she did the evaluation but made it clear that it was only because she legally had to and that she would give me the letter regardless, it was 100% free and it was over telehealth so I didn’t have to go anywhere.

https://www.thegalap.org/need-a-letter/directory

Folx Health does all kinds of stuff. They do gender affirming care as well as just regular doctor shit and they have guys in every state and they take a lot of insurance but their membership is SO GODDAMN EXPENSIVE. If you’re Jeff FUcking Bezoso well here you go I guess.

https://www.folxhealth.com/

Legacy Health is the same as Folx but much more affordable and only in Texas. Sorry if you don’t live in Texas.

https://www.legacycommunityhealth.org/contact-us/

Trans in the South is a directory of all kinds of trans-affirming health and legal service providers. It also has a guide on how to fund your transition and its got a list of grants you can apply for too. Never noticed that before, might do that shit.

https://southernequality.org/resources/transinthesouth/

Trans Legal Aid of Texas has volunteer attorneys that will help you get and do the paperwork to change all your legal info but you gotta live in Texas sorry sorry.

https://translegalaidtx.com/

Also I don’t have a link for them but Dr. Daniel Freet and Dr. Rachel Goldstein did my top surgery at Memorial Hermann. They did a great job, they were so nice to me, they didn’t question my decision at all and the whole experience start to finish was pretty nice. The wait was forEVER but they are really fucking busy and they’re booked like crazy so. Understandable. Unfortunately, the full cost of my surgery is ~$17,000 and my insurance, who initially said they would cover it, decided they would actually wait until we get the bill before deciding to cover it and since the bill arrived they’ve been dead silent but [screaming in agony] its fine. My incision scars are nice and straight, I have very little dog earing going on and its flattened over time. I’m a little chunky so that’s impressive. It’s only been 5 months and I have full mobility, it only took me about 2 months to get there. My nips are a little ugly but they are intact and they are recognizable as nips. More on that in a later post though. Overall, 10/10, would recommend. End post.

[your-actual-therapist]

reblogging this excellent resource for free trans surgery/hormone letters with some important info:

GALAP providers currently do not have the ability to list themselves under multiple states. that means that if a therapist is licensed in more than one state (many of us are!), they will only appear under one state. so if you're in a state with few or no providers, make sure to check providers in other states! there may be a therapist from a different state who provides telehealth in your state and lists this information on their profile.

start with the states adjacent to yours. a lot of therapists on the border of their state choose to get licensed in neighboring states.

also, if you're in florida and have been affected by deSantis' new craplaws and you need a free gender-affirming surgery or hormone letter, please DM me to request a no-cost telehealth surgery readiness assessment. i can't guarantee i'll be able to accommodate everyone who contacts me, but i'll do what i can. solidarity and all that.

Lee says:

Hi everyone! I'm posting today to specifically point out an awesome resource that more people should be aware of.

The Gender Affirming Letter Access Project (GALAP) is an organization of independent clinicians who help transgender people access gender-affirming medical treatment like hormone replacement therapy and surgery by providing free letters using the informed-consent system.

The providers listed in the GALAP directory have pledged to complete at least one free informed-consent session and subsequently write at least one free letter per month.

This is super important because many people aren't able to get insurance coverage for the treatment they need without getting a WPATH-compliant letter, and that can make it difficult for someone to be able to start their transition.

For example, many low-income trans people aren't able to afford multiple therapy sessions which makes getting the WPATH-compliant letter difficult for them.

Similarly, trans people living in rural areas face more barriers in being able to find therapists near them who are trans-friendly and currently accepting new patients.

In my own personal transition, I've needed to get...

1 letter from a mental health provider to start HRT

1 from a mental health provider plus 1 letter from my testosterone prescriber to have top surgery

Letters from 2 different mental health providers respectively plus one from my testosterone prescriber to get a hysterectomy

Letters from 2 different mental health providers plus one from my testosterone prescriber to get the first stage of phalloplasty

Letters from 2 different mental health providers plus one from my testosterone prescriber to more to get the second stage because my first set of letters had expired in the meantime

And I'll need 2 more for the third stage because I'll be switching insurances and need to re-start my approval process

For anyone keeping a tally, I needed to get 10 mental health letters saying that I am trans and need to transition before I could get the medical care I needed, not including the “proof of HRT” letters.

It’s ridiculous— If I had needed treatment for any other reason, I wouldn’t have needed to jump through so many gatekeeping hoops where cisgender medical professionals were the arbiters if I was trans enough and deserve care.

For example, my stage 3 phalloplasty surgery is just having an erectile implant placed because I have erectile dysfunction. This is true of all post-phalloplasty patients as a result of the way our penis is structured.

If I were a cisgender man getting the same surgery for erectile dysfunction and having the same device implanted, I would not need to see two mental health professionals first who would judge me on my gender identity before deciding whether I should be allowed get the implant.

The urologist would just use their best medical judgement in determining whether the surgery would be a good idea and then explain the risks and benefits of the procedure and let me decide if I wanted to go ahead and do it. Then the doc would send the insurance the preauthorization info and codes for the procedure based on the diagnosis, and no required mental health evaluation or therapist letter would be involved at all.

But because my surgery is a “gender affirming surgery” for “treatment of gender dysphoria,” I have to see two therapists first and they will judge if I’m “trans enough” and then they have to write a letter saying that I need the surgery because I’m mentally ill (aka diagnosed with “gender dysphoria”) before my insurance will cover the surgery that’ll let me have an erection.

In my opinion, that’s paternalistic, demeaning, unnecessary and a waste of everyone’s time. And it isn’t just weird, invasive, and annoying— it can determine whether you’re able to access necessary medical care.

The GALAP also addresses how requiring a letter is a form of gatekeeping which can negatively impact multiply marginalized minorities, stating, "We are aware that people who do not fit a certain narrative about what it means to be 'transgender' often receive subpar care and face more barriers to receiving the care they need. We acknowledge that this greatly impacts people of color and indigenous communities, nonbinary people, and neurodivergent people."

The provider will have an interview session with you, using the informed consent approach in their interviewing, and then will write a letter, again using the informed consent approach in their letter writing process.

The interview session, the letter (and any additional copies of the letter) are all supposed to be pro-bono, which just means it's free. They aren't supposed to charge you for anything, like additional time on letter writing outside the therapy session, any clinical consultation they need to perform, or any communication with your surgeons and medical staff.

I believe that majority (or possibly all) of the providers in the directory will only provide informed consent letters for legal adults as the wesbite says "writing letters for youth brings up complexities since minors may assent but not consent without parent/guardian support to move forward with any medical interventions," so it's a resource that is more useful for those who are 18 or older.

You'll also need to discuss with your letter writer if they are comfortable officially diagnosing you with gender dysphoria if your medical provider/s and/or insurance company requires a formal a diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria to access gender-affirming medical services.

You should also check whether your letter writer needs particular credentials.

My insurance said:

“One of these letters must be from a psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse practitioner, psychiatric nurse practitioner, or licensed clinical social worker with whom the member has an established and ongoing relationship.

The other letter may be from a psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse practitioner, physician, psychiatric nurse practitioner, or licensed clinical social worker acting within the scope of his or her practice, who has only had an evaluative role with the member.”

Your insurance company may have more rigid requirements and need a letter from a medical doctor or doctor of osteopathic for example, and may not accept a licensed clinical social worker, or they may allow any mental health practitioner.

So it’s good to double-check that the person you’re contacting in the directory has the license you need for your requirements.

The GALAP site says:

"Just because someone has signed The GALAP pledge or uses our name and logo on their website unfortunately doesn’t guarantee that they are honoring our pledge’s totally FREE letter writing (and session) commitment.��

When reaching out to request a letter, we encourage you to ask the therapist/letter writer:

1) Is this entire letter writing process (including the time it takes to meet) completely free, as in keeping with The GALAP pledge? 2) Have you written surgery letters on behalf of trans and nonbinary folks before that have been accepted by surgeons and/or insurance companies?

While we can’t monitor or endorse therapists who sign the pledge, you can find out if they will honor the pledge BEFORE you meet with them."

The (current as of 04/2022) list of states that currently have a provider who has agreed to write free letters is below:

Alabama (1)

Alaska (2)

Arizona (9)

Arkansas (2)

California (62)

Colorado (19)

Connecticut (11)

Delaware (1)

District of Columbia (1)

Florida (11)

Georgia (22)

Hawaii (0)

Idaho (7)

Illinois (21)

Indiana (9)

Iowa (0)

Kansas (2)

Kentucky (1)

Louisiana (3)

Maine (2)

Maryland (18)

Massachusetts (17)

Michigan (13)

Minnesota (1)

Mississippi (1)

Missouri (2)

Montana (1)

Nebraska (3)

Nevada (1)

New Hampshire (3)

New Jersey (5)

New Mexico (1)

New York (26)

North Carolina (8)

North Dakota (0)

Ohio (7)

Oklahoma (2)

Oregon (11)

Pennsylvania (11)

Rhode Island (2)

South Carolina (2)

South Dakota (0)

Tennessee (4)

Texas (8)

Utah (5)

Vermont (3)

Virginia (8)

Washington (22)

West Virginia (1)

Wisconsin (6)

Wyoming (1)

Most providers can only provide a letter to people residing in their state(s) of licensure, and there are some states that don't have any providers listed at all, so hopefully more providers will sign the pledge and get listed in the directory in the future.

But even as it is today, this is a super-useful resource for trans people who are looking to medically transition, and hopefully more people become aware of it and are able to make use of it going forward!

Our post on how to start HRT in the USA has linked to the GALAP website so this isn't the first time I've mentioned their directory, but I felt like the GALAP directory deserved its own post, so here it is!

[dee-the-red-witch]

Last month, I ranted about the diy hrt links on here. This month it's gonna be letters.

Because fucking letters. Despite WPATH 8.0 officially affirming that all we should need is informed consent, for hormones, surgeries, and a bunch of other services, a lot of states and insurance companies haven't updated to the new standard, and probably won't until they're sued into doing so (and who has lawyer money. Ever.). Which means having to get letters from different professionals that affirm you really are trans and really do want this for good reason.

It's absurdist fucking red tape designed specifically to keep folks from transitioning. Becaus eit saves insurance companies money, and because the harder they make it, the more of us are likely to give up before getting services we deserve. Plus, who the fuck has time and money to see not one but two therapists?

That's where orgs like GALAP come in. This is a geoup of therapists that are absolutely here to get you your letters for surgeries or whatever. Without having to spend months in sessions with them to prove it. This can get you over that hurdle that much quicker.

So if you need a letter, or two, or two therapist letters PLUS a doctor letter like I did in oh-so-progressive Washington State, you can get them easily. There's ways to do this and there's hope. Go spread that.

(And if you like this, hit the post source link and sub, maybe? It's pretty much my main stable income these days, and I have my own situation to try and get out of.)

[jacobgalapagos]

Can I Jac your ob until you Galap all over my agos?

What the hell, sure

[doberbutts]

Not sure where you are located or whether you've heard of this yet, but in some places GALAP (gender affirming letter access project) can connect you with a therapist to write you a letter within a week. When my insurance denied my letter for not being written by a PhD, I reached out to all the phd's in my state signed on with GALAP and had a letter they would accept within days. Apologies if I'm bothering you with something you already knew about but if you haven't tried them yet it might be worth a shot!

GALAP has been down since before October of 2023.

[itskindofareallyniceday]

Trans Resources/Info Masterpost

I dedicate a lot of time to helping fellow trans men, answering their questions, etc. and I've noticed a few very common questions in every trans group I'm a member of. I want the information within these resources to become common knowledge in our community. This information has been extremely helpful to me, my friends, and/or other people in the community, and they're things that everyone should be aware of...

Changing your name and/or gender marker: -The National Center for Transgender Equality will tell you exactly how to change your name and/or gender marker in each state.

HRT: -This map shows organizations that offer HRT following the informed consent method. -Testosterone HRT changes and timelines: source 1, source 2 -Testosterone myths -Bottom growth info (CW: this resource contains illustrations of the anatomy that will grow, before and after growth)

Injections/Syringes: -Syringes and needles can be annoying to buy at the pharmacy. Before I started buying in bulk, I had to go from pharmacy to pharmacy searching for ones that were the right size (they always ran out or didn't buy enough or something). This is a problem that many people experience, so a lot of us buy our medical supplies in bulk online. It's cheaper, easier, and you never have to worry about the pharmacy running out of your syringes. Here are a few popular websites that people buy syringes from: allegromedical.com, westendmedicalsupplies.com, bulksyringes.com, healthykin.com, https://www.vitalitymedical.com, https://www.gpzmedlab.com, etc. -Trans Needle Exchange is currently on hiatus, but they provide needles/syringes to people who can't afford/access them for free. -Search relevant subreddits for more, if those websites don't meet your needs.

Surgery: -topsurgery.net has the answer to almost any top surgery question you might have (the process, finding a surgeon, insurance, before and after pictures, etc.) -There are top surgery grants that you might qualify for. -The GALAP (Gender Affirming Letter Access Project) is a group of independent medical professionals dedicated to providing free letters of support to people seeking gender affirming surgeries. Make sure these medical professionals meet the requirements of your insurance/surgeon though, since they all have different requirements. -Plume also provides letters of support for gender affirming surgeries. Letters are included for members, but they can also be provided to non-members for $150 and one appointment. (Note: they are provided by a medical professional, not a behavioral health or mental health professional. Each insurance has different requirements about who the letter needs to be written by) -The Gender Confirmation Center has a lot of information about gender affirming surgeries, how to take care of yourself before/during/after surgery, a huge gallery of before and after pictures for different incision types, etc. -T4T Caregiving is a group of "traveling trans caregivers for all of your post-op needs". I know how hard it is for some people to find someone who is willing to take care of them after surgery. The caregivers at T4T Caregiving will provide you with care 24/7, with prices on a sliding scale that ranges from $150-250 per day. -You can find information about different surgeons here (top surgery - search by location, whether they accept informed consent, insurance, etc.) and here (several different kinds of surgeries - search by procedure, location, insurance, etc.)

WPATH's Standards of Care: -It's also a good idea to be familiar with the WPATH's (World Professional Association for Transgender Health) Standards of Care! Here is the most recent version, SOC8

Other: -Refuge Restrooms is a database of gender neutral bathroom locations. You can search for, add, and rate different locations.

Unfortunately, a lot of this information is only applicable to trans men (or AFAB NB people wishing to transition) in the US. That's what I have the most experience with (and knowledge about), as I'm a trans man in the US. Feel free to add your own favorite resources (especially for trans women) if you want!

[444names]

Names generated from theological angels, and animals, ending with the letter "R"

Aar Aaraker Abar Ader Alamper Alifer Alpar Alpher Ameahor Anar Andeer Ander Andover Aner Aniper Anter Antiger Antpar Aphar Aphover Arbir Artur Asar Aser Aslopar Azar...

Babar Bacher Bader Bador Bahor Bantar Banter Bar Baraker Barizar Barwhar Bater Bather Beacker Beaper Beder Bedover Beecker Beer Bir Birdwor Blar Boacar Boader Buffer Bugar Butar Butter Buttler Buzzar Canter Canther Caphar Capher Car Cater Catter Ceneser Cer Cerher Char Charoar Cheer Cher Chieler Chinear Clar Clatter Clotar Coctor Codpar Codper Coostor Cor Corcar Coundor Couser Cower Crachar Crar Crater Crocker Crooter Crotar Cuckar Daniter Dar Darabar Der Dolver Domiter Dor Dormwor Dover Dower Drar Drilver Ducher Dummeer Dundar Eaddor Eafiser Eaguir Ear Easper Eaver Echer Ecker Eer Egraver Eguir Elflar Emur Erbeer Erser Fer Filver Fishar Flater Formwor Froar Fronker Frouser Frower Frubir Gadrar Galaper Gar Gater Gazeer Gehor Ger Gerker Gianter Gibar Gibator Gir Goater Gor Gorcar Graker Gricher Groder Grouser Guangar Guar Guir Guiter Halar Halarar Hamar Hampar Hantur Har Heaver Hedper Heephar Heer Hemuar Her Heraver Hopper Hor Hormwor Hover Hummer Humper Huser Hyener Hyenter Iger Impar Jacher Jacler Jayiner Jehor Jelibar Jer Joper Kaleer Kanipar Kar Kardtar Katemer Kater Keer Ker Kir Kriner Laphar Lapher Lar Larator Lathwor Leer Lephar Ler Liahar Lifer Lligar Locker Lockpar Loodpar Loter Lother Lotter Lucher Lyfiser Maar Magler Mamer Mander Manter Mar Marar Marker Meaphar Meapher Mear Meaver Meer Meflar Mer Meshar Mester Miedger Mincher Miter Mocker Moder Modor Modpar Modper Moler Molpar Molver Mosear Moster Moter Mother Motter Multur Munder Munger Munker Mur Muriner Museder Ner Niger Niper Niter Nur Octor Oser Otatter Oterher Other Othor Ower Paniter Panter Par Peaffer Pear Peater Pener Per Peraar Peraver Percher Perher Perpir Phider Phiter Pider Pidor Piger Piker Pir Plar Polver Poper Popper Por Poter Poyoter Praar Prater Pricar Priger Puffer Pummer Pur Pureer Pybeer Quar Quider Quiter Raar Rackar Racker Raguar Railver Ranger Rantpar Raphar Rapher Raphor Rater Rather Raver Rebater Rebear Reder Redger Reer Repher Rher Rhilder Rhinker Rocer Rosaur Roser Rothar Rouster Rower Sacher Saner Santer Santser Sar Saur Scher Schiper Scor Seacker Seagor Sear Selar Ser Setler Shar Sher Shrocer Siler Silver Skir Snacher Snair Snaker Sniger Sniper Snipper Sniter Snitor Solder Sollar Spar Sper Spiner Squnker Star Ster Stiger Stipper Stopar Stopper Swater Swilder Swilver Swor Sworser Tar Tear Tearmar Teer Ter Thar Ther Thover Tigar Tilver Tiner Tinker Tophar Tor Toragor Treer Trinear Trocer Tunkar Tur Turiger Tzacher Uzzar Var Vehor Vehover Ver Volamer Volar Volpar Volver Wanhar Wanther Wantpar Water Wather Wear Weaver Wer Whamar Whar Whiper Wider Wifer Wigar Wilver Wolder Wooder Woodper Woosear Wor Worcher Worpir Wortur Yakeer Zackar Zacker Zadsher Zar Zebir Zeer Zepher Zephor Zoper Zopper

[dailychickens]

Photo by Richard Galapate

[cannibalcult]

my coworker told me to use the galap wensite to get letters for top surgery snd im so nervous bro 😭

[lilianntheendericarada]

"When there is Light, there is Darkness."

There is a typo I'm too lazy to correct. Galap is supposed to be Gelap so yeah.

I also just realized the glove's color doesn't match well, unless I am wrong,,,,

Anyways, here are alternative pictures

[shining-latios]

having a normal one over my horde of beautiful bugs that benefited the most from the expansion

[vvussyboy]

Got a swollen face today, a little. I guess it’s an inflammation issue. But! Ravi is keeping me company, so that’s chill.

On to the gender shit: on the 25th (a couple days), I got an appointment with a doctor about 40 minutes away. It’s difficult for me financially to get anywhere right now, so I’m doing a phone appointment. I’m hoping that’s good enough to get a letter because I really don’t want to drive that far away. I know it’s not that bad - but when you’re broke and don’t want to rely on a rassgat, you kind’a gotta try this sort’a thing.

Anyway... The reason I’m going to this doctor is because I need two letters from an MD. I think I mentioned it before, but certain gender affirming care is easier to access (allegedly) with a letter from an MD or PhD. That’s what I was told by a therapist through GALAP (definitely check them out if you need letters for trans-related surgeries or hormones).

All that said, I’ll check back in soon with any news when I hear it! Believe in yourself and be strong, okay?

[dee-the-red-witch]

The Monthly Roundup

Okay, normally, this is just a free monthly post over on my Patreon, but I figured I should push this out into the wild as well, because this kind of stuff's always needed. Want this, and a bunch of weekly readings from a cursed tarot deck, media reviews, and other content including fiction and the occasional build post? Maybe consider adding me over there as well. Anyways, like I said, it's a monthly roundup- in this case a bigass collection of links and resources for folks interested in pursuing gender transition one way or another. And while a bunch of it is transfem specific and sometimes medical transition specific, because it's stuff I dug up while hunting down things for myself, there's also things in there good for anyone of any gender, and resources for legal/social transition as well. And this is long enough to deserve a cut for once, so...

Hey! What If *I'M* trans?

The Gender Dysphoria Bible- https://genderdysphoria.fyi/en Wondering if you're experiencing Gender Dysphoria? This may be a good place to start. Realize the GDB is slanted largely towards transfem folks, so it doesn't necessarily apply evenly to everyone, but it does cover a lot of ground that folks may identify with.

Trans Medical Resources

DIY HRT- https://diyhrt.cafe/index.php/Main_Page (for legal reasons, I'm going to tell you to at least try to see a licensed physician or endocrinologist before starting to DIY your own hormones, but keep in mind, I'm not your responsible adult, and if you don't choose to listen, that's on you) This is the main, best hub for sourcing and getting info on doing your own hormone therapy. Keep in mind, it's once again slanted towards feminizing methods, because testosterone is still a controlled substance in most of the world (which is bloody fucking stupid, but that's a rant for another time).

GALAP- The Gender Affirming Letter Access Project- https://thegalap.org/ While we may have new WPATH guidelines with the Soc 8 updates that dropped a little bit ago, most providers and insurers are still on outdated requirements that insist on letters from mental health providers for transgender-related care. Which can affect access to surgeries, HRT, and more. GALAP exists to connect folks with providers who'll give those letters,m in some cases free of charge even.

Gynecologist List- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Djia_WkrVO3S4jKn6odNwQk7pOcpcL4x00FMNekrb7Q/htmlview This one's more for uterus-owners in general and less trans-specific, but giventhe number of folks with uteri who'd can end up with a hard time finding a willing doctor for some procedures, it's important for everyone. This is a Google database of hundreds of gynecologists, listed by location, willing to perform sterilization procedures with informed consent, without secondary authorization from anyone else. The list is patient-vetted, so your mileage may vary, but for those seeking sterilization and/or hysterectomies as part of their transition it may prove to be invaluable as a resource, because doctors willing to do this work can be few and rare in some areas.

Transfeminine Science- https://transfemscience.org/ Articles, journals and all sorts of researching into, well, just what the name says, transfeminizing science. A lot of medical professionals simply don't have knowledge in the field and are acting on what they learned in med school, which may be way out of date. If they're willing to listen, there's stuff in there to help bring them up to speed. Better yet, it;'s also a great resource to educate yourself so you can advocate for your own care a bit better.

Other Transition resources (legal, social, etc)

NCTE's ID GUIDE- https://transequality.org/documents The National Transgender Center for Equality's guide to changing your legal identity, in a handy format that lets you break it down by state or territory, or even federal documents (United States only, sorry.) and links to the right paperwork to use. Rainbow Passage- https://rainbowpassage.org/ It sucks that we need organizations like this in these times, but I'm glad to see there's people already stepping up to the task. Rainbow Passage is an organization dedicated to helping trans youth get out of trans-hostile states and relocate to safer areas. And if you can, volunteering for them is a great way to help improve safety for trans folk in general.

Seattle Voice Lab- https://www.seattlevoicelab.com/ if you've seen me on social media much lately, then you've seen me talking about this place. This is who I'm (through February and March at least) taking voice lessons through to feminize my own voice more. They also have a bunch of online resources, a discord server, and other help if you need to figure your own vocal chords out a bit better.

Strands For Trans- https://strandsfortrans.org/ Need a haircut, or color or other beauty services you're using for the first time ever as an out trans person and you're not sure where's going to be safe to go? Strands For Trans is the first comprehensive database of Aesthetics businesses for hair and everything, AND THEY VET THE BUSINESSES, to ensure your safety and comfort.

TLC's Life-Planning Guide- http://transgenderlawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/TLC_Life-Planning-Documents-Transgender.pdf The Transgender Law Center put this guide together specifically for planning end-of-life details. Yes, it's a depressing and tragic thing, but protecting and making sure our identities are still properly preserved after we die is still just as an important part of what we're fighting as anything else is. This guide will help you with establishing a Living Will, controlling hospital visits, and setting up proper Powers of Attorney, so that nothing potentially falls back into the hands of people who might refuse to recognize who you truly are. (In many states, you can designate someone other than your next of kin to take charge of your body when you die (next of kin is defined by law, not by preference). If you need to do that, go to nolo.com and look up article on "[your state] funeral law" to get a rundown on if and how to do this.

Trans Media

The Digital Transgender Archive- https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net "The purpose of the Digital Transgender Archive (DTA) is to increase the accessibility of transgender history by providing an online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world." (In short, this is one of several free libraries of trans history.)

Totally Trans- https://www.patreon.com/totallytrans/posts Hey, look at that, it's another Patreon! Except, no, wait, it's a podcast! Totally Trans looks at media both historical and modern with a transgendered lens. Sometimes it's silly fun, other times, it's great insights into queer and trans history, and all around it's a great show to add on whatever service you're already getting podcasts through- or you can hit the link above to help support them at the same time for early access.

Trans News, Blogs, and Notes

Erin In The Morning: https://www.erininthemorning.com/ Erin's newsletter runs almost daily these days, mostly with updates regarding trans legislation all around the US. It's a good way to stay up to date, but it can also be a drag these days, largely because it's practically just a constantly expanding list of bad news thanks to the GOP right now.

Stained Glass Woman: https://stainedglasswoman.substack.com/ aka Doc Impossible/Zoe. I first discovered her work and writing when WPATH released their new SOC 8 guidelines, because she was one of the few people that could make the thing actually make sense in non-legalese. But I subscribed andkeep following here for regular updates both because she presents a trans coming out narrative that was just a joy to read, and also covers interesting  news in the field of trans medicine from time to time. Definitely worth adding to your feed.

A Self Defense Study Guide for Trans Women and Gender Non-Conforming / Nonbinary AMAB Folks: https://www.silversprocket.net/2021/09/13/a-self-defense-study-guide-for-trans-women-and-gender-non-conforming-nonbinary-amab-folks/

This is, quite honestly, one of the best self-defense guides I've seen for gender-nonconforming folks (and one of the few, to be honest), short of private defense instruction. AND it's available to read in full for free at that link, or in print for just a 5$ donation. Go check it out.

Other general roundups

Grassroots GAC Resources- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19kSzBLo_hjpiBjHN8tvK73sVHU25NKWjMau2vNl8uuM/edit#gid=778305468 Google spreadsheet of links in general, from therapy help and hrt assistance, to all sorts of other info, some of which are repeats from here, but there's also a bunch of others I haven't had time or opportunity to vet yet.

[southernapparelshop]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Poet Swift Bleach Shirt Small-2x.

[volunteergp]

GALAP is looking for volunteers to serve coffee at the Pride Family Carnival on June 8. Apply by emailing galapdirector@gmail.com with subject line: “Carnival Coffee Volunteer” if you are interested in helping out.